The perks of being debt free

Let's talk about how your life changes when you pay off debt. You see people on the Dave Ramsey show (if you watch online during their debt-free scream); it's like they are ripping off the chains that bind them and running through a field of clovers like The Sound of Music.

And sometimes it feels that way and sometimes it doesn't. You have this moment of euphoria, and then you come back to the ground and realize there's still a lot of work to do. There are still budgets to be made and goals to be set and responsibilities. 

But there is work to do and so much freedom.

 I liken being in debt to carrying around a backpack full of bricks: it's heavy, it hurts, it's hard to breathe. You feel stressed out, anxious all the time because you're dragging all this weight behind you.

 And then brick by brick, that backpack gets lighter until you finally get to take it off. That's the greatest perk to being debt-free, you've gotten all those bricks out. You can throw that backpack in the garbage can, go on about your life, do what you want to do, and tell your money what to do, rather than handing your money to Sallie Mae every month (or Visa).

 But the greatest perk to being debt-free is being free. Not having to make payments to people. Not having to live paycheck to paycheck, not worrying about having extra money to cover little expenses that arise. 

Jason and I are currently saving up for a car with a third-row seat. It would be so easy to take out a loan and get a minivan and be done. It is work to save up the money to pay for it. But it is awesome not having car payments.

And not having monthly payments means we have been able to weather storms that came our way, we put a new roof on our home and paid cash for it, we've taken our family on awesome trips. We are able to do things we just couldn't do otherwise. 

But there is freedom. There is freedom in having control over your money. And it is freedom that is completely worth it.

Are you debt-free? I would love to know about it.