Family Finances That Work

How one family crawled out of debt in just a few years and now live in financial freedom...and how you can too!

I know first hand how stressful managing family finances can be, especially when there’s a new baby.

It can feel like there’s never enough money, no light at the end of the proverbial tunnel and a constant struggle to make ends meet. Combine that with the added pressure of a family, and wham - it’s a sure fire recipe for disaster, right?

Good news, my friend - there is another way, and it’s a blessing. I know from our own struggles and successes that it’s indeed possible to turn the stress of balancing checkbooks, paying bills and making sure your family’s finances are in order into a great gift, to yourselves, your children and to others.

Intrigued? Keep reading.

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Swimming in Debt

Just six short years ago, we were swimming in debt. Not just a few department store credit cards or a car loan, I mean DEBT. Drowning in $107,000, not including our mortgage, to be exact. Our mammoth mountain of fiscal responsibilities came from a combination of one minivan loan, personal debt to family, credit card charges on multiple cards racked up from baby gear, clothing, vacations, dining out, grocery bills, home improvements, and the list went on. The reality is all that debt stemmed from one thing: a lack of responsibility and discipline on the part of myself and my husband.

Not the First Time

The saddest thing is this wasn’t our first time in large amounts of debt. In fact, we’d paid off nearly $100,000 once before by credit card consolidation and eventually selling a home to pay the balance. But somehow, we ended up right where we’d been before: feeling trapped, helpless, and quite frankly, always broke. We had a heart to be generous, but had no idea how we could possibly give on the meager amounts we were scraping by just to pay for groceries and baby gear.

A Financial Miracle

I’m not sure what caused the final wake-up-call, but one day, I approached my husband after being stressed-out-to-the-max again over the bills and said, “I’ve recently heard of this class called Financial Peace University. They’re hosting it at a church about 45 minutes away. It’s about $100 for both of us to register, and enough is enough. We can’t live like this anymore. They’ve even got child care. Can I sign us up?”

The commitment my husband and I made to the Lord, each other and that class was truly the catalyst of our financial miracle. Through the video teachings, we heard Dave Ramsey quote Proverbs and say “the borrower is slave to the lender,” and decided for good we weren’t okay being slaves. We dreamt of a life of freedom and I’m sure you do too.

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Baby Steps

One step at a time, following a plan, we began our journey to becoming debt-free, and here we are, six-years later, carrying only under a decade of a mortgage note less than half our old one. We’ve been leading the Financial Peace classes and coaching others to financial freedom.

Not only have we been blessed in our finances, but in every other aspect of our lives, too, especially our marriage. We both come from broken homes and had listened to fights about money for years. We refused to be a part of the statistic of families ending in divorce due to finances. We committed to making our family finances work.

Wherever you are in your family’s fiscal matters, I hope our story helps propel you to new heights in your financial plans and dreams, and that you share the inspiration with someone else along the way.

Learn how you can make your family finances work for you next week when we share Eight Practical Tips for Getting Out of Debt.

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Jen Reyneri

Jen Reyneri

Renaissance Woman Jen Reyneri and her husband Luis often live life on the road with their two home-schooled sons. Popular author and speaker, Jen is founder of WordTraveling.com. Spirited and spirit filled, she savors life, poetic words, sabbaticals and strong coffee.

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