My husband and I are young married couple. He’s 23 and I’m 22, we got married when I was 20. There are no children involve. Thank goodness.
My husband have one auto loan (motorcycle), three credit cards (Chase, CapitalOne, and BestBuy), and he owe his brother $2500.00.
While I have one credit card (B.O.A) and one student loan (WellsFargo).
Overall our debts combine is $13792.78. Isn’t it high? lol, We work really hard to pay it off. First of all, my part time job pays all of the seven debts (including, auto-loan, credit cards, and student loan) while my husband pay the rent, water, food, internet, electricity, and etc).
I’m a part time worker working as a Sale Associate and making only $8.00 per hour (since I’m a full time student), while my husband is a Medical Supervisor and he make $14.35 per hour. We live in Texas, so we don’t make as much as people who are from NY or CA.
Anyways, I pay around $533.54 to $620.00 to my debts each month. Now our debt of $13792.78 went down to $11625.70 in less than 3 months. We used our tax refund money to pay his brother $1200.00 so we still owe him $1300.00 more to go.
It’s going to take my husband and I to be able to pay off our debts in 12 months, which I’m really happy. How long did it takes you guys to pay off your debts quickly? Any tips would would really help.
P.S:
We do have aome spending money and saving money after my husband pay rent, and etc. It’s not alot, but it’s better than nothing.
#1 by Sigma at June 16th, 2009
You have given a ton of information here. You know what your bills are and that is good. Do you do a monthly budget? That is the most important thing you can do to see where you money is going.
My advice to you on getting out of debt is the same as I tell everyone. First and foremost, read a book called the Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. This book will get you fired up about your financial situation. Your husband must read it as well. In order for any plan to work, the whole team must be pulling in the same direction or it will not work.
This book and program has helped my wife and I turn our financial lives around. We are paying down debt and getting ahead.
This book will show you how to set up emergency funds, organize and pay down debt, save for kids college, invest and many other things. It really has been a blessing to us. In short, the steps are:
1. $1000 mini emergency fund
2. Organize and pay off debt using the debt snowball method. (see book for this) Step 2 is always the most daunting task.
3. Fully fund emergency fund. This is 3 - 6 months of living expenses.
4. Invest.
5. Save for kids college.
6. pay off house
7. Super savings and investing.
Now this is the program. I will not kid you here, it is not easy at first. You must change your spending habits and attitudes about personal finance. You will have to put a budget together this month and every month. Every extra dollar you have at the end of the month should go to paying down debt. Period. You must live on less than you make. You must stop using consumer credit. Yes, that means no more credit cards. Use cash or debit card for everything. My wife and I have not used credit cards for the last 6 months and it is awesome. We had a “Cash only” christmas. We are seeing our balances drop like a rock. You are in a hole. You can not get out of the hole if you keep digging it deeper. This is not a get rich quick scheme or buying and selling stuff. It is just good common sense stuff that your grandmother would tell you. If you do not have the cash, you can’t afford to buy it. Save for it.
You are very young. If you learn and apply sound financial principles at this point of your life, you will be HUGE winners 30 to 40 years from now. You will be able to go anywhere and buy anything you want, anytime you want. But, you must take the first step. You must live on less than you make and get rid of debt. Debt is the biggest detractor to wealth building there is. The most powerful tool in your financial toolbos is your income. Not many people realize this.
Anyway, you have to have a plan, Nothing great was ever built without a plan. Finances are the biggest thing in your life you need a plan for. This will not happen overnight either. This takes discipline and longevity but it is worth it. Your new favorite word will be no. Once you start doing a budget and seeing where your money is going, you will be able to walk right past the DVD section of the store and realize you do not really “need” that new game or electronic thing. You will want to take the $200 you were going to spend on the widget and send it to the credit card company, or the car/motorcycle finance company. The hardest thing to do is take the first step. Do it by reading this book. You will be amazed at how differently you look at and feel about finances. You are only 11.6k in debt, down from 13.6k. You are heading in the right direction. Keep it going. Don’t stop now. By reading this book, it will really get you pumped up about your finances. Trust me here. It has changed my wifes and my attitudes and habits tremendously. Dave also has a video on his website you may want to take a look at. It is about 24 minutes long, but is a great introduction to the program. On the site listed below, go to the Financial Peace tab on the left. Click the learn mor tab in the middle of the screen and watch the video. It really is a pretty good vid.
I know this sounds like a commercial and is a little long winded, sorry about that. This program has really helped my wife and I out so much that anytime someone asks about getting out of debt, this is what I tell them. We are in our 6th month and are making tremendous progress in just a short time. In less than 3 years we will be out of debt. We are sacraficing now for our future and it is paying off.
Good luck. I wish you all the best.
#2 by PureOrLa at June 16th, 2009
took 3 years to pay off 10,000.00 and I am MUCH more responsible with credit now.
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#4 by Jase07 at June 16th, 2009
Ur trying to say with ur 8.00 part time job u pay auto-loan, credit cards, and student loan but u said u payed seven debts
I highly dought that I was making 10.00 and hour n i still could barly keep up with the bills
But ur husband is making a killing if u cut back on things u dont need ull save more money n have it to pay the bigger bill off faster
Look around in the car insurnce depending on car u can find a cheap 1 with good coverage Usually Progreessive
2nd Call ur credit card compnys n tell them to lower ur monthly payment if its more than 150 a month
finally get ride of things u dont need like ur husbands motorcycle
he can always get after he has payed his debt off
look around in internet theres usually better deal for cheaper
ex.
I have Verizon dsl the 2nd package pay 23 bucks amonth n its only 1.5mb slower than fios and fios cost around 50-75 bucks amonth
same with cable u can find it cheaper i have dish pay 35 i have over 300 channels when fios has like 100 sumthing for 100 dollars
so if u shop around u can find better deals
#5 by Nikky at June 16th, 2009
my husband and i are in that same boat! the only advise i can give you is dont miss a payment! dont get anymore credit cards or anything that will cost you in the long run! we was making pymt every 2 weeks, i lost my job so for bout a month we miss pymts! about $600 worth of pymts times where hard and we had to pay r rent! we went to a pay day loan place! WORSE MISTAKE WE EVER MADE!
like i said dont miss a paymt or do something to add to what you already owe!
good luck guys! hopefully you will get it paid off within a year!