Jet Setter Interview – Debt Free Guys

Hello there, this is your pilot speaking! (Why yes, I am calling myself a pilot.)

Today, our Jet Setter Interview is with David and John, of Debt Free Guys fame.

This series covers Passengers on the Jet Setter Manifest, so we can all learn more about money from the experiences of others.

Drop me a line to be featured in an upcoming Jet Setter Interview, we would love to have you on board.

Welcome on board! Who are you?

David Auten and John Schneider are the Debt Free Guys. We climbed a mountain of over $50,000 worth of credit card debt and lived in an underground bunker. We’re now flying high with a positive cash flow and a growing investment portfolio. We have over 30 years of combined experience traveling the world of financial including trading, investing and managing money.

Money is for buying stuff, what was the last purchase you made?

3/4 pound tuna steak for two to grill for dinner.

Why did you buy that stuff, in particular?

We wanted fish for dinner and eat our fish the same day we buy it.

We like airplanes around here.  When was the last time you were on an airplane and where were you going?

In January, we flew to San Diego for our 10 year anniversary.

What is your current financial goal and how did it come to be your goal?

To work solely for ourselves because being able to rely on income we generate solely for ourselves will meet our ultimate definition of financial independence and financial freedom.

Who is your favourite person in Top Gun?

Iceman

Many people harbour some sort of fear of flying.  What do you find the most overwhelming or scary about money?

Nothing about money overwhelms or scares us. We pay constant attention to our retirement investments, emergency savings and daily spending. We strive to #bemoneyconscious and fiscally responsible, but we do have the tendency to splurge on a vacation, good bottle of wine or an expensive dinner once in a while. These are our weaknesses, so we built safe guards, i.e., savings, for these particular routes during our flights of weakness. We think that’s being money conscious, too. Know your weaknesses and, for the most part ,control them so they don’t control you, but prepare for the inevitable air pocket.

If I was super-rich and gave you $50,000 with no strings attached, tomorrow, what would you do with it?  (I’m pretty benevolent.)

Because we know our two financial goals in life are being prepared for retirement and travel, we’d invest $45,000 and use $5,000 to fly away for a vacation to either Puerto Vallarta, Mexico or Sitges, Spain.

Lots of things “cost peanuts,” what is a small expenditure that you just can’t live without?

We can’t live without coffee from Pablo’s on 6th in Denver CO. We buy their roasted whole beans per pound on $2 off Tuesday with our frequent flyer card that gives us one pound of free coffee for every six pounds we buy. We grind and cold steep our coffee ourselves.

How long have you been the pilot of your own money? Did you have a job as a teenager? Did you have a light bulb moment at a certain point in time and take control of your finances?

We both had jobs as teenagers, some shitty and some fun. We were both partially independent and partially dependent until we moved out on our own in our early 20s. Our lightbulb moment came after living in our basement apartment (underground bunker) for a year. We realized that we were two thirty-something financial services professionals with $50,000+ in credit card debt living in a basement, driving fixer uppers and with hardly enough savings. We realized our flight path at the time was wrong and immediately charted a new course.

Pretend you have a sky-writing airplane (that can write as many words as you want.) What is the main money message that you want the world to hear?

Be Money Conscious

 

You can read more of the Debt Free Guy’s writing at DebtFreeGuys.com. They are also on twitter @DebtFreeGuys, give them a follow!