SEVEN THINGS You MUST Do After Becoming Debt Free - How We Changed Our Lives After Paying Off Debt

So you're debt free. Now what? Here are 7 things Brittany and I did after becoming debt free that helped us to regain focus and change our lives even more. • Our Budget Template (free): http://www.mikeandbrit.com/budget • Our Debt Payoff Organizer: https://www.mikeandbrit.com/debt-orga... • Our Robinhood Invite Code (grab a free stock): https://join.robinhood.com/michaem27270 •Gear We Use for Our YouTube Videos: https://www.amazon.com/shop/mikethema... •Instagram:   / itsmikeandbrit   0:00 - Introduction 2:07 - Remember Why You Became Debt Free 4:11 - Enjoy the Moment 5:28 - Celebrations are Important 7:05 - Emergency Fund 9:42 - Make BIG Goals for Your Future 10:33 - Plan Out How to Reach Your Goals 11:43 - Risk Taking Can Change Your Life It's easy to lose sight of the bigger picture if you've been laser focused on paying off debt for any extended period of time. Kind of like the phrase, "you can't see the forest for the trees." Your entire life adapts to that single mission, and you lose sight of other things as they get pushed to the back of your mind. This happened to Brittany and I a little bit after becoming debt free and finishing our emergency fund (about 5 years ago). If you're following Dave Ramsey, becoming debt free and fully funding your emergency fund are only baby steps 2 and 3. There are 4 more. And even though there's still a plan to follow after that, the plan becomes a lot more subjective/qualitative and a lot less about numbers. It can be difficult trying to figure out the next steps. These are some things Brittany and I did. 1) Remember Why You Became Debt Free in the First Place. Most likely it wasn't just to become debt free. There was probably a deeper reason to it. Whether that be to become financially independent, have more freedom with your money, start the journey to home ownership, etc. It’s okay if this reason has changed over the process of becoming debt free. Brittany and I were much more financially mature coming out of becoming debt free than going into it. We had more knowledge and wisdom, and as such, our goals changed a little bit. They got much deeper and much more specific. 2) Enjoy the Moment. Slow down, take a deep breath and take everything in. You won. Try not to let the moment rush by you :) 3) Celebrate. Do something to celebrate and mark this victory in your life. It should (hopefully) help you put a close to this chapter in your life and move onto the next one. Brittany and I drove to Tennessee to do our debt free scream in Dave Ramsey’s office as our celebration. 4) Fully Fund Your Emergency Fund (if you haven't yet). So Dave Ramsey recommends people have $1,000 as their starter emergency fund, then after becoming debt free, fund it up to 3-6 months of expenses. We personally felt $1,000 was too low for us, so the entire time we were paying off debt, we had anywhere from $2,500 to $5,000 in our emergency fund. Fully funding your emergency fund is extremely important though, because you could easily get put into a bad financial spot if something big and unfortunate comes up and you lack the cash reserves to pay for it. We think of an emergency fund as just a buffer between us and life. 5) Figure out your Goals for the Future. People with goals succeed because they know where they're going. Earl Nightingale once said this and we wholeheartedly agree. Goals are important and give your life a direction. Make yours big! 6) Develop a Plan to Reach Your Goals This will have to be specific to you. The baby steps are a pretty good general guideline if you're having trouble. 7) Take a Risk. Get Out of Your Comfort Zone a Little Do something you've wanted to do for a while, but have maybe been putting off because you were becoming debt free. This is what really put Brittany and I on the track we're on now. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ~~GEAR WE USE~~ Sony a6400 - https://amzn.to/2YyGFy1 Sony a6600 - https://amzn.to/3Br8R4q Sony 10-18mm f/4 - https://amzn.to/2DuIMpf Sigma 16mm f/1.4 - https://amzn.to/2ZpYZW5 Sony 50mm f/1.8 - https://amzn.to/2Dtob4D Manfrotto 290 Xtra - https://amzn.to/2GEvKYg Manfrotto 3-Way Photo Head - https://amzn.to/2IOjNAw ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Intro Music: Track: Marin Hoxha & Caravn - Eternal [NCS Release] Music provided by NoCopyrightSounds. Watch:    • Marin Hoxha & Caravn - Eternal | House | N...   Free Download / Stream: http://ncs.io/Eternal Outro Music Provided by: YouTube Library - Foundation ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Legal Disclaimer: Michael Miller is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.