Debt

When I first started all my 'personal finance education' I found the WIR on MSN Money. I was amazed by these women (and a few men) who put it all out there for the world to see. They would post their monthly income and every bill/obligation for people on the board to help them find ways to reduce their spending so they could get out of debt.

There are discussions about everything from dealing with everyday life issues, bankruptcy, and just about everything else you could image. Every month there is a Controlled/Nospend thread, there is an ongoing thread for people who use coupons.

As the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months I went from lurker to regular! The advice you get varies from excellent to 'you get what you pay for.'

Suddenly I realized this Dave Ramsey was mentioned quite often when people were talking about getting out of debt. I figured a Google search wouldn't kill me to see what the hype was. I've heard Suze Orman and her pitch but for some reason it never sat quite right with me; something about it was not for me.

One visit to www.daveramsey.com and I was hooked! His philosophy is to "Live like no one else so you can live like no one else." To live like no one else you work your ass off to eliminate your debt and then save for the things you want...a novel idea in this instant gratification world!

While getting out of debt you sell everything to the point where "the kids think they're next." The humor and analogies he uses really hit the spot for me. He's down to earth, pulls no punches and gives the advice your best friend wouldn't even have the guts to give.

I used to be one of the worst as far as instant gratification. If I had a dollar it was spent the second it hit my hand. A nickle would become a peice of candy faster than a speeding bullet (and my parents had the dental bills to prove it)!!

Step one...a budget...never done one, never wanted one, never thought I needed one! Actually seeing what we brought in and what went out was a HUGE eye opener. OBVIOUSLY this wasn't going to work forever. My thought was always, "If I can make payments, I could afford it. If they'll grant me credit, I must be able to use it."

The budget has been revamped every month and is still a work in progress. It is tough to make any of this work while we still use credit cards and have no emergency fund! My lightbulb moment last week has definately changed my outlook! I am in the process of making goals for 2009 (goal #1: finish writing goals before Feb!)

As I'm still new to this blogging thing I'm sure this post was awful rambling...it'll get better, I promise...