I chose to interview a coworker while we traveled to Raleigh for a transfer workshop. She is not new, but I don't get to work with her frequently and I wanted to get to know her better as I will be working with her in the future. This interview was rescheduled from over a month ago because her daughter was sick.
We started with the question: "Can you talk about your dreams or goals you would like to accomplish?"
Her two answers revolved around getting out of debt and building her dream home.
Amy (as I'll call her) is a former elementary school teacher who married right out of college. She has one daughter, but divorced nearly a year after her daughter was born. Both her previous husband and her current husband are firefighters for different counties. When she remarried, she moved out of her parent's house and closer to her new husband's family farm. However, they were not financially ready to buy a house, and they had a lot of trouble finding a home in which to start their new life together close enough to his family's farm so he could still help out. After looking at expensive apartments and tiny houses, an old family friend and church member offered a deceased relative's old farm house for nearly free. Since the home was 100 years old (yet in good shape), the family was happy to have someone to love the home, even if only temporarily. The location was perfect, and the home was large enough to fit their family of three. She stated the house was "bigger than it looked on the outside."
With a home secured, she and her new husband decided to try the Dave Ramsey "get out of debt" program so that they could build their dream home on his family's farm. She said shortly after they married she was able to pay her vehicle off, as his vehicle was paid off and her only debt was her car and her student loans. Through a new position at the college with a significant raise, as well as moving in with her parents, she was able to pay off her other debts before her marriage. They decided to pay her student loans off and, when she was done, they could begin to decide the next step.
Once they got out of debt, they wanted to build a home and start a family. Her daughter is five, and she is 30, so their family is very young. Her husband was never married and has no children of his own. They would be given land from his aunt, who owns the farms he works. He is the main family member who still runs the farm. They would like to put down a large down payment as well.
After our discussion we arrived back at her home, and I ended the recording and unlocked my car to head home for the day.
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