A year ago, the Bradleys owed more money than they made in a year. With Jean's help, Lisa and Steven paid off $50,000 in debt in just one year!
Jean says that after some initial resistance, the Bradley family got serious about paying down their debt. They sold two cars, which brought in $30,000. They also paid off $7,000 in medical bills and $3,000 in credit card debt. At Jean's insistence, the Bradleys took back a big-screen television, which saved them an additional $2,000.
The key to their success was that once Lisa and Steven started saving, they did not start spending again. Jean says Lisa saved $5,000 by not going to the mall every day and $6,000 by not eating out three times a day. They also managed to increase their income by a whopping $26,000. How'd they do it? Lisa took on a second full-time job, and Steven worked overtime.
Although Jean was worried when she first met the Bradleys, she says she now sees an incredible future for this family. "You really did it!" she says.
Currently, they have $6,500 in savings, and they're saving another $2,500 a month for the next year. Then, Jean suggests that they scale their savings back to about $1,000 a month. When Lisa and Steven are ready to retire, Jean predicts that they'll have $1.7 million in the bank.
