The One Shift That Helped Taylor Become Debt-Free During Unemployment

I remember how I felt about money just before using YNAB. With a baby on the way, I sat down to work out how much medical bills would cost. After grappling with that eye-popping number, I remembered we’d also need to cover lost income for maternity leave. I was already hyperventilating when, of course, the car decided to break down. 

So many of the stories YNABers send us remind me of times like that—when it feels like life just won’t stop and you’re desperate for a moment to breathe. But her story also reminds me that transformation IS possible. Getting good with money is a skill anyone can learn. Yes, you too! Let’s take Taylor’s story as just one example.

Taylor, a music teacher, a mom, and a YNABer, sent her story into our YNAB Stories survey, and we’re so grateful she’s allowing us to share it with you. Her journey is remarkable, not because everything went smoothly, but because it didn’t. 

Her family weathered two job losses in one year, a totaled car, the arrival of a new baby, and nearly $9,000 of debt. And somehow, through all of that, they found stability, stayed out of the red, and ultimately paid off every dollar.

But the part of her story I love most isn’t the payoff (though it’s amazing). It’s the counterintuitive truth she learned along the way:

Before you pay off debt, you have to break your reliance on it.

More on that later, but I let's get into Taylor's story first, because she tells it best.

Taylor's getting-good-with-money journey started in college.

Taylor first discovered YNAB in college, back when the app was free for students. She told us:

Loved it. So much.

She built a firm foundation based on YNAB's principles just as she started her adult life. And those early habits stuck with her. Taylor stopped using the YNAB app after graduation, but she continued thinking of her money the YNAB way:

The time spent with the program stuck with me and I continued to budget my money using YNAB principles.

When she got married, like many couples, she and her husband had different ways of handling money. They stayed out of debt, but slowly drifted from the structure and clarity of the YNAB Method.

She didn’t know it yet, but that foundation she’d learned years earlier would come back around when she needed it most.

Then life got complicated: a baby arrived and they both lost their jobs.

In the span of a year, Taylor and her husband welcomed a baby. (Yay!) Then, they both lost their jobs almost at the same time. (Not so yay.)

All was well until, in the same year we had a baby, both my husband and I lost our jobs less than a month apart.

Cash dried up quickly. After four months without income, they had accumulated between nearly $9,000 of debt.

For someone who had never been in debt before, it was overwhelming:

[It] stressed both of us out immensely, but especially me who had never been in debt even $100 worth, let alone thousands.

They were doing everything they could to survive, but without a clear plan, the stress mounted.

The moment everything shifted: revisiting YNAB.

In that final month of unemployment, Taylor suggested something she’d been quietly hoping for: trying YNAB again.

We decided our money management needed a serious overhaul. I suggested the YNAB trial. My years of suggesting it finally paid off and we ditched cash envelopes and committed to YNAB.

They started their YNAB trial and immediately felt the difference. Clarity replaced chaos. Calm replaced panic. The immediate transformation was wild! 

When the trial ended, perfectly timed with her husband’s first paycheck from a new job, the decision was obvious:

The changes we saw in our money management and lack of stress we were feeling made the annual fee worth it.

Their debt was still there, but everything felt different. They had a plan. They had priorities. They had cash flow.

And most importantly, they had stability.

Why stability—not speed—became the goal.

Instead of rushing into debt payoff, they started by building a foundation:

• covering necessities first
• preparing for true expenses
• rebuilding savings categories that had been drained
• refusing to add any new debt, even during the holidays
  

Things were going great. We made it through the holidays without adding to our debt and had started to pay it off even little by little.

And all this time the debt they had accrued in unemployment was staring them in the face. But they had a more long-term goal than paying that off. They wanted the peace that comes from breaking their reliance on debt, not the panic of throwing everything at debt only to rely on the credit card again the next week.

That mindset shift is the heart of the YNAB Method, and the heart of the YNAB 7-Day Debt Reset (more on that later). Stability before speed. Clarity before payoff. Breaking your reliance on debt before breaking the debt itself.

Round two of unemployment, but this time with clarity (and calm).

Just three months into the new job, life took another hit: they were unemployed again.

This time, though, everything was different.

Somehow, being unemployed a second time was less stressful.

They’d been using YNAB for three months, so now they knew exactly what their money needed to do. Thanks to the plan they’d built in YNAB, they could cover necessities and feed their "very hungry one‑year‑old" until their tax return arrived.

Unexpected money came in—small blessings here and there—and because their priorities were crystal clear, every dollar had purpose. Nothing was wasted.

We were even able to keep chipping away at the debt accrued the first time.

They weren’t spiraling. They weren’t swiping. They weren’t panicking.

They had broken their reliance on debt.

The turning point that made debt freedom possible

Then came a bizarre stroke of fortune in the midst of misfortune: their car was totaled.

What? Isn't that a bad thing? Well, normally yes. But for them, it was a blessing in disguise. It sounds terrible, Taylor admits, but since they were home all day anyway, they didn’t need a second car. And thankfully, no one was hurt in the accident. The insurance payout covered several months of expenses.

Then their tax return came in, larger than expected.

Because they had built stability first, that money didn’t disappear into chaos. It created progress.

Not only were we able to be 3 months ahead, but paid off our debt entirely.

And then came the surreal moment:

How odd it felt to be 2.5 months unemployed and see the little notification in YNAB commenting on how good it feels to be debt free.

They spent months unemployed—and still debt‑free. That is what it looks like to break your reliance on debt.

If Taylor's story resonates, the YNAB 7-Day Debt Reset teaches these exact foundations.

What Taylor and her husband lived through is exactly what we teach in the free YNAB 7‑Day Debt Reset.

It’s not a lecture. It’s not a guilt trip. It’s seven short, honest lessons that show you how to:

• list your debts without fear,
• protect necessities first,
• prepare for non‑monthly expenses so they never send you back into debt,
• pick a focus debt the right way,
• make progress without panic, and
• celebrate the payoff with clarity.
  

It’s the same foundation Taylor used, delivered by the Budget Nerds in one doable week.

If you want to stop relying on debt and finally feel in control, you can join the free 7‑Day Debt Reset and start building that stability today.

What life looks like now that they’ve broken their reliance on debt.

When Taylor and her husband finally got a paycheck again, something magical happened:

The money wasn’t for today. It was for next month.

To put that first paycheck in YNAB and know that it was funding not our immediate needs but rather the next month's… was the most amazing and stress‑less feeling ever.

They're now saving for their children's future, for travel, for a home. And their top dream?

Be financially secure enough to take large chunks of time off to adventure around the world with our kids.

I can’t think of a more inspiring dream, Taylor! And what's even better, she now believes what she once doubted:

I totally laughed at the YNAB sales pitch about “most people pay off x amount in the first few months.” Thinking "that's nice, but it won't be us." Yet here I am. With a story to proclaim it works.

It's your turn to build the same foundation.

Have you ever worried about money? You’re not alone. Taylor did too, and she learned how to get good with money, break her reliance on debt, and stop worrying.

You can start building the same confidence today. Give every dollar a job, get clear on what matters most, and take your first step toward the life you want.

Try YNAB free for 34 days—and start your own transformation today.