How Could You Be Bored?

Get Out Of Debt

2011-10-23T11:54:00.000-07:00

If you are like most Americans, you are probably in heavy credit card debt. You need to get out of debt now.

My husband and I used to be heavily in debt, too. We had eight maxed-out credit cards and we would make minimum payments on each one every month. When you make a minimum payment almost all of your money goes toward interest. This means it can take years to pay off each card. The high interest rates are killing you and your budget!

Then my husband lost one of his two jobs and we no longer had the money to pay the credit card bills. Shortly thereafter, he also lost his main job. Now we could not even make our SUV payment. Mitsubishi began calling us everyday. Credit card companies called us everyday. I took turns, paying the house payment one month and paying the SUV payment the next month until my husband could secure another job. (Our SUV payment was over $1000 a month, just a little less than our house payment. That is insane, but true. Looking back, I can tell you that we were really stupid to buy that SUV.)

After several months, they turned our debts over to collection companies who called us even more. I did not have a clue how to deal with the callers. We did not have the money to make the payments and I did not know what would happen to us. The calls kept coming and we were scared.

Because you have so many credit cards, almost all of your money goes toward paying your monthly bills. This means you are broke all the time, even if you make good money. If you have an emergency, you can either pay for it on a credit card if you still have room on one, or you just have to let the emergency go. You are in trouble when you have to ignore the broken car, refrigerator, air conditioning unit, or some other important problem. I know how it is. I have been there many times.

My husband and I were broke all the time. Then one day, we got smart and did what you should do if you ever want to get out of debt! We cut up all of our credit cards. Plastic gone! Scary stuff, let me tell you, but then it begins to feel liberating. It was scary because we had no emergency fund. Credit cards were our emergency fund, as well as our extra money fund.

Then I discovered a book over at Barnes & Noble called The Total Money Makeover. It was written by Dave Ramsey. I bought it and read it and got a whole new perspective on money and my lack of it!

The first thing you should do, according to Dave, to get out of debt is save up a small amount of money for emergencies. That is what David and I did. We saved up $1000.00 quickly and put it in a savings account for emergencies only. No, the pizza man does not get our emergency money. When JC Penney has a good sale, that does not constitute an emergency either.

Make sure you cut up all of your credit cards. Do not save one for an emergency. If you do, you may decide that after a bad day at the office or after a fight with a spouse, friend, or other family member, you may need a pizza or a Big Mac. Because of the bad day or the fight, this constitutes an emergency. After all, you work hard and you deserve what you want. They made you feel bad so you need something to help you through this bad emergency...Then the debt starts all over again. It is a vicious cycle...

Do not keep a credit card in the middle of a block of ice in the freezer for a rainy day like the girl did in Confessions Of A Shopaholic. If you do, you will have a shopping emergency, defrost the card, and shop your way back into debt, just like in the movie! Don't let this happen to you. Cut them all up.

Now that you have cut up all of your charge cards, here is the next step you should take so you can get out of debt now. Gather up all of your credit card bills and see which one has the lowest balance. This is the bill you will attack and pay off first. Continue to make minimum payments on all of the other credit cards. On the bill with the lowest balance, apply all of your extra money to pay it off quickly.

Cut back on going out, shopping, eating out, movie rentals, and theater trips. Work some overtime. Sell some things on E-Bay, Amazon, or have a garage sale. Use all of your earnings from the sales to pay off the credit card with the lowest balance as soon as possible.

Another way to get extra money is to cut back on some of your monthly expenses. My husband had the cable TV cut off just last week. He also turned our home phone off since we all have cell phones. (Our cell phones, by the way, are prepaid. This means there are no long term contracts and no nasty, surprise high phone bills. If the kids talk too much, they are out of minutes and can no longer make or receive phone calls for the month.) Turning off the phone and cable service is going to save us about $140 a month.

Here is something my husband did a few months ago to help get us out of debt now. He turned down the temperature on the water heater. The water is still hot enough to shower. Then he turned down the pressure of the water faucets. He also turned off the hot water on two of the bathroom sinks. Doing all of this saved us approximately $50 a month off of our water and electricity bills.

If you have a long term phone contract or internet contract that you don't think you can get out of, think again. Case in point: A year ago, my husband signed a two-year contract with Verizon to provide me with satellite internet so I could connect to the internet with my laptop anywhere I went. The charge for this was $64 a month. My husband called to try to get out of the contract.

The customer service rep he spoke with said no way. My husband asked to speak with a supervisor and said he wanted to cut the services and was not going to be able to pay the bill anymore. The supervisor said she would cancel the contract for a $55 fee, so he took it. Paying a one time fee of $55 is a whole lot cheaper than paying $64 per month for another 12 months! $64x12=$765 so we saved $710.

You can do all of the things in this article to help you get out of debt now. Be creative and see what else you can do.

Once your first credit card is paid off, apply the payment you were making on the first card to the second card with the lowest balance and begin attacking that card with fervor. Keep doing this as you pay off one card after another. Before you know it, you will get out of debt.

Dave Ramsey teaches how to get out of debt in his Financial Peace University and so much more. I wish we had his teachings back when we first got into credit card trouble. I recommend checking out his course as well as his books to get out of debt now.

My husband and I have facilitated this course five times, both at our church and at a homeless facility in downtown San Antonio where the homeless guests are required to go through the course to help them get back on their feet. We believe in the principals that Dave Ramsey teaches. They are based on biblical principles and we know they work since we have applied them to our lives.

Dave Ramsey Rocks!

2011-10-12T18:46:00.000-07:00

Well, today was a really good day! We got to meet Dave Ramsey when he came to our city, San Antonio, and got books signed by him. No, we did not win the $2000 but I was thrilled to get to personally speak to Dave and thank him for everything he has done for our family.

The photo below shows Dave's autograph of our personal Entreleadership book that we preordered. He made it out to David and Juanita...Cool, right?

Because he was smart enough to teach us, we have 4 paid-for cars in the driveway, one for each adult. Incidentally, our two children worked and saved their own money to buy their vehicles so we are very proud of them! My husband has a small business that is growing after he got laid off last year. We are on our way out of debt with just my husband's student loan to go. I have a part time website business that brings in about $1000 extra a month.

Below, Dave is talking to my husband, David, as he signs one of the three books my husband bought for our three pastors at BRCC.

We have had a few emergencies over the past year and have been able to pay cash such as when our tire was slashed on the SUV and when I had to have tires on my car and a battery. When our water heater died, we were able to go to the store and buy a new one with cash. We did not freak out when any of these things happened because Dave taught us that we needed an emergency fund, not a credit card so we had the money when we needed it.

In the photo below, I am waiting to get my book signed, along with hundreds of people. I stepped out of line and my husband snapped the photo.

Thank you, Dave, for everything you have done for us on your radio show, in Financial Peace University, in your one day Entreleadership seminar that we attended earlier this year, and for your wisdom in The Total Money Makeover. Now we are reading Entreleadership, learning even more about running a business. We are hoping to make the trip soon to Nashville to let Dave know that we have become debt free!

Below, Dave is counting the 20 $100 bills out loud that he is about to give out. A nine-year-old girl drew the card out with the name Sharon Johnson, not Juanita Schulze...

The Books a Million store was packed full of people eager to meet Dave Ramsey. Fortunately we got there early and were #47, 48m, and 49 to go through the line so it did not take long at all. Dave was the nicest and most gracious person, considering that this is his third week of the book tour and I am sure he is ready for this week to be over, but you never would have known it.

The photo below shows the Entreleadership bus and car that has gone to each book signing.

Dave Ramsey Day!

2011-10-12T07:49:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my new blog. As I write this, I am sitting in my home office when I should be at work. But today is Dave Ramsey Day here in San Antonio, TX. I am a big Dave Ramsey fan and Dave is out on his book tour, promoting "Entreleadership" and this evening he is coming to Books-a-Million to sign his book that we bought and to give away $2K. I am very excited to meet him. I would love to win the $2K as well. So I took the day off so I can get over there early!

So far, I have swept, vacuumed, mopped, sorted and started laundry, fed the 3 pets, made breakfast for my husband, and started a new blog. Now I have to exercise and watch Dave Ramsey on San Antonio Living and then work on my websites for a bit. Then lunch and more laundry before heading out to meet Dave! My husband is working on seeds...Back to work tomorrow....Later! See? Absolutely no time at all to be bored!

In the photo above, Dave does a radio interview on 550 KTSA at the Books A Million in San Antonio before today's books signing. It was a real thrill to get to see him do this and to get to meet him!