My Personal Finance Story: Getting Out Of Anxiety-Inducing Debt

Some of you may recognize my name from many a client emails on the Gradient Accounting side of things. And some of you may not recognize me at all. Kacey Mills is my name, and accounting is my game. I originally became an accountant for my intense passion for government law and financial jargon – just kidding. 

But I did always enjoy math and had a passion for figuring things out and helping which is really what accountants do. Anyway, I went to school, graduated, worked really hard, and racked up a whole bunch of credit card debt. You know what they still don’t teach you in college even as an accounting major, PERSONAL FINANCE!

It All Adds Up

I had worked since I was 16, and was taught to live modestly, save for things you wanted, and pay off your credit card every month. Well guess what happens when you buy your first car because your 1999 Camry finally can’t make your commute to work, and then you move and then you move again, and then suddenly that credit card balance is growing a little bit each and every month to a point where you’re paying interest and then some….I was 22 and having daily panic attacks about my debt. 

Oh man, and when I finally said the words out loud to my step(BONUS) mom, I was humiliated. I was an ACCOUNTANT, numbers and money was literally my job. How could I be in debt, living paycheck to paycheck!?

Starting My Payoff Journey

Admitting I needed help with my money was the first step to my financial literacy. I was introduced to a magical man who saves people and their money, his name was Dave Ramsey. Dave is just an old school financial guy whose methods help people get out of debt. I related to his daughter Rachel Cruz a lot more so I stuck to her books (I recommend checking out Love Your Life, Not Theirs). This amazing, never seen before, “get out of debt” method was to simply switch to cash, and budget your money.

The Budget

I put my credit card in a drawer at home under a bunch of old notebooks where I would probably forget about it, and I started to budget. The amazing thing about a budget was that my life didn’t really change drastically. 

I paid my rent and utilities. I had $30 a month for coffee dates with my girlfriends. I had $120 for household items and whatever else I wanted at Target. I had money for the groceries I liked to eat, and even had a monthly amount for eating out. 

I got my paycheck once a month, took out what I had budgeted in cash, and paper-clipped my clumps of money together. From there, I only spent what I had in cash until it was time to do it all over again the next month.

What My Friends Thought

I got a lot of mixed feedback doing this. Most people (the ones who had experience with debt) were impressed and cheering me on for my paperclips of cash. Others, who I found didn’t have much experience with crippling anxiety over debt, would kind of laugh or poke fun. They then would proceed to tell me how they manage multiple credit cards and play with points and cash bonuses and tell me about all this free money that the credit card companies hand out. (Playing that game is not for me, and never will be. And I have no shame in that.) 

It was hard work, embarrassing at times, but when I got to put that extra $500 a month payment on my credit card, and when I finally owned my car, and started saving it was a really really great feeling. 

Your Financial Journey Has Peaks and Valleys

Fast Forward to this past April, when my husband and I welcomed our beautiful baby girl into this world. She is so perfect, but she was not free. This new season has brought on a new experience with hefty medical bills and we find ourselves in a somewhat similar place as my 22 year old self. 

Budgeting and paying off this new debt. It’s difficult for me to accept that we didn’t have the cash saved up like Dave Ramsey would have wanted but I am not going to let that anxiety consume me. I will always be learning but I am so proud of my financial journey and I love telling my story in hopes of helping others.