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I finally finished updating our finances after our trip. I also paid a bunch of bills that were waiting for us after our trip (yuk). You can imagine my excitement when there was just enough money there to contribute $354 to our savings account. That brings the balance to the magic number we were shooting for - $4,000.
Now we can start focusing on paying off the last chunk of our debt. It sure seems to be stuck where it is, but hopefully that will change soon. We are on the home stretch, and it’s time to hit our debt hard again.
Here are a few things “in the works” to help us reach that glorious credit card balance of $0.00:
- We are having a garage sale by the end of summer.
- We are going to work hard to get our new business generating some income.
- We are going to continue to try to reduce our expenses.
- We are going to keep an eye out for little projects that we may be able to do to earn some extra money without a long commitment.
I feel like I’m missing something in there. Hmmm…maybe it will come to me later.
I am so excited to get cracking on this last little bit of our debt. At the same time, I am a little nervous. In less than a year I could be writing that post proclaiming that our credit card debt is at $0.00. I get butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it. We are so close now!
We probably spend over $50/month on soft drinks. Both my husband and I drink a lot of pop. In the past, I have quit drinking pop in an effort to save some money. But I always seem to start drinking it again.
My husband recently gave it up, though. It’s the first time he’s done it and he likes living caffeine-free. Now it’s my turn to do it again. Probably within the next few weeks when things quiet down I will join him. That will save us over $50/month and we’ll both be healthier for it.
When I look at our grocery spending as a whole, a lot of it is due to the “extras” like soft drinks and treats. With food prices going up across the board (and boy, have they been increasing lately!!), it’s time to cut those extras and go back to basics. Summer is the perfect time since there are fresh fruits and vegetables available. My garden ended up being really pathetic this year (I think I got some bad seeds) but we do have a local organic farm that we like to buy from. There are also plenty of public places where we can pick berries and apples for free when they are in season. We just have to get there before they are already all picked 
If we can commit to using a little more of our time when it comes to cooking/gathering food, we can save quite a bit on our groceries. I think our wallet and our bodies will thank us for it.
As our debt has been shrinking, my husband and I have been discussing what we hope to have in our future home. One thing for sure - we would like to be more self-sufficient and have land to have a decent-sized garden and a small orchard. I think to my childhood for inspiration here. We had a large garden, blackberries, wild asparagus and pear trees. Just down the road, we had apples. Us country kids would go out on picking trips and then take our stash to our forts. We’d munch on our healthy treats for days.
It’s funny how sometimes you end up trying to recreate some aspects of your youth. Anyways, back to the story on hand.
I wasn’t aware that there was a movement going on where individuals are learning to live off their land. This particular movement is mostly driven by fear of uncertain times ahead.
Convinced the planet’s oil supply is dwindling and the world’s economies are heading for a crash, some people around the country are moving onto homesteads, learning to live off their land, conserving fuel and, in some cases, stocking up on guns they expect to use to defend themselves and their supplies from desperate crowds of people who didn’t prepare.The exact number of people taking such steps is impossible to determine, but anecdotal evidence suggests that the movement has been gaining momentum in the last few years.
[Via Yahoo.com]
For my husband and I, our desire to live a more sustainable life boils down to family and finances. You can save a lot of money by doing what these survivalists are doing (except for stocking up on guns - that could probably get pretty expensive). We can also have more quality family time since less time needs to be spent pursuing more money.
My husband has met a family that is trying to live “off the grid.” They purchased something from us that we basically thought was junk but they are going to reuse it to meet their needs. From what my husband told me, they are trying to do it just to see if they could do it and to save money. I wish I was there for that part of the conversation because I would have asked a few questions. I arrived a little late for it. I do have their contact info so I may ask them for an interview if I can muster up the courage.
While we won’t go as far as some of the survivalists in the Yahoo story, we will try to incorporate sustainability as much as we can, when we can. First step? Planting an awesome garden this year!
On Saturday, I mentioned that I would be sitting down Sunday to crunch the numbers and pay off some debt. We did have some extra money, but something in the back of my mind told me to hold off. Something is telling me to contribute more to our savings account.
Maybe it’s the economy right now. Maybe it’s my job. Maybe it’s because I’m not feeling well. Who knows. All I know is that I want to have a bigger cushion in our savings account. That’s not a bad thing. It will slow down our debt reduction by a little bit but I’m okay with that. Paying off debt is important, but so is having some financial security. I think of our savings account as our financial blankie - it’s time to make it larger.
I have to thank everyone who used my link for the $25 bonus from Revolution Money Exchange. The bonuses I received from you and the extra money we were able to contribute beefed up our savings account by $425. It now stands at $3,629.
So far it looks like we will have some more extra money near the end of the month once payday rolls around. For right now, I think I’ll keep the gears switched and maybe try to get our savings to $4,000. That would sustain us for two months in a financial job-loss crisis.
Who knows? Maybe the debt bug will hit again and I’ll change my mind.
Gas prices where we live are basically at $4.00/gallon. It doesn’t affect us too much because both my husband and I work at home. But we probably will try to get back into walking more this summer to run errands and go grocery shopping. We aren’t going as far as this Wisconsin man, though:
“The goal is to not use one drop of gas for 31 days,” [Brian] LaFave said, calling it his personal stand against the oil companies…
…LaFave started the effort May 11. He bikes to his third-shift job at Aldrich Chemical in Sheboygan Falls, a 9-mile commute.
“I did like a practice run … two days in a row to make sure I could do it,” he said. “I’m not in the greatest shape. The mornings are the worst. It feels like it takes forever. I get like a mile down the road and I want to die.”
[Via Yahoo.com]
His main motivation is to stick it to the oil companies. Our main motivation would be to save money and get a little healthier in the process. Can you image what biking 18 miles to and from work a day is going to do for this man? I’m really curious what is going to happen after 31 days. Maybe he’ll decide to keep going for longer.
I am going through my emails today and catching up on some of the great links readers have sent me. I haven’t been able to personally go through all of them (one is a seminar), but I trust that these readers sent over good information. They are regular tipsters and I can’t thank them enough!
Chris sent me a link to Motley Fool’s How to Get out of Debt Seminar. It’s completely online and self-paced, so you can go through it at your convenience. They have the action steps listed, and it looks like you will go through getting ready to pay off your debt all the way to dealing with setbacks. I didn’t get a chance to go through it, but it looks like a great place to start learning how to deal with your debt. Thanks, Chris!
Beverly sent me a link to an interesting concept. There is a site out there called ShortCuts that will link more coupons to your store cards. From their store list, this is compatible with Kroger, Ralphs, Gerbes and more. I am unable to test this, because I don’t have any of those stores in my area. Are any of you using it? Thanks, Beverly for the link!
Lastly, here’s a contest I thought I would spread the word on. Intuit is giving away a free year of Quicken Online (and $350) every week until June 23. To enter, you need to add them as a friend on Facebook. I don’t have a Facebook account, but I may sign up to try to win 
Click here for more information.
This is a guest article from DB at DebtBeater. He writes what he is doing to get rid of his debt (which, is over $200,000 at the moment) on his blog. I think he is the only debt blogger that I know of that has six children! Wow! Stop by his site for a visit, or you can subscribe to his feed here.
So here’s the article from DB. I hope you enjoy it. It sure brought back some memories for me!
Imagine yourself doing something you enjoy. Spending time with family, taking a walk, bowling, sight-seeing, whatever you fancy. Oh yes, eating out…don’t forget that! Mmmmm. Sounds good doesn’t it?
Take a look around your neighborhood. How many people do you see that look like they’re just enjoying life with no stress? Do you even know if any of them have money problems or debt? Would any of them be prepared for a setback?
The truth is that we simply don’t know, but it appears most of them are doing just fine when in reality a lot of them are stressing over money issues. There’s lots of reasons for this stress. Setbacks, layoffs, and general Murphy’s law type stuff can happen, but don’t forget about the people who simply live a lifestyle that they can’t support too long. Eventually, those people are going to run out of money…or worse…they might just run out of credit because they DIDN’T STOP when they ran out of money.
Then what?
Completely out of money and can’t borrow any more. Sounds pretty stupid doesn’t it? Well, I have to completely agree. Know what else? I was pretty stupid. Luckily, I was able to eventually turn things around some by increasing my income, but my family of 8 is still striving to get away from this scenario every day. So here I’m going to share some of the things to think about and do when you’re at that rock bottom point and desperately need to turn things around.
Essentials First
Here’s mother nature at work for you. Time for that animal instinct to kick in. You basically need food and shelter to survive. These things alone may not support you for long, but you can get by for awhile without much else.
Basically, you need to make sure nobody in the family goes without nutrition. Everyone should have something to eat every day, and you need a safe place to rest and stay safe from extreme weather.
I’d almost say that your ability to maintain income is an essential, because without it we’d have the equivalent of an apple tree full of apples that just got cut down. You might have apples for awhile, but eventually you’re going to run out unless you find another source.
Once we’ve got these things taken care of, we can get on with the rest of our solution.
Must Get Organized
Organization is the foundation to a successful plan, without it, you’re just winging it…and look where winging it got you in the first place. Let’s make a plan. Now.
Here’s a list of immediate things to do that should only take 5-20 minutes each depending on how unorganized you are. If it takes longer, well…you really needed to do this then.
- Mortgage & utilities - find these statements and make sure you’re current. Call the companies if you can’t find the bills.
- Find all bills & debts - you need to make sure you’re accounting for everything in a budget. Let’s find all the pieces first.
- Find all receipts - if you’re out of money right now, there’s likely something you bought that should be returned.
- Cash & change lying around - that’s right, it’s time to dig through your couch cushions and under your car’s seats. Even the piggy banks are gonna get IOU notes for now. You need every penny.
- Quick inventory - walk around your house with a notebook. make a list of all items as you see them that you could quickly sell to a consignment shop, pawn shop, or used book/music store. You may have to liquidate some of these things very quickly if necessary, you should have an idea how much you could sell on short notice.
Let me tell you, there’s simply nothing quite like going to your children’s piggy banks and taking all the money out in order to pay for food. Doing this just about made me tear up, and I’m pretty good at holding back. Sure, the money got put back eventually and they never knew it was gone…but there’s something about having to take money from your own kids that just makes you not able to swallow a big ol’ lump that’s stuck in your throat.
Best advice I can give on this one is that the deed is done and it’s time to chalk the experience up as a life lesson. Don’t ever let it happen again and simply try to appreciate the fact that some things must be learned the hard way in order for them to really sink in.
The Plan
Ok, now that we’re organized, let’s take this organization and put it to work.
- Make sure food is covered going forward - got enough for a week or two? a month? You have to eat. Almost everything comes after that. Here’s a great post on how to feed yourself for $15 a week at Get Rich Slowly.
- Rent/mortgage money for the next month? - Most places allow for a late payment or two before taking action, but if you’re gonna be late on a mortgage make sure you’ve exhausted all money-scavenging efforts. You don’t want to end up on the street because you liked your DVD collection too much.
- Make a budget - one that incorporates every single dollar you have (and will have) applying it to necessities only. I have my budget completely open-book for anyone to use as an example. Need a haircut? Tough. If you’re taking money from your kids, you better be in survival mode only. For now, we’re just going to start with this month. Don’t worry about other months yet, just do THIS month right now.
- Start the job-hunt - you obviously need more money than you have right now. Perhaps it’s time to start looking for something on the side, or something short term to get you caught up. If you lost your job to get into this mess, then you probably need to find a couple of them to get you going. You’ve GOT to make sure you have the income to provide necessities though, or things will get drastically worse in no time.
So, how’d the numbers turn out in your get-by-with-necessities-only budget? If you’re short, it’s time to get that inventory list you made and start trying to make ends meet by selling thing on it.
Preventative Measures
What’s the point of making a plan? Following it! Don’t underestimate the power of NOT following a plan. As soon as you get off the path just a little, you’ll easily justify not following it at all. It’s ok to change the plan a little, but you STILL NEED TO FOLLOW IT!
The impact on the rest of family may seem like you’re going to scar them for life. You know what? I found that to be a good thing. I want my kids to be involved and aware that when you struggle sometimes, you have to pick yourself up and maybe even take drastic measures to fix things. What you do for them and in front of them during a tough time will help them develop that sense of responsibility that much of the world seems to lack these days.
My kids love the game of Life. They actually play it quite a bit, so I easily related our rough situation to some of the mishaps that occur in that game as you’re on the road to becoming a millionaire. I made them realize that just because bad things happen doesn’t mean we can stop spinning the wheel. We have to keep going and make the best of it. The older kids got a little more info on how to avoid these kinds of setbacks by being more prepared with things like emergency funds and insurance.
The older kids are only middle school age, but you’d be surprised how much they learn and how fast they grasp concepts when it’s something that’s directly affecting them. Be sure to learn these types of lessons together to help them avoid future dilemmas.
I hope this helps anyone that hasn’t experienced such a dramatic event to realize that it’s no joy-ride. It’s a very scary place to be, and I don’t wish this to happen to anyone. Everyone has to learn things though, some with less stress than others. My wife and I are far closer because of it. Our children have been able to learn a little about life as we went through it. However, never again, so long as I can help it, will I set myself up to live through this scenario again because of stupidity.
Anyone else run out of money to the point where you had to take extreme measures? What type of issues did you have to deal with? How did you overcome them? I’d love to hear your stories as well. Learning from each other’s mistakes is far better than having to live them all ourselves.
Thanks again DB for guest posting!
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