“Debt on anything that depreciates is disastrous.” – Orrin Woodward
We love receiving YOUR stories about how Financial Fitness is making a difference in your life. Please take a moment to read about how the Green Box Program has changed the the lives of Jeff and Tina Moulton. Here’s the story, written by Jeff.
We got married at the end of 2009 (8 years ago), moved in together, and combined our finances. What we quickly realized was that we had no clue about how to handle our money. We realized as a couple that we had accrued just over $93,000 in debt, which consisted of student loans and credit cards. We luckily didn’t have any auto loans but we were still going backwards financially between $500 and $600 per month. I still can’t tell you how we managed to stay afloat those first couple of years of marriage, outside of God’s grace and the amazing mentorship we received from Terry & Heidi Szymanski.
It was the beginning of 2010 when Terry and Heidi introduced the Financial Fitness information into our lives and I am very thankful they did as it has changed everything for us. It took us almost 2 years to get to the point where we were breaking even every month. During that time, we did everything the Green Box recommended. We called lenders to negotiate payments, paid off high interest low payment/balance accounts, and built a savings account. It wasn’t easy, but I wasn’t expecting it to be. We knew we had gotten ourselves into this mess so we knew we needed to do the hard work to get ourselves out of it. Those 2 years built a foundation and stability for Tina and I that we are very thankful for.
“The Green Box Program set the stage for the next 6 years to allow us to pay off just over $64,000 in debt and we are on track to be debt free within the next 2 years.”
As we applied the good Defensive principles, we also started to apply the Offensive principles. Tina and I made it a point to make sure we invested in ourselves, even when it wasn’t financially easy. It paid off big time. Over the last 7 years, I have received jobs and promotions I was not credentialed for. The income from my job has increased 193.54% (or 2.93 times). My formal education didn’t change at all. As a matter of fact, the college I graduated from got closed down for unethical practices a little over a year ago, which actually makes my degree not even worth the paper it is written on.
The increase in income and debt reduction hasn’t even been the best part of our journey. Tina and I have always wanted kids, but we couldn’t see how it would work given our financial picture. Since then, we have had 3 wonderful children and each time we have been able to reduce the amount of work in Tina’s schedule to the point where she became a stay-at-home mom permanently (a little over 2 years ago). This allows us to raise our children with our values and foundation. Don’t get me wrong, reduced debt and more money is nice. But the freedom to live our life more fully within our choices is the best blessing we have received!
Looking back over the journey, we know that all of this success has nothing to do with Tina or myself. We were only smart enough to not unplug from the training system, community support, and priceless mentorship.
“Tina and I could not have done any of this without the amazing Green Box Community that has supported us. When it was tough or old habits started creeping back in, it was always people like Terry and Heidi or other people’s stories within the Green Box community that encouraged us to stay on track. Without the community, we wouldn’t have the choices and freedom we are blessed to have today. The community is truly the difference maker and the greatest value of the Green Box Program!!”
Congratulations to the Moulton family for all of their success with the Green Box Program. Your story is an inspiration to many!
Brandon J Perry says
Wow what an amazing testimony. Great job on eliminating all that debt and increasing your income in the process
Julie Vrieze says
Love it! Thanks for being willing to share your story, Jeff & Tina! Its seems that hanging out with Rascals gives you Rascal results! Keep charging for your dreams and goals!
Yitz Weiss says
AWESOME job! Keep it up and thanks for being an inspiration to us all!