For a long time, my husband and I thought we were doing okay financially.
We got married in 2020 and both had decent-paying jobs. We took vacations about twice a year, paid our bills, but didn’t really budget. We lived mostly paycheck to paycheck and relied on credit cards when needed. Looking back, neither of us had great spending habits — but it didn’t feel urgent. We were getting by.
And for a while, that felt like enough.
Life Changed After Becoming Parents
In November of 2022, we welcomed our son. As most parents know, babies bring so much joy — and also a lot of new expenses. Diapers, formula, childcare needs, and everything in between added up quickly.
Because we didn’t have a budget, we continued to “just get by.” We weren’t intentionally planning our money — we were reacting to it.
Then in summer of 2023 came, and things shifted again.
My husband started a new job as an electrical apprentice. Anyone familiar with that path knows the pay is low in the beginning. But we knew this was a necessary step — it was an investment in his future and long-term growth.
We believed we could manage it.
What we didn’t know was how quickly everything else was about to change.
In September of 2023, I was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. I was only 29 years old and 2 months away from my 30th birthday. My son wasn’t even a year old yet. My life felt like it was falling apart. I was terrified. Nights were filled with fear. Afraid to fall asleep and not wake up again.
Suddenly, nothing else mattered except my health and making quick decisions about surgery and recovery. We weren’t prepared for that — emotionally or financially.
Although I qualified for short-term disability, it only paid 60% of my income. Since a large portion of our household income came from my paycheck, the financial impact hit us hard and fast.
Bills didn’t stop. Life didn’t pause.
But our income did.
The Wake-Up Call I’ll Never Forget
There was one day while I was still on FMLA that changed everything for me.
We drove to Target to buy diapers for our son. While at the store, I checked our bank account knowing we had just paid for a few important bills and realized we only had $12.
Standing there, needing diapers for our child and seeing that number on the screen, something broke open inside me. That was our wake-up call.
We knew things couldn’t continue like this. Something had to change — and it had to change quickly.
I went down a rabbit hole trying to figure out how to budget and get control of our finances. I remembered a book a friend had given me as a wedding gift — a Dave Ramsey book that had sat untouched for years.
I picked it up.
I started reading. Then I started watching videos. Every car ride to work — at least 35 to 45 minutes — I played YouTube videos and listened. Daily. Constantly.
It gave me hope.
I realized we weren’t alone. Other people had been here too. Other families had struggled, hit rock bottom, and found a way forward.
My husband? He was over it.
But for me, it was the first time money felt possible instead of hopeless.
That season didn’t magically fix everything. We were still overwhelmed. Still scared. Still learning.
But it was the moment my mindset shifted.
I knew we couldn’t keep avoiding our finances. We needed a plan. We needed intention. We needed to heal our relationship with money — not just “get out of debt,” but actually change how we handled finances moving forward.
That moment — standing in a Target parking lot with $12 — is where our debt payoff journey truly began.
And it’s the reason i’m starting Healing Our Finances. For a few years now, I’ve been embarrassed and only have shared this with very close friends and family. Even then, maybe not sharing the full story. We have as of today paid off a little over $46,000. Today, we only owe whats left of our car loans and my student loan. We have money saved and feel like we can breath again.
If you’re reading this and recognize yourself in our story — the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle, the unexpected life changes, the overwhelm — I want you to know this:
You’re not behind.
You’re not broken.
And change is possible, even from the hardest places.
This blog is about that journey — one step at a time.