I use excel spreadsheets to track our budget, I track everything from me and hubbys allowance, to food, to gas, well everything. I have had a lot of medical bills in the past couple years and I am happy to say that by the end of march, all those bills will be paid off. Plus, while paying off debt we are able to put money into our savings fund as well. Its really daunting to talk to my family about money as my brother and his wife are christian finance counselors at their church and they firmly believe in no credit cards, even my 4 year old niece tells me credit cards are bad......, which I know, but hey we've all made our mistakes, I just don't like being told about them all the time! anywho, seeing my budget really makes me look at where im spending my money.

My husband and I went to drastic measures for our future financial freedom- We stopped paying into hid 401k for one year. We had exhausted everyother course over the last 7 years just trying to make ends meet so this seemed the best option for us. He gets paid once a month so we were watching 2-3 hundred dollars a month got into his 401k which we has borrowed from in the past so we could no longer. We took that money and started the snowball larger interest first, and with every payoff the amount grew bigger for the next pay off, with in 8 months we paid off 16thousand dollars of credit debt off!!!! And once we had paid all but the house off we where in need of a new car, because we paid off all that debt and kept up on our credit reports and scores we got our new car with 0% interest for 6 years so our pmts are low and we pay dbl. payments so we will have it paid off in 3 and we had saved enough to afford to do it! We also saw our credit score go from 530 to over 760 in just 8months to a year. We are saving more money and paying off credit cards as we use them (we use them for purchase tracking- gas, vehicle expences, entertainment, etc.) . We are paying into the 401k again and now we are paying in the maximum allowed. We have also since learned about IRA's and money market accounts, stcoks and so on to build wealth and security for the year that we lost in 401k with draw, but I must say, I have seen lots of neighbors and friends loose their homes from becoming over extended on refinancing over and over again until they found themselves in foreclosure- so know about your money, and if you don't know ask!!!!! AND BEWARE OF PREDITORY LENDING!!!!! You have to be diligent and stay motivated, so everytime you think you need something that you really only want- think about wether it's worth having in exchange for food in the fridge, electricity, home. I know it seems extreme but when you really think about it- most people are not born homeless the spend to get there!!!!
And if you are thinking that stopping money for retirement for a short period is unthinkable, remember that paying only the minimum payment on a debt means you will probubly be spending your retirement paying of the debt you made when you were 30!!!!

For those looking for an alternative to spending on your beauty upkeep, I am a hairdresser
so I will give you some short cuts to salon glam on little cash.

Hi, all.
New mom here. Our goal is for me to stay home in 2010. We're from Jamaica so we generally run a susu to save money/pay off debts. That has always worked very well. But, now that I'm on maternity leave, I spend so much time shopping. I'm a Target addict. While we are doing well with saving, it's not really saving if I keep going to the store for 5 items, but coming out with 15!

I never used to like to shop. I hope this passes! Has anyone else experienced the non-stop shop?