Freedom Friday: The Tale of the Target VISA Dragon

So this is a little long but indulge me.  Next week, I’m excited to share Lady Julie and Sir Andy’s story of Freedom in Progress (almost achieved!).  You won’t want to miss it.

Hey everybody. So glad you stopped by today. Freedom Friday is when I bi-weekly let you in on how we’re doing with our pursuit of paying off debt. It’s also when many of you have e-mailed me with your story (with either “Freedom in Progress” or “Freedom Achieved” in the subject line) so I can share your story to encourage others, too.


Gather around children, to hear a tale of bone chilling proportions.  It’s about a young lass, fair and naive was she.  Her red pony tail often bopped in the wind as she skipped through life.  Very few cares had she in this world.  As a young college student, she spent summers working for the Salvation Army.  On staff at a campground, she got to work with young children, inspire, and encourage.

Artwork composed of credit cards at Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace Plaza

On the weekends, she spent time with great life long friends . . . Lady Kerry, Lady Susan, Sir Johnmark, Lady Nicole.  Some of that time was spent shopping.  AND as fate would have it, there were Target Stores in the fair state of WI near to where she worked.  Her Target Shopping experiences as a youth had been limited to 2 hour drives as the glorious store wasn’t in existence near her home.  But now, she could be a Target Shopper.  She was so happy.

One day, upon checking out she was enticed by a young maid who was just doing her job.  She said that the lass could save 10% if only she signed up for a Target card.  “What’s the harm?” thought the young lass and she signed up.  She never kept more than $100 on the Target card and paid it off each month.  Then not too long afterward, she met the man of her dreams – her Prince Charming, shall we say?  And they married.  And they lived . . . well not so happily ever after exactly.

You see Target upgraded her card to a Target VISA card without her knowledge.  And as young newlyweds the pair was oft faced with difficult choices.  When the brakes went out on the car and they had no emergency fund, the expenses were placed on the Target Visa.  When there wasn’t quite enough $ for what they wanted to do, it went on Target Visa.  When God blessed them with a young child of their own, more expenses piled onto the Target Visa.

And it grew.

and grew.

and grew!

Until there was $16,500 on that Target VISA card.  My word it shocks my soul to simply even see the number.  Even though it started as a tiny nestling, it became a fierce beast that lived chained in their backyard.  It growled at them when they wanted to do something.  It kept them awake at night.  It stopped them from helping others by its massive minimum payments.  It wrecked their hopes of ever having it paid off.  The task simply seemed insurmountable.

But almost 2 years ago, the young pair (who were not as young as they once were but certainly not ready for the old folks home) began a debt slaying plan toward financial freedom.  And just a short month and a half ago, together they pressed the enter button on their laptop.  And with one fail swoop, a dagger pierced through the heart of the Target VISA Dragon.

He has flatlined.  He’s buried in the backyard.  And he’s never, EVER coming back.  With only the Evil Enchantress Sallie Mae standing in their way now, this pair of debt slaying dragon killers has more artillery than ever.  Each month, they gleefully make mammoth sized payments on something that was supposed to take DECADES to pay off, knowing that they’ll knock it out in around 3 years (or quite possibly less).

And that my friends, is how they WILL live happily. ever. after.

The End