Debt Free In 2008 About This Page:

[stefffe]

After the year i have had....(well the last 5-6 months anyway) i have decided NO MORE!!!! I am on a mission to take my family from where we are to where i want us to be....and that place is DEBT FREE As you can see from my countdown.... EVERYTHING (including Disney) is on hold until we acheive this.

Now...we dont have tens of thousands of debt piled up..... but 4 or 5 credit cards that have been maxed since our trip in august..... plus 2 car notes (one of which has been in the shop for what seems like the last 6 months) are going to go away in 2008. All in all..... i need to wipe out about 8K to 9K of debt and then build up and emergency fund for atleast 6 months.....which totals around 10K. Sooooo..... we have our work cut out..... but with a boost from a vacation check and income tax in early jan to late feb....we will get a good head start at this.

DH and i are going to sit down after christmas and build out Debt snowball list (have I been reading Dave Ramsey you ask?....ohhhhhhh yeah....) and we are gonna attack this list like crazy people until its wiped completly out. And we plan on putting every free penny into savings....and make sure that we never have to struggle again. Its time for plastic surgery here......and the credit cards will be GONE !!!!! and with them...so will the debts we have.

Has anyone else pulled this off??.... I hear so many good reports and bad reports....this is not going to be easy but i have to beleive that it will benefit my family in the long run. I cant wait to be the one that gets to scream.... IM DEBT FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!

if anyone wants to do this....or if you just feel like being a support group for those of us trying desperatly to get rid of stressful debt..... please let me know. i could use the "buddy system" on this one..... on those days i feel the need to go buy something...or drive through somewhere.... or just give up because its too hard.....ill need all the support i can muster

thanks and i hope to see you guys at Disney soon with a little less weight on my shoulders

[Lemap760]

Congrats on making the decision to be debt free. Best of luck to you next year. Support is always here when you need it.

[Colexis Mom]

I think you're making a great decision Best of luck to you as you go thru next year

[tndisneyfam]

Good luck! You have all of us for support. We too have given up credit cards and will be debt free by Jan 2008, but we are moving into a smaller house to do it.

[jimmymac]

[poohmaine]

Good for you! Good luck!

It's very easy if you remember one thing: if you can't pay for it with cash, you don't buy it. It's very simple, but for some people it's very hard. I don't know why. You also have to push materialism far, far away. For example: so what if you don't have every new DVD? You can borrow it at the library for free.

We splurge on one thing: travel. But we never take a vacation unless we haved saved the money for it before the trip.

Several of my co-workers feel life is too short and they are maxed out on several cards. But they have no savings, and if they ever got sick or hurt and had no income, they would be in trouble immediately. I couldn't live like that!

I have an MBA and I am very knowledgable in finance, I would be happy to help in any way I can! Good luck!

[HiddenMickey]

Good for you!
You will feel so good when you don't have those CCs hanging over your head. And I love that you plan to start an emergency fund too! I'm wishing you all the luck in the world!

As for us, we pay off our CCs every month, but we've just bought a new van and still have a year to pay on some of our furniture (interest free), so there is debt that I'd rather not have.

[simbarel]

Great decision!

[FanOfMickey]

Good luck! I think you made a great decision!!

[jennsgoingtodisney]

Good luck. We'll be working on the same goal this year. Thankfully we dont have too much debt, but we did decide to wait till 2009 for our next Disney trip so we could get some things payed off instead.

[wayneava81]

I have been a stay at home mom for 8 years and am thinking about getting a part-time job after the new year and our Disney trip to pay some small debts. We also never go on trips if there not paid for in advance.

[TMWIlson7196]

Good luck. That is our goal this year too. Pay off all credit cards. Its so hard. We can be each others support team.

[scottjs]

I wish you luck. All the bills we have now are medical which is the worst part of our debt. Whenever I get close to paid off I get sick again. But I am trying.

A few suggestions if thats ok.

a slightly different approach to getting out of debt is found in the book by Jerry Mundis. "How to get out of debt , stay out of debt , and live prosperly!"

He suggests that in addition to paying off creditors you set up a account or two for your own comfort and fun. You have a life NOW....not just in the future. But he will show you how to work on the repayment of debts. This is in addition to your excellent books you allready have. I am merely suggesting.

There is also Debters Anonamos(Sorry my spelling is bad) a 12 step program around the country like AA!! I can get further details if you want.

Anyway the best of luck to you. Let me know if I can do anything.

scott

[stefffe]

you guys are fantastic!!!! i knew i could count on you to help me through this...... i hope you guys dont mind if i burn up the Budget board on here..... but im so full of questions now that i have made up my mind to get our lives straight and financially sound. thnaks for all the information you have already shared.... and for all the love and support ill need in the very near future !

[lablady]

I love Dave!! I just finished Financial Peace University (got the home class since I couldn't work in the classes)! We are doing the same thing, hitting it hard after Christmas! Everything that he teaches is so common-sense, yet very few of us can make it work. I admit, my frequent trips have definitely made it difficult to make a dent. We don't have a huge amount of debt, but our savings are pretty dismal, and what debt we DO have has been hanging around way too long.

If anyone else wants to help with a "support group", I'm there! Maybe if we have somewhere on this sight to encourage us to save money, the rest of the forums won't influence me so much to spend more going to WDW!!!!!!