To be debt free.....

My goal has always been to be debt free....I am so close (as you can see by my counter at the bottom of this blog). I started my marriage with $52,000 in debt and a huge car payment. I believe we will be debt free by July 2009. I am going to do another balance transfer of my last credit card to keep the interest rate to zero and to keep my debt snowball going. Our big vehicle payment is done Oct. 2009.

How do you get out of debt...
1. Stop using your credit cards...You DON'T NEED EVERYTHING YOU SEE!!! ( I know it's hard and it stinks but it's WORTH IT!)
2. Get things free! Use freecycle, free coupons, trades, clothing exchanges, rebates, what ever you have to do to get debt free.
3. Use the snowball method and pay off those debts!
4. Transfer balances to Zero promotion credit card deals, BUT watch the fine print and keep track of when they expire, so you can transfer them again.
5. Don't get behind on the cards you do have. Even if you pay them just the minimum, you are saving yourself tons of hassle.
6. It's okay to say no. IF you don't have the money, don't say yes to going to lunch with friends. Tell them so, don't just "charge it".
7. If you can't spend less, you need to make more. Either you cut back and use that money to pay down debt, or you find more work and bring in more income. One or the other, OR BOTH!!

I admit our family is not typical. We don't have Cable, or Satillite TV. We don't fancy things. All our furniture is hand me downs. BUT, all of that has helped us get to our Goal. We do free events, enjoy cheaper activities, and we do what we can to reach our goal. That is the most important thing, getting down our debt!!!

Someday, I will scream I AM DEBT FREEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!