How this couple paid off $52K debt in 18 months
After Deacon and Kim Hayes tied the knot in 2008, the couple said they wanted to tackle their pile of debt.
Between the two of them, the Hayes said they had $52,000 in total debt.
Not wanting to spend their marriage mired in debt, the Hayes said they decided to tackle it together.
"We both came from backgrounds where money was a stressor in our families for different reasons and on different levels," Deacon Hayes told "Good Morning America." "But I think once we got married, we both realized we didn't want that stress in our lives and our marriage."
The couple said they not only decided to pay off their debt, but to do it in an ambitious way -- paying off their total debt in under two years.
"He did the math. He said it was possible," Kim Hayes said of her husband. "But there was definitely a lot of things that needed to happen to make that work."
Through a combination of intense discipline and extra income streams, the couple achieved their goal and paid off the entirety of their $52,000 debt in 18 months.
"It took a little while for it to sink in because I was so used to making those payments," Deacon Hayes said. "And you're like, 'Oh, wow! Our bank account is actually going up.'"
Now debt-free and the parents of two children, Deacon and Kim Hayes shared four tips for paying off debt.
1. Know exactly where your money is going
Write down your expenses, income and debt payments per month, the couple recommends.
Deacon Hayes said he recommends using a spreadsheet to track where your money is coming and going.
"What we found is there were some categories that we were over spending on a lot and we really wanted to figure out like, how could we have boundaries around that," he said.
2. Put limits on expenses that can fluctuate
In order to cut down on expenses like grocery shopping and entertainment that can vary month to month, the Hayeses said they used cash.
Specifically, they put cash in envelopes with their allotted budget for each category.
Kim Hayes said she there were weeks she would go to the grocery store with $20 cash to ensure that was all that she spent.
3. Negotiate better deals on bills like TV and car insurance
By calling providers for bills like car insurance and TV and internet, the Hayeses said they were able to negotiate better deals that saved them hundreds of dollars each month.
4. Have a visual reminder of your debt payoff
The Hayeses also recommend creating a debt tracker that you put up visibly somewhere in your house, like on your fridge.
Every time you make a payment, cross off how much debt you owe as a visual reminder to keep you motivated.
