I am going to try Dave Ramsey again this year, we did great last year until my Dad got sick and then everything went right out the window and we fell right back into the hole we were trying to climb out of.

I just finished paying my bills and calculated our total debt including everything except the house and our total is.............$62,000! I included cars the home equity loan that we have and any credit cards.

I am not going as far as selling everything we have paid off or cashing in all of our investments, but I am going to try again to get this down seriously this year! I am cancelling all credit cards except one that will be locked up and hard to get since I just can NOT behave myself enough to have them right now.

So does anyone else want to join me this new years and try to get things organized and paid off? I do have my $1000 emergency cash stash which would have helped a lot this summer, but better late than never!

And if you want, share how much you owe in debt including everything except your house. Leased cars are in the total too btw.

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

I listed 10-50. We owe on 2 vehicles, but that is just around 12k. Almost 30k is in medical debt. I can't seem to make a dent in those, and am facing more in the coming months. The stress from the medical bills is about to kill me.

I voted 10-50. I owe a little over 11k on my car, and some credit cards and hospital bills. I want to attempt to make a savings account this year for myself. Right now we have one to try and save for the wedding but we ended up using the $300 we had in there for Christmas shopping. I get paid every two weeks and I was thinking even if I put $20 every two weeks away for myself, while it isn't alot of money, it will be a start. Plus any little rebate checks I get i will put in there as well. Any other suggestions for getting organized and saving???

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~~~~**Maryann**~~~~

I just got a firm grip on reality....
Now I can strangle it

Maybe the ones with the $0 vote can explain... Possibly it could help others out to know how you do it!

Ours is under $10,000 -- basically the balance of what we owe on our vehicle.

I am not counting credit card debt since we pay it off monthly.

We have "0" debt of any kind. But, it didn't happen over night. We live within our means and budget, budget, budget.

We're also a one income family (and have been for the last 17+ years). We do have credit cards, but I keep a running tally of what I spend, write it down in a ledger and when payday arrives, I write out a check for the bill and send it off, so the credit card gets paid twice a month. We have a credit card that we get mileage points for (and living in Alaska it's spendy to travel by air) and we use it for everything that we can.

We don't have any car loans either. We do have property taxes that we pay twice a year, but those get paid in full when the bill arrives.

We pay ourselves first (IRA's, money market accounts, CD's, savings accounts and hubby dabbles with buying stocks now and then). All the utilities get paid second and whatever is left over goes for groceries, fun stuff and usually more investing.

We definitely don't do without by any means. We eat great, have a good roof over our heads, drive a good car and 9 times out of 10 pay cash when we need something.

The best piece of advice is to start out small, no matter what the amount is and it does grow without alot of pain on the pocket book. As you get use to that amount, then keep adding and adding and before you know it, the debt is gone and you have a considerable amount of money is a nest-egg for yourself.

Good luck ladies!

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"Why must you speak, when you have nothing to say." Horatio Hornblower

$0 debt here, pay all bills in full when they come due. Only debt is mortgage. I don't think our formula can be replicated easily due to income differences (dual-income family). We just don't buy anything we can't afford to pay cash for, including automobiles. We live very modestly independent of income.

ETA: We got going by participating fully in 401ks and employee stock purchase programs. The industry is kinda volatile so we have always felt like companies could be sold and there would be layoffs throughout our careers, so we had a high priority in have minimum 6 months net pay in liquid assets.

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

We also have zero debt, including our house. I have always worked, except for 2 3 month maternity leaves. I worked 3 days a week when the kids were young, full time now that the kids are in college.
Even though we both have good jobs, we have never lived beyond our means. We took 1 vacation each year, up until the last few years, we now take 2. I put a full days pay into a retirement account every 2 weeks. We pay all of our bills in full each month, including our vehicles. I came from a 1 income family where money was tight. I guess I always wanted to be able to support our family in case my husband were to lose his job. We bought a nice but modest house. We keep our vehicles for 7-10 years, as long as they run well. Right now, my entire check, except for what is invested is going to pay for the kids college, and we are living off of my husbands check. We buy what we want, but we are always smart about our purchases, using coupons, buy 1 get 1 free dinners, etc. I never carry more than $20 in cash, everything goes on the charge card, which gives us 3% back for auto repairs, and that is paid off each month.

Do take the savings right off the top....you gotta pay yourself first. Don't rely on yourself to deposit whatever you are earmarking for saving - elect direct deposit and just forget about it. Pay off the credit cards first though.

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

I'm in the 10k to 50k range. I owe around 16k with 85% of that being my car that I took out a loan for last March (2 weeks before being laid off) and the other 15% is credit cards.

Even though we have credit cards, I still save money first, in a 401K, IRA's, and then the $1000 in emergency money. I can't NOT do that, even though I owe money, it just feels wrong to stop?

We could sell things, we have a motorcycle worth about $20,000 and some other smaller assets, but I can't talk myself into selling off all of our stuff!? We do have almost $20,000 in savings here and there and will probably get about another $20,000 this year in inheritance (or next year who knows when that'll all be cleared up).

I was hoping by behaving and putting every extra money we have for a year, we will be able to catch back up, after our tax refund and everything else.

We never had any debt until 2 years ago. Now it is just getting out of control!?

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

Zero debt here. Married 27 years and not in debt one day.

That said, we have been very fortunate and also made good decisions that helped our good fortune more likely. For example, we have never gone without health insurance, we have moved away from family and friends to increase our income, we have always lived well below our means and saved every bit we could when we were young and had so many unknowns ahead. We both placed a high priority on sacrificing to advance our degrees, which has provided us with great flexiblity and lucrative careers now. Finally, we didn't start our life together in debt or with an unplanned child.

Secrets?

Never buy a new car and only buy one with cash. Always have health insurance. Always participate as much as you can in retirement contributions (our of sight, our of mind). Get as much education as you can. Always spend less than you can "afford" to spend on things like homes, furniture, clothes, cars, vacations, etc.

We have "0" debt including our house,

My best advice would be to buy things you NEED, not WANT.

Sorry, but I would sell that motorcycle and wait till we were in better financial shape in the future to own one.

I agree with Granny, unless you live in a climate where you drive the bike every day and it saves you money, sell it to pay your debt. If you keep the bike, get rid of a car. And, home equity loans should be illegal in my opinion ....

It is a matter of need vs. want. A true need. We have no debt other than mortgate and pay an extra $500 monthly toward principle. It could easily be paid off, but will let it take care of itself for the tax aspect.

We started this very young, especially since disposable income truly wasn't there. Have continued to live entirely within our means and live quite comfortably now.

dl

Pay yourself first.
Live below your means.
Try not to eat out very often. Making meals at home is cheaper.
Plan your grocery shopping and don't impulse buy. Buy what is on sale.
Buy what you need, not necessarily what you want.
Stop and think do I need or do I want this? Is it going to be just clutter in the long run? Is it keeping me from being financially stable? Is it worth that? Little things do add up.
Don't buy cars brand new. Leasing a car is just more expensive in the long run and not recommended.

I echo the other posters.

Is your motorcycle going up in value or down? Is it really worth $20,000 to you to keep it? Only you can decide. For me the decision would be to have less owed on bills and things.

We have 0 debt. We paid off our house in maybe 12 years with extra payments. We adopted a baby to the tune of $20,000 (savings). After paying that, I immediately quit my job and I stayed home the first 11 years of our baby's life. I went back to work just over 2 years ago, and my whole paycheck is split between college and retirement. I work approximately 30 hours a week at a library, as they won't let most of us be full time.

If we didn't have our savings, when our son came along, we wouldn't have had the money to adopt him. We weren't looking to adopt, it just happened. Thank goodness we had savings.

The reason that I went back to work 2 years ago, is because my DH lost his job due to downsizing. In 6 months, just when his severance was running out, he landed a new job. I can not tell you how nice it was to not have any bills to pay during this time. We only had to pay cobra insurance. We saved over $10,000 just during that 6 months on just his severance pay. I really tightened our budget and didn't buy anything that wasn't absolutely necessary. Two months after he started his new job, I was hired at mine.

This holiday season I took anextra job doing floorsets at Bath and Bodyworks -- setting up displays after hours. We don't need the money, but it doesn't hurt either. I will admit I am ready for this seasonal job to be over. But there is security in having money put away. And I like that security.

The more money you put away towards retirement early on, the more interest you will earn over time. Read or watch Suze Orman too. Dave Ramsey is excellent.

You can do it, Flipper!!! Set some simple obtainable goals in your head. As you make your goals, set new ones. It gets easier as you see the money and security grow.

My goal this new year is to try and get my weight under control, eat healthy and exercise more. We all have something that we need to work on, I'll bet.

Hugs,

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Donna

One other thing --

how much debt you might have also kind of depends on your age. If you are in your 30's and have bought a house, you are going to have more debt than someone who is in their early 50's and has the house paid off. You just have to make sure that it is GOOD debt and not bad debt like credit cards and car payments.

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Donna

One piece of advice......do NOT try to "keep up with the Jones's"

I had a friend who's DH basically had the same job as my DH, so the pay was very close to the same. Well, every pay day they were out buying their kids all the latest stuff. My kids were like "Mom, why can't we have such and such???". Hard to explain to the kids why not. It got me wondering too. Well, this woman would always say "if I want it, I buy it", would laugh at me for using coupons, etc. Well, the more I got to know her....OMG......I had her dentist calling me for her to pay her bill, I had Rent A Center calling for her to pay her bill (on her big screen TV-oh, they thought they were the stuff). They had NO credit cards, which in itself isn't bad, but, I think everyone should have one...heck, you need one to rent a car, and for other things. They had NO checking account, even. I am guessing they bounced too many checks and couldn't have one??? She screwed me out of money, and come to find out, everyone that knew her, basically. She bought her car from one of those shady car lots on the side of the road. On the outside, it all looked honky dorey. But, once I got to really know her, and her true financial picture....we were WAY better off than them.

So, long story short, what you see is not always how it really is.......Sad thing is, nothing they had was really all they great. In fact, when they went to buy a house they had to go with a loan thru the owner, and this was just 2 1/2 years ago, when all those hoomey goomey mortgages were so "in". That tells me they couldn't even get one of those. SAD, truly SAD.

We are sitting pretty well financially. We watch what we spend, and plan things out. We do buy new vehicles, but, we drive them until they die. We did buy a used car in 2005, and it was OK, but, DH wanted a truck, so we traded the car in on a truck (DH didn't want the hassle of selling the car-so we used it as a trade in). The key to this is buying a quality vehicle to begin with, and maintaining it properly. Be sure to change the oil as scheduled.

One step at a time, and be sure to budget in little "splurges" or you'll just feel deprived.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

I know DH would sell the bike if I let him and if we cashed everything in and truely followed Dave Ramsey, we would be almost out of debt after our tax return. I would rather do it without doing all of that though.

This May our DD will be out of preschool and the $250 a month payment will be gone, so that can go to the bills. A lot of what we owe is on no intrest credit cards, not that it's less debt, but at least we don't get intrest on our already staggering amounts. We only owe $2300 on the truck that's worth probably $15,000, but it's our only nice vehicle.

We have always lived within our means and that's the main reason I have been able to stay home with the kids, but these last 2 years have been really rocky and we just haven't had any extra to get caught back up with. The house pretty much killed us with repairs (yup bought a fixer) and upgrades which is where most of the debt came from. I am not one to charge groceries or gas and I drive a 12 year old car, so we don't waste there either.

We need a good, easy year just to get out of the preschool and truck debt and we'll free up about $500 a month. I paid off 3 tiny credit cards today and will call mine tomorrow and cancel them, DH called tonight. We both cleaned out our wallets of everything but the debit cards and we never carry any money on us.

We did buy a much bigger house than we needed, but we did it as much as an investment as anything, it was a foreclosure and we sold our other house at the top of the market, that was never going to be worth any more than it was then. Our total net worth is growing, but it's taking a lot of work and worry. Maybe I am thinking of it wrong though? Does that count or not? I am house rich, but checkbook poor.

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

Something my FIL said to DH and me when we were house shopping: "don't let the house be your prison", meaning don't spend so much on a house that you can't do anything (movies, travel, new furniture, clothes, etc). It was really a good (and extremely RARE) piece of advice from him.

Is selling the house an option?

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

You aren't living within your means if you are in debt to fix up a house you are living in and not one you're flipping. Do you realize that it will take 10 years to pay off your debt at 500/month? And, those interest free loans will start requiring payments before you know it. There's also a good chance your old car won't last much longer.

I don't know you or what you value, but if I were you, I would sell the bike, take the money I have made on the house and get into a smaller house, take the kid out of preschool, and get a job. That is what "I" would do because I can't imagine myself in debt like that and I would do everything I could to get out of it ASAP. Whatever you decide to do, I hope things work out well for you. I see you are concerned and that you know the debt isn't something you planned on.

I don't think selling now is realistic, the housing market up here is pretty dead right now and with the economy in the dumps no one will be looking at a house like this right now. It is a flip Nightowlrn, we buy houses cheap and then live in them while we fix them up and sell them, but we take a few years, this is our third in 11 years. We did this one purely as an investment, it was time to ditch our other house at the top of the market and move to the next one with more potential. Within 6 months our net worth grew another $100,000.

Like I said we do have probably $40,000 in assets and will be getting about $8,000 in a tax refund this year, so if we couldn't pay the bills, that money could be used to pay the debt down and almost off by March 2008. And it's not that I can't pay the bills, we just don't have any extra right now and we have never been in that situation.

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"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." ~ Bernard Meltzer

Have you considered pulling your DD out of preschool? Sounds like that's $250/month that could be used for necessary things.

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

For the person who pm'd me and told me to 'suck it up' and get health insurance so I didn't have medical debt, I do have medical insurance. We also have no credit card debt at all, so kiss my a$$. You don't know me or my situation, and sometimes medical issues just happen with no rhyme or reason.

I agree. Kids were OK for years with out it.
It didn't hurt my kids not to go to preschool.

I had 4 children who didn't go to a preschool and they are all smart, college educated people today.
You can plan some play dates for the social part.

Well, before the middle part of this year, I could have said that we were well under $2,000 in debt. BUT, I bought a swimming pool (which we worked into the budget) and then... I found out that I had about $6,000 in dental work that needed done that our insurance wouldnt cover and there were college expenses for me also.

So, I am freaking out, I am over $20,000 in debt and not used to being in this situation at all.

Lucky, we have the ability to get out of this and I should be working full time by May. It will be nice to add my full time income to our family. I havent been employed full time outside the home in a LONG time and have been racking up debt while going to college.


Starting the new year, we are on a money diet and when I start working every penny goes on the debt.

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Sell crazy some place else, we are all stocked up here.

Good heavens - did someone really do that? Have a heart, people!
I'm sorry, tamommy, I read your post and my thought was that there is truly something wrong with our healthcare system.....grrr...

cj/

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I was walking home one night and a guy hammering on a roof called me a paranoid little weirdo. In morse code. -Emo Phillips

Wow, someone pm'd you and told you to "suck it up" and get health insurance!!! I really hope the person that pm'd you and told you that is NEVER in the situation we were in, sometimes no one will sell you health insurance because you are to big of a risk. My DH has had heart problems for the last 13 years for 5 years of that we had no health insurance on him at all because no one would cover him Like tamommy said you don't know someone's situation don't judge them!!

I also feel the stress from the medical bills too.

Sorry I got off topic.

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Brenda

GO #24 JEFF GORDON

Of course, it was with a new screen name, but I have my ideas about their true identity.

You are right, there is absolutely something wrong with our healthcare system. If I were to go out and go crazy ricking up CC debt, I could file BK (even though I know there have been some changes made to the BK system) but since it's all medical debt, I can't get any help. Of course, no one wants to work with you on setting up a reasonable payment plan-they want their money now. It's no wonder so many people say the hell with it and skip out on their medical bills. The people who are truly trying to pay are punished because they either want their money now, or maybe they'll accept 4 payments to pay it off. I'm sorry, but when a bill is close to 4k, I can't afford 1k/month for one bill. My phone rings off the hook, and it's all people demanding money now. It is absolutely ridiculous how ruthless these people can be.

The doctors tell you in one breath to avoid stress, etc, and the next breath they are telling you that until your 3k balance is paid, they can't see you again, but make sure and get your appointment set for next month for some followup work. It's so frustrating.

I've decided I'm not stressing over it. Well, I'm going to try, at least. I'll make sure everyone gets something every month, and if they don't like it, well then line up and sue my a$$ and see how far that gets you. I've depleted our savings trying to pay these jerks off and I'm no where near able to. Forget that. I'm going to start paying US first, then everyone else can have what is left. The stress isn't worth it, considering the stress I'm facing with the medical issues.

MC can trace IP addresses. Could you ask someone to look into it for you? A while back, someone with a new name posted something just horrible to a woman whose child had recently died. I reported the post, but I don't know if MC was able to ever try to identify the sick person who did that. There is at least one sick character than reads posts here and I wouldn't be surprised if there were more than one.

I just did a quick look and see you are having medical concerns. I would suggset first that your main concern is to get better and to not even look at the bills because stress and anxiety aren't healthy when you already have a health problem. And, FWIW, if you are in debt to a hospital you might be able to work something out for much less than what you actually owe. I know of people who have made an appointment with the business department and their payments were dramatically decreased.

I deleted the message, simply because I didn't want to get into all that crap again like before. It was also sent to my email addrses, not an actual PM through the MC system. I'm sure it was the same sick character you are thinking of, and quite honestly, I don't want any more drama. I had my fill of that a few years back and have seen the damage they can inflict on someone. As you well know, certain people are very computer savvy and are able to hide themselves quite well.

I've always been one to pay my bills as quickly as I can, but I can't do it anymore with the medical stuff. They will get their money when they get it, and I can't do anything more about it.

I do owe a pretty large sum to a hospital, and have talked to the billing office numerous times and have been told the only 'help' I can get is an offer for a payment plan of 4 equal installments. They offer low-interest loans to pay their bills, but (get this) because when they pull my credit, I have too many medical bills listed on my credit report to qualify. What kind of sense does that make? The majority of those bils listed are owed to that hospital and those are the bills that will be paid off by the low-interest loan. Makes absolutely no sense to me.

Also wanted to add Flipper, starting the first of the year, we are writing down EVERY purchase we make....EVERYTHING. That way, we can see where every penny goes. It really is amazing how it just seems to disappear. DH thinks nothing of eating lunch at a restaurant 3 times a week, for work. OH honey, I had to take so and so out....it's business. Um, yeah, OK, but, THREE TIMES A WEEK?????

Anyway, hang in there, and really commit yourself to this, you can do it.

To the dough head PM'ing people about medical bills, just remember, what comes around goes around. Furthermore, grow some, and use your real ID.

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Doing the right thing isn't always the same as doing the easy thing.

I hope it works out for you. We all have different tolerance for risk. I have little to none when it comes to debt. Initially, your post made it sound as though you were more worried about the debt than your later posts seem to indicate. It sounds to me like you are really okay with it because you are investing in real estate. A business, which is what it seems like your house flipping thing is, wants to have a certain amount of debt. Better to let someone elses money work for you and all that. So, I guess I am now confused by your orignial post.

In the past year I have lost my postal job because of medical problems,so basically we've lost 80%of our year income plus I have more doctor bills than I'll prolly ever be able to pay.yes I have medical insurance (not sure how much longer i can afford it tho)but copays and dedeuctibles are just about to put me under.

I thought the tiers should have been smaller

I have about $13K left on my car and that's it. We pay everything else in full and if we wanted to, we could sell stock to pay off the car so I feel pretty good about that. We pay all our credit cards off in full and we use an insurance company that is not only reasonable, but after going "claim free" for 3 years, you earn back 25% of your premiums (so that's over $500 a year for us!). It's ANPAC (if anyone is interested). I use coupons when I can and buy stuff on sale. No big secrets. We just don't buy things we really can't afford

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

tamommy, I am sorry that this happened to you.
There are many mean spirited people in this world!

People should realize that even with insurance there is a co-pay that can really add up!
Many co-pays are 25% now.
Also not everything is covered by insurance.

Due to unusual circumstances in our lives, we'd gotten into consumer debt (Credit cards) a few years ago (obscene legal bills to keep our kids safe, a move across country for the same reason, etc.) we couldn't manage by paying off each month.
After a few years of working our tushies off and getting rid of the temptations of credit cards, we've recently been able to become debt free (save for mortgage). Initially (but only for a few short months) it wasn't easy, but now it is just a normal part of our lives, a lovely part of our lives, I must say.
This has only happened through a lot of committment on our part, and more importantly, having inherited a debt free auto from the dearest relative we had who died 2 years ago. If we still had a car payment (or 2!) We wouldn't be in the financial shape we find ourselves today.
Having gone through the debt reduction process in the past few years (with the help of one of those companies), we've survived that long on our income, no credit cards and can do it forever now. (Please God, make it so! ;-P)
I think one of the worst things we ever did was to depend on credit cards when our finances got to a desperate state due to our fam's extraordinary circumstances.
NEVER AGAIN! (Yikes! Did I actually say that dreaded word *never* ?! ;-)
(God willing, and the creek don't rise ;-)
I hate to actually say never, cuz if my fam were ever threatened again, I'd do whatever I had to, short of prostitution, to keep them safe. Then again, if I had to, yes, I would try that. However, it is unlikely it would be answer, cuz who wants a 50+ tired old hooker, eh? ;-P

MZ

We have about $8000 in debt, both medical bills and some credit card debt. We do have very good health insurance, but I have a herniated disc in my lower back and had to have an MRI this year, 2 sets of steroid injections in my spine, go through 4 months of physical therapy and purchase a TENS unit for pain, as well as purchasing meds for nerve damage and supplies for the tens unit. It all adds up on top of your regular doctors visits, yearly pap, mammogram, etc. insurance doesn't pay for it all, we still have to pay a co-pay of 20% and when your talking 3 visits a week for phyiscal therapy, it adds up quick. I am hoping to have everything paid off by May.

We do have 3 vehicles and no debt on those. We do have one house that is paid for and the house we are living in will be paid off in 7 1/2 years. So we are ok in those areas.

No debt till a week ago. Hubby went out a bought himself a new car. %$$$###$*%$

I didn't vote....but my debt is exactly $840.00 and hopefully it'll be about $400 in January and then paid off in full.
Of that amount, $800 is credit card and $40 is doctor bill.

We do have a mortgage, but there's only a year left on that.

We have no car/truck payments, all paid for. However, my car is acting up and hubby's vehicle is too. So, hopefully we'll be able to just repair and not replace.

We've never been this close to being debt free and it sure does feel nice.

ETA: We do have real estate and personal property taxes to pay twice a year, But I pay them in full each time.

Yes there is...We are just a normal, middle class family-SAHM w/ four kids and DH w/ a pretty decent job. We did pretty much live paycheck to paycheck. When Patrick got sick, I had NO idea how much of a financial hit we would take. DH and I both felt that we would be financially prepared-after all, we have good insurance. Wrong answer-I don't even know how much debt we are in as far as hospital bills-$500 copay for every admission, $500 copay for CTscans/xrays every three mos., not to mention 20% of this bill and that bill. Also, there was the price of gas-45mins. each way to the hospital, sometimes every day. Our food bills increased, because sometimes we just had to eat @the hospital. And there were several hundred dollars a month in prescriptions that had to be paid for at the time. We also had to pay (luckily only $3 per hour) for extra time for our youngest son @preschool. I am sure most of you cannot imagine the extra expenses. Luckily we had funds to draw on which saved our butts-college funds, 401K, etc. We actually decided to put our house on the market last May, since we have so much equity in it, but after almost 7mos. on the market, and no bites whatsoever (not even any low ball offers), we decided to stay. Another thing that happened, was our rental property was vacated by the tenants w/o much notice at all. They had told us they were going to stay another year. Thankfully, some angels came in who want to buy the place after the first of the year. They have been renting since Oct., so we only lost a couple of weeks of rent-thank goodness. They have repainted the whole house and have done so many repairs, changed out fans and light fixtures, all at their expense, so we know they're serious. Once that sells, that will take off a huge bit of financial pressure. I have gotten a job, and while I don't bring in a whole lot (maybe $800 a month), I can see the difference already. So, moral of the story-you can go from living high on the hog on minute, with no debt, to really being in over your head overnight. Don't judge....

Ours is about $35K which includes dh's student loans. Our credit card debt includes dental/medical expenses as well as (admittingly) stupid charges.

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"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” ----Edmund Burke

My husband and myself have about 10k in debt. We just paid off our house . We have no children , thanks to mother-nature, but we are hoping to adopt in the near future.

I'm in zero debt as well but I'm 29. I did buy a new car (2006 Nissan) the year it was being replaced with a newer model. I paid it off within a year and a half by:

1. Living below my means - I always roomate with someone. This means I haven't had to purchase large items such as furniture or worry about variable utilities. I can't be in all the rooms at once so why should I pay for an entire apartment if I'm alone?

2. Downsizing my cell phone plan to only include data. Paying for the random minute call is cheaper than paying for a full-on voice plan. Having data on my cell allows me to e-mail without needing internet at home.

3. Taking on extra side jobs. I love design and have been lucky enough to land layout jobs which I can do from home (or main job during downtime). Craigslist is great for sidework.

4. Rebating and Couponing - I haven't paid cash for toiletries or medicine in years plus any extra ecbs can go towards gifts (candles, calendars, stuffed animals, etc)

5. Knowing my sales and what time of year items are being clearanced. I've been around long enough to know when to expect items to go on sale and am patient enough to wait for non-essentials.

6. Discount clothing is just as functional as expensive clothing. I'm lucky enough to be working at a design company right now and we have sample sales where I can buy new stuff for as little as a quarter! While it has revamped my entire wardrobe I fear it has also ruined me from ever purchasing clothing retail again

7. eBay - this is so much simpler than in previous years. I sell off any excess stuff and whenever I come across a sample sale buy extra for a "quick" profit.

8. Being patient - I don't need to get the latest thing because it will go on sale within weeks to make room for the next big thing

I expect all this will change should I ever have children but for now I'm content to follow this lifestyle. I'm warm, well fed, healthy and on an average day happy

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If it were me, I would eat hotdogs and Ramen, turn the thermostat down to 62 and drive an ancient car before I pulled my child out of preschool. It's not that I think kids *need* preschool to be successful in school, it's that I need the time away from the kids to keep my sanity! Everyone has different priorities of what is a 'want' and what is a 'need'. For us, having the kids out of the house for a few hours each week is a 'need' for everyones sanity.

We have 0 debt.

I drove my last car for 12 years and 168,000 miles. It was an Acura (the engine said Honda on it). I buy reliable, long lasting cars and drive them forever.

We charge everything possible on one mastercard thay pays rewards. I use the rewards to get gift cards for the Holidays, Bday gifts, vacations etc.
We pay the bill off each month.

We lived in a tiny one bedroom apartment when we got married 11 years ago for about 1.5 years. The rent was very little, but the apartment left a lot to be desired. We suffered and saved money then in order to live comfortably now.

We have zero debt. I pay my credit card balances in full every month. The only reason I charge is to earn rewards and I only charge what I already have the cash set aside to pay. I wouldn't ever borrow unless I absolutely had no choice (like medical emergencies, taxes, home insurance, etc.). I wait until I can afford to pay cash before I buy anything and then I charge it if I can.

We have no debt whatsoever, but we are both 60 so we've had a lot of time to pay off our mortgage, college tuition for DD, etc. DH is disabled and I was forced to take an early retirement so we are very, very grateful that we don't have any debt.

We would actually have a pretty stress-free financial situation if it weren't for the $778/month Univera medical premiums I have to pay for coverage for myself. (DH has Medicare and VA coverage.) My Independent Health coverage was raised from $630 in 2007 to $943 for 2008, so I had to change companies even though I've been satisfied with IHA. Unfortunately, my pension of $681 doesn't even cover my health insurance payment -- that's pretty awful.

We are looking into doing a reverse mortgage in the next year or two to make things a little easier.

Kellyjet, my aunt has been widowed for about 5 years. She works and is very careful with her money. She was very upset that her health insurance coverage was being raised to close to $600.00 this month. Her sister told her to apply for coverage through AARP. She called and was covered as of that day for $248.00 a month. Quite a savings. You may want to look inot that. Insurance premiums are ridiculous.

My debt is zero, home is all paid for, no car pmts. either. If I can't afford to buy it I don't. I use c.cards every month to pay my regular expenses and pay those on time. >> I only use them to earn points <<. I love the free gift cards.

Thanks, but coverage is not available in NY:

The AARP Personal Health Insurance Plan is currently available in Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Maryland, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wyoming.

Amen ,
We are going through a similar situation also because of my 16yr olds Chronic Health condition. We were in great financial shape and now I am very depressed because we are in a whole different financial world also. We too used our college funds and IRA"S . Hubbie is working 3 jobs and I too working. I am thinking of moonlighting another job because this stinks. I have always been able to think positive but am struggling emotionally big time lately feeling like I am in a Windtunnel and can't get out.

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Without Health you have no Wealth!