Getting out of debt

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  • Coco187
    Coco187 Posts: 33 Member
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    I got to bookmark this...
  • KeeleySue
    KeeleySue Posts: 158
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    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: 48,704 Member
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    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
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    bump
  • solpwr
    solpwr Posts: 1,039 Member
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    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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