ELK GROVE, Calif. — Imagine having over $1 million of debt. Sounds scary. Now, imagine being able to pay it off, something many would consider a miracle.
For Andre and Twa'Lea Jordan, their faith and applying practical principals allowed them to, not only settle their debt, but also gave them the ability to pay it back to their community.
"After going to grad school, going to law school, being financially prudent with our money, we're still a million dollars negative," Andre explained. "And that was just really disheartening."
The Jordans were financially prudent enough to not have any credit card debt when they took a closer look at what they owed. Their debt included things considered “good debt” like, their mortgages, student loans (both have post graduate degrees) and only one car note. Their student loans totaled more than $300,000.
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So, how does one reverse over a million dollars in debt? Twa'Lea said it all started with their faith. "The word talks to us about debt and that it's bondage. And it felt like bondage. And that's what motivated us," Twa'Lea.
There is a religious principal that calls on people of faith to give to the church. But giving while trying to save money doesn't add up, does it? It did for the Jordans.
"We just decided to step out on faith and do that in hopes that God would use that to push us to where we want and need to go," Twa'Lea said.
So the Jordan family went to work. The cut out trips, vacations, eating out at restaurants and minimizing date nights. More than that, the Jordans dedicated every extra dime they had to pay off their student loans.
From there they sold their first home that they were using as an investment property. But then, they also sold their dream home that they bought together in Elk Grove to cut back on expenses.
They're sharing the "wealth" so to speak on how they paid off a million dollars in debt. They even wrote a book with scriptures supporting their methods, and they have tips if you're interested in getting debt free too.
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First of all, have multiple streams of income. "If it wasn't the one stream to help you eliminate debt originally, it won't be the sole thing to help you eliminate it in the long run," Twa'Lea explained.
Next, stay consistent. "When you have a plan and you're executing it, just keep in mind what the end goal is," Andre said.
Finally, don't be afraid to make tough decisions — or at least ones that seem like tough decisions, but aren't really. "I gave up Macy's for two years. Hallelujah. And I was never even a full price Macy's shopper. If it were easy, everybody would be doing it," Twa'Lea said,
Now the Jordans exclaim to the world, "We are debt free! And we owe nothing to no one but to love them."
The Jordans are back to traveling and date nights and anything else that they purged while paying off their debts.
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