You want to get out of debt. You dream of being debt free. You work hard at it, sending in extra payments and finding additional ways to cut back and bring in more money.
And sometimes, it still feels like you’re getting nowhere fast.
But you are getting somewhere — even if you’re having setbacks, or not seeing your balances go down as quickly as you would like. (Believe me, I’d love to see our mortgage balance go down faster!)
That’s why it’s really important to nurture your debt free dream on a regular basis.
Spend time on your why
Think about why you’re getting out of debt. Imagine what things will be like when you are. Really picture it, write it out, or talk about it with other supportive people.
Think of yourself as a pioneer, only without the strong possibility of dying along the way. The pioneers had more than a goal: they had a dream. And they nurtured the heck out of that dream while they walked across America, enduring blizzards, lack of water, attacks, disease, and other hardships.
They kept going, no matter how hard things got. They continued putting one foot in front of the other, focused on that beautiful land and future they would have one day — and not the blisters they could feel on their rag-wrapped feet.
Don’t turn back
You don’t turn back when you’ve got a dream. You keep going. Sometimes, you rest and regroup for a few days. Sometimes you get sidetracked by how easy it might have been to just stayed home like those normal people back east who thought you were crazy for venturing out into the wild.
But then you remember what you really want.
Nurture your debt free dream, and you’ll enjoy the fruits of your labor when you get there.
I'm Jackie Beck, personal finance writer and creator of 
I like the comparison to being a pioneer. Just think about what our ancestors went through to get to a better life in North America. We can toughen up and make it through debt!
Yup, we just need to keep going!
I love don’t turn back. It never gets too old to hear those things. I am always questioning myself and reading it again keeps me on track to move forward. Thanks.
Keep after your dream :)
I agree, you just have to keep plugging away and eventually your snowflakes will turn into snowballs which will turn into avalanches.
That’s exactly the way it works :)
They say that only steps required to succeed are 1) to start, and 2) to continue.
So true!
My wife is the one that’s good at sustained effort. She has had to be patient at teaching me how to do things that require years, but luckily, she’s good at sustained effort.
Hopefully that means you two make a great team :)
The biggest problem I actually had was starting. It took a while to acknowledge that I had a problem.
I think that’s very common, especially since debt is so “normal” in that it’s all around us.