Yesterday, a visitor named Julie left the following in my IYM Guestbook:

...I was really beginning to wonder if it was possible to dig my family out of the hole we were in until I found your site. Now I am firmly convinced it can be done.

Normally I respond to guestbook entries by email. Julie didn't leave her email address, so I'll just have to respond here and hope she reads this blog:

Thanks for the kind words, Julie. And yes, it can be done.

It requires sacrifice, of course, and planning. And if you're married, bigtime teamwork. But I can assure you that it is worth every bit of the effort. Being less than $2,000 away from debt freedom, I can say that I wouldn't go back now for anything.

If you get really serious about your financial change, you'll probably have friends and family who scoff at all the work you put in. They'll see changes in your attitude and actions, and they will engage you with raised eyebrows and knowing smiles. "Oh, everybody has debt," they'll tell you. "It's just a fact of life."

No, it isn't. But if you insist on thinking that way — that debt is as much a part of daily life as, say, breathing — then you'll probably find yourself plodding through years of disappointment and frustration, and wondering why it all had to be this way. In my opinion, that's a pretty silly way to live. But hey — at least you'll make the banks happy.

I cannot express to you how much better my life has become since I undertook this journey. Not a day goes by in which I don't think about this. I'm not even done with my journey yet, and that's the cool part: When you're paying stuff off, well, with progress comes freedom. The freedom happens in steps. Little by little, payment by payment, you can feel it. Literally.

There aren't words for the wonderfulness of this, really, even though you hear that expression all the time. In this case, it is truly applicable. Not having to worry about paying bills is a great, great thing. Not having to worry about whether you really have the money to buy your two-year-old a new set of Dr. Suess books is a great thing. Not having to worry about how much you should spend on your wife's Valentine's Day gift is a great thing. If you're planning your spending and saving, you know these things as a matter of course. You are in control.

You can do this. And it is worth it.