“Live like no else today, so you can live like no else tomorrow.”

Dave Ramsey

Well, we sold our house!

Some backstory…

When we first moved to North Carolina in 2012, we were living in a one-bedroom apartment with no money. I remember feeling so alone in a new state with zero friends or family, pregnant and sitting in our tiny apartment by myself while Joel was at work.

We couldn’t afford to do anything! I craved Chic-fil-A and Starbucks but we rarely had the extra money to satisfy pregnancy cravings. (Which is probably why I gained way less weight while I was pregnant with Brayden than with Catalina haha)!

Fast forward a couple of years and our financial situation changed DRASTICALLY! One of my favorite things about Joel is how ambitious he is and he did everything he could to multiply his income every year. Resulting in a much more comfortable life.

We bought our first home in July 2015 and were so proud to own a cute townhouse while still in our 20’s! Things were looking up! And we decided to add our little Catalina Evangeline to our family.

Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems…

Needless to say, when we made more money, we spent more money. Joel’s side business encountered a big problem. We ended up being stretched very thin, and one late payment snowballed into an avalanche!

We would finally get to a place where we felt like we could start rebuilding and paying stuff off when something in the house would inevitably break! Water damaged floor, and a broken toilet that overflowed and ruined the carpet. Our dishwasher also broke. Everything was just going to shit!

It felt like we were trying not to drown. Once we were able to catch a breath, something else would happen that would pull us under and cost another few hundred or thousands of dollars.

It was time for a break! We decided that the stress of owning a house and being responsible for repairs while also trying to get ahead and pay off our new mountain of debt just wasn’t worth it to us.

We were fortunate enough to have purchased a house in downtown Cary which has increased in value quite a bit. So, we sold the house, paid off debt and set up a healthy savings account that we’ve never had before!

Our poor financial decisions certainly humbled us. Joel no longer cares about driving nice cars and we don’t care about being homeowners or impressing people. The stress caused by debt was putting a strain on our marriage and distracting us from the kids. Having a house and nice cars just weren’t important anymore. Of course, we want a fancy house someday but we needed to learn this lesson of financial responsibility and not caring what people think.

Homeownership is out of our system and honestly, it’s overrated! We like change so renting fits our life much better right now. Our apartment complex also has a pool and gym, so be prepared to see an extra swole and tan Jessica. 😉

I’ll also be posting vlogs about this whole moving and paying off debt shindig on my vlog channel so be sure to subscribe!