Getting out of debt

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  • i_love_vinegar
    i_love_vinegar Posts: 2,092 Member
    Howabout Suzie Orman ppl?

    Not all debt is bad debt btw (I think)...sometimes its good to be indebted because it can help u make more money x3
  • questionablemethods
    questionablemethods Posts: 2,174 Member
    Howabout Suzie Orman ppl?

    Not all debt is bad debt btw (I think)...sometimes its good to be indebted because it can help u make more money x3

    Sure, but Dave Ramsey's big point with this is that people are often very bad at considering risk when they take on debt. Consider, for example, someone who takes out over $100K in student loans to go to medical/dental/law school (or whatever) and then fall ill and cannot finish or pursue that career. Or perhaps they have a child with special needs who really needs a parent home with them most of the day. Obviously, there is risk in all that we do and situations like I mentioned aren't the norm--but I think they (or some version of them) are more common than we might believe. He's not saying don't go to school to learn more and pursue the career you want, he is just an advocate of saving up and working your way through it.
  • brewingaz
    brewingaz Posts: 1,136 Member
    www.daveramsey.com

    Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover or Financial Peace University. Using his steps we were able to pay off $50,000 and save a 6 month emergency fund. We are working on saving money for house repairs right now, but when we are done we will start working on paying our house off early. It has totally changed our lives and our marriage! Now, we are focusing on getting our bodies debt (fat) free! haha.

    Yep, same here. We even are "graduates" of his program.
  • jpburcham
    jpburcham Posts: 98 Member
    Howabout Suzie Orman ppl?

    Not all debt is bad debt btw (I think)...sometimes its good to be indebted because it can help u make more money x3

    I thought this once upon a time. When I realized that there are at least two negative things associated with debt, I changed my thinking (Probably more than two negative, but to keep this short :smile: )
    1st is Risk, this has already been mentioned
    2nd is Bondage. I couldn't change jobs once, because I couldn't find anyone willing to pay enough to cover the debt. And my employer required me to travel . . . alot . . . 220 nights / year. I didn't have any options but to continue in the work that almost cost me a marriage. Sounds a lot like bondage to me.

    Just my $0.02 ~ Your mileage may vary
  • TheRoadDog
    TheRoadDog Posts: 11,788 Member
    By the way, if you happen to go to a Dave Ramsey seminar, I understand that an interview they did with me is included in a video presentation. Just had someone approach me last year saying they were in a seminar and saw me in the presentation.
  • BerryH
    BerryH Posts: 4,698 Member
    Money Saving Expert helped me a lot. The advice may be UK-centric, but the tips on the forums should translate freely:
    http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/
  • harajuku_lu
    harajuku_lu Posts: 18
    I am also trying to get out of debt. I will have paid off my credit card (finally!) next week but still have an overdraft, loan, car loan and mortgage to deal with. I am also trying to save for my wedding in October 2012 and my house needs some serious work. I am finding it difficult to know how much to save and how much to pay off debts. Ideally I would like to be debt free asap but the wedding is booked and some of the house repairs can't wait.....I'm in such a dilema! Any advice would be appreciated :)
  • jpburcham
    jpburcham Posts: 98 Member
    Get yourself a quick $1,000 emergency fund ~ that you don't touch except in case of an emergency (and most things are not emergencies). Get current with everyone, make min payments on everything, and save for two things ~ Wedding, and NECESSARY home repairs. Your goal for now is to get to a point where you can stop going deeper into debt. Sounds simple, and easy, but trust me ~ It's a lot of hard work, and learning to say "NO" to desires ! Best of Luck ~
    Congratulations on the upcoming wedding !!!
  • Slimithy
    Slimithy Posts: 348 Member
    Google Dave Ramsey

    We also use something called Mvelopes
  • GreenLifeGirl
    GreenLifeGirl Posts: 381 Member
    As far as a website/online app that is great for finances...I LOVE pearbudget.com and use it along with Dave Ramsey.
  • Coco187
    Coco187 Posts: 33 Member
    I got to bookmark this...
  • KeeleySue
    KeeleySue Posts: 158
    I'm going to jump on the Dave Ramsey bandwagon.

    I never did FPU (Financial Peace University) but I read The Total Money Makeover in Feb. 2010. My husband and I started our budget and money makeover in March 2010. We are on baby step 2 (debt snowball) and are 4 months away from being debt free except for our house. In 18 months, we have paid off $35k of our debt. It's an amazing feeling!

    We have 2 girls (5 & 2) and trying for #3. We are excited that we decided to do this when they were young so we have plenty of time to save for their college and also teach them from the very beginning how to live debt free so they don't get themselves into the same messes that my husband and I did.


    If anyone wants to friend me or ask questions, I'd be more than happy to help with anything Dave Ramsey related.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,061 Member
    We didn't do any programs or counseling. We basically took our smallest bill, and paid as much as we could to it till it was paid off while paying minimum on the others. When one was done we moved on to the next. Since all the APR's were the same, we didn't have to do a lot of calculating. Gotta say that it's a much different life when you don't have debt hanging over your head.
  • jojoof4
    jojoof4 Posts: 120
    bump
  • solpwr
    solpwr Posts: 1,039 Member
    Interestingly, I started tackling the debt, and my success helped me to apply the same discipline to my waistline.

    I think they are related! The commonality being the need for 1) discipline (already stated) and 2) keeping a log.

    Think about it, the biggest help from MFP is a simple log of ingesting and expending energy, the unit of measure of which is calories.

    I keep a meticulous spreadsheet of my financial inflows and outflows. My cash flow.
    Another worksheet page is my debt.
    I have a page for my credit card inflows and outflows. I do virtually all my spending on credit cards, and pay them off every month. I get the spending discounts! I save the "Discover $" for gifts for friends and weddings and such. It adds up to a lot over time.
    I have another sheet for cash on hand. I always pay myself. My allowance. When I'm out, I quit spending.
    Another sheet just for fuel. I know exactly how much I spend monthly, track gas mileage, track maintenance and oil changes.

    The biggest thing: keep a spending diary. And a savings diary. And a debt diary. That will get you a long ways.
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