A1 - Debt2Wealth Introduction

Welcome!

If you’re new here, this is the best place to start. Debt2Wealth is our step by step real journey from being buried in debt to building lasting financial freedom.

We’ll be sharing everything honestly: the real numbers, the wins, and the setbacks. This isn’t theory. It’s our story.

Who Am I?

My name is Joe Debt - a pseudonym I’ve chosen to protect our privacy as we’ll be disclosing personal details like our total debt, monthly household budget, and financial decisions.

Whenever you see “I,” “me,” or “we,” it refers to my partner and me together as a household. We combine our income, expenses, debt, and goals.

Our Goal

We’re determined to pay off every cent of our debt and build a life of financial freedom, starting from the bottom and sharing the steps along the way.

A Snapshot of Our Life

Chicken and his chicken

I’m in my early 50s, married, with two teenagers, a cat who thinks it rules the house, and a rescue dog we call Chicken (because why not?).

I work in sales within the construction industry. I’ve also got a background in financial accounting and a love for custom Excel spreadsheets - which has become a big part of how we track and plan our finances.

Why This Blog Exists

Like many South Africans, we’ve lived with debt for years. Banks and financial institutions profit from high interest and fees while families like ours struggle to stay afloat. We’ve had enough.

Our turning point? Realizing that if we don’t change now, we’ll reach retirement age with nothing saved and no freedom.

So this blog exists to document our journey out of debt, and eventually into investing and wealth creation - with full transparency, so you can learn alongside us.

Topics You’ll Find Here

We’ll cover three main categories:

Debt Management (D-posts)

• Debt review vs sequestration

• Snowball vs avalanche method

• Consolidation loans, budgeting, fast-tracking repayment

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Wealth Generation (W-posts)

• Calculating our retirement “magic number”

• When to start investing

• Side hustles (we’ll actually try them)

• Saving, investing, tax planning

  
  

General (A-posts)

• Our debt scorecard (monthly updates)

• Thoughts on medical aid, financial advisors, and more

  
  

How Posts Are Organized

To make it easy to follow, every post has a letter + number system:

• A = General posts

• D = Debt elimination

• W = Wealth creation

  
  

Example: A1 (this post), A2, D1, W1…

You can read in order, or skip to what’s most relevant to you.

Final Thoughts

We’re everyday people trying to break free from debt. If you’re in the same boat, you’ll find encouragement, practical tools, and hopefully some inspiration here.

Ready to dive in? Start with our next post:

A2 - Our Debt Story: What Went Wrong and What We're Doing Now

And don’t miss our free tool:

If you haven't already, Download the Debt Reality-Checker- the spreadsheet that lets you know exactly what your debt is actually costing you.

NB: MAKE SURE TO HEAD OVER TO OUR DISCLAIMER AND DISCLOSURES SECTION.