Three Keys to Your Debt-Free Future!

By Brian Jacks, MTM
Marketplace Pastor of Christ Church

As a college student accumulating student loans, it never occurred to me I could live a debt-free life. No mortgage. No car payment. No tuition payment. Can you see yourself in a similar place? Don’t say no. Living according to a budget can help you get there!

As the Marketplace Pastor and leader of the Financial Empowerment Ministry at Christ Church, I’ve helped and encouraged people over the last 35 years, as they gain control of their finances and eliminate debt. The road to a debt-free life begins with creating and living according to a budget or simply a plan for how to spend money. This isn’t just a theory for my wife Alesia and I. We started living according to a budget—or a plan for how to control money—from the beginning of our marriage. We are debt-free not because of a huge inheritance, but through discipline and determination. Aleisa and I came from different backgrounds but we had much in common.

Alesia was the youngest of seven siblings, raised by a single mother in Southwest Philadelphia also known as “The Bottom.” The heroic matriarch, Sadie Reynolds, raised seven college-bound and accomplished children after losing her husband when Alesia was only 6. The Reynolds knew how to count pennies.

I was the oldest of two where I observed both of my parents working hard to survive. At the age of 40, while I was in junior high school, my father quit his three jobs to pursue a medical career. By the time I graduated from high school, my father was beginning his private practice as a medical physician. While my father was in school full time, my mother provided for all of us, on a modest high school counselor’s salary. The Jacks knew how to count pennies.

We both observed and lived frugal lifestyles growing up. I’ve had a job since I was 11 and budgeted a bit. However, it wasn’t until college that I really started learning money management. I recall devouring all of Larry Burkett’s books, the founder of the nonprofit organization now known as Crown Financial. With my newfound knowledge from Burkett and the Bible, we started living on a budget and tithing from our very first professional paychecks.

In addition to being debt-free, there are many reasons to have a written spending plan. Here are three:

1. Planned spending is freeing
   
   Do you feel living on a budget will be like living with handcuffs? The common apprehension to living on a budget is the fear it will be financially restrictive. So many people are afraid it will be too much work and they won’t be able to spend at all.
   
   For us, it’s been so the contrary. Living according to a spending plan that we created together freed us to accomplish our goals. We knew we wanted children and to move into our own home. We started out in a tiny apartment; a hole in the wall you might say. But because we had a financial plan, we were eventually able to purchase our first house after just two years of marriage. Living according to a budget or spending plan is not restrictive, but freeing.

   Take a good, hard look at your life. Think it over. You have spent a lot of money, but you haven’t much to show for it.
   –Haggai 1:5

2. Living on a budget allows for a peaceful home life
   
   Having a financial plan has contributed to peace in our marriage and household. According to a recent article in Investopedia titled, “The No. 1 Reason Why Couples Fight,” money is the No. 1 culprit. Though in a few months we will celebrate 32 years of marriage, we have never had an argument over money. Okay, I do remember one time about 20 years ago a bill was overlooked and a late fee resulted–which led to a not-so-peaceful conversation. But, overall, we have not had intense fellowships over money.
   
   A few years ago, we shared our lack of fighting over money with my sister-in-law. She made us promise to share our experience with everyone we can. She explained people need to hear that it’s possible to have a marriage where you don’t have augments over money.
   
   When you live on a budget, since you have a plan for every dollar before you receive it, there isn’t a lot to argue about. When every dollar you receive has a name or destination figuratively written on it, and you have established goals, you don’t function as individuals with different plans but as a team working together. Living on a budget can bring peace to a relationship.

   “…it’s possible to have a marriage where you don’t have arguments over money.”
   

3. Living on a spending plan develops discipline
   
   Living on a budget takes determination and discipline–especially, early on. In the early days, we had to budget every dollar as we had student debt and lofty savings goals. We lived on cash only. If we went out to eat, we had cash in an envelope that Alesia would take out of the drawer and place in her pocketbook. When the envelope was empty, then there was no more eating out that month.
   
   Our house was the emptiest of all our friends because we waited until we had the cash to purchase furniture. Looking back, that discipline allowed for the financial success we now enjoy. The discipline we learned allowed us to save while growing in generosity. It’s imperative to discipline ourselves, and financial discipline is integral to achieving a debt-free life. The quicker financial discipline is pursued, the quicker your path toward successfully living on a spending plan. The faster one starts living on a budget, the faster a debt-free life will be realized.
   
   Take time to imagine life with zero debt. Now, is anything getting in your way to living on a budget?