Anybody been in debt and got out?

Secretblend

Secretblend

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Anybody here been in debt and got out? If so, did you stay out or get back in?

If you want, describe your exprience please.

I am almost out of debt, hope to be out by end of November. Just wondering how hard it would be to stay out of debt afterward.
 
Secretblend said:
Anybody here been in debt and got out? If so, did you stay out or get back in?

If you want, describe your exprience please.

I am almost out of debt, hope to be out by end of November. Just wondering how hard it would be to stay out of debt afterward.
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if you can get out of debt by end of November which is enormously difficult and it's a great feat... surely you can continue to stay out of debt as long as you follow your principle that led you to get out of debt.
 
Yea, it hasn't been easy for sure! For past 2 months, I've had to buy cheap stuff and etc. It hasn't been easy and I sure don't want to go through that again.

For past 20 years, I've been living paycheck to paycheck and I don't want to do that for next 20 years. I plan to stay out and am gonna work on setting aside 1/3 of income and don't touch it except for things that needs to be done.. ie: car repair, emergecies and etc.

If I want to buy something but is not neccessary for survival. I'll just have to tell myself to wait and save up for it on top of 1/3 income set aside.
 
I still haven't gotten out of my debt yet. It's gonna take a while. I will be out of my car loan debt early next year, I hope. My other debt, it's gonna take a while. Being in debt really blows.
 
I don't get into debt by staying out of it. That was the best advice I got from my mother.
 
Many years ago, I paid off and then cut up all my credit cards. I never applied for another one since. We cut back drastically, even down-sized. Paying cash or even using a lay-away plan works for us today.
 
After college I racked up several credit cards and ended up 60k in the hole. It took almost 10 years to get it all paid off. I don't know how but I bought a house during that time and two new cars. Finally I really had to discipline myself to get my debts paid off. I did it once and now am doing it again. My divorce racked up a hefty debt and I hope to be 100% paid off by the middle of next year. After next month I will only have one debt left to pay off. Basically, every extra money I earn goes towards my debts. The sooner the better.

The biggest lesson I learned is live within your means. This means, just because you deserve something, doesn't mean you can afford it. Ouch, it was a hard lesson.
 
Wirelessly posted

I have student loan debt. It sucks, even though I have a very low interest rate. I save a lot of money by using my bike for transportation and cooking most of my meals at home. Also save a lot by brewing my own beer. Hah. You can save a lot of money by using the Internet to educate yourself on how to make and fix things and not resorting to using a service company or going to the store.
 
If you can't afford to buy something in cash , don't put it on a charge card.
I can't believe how many people go out and spend money they do not have. My ex husband did that and he end up paying 4x as much for a car rental from Sear because he got behind in payment. I know you can't pay for a car or house house all at once, I mean people going crazy during Christmas and spend $5,000 they do not have. The average person is $5,000 in debit after Christmas according credit companies.
 
Oh yeah, I had a leased car, student loans, a mortgage plus credit card debt.

My financial consultant at the bank really helped me formulate a plan to pay it all off. The profit from the sale of my condo paid off ALL of my debts and I was so relieved. The stress of being in debt was horrible. Learned a huge lesson which was DO NOT BUY ON CREDIT.

One thing I've learned is businesses don't like losing customers so they are willing to negotiate, my internet, cell phone, landline phone, and credit card companies all renegotiated much lower rates. You just need to do your research and find out their competitors' rates so you can let them know you're aware other businesses have lower rates or more features. You can't just say "your competitor has a lower rate" - you have to say who and exactly what the rates are so they know you're a well informed customer.

I really believe in the 10% rule - putting away 10% of any and all income in the bank and investing in a portfolio that generates a good interest rate. It's wonderful to see how quickly savings build up when it's invested well.

And finally, do not buy what you cannot afford. I buy things on my credit card all the time but only because I want the air miles but I don't buy what I cannot pay off in full within a month.

Being debt free is the best feeling in the world.
 
how much does financial consultant usually cost? how does it work? do they charge you by hour just to talk or... ?
 
We have no credit cards. We are paying off old Sears charge cards that we don't even have anymore. We are also paying off medical bills and other bills from a school course I tried to do, then lost my hearing and could not complete. They did not accept the reasons and are forcing me to pay the balance. We currently have cut so far back, that some days we just barely have food to eat and sometimes no gas and MIL has to give us gas money. We are trying very hard to get everything paid off and once I think we are good to go, whamo! hubby's hours get cut again.
 
Secretblend said:
Anybody here been in debt and got out? If so, did you stay out or get back in?

If you want, describe your exprience please.

I am almost out of debt, hope to be out by end of November. Just wondering how hard it would be to stay out of debt afterward.
Click to expand...

I've paid off my loans and been out of debt. Here is the rule of thumb, try to save half of our discretionary income or half of whatever you have to spend. Granted, it's not easy to do, but if you can do this and keep away from credit card debt eventually you can always remain debt free. In fact, the credit card company will end up paying you. How? On some cards you get cash back bonus, this savings means they give you money, if you don't have any debt. You can easily turn the system around.

I know savings doesn't mean a lot with low interest rates today, but eventually it will turn around.

In all honesty, you don't need half the crap out there to survive, just a smart mind.

When shopping pick out what you like and then go to either Marshalls or TJ max and find it for less. There is a whole list of sh*^ you can do.

One note, don't buy cheap cookware, get stainless good stuff that will last a freakin lifetime.

Once you get a good cushion, you can splurge a little and not worry.
 
DeafCaroline, we are definitely two peas in a pod re: your method of staying out of debt!

Michelle Singletary is a financial columnist for the Washington Post. She has two or three columns a week, plus a web chat. She is EXCELLENT for discussing the sort of problems most people have.

Her basic guidelines for saving:

1) set up a "life happens" fund. This should have around $2,000 - $3,000 in it. This money would be to cover stuff like you suddenly need new tires, or the furnace gives out, or you have an unexpected medical or vet cost. Cuz "life happens" to all of us, and if you have the funds, then you don't have to put these minor emergencies on a credit card.

2) Emergency savings. This should be a sum large enough to cover 3 to 6 months of living expenses, should you lose your job or have a serious emergency (your house gets flooded, say, or you have a kitchen fire that does serious damage, that sort of thing). This money should be in a CD or other vehicle that is accessible, but not TOO accessible, because the idea is that this is for SERIOUS emergencies only. Not "gotta have this newest, greatest, PC, pair of shoes, handbag," sort of emergency.

3) Retirement savings, through IRAs, or work-related plans, whatever. Whatever your age, start saving for your retirement as soon as possible.

Then in addition to that, depending on your lifestyle, you might have savings accounts to buy a car, or for family vacations, or to fund your kids' education, that sort of thing.

Then, hurrah! If there's anything left, you can spend it! :lol:
--------------------------------

In practical terms, what I did years ago: with my first car loan, I rounded up what I owed to the next $100. So every month I was paying it off a little faster than I absolutely had to. After it was paid off, since I was already used to living without that money, I kept putting the same amount into my "car savings" account. The next car, I didn't have to take out much of a loan. Did the same thing to get that loan paid off.

After that one, I've never had another car loan; have paid cash for all my cars since 1986. Also I try to keep my cars for as long as possible.

Same principle worked for paying off our mortgage early.

Day to day stuff: some people find it easier to just have a certain amount in cash for the week, to pay for groceries, drugstores, whatever, and not charge anything at all. That gives you a good handle on what you're really spending.
 
DeafCaroline said:
One thing I've learned is businesses don't like losing customers so they are willing to negotiate, my internet, cell phone, landline phone, and credit card companies all renegotiated much lower rates. You just need to do your research and find out their competitors' rates so you can let them know you're aware other businesses have lower rates or more features. You can't just say "your competitor has a lower rate" - you have to say who and exactly what the rates are so they know you're a well informed customer.
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Yup! Many people didn't know this. I do this all the time with our cable bills every several months. Very easy.
 
DeafCaroline said:
Oh yeah, I had a leased car, student loans, a mortgage plus credit card debt.

My financial consultant at the bank really helped me formulate a plan to pay it all off. The profit from the sale of my condo paid off ALL of my debts and I was so relieved. The stress of being in debt was horrible. Learned a huge lesson which was DO NOT BUY ON CREDIT.

One thing I've learned is businesses don't like losing customers so they are willing to negotiate, my internet, cell phone, landline phone, and credit card companies all renegotiated much lower rates. You just need to do your research and find out their competitors' rates so you can let them know you're aware other businesses have lower rates or more features. You can't just say "your competitor has a lower rate" - you have to say who and exactly what the rates are so they know you're a well informed customer.

I really believe in the 10% rule - putting away 10% of any and all income in the bank and investing in a portfolio that generates a good interest rate. It's wonderful to see how quickly savings build up when it's invested well.

And finally, do not buy what you cannot afford. I buy things on my credit card all the time but only because I want the air miles but I don't buy what I cannot pay off in full within a month.

Being debt free is the best feeling in the world.
Click to expand...

I had never been in debt ! I had a Sear card once and only got one thing on it so I would get some money off! Once I paid off my account I got rid of my Sear card! I got a phone call from Sear while I had my card and the guy wanted to know if I wanted to increase my spending limit on my card and I told the guy "No thanks Sear is like a loan shark , no wait you're worst THAN a loan shark!" and the guy said " Yes we are bad like worst than a loan
shark!" The guy that worked agreed they are bad! I agree, being debt free great!!
 
Jiro said:
oh????? I'm going to take this opportunity if Bank of America does provide one for free.
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It would be in their best interest to provide free financial advice because more money you save or earn interest on means more money in their bank.
 
Although you need to look at their advice carefully. Sometimes the banks' "financial counselors" are really thinly-disguised salespeople for the banks' products like annuities, or certain types of savings accounts, or even loans. It's not quite the same as getting completely unbiased advice from someone who has nothing to sell you.

There are plenty of financial planning books available at your nearest library. I'd start with reading some of those, whatever looks most appropriate for your situation, before sitting down with any sort of advisor. You need to know the right questions to ask to make the most of your time with a real, live person.
 
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