Stilettos or Savings

Queue the Dave Ramsey debt-free scream because it’s official: I am 100% debt free. No student loans. No car loans. No credit card balances. And as of today — no mortgage.

We closed on our house in July 2019, and we refinanced early in COVID to go from a 30-year to a 20-year loan with a dreamy 3.125% interest rate. It wasn’t a bad loan by any stretch — in fact, some financial experts would argue we should’ve just kept paying it off slowly for the tax advantages and invested the difference. But at the end of the day, it was debt and we didn’t want a mortgage. We wanted freedom.

So we paid it off in just over five years. 2,120 days, to be exact.

And let me be clear: Mr. Cabbage and I both worked our asses off to do it.

We hustled. We sacrificed. We chose secondhand instead of brand-new, paid in cash instead of borrowing, and prioritized freedom over flash. This wasn’t a windfall or a gimmick — it was years of intentional choices.

I used a very small inheritance from my mom to make the final payment — not because I had to, but because it felt very symbolic. My mom was my biggest cheerleader (before Mr. Cabbage). It felt right to close this chapter with her help, even if she’s not physically here to see it. She would have been so proud of us and happy to help.

I’m already a net worth millionaire. So why not be a completely debt-free one?

We’ll get into the actual numbers in another post — how much we paid, what strategies we used, and whether it really makes sense financially. But for today, let’s just celebrate our great success.

Pop the bubbly. Throw on your highest heels, maybe some red lipstick. And scream with me:

I’M DEBT FREEEEEEE! 🎉