$12,000 Down…$25,000 Yet to Go

This post is included as part of the Problogger Group Writing Project.

If someone asked me last year how much debt we could pay off in 2006, I would have politely laughed and said, “Yeah, right.” That was my attitude back then. I didn’t think we had it in us to increase our income and buckle down on our spending. But, we did have it in us…it just took us a while to find it.

Thinking back, probably the hardest part was making the decision that we had enough of being in debt and it was time to do something about it. It’s not all that different from someone who decides to lose weight or someone that wants to quit an addiction. There comes that point where you just decide that things are going to change.

Once that hurdle is overcome, then it’s a matter of planning and putting that plan into action. For us, it was a matter of trying to make extra money where we could and then sending as much money as possible towards our debt. Seems easy enough when you think of it that way. But you need motivation to keep going.

Lack of motivation is one of the biggest saboteurs of a good plan. Even the best plan can fail if the motivation behind it is lacking. Where did we get motivation from? Everywhere we could find it! Movies, other bloggers, quotes and my own feelings…you get the idea.

There are days where I am clearly not motivated to reduce debt and I even get the urge to go on a shopping spree. I am human, and a nice LCD TV still makes my head turn. But I am learning to live with those urges and making sure that I do not act upon them. The amount of information that I have learned since starting my journey is amazing. I’ve learned things about myself and about personal finance.

Now, if you ask me how much of our debt we could pay off in 2007, I will look you straight in the eye and tell you we will pay at least $12,000 more. No laughing this time, just a realistic answer from someone who is motivated to make it happen

Posted by Tricia on December 21, 2006 at 9:34 PM in General Debt, Keeping Motivated, Life Experiences | 19 Comments »
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GInger responded:
Posted: December 21st, 2006 at 10:49 pm
did you borrow enough money from Prosper to pay off all your dept? And are you in a group? How long did it take you to get your loan from Prosper? I am so in dept that I am paying late fees. Thank-you for your help.
Tricia responded:
Posted: December 21st, 2006 at 11:56 pm
Hi Ginger – I only borrowed $3,500 from Prosper because I had that balance left that was on a credit card at a higher interest rate. I didn’t end up joining a group because I wanted to keep anonymous. I listed my loan on Prosper on June 9th and I received the funds in my bank account on the 20th. That’s not too bad, although I have heard it taking longer for some people.
Reviews and Predictions Project - Final Reader Submissions responded:
Posted: December 22nd, 2006 at 6:11 am
[...] $12,000 Down…$25,000 Yet to Go by Tricia [...]
Planeta Ubuntu » Reviews and Predictions Project - Final Reader Submissions responded:
Posted: December 22nd, 2006 at 7:49 am
[...] $12,000 Downâ€¦$25,000 Yet to Go by Tricia [...]
Reviews and Predictions: My Top 10 Posts » Questallia responded:
Posted: December 22nd, 2006 at 8:04 am
[...] $12,000 Downâ€¦$25,000 Yet to Go by Tricia [...]
Jeremy David: Choose My Adventure! » Blog Archive » No Dog Walking For Me :( responded:
Posted: December 22nd, 2006 at 2:31 pm
[...] $12,000 Downâ€¦$25,000 Yet to Go by Tricia [...]
Plenty of Holiday Weekend Reading » My Money Blog responded:
Posted: December 22nd, 2006 at 4:37 pm
[...] $12,000 Downâ€¦$25,000 Yet to Go by Tricia [...]
roberta responded:
Posted: December 22nd, 2006 at 5:35 pm
Nice post, I had no idea that groups like Prosper were out there. Sure beats borrowing from a bank.
Thanks for the info!
Lyndon Antcliff » A big bunch of links to cool articles responded:
Posted: December 22nd, 2006 at 6:29 pm
[...] $12,000 Downâ€¦$25,000 Yet to Go by Tricia [...]
Chewing Pencils: Helping you make money from drawing cartoons! responded:
Posted: December 22nd, 2006 at 9:53 pm
[...] $12,000 Downâ€¦$25,000 Yet to Go by Tricia [...]
Links by the hundreds, thanks to an Aussie » TravelBlog Archive » Family Travel responded:
Posted: December 22nd, 2006 at 11:10 pm
[...] Budget Globetrotting has predictions about travel in 2007, Working at Home on the Internet reflects on his blog’s focus, Time to Get Fit is proud of his weight loss and running (I’ve been thinking more and more of how out of shape I’m getting; time to pull on the tennies and get out that door!) and Travel Rants has some thoughts on his year as a travel blogger.Â I was also interested in how Tricia at Blogging Away Debt made big cuts in her debt pile and why it’s a good year to be a Willie Nelson fan (I saw him live this fall at the Austin City Limits Music Festival — what a show!)Â Great tips on increasing traffic to your blog can be found here, and Travolution talks about online travel from a UK perspective here. [...]
Planeta Ubuntu » Reviews and Predictions: All 282 Entries responded:
Posted: December 23rd, 2006 at 7:55 am
[...] $12,000 Downâ€¦$25,000 Yet to Go by Tricia [...]
Medium Dreams » Reviews and Predictions: All 282 292 Entries responded:
Posted: December 23rd, 2006 at 11:58 am
[...] $12,000 Downâ€¦$25,000 Yet to Go by Tricia [...]
Medium Dreams » Reviews and Predictions: All 282 292 Entries responded:
Posted: December 23rd, 2006 at 11:58 am
[...] $12,000 Downâ€¦$25,000 Yet to Go by Tricia [...]
» Personal Finance Linkfest on Blueprint for Financial Prosperity responded:
Posted: December 23rd, 2006 at 1:21 pm
[...] One of the great success stories about personal finance blogging was when NCN got himself out of around $11,000 in debt (two car notes and some credit card debt) within a year (April 05 to Feb 06) and he posted a list of all his own personal debt-related posts during the time period. If you’re in debt and you enjoy reading pfblogs for either ideas or inspiration, this set of posts is definitely a good place to start. Another blog I’d recommend is Tricia’s Blogging Away Debt who has cleared away $12k and only has $25k in debt left. [...]
Ashish Mohta responded:
Posted: December 24th, 2006 at 2:35 am
Yeah blogging had many people to pay off the debts.Its really playing a mjor role.
I also got entry in darrens project.
http://technospot.net/blogs/index.php/2006/12/19/predicting-the-evolution-of-techspot-insideout/

And i am feeding your blog.There wont be another chance to meet so many bloggers

Merry Christmas
Why I Love Problogger Group Writing Project | Kuala Lumpur is Home responded:
Posted: December 24th, 2006 at 5:16 am
[...] $12,000 Downâ€¦$25,000 Yet to Go by Tricia [...]
Rob Schaumer » Blog Archive » Effort Recognized, Lessons Learned And Some Link Love… Reviews and Previews Group Writing Project - Reader Submissions responded:
Posted: December 24th, 2006 at 2:00 pm
[...] $12,000 Downâ€¦$25,000 Yet to Go by Tricia [...]
Pedro’s Spot | Back from Christmas responded:
Posted: December 25th, 2006 at 8:09 pm
[...] $12,000 Downâ€¦$25,000 Yet to Go by Tricia [...]