So, introducing the newest family.....completely and utterly broke.  Our story, total mismanagement of our money for the past 7 years.  Our mission:  to be debt free within 3-5 years and own a home again (our 1st home was foreclosed upon in NY).  What we've learned....... that you CAN refinance yourself right out of your home, that running a home based business is not as easy as they say, that filing taxes is hugely confusing (we have 2 years we still need to file..UGH!), and that you can't blame anyone but yourself - but don't let it ruin your family! (Thank God that didn't happen).  Our debt, has to be close to $150,000 or more depending on the foreclosure. I am just starting to try to pick up the pieces slowly - I had a complete and utter meltdown and in order to save my sanity during losing everything, just concentrated on our two babies.  We are considering Bankruptcy to help deal with this mountain of debt, but have to file those darned tax returns first. I don't even know how to start anymore - we moved from NY to NC recently and our paperwork is still in boxes.  How we are going to do this, we don't know.  We will get through this though - as a family.  And as we raise our sons, we will teach them about credit, smart money management skills, and the difference between wanting and needing things.  Things we wish our parent had taught us!

Be sure to keep us updated with your progress!  I look forward to seeing you around the forums!

bless your hearts!... i thought my situation was the worse...  i wonder if you owe taxes... how bad can that get?... pray for your situation and let me tell you that Jesus bore our burdens on the cross... we can all claim that victory over whatever is oppressing us.  put your debt at the fee of that cross and continue doing what you feel in your heart is the right thing...starting with those babies... i will say a prayer for you tonight!

Take a brief look at Dave Ramsey's 7 baby steps for getting out of debt.  One of them is to pay off the smallest bill first, while meeting the minimums for the rest.  Then, once that one is paid off, move on to the second smallest one, and pay that off using the money you were using for the first bill, and create a "Debt Snowball" (as Ramsey puts it) to pay off your debts.

For a while I was going with the school of thought where you pay off the bill with the highest rate, but for some reason, attacking the smallest one first sort of makes it seem more manageable.  Sort of like keeping your eyes on the trail instead of the mountain.

Good luck!  Keep us posted!

Dave Ramsey's publications are somewhat flawed.  For instance, he suggests that you always buy used cars because that's what rich people do and they will save you money.  Some people swear by this, but other people like myself have found that new cars yield me the best money because for at least 50000-75000 miles there is the minimum of maintenance. 

I also prefer the pay the card with the most interest first.  You will save more in the long run this way.

Wow. That sounds tough. Just take it step by step thats all you can do.

Good luck on your journey!  Remember that it all starts with the goal in your mind and the first step on your mission. 

Remember as you find ways to crawl out of this that some advice is good for everybody, some advice is only good for certain people, and some advice is just plain bad!

The rest is just gravy