Do you already know about Dave Ramsey yet?
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Way back in 1998 we got married and learned that our mixed debt was larger than either of us had imagined. Between the student loans, credit cards, store cards, truck and car loans we had virtually $35,000 in debt making $2500 a month between the two of us. We had been poor, living in a rat infested farm house and sitting on a pile of bills. Although we were broke we were newlyweds and life was fun. We didn’t have youngsters yet, so our everyday life had been completely about us. We could have thrown away our funds purchasing curved shower rod and hanging jewelry organizer to brighten our modest abode, but instead we promptly buckled down and started to repay bills. We terminated services we didn’t need, moved all our debt to 0% interest credit cards (our ratings had been great so we could do this) and put each and every spare dime toward those bills.
I’m pretty excellent with numbers. It was simple to see that we need to pay our higher interest bills first, but I knew that the powerful high that comes from wiping out an old debt was intoxicating. I wanted that feeling quickly. So I paid off the smallest bills and then rolled those payments into the next highest bill, all of the way up to the largest loan. We paid extremely small interest throughout this time simply because the rates had been either zero or really low. I paid on the zero interest notes first simply because I wanted each and every penny to go toward the actual debt.
In 18 months we had it all cleared. Years later I came across the Dave Ramsey program. After reading it I realized we had been following his plans the entire time. We now have the funds to go out and buy the newest single strap backpack but we do not simply because we make certain everything we purchase is genuinely wanted and required. We ponder our purchases, and save up just before we purchase anything. It’s a program that has served us nicely.
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