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106 | From Addiction To FI | Ms. Fiology

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Deanna, blogger at msfiology.com, shares her journey from drug and alcohol addiction to recovery, paying off six-figures of personal debt, and getting started on her path toward financial independence. She also wrote an article for ChooseFI detailing her journey.

Deanna Broaddus, Ms. FI-ology

  • Deanna started looking for security in drugs and alcohol in her teens, becoming a high-functioning addict for more than a decade.
  • After getting sober, Deanna spent time discovering how and why she fell into these patterns.
  • How did Deanna’s early interactions with her parents impact her choices as teen?
  • If pursuing FI means sacrificing time with your children today, think hard about it.
  • What caused Deanna to walk away from drugs, alcohol and an abusive relationship?
  • Although she was able to live a double life and fool many people, a handful of people in Deanna’s life saw her actions and confronted her.
  • When Deanna got sober in 2010 she had six-figures of personal debt, though she took about four years to work on her recovery before fully addressing her finances.
  • Deanna started chipping away on her debt following principles of Dave Ramsey’s “debt snowball” concept, and budget help from a person at her church.
  • Deanna’s house went into foreclosure after she was unable to pay for some significant repairs, which damaged her credit, but after paying all her debt a few years later her credit is back to excellent.
  • How did Deanna drive down life costs when she started paying off debt on a $40k salary?
  • Deanna moved back into her parents’ house for two years to pay off her debt.
  • The method behind Dave Ramsey’s “debt snowball” is to list all your debts from smallest to largest regardless of interest rate, then begin to pay them smallest to largest.
  • Paying off debts always starts with writing it all down and making a plan.
  • Debt free since Jan. 2018, what is Deanna doing with her paycheck now?
  • Deanna is starting late on her FI journey, but she is on track to reach FI in 14 years.

Listen to Brad and Jonathan’s thoughts about this episode here.

ESI Money

Saving Joyfully

Essentialism – Greg McKeown

https://www.choosefi.com/106-from-addiction-to-fi-ms-fiology/
Choose FI has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. Choose FI and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. American Express is a ChooseFI advertiser. Disclosures.
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