Killing Debt One Pizza at a Time – An Interview with Jeff of Deliver Away Debt

Want to learn how to kill your debt quicker? Follow the advice of Jeff from DeliverAwayDebt.com and you’ll be headed in the right direction. What advice does he give? Stop complaining, get off your butt and get a second job! He picked up a second job as a pizza delivery driver and uses his experiences to blog about “delivering away debt” and his adventures with personal finance. Keep reading to learn more from Jeff.

Is this your first blog / website? If not, what are your other experiences blogging?
My first website was published back in 1998. I created a photo/storyboard site to propose to a girl. The site worked out great, but the relationship didn’t. We ended up calling off the wedding, one of the best decisions in our lives. It would have ended in divorce had we tied the knot.

What makes your blog stand out from the others in the PF blogosphere?
The tips. I post all my earnings from delivering pizzas on the weekend. I hope to inspire others to take the plunge and get a second job. You can make great money delivering and you don’t have to have anything other than desire to do it. Budgeting will only get you so far, you need more money to blast away debt.

Where do you see your blog headed in the next few years?
I’ll be out of debt in July 2011 so the pizza tips will stop, I’m not going to work the two jobs again. I hope to show my transition from delivery driver to owner. I plan on franchising with my current employer and being slinging pizzas for a living. The blog will show the fun that is involved with opening this type of business. I will still of course write about personal finance, I just love the topic.

What’s your favorite post on your site and why?
The Sacrifice of Eliminating Debt. Without sacrifice you can’t move the debt needle. People need to understand that in order to get out of debt they need to work for it. There are no magic pills on the market for debt reduction.

What is the best financial book you ever read and why?
Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover. The book will open anyone’s eyes to the evil of carrying a high debt load. The book also offers the simplest road map for success of any other book I’ve read. Yes the advice is nothing new, but it’s packaged in an easy to understand format that even a Cave Man can follow.

If I gave you $1 million dollars right now (post tax of course), what would you do with it?
I bet you can guess the first thing I would do, pay off all my debt. I would then purchase a new home for the family, mine is getting really crowded. I would invest the rest of the money.

What will you do the day you reach zero in debt?
Sleep the whole day. Someone asked me the other day if I ever just want to stop and sit on the couch and do nothing. I replied no, I just want to sleep.

Tell me your worse pizza delivering story and best pizza delivering story.
The worst story just happened within the last few weeks. It was my second delivery of the day and the guy only had a $50 bill. While handing the guy his change I accidentally gave him back the fifty mixed in with a few fives. I always put my low bills (change) in my front right pocket. The big bills go in my back left pocket. The receipts go in my back right pocket. I’ve used the method forever and it keeps everything organized well. As I drove away I realized that I didn’t reach to put the fifty in my left back pocket. I stopped the car and feverishly checked everywhere. I didn’t have it. I spun around and went back to the house. The guy checked the change I gave him and said he didn’t have it. I searched around the outside of the house but no luck. I was out the fifty and the $17 in change I gave him. I was super pissed, it was going to take all night to make back that $67. He called the store two hours later and asked them to send me back to his house. Once I got there he gave me the money and said “you need to be more carefully with money these days.” No crap A-hole, thanks for the lesson. I was happy and pissed at the same time. I can’t believe that he when through all that trouble to give me a lesson. Oh well, I did learn from it.

At the first pizza shop I delivered for, we serviced a bunch of hotels in the area. I took a delivery to one of the sleazier hotels and was quite surprised when the door opened. Standing in the doorway were three “Ladies of the Night” wearing only towels around their waists. The money to pay the bill was stuck to each of their respective, well you can guess where the money was. I kindly took the money and returned to my car. I was laughing the whole way. This was by far the funniest delivery for me, although my wife didn’t think so.

Besides home, where is your favorite place in the world?
Of all the places I’ve traveled Hong Kong is my favorite. I love the energy of the city. It’s also very beautiful and there is a ton of things to do.

Do you invest in real estate at all?
No. I thought I was investing in my house, but of course that isn’t working out too well.

What’s your favorite investment vehicle?
I don’t have a favorite at this point in my life. My focus is to get out of debt. I still contribute the minimum required to get my company match for my 401K, but nothing more. I’m starting to read more about investing because I’ll be investing a ton in the near future.

Would you ever scuba dive with sharks?
Hell yes. I’ve snorkeled with Nurse Sharks before and that was awesome. I was raised with boats in my life and I love the water. I’ve been scuba diving before and fell in love with it. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Thanks again to Jeff for taking the time to share his story. Please check out his site at DeliverAwayDebt.com.