Debt Free Together: A Proven Plan for Couples to Eliminate Debt and Build Wealth

Charles Bailey is a certified financial counselor and relationship finance specialist with over fifteen years of experience helping couples transform their financial lives. He holds a degree in financial counseling from the University of Georgia and is accredited through the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education (AFCPE).

Bailey began his career as a consumer credit counselor at a nonprofit agency, where he noticed a pattern that traditional financial advice rarely addressed: couples who had solid technical knowledge of budgeting and debt repayment still struggled because the emotional and relational dynamics of money went unaddressed. This observation led him to develop the Couples Debt Freedom System, a structured approach that integrates practical financial planning with relationship communication strategies. His methodology has been adopted by financial coaches and marriage counselors across the country.

Over the course of his career, Bailey has worked directly with more than eight hundred couples, helping them eliminate over $12 million in combined consumer debt. He has been a featured speaker at the Financial Counseling Association of America's annual conference and has contributed articles to Kiplinger's Personal Finance, U.S. News & World Report, and The Penny Hoarder. He has also appeared as a guest on the Ramsey Show, Afford Anything, and Journey to Launch podcasts.

Bailey lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with his wife of twelve years, Rachel, and their two children. He and his wife paid off $47,000 of debt in twenty two months early in their marriage, an experience that directly shaped the principles in this book. In his free time, he teaches financial literacy workshops at local community centers and serves on the board of a regional credit counseling nonprofit. Debt Free Together is his first book.