Bye Bye Consumer Debt :-)

[ZacFields]

Just like the title says. Ashley and I just paid off the rest of our consumer debt.

For those of you who are keeping count, that's $13,500 paid off in 11 months. I paid off the remainder of it (about $5,500) this evening via electronic transfer, and once everything clears on Monday, we are officially out of the consumer debt rat race.

Now that we've climbed one mountain, our next goal is to purchase our next vehicle completely in cash. Stay tuned!

[Snowman]

Sounds like i need to take lessons from you on how to get out of debt.

[RandomHero]

Now that we've climbed one mountain, our next goal is to purchase our next vehicle completely in cash.
Thats what Im probably doing next week. Maybe Ill pay the rest of my Blazer off while Im at it.

[ZacFields]

Sounds like i need to take lessons from you on how to get out of debt.

I did have a little bit of help by getting a promotion at work in the middle of all this, but even before that, I was well on my way to getting here.

I would say the thing that helped me the most was reading Dave Ramsey's book "Total Money Makeover." It really didn't teach me anything that I wasn't already doing, but he made me feel like I wasn't completely crazy for doing it. He starts off by helping you get rid of the myth that debt is "okay" by bringing you back in time about 50 years and pointing out all the things that people used to buy in cash, like cars and homes.

But to make a long story short, Ashley and I have been on a budget that allows for plenty of spending but also allows for plenty of savings too. I just keep building up my savings until I get to the equilibrium point where I have as much money in the bank as I have left to pay on my debt.



Now that we've climbed one mountain, our next goal is to purchase our next vehicle completely in cash.
Thats what Im probably doing next week. Maybe Ill pay the rest of my Blazer off while Im at it.

Good to hear Matt. If you do the math, financing a car is a shitty deal for the customer. Even on just an $8,000 car, you'll end up paying about $2,000 or more in interest alone. Would you bring $10,000 in cash to the dealership and give them that much for an $8,000 car? That's how I think of it anyways.

[Inferno333]

Holy crap...

I really need to learn the way here. I need to get my debt in check.

[69gt4speed]

Sounds like i need to take lessons from you on how to get out of debt.

I did have a little bit of help by getting a promotion at work in the middle of all this, but even before that, I was well on my way to getting here.

I would say the thing that helped me the most was reading Dave Ramsey's book "Total Money Makeover." It really didn't teach me anything that I wasn't already doing, but he made me feel like I wasn't completely crazy for doing it. He starts off by helping you get rid of the myth that debt is "okay" by bringing you back in time about 50 years and pointing out all the things that people used to buy in cash, like cars and homes.


Now that we've climbed one mountain, our next goal is to purchase our next vehicle completely in cash.
Thats what Im probably doing next week. Maybe Ill pay the rest of my Blazer off while Im at it.

Good to hear Matt. If you do the math, financing a car is a shitty deal for the customer. Even on just an $8,000 car, you'll end up paying about $2,000 or more in interest alone.

You used to be able to deduct interest on a car loan, around the same time as gas prices rose. After they took away interest deduction for cars and wondered why ppl weren't buying as many new cars. Geez wonder why. We will just force you to keep driving old gas guzzlers, only the rich can do otherwise. Today if the gov. was serious about saving gasoline consumption they need to at least reinstate interest deduction on new 35+ mph autos. In cali alone that would save millions of barrels of oil. And a complete loan pay off of a suv/pickup if you trade in to a new 35+ mpg vehicle. Time to get serious. Like Bob Lutz said of gm if ppl would buy our new green cars, things could get better. Really it's a drop in the bucket long term, would save jobs here, pollute less and boost the value of a dollar. The only ones it would hurt is petroleum industry. I'm not really concerned about them, track record proves they are concerned w finding more not using less.

[ZacFields]

Holy crap...

I really need to learn the way here. I need to get my debt in check.

Honestly the answer is usually simple. Dave Ramsey covers it all in his book, but it's all pretty simple. A few pointers that helped me from random finance books:

1. If you've dug yourself into a hole: Stop Digging. The first step --after you've identified that you have a problem-- is to do everything in your power to cut your spending enough that you're earning more than you're spending on a monthly basis.

2. If you're not able to cut your spending enough to create positive cashflow, then 9 times out of 10 your living arrangements are the problem. Take in a roommate, and if that's not an option, find a cheaper place to live.

3. Create a budget with a goal of saving a consistent amount of money every month. Allow yourself enough spending that you're not driving yourself crazy, but at the same time remember the goal of getting out of debt.

4. Put all of your effort on your smallest debt first --paying the minimums on the other debts-- and pay it off as quickly as possible. Once you've paid off the smallest debt, start tackling the next smallest debt using the extra money you free'd up by paying off the smallest debt. That's called the "debt snowball."

That's a pretty good list of things to get started. But the number one "success maker" of this entire thing is changing your lifestyle. That's the only way it'll ever happen.

Debt itself is what makes it so hard to live without debt. If you rid yourself of debt, you'll be surprised how much easier it is to refrain from financing things in the future.

[Inferno333]

That's basically what we've started doing.

Thanks a lot for putting a few tips up for all to see Zac.

[melhoneybee]

Grats guys, that really is something to be commended... I on the other hand have figured F it i will be in debt my who life... why worry about it =D I worry about it at times, and don't care at others... /sigh. anywho grats, I bet the condo will be paid off soon too!