Guest Post: From Young & In Debt to Young & Free!

When I first thought about starting this blog, I knew I wanted to invite other like minded women to participate. Anna was the first person I thought of...at such a young age, she has become the model "frugal girl", which has allowed her growing family to live like no else. I love hearing about her family & their day to day plans & I hope you do too...Enjoy!


Hey there! My name is Anna.

My husband, Mark, and I have been married for almost 5 years and we have three beautiful children, Jacob (3), Elizabeth (2), and Rebekah (1). We bought our first house a little over a year ago. And besides the house -which we got a great deal on!- we are debt free and enjoying saving for not only our future, but for the future of our kids!

We were introduced to Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University (F.P.U.) at our church about 4 years ago. We had no idea that class would change our lives forever! We went into it with a good amount of debt. Most of our debt was medical bills, and we had a good size car loan, as well as a personal loan for some tools that my mechanic husband "needed" for work. In all, there was about $22,000 of money that we owed. Being right out of high school, and pregnant when we were married, Mark was the only one working -bringing home about $20,000 a year with his job as a mechanic. But after taking F.P.U. we decided that our age, how much we made a year, or what people thought of us wasn't relevant. We had to be good stewards with what we had and "change our family tree" as Dave always says. Mark worked full time during the day and had a paper route in the middle of the night while I stayed home with the kids and sold the things that we didn't need. I started making money on the side by decorating cakes from home and within 2 years, we were DEBT FREE at the age of 22. We disciplined ourselves to live on less than we made, no exceptions, and to put things in the right priority.

Learning to manage our money not only helped us financially, but in every area of our lives! We learned how to communicate in our marriage by setting goals and budgets for ourselves. We're training our young children how to earn money and to give, save, and spend what they've earned. We've learned to be disciplined with diet and exercise -because we like the end result! But most importantly, we've learned that no matter what the circumstances are, no matter what the "emergency" is, no matter how great life is, we must be open and honest with not only ourselves and each other, but with those around us too! Integrity is the key to a financially peaceful life! And as Dave always says, "The only way to financial peace is to walk daily with the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ!" That is how we live our lives! Needless to say, Mark no longer throws papers! (And we know that if we continue to live frugally he will never have again!) My cake business is growing quickly and we are excited for what our future holds!

We now teach F.P.U. at our church and love helping others find joy in being good stewards with what they've been given! My prayer is that we will be able to help others learn how to save, communicate, and establish habits that will not only help them financially, but in everyday living.

Anna and her husband live in Oregon with their 3 beautiful children. She owns a cake business, teaches FPU at their church, cooks, cleans, sings in the choir, plays sports & still finds time to hang out with her family on a daily basis! You'll be hearing more from her in the future!