Hkkatie

You mentioned you got yourself into a lot of debt before getting married and was used to buying whatever etc. How did you break yourself of that habit? I’ve gotten really, really bad about shopping and buying whatever suits my fancy and I’m embarrassed to say I’ve got quite the credit card debt.

I’ll do really good being frugal for 3 months than I’ll just go crazy for some reason and take a shopping spree and spend more that one time than I would have if I’d just not been good for those 3 months.

I’m in charge of our money because Dh just can’t pay bills on time if his life depended on it and I’m VERY particular about paying them on time to keep our credit good. I try to make a budget but it’s hard to do that and to stick with it! I think I justify my shopping with "well I work fulltime and it's my money anyway so I can spend what I want..." bad huh!

Anyone have something that’s helped them be frugal and to get out of debt. With Dh almost done with school we’ll have loans to pay (not a lot just about $10,000) but add that to my bad habit bill and we’ll be hurting.

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Shabs
Christopher 4-01
Connor 5-03
Kaitlee 9-06

Brooke and Brennon 11-99

We had about 6 credit cards maxed out when we got married (5 were DH's). What we did was once one was paid off we automatically cut it up and called the cc company to cancel it, that way we could not use it again. Also, most of them had an interest around 12%, so when we'd get a cc offer for a card where you could have a transfer balance with no interest for the first year, we would transfer the balance of the highest interest card over and cancel that card. That way all our payments weren't going toward interest but the actual balance. When you get one card paid off, put the amount you were paying monthly for that card towards paying off the other cards, so you are still paying the same amount every month, but as each card gets paid off, you can pay the others off quicker as well. Also, if possible, don't just pay the minimum balance each month or it will take forever. Pay as much as you are able, and try to pay off the highest interest cards first. What we did to pay them off quicker is use DH's work bonuses or student loans to pay off the credit cards. Yes, we will still have to pay back the student loans but the interest will be much lower.

Hope that helps

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I recommend this website:
DebtSmart

This guy is AWESOME and his newsletters have really helped me along the way.

Mostly, I found I had to have fun doing free things (or reward myself very inexpensively). Otherwise, I'd be stuck in that rut for a very long time. But I can tell you that you can do it. We did it, thousands of others did it, and you can, too! It is just a long process. But you feel really good when you get yourself on a budget and a debt-reduction plan and start working it. But make a plan and stick to it. In addition to paying as much as you can on your debt, you have to "pay yourself", too. It's good to automatically send $$ to your savings account each payday. It's hard at first, but then it becomes habit and you're good to go. That way, you can save to reward yourself on whatever you've been wanting to get, and you don't feel cheated that you work, work, work and can't splurge every now and then.

PS - This website is very helpful with saving money on everyday things:
Pinching Your Pennies

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Angela

Shab's I would just suggest cutting the cc up! If they ain't there to use, then you can't use 'em. We cut up alot of ours when we were 1st married and haven't used any since that first year of marriage. Just this last month Dh started using one again to buy supplies to finish the last room in our basement. He's already paying that off since his "seasonal" business has started taking off for the year!
Good luck, I know it can be hard but you can do it!

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Hey Shabs! My debt was about $4,500 but with only my income, it was going away very, very slowly. This was racked up when I was in school, and only a small portion of it had to do with school (books, tuition etc.). My dad wanted me to get a credit card so that I could build up some credit, but I got into the mindset of it being free money. KWIM? Anyway, when I realized that I really had to take control, I did a few things. I got rid of the credit cards. I quit my job at Old Navy (2 reasons... so I wouldn't spend so much money there, and so I could find a higher paying job.) and I started taking lunches to work instead of going out every day. Then I started paying off my biggest credit card, first. I paid the minimum on the other cards and paid a lot on this one every month until it was gone. Then I went to the next one with the highest debt and paid it off until it was gone. etc. I found that it went faster that way instead of just paying a small amount on a lot of different cards because really, it's the interest that will kill you. By the time we got married I only had about $800 left of my debt, but my FIL gave us $1000 as our wedding gift, and dh and I both decided to use it to finish paying my debt so that we could have a clean start.

It was so hard to change my lifestyle. I had gotten use to buying lunch for my friends, and buying new clothes every week, etc etc. The thing that helped me was the fact that I was getting married and I didn't want to burden my dh with my debt. I know that you have a different situation since you're married w/ kids, but you just have to get into the mindset that you CAN live w/out whatever it is you want to buy.

Maybe one other thing is instead of being "frugal" for 3 months and then going crazy, go ahead and buy a new movie or a new outfit or whatever it is every month, and then you won't have that one month where you spend an absurd amount of money because your thirst has already been quenched. Does that make sense?

Well, the other ladies all gave good advice and I wish you the best of luck. Above all, be prayerful about it because the Lord WILL help you overcome this!!

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~*~ Katie ~*~






http://thewanfamilyadventures.blogspot.com/

Oh, one other thing. If there's any way that you can consolidate your cards or switch them to a 0% interest card, do it! Also, call the credit card companies and ask them if you can lower the interest rate. Someone gave me that tip and I did (i think it was discover card) and they lowered it a few points for me. I had to bug and bug them, but they did it.

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~*~ Katie ~*~






http://thewanfamilyadventures.blogspot.com/

Yep, the thing that keeps me from spending is just not going into the stores or looking at the catalogues. If I go in and see it taunting me I am almost too tempted to bear it! Dang, I had one other thing to say and Mommy Brain struck!!! Aargh.

Marianne

We got in a TON of debt because we were in school for 14 years!LOL We're still in debt, but we're on the "snowball plan" as a couple of others have described. For example, this month, I did two things...paid off my parents(which was $200/mo AND traded in my lease for almost the same exact vehicle, only it was like $200 a month cheaper!! So, next month I am putting the extra $400/mo on my lowest bill because it will get paid off faster and I can then use than $$ to put toward the next lowest bill and so on. I sat down this afternoon to kind of figure out how fast we'd pay things off and it was simply AMAZING!!

I did get a tip years ago from a girl I visit taught. She said that she had to stop looking at all the ads in the sunday paper or she'd go right out Monday morning and buy up all the stuff she thought she needed. I try desperately not to look, but I just can't help it!!LOL But when I don't look at all the sales, I do WAY better that week.