Friends and family have called me a tightwad or a cheapskate. I prefer to be called "frugal"! About 12 years ago, my husband and I came to the bright conclusion that we had too much debt (after only 3 years of marriage!) We also realized, given our current debt to income ratio, we would NEVER be out of debt. So, we got a consolidation loan to cure our problem. Our cure didn't work because, as a lot of people do, we continued to accrue debt. It was growing quickly! Our second problem was that I desperately wanted to quit work and stay at home with our baby daughter.
By this point we were coming to the realization that we needed to do some things drastically different! So, we cut up all of our credit cards and tried to pay down our debts as much as we could (we started using Mary Hunt's Rapid Debt Repayment Plan). I was learning that paying down debt is like dieting: It's great to lose weight but if you don't CONTINUE your new healthy eating and exercising, the weight will come right back on (and usually twice as much!) It was at this time that I realized getting out of debt and STAYING debt free was more than a budget on paper but it was a heart issue; learning about contentment, thankfulness and frugality.
We were able to get completely debt free in about 3 years (with only my husband's income). We lived on A LOT less and learned to love it! During those 3 years, I read all of Mary Hunt's books, "The Tightwad Gazette" by Amy Dacyczyn, and "Living On Less and Liking It More" by Maxine Hancock. When someone has had a negative behavior, they can't just stop it and continue living like they had before. It helps to have something new, a new positive habit to replace the bad. That, my friends, is exactly what becoming frugal did for me!
At first, it was a game (How much money can I save with coupons this week). However, it quickly became a lifestyle. Since we have become debt free, we have built our own home in the country with acreage. We raise pigs, our own chickens, and we have our own orchard and garden. I've always loved to garden but recently I read "Growing Your Own Groceries" by Kimberley Eddy.
One major tip I have about being frugal is: Give away a portion of all that you make. When you give, it always comes back as a blessing! Don't confuse being frugal with being stingy or selfish. Instead, being frugal frees up money so you can give more away. Once you become a frugal minded person, there is no turning back. I know some people may roll their eyes, thinking one can go too far in being a tightwad. I agree with Maxine Hancock in "Living on Less and Liking it More", she says: "We sit in our living rooms and look into the unseeing eye of our TV sets and see not just individuals but entire cities and nations going bankrupt.
But just sitting around with vague guilt feelings haunting us is hardly a sufficient response. We need to seriously reevaluate our whole set of life goals and to ask ourselves, "Where are we now? And where are we going?" We must put to ourselves the question worded by World Vision director, W. Stanley Mooneyham, "Is my life style supporting a famine somewhere in the world today? If we are, indeed, people not content to sit back and wait in helplessness for the breakers of present and future shock to overwhelm us, we need to become actively involved in adjusting our goals, expanding our ethic, and moderating our life-style to meet the needs of this changing age."
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn spent 7 years at a Soviet prison camp; the world would be a better place if we would follow his advice. He says, "What about the main thing in life, all its riddles? If you want I'll spell it out for you right now. Do not pursue what is illusory- property and position: all that is gained at the expense of your nerves, decade after decade, and is confiscated in one fell night. Live with a steady superiority over life - don't be afraid of misfortune and do not yearn after happiness. Our envy of others devours us most of all. Rub your eyes and purify your heart - and prize above all else in the world those who love you and wish you well."
I love my frugal life!
By Christy Brashers
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Using this method of making larger payments on consumer debt and paying them off in sequence can work for many people. This is a page about using snowball payments to get out of debt.
Making only the minimum payment on your debt not only lengthens the time it will take to pay off but it also ensures that you pay more interest. Why give them more of you money than necessary.
This is a page about dealing with credit card debt. Do you have a large amount of credit card debit or is your interest rate really high?
If your paychecks are being stretched, look for places to tighten the belt. This is a page about struggling with a small budget.
If your bills are higher than your take-home pay, it's time to get some help. This page has advice about sinking in debt, more bills than income.
I just found a great financial resource. We all have issues around money, and a place to take those issues is Debtors Anonymous (or DA for short).
As a former Credit Analyst and Credit Counseler, I have to say this debt calculator is the best! You can see how long it will take you to pay off your debt if you only pay your minimum payments.
The average American credit card debt is over $5,100. While it may not seem like it, this balance is manageable.
I am looking for ideas to get out of debt. I ran across a little plan to get out of debt that really works if you just stick to it.
How to become a debt free?
By Roager F
There are several ways to become debt-free. One is to file for bankruptcy. You will not lose your house or your car, and once you begin to file for bankruptcy, you will be protected so that your creditors can no longer hound you. It cost around $2500.00 to file which may sound like a lot, but since you're are no longer making payments on your bills, you will have the extra money every month to make payments to your lawyer. Most lawyers are willing to make some kind of payment arrangements. You will also have to take some kind of classes, but these can be done online. Some debts, such as student loans, can not be discharged through bankruptcy.
The other method is to pay down your debt. Start with your bill that has the highest interest, and take as much extra money as you can afford every month and add it to the payment of that bill - while still continuing to make payments on your other bills. When the first bill is paid off, take all the money you were paying on that bill and add it to the payment on your next bill, Repeat this procedure until all of your bills are paid off.
The best way to become debt free is to sit down and write out a budget. There are several sites (including this one) that have loads of free info on how to create one and many offer free template downloads.
But the basics are this-in one column write down all the bills you must pay each month (rent or mortgage, utilities, personal loan and credit card repayments, insurance, cable and internet, mobile phone, etc).
In the next column list what you spend on groceries, petrol, clothing.
In yet another column list what you spend on 'misc' items like books and magazines, theatre tickets and/or movie and video games, meals out, cigarettes, beer or other alcohol, and similar expenditures.
Be honest-if you splash out on a latte every day, write it down! If you spend a lot on groceries, make sure you write that down. Always round up to the nearest dollar to give yourself a bit of a cushion for price rises.
Total each column and then add the totals together to arrive at one sum to represent your total monthly outgo.
Now list your total monthly net (after taxes) income.
Compare the two totals.
Oh dear! You're spending far more per month than you are taking in!!
So go back to the outgo columns, figure out what you can eliminate and then do so. Stick to it.
It will take a while to pay down whatever debt you have, so stick to it. Double up on payments like mortgage and credit card or other personal debt-make sure to note on the doubled payments that the extra is to apply against the principal or the sorry creditors will apply it against interest only, and you'll still have that big principal to pay down. They love to do that because the higher the amount of the principal, the more interest they can charge you-it's a vicious and never ending cycle, and that's how they make their money, from interest!
It won't be easy but being debt free is the absolute best feeling ever.
Ideas and tips to help you stay motivated and inspired to pay off debt. Post your ideas.