I'm 20 years old. When I was 16, I got my first "real" part-time job working for KFC. $7.25 hourly and working 15-20 hours weekly was more money than I had seen at once in my life. Every Thursday, I'd get my paycheck direct deposited into my account. I was taking home about $100 or so and that meant I had $100 to spend on whatever I wanted. Right? At the time, I didn't have too many monetary responsibilities. I paid for gas for my '98 Honda Civic. I paid for new clothes if I wanted them. I paid for makeup if I needed it. Other than that, I spent the remainder on eating out or getting my usual 32 oz. Dr Pepper. Most of the time, by Monday, I didn't have any money left in my account. I wasn't very smart about putting away any of the money I was earning. I didn't bother leaving any of the money untouched. It was my money and I knew I'd be getting more next Thursday.

This was my first experience with a regular paycheck. Before I was working for KFC, I'd work here and there for my dad if I needed some extra cash. Otherwise, I was broke and that was okay. My parents provided all of my needs. I had a warm home, a comfortable bed, and food in the kitchen. While I am so grateful and appreciative of everything my parents gave me and all of my siblings, I often found myself lusting after the things that my friends had, the things that their parents could provide. Whether it was extravagant trips, new cars, or even just going out to eat on a regular basis, I felt like I would never get to experience that life. I would never make enough money to live the way that I saw my peers living. Granted, they lived this way because of their parents choices. My parents didn't spend money on extras or anything that wasn't really a necessity for me. I appreciate that. It taught me to work for what I wanted. Sometimes, the thought of having to work hard for something made me realize that I didn't really want that thing after all. It didn't seem worth the money or time when I was left to figure it out on my own. So I spent my $100/week in whatever way sounded good at the time. I was making money, yet still desiring more and more. More money, more materialistic things, just more. My piggy bank never kept money for long.

Now, this is the only life I've really known for the past few years. It's the only experience I had with being the steward of my own money. Yes, I've had better paying jobs since then. Yes, my paychecks have been well above the $100 each week. Yet I still find myself wondering where the heck my money went. Getting paid on Friday means that by Tuesday my account is at $0.00 again.

Being married is a whole new ball game in regards to finances. Kyle and I have chosen to have joint accounts all across the board. We believe that as a married couple, we work as a team. It's not a matter of "his money" or "my money". We don't split our bills in half. The expenses that we have for our family are just that; family expenses. Therefore, we pay our bills from our paychecks that are deposited into joint  bank accounts. For the past year, I haven't made many changes to my way of dealing with money. I pay our bills and whatever is left will go to eating out or buying new stuff. Stuff we didn't need, nor budget for, but we had the cash in our account so we bought it. This way of life isn't so bad until you throw a few credit cards into the mix. Not only did we have all the extra money after our bills were paid, we also had these lovely little plastic rectangles that were assigned values. One was worth $500, one for $1,700, and the list goes on. I always knew that whatever I charged on a credit card would need to be paid back, I just didn't realize how hard that would be when we weren't saving any money or ever paying more than the minimum on each card we have.

Now, we've found ourselves in a less-than-perfect situation. Kyle and I both have great jobs and we're working towards getting our finances in order. We re-visit our budget often and try to look at where our money is going. We discuss ways that we can make our money work for us and we're taking the famous Baby Steps as set forth by Dave Ramsey. The only way that we can really make a financial turnaround is to recognize the why. We are in debt. Why? We want to be debt free. Why? We want to live comfortably. Why? We say we're tired of feeling broke and lost. Why?

Along with the answers of "why" we have to make a plan for the HOW. How are we going to stay out of debt? How are we going to make sure that we never get back to this place? It honestly will take discipline, focus, hard work, long hours, and a change in our ways.

Growing up, I always wanted more. Now, having credit cards is allowing me to get whatever I want, whenever I want, and pay for it later. This is the why. Kyle didn't really have to worry about budgeting while growing up either so it's the same general concept for him. He wants something, we go get it. That's what credit cards are for, right? Wrong. We need to both learn to make a budget that includes whatever our wants may be. We have categories for Home, Cars, Date Nights, Eating Out, and Discretionary Allowances for Kyle and I. In the past, we haven't budgeted for those things. We bought whatever and just charged it to the Visa or MasterCard. That's what got us in a hole that seemed impossible to climb out of.

That's why we're in debt. Now, why do we want to be debt free? The list goes on and on. The biggest reasons being financial freedom and not having to have such large monthly payments and accumulating interest. Monthly bills like internet, natural gas, and electricity are bills that I'm willing to pay. I use these things daily and I'm willing to pay the bills to keep our home in order. I don't, however, like paying bills that just go toward whatever thing I bought last month, or the month before, or even 6 months ago. It's silly to be making payments on that steak dinner we had last week. This is why we want to be debt free. I'd rather not be paying for that steak dinner or new outfit for the next 5 years.

We'd like to have all of our needs and our wants met while simultaneously paying off debt. Many financial advisers say to cut back and live frugally while paying off debt. While I agree with this to an extent, there's no way that we can get out of debt if we only budget for the bare minimum. We need to have separate categories for whatever may come our way. Otherwise, if we haven't budgeted for it, we will put whatever "it" is right back on to a credit card. That's no way to live. We want to live comfortably. We can do this by looking at how much income we have and making realistic monthly budgets accordingly. That's not to say that we can just keep eating out whenever we want and buying whatever material items are the latest and greatest. It means that we need to plan for plenty. We over-budget for necessities while still making more than minimum payments on credit cards. At the end of each month, if we didn't use the money originally allotted for gas or groceries or whatever else, we will make an additional payment on the credit cards.

Now, how? How are we going to achieve all of our goals while still meeting our monthly responsibilities? It's not easy, I can tell you that much. Honestly, looking at the goals we have for ourselves, the next 18 months aren't going to be so fun and fancy free. It will be hard.  It's going to mean that we really have to watch where our pennies are going. We can do it. I know we can.

Since I've been going on and on for a while now, I want to leave a little advice for anyone who may be in our shoes. Trying to get out of debt but literally living in "poverty" according to your annual income. My advice to you is this; make a realistic plan and write down why and how. Deciding to get out of debt is the first step. The only way that you can truly be successful in your plan to financial freedom is recognizing the "why" and the "how" and reminding yourself of them often.

When I was younger, I wanted more. Now, I have the "more" that I wanted. Not only that, but I have bills to pay for that "more" that I thought I needed. Sometimes it's better to be happy with what you have and not lust after the material things or expensive nights out. Living below our means, while still living comfortably, is what Kyle and I really need right now. Is it going to be hard? Yeah, probably. Worth it? Ask us in 18 months.