I found myself with crippling anxiety and panic attacks. I had never had a panic attack prior, and I was in my 30’s. I had struggled with some anxiety since I was a teenager, but it was under control, that was… Until it wasn’t.
Don’t let smiles fool you. Everyone struggles at times.
I had to dig deep and figure out how to change our financial situation and figure it out fast. We were drowning in debt, but I didn’t realize we were making so many “bad” financial decisions. I thought we were doing ok with our money. We had paid off my student loans when my husband and I first got together, and we didn’t have any credit card debt.
We did have two vehicle loans, house payment, and a camper loan. Our camper was a huge, gorgeous, 1-year-old destination camper that we had parked on a permanent camper site. We had worked hard on landscaping and making it our “second” home. But I soon realized that we were not enjoying it as much as we hoped, we didn’t have enough time to spend there, and we had a $300+ loan payment on it for 15 years!
Once my husband and I got on a plan, started a budget, and knew what our financial goals were, I felt better. I had a HUGE weight lifted off my shoulders. I was under so much pressure with our money situation and some other life stressors, but I didn’t realize it. Stress can manifest (show up) in many ways. I still deal with anxiety, but it is much better than it was.
Communication is key in any relationship. Talk about everything, the easy and the HARD STUFF. Talk about your finances and goals. Work together to come up with a plan and stick to it.
As a family, we made the decision to sell our camper and it really pushed us forward in our debt payoff journey. It wasn’t an easy decision to make, especially for my husband and 3 boys. But we are so happy we decided to sell it. Going to the camper was getting to be more stressful than enjoyable because we had the weight of debt on our shoulders.
You may be finding yourself dealing with more anxiety. Mental health issues are rising significantly. This is not surprising with the rising costs of everything due to inflation and many of us barely able to make ends meet. If you are living paycheck to paycheck, please know that there are other options out there.
Remember, just because you can make the minimum payments does not mean you can afford it. I fell into this thought pattern as well. I thought because we could even pay more than the minimum payment that we definitely could afford all the things!
Prior to paying off our debt. I was riddled with anxiety, we could not save enough money for me to feel secure, and we could not go on nice family vacations and make the memories I so desperately wanted to make with my family.
Our first “big” family trip to South Dakota in 2021. We had so much fun and paid cash!
Now, I have less stress, less anxiety, we are saving for upcoming events, vacations, a newer car, the boys’ sports, etc. I feel much more secure in life and our finances, and we are able to take an annual family vacation, paid for in cash!
We went to Florida in August, and we had a blast. We were able to pay cash for our trip and it made it so relaxing to know we were not going into debt to make memories. We would not have been able to go on that vacation if we still had all our debt.
Mental health is real, it is scary, it is frustrating, and it can be relentless. It can also come and go. I am now learning to live my life the best way possible, putting my mental health first and trying to stay away from things that do not allow me to be the best version of myself.
