My husband and I started our married life with $13,000 in student debt.
I was concerned, because I had a negative view of debt.
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Before we met, my husband attended a private university with an enormous price tag.
To his credit, he had taken two steps to rapidly decrease his loans from their original amount.
First, hed paid off around $10,000 during his first year after graduation.
He carried another $2,500 with the loan company.
He was on board, so we made a plan.
In reality, it can be so much cheaper than that.
Our friends and family were amazing, and gave us parts of the wedding as their gifts.
One friend made our cake.
Another did the table decorations.
My aunt made my dress.
My mom did the flowers.
In total, our wedding cost $2,000, which we paid for with those generous gifts.
Thats when we took the biggest step to get out of debt: We moved in with my parents.
We paid them $200 per month to help cover utilities, and we all contributed to groceries.
My food budget remained the same as when we had our own place, $250 per month.
I also wondered how long we would have to stay to make a dent in our debt.
As it turns out, those fears were unfounded.
We had a lovely time with my parents.
I felt better when I realized a lot of people in our age group make similar decisions.
I readseveral studiesshowing how other people used multi-family living to become financially stable.
Yes, flip phones.
We Got Rid of Cable
No more cable for us!
Our Internet bill is about $41 per month.
Your Turn: What strategies have you used to pay off debt, especially on a low income?
Eliyah Eells is a stay-at-home-mom, freelance writer and proofreader.
Her hobbies include coffee shops, coffee and listening to interesting people.
(Can you sense my millennial sarcasm there?)
You know which ones were talking about: rent, utilities, cell phone bill, insurance, groceries…
