Debt Solution Source

I live paycheck to paycheck, if i could knock out some credit card debt I would have more money to do the things I want. What is that fastest way to knock some of my debt down, so that I can actually save some money and enjoy life a little more?

My wife and I were in the same position and got sick of it. We make a good income but had nothing to show for it. We not only wanted to get out of debt, but really have a firm personal financial plan so that when we are ready to retire, we can walk out the door with a truck load of cash. Getting out of debt and staying out of debt is just one step (the most important one) to a good financial life. Please read a book called the Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey before you do anything. If you read it, I guarantee you will be stunned at all the dumb things you have done with money over the years. I read it and I felt like someone hit me in the face with a bat by the time I was done. This is a very sound, logical plan that works. It is nothing tricky. It is nothing extravagant, just stuff your grandmother would tell you to do that most of us have forgotten. You have to live on less than you make. Plain and simple huh? Stop using debt. Pay cash for everything or use a debit card. Do not buy useless things you don’t need in the first place. Don’t bu stuff you can’t afford, with money you don’t have to impress people that you don’t really care about. Get on a strict budget and stay there. Once you see how much money you bring in versus how much goes out on paper in front of your eyes, you will be blown away. Squeeze your budget to the point of choking it to death. Every extra dollar your squeeze out, send it directly to the debts and kill the debt as quickly as possible. No restaurants, bars, movies, vacations, etc until the mess is cleaned up. You will have to learn to say no to yourself and your friends.
Now this program is not easy. The hardest part is changing yourself. Money management is 20% head knowledge and 80% behavior. You have to change your attitude and behaviors in order to win. Like I said, the debt elimination portion of this is just one step in 7. Actually debt elimination is step 2. Step one is getting a $1000 emergency fund set up. This is just for emergencies only. Dinner out with friends is not an emergency. You just need to do a budget and get yourself organized. Most people do not do a budget and most of them are broke. Not really a very difficult parallel to draw here. The steps after debt elimination are to save up a full emergency fund of 3 to 6 months of expenses. Then it moves on to investing 15% of income, saving for kids college, paying off house and investing fully for retirement and the like. See, debt elimination is all part of a master plan. My wife and I have been on the plan since Nov. 08. We have not used a credit card since then and don’t need one. We do not spend money on dumb stuff we don’t need. We could take a first class, 2 week trip to hawaii with all the money we spent on DVD’s that are now in a box collecting dust in the basement. We have paid off 2 car notes and a credit card note along with or ever reducing mortgage amount. We have gotten about 20k of debt out of our lives in 10 months just by getting organized and not spending on useless crap. The biggest key is the budget. You have to tell your money where to go and not wonder where it went. Do you know where every dollar is going and how you are going to spend it next month or are you just praying that there is enough money left in the checking account to cover all the bills? Just thought I would ask.
Read the book and get a solid plan. Nothing great was ever built without a plan. It is not difficult. It takes patience and self discipline. You need to get mad at yourself enough to change how you are doing things. Where do you want to be 5 years from now? In the same situation your in now or no debt and saving for a house or retirement? The old saying is the trip of 1000 miles begins with the first step. You have realized you have a problem. The other old saying is that 90% of fixing a problem is realizing you have one in the first place. You’ve come 90% take the other 10% trip. Read the book, get a plan and win with personal finance. You will retire very well off. That is the end goal. Not where you are going to eat next week. It has worked exceptionally well for my wife and I. Please,Please, Please do yourself the biggest favor in life and get you financial house in order. There is nothing more important than that in the long run. Quit living paycheck to paycheck and start accumulating real wealth. If we can do it anyone can.
Good Luck. I wish you all the best.

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