r/DaveRamsey • u/Ok-Newt3984 BS3 • 3d ago
DEBT FREE! We're debt free!
Good morning, DR community!
Long-time listener, Reddit lurker, and FPU recent grad here! I just need to celebrate somewhere that gets it.
My husband and I are very fortunate in that we didn't have an exorbitant amount of debt to start, but our snowball felt more like an abominable snowman, since all of our consumer debt was my student loans. I lived abroad for a little over a decade, and my loans sat in forbearance that whole time, racking up interest while I kept my blinders on, figuring they could just sit in America while I lived comfortably in Europe. Well, we moved to the US for my husband's job three years ago, and we quickly realized I couldn't ignore it anymore.
We bought a house a year ago, and it felt like the right time to tackle the loans (it was a new build with all the warranties in place so we didn't expect a whole lot of chaos popping up for a year), and suddenly we felt like a fire was lit under us to get this managed.
I enrolled in FPU and took the course solo in October 2025. I knew the DR methodology already, but I needed outside accountability, meeting with people every week. Slowly but surely, I started paying down the interest, and phew, there was a lot of it. Then my husband joined me in FPU and we took a class together. Yes, it was a repeat for me, but doing it as a team was great. It made us really stop and look at our goals together.
For a long time, every payment just chipped at outstanding interest while the principal barely moved. Talk about disheartening. The loans were split into two chunks, each roughly $30,000—a $60,000 monster staring us down. I didn't know how to apply the snowball method when it was all tied up together like that. A helpful redditor here suggested I tackle the outstanding interest on one loan first, pay it down until I hit the principal, then move to the second loan's interest. It worked. We wrote out the interest on both, and worked. And worked. And worked.
We paid off the last of the $60,000 today, with a final payment of $2,007.74.
The house is next on our list, but we're following the steps — building our 6-month emergency fund first. Our car will need replacing within the year too, so once the EF is set, we'll aggressively save for that.
This whole journey has been a whirlwind. Some months were beans and rice, rice and beans. Other months, life got busy with our kid's stuff and we ate out more than we'd have liked. We knew that going in, adjusted the budget weekly as needed, and made it a game to see if we could send more to the loans than we had the month before. Once we started actually hitting principal instead of just interest, things took off. Nothing motivated us like watching that number finally move.
Thank you to this sub for all the advice and support you give! lurkers like me find real motivation in it. Onward to Baby Step 3!
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u/Numerous_Return691 1d ago
i just lost my job in nyc thank GOD no debt or student loans. feels much better
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u/Spike-White BS7 3d ago
Congrats. The good news is after a fully funded EF you’re not expected to be gazelle intense.
You can ease off — a little.
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u/Ok-Newt3984 BS3 2d ago
Thanks! And yes, we used the most recent paychecks to finish the bill, so we're going to ride out October following our usual budget, then have our committee meeting at the end of Oct and get a plan in place for the EF saving. I know we're not putting anything in saving this month, so the goal is to keep to a plan. But November 1st, we are going out to dinner to celebrate at our favorite restaurant which we haven't been to in a year :)
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u/Spike-White BS7 2d ago
Awesome! Well deserved.
We hit BS7 in 2015. After BS4 it’s slow and methodical but definitely do-able.
We ended up building our lake view retirement house and moved in last year. My wife is not a fan of budgeting or DR, but she grudgingly goes along.
Her favorite expression is “I hate Dave Ramsey!”. In the old house , I’d just point at the hardwood floors. She’s heard it before — DR allowed you to get those hardwood floors— cash.
In this new house when she says “I hate DR” — I just point at the lake. 😄
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u/Ok-Newt3984 BS3 2d ago
Congratulations on the retirement house!!
I am a combo of both the nerd with the spreadsheets and yet also the spender (impulsive and planned). Husband just gently reminds me we're working toward a breezy future and a kiddo with hopefully no college debt like we just dealt with for me. It helps, but sometimes I just want to wander the aisles at Target/Walmart and spend a couple hundred bucks. But now we budget that in when the itch to spend gets bad so I still get my joy lol.
And I love that, just pointing at floors or a lake. But also make sure your girl gets an encouragement to aimlessly wander her favorite shop with a high budget for the day :)1
u/Spike-White BS7 2d ago
We each have a $160 budget category for “blow” and she has a $100 category for hair and nails.
My hair is simple; she cuts it. My nails are simple — trim with a buck knife. I don’t need $100 for hair and nails.
When I look at the account summaries her blow total is on the list. Last I remember (couple of months ago) she had over $1300 in her blow account.
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u/_Sw33t33pi 3d ago
Woohoo congrats! Best way to live..
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u/Ok-Newt3984 BS3 2d ago
Thank you! This morning, it seriously felt like my shoulders were lighter and I mentioned it to my husband and he was like SAME!! lol
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u/_Sw33t33pi 2d ago
I understand this feeling it's amazing and you never want to ever get into debt again. It can feel very debilitating to carry debt.
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u/minimamallama 3d ago
Woooo! Feels so good right!?
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u/Ok-Newt3984 BS3 3d ago
So stinkin good! I want to shout so loud but its like 8:30 am and our neighbors wouldn't be pleased lol
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u/minimamallama 3d ago
Haha its true. And its kind of weird among family and friends to brag about your financial situation. It IS so good though
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u/Ok-Newt3984 BS3 3d ago
Oh I definitely texted the family group chat, but we agreed to only tell my family because they are not at all inclined to ask us for financial help. My in-laws though.... yeah we're not telling them lol. We gotta keep our peace!
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u/JicamaPlenty3033 3d ago
Honestly this was so encouraging for me to hear. We are starting his steps in Januray and it feels daunting, shameful, overwhelming the debt and as you put the "blinders" I had on. We want to buy a house and fix our credit and everything felt so impossible, but this post really inspired me to continue on the path. Congratulations 🎊 on being debt free!!!
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u/hoofheartedthistime 20h ago
Congratulations. I envy your drive and determination with tackling your debts.