When we were first married we charged things on credit cards we couldn't afford, but we figured we will pay it off eventually. Purely impulsive shopper. Then we got a home equity loan and wiped out debt, only to rack it back up again. Then dh went back to school and was only able to work parttime. There were months we had to charge gas, groceries, etc. We were scrapping by with the bare minimum. I even donated plasma to buy groceries.

Dh wanted to declare bankruptcy but I didn't want to. For me it is a cop-out. We are adults, we created this problem and we need to be responsible and pull ourselves out of it. I have a debt elimination plan based off of Mary Hunt's Rapid Debt Reduction. We also put money each month into a college savings plan. It will take at least 4 years but we will make it. I have learned my lesson the hard way and will never let myself fall into this black hole again.

Yikes... we have $60,000 on credit cards.

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"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind." ~ Dr. Seuss

Well we were debt free, thanks to dh being deployed last year and me paying off all of our bills and putting $$ into savings with the extra pay he got. Now we have about $3,000 in CC debt, which we are paying off, and also waiting for $$ that is owed to us for reimbursement. We also got hit by a drunk driver earlier this year, which totaled our paid off van, so we ended up buying a brand new van. We did get a great deal on it, I have a friend who works for DaimlerChrysler and we were able to get employee pricing - which is what the dealer pays for the car, much less than the MSRP - and we qualified for 0% financing. We're still in the process of settling the claim, the property damage part has been settled and we've put that $$ in an account for the monthly payments. Still waiting for the Personal Injury part to settle, since I was pregnant when we got hit I'm waiting until the baby is born in Jan to settle that part of the claim.

We're doing so much better than a lot of other military families that we know, so I can't complain too much. We're also expecting extra $$ the beginning of next year because we are moving and we get $$ per person for relocating, we'll get a tax return and we'll settle our claim.

I was recently laid off from my job and received a substantial severance/retetion payoff. We will pay off most of our debt with that and be able to put 2 months worth of mortgage payments into a savings account, just in case. This will be the first time we have ever been able to do that.

We were dirt poor when we were first married, then we went to college and got all those "great" credit card offers from the "fairs" they had at the school. Also, I ended up in the hospital a year after we were married and spent 2 nights due to an intestinal virus, with no insurance. It took us a while, but we went to CCCS and were able to pay off everything. Then we dug another hole for ourselves. Not smart. We are almost done with paying off and with this layoff pay, we will finally have it gone.

The biggest problem I see is that I will now be staying home with our kids, so I won't have a job to help out with. We did the math ahead of time and were paying things down before the big day, so that helped. I know we can make it on what DH brings home, if all we have is our normal monthly bills. Now we just need to actually stick to our budget.

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www.myspace.com/vioburn

Frugal is being wise with your money and resources and cheap is forcing everyone else to.

Check out my blog, I'm starting to add more to it, as I can...vioburn.blogspot.com

When we first got married my dh had a trust fund that was huge! We didnt work, paid cash for a house went on vacations and bought everything we saw! Well guess what, the money is gone and we have credit cards to pay becuase we didnt change are life style for about two years after the money was gone. I dont know how to be poor, i'm ashamed and my own family doesnt even know. Its a lot of work and stress keeping my secret. My dh works long hours just to make ends meet but If I play my cards right we should be doing well again in three years. Dh is going back to school so he can increase his income. I have learned a lot and money and things arent as important to my anymore but I still long to buy my designer purses. I cant even stand to touch a cheap purs. I know its silly, I .m sick I need help.

Currently we don't have ANY active credit cards. But we do however have credit card debt that totals around $2,000. I paid off my studnet loans, but I still owe money to the University I attended for (cough, cough) ONE semester!! LOL

Our biggest issues are the bills we racked up when we were single. Nothing too major, but neither of us were responsible about paying bills on time so our credit reports are shameful. We are still s-l-o-w-l-y repairing the damage but probably wont be able to get a decent percentage rate for quite some time on anything. Its good in a way though...as odd as it sounds, its kept us from buying a new car, getting credit cards and applying for loans.

We pay cash for our bills and almost everything we buy. If we can't afford it, we don't get it. Any major purchases are put on a list for tax time. Once that time comes around we prioritize and have agreed to only buy one "splurge" item a year with that money. Last year it was a 36" Sony Wega TV. But, we shopped around like crazy and ended up getting a really great deal on it!! ($500 off)

I try to keep on top of the monthly bills but that has turned into a full time job in itself. Calling the different companies each month because it never fails that there is a mistake on one of the bills. Its amazing to me how some people just pay their bills without looking at the statement. I find so many errors its rediculous. Especially with our cell phone and cable bills. OMG, they are so screwed up!!

Overall I still feel like I could do better, but I don't think we are in nearly as bad a shape as some. I'm really picky though.

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Mommy to Dakota, Wife to James
Proud Air Force Family

Well, I have around $5k in cc debt. No other debt except for my mortgage. I hope to have this debt paid off within 1-1/2 years. It is soo hard to stick to it when there is a balance on there.

Once I pay off a cc, and there is no balance, I don't want to use it anymore, cause I don't want to have to pay it. I just wish I could pay it off in one lump sum, so that I would not have the desire to use it!

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our cc debt came when dh was let go and then underemployed for 2 years.

we are paying off. we only have one cc that we use and the other is for emergency only and has no balance. dh doens't want to fully understand our debt so I will be taking over come Jan. we just picked a date. we figure after the holidays we will be getting all the bills and then we can start a new plan. we are completely trying something new. dh doesn't know it yet. but I plan on drastic savings.

allgirls

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allgirls, mom to 3 girls

We don't carry any debt except our mortgage.