Debt update.....

It's been an exciting seven months for us here.

We decided to get on board with Dave Ramsey's debt reduction program in April and we went cold turkey.

We actually quit spending money and went on a budget. We were huge free spenders.

Since April we have paid off a significant amount of our debt. And now we actually have a great budget and have added entertainment and eating out to the budget!!

From April to September we actually didn't go out to eat like we used to. Now we have a budget for it!!

Last night my husband paid off the last of our Home equity loan.

The only debt we have left is a credit card, a second mortgage and our house.

We will be debt free within a few years!! We are very excited about that prospect!!

We have about six weeks left of our FPU class.

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Proverbs 22:7 (Contemporary English Version)
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

The poor are ruled by the rich,
and those who borrow
are slaves of moneylenders.

Debt

In April my husband and I decided to get out of debt. Really get out of debt including the house payment.

We decided to take Dave Ramsey's approach with the debt snowball and it is working and we are very excited.

My husband is facilitating the FPU class at our church and we have been attending for 4 weeks now. It is a 14 week course. There are about 35 people in our class so far, with a few joining late.

So far, since April, we have paid off twenty-two thousand dollars in debt.
It hasn't been easy and at first it really was no fun.

But we had to do it the way we did to change our habits. We used to think nothing of going out and spending 80 dollars on dinner then spending another 200-300 hundred on stuff.

We quit our free spending, didn't go out to eat, and starting thinking about where our money was going and what we were doing with our money.

Along with not spending my husband has been working overtime.

We have paid off two credit cards, purchased a new refrigerator, had an expensive vet bill and paid off my car!!

This month we have finally started a full budget. Every dollar has a name to it and we have a restaurant budget!!

It's a good feeling to know we are digging out of the mess we made.

Here are some interesting things about debt:
*Our grandparents didn't have debt or credit cards
*our parents may have have a credit card
*our generation has multi debt and credit cards
*the first credit card was Diners Club and it was started in NY City in 1950
(my dad had a diners club credit card!!)
*Bankamericard and American Express were created in 1958
*Visa came on the scene in 1976!!! (this was my first Credit card!)
*Discover card started in 1986 and was owned by Sears until they sold it.

We live above our means in this country and people wonder why they don't have money!!

We are well on our way of getting totally out of debt now and we are extremely happy about it!!

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Proverbs 22:7 (Contemporary English Version)
Contemporary English Version (CEV)

The poor are ruled by the rich,
and those who borrow
are slaves of moneylenders.

It's mine........all mine!!

This is my Honda Pilot. And I own it outright.

We paid it off last week. Almost a year early too!!

My husband and I are following Dave Ramsey's get out of debt book.

It's called "The Total Money Makeover"

We are getting out of debt and it's a great feeling.

We bought this pilot a week after my son was born.

Before the Pilot I drove a Jetta, that I absolutely loved.

My husband didn't really fit into the car and the car seat didn't fit very well either so when I was 8 months pregnant we went car shopping.

I know I will have this car for a long, long time. It only has 34,000 miles on it so far!!

It's a good feeling to have no car payments now--or ever again!!

Getting out of Debt

We have decided that we are going to be debt free.

We've been listening to and reading Dave Ramsey and he makes a lot of sense.

Early in our marriage we didn't have much debt. A car payment and mortgage and the occasional credit card debt. We would pay the credit card off each month.

Then my husbands salary increased. We got spoiled. We bought what we wanted when we wanted and it didn't matter if we used the credit card and didn't pay it off. After all, there was always the bonus. We could use the bonus to pay off our debt.

Well, after a few years of that mindset, we find ourselves with more debt than we really want.

There are things we want, things we need to do for the house and we don't want to add more debt to the situation.

So, in the last month or so, we have quit eating out, we have quit the free spending and we've come up with a plan to eradicate our debt in a timely fashion.

We are both excited about this plan too. We are in total agreement with the plan too.

We have completed several steps of Dave Ramsey's plan and are excited to see how this unfolds and how quickly we will be debt free, including mortgage!!

I feel very thankful that my husband makes a good salary. We never should have gotten into this situation to begin with but we did. Now it's time to buckle down and get the debt paid off!!

Here is Dave Ramsey's site.

Dave Ramsey
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Proverbs 22:7 (but the whole chapter is good!!

7 The rich rules over the poor,
And the borrower is servant to the lender.