192. What Happened When They Finally Let God Into Their Debt Story // with Sammy Wedemeyer

What does it look like to radically change your family’s future? In this episode, Laura sits down with Sammy Wedemeyer, who is documenting her family’s journey to pay off $214,000 of debt on a single income. What started as a practical debt payoff plan has become something much deeper: a story of stewardship, simplicity, generosity, faith, and legacy. 

Sammy shares how a sermon on giving and stewarding what God has entrusted to us completely shifted the way she thought about money, possessions, and the “little treats” culture that keeps so many families stuck. That message led her to declutter her home, rethink what her family actually needed, and eventually make radical changes—including selling a truck with a $699 monthly payment to free up margin and build momentum. 

Laura and Sammy talk about:

•  how debt became normal in our culture 
•  what stewardship really looks like in everyday family life 
•  the emotional side of selling a vehicle to speed up debt payoff 
•  how simplicity creates more peace and less chaos at home 
•  what happens when faith becomes part of your money journey 
•  why this story is inspiring so many other families to start their own debt payoff plan 

This conversation is honest, encouraging, and full of hope for anyone who feels buried by debt or unsure where to begin. Sammy’s story is proof that radical change is possible—and that freedom often starts with one brave decision. 

Follow Sammy on Instagram @Sammy.Wedemeyer 

Learn more about working with Laura Sexton

.        Join the Facebook group Legacy Builders Network.

·        Become a master with your money. Learn more here!

·        Checkout the resource library here!

Want to ask a question Laura can answer on the podcast? Connect with her here!

Want to receive a live money or career audit? Apply Here

Send an email to Laura@AccelerateYourLegacy.com or send a DM on Instagram @accelerateyourlegacy

Elevate your coaching with daily devotionals and prayers from 'Seasoned with Salt.' Get your copy HERE!

Transcript

Laura 0:01

Legacy builders. I recorded this episode way back in February, and yes, it has taken me that long to edit it and get it to you. I apologize because this is such good content. I wanted to make sure. That it was done perfectly and sometimes perfection is the enemy of good. And I am sorry I stole multiple days of you being able to have this excellent interview in your earbuds. You can check her out, follow her journey on Instagram. Her journey to debt payoff has been absolutely inspirational to me and over a hundred thousand people that are following her on this journey. Please take a second. Go follow her on Instagram. Sammy. Do Wedemeyer and check out this podcast with my new friend Sammy. You are listening to the Money and Legacy Podcast with Laura Sexton. I'm helping families pay off debt, grow wealth, and build a legacy without sacrificing what matters most. This is where money feels easy.

GMT20260213-210147_Recording 1:02

Hello, legacy builders. Thank you for coming back to the podcast today. I have a very special guest with me. Sammy Wedemeyer is with me and I met her accidentally on Instagram. She is doing one of these really cool challenges where she's trying to get her family of four on a single income out of$214,000 of debt. And I will tell you, I found her on day. Four and we are 45 days in, I believe to, or 44. I don't even know what day it is anymore. Yeah. Yep. At the time of this recording. Sammy, first of all, thank you so much for being on this podcast. Whose legacy or who is somebody whose legacy you would like to emulate one day? Thank you first and foremost for having me on here. This is so exciting. Whose legacy would I like to resemble? It's funny you asked this question and the first and only person that comes to mind is Jesus. And I know that might sound crazy, but the closer that I get to God through this whole process, the only person I want to emulate is Jesus. I just want to. Love like him and take care of people like him and steward what I have well and keep my heart posture in check. I was never really, I was influenced to get into debt very easily just by society. And this was just the norm. So I never really relied on anyone except God to help get us out of jet. So that is my answer. It's a fabulous answer and it really puts us in the right heart posture for where we wanna be with this. And I love that our family motto or one of our family mottos, we're working on it, we're trying to figure out which one we really want to stick with, but one of our family mottos is to everyday live and love more like Jesus. So yeah, I love it. Can you tell me,'cause I know a little bit about your story, I know what you've put out into the world, and so I'm hoping to get a concise kind of story here. But you listened to a sermon that even before you were in the debt payoff, this sermon caused you to clear out your home. I need to hear this sermon. Can you tell me a little bit about that? Yeah our church was doing a series on the importance of giving and it started out the first couple, I think it was like a five or six week sermon series, and the first two were about how important tithing was. And I learned a lot about tithing and then we got into the importance of being able to give and being a generous giver and how the realization of just that. None of what we have. None of what we earn, none of what we are given is actually ours. And that was such a profound thing for me. I remember sitting there going, wait, what do you mean? And the entire sermon was all about how we are, everything is a gift. Our children are gifts. Our homes are gifts. Our jobs are gifts. Our health is a gift, and we have to work on stewarding these things well and being able to provide for other people and be joyful about providing for other people and helping other people and using. Our income and the money we have in, I guess like in the right way and not spending it on things that are just not necessary, that don't actually bring us joy or do anything for the greater good. So that sermon really. And my pastor specifically said how did he say it? He said, we are in this deserving mindset. This just society, especially Americans, think that we deserve every little thing and I deserve the little treat and I deserve to go shopping and I deserve the break. And while we work hard and we do the things that we're supposed to do every day, we don't actually. Deserve all this little stuff. It's just justification and validation to spend. And that part really got to me. And then he encouraged everybody to go home and to get rid of one thing this week, but not just one thing. One thing that you like, like something that you like that is in your home? Yeah. That you don't necessarily. Love, but you would have a difficult time parting with and seeing if you could give it to someone else or gift it as a gift or donate it. So I came home and decided that we would do that with 70% of our house. That's amazing. I just went crazy. Yeah. No, I don't think you went crazy. I don't think that's a label you should put on yourself. I think that you went. Radical maybe, but Jesus, so that's totally okay. Wow. What could it look like if more people kept their homes to the things that they needed and not all of the stuff that they wanted? Because we tend to get really over cluttered. And when there's stuff everywhere, it clutters our mind. It keeps us from being able to focus on the things that we need to focus in on. We get easily distracted. And so by pairing things, by pruning, you've really made less chaos in your life. Yeah. Oh, for sure. And it's funny I keep doing that. I find myself looking around and being like, do we actually need this? Do we actually use this? Is this something that you've outgrown? We just, it leaves more room for us to be together. It leaves more room for me to not be cleaning and organizing all the time. It allows more time for me to be in the word because I'm not so focused on. All the stuff that needs to get done. So it's been truly just such a blessing. And even at Christmas time, we bought gifts for our kids and ended up returning half of them prior to Christmas because we wanted them to just have a few things that they really loved and not just like a lot of what they liked. So we're trying to teach that, which is going well, but it's just, yeah, I think the less. Stuff like we just don't need all the stuff. And I'm just noticing that I think getting to the root of why we collect and why we have, and why we shop and is really important too. Yeah. So you have them just in this perfect timeframe of we're gonna change and we're not gonna conform to the patterns of the world, but we are going to be a new creation who are doing things the way that God calls us to do them. And God does not. Anytime debt is mentioned in the Bible, it is a negative. It is, you're stupid. You're, don't do this'cause you're putting yourself in a trap. So you're changing the legacy for them on multiple different levels. And I love that you're doing that. Yeah, I'm trying. I'm trying. No, you are. You are. Thank you.'cause your kids are playing follow the leader, whether you know you're playing the game or not. And they're going to, that's true. They're going to see what you were doing. So I hope that this is an encouragement for you. Now you did something that was totally crazy and you decided to take your kids back to the nineties. To the point of buying a VHS tape, I need to know how they reacted to this. Like how did you find a VHS tape anywhere? And how would you encourage other people that want to do something is similar to that? So we they were never really iPad kids. They, we have iPads. I'm not gonna say we don't we bought them last year and we had a trip in December planned, and I was like, oh, we need the iPads. We're driving. And it turned out we did not need the iPads, but we, I was really I knew when we were getting. Wanting to get out of debt, that all of the streaming services were costing a lot of money, and whether that's Disney Plus or Hulu or Netflix or whatever. And I said, this is insane. And actually my mom was moving and she had all my VHSs from when I was a kid and all of my like home videos. So I really wanted to watch my home videos. So we searched the thrift store for months for a VHS player. I bet you did not know that VHS players are coming back. So they're on eBay, but they're very expensive. Yeah, so I did not wanna spend upwards. I know. I was like, I didn't wanna spend upwards of like$80 on eBay, so we just kept looking. And then at Goodwill, one, one time my husband went over to the electronics and he came back with a VHS player for 9 99, and I was just. Ecstatic. So it worked. And then we just curated a collection of the VHSs we've loved as kids and they at first. So it's interesting, the graphics are very different. If you remember back to then everything is less vibrant and almost slower. So they had to sit through the previews, but that was actually very cool because it's like coming soon in 1994. And so we got to relive this and I got to tell them about, what it was like when I was growing up. And so that was really cool. And now they don't mind. And we have a DVD player too. So we've been trying to only use those tools. So that's been this entire year so far, and it's been really fun. I grew up where movies were the thing and my grandfather would gift movies. That was what we got as a gift. And I love this it, when I saw that on your Instagram, I started screaming. So that was a fun thing, and this one's gonna be a little bit more emotional. Maybe you've gotten past the emotion of this, but you and your husband made the decision to sell his truck and based on what I saw online, he seemed much more okay with this than you did. And so I'm curious, A lot of people push back on this with me. They push back we can't be a single. Vehicle, household. And I had that problem because we moved over an hour away from my husband's work. So being him, having the only car Oh wow. Ended up being a very scary situation when we had a fire across the street from our house and I had no way of leaving with my six month old baby. Oh wow. Yep. Yeah, that was not fun. It was very scary. But we chose to not go out and make an emotional purchase and continue with what we were doing, where we just saved up and we eventually bought ourselves a vehicle. But you have gone down to being a single income or single income. That's funny. You were already a single income family. You've gone down to a single vehicle family, but you had a harder time with that than he did. So can you tell me a little bit about what you were feeling and like how that all played out for the two of you? Sure. So I I am definitely the more sentimental one I am, the more emotionally invested one. I, when we bought that truck, we were not in the situation that we are in now. We have since accrued. A lot more debt just be by things happening. None of it is, was really consumer debt. It was just life. But when we bought that truck, he had spent his entire last 10 years just driving, I wouldn't call them beaters, but not so great. Not so safe cars to work just to save money. So the truck was a very big deal. We were finally in a place where we could do it. And when I say we could do it. A lot of people are pushing back on us saying, we actually couldn't do it because we were making monthly payments. But I never saw having a car payment as like negative debt or even that was something that was not correct. I was always just, I've never not had a car payment, the truck to me was okay. We put a down payment on it and we had monthly payments and it was fine. So we never missed a payment. It wasn't anything like that, but it was expensive and I knew how special. It was, he does not ask for anything. He's a very simple, easy go with the flow man. And he does everything for us. So I just wanted to encourage him to buy that. And when he did, it was a very exciting big deal day. And then having to sell that was the complete opposite of that for me. I did the math. The first two, three days of the year, and I he was sleeping at the time. He came down and I said, Hey, I have a proposal. He's okay. I said, we can knock like$40,000 off of our total. And he said, if I sell the truck, I said, yeah. And without even question, he was like, okay, done. And I was like, okay. But I. It. I think the emotion part too was just the how quickly it was all happening. We started this whole plan of paying it off and I think on day nine is when we sold the truck. So it just felt we were just moving very fast and I was trying to keep up and the emotion was just raw and real, and he was very excited and ready to do this, and I was very much wait, but it's fine. The cool news is when you're out of debt. You'll be able to save up money and go buy whatever truck he happens to want. Yep. And you may want something differently when you have to pay cash for it. Yes. There's something about, using credit where it feels like monopoly money almost, where it's not real. Like it'll be real later. It's not real today. So I totally. I was the same way. I never experienced life without a car payment. So I, I was the same way. But I'm curious, would you if you wouldn't mind sharing, and I can take this out if you don't want any here. How much was your monthly car payment for the truck? So the truck was. It. The truck was 6 99 so$699 a month, and then we actually saved a hundred dollars roughly. It was like 98 on insurance. And then the gas was also insane. He only really drove it to work. But all in all, I want to say we're saving like between eight and 900, maybe closer to a thousand a month just by getting rid of the truck. Okay, so here's the crazy thing. I don't know how old you are and I'm not gonna ask you, but rough numbers here. If you are 35 years old and you work until you are 67 years old, and the only money you contribute into an investment account is the$699 of that car payment in those 32 years, that$699 will turn into$1,946,000. 1.9 million. That's crazy. And that's just, and no one has ever said that to me. Really? No, I know nothing about investing at this point, which I know that's on my to-do list eventually, but No, take your time. So it's one of those things where when you guys are out of debt. And you're ready to start the investment plan? I'll be reaching out. Oh yeah. I don't do investments, but I'll help you build your strategy. Great. So you guys are on this journey. Things are going crazy. What do you think has been the hardest part? For the last 44 days, I think the hardest part is. Patience because we are, we have this vision of where we wanna be. Now that we are, we've gained momentum and we have a plan. But trusting God's nudge to move us and to not feel like we're in control of this completely has been really challenging because we know, I think too. Wanting to do this right. And I don't actually know what that means or looks like. But wanting to do it right and being held accountable by hundreds of thousands of people on the internet now, which is still crazy to say. There's this level of like expectancy and pressure, but that's a good thing for me. But I think also just doing it right and making sure. That this all just makes sense and that I'm paying off what I should be instead of other things and just sitting in patience of all of that. I know that was loaded, but it's, there's a lot that goes into this journey in general, but I think adding a piece of doing it publicly, I. Adds a whole other realm of fun. So I, I can see the future and I can, okay. I can't see the future, but I have the vision of what I hope the future looks like. So I so badly wanna be there, but I know that I'm in. A process right now where I'm being led through it and documenting it, which I'm also certain is for a purpose. But doing it in God's timing is what's the most challenging. I think I'm watching people in your comments that are like, oh, we're gonna do it too, and they're like, they're feeling jazzed up and excited about it, and they're moving forward. I think that you are inspiring a whole bunch of people. That don't know that it's possible or wouldn't have even thought about it. There are a lot of people out there that are like no. The car payment's normal. Why would I not have a car payment? Yeah, for sure. So you were such an encouragement. Now you also, because you're documenting this all live, you were given a bit of a gift by a bit of a gift, a really big one. Yes. Which was crazy watching you. And I'm sitting here and. I try, I, I've been trying to follow along and you were like, we were given this gift. We're gonna open it here in person. I heard there was a check for me and for my husband, and the second you said that, I was like, oh, it's$38,000. The second, because I knew what the gift tax, right? If one person gives. A check to you and a check to your husband, then there's no gift tax. And I was like, I was certain I knew before you opened it. I was like, she's about to be in for the shock of her life right now. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. It, that also happened so fast. That was very early your journey. Day 12 was when we received it. I think the conversation started maybe on day six, day seven, and it was simple and just this like very basic human conversation with a stranger on the internet, which sounds insane. But it was just I wanna support you. I have been blessed. I, we choose families every year to do this for, and I'm like, oh, okay. Thank you. That's so wonderful. I thought, not a lot of it, to be honest with you. I didn't even totally expect that it would actually come to fruition. And then. For our safety. We had them send the checks, I guess the letter to my husband's work. And then he brought it home and we recorded it live, almost like a live opening. And I expected maybe at most like a hundred dollars. I was like, okay, this would be great. And then when we opened that, and that was just, I was, I. I still, it almost feels like out body. I've never held that kind of money in my hand besides signing a car payment or a house payment or, but that's not that. So that was just still one of the most surreal moments ever. And what I think it did for us more than anything is I cannot wait to be on the giving end of that and having someone else feel that. Receiving that and knowing that part just fires me up. Yeah, it was wild when I saw your reaction, I was like, she is gonna go give this. And what I see in you and your spirit, I was like, she's going to turn this around one day and do this for so many other people. If I were to give you$10,000 and I said, the only thing you can do with this is to turn around and bless other people, what might you wanna do with that kind of money? I have a running list of all the things that I pray someday I can do with what I feel we will be blessed with in the future. So big parts of it are I would love to give back to my church, current church, even if we move. My church right now is small. It is obviously only funded on tithing, and we do tithe every single month still. But I would love to drastically help them out. They are a massive reason that I even know who Jesus is. So that is definitely something that I would love to do for them. I have friends and family in my life that also could very much benefit from. Financial help. I have thoughts of how to help the unhoused population. I don't exactly know what those thoughts are, but I have thoughts about it. I also think being something about going to normal places, like very average, normal, typical places and being able to help out a server or help out someone that's working or be able to just bless. Average people who are doing average things that really may have lost hope in all humanity, which this platform has completely restored that for me. But to show them that good people still exist and we're all created for each other, and I just want, however God leads me, I just want to steward the money that we eventually, I pray, fall into well and be able to provide to whoever I can. Yeah, I think that's beautiful. I love that. I, one day I wanna go to a restaurant and tip a server so ridiculously and just walk away. Just leave it and walk away. One day. What do you think is next for you? Like I, I know this platform has you paying off the debt and I have no doubt in my mind that you were going to, I honestly, I think that you are going to surprise yourself. You had this a hundred thousand for the year and you're getting real close to that already, and we're in. February. So I have no doubt in my mind that you guys are gonna knock this out. I say 18 months at the most for the whole thing paid off. Thank you. Thank you. And I say it the most, I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't end the year debt free. So what would you like, what would you like to use your platform for after that? So the vision for that. If anything the most surprising piece about all this is yes, going back to what you said earlier, I've had a slew of people tell me that we've inspired them to start their journey. My husband also started a page, so he has his own following, but I, the coolest part of all of this is how many people have told me that I've. Influence them to pick up a Bible or to buy a Bible or to go back to church or, I, it's, and I struggle to, I don't wanna share that too much to be like, look at what I'm doing. I, it's, but that part has been the absolute coolest. I pray that my platform reaches people who. Don't either know Jesus yet or have been hurt in some way and want to rekindle the relationship. I just wanna be the light that is, whatever that means. And however that end up I would love to, it sounds a little insane, but I feel like if you're not dreaming big enough, and your dream, or if your dreams don't scare, you're not dreaming big enough. I would love for people to know who my husband and I are based on the good that I pray we can do. I would love to be known as a live like testimony of God and his work. And I have tried to pay debt off so many times but this time is the only time that I've ever brought God into it and it has just drastically changed. And I just think being able to. Show that and give hope to people who feel like they're stuck and pray over people and give suggestions and give strategy and all the things to help as many people as we can. I think that this platform was a blessing. So I, it's, that part is still crazy to me. But I think it was given to us for a reason okay. I'm constantly amazed at how the two of you are so down to earth and so loving and just you see the light when you're talking like you, you do, that you have gone about this brought Jesus even from the very beginning. You've brought Jesus the whole way, but you also don't knock anybody over the head with it. You're not Bible bashing or anything like that. It is it's a very genuine relational. Way that you guys have gone about this and it's really lovely to see. Thank you. Thank you. I know that for me, I'm going to continue following your journey. I think it's absolutely amazing if there's somebody listening to me right now and they are not already following and they need to, how do they get a hold of you? How do they follow? I am glad you're here for this journey. So my handle on Instagram and Facebook are both Sammy Wedemeyer. It's my full name, and that is the easiest way to be able to follow along. And I try to update. I'm typically on Instagram every single day, and then I cross post the same information to Facebook, but I'm on both of those platforms. Legacy builders. Thank you so much for coming along with us. Please follow Sammy and her family. They are doing amazing things and you wanna be there to cheer with them when they hit that final debt payoff. You don't wanna miss it, I'm sure it's gonna be amazing. So legacy builders go out and make a difference.