If you haven’t noticed, I like to read about other people’s financial journeys because I’m always curious to see how people cope and what they did to reduce their debt. Sometimes I’m fortunate enough for it to inspire a post. Today’s post came from an article I found while trolling the PF sites.

The author gives 10 things the majority of people will experience on their road to being debt free. It’s a great list and I can personally attest to the feelings. So, I figured I’d give you an idea of what I went through when I decided I’d had enough of my debt.

1.) I started my journey with a sense of enthusiasm and determination.

I sat down one day and told myself I’d had enough of living paycheck to paycheck and I wanted an out. I cherry-picked a few websites and read up on debt reduction and found myself a budget worksheet so I could sit down and make a budget. I questioned what I had been doing wrong and how I could avoid getting back to that place. I made plans and lists for my goals and what I wanted after I was debt free. I got myself excited at the prospect of living my own life with money that belonged to me.

2.) I learned to sacrifice.

It’s not easy, I’ve written on this before. I’ve recently had to tighten the belt again because I’ve lost money and, well I’m not in the most stable industry. Not that I think I’m going to lose my job, but I like to have a Plan B, just in case. But, when I made the decision to get out of debt, I did a lot of sacrificing. I cut fast food and dining out, cold turkey. I cooked at home every night. I made the mistake of cutting out all of my fun – I don’t recommend this because it can backfire and everyone needs a little release every now and again. I also gave up buying any DVDs. It was a lot of money that I could put towards my debt. I’ve said it before, sacrificing is hard to do!

3.) I really learned to hate certain cheap foods.

Along with sacrificing eating out, I sacrificed the more expensive foods to cook at home. I ate a lot of hot dogs, Ramen noodles, and PB&J. I was so sick of them that it was literally years before I could even stomach the smell of any of them. I don’t necessarily recommend that you do that, either. But as I said, I was pretty committed to knocking out my debt.

4.) Just when things started going well, I had an emergency.

It never fails, really. Just when things seem to be going according to plan, something always comes along to screw it up. It’s just nature’s way of making sure we really want to achieve that goal, but it sucks nonetheless. So, as I was just starting to get into a groove with my debt repayment plan, I had a major problem with the clunker I owned at the time. Apparently, the vehicle had been in an accident prior to my ownership and the driver’s side L-frame was a different size than the passenger size L-frame. Basically, the car was off balance and a too sharp turn trying to avoid some idiot from hitting me flipped me into a ditch. So, long story short, I needed a new car which also meant more debt. Grrrr.

5.) I wanted to quit.

It was the first time in my life that I had considered quitting something I had seriously been committed to. I was discouraged and confused about where my plans had gone wrong. I had to learn that there were things beyond my control, and no amount of planning was going to fix that. Still, my motivation was gone.

6.) I decided to press on.

After a lot of pep talks and nagging parents, I was able to put myself back on track with my debt plan. But, I realized that I needed to put a little fun back in the budget because having no outlet made the disappointment of a setback even worse. So, I reworked the budget and added a little fun. I’d been so deprived that I went a little overboard, but I was able to recover fairly quickly. I moved forward with my plan and found my groove again.

7.) I found new ways to create income.

I become a mystery shopper for a while, I house sat, walked dogs, delivered groceries to the elderly, whatever little odd and end job I could find. That money went towards my debt and helped me chisel away the burden that much quicker.

8.) When I could see the finish line, I started making plans to celebrate.

I promised myself that when I was debt free I was going to have the best steak and lobster dinner money could buy. Ironic because I don’t like lobster…I just substituted the crab. The point is, I had something in mind to reward myself for my efforts.

9.) Once I made that final payment and saw it clear my account, I lost it!

I’m not going to lie…I acted a fool! I ran around the house screaming and yelling. I burned all the of the credit card bills from my previous debt, one by one, and had some choice words for each of the burning pieces that fell away. I went out to celebrate with my friends (the planned event from number eight!). It was great, my friends and I went to the restaurant and someone told the waiter that we were celebrating my being debt free. I won’t repeat the details, let’s just say I’m pretty sure I didn’t motivate anyone to let the staff know they were also debt free, even if they got free dessert out of the deal.

10.) I promised to never put myself in that situation again!

I even followed that up with a few self-death threats…kidding! Sort of. But truthfully, you feel so relieved at that point that you can’t think of anything but how you DON’T want to go through that again. At the same time, you’re thankful that you made it through in one piece.

Ok, so those of you who’ve pulled yourself out from under mounds of debt, how do you think these 10 things compare with your journey? Did you experience different emotions and processes?

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