I am looking for others who have gotten out of debt, or are in the process of
getting out of debt. I need some stratagies .

My husband and I don't currently have any debt except our mortgage but we are very carefull about our spending. I know alot of people on this site recomend Dave Ramsey but I also like the books by Larry Burkett. His books are based on God's principles for handling money and it really helped us out when we first got married. He has passed away now but there are still a ton of his books out there. There is also a show called Money Matters that comes on a local radio station here but they have a website with lots of great get out of debt resources. Hope this helps get you started.

There are a lot of ladies on here that are working on getting out of debt. They have debt trackers at the bottom of their names. I am sure if you PM one of them they would have good ideas. I know we have worked hard to pay off debt and once we paid a card off we would close it or put it in the safe. Now we only use a card if we are going to pay it in full at the end of the month. Or if you are trying to get out of debt use the, "CASH OR DON'T NEED IT METHOD" to avoid future debt.

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Maggie - Nanny to Nephew - Mom to Caitlyn Marie!!

Ok not sure what kind of Debt but the first step is really to spend less. I look at purchases in an anual perspective instead of the it only.

For example Soda I try not to buy it if I buy it we would go throu 3 cases a month on sale for 10/3 so 120 a year

Lattes one of lifes simple pleasures we still do 2 a week (one for me and dh) its easily over 400 a year

Figuring that little things cost is the first step
Cutting back on them means that money go toward debt
That means more money for a debt snowball
Basicly there are two strategies one pay off your lowes balance first or two pay off you highest interest rate first all the while paying mins
Talk to your lenders or look into debt consolidation the key in not to get the lowest interest you can on your loans.

I am still in the prosess of getting a set system down myself, things always come up. We have a small emergency cushion and pay as much as we can on debt every month.
Food and personal spending is the easiest thing to start cutting, best of luck

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Kimberly Proud Mommy to Bethany Rose April 2006

Working on getting out of debt in this house

Basically put our house on a bare bones budget, everything left over after paying bills or not allocated to groceries, eating out or gas goes to debt reduction.

Cable TV - gone - back to rabbit ears
Blockbuster/ Netflicks - gone - check out movies from library and read more
Shopping - thrift stores are a splurge item now
Grocery - careful shopping, couponing and reduction - dropped $300 a month

That being said since January, a $4K legal matter has been saved for and completed. A $2K emergency fund has been established and placed in ING, a credit card went from $8K to 0 as of last week and making "normal" payments the other debts have dropped by $2K.

There is another $20K that needs to be taken care of, but on track to have it gone in mid 2008.

Some is budget cuts, then came part time/ odd jobs to make up the difference. A lot of it is about priorities. It was a lot more important to be out from under this debt than it was to watch cable tv, eat exciting reciepes, or eatting out.

I am a Dave Ramsy follower, made a few minor tweaks here and there but over all Dave is the tenant followed.

Here is a great calculator of what the actual cost is of your debts.
Snowball debt calculator - Become debt free at WhatsTheCost.com

However, you asking for help and starting to do research is the first step, acknowledge a problem. Likewise, you have to be a team for it to be truly successful. If your partner and you are not committed and on the same page the journey will be uch more difficult. Remember that the number one cause for divorce is money issues...

Just remeber the cuts and "sacrafices" you make now to get out of debt doesn't have to be a permament thing. I might get cable again in the future, some channels I do actually miss, but I would rather be debt free a lot more than watching the Discover channel, I can always watch a documentary on PBS or checked out from the library.

Best of luck to you and yours!

One of the strategies that has been really helpful was keeping a log of how we were spending money. I began a few months back to document every penny spent to see where it was going and where we could cut back or eliminate totally. It was tedious at first but I have gotten it down to a science where I still do it without thinking about it. Really makes me think about the next purchase we want to make, is it a want or a need?

I guess my link does work it wasn't earlier

I like this site its a debt snowball calculator.
You put in min payments and interest info and how much you have toward debt and it spits out Payments and how much interest you will pay and when the debt will be paid off
http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx?country=us

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Kimberly Proud Mommy to Bethany Rose April 2006

Take all your regular bills and figure out the per paycheck basis instead of a monthly basis.

12 months of rent divided by 26 paychecks a year
2 6 month insurance premiums divided by 26 paychecks
1 annual car registration divided by 26 paychecks

You get the idea.

It takes work up front, but then you know exactly how much to "set aside" and not use for extras like lattes or magazines.

I split out every paycheck into virtual envelopes in a spreadsheet. After setting aside a few dollars a paycheck, the money is there when I need it. Any left over dollars can go to debt reduction or your next set of tires or a new appliance or even next year's vacation. Then you aren't pulling out the credit card to pay those things when they come up.

Cathleen

I always tell people the first step to getting out of debt is to not even consider money.

First, I want you to sit down and imagine your ideal lifestyle. If you are married, have your spouse do this too. Do the exercise separately then compare notes. Yes, write down your vision. How will you spend you day? What hobbies will you enjoy? What will your house look like? How will you live? What kind of relationships will you enjoy? What is most important to you?

Next examine your current lifestyle. How different is your current situation from your ideal? What do you need to change? What can you change now? What will change in the future?

Our financial life is just a small part of our overall lifestyle. However, our current financial situation can greatly affect the opportunities that we can afford to take. If your dream is to become a freelance writer but you are the breadwinner of a large family who needs employee benefits like medical insurance then you are going to have to take several steps to strengthen your financial picture in order to live your dream. On the flipside, if you already own a huge McMansion and your dream is to live in a quiet, rural cabin then your dream, including a debt-free lifestyle, may be as close as finding a qualified buyer.

With a firm vision of your ideal lifestyle, put pencil to paper (or fingers to Excel spreadsheet) and WRITE DOWN all of you debts, fixed obligations and all of your assets. You can also use one of the many financial software packages, like Quicken, to help you. However, I also recommend writing a separate list of the debts that you want to pay-off. List the total debt, the interest rate, your minimum payment and the due date.

Before you start paying off debts, look at the assets side of the equation. The first rule in debt pay-off is to 'stop the bleeding'. You needs enough assets - savings and investments - to dip into should an emergency arise. If you don't have an emergency fund then you'll find yourself using your credit card to avert disaster. If you don't have any savings, then you need to concentrate on saving FIRST, then look to pay off your debts.

The next step in 'stop the bleeding', is to STOP using the credit cards or otherwise adding to your debt. If you can't contribute to your savings because you're using your income to cover your unexpected expenses, that's fine as long as you aren't adding to your debt as well.

At this point, many people say, "But I don't have any money to save!"

This is a cash flow problem - you have more money going out than you have coming in. The only solution is to either increase the money coming in or decrease the money going out.

Look at your tax withholding. Do you get a refund every year? If so, reduce the amount that is withheld from your paycheck. You need that cash in your pocket NOW, not later.

Can you take on a second job or find some other source of income? Can you do more work for your current employer to get extra money?

Can you sell some of your assets, such as a second (or third) car or unneeded household items? Put that money into savings.

Look at your fixed expenses. Can you increase the deductible on your insurance to save on premiums? Can you can cancel unneeded services such as cable or cellphone? If money is really that tight, a Netflix or Tivo account is not a necessity.

Start writing down EVERY penny you spend day to day. Money tends to run through our fingers like sand through a sieve. Look at what you're spending your money on and see where you can cut back.

There are a multitude of suggestions on how to spend less. Some people have even written books about the subject. Go to the library, check out a few books, and start reading.

Once you are spending less than you are taking in and have gotten into a habit of saving money, then it is time to pay off debt.

Start paying off the highest interest rate debt first. Sometimes, I recommend that people start with paying off a few low balance debts first. It is psychologically uplifting to get that 'early win' and see those debts float away. After that, definately pay off the highest interest rate debt first. No, do not withdraw money from savings to do this. Once that debt is paid off, 'snowball' your debt payoff by adding the money that would have gone to the first debt to payoff the second debt. Pay off the third debt by dedicating the money that would have gone to the first and second debts to that debt. Soon, all the other debts will get paid off much faster.

Finally, when all your debts are paid off, increase your savings and investments even more and continue to work toward your fulfilling your dreams.

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"Poor people work for their money. Rich people make their money work for them."

Great advice !