Budgeting Away Lifestyle Creep (For Good!)

Show Notes

• Guest: Michelle Williams
• Host: Tara Alderete
• Publication Date: December 23, 2025

Highlights

• Michelle talks about how an increase in household income led to lifestyle creep and a newfound reliance on credit cards, before a pay cut left the family scrambling for help with their debt.
• Michelle shares that she found MMI through a Google search and why MMI’s high Trustpilot score was important.
• Michelle explains how easy it was to set-up a debt management plan with MMI.
• Michelle talks about the embarrassment she felt when she realized she needed help with debt, and why it’s important to give yourself grace in those moments.

Episode Transcript

Note: Transcripts are machine-generated and may contain errors.

Tara: Hello, today I'm talking with Michelle Williams from D'Iberville, Mississippi. Michelle paid off about 56 thousand dollars in debt in about just four years, which is simply amazing. Michelle is here to share her debt-free journey with us today. Debt. We've all heard of it. Most of us have it. Debt seems to be an unavoidable reality of life. But what happens when it starts consuming life? Here at Money Management International, we believe that financial challenges aren't meant to be faced alone. On this podcast, we hear stories of people whose lives have been changed by MMI. Their stories are unique, personal, and inspiring. Stay tuned, we're sharing each guest long story. Short. Michelle, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me. Well, thank you so much for being here. Looking forward to hearing about your journey today. $56,000 in four years. I read that and I was like Okay, wow, I gotta hear about this. So before we jump in, tell us a little bit more about yourself.

Michelle: I uh live in D'Iberville, Mississippi. I work from home. I do some data analysis for a healthcare company at the moment. My hobbies are just things like being a foodie and being a tourist in my own city and I do like to travel from time to time. I like to cruise, take trips, and yeah.

Tara: That's so much fun. So if I was a tourist in D'Iberville, Mississippi, what would I do? What's your favorite thing to recommend?

Michelle: Actually, right near my house, I live very close to a river and there is some excellent kayaking that you can do on that river. So I would I would say go kayaking on the river. I would pr I would say the name of the river, but it's very hard to pronounce.

Tara: So Alright, now I know what to do next time I'm in Mississippi. So Michelle, I was hoping that you could take us through a little bit about what brought you to MMI, how you found us. You took a job um with a bit of an income change, is that right?

Michelle: Yes. It kind of started with a a few changes. Initially back in twenty fifteen, my husband and I actually both Got new jobs that actually paid us more than we previously had before. And so essentially what that led to was a bit of lifestyle creep And we reached a point where at the time we ha we hadn't had any credit cards or anything like that. And we were like, oh, maybe we should get a credit card, like you get all these points and we're spending X amount of money every month anyway, so why not get some rewards for it? Well, uh one card turned into two cards, turned into uh probably over ten cards, to the point where uh things got very out of hand. Probably uh very close to January of twenty twenty, which is when I had a job change where I actually took a massive pay cut. that's when things got hard to manage. And I took a pay cut to uh basically move to a different company the it actually the company I'm at now. Um so I took a pay cut and then I realized that we were kind of in trouble. And so I was like, I need a resource to help pay off all this debt that we incurred. We had also recently bought a house. There was just so many things that we ended up doing. And Things snowballed out of control. And so that's when I found MMI and I looked into the debt repayment plan. How did you find us? Basically Google. Um I Googled, but I also looked for programs that were highly rated. I believe you all had like a really good like trust pilot score. or something. Basically I was just like, okay, this company seems legit. And you know, there there's a lot of companies that claim they're gonna help you. with that and they're very scammy and you guys didn't seem scammy so I went ahead and and uh talked with you all yeah and it was a great experience

Tara: You gotta be careful and do your research. I'm glad you looked at trust pilot scores.

Michelle: Yes. Exactly.

Tara: So you had this lifestyle creep as you called it, which I love that term. I'm gonna use that. You had this lifestyle creep. And then your situation changed again. And I think a lot of us find ourselves in in in a situation like that and you said okay enough is enough I'm gonna reach out I'm gonna get some help and I'm gonna squash this debt I think So what was it like to work with MMI on this goal? What was your experience like?

Michelle: It was probably one of the easiest, smoothest experiences ever. The folks from MMI basically spoke to my creditors, creditors, yeah. And they uh made arrangements For lower monthly payments, reduced interest. And so I had one payment that I just made to MMI every month over the course of the four years. And Honestly, you know, we talked a lot about goals and how I would, you know, manage everything in the very beginning. But once everything was set, it was very, very smooth. I never had any issues. it was much easier to do this for me than to than to struggle with my debt.

Tara: So you said something interesting w and and I wanted to ask another question about it. You said, you know, we talked about goals and things like that. And I think you commit to something like repaying over fifty thousand dollars in debt and you get your interest rates lowered. And once you commit to starting down that path, you're really committing to more than just paying off debt. So what would you say was the most important thing you learned throughout the process? Creating a budget.

Michelle: That was kind of the thing that we were forced to do during that process. You know, you can go into it and and you know commit to make the payments, but unless you also make a change in your habits, you could still run into some trouble. So that honestly was the best thing that I probably learned from that whole experience was learning how to budget because before then we really didn't have a solid budget in place and actually MMI has resources. on budgeting and also other things having to do with personal finance. I remember uh exploring the site a little bit and seeing a bunch of different help topics and things like that. And I did go ahead and create a budget and we have been attempting to stick to that budget as much as possible. We definitely do not have any of the issues that we had before. Once I was done paying everything off with MMI, I was set on that not happening again. So we definitely have a much better handle on budgeting our money now.

Tara: Good. And you know, it's interesting. We um the the research suggests that it takes about six months for a budget to stick. So I think sometimes people get frustrated, but we shouldn't, you know, I mean it it It is and it ebbs and flows just like everything else in life. And I love that you talked about that being an important piece and part of the journey. And I also loved what you said about, you know, we weren't quite sure how to do that because I think Much like debt, that's something that we should be talking about, but we really don't. And then something happens and folks are sort of forced to build a budget, and many of us just have no idea where to start. And so Mm-hmm. That brings me to my next question, which is sort of this idea of the stigma around debt. We know that it's there. We know that debt exists. We know that folks have it and it's very common, but it's not a topic that we talk about. So how do you think we can break that stigma so people feel more comfortable reaching out for help? I think just understanding that

Michelle: Many people are in debt, probably a lot more people than people realize. And so It's okay. I think that a lot of times we feel like if like when I was in debt, it definitely felt kind of embarrassing. It was like, you know, my friends would want to do things and I'd be like, ooh. I don't know if I can do that. Even when I was paying off my debt, I kind of had to put myself in in this mindset that I was doing something that would eventually improve my situation. and not heap guilt onto myself. And really that's the important part is that when you acknowledge that, hey, things happen And you go ahead and you just you seek out the help because you know that in the end it'll all be worth it. That's really how you can kind of conquer that stigma is just giving yourself some grace.

Tara: Yeah, give yourself some grace. I love that, right? And I think we should all do more of that. So what advice would you give to somebody else that is struggling with debt?

Michelle: Definitely seek help, especially if it's unmanageable. I think a lot of times we kind of get to a point where we're like, oh, I can fix it, or I'll figure it out. And then you attempting to figure it out ends up either making things worse or nothing really happens because maybe you don't have all the tools that you need. And so I definitely think reaching out to professionals like MMI is the best move to make so that way you can get help, you can kind of get a clearer picture of of what's going on for you and what your options are. So that would be my advice is to definitely seek out that professional help.

Tara: All right. Just pick up the phone and make the call. So Michelle. $56,000 behind you is a big, big deal. And you're debt free. So what does that mean for you?

Michelle: Debt free is truly freedom. It is an amazing thing. to see my savings grow, to see, you know, my checking account look decent, like to to be able to say yes. to things again. You know, be able to say yes to trips and yes to spontaneous dinners at a nice restaurant. When you have financial freedom, you have that peace of mind that you don't have to, you know, feel constrained and restricted to just kind of live comfortably. And that's basically what this was all about was just getting that basic level of comfort back that I had before I had all the debt. And so That's worth all the money in the world is the peace of mind.

Tara: So Amazing. So is there anything else that you'd like to share with the folks listening or anybody who's thinking about reaching out?

Michelle: I would just say don't wait to do it. If you want a sign, this is your sign. Um go ahead and call because it'll probably be one of the best decisions that you make for yourself.

Tara: Wonderful. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me today. You have just such a great story and just some just wonderful energy about you. And I really enjoyed talking to you. Thank you so much. Thank you. I've enjoyed talking to you too. This guest is a real MMI client whose success is the result of hard work and dedication. While MMI cannot guarantee results, taking early action can increase available options and improve long-term outcomes. Thanks for listening to this episode of Long Story Short, brought to you by Money Management International.

Tara: To learn more about our work and how we're helping people in all walks of life repay debt, balance their budget, and find lasting financial peace of mind. Visit Moneymanagement.org

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