Hi!  I can't believe I am posting, I usually don't post on forums, but everyone here seems so nice.  My husband and I are from New Jersey and we have been working the Dave Ramsey plan for the past 5 months.  We are now on Baby Step 2- pay off all debts.   We have paid off $8,000 in credit cards during this time and we are now working on paying off an $11,000 loan.  We are hoping to be debt free by February of next year.  We managed to pay off the credit cards pretty quickly, but the loan payoff seems to be going much slower.  I need som encouragement from you guys! 

Hello,

   Don''t get discouraged. Give yourself a pay on the back.  You had a victory in the first debt. With another in Feb, way to go. There can and will be setbacks along the way unplanned expenses and emergencies. Stay with it $50 here and before you know it you have paid $500 on the debt.

  What I do is I start separate funds for items and things to put in the budget. Right now I have about $500 in one I will probably start another soon, I just put in $25 or so a couple times a month. For the unexepected.

  Lastly the positive is you want it paid off soon, so much that you are noticing that this last debt is taking longer. That is awareness. Keep it up, with the balances going down.

Welcome to the forum.  You've made a lot of progress and surely some discussion on here and some ideas along the way will help you trim that debt to nothing in no time!

Keep it up

Natwell1 wrote:

I need some encouragement from you guys! 

You're doing great! Better than we are, but our income isn't steady right now so that makes budgeting a bit difficult. I've been doing the Dave Ramsey plan (well kinda) for three months now and haven't paid off a $1,300 medical bill yet, so you're doing great.

Thanks for the encouragement everyone.  We managed to payoff the credit card debt so quickly because our tax return took care of a large portion of the debt.  Now we are trying to put any extra money we have towards the loan.  We have cut back on eating out, groceries, cable & phone service in order to have extra money to go towards the debt.  The hubby has considered taking on an extra job as well, but we think with the lifestyle changes we have made he will not have to.  Besides the things that I have mentioned, what other things do you think we may be able to cut back on?

Call cable co ask for a discount. Grocery stores often have dicount stores. In Seattle area We have Big lots, Liqidation world and Grocery Outlet. All places to save.


   I would consider the second job or something to make some exrta funds. E-bay garage sales all help.

Thanks for the advice Tom.  How do I go about asking my cable co for a discount?  I currently have DirectTV and I recently got rid of the movie channels so the bill has been reduced a bit.  Do I tell them I will switch to another provider if they don't lower my bill?

I would do my research and then you could always just feel them out by asking then straight out.

Most definitely you need to stick with it. As long as you make all your regular payment plan you will be able to get yourself out of your current situation provided you are consistent