Debt Free Journey: Intro

If you keep up with The Wild Ride and my life updates, then you know that I am in the United States Marine Corps Reserves serving on active duty orders. Before orders I was working at Walt Disney World in Florida, and before that I was serving at The Wilds Camp in North Carolina. The Wild Ride (this blog) was started in 2011 as I was on my way to becoming a United States Marine. Along the way I added this Financial Adventure section while I was learning and living my own financial hardships and successes.

Back in 2018 I started the “My Financial Journey” series and have posted intermittently. I need to do better. So what better way to do better than to add another series––am I right? This new series is intended as an update and accountability feature during the remainder of my debt free journey. It is easy to talk about the journey after it has happened, but it is difficult to talk about the journey in real time. What if I fail? What if there are setbacks? What if COVID-20 somehow becomes a thing? It is a part of the wild ride and what this blog is about. Every person’s path is unique yet there are shared, unspoken experiences. I’m here to speak on my experiences with the potential to provide hope to those who need it. Let’s do this thing!

I started my debt free journey way back in 2014 after taking a 9-week course called Financial Peace University. During this course I learned about seven steps for getting out of debt and building wealth. Of course, as noted in the series title, I am still in debt and working these steps to build wealth. Given that it’s 2020 and I am STILL in debt shows that the journey has not been easy. I am fully to blame as I’ve hopped on and off the plan at my leisure. As the kids say, SMH (shake my head).

This series differs from the “My Financial Journey” series because this is debt-specific. The plan is to provide progress updates on my journey to becoming debt free. Granted, some of my current circumstances are unique, but hopefully this series will provide some inspiration and hope that becoming debt free is possible. I certainly believe it. To be very clear though, I do not claim to be a financial professional! These are my personal experiences.

Maybe I am biting off more than I can chew. Maybe this is going to be awesome. I don’t know! I do know that I am currently on track to becoming debt free by Spring 2021. Keep me accountable! If you see me on a Disney Cruise again before I am debt free, you have permission to send me angry face emojis. We are going to start with lessons learned, major accomplishments, and many mistakes made pre-COVID (remember, it’s been SIX YEARS since I hopped on and off this journey). Hopefully this works. Be sure to drop me a comment if you have questions or things to say. So without further ado, I present to you my first post of the series.  If you are on a debt free journey, I offer these words of encouragement: you can do it.

Be strong. Love God. Love others.