Take a look at www.daveramsey.com and try to read his book, Financial Peace. He advocates paying off all debt with the snowball plan and only having a mortgage, if that.
We are currently doing it and it really does work. You have to be diligent and not cheat. Make a written budget and you will find alot of $$$ that gets spent that doesn't get accounted for and can probably go toward debt.
Best of luck.
P.S. We listed our debt in order of amount, not interest rate. We had several that were $100 or $200. When the first one was paid off, we felt such a sense of accomplishment that it was a real boost to us. If your lowest interest rate debt is $10,000, you will take a longer time and may loose interest in the plan. If you have any small debts, it helps to start with those to keep yourself going by knocking those out faster. Don't worry about the interest rates, call your debtor and ask them to lower them and maybe they will. All of ours did. It's worth a call!!
HI! Everyone; I,ve been using the snowball effect for years,in addition to that i took every raise i got that year and put it into a savings account,at the end of the year i had an extra five hundred dollars.may not sound like much but it paid off a bill.Also another way i save money is to save the money from grocery coupons especially if you get double coupons.Of course this only works if you buy what you use.Do,nt buy something just because you have a coupon for it.If it,s something you do,nt normally use then you have,nt saved anything.It would only go to waste. Have a great day!
lowest to largest on bills, don't use interest rate, put an extra 50$ on it or what ever and roll the payment on down as you pay the bills off if your current payment is 80 a month and next is 50 then the payment becomes 130 a month
I didn't know what it was called but that's what I started to do and when we get our income tax refund this year I"ll pay off at least 3 bills onc credit card and 2 other little bills and then I'll apply that money to another credit card...told my hubby that we were gonna have a yardsale and put that money towards paying off things cause as soon as I get them all paid off I can stay at home and only work a couple days a week which is my dream!!!
love,
Rosey
It's good to have a goal like that Rosey. Keep us up with how you are going! I am interested in an idea I saw recently of not purchasing any brand new item for 12 months ~ use yard sales or op shops etc. I don't know if I will do it or not, but I will see how it goes! (Not starting this week, need to buy stationery for dd and ds for school this year ~ don't see any point in used apaper!!LOL)
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Ladies, I did exactly what you all are talking about. I have only my mortgage as a debt. Lately though, everything has gone up and will be biting into my lifestyle. I am going to have to go back to the envelope method.
My car insurance has not gone down with the aging of my car. My homeowners insurance has also gone up. My city taxes tripled starting last October.
But, if I put money aside in envelopes for each of these, I can physically see that I have enough to pay off these debts as they roll into my life.
I put enough in the checking account each week to cover phone, electric, gas, and cable. I also put into my savings account a certain amount each week. Then whatever is left over comes home and goes into envelopes labeled homeowners insurance, car insurance and taxes. I also have an envie into which I put $25.00 per week - for retirement. Then if there is something left, it is mine. Actually I alot myself $20 per week. Whatever I have left over at the end of a week - goes to the retirement account.
And I have a rebate "rollover" envie. If I buy something I need which has a rebate, that is fine. I buy it with my rollover money. That is money that I will get back and will go back into the "rollover" envie. I end up with the product, and the cash back to use again.
This is a good way to learn to use the "Extra Care Bucks" from CVS. Start with a set amount of cash (I started with $20), and buy only what you will use AND which give extra care bucks for the purchase. Use those extra care bucks to purchase something else that gives extra care bucks. CVS throws extra coupons to you ($4 off $20 purchase, etc.) and you can add them in the mix too. For me, I can get on a good roll with items which sell well at yard sales (soda to shampoo to baby items).
Also, if you find "free item coupons" for items which will sell in a yardsale (and you are into holding yardsales) don't overlook them. I buy extra papers when this happens. I had lots of Johnson's baby products from the "Try Me Free" coupons in the Sunday papers. They sold for just $1.00 even though the papers cost me $1.50 each. You see, I used other coupons from the extra papers I bought, saved more than the cost of each paper, so those items were really free. Into the retirement fund that money went.
You have to do more than one thing these days to keep up with the cost of living, not the Jones' who I could care less about!!
Groceries are our biggest expense. With dd's food allergies shopping is a challenge. I found making menus are a plus for saving money. I encourage my kids to drink water and tea. Some of the foods I buy are pricey but since dd can only have certain things, I make it work. I did buy online some flavored Stevia. Now I can keep soda water on hand and add the stevia drops.... pop dd can have for a treat or a upset tummy. Not a daily drink.
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"Do the best that you can where you are, and be kind." by Scott Nearing
Have a great day!
