Last month, Jill Duggar published her debut memoir.
And within a week, the reality star, cult survivor, wife and mother was able to add bestselling author to her resumé.
Usually, authors are hesitant to talk about how much money they’ve earned from their book.
But Jill’s is a special case …
In her memoir and in numerous interviews over the years, Jill claimed that she barely received any money for the work she did on her family’s reality shows.
So revealing how much she was paid for her literary debut — in which she criticizes the abusive father who pocketed all her cash — amounts to a sort of well-earned victory dance.
Maybe that’s why her husband and co-author, Derick Dillard, felt comfortable going into detail about the couple’s financial situation during a recent podcast appearance.
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Earlier this week, Derick called into The Ramsey Show, where he opened up about how the success of Counting the Cost has affected his bank account.
Derick revealed that he and Jill have already enjoyed a tidy profit from the project, including a $50,000 check from the published on the day the book was released.
From there, Dillard launched into a larger discussion about his family’s finances.
“normal household income,” Derick explained that it “fluctuates” in the Dillard home
Derick says that as recently as 2022, the family was living mostly off of his income as an attorney, which consisted of about $65,000.
(It was Derick’s first year of practice. He’ll likely earn more in the future.)
The situation has improved dramatically since, with the Dillards expecting to earn approximately $150,000 this year and around $85,000 in 2024.
“That’s just with my income plus a little bit of income in addition to, like [what] my wife brings in from social media and things,” Derick said, according to The Ashley’s Reality Roundup.
Derick says the best part of this improved financial situation is that he and Jill have finally paid off all of their debts.
(It seems they still owe on their mortgage, but are otherwise out of the hole.)
Debt is a very big deal in the Duggars’ world.
Jill was raised to believe that it’s sinful to owe money, as it forces one to engage in the material world, which is really just an illusion created by the devil.
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Thankfully, Jill has ditched most of Jim Bob Duggar’s bizarre beliefs, but she’s held on to a few, and that teaching might be one of them.
Whatever the case, she and Derick deserve a world of credit for overcoming adversity and turning their financial situation around.
We’re sure they’re hard at work on a sequel memoir at this very moment!
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Derick Dillard: Jill Duggar’s Book Made Us Rich! We’re Completely Out of Debt! was originally published on The Hollywood Gossip.