anyone else ready to GET OUT OF DEBT?

[Peppermint]

Specifically, for us, it's credit card debt, and it is NOW time to get out of it! I'd love to have a tribe of sorts to work toward this goal with.

[shelbean91]

I can't join the tribe, but I wish you luck. It is very hard, but very worth it. It takes a long time- we just paid off the last of our stuff last month after working on it for about 2-3 years. (The debt seems to build up MUCH faster than it goes down!!)

[Piglet68]

Well, we are very fortunate. We managed to rack up some big credit card bills over the last year, but we have an investment that's about to mature in another 3 or 4 months, and we will pay them all off. We have four between us, and will cut up all of them save one.

I tell ya, I will never, ever buy anything again on my CC unless I can pay it IN FULL at the end of the month. I have learnt my lesson, and only count my blessings that we have an opportunity to get out of it all quickly.

[Emzachsmama]

I am SOOOOOOOOOO ready to get out of debt!!! Ours is luckily no credit card debt, it is unpaid bills, student loan and basically just bad spending.

Any help and support would be wonderful!

[DecemberSun]

I'm in debt, I'm in debt!

We have credit card debt, and we are in a debt management program to pay it off. Unfortunatley, my credit is screwed up from trying to pay my bills off through this program. I've since found out that if I would have filed bankruptcy and not payed for anything, my credit would be getting back on track right about now... Crappy, huh? I can't wait till it's all paid off and behind us.

[Celtain]

ME ME ME ME ME ME!!!!!!!!!!!

We are so far in the hole we couldn't see the light if we climbed up halfway!!!!!!!! I am desperate to get us out of debt, but I am more desperate to stay home and take care of my children. If anyone has ideas or budgeting tactics, PASS THEM ON!!!!!!!!!

[Emilie]

US TOO! Dh did a number before he met me...
Left bills from college- never paid a credit card or two....
It all came back after we applied for a home loan. I am working very hard to get back on track- but it just gets to be soooo much after awhile to keep up with.
I have most bills come right out of our account and that helps- I donot have to remember to send them- etc.
I have just set up quicken and that helps- I feel like I am doing a JOB kind of when I enter it on the computer.
Hopefully in 5 years we will have the money to repay our student loans! UGHHH!!!
No saving for ds college here! What to do what to do!

[Peppermint]

So, does anyone have a timeline?

I am hoping that in 2 years the credit card debt will be gone(our car payments too, which will just leave us with dh's student loan and the mortgage). I am finally getting serious about it, cancelled cable and everything . Luckily for me dh has to have the internet connection for his job . Right now I feel like there is no place else for us to cut back, and we recently took a few hits that have cooled my fire a bit.

I had hoped that when we sold our rental house (Made $3000) that that would help, but it really just seemed to catch us up. Dh was going to cash in an investment account he has for retirement (I know all the financial people say not to ever do that) but found out that though the value right now is around $6000, we would only get like $3000 or $4000 if we did that, so we realized that really was a stupid idea. Then, there is the fact that we usually get money back on taxes (usually between $2000 and $3000) and this year we ended up paying around a thousand to the government , and then there was the health insurance hit, we now have to pay $650 a month out of pocket to cover our family, and we owe $2000 for the recent birth of our baby. When it rains it pours . We know how lucky we are in other areas though , and we are aware that our debt is our own fault, which doesn't make us feel better, but does make us determined.

Dh is talking about taking a second job, and I don't want to resort to that, b/c the kids will only be this small once, YK? I won't take any out of home jobs right now, b/c this is sadly my last baby, and I am going to cherish every moment, besides the fact that he is nursing and won't take a bottle.

So- at this point it's basically "make ends meet and aquire no new debt". I am going to babysit a 5 1/2 year old for the summer, and then after school too. I also sell some stuff we make on ebay- but that is sooo not a reliable income. I am thinking about starting Usborne book sales. As far as the "making ends meet" right now I am selling off random things on ebay and the TP, and in 2 weeks we are having a garage sale . I am also asking my brother and SIL to give us a few months off of our car payment to them until dh can get a job with cheaper health insurance.

We have switched our credit cards to ones with 0% interest for the next year(and cancelled the old ones ) so at least our minimum payments make some small difference.

Anyone else ready to share more details? I'd like this to become a "tribe" where we can work towards our goals together and support each other through all this.

I'll tell you one thing, after we pull ourselves out, this won't happen again(which is our reason for not doing bancruptcy-no offense to those that has worked for- we qualify- we just feel we HAVE to do this ourselves!)

Glad you other ladies are here , I am too embarrassed to talk to RL friends and family about what we have gotten ourselves into .

[Breathe]

Hey Patty, you must be feeling kinda exposed after putting all those personal details out there with no reposnse, huh?!? I just found this thread and am intrigued, altho I must admit that my head has been solidly in the sand since ds was born so I really couldn't lay out the details of our finances if I wanted to! (I grew up basically in poverty -- child of 2 eternal grad students -- so money stuff is just scary for me. Used to have to donate my babysitting money so my parents could buy milk -- at age 12.)

I can say that while we were both fortunate to get full fellowships to pay for undergrad and grad schools, we accumulated credit card debt for living expenses in those years (now 4 years ago!). Wanna hear our little trick?

We (actually, all dh's creativity) have shifted the debt from one 0% card to another . . . for 4 years! So we feel pretty darn good that we haven't payed a cent of interest -- it's been free money, really, and therefore not worth it to pay it off. The assumption has been that one day dh's ivy league degrees will lead to some good income for us (ahem, WHEN is that going to happen?!?!?) and that we'd be in a better position to pay off the debt in the future. Dh calls it "borrowing against future income" which is, apparently, a legit econ concept. (I have taken his word for it!)

The rub is, we have not been saving to pay off this "free money" -- not a penny! We do save $50/mos for ds's college, but nothing else. His birth (now 2.5 yrs ago) is still on the CC, as are all vacations we've taken in the last 4 years. We also pay $450 a month for health ins, and also owed taxes this year -- unbelievable! We have cut cable, too (altho can't get rid of the internet!), cut one cell phone, and are always looking for stuff to sell, but cannot seem to curb our eating out habit. Between that and the organic groceries, almost ALL of our money goes to food and mortgage. And 2nd mortgage, which we had to take out to pay off other debts! AAAAAHHHH!

I can't seem to get committed to paying things off. I keep waiting for dh to get a huge raise, but it just has not materialized and I know we are living on borrowed time.

So I'm all for a little motivation. Fire away!

[Peppermint]

I did kind of that I got no responses to that, but people are funny about mony I guess. I don't tell people IRL b/c then they either pity you or think you are stupid :LOL.

I am just finally ready to take responsibility for our situation and go along the slow road of getting us out.

Thanks for sharing Breathe.

[chiromama]

I'd love to join this thead.. we did it a few years back ( got out of debt) and have managed to stay out... except for my student loans ( $130 K) and house and cars... I'd love to get rid of the student loans!!

[Celtain]

So here we are trying to get out of debt, and my car has become unsafe to drive and the repairs are to expensive to justify. So off we go to the car store, but our credit is so bad, we are going to pay 16% interest but there isn't an early payoff penalty. So here's hoping we can pay it off early. let's keep this thread alive and support one another, I know I need it!!!!

[comet]

Just popping in to wish you all good luck! I got out of debt 10 yrs ago and it was incredibly worth it. FWIW, what worked for me was to cut way back in every area of spending and just hold that line for a few years. Initially I thought it would only take 6 months (silly me) but it did take about 2-3 years. Also, we put away the credit cards and only bought things if we had cash for it.

After that, our income rose enough so that we haven't had any problem spending more than we have. So I am pretty sure *that* problem is licked for now.

[Peppermint]

Glad to see others working toward this goal- Comet thanks for sharing that you were able to do it--that must be a really great feeling when it's all over.

[Lucky Charm]

I wish this thread was here a few months ago.

we recently paid off $6,000 in credit card debt over 3 months. they are all in the freezer except for my american express, which i cary. i dont consider it a credit card in the true sence, because i have to pay it off every month. and i have to really watch what i spend on it because of that.

We want to refinance our home, current interest rate is 6.5%, but its and FHA loan, so i have to see what my options are.

We have one car payment. I'd love to send $1000 month until its paid off, but i'm not sure we can do that.

[PikkuMyy]

We're up to our ears in debt - home equity loan and CC and some student loans (but their interest is really low). WE'd love to pay it off but they've been building and building because we don't make enough money to live on. Our monthly bills are: 2 cell phones, 1 car insurance (car is paid), 1 house insurance, regular phone and electricity, internet. We don't have TV.

But I'm in school part time and work only part time and DH is unemployed, making money on eBay. He makes a heck of a lot that way, but it's still not enough for us. So we had the home equity line and used that to pay off some cc debt as the interest is much lower, we just got it raised and will pay off some more. Then we just have to hang in there until we eventually sell the house and pay off all the debts with part of the money. The thing is that we have to fix up the house quite a bit before we can sell it, and furthermore, we have tenants whose rent money pays for OUR rent money, so if they left so we could sell the house, how would we pay our rent!?!?!

It's all a fuddle. But we're trying. We spend every penny we can towards those bills and DH is desperately trying to find more ways to make money. (He's a writer, so good luck in that line of work, KWIM?)

I know we'll make it out, particularly since we have this house and by next year I'll have my master's degree, but until then...

[WesleysMom]

I had all of my CC's paid off until I became addicted to cloth diapering. But I am working on knocking those out. Of course don't know how long they will stay paid off due to the fact that I am in school and will be for a few years due to what I want to do. DH is in Korea and we have to buy the plane tickets for his midtour visit home.

[Celtain]

OK, starting slowly. I Quit smoking. I dropped the digital cable down to basic cable. Bill went from $75 a month to $20 a month. Got a clothesline, I live in Florida for crying out loud, bet it dries faster on the line than in the dryer!! Let's hear some more!!!!!!!

[Peppermint]

Quit smoking? HOORAY! That is huge in and of itself! How fabulous!

Well, I just cashed in a life insurance policy that my parents started when I was 4, so that I can pay our health insurance . I am now coupon shopping too (didn't ever realize how you could get stuff for free that way).

We are considering selling dh's car if he gets a job in the Fire Department (which we will know soon) then he'll either bike to work, I'll drive him, or he'll get a ride from another guy. Right now between car payments and insurance we pay $200 a month for his tiny car that we can't go anywhere as a family in, just not worth over $6 a day to have it.

I have a bridal shower and baby shower coming up in the next couple of weeks---dh is going to make a gift for the bridal shower (framed Irish Marriage Blessing- $2 walmart frame), but I promised to buy some cloth diapers for the baby shower- so- I'll have to spend some money there-sigh!

Any ideas anyone else?

[kathsmom]

I would love to joing a "tribe" to get out of debt! We had some debt that we managed to pay off and for a few years, all we owed was the mortgage and my student loans. We eventually paid off the student loans, but had to get a new car, because mine literally died in the parking lot at the mall. Still, everything was manageable and I continued to be a SAHM.

Even when I was pregnant with my second child, things were going well for us. Then, DH took what we thought would be his dream job. Two months later, DH quit this "dream" job (it turned out to be the biggest nightmare) and was out of work for almost 2 months. We had DD in a small private school and DS was only 4 months old. So, we got behind due to the lack of income.

Then, the driveway cracked and buckled and had to be fixed. The trees had to be cut down/trimmed/pruned. DS has been sick a lot this winter and our insurance deductible was raised. Now we need a new washer and dryer.

Everytime I think that we will get ahead, we are thrown for another loop. We do have cable, but I consider that our entertainment, because we don't go to the movies, etc. We do need to cut out eating out so much.

I have checked out the website www.miserlymoms.com and there is a section on frugal tips and frugal recipes. I have also checked out www.cheapskatemonthly.com as well, but I am not a subscriber.

Good luck to you all!