Two things that are typically off limits for conversation are Religion and Politics. I believe there are two more things that are off the table for discussion, money and (for women) your weight. Since I have already broken two of the four “what not to talk about rules” I have decided to add one more to the list….Money.
Earlier in the year I announced that there were two goals for 2011, losing weight and becoming debit free. As most of you already know I documented my weight loss, in detail, and as of this morning I am 139, two lbs up but still good! Today I will start documenting our debit diet.
A little background:
My husband and I never learned how to save. He started working in high school and gradually began to make good money for a young single man. He was taught at that time that he needed to have credit and was taken out to multiple stores to open credit cards and add balances to them. He typically always payed them off but as he got older and then married the “wants” became more pricey and his good credit gave him high balances.
As for me, I came from a different background than my husband. I was given an American Express card at 15!!! Are you kidding me!!! Imagine the movie Clueless, except without the mansion and the (at the time) good wardrobe. I was just that, CLUELESS!
After we had been married for awhile we figured out that debt was really not the way to live and started to “try” to get rid of it. It was not until about a year ago that we actually learned how to go about saving and getting rid of debt. Good friends of ours sponsored us to take the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace class. What an amazing blessing!
Within months we had an emergency fund established and we began to pay off debt. We payed off all the little bills, medical and tiny balances on credit cards, and began to attack the big dogs of debt. We had a big credit card balance and two loans.
I am here today to tell you that we have paid off the credit card! Now for the details. The credit card balance was 4478.00 and after some prayer time I called Visa and told them I was prepared to lay down cash if they would settle for a balance lower than what we owed. They did it!!! They knocked of 600! 3800 dollars later we have NO MORE CREDIT CARDS!
Now we have to more biggies to attack:
Loan 1 and Loan 2.
I would like to tell you the exact balances and what each loan is for but this is the internet and I don’t need that info out there. I will give you the exact amounts after they are paid in full. So here is a rough estimate of the loans together - Less than 12.
We need to conquer them before this time next year! Will we succeed? You better believe it!
If you have any questions or tips for us – Feel free to comment!
