Family’s Five-Year Frugality = 2009 PACE Award
After a five-year struggle to become debt-free (except for a mortgage), the Hillebrandt family – Russell, Kandy, twin daughters Heidi and Holly, and son Joey – of New Richmond, Wis., met their goal. They paid off their credit card balances (about $89,000 to start) and $17,00 due a family member.
Their efforts have paid off – they are the recipients of the “Professional Achievement and Counseling Excellence (PACE) 2009 Graduate Client of the Year Award.” The award “recognizes the hard work and commitment they demonstrated in repaying their debts, and their willingness to become effective managers of their money and change their lifestyle.”
The mounting debt occurred slowly. The family were not big spenders – although they did buy many items, including clothing, “new”, and kept giving 10 percent of their income (tithing) to their church. Medical expenses – diabetes, miscarriages – contributed to the problem.
How, then, did the Hillebrandts get out of debt? It wasn’t easy. They began with a “a five-year debt management plan” developed with the help of a credit counseling service. “While the schedule was daunting, the Hildebrandts signed on.”
To make the plan succeed, they cut out “discretionary spending. Kandy began buying generic food and frequenting thrift stores for clothing purchases. They stopped exchanging Christmas and birthday gifts …”
For a while they had only one car but made progress on the debt reduction. “If the money wasn’t available, they simply did without.”
The birth of their third child, Joey, now 3, meant more expenses but his mother, Kandy, says, “The joy he brought to a negative, grinding situation was the light we needed.”
What do they tell others? “Get out of debt,” Kandy says. “It’s a chokehold.”
