Roughly ten years ago, I had the privilege of working with another educator who inspired me to be kind, loving and encouraging. She was one of my very favorite people. Ever. Still is.
I remember Patty talking about her daughter who had just started a blog. Her husband was in law school and she had always liked to write.
“What’s a blog?” I asked Patty because they weren’t nearly as mainstream as they are now. Goodness gracious, back then there was no such thing as Twitter and Facebook was a new enterprise everyone thought would tank.
Patty patiently explained and I remember feeling intrigued, like someday I might want to have a blog of my own.
But whatever. I gave birth and my gears shifted to all things baby and the thought of starting a blog was long gone.
Three years later, I remembered my conversation with Patty. It was time to start a blog.
By then, Patty’s daughter, Cherie Lowe, had become known as “The Queen of Free” because of her ability (and her husband, Brian’s!) to pay-off $127, 482.30 of debt in a little under four years.
Debt can be suffocating, can’t it? Jason and I are no stranger to it – with student loans and a business loan, we know how it feels. To look at the numbers, it can be overwhelming.
Cherie felt the same way – it felt insurmountable. However, she soon realized it wasn’t impossible and through living very frugally and a deep trust in God, Brian and she began the process of “slaying the debt dragon.”
In the process, she gained a following through the money-saving tips she offered on her blog and a segment on the Indianapolis affiliate of Channel 13. Now here she is with her very own book.
Here’s what Amazon has to say about about Slaying the Debt Dragon: How One Family Conquered Their Money Monster and Found an Inspired Happily Ever After
Are your finances getting out of control? Have you made mistakes with your money? Are you in more debt than you’d like to admit?
Cherie Lowe has been there. She and her family found themselves $127,482.30 in debt (did your jaw drop?). They hadn’t bought a yacht, blown it on designer clothes, or purchased a mansion. The small, everyday expenses of living just added up—until suddenly, the Lowes were being threatened by one dragon of a debt.
But through hard work and with God’s help, Cherie’s family vanquished this foe, one bill at a time. And you can too! In Slaying the Debt Dragon, Cherie shares how her war on debt made her financially free, strengthened her marriage, taught her children valuable money-management skills, and brought her whole family closer to God and one another. As you read her battle tales, you’ll be armed with the weapons you need to fight your own financial foes. With God, all things are possible—and your inspired happily ever after can begin today.
And here’s a bit about my friend, Cherie:
Since 2008, Cherie Lowe has been confidently wearing a plastic crown and encouraging others to dream big dreams.
Together with her husband, Brian, Cherie paid off $127,482.30 in a little under four years. She scribed the ups and downs of their debt-slaying journey on her popular website, www.QueenOfFree.net.
A graduate of Asbury University, Cherie strongly believes that something can come from nothing and that there is always a way for her readers to simplify their lives and their budgets. More than anything, through speaking and written word, Cherie longs for others to know that there is hope for getting their finances under control. Her family’s story has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Yahoo Finance, Redbook magazine, AOL Daily Finance, NBC News, and more. Cherie and Brian reside in Greenwood, Indiana, along with their daughters, Anna and Zoe.
I’m half-way through and so inspired to be more careful about where and how I spend our resources. Not to mention I love Cherie’s easy, conversational writing – it feels like she’s sitting at my kitchen table and we’re chatting over coffee.
I love that, don’t you?
So because I love to pass along good books to you and because I love Cherie (and her mother, Patty), I wanted to share Slaying the Debt Dragon with YOU – because I love YOU, too.
AND . . . I’m giving away a copy of this fabulous book as well. Leave your answer to the question below in the comment section by 8 p.m. EST tomorrow (Wednesday, January 28) for your chance to win…I’ll announce the lucky winner on the Facebook page.
Here’s a little fun tidbit, too . . . Should you decide to name your “Debt Dragon” and post about it on social media, you can use the hashtag slaydebt. That’s #slaydebt for all you visual folks.
You can also follow Cherie on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and You Tube.
I know you’ll love her because she rocks.
What about you? What’s one area of your finances you would like to improve?
I really struggle with impulsive purchases. These aren’t big purchases but small, what seem at the time insignificant purchases, that add up over a month’s time and blow my budget. (i.e Starbucks for my sanity that day or a little surprise at the store for my baby, X4 so that’s it’s fair)
We have some credit card debt that we would like to get paid off. And an entire extra house thay still needs to be sold, so we can stop paying 2 mortgages! :/
I would love to pay off my credit cards and have some sort of savings. But as a full time student it’s hard.
My husband and I’s main focus is paying off CC, any loans and primarily Student Loans.
I’d like to get out of mortgage debt and work on budgeting for something fun for a change.
We have been slowly chipping away at personal and school debt, but the business debt is another story. It can be stifling and scary at times.
I’m with Dawn. That’s my problem, too. Small little insignificant things that add up over the month. I wish I could curb my impulse buying, even if it’s something small.
I would love to be able to give more.
So hard to name just one area. I guess I would saw the worst part is the day to day spending small things here and there. Food, extras at a kids event, gas things like that.
We have a huge small business loan hanging over is like a dark cloud. It feels like it will never be repaid. While I would love a magic wand To wave it all away, I just need direction and help!
Let’s just say student loans are not my friend!!!! Putting yourself through college from undergrad – PhD…ugg! I’d love for them to be all DONE. I have to say though that since our Dave Ramsey class 6 years ago, we no longer put things on credit. We are big Dave Ramsey fans!
Business loans for my husband’s company are weighing me down. Any help/techniques to get rid of the debt would be welcomed.
My debt is wearing me down, depresses me. I struggle to figure out how to get a grip on it. I need step by step help, any and all help is welcomed. God Bless.
Budgeting and keeping it….we have a budget every month we are just not very good at sticking to it. We buy something small here and something small there and then the budget is off for the month!
Consistent budget, build emergency savings & pay off mortgage and other bills. It just gets so overwhelming sometimes…
I’d love to be free of credit card debt and get our student loans paid off. Getting the credit cards under control and not relying on them for unexpected/emergency expenses would be amazing.
My hubby and I are working towards this very thing this year! I am tired of being chained to the ball and chain of debt.
Couple of items I’d like to wrangle…tithing (I mean the full 10%), saving for the rainy day expenses, and putting extra touches in the home.