Routinely, Dave Ramsey asks debt free callers on his show if anyone made fun of them. Unfortunately, he didn’t ask us a couple of weeks ago. We had our answer all prepared.
It was a big fat no.
We really don’t think that was an accident. We have indeed been blessed with a fantastic group of friends. Some of them gave us this the day after we paid off our Sallie Mae debt (the final payment in our debt snowball). And they toasted us with sparkling apple cider. It. was. awesome.
BEST tasting cake I have ever eaten. Period.
They know us well. They’ve been cheering for us for many years. And they’ve walked with us consistently. And even when they thought we were crazy (surely at some point, they must have), they at least didn’t voice those thoughts out loud. They didn’t ask us to do things that were outside of our budget (I’m sure they must have wanted to from time to time). They never said, “Well why would you want to do that?”
Instead, they cheered us on, prayed for us, asked how things were going, and even gave us hand-me-downs on a regular basis.
Bottom line, you need a supportive group of people (whether they’re slaying debt themselves or not) who believe in you in order to pay off all of your debt. You need cheerleaders who are invested in your story and want to see you win. You need those who will celebrate the small and huge victories of your journey.
Granted, I have a feeling anyone who knows us probably would have been a little frightened to make fun of us.
We’re scary (and we know it).
Basically, there’s a bit of fearlessness that you need to pay off debt. It’s not a devil-may-care sort of attitude because you still want to take into account others’ feelings. However, you need to grow some thick skin if someone’s making fun of you OR be willing to cut ties with those who will either lead you astray or bring you down.
Haters aren’t going where you’re going. Losers often mock winners. Sometimes, it’s the only way you know that you’re doing something right in this world. Don’t even make me break out the old mom-ism, “If they make fun of you, they’re not really your friends anyway.”
But they’re not.
Find a group of like-minded debt slayers. It will make all the difference in your journey.
