Debt can become a slippery slope that starts with what is often branded as necessities in modern life, whether it be a car, house or even simply a credit card.
When one woman moved from Kenya to the United States she only recognised she had fallen for the trap when she was $18,000 (£13,000) deep already.
Appearing on The Ramsey Show for the podcast’s iconic Debt-free Scream segment, where successful followers share their journey to becoming debt-free concluded with a freeing yell, Mercy explained how she managed to pay off this daunting debt in less than a year.
The Texas resident originally immigrated from her native Kenya three years ago and joined the American military in January last year.
When she was assigned to Fort Cavazos in Texas, she believed she was doing the right thing by following everyone else’s lead and bought a car with monthly repayments.
She soon discovered Rachel Cruze, a collaborator of Dave Ramsey, and The Ramsey Show which highlighted her mistake and sparked a relentless fire within her.
She recalled: “What you teach is how I was raised; if you don’t have the money, don’t buy it. It just clicked. I decided this debt had to go.”
Tightening her monthly budget as best as she could on a $42,000 (£31,000) salary, the mum-of-one doubled and sometimes even tripled the amount she was paying every month for the car.
Although this meant she was “living on nothing, just rice and beans”, her family both in Kenya and America as well as her son Jeremy were proudly cheering her on.
Mercy highlighted that her entire mindset shifted away from the mainstream advice and inclinations people are usually bombarded with: “Sacrifice for me was the biggest one. I said I’m not going to be jealous or want a life I cannot afford so I will do this brick by brick.
“We get here and we’re told; you have to have a credit score, you have to have a credit card. And you believe it because they say that’s the only way, but it’s not, there’s a better way. I have paid off $18,000 (£13,000), it took me around 9 months, but on April 30 I became debt-free.”
When asked what it felt like to have that financial burden off of her shoulders, the 29-year-old couldn’t help but giggle with glee: “I cannot explain it. Doing my budget every month and not seeing that extra payment to the car dealership that I would’ve paid, it’s surreal. Like I have so much money! That $500 (£378) back a month is everything.”
She hasn’t just become debt-free to better her and her son’s financial situation, but Mercy also ended her journey by starting another: “My sister and I are cash-flowing my grandmother’s house in Kenya. My grandmother raised us and that has been a blessing. We’re building the house, by December she’ll be in.”
