Are you debt free? If you are, how did you do it? If you aren't, are you working

Apart from the mortage on the house we have no debts whats so ever. Having four children and only one full time wage coming into the house we have to be very very careful with money and not go over our limits. We would only need to go over by a little and we would be drowning. If we don't have the funds we don't have it. If we want something then we have to save for it. We could never have a credit card as we wouldn't be able to pay it off. We would rather do without and be poor than be in debt.

I just have 1 credit card now and I am debt free. I used to owe some money in credit card and I went into the bank, borrowed the money and repaid all the credit card bills instead of just paying the minimum payment (since the rate from the bank is less than the credit card's here). Now I paid everything and focus on saving money.

Personally I would Love to be debt free. It seems like everytime we do something to possibly get a little closer to being there, something presents itself in my way to where we end up falling behind again. This last time it was being so sick and not being able to work and being in the Hospital, etc. to where my last paycheck was only for 29 hrs. and now I am having to call a lot of the places we owe money too explaining the situation and seeing if they are willing to work with us.

I'm stalled at present. If someone has been in a stable job years, hasn't relocated, and saved, I think that person has a good chance of having a nice debt free existence. Not us. I am working at whittling away our debt and am hopeful of a good outcome. With prices rising it seems out of the blue, I don't know, but I'm trying. If you have debt, but still can maintain a good credit rating, personally I think it's easier. If you get in trouble due to a job loss or medical expenses and your credit suffers, I think a downward spiral starts. When you apply for a car loan, you get the super high interest rates and you can't pay cash for whatever reason. You can't stock up on the great sales, because you don't have extra money for that. This is one of my pet rants.....

I'm already married. It's been more than five years since we got married and we do have a daughter who's turning three next month. I'm the only one working in the family and we decided not to hire a nanny for our child; instead, my husband takes care of her and stays at home. I do have a lot of dreams not only for myself but more for our daughter. It will only take a year or less from now before she'll be attending classes. We still haven't got our own house and land. We're currently in the process of paying off all our financial obligations from loans and credit card companies. Hopefully, and God-willing, we'll be able to realize all of our dreams by next year. By then, we're going to be debt-free. Last year, we had 3 credit cards with outstanding balances. Fortunately, I was able to fully pay 1 of them. At present, I was able to bring the balance on 1 of the remaining 2 to less than 10,000 pesos or approximately 200 dollars. I guess I don't have any choice but to leave the remaining 1 credit card to be fully paid by next year, hopefully. And I believe we will start by saving up on purchasing a land where our house will be built on. Obviously, appliances and furnishings are next on the list. With God's mercy, we'd also like to put up a legal & lucrative family business which we could pass on to our child and future children and grandchildren. Along with this, I'd also like to help my parents, siblings, and in-laws in some way, specially financially.

We've made good progress this year but it hasn't been easy. We're making a third less this year than last year. But we're thankful we both still have jobs. We've really worked hard to cut back on our spending. If we can stay on track we will be debt free except for our mortgage in August 2009. Worries me - because living expenses keep going up and I worry if we'll reach our goal. I hate the idea of losing ground again.

stop using credit cards all together! stop shopping for sport or fun and buying stuff because you need it. make more than minimum monthly payments if possible.

I am always debt free because I never borrow money from anyone.