Celebrate for me!
@happythoughts (4109)
United States
March 7, 2007 3:20pm CST
We have been on the path of frugal living for a while now.
At first we were just working to make our budget so that we had more comming in than going out. We were paying down bills and trying to do with out as much as possible.
Now we have had our first real success! We payed off a credit card! All the way off. It was our goal in the first place. We have a few but now there is one down and we can put that money on to the next one. It feels like a giant step for us because we already ballanced our budget and now it is like gettng extra money. Our next bill should be gone in April with this increased payment.
Does anyone else have any great success stories for us to celebrate?
6 people like this
10 responses
@michelledarcy (5220)
•
7 Mar 07
That is fantastic well done.
I am working hard to save up some money at the moment. I don't have any debts apart from my mortgage, they all went when my ex left. However I'm trying to save up a bit each month so that I have enough money in the bank to pay the bills in case he misses a maintenace payment one month. Once I have this saved then I can start saving up for a new fence and other new things I need for the house. Its hard work though, always having the look for the cheapest of everything but I always feel like I have achieved a lot when I can put some money into my savings account at the end of the month.
1 person likes this
@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
7 Mar 07
It is hard when you are depending on someone else to make their payments so you can make yours. I love it when we are able to deposit some into savings. We split our money up so we put at least 10$ into savings just so there is something there when we have a bad month so we dont run back to the cards.
Thank you. I am feeling great.
@Wingedman (238)
• United States
8 Mar 07
Way to go!. My wife and I have too much debt. I don't like to think about it. We need to focus on one card and make extra payments on that and get rid of it. How long did it take? What sort of things did you have to sacrifice? Your story is an inspiration for us to get down to business. Thanks!
@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
13 Mar 07
We cut all or our spending. First we made a list of where our money was going anddecided what we could do with out. We no longer have a home phone and cut back to basic cable. It wasnt one big change but a lot of little ones. We make more meals from scratch and spend less on fun. We figure we will have money for fun later when we are out of debt.
@the_vicar (1477)
• United States
8 Mar 07
I am choosing to become more frugal. We throw out so much garbage each week and I had to wonder why? Are we too wasteful? So, we have started working on that this year. For one thing, you don't own your things...they own you....you have to provide a place for them, insure them, worry about them, move them, make room for them, take care of them and it is a full time job just organizing everything.
I think you are smart to frugalize your life and make it simplier. I, too, am determined to cut down on the buying and use what I have.
Cooking from scratch is healthier because you are not eating all the additives, fat,salt,sugar,etc.etc. that is found in packaged food. Plus...it is more creative to make your own meals.
Good Luck on your endeaver....stick with it! And congrats on paying off the credit card!
@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
13 Mar 07
We throw out way to much. We used to be much worse but as we got more frugal with our spending we became more conscious of the stuff we were wasting too.
I am trying har to make all of our meals from scratch too. It feels good to know I am saving money and feeding my family better meals.
Thanks fro the support. It feels great to have one debt down.
@maribea (2366)
• Italy
8 Mar 07
congratulations on your success!!! you're right it was a great thing for you. I think it is important to recognise the difficults we go through because we deserve our own respects for the sacrifices we are able to face and do.
I have a little personal success to celebrate and it is the fact that I have just started my new two jobs...I try to do my best and I am also trying to improve my English (for personal and professional purposes) and to improve my private medicine activity...I am satisfied with myself because even though I don't have great successes to celebrate I can celebrate my struggle for building up my own carreer.
@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
13 Mar 07
Congrats on the two new jobs. That is a lot to take on at once. I think I would be stressed about that. I am not good at one new job, but two. You are stronger than me. Good luck.
@lucky_witch (2707)
• Philippines
8 Mar 07
Wow thats really nice!
About us (me and my bf) we're trying hard to finished our loan... and taking a tough budgeting... (thehardest part... is we're not the one who use the loan) Well things are working I guess... We able to manage to buy all our needs and pay for the loan. Soon we'll be able to pay for it completely... and we promise not to make some loans again... unless "we" need it. What I really hate is when there are bills to be paid and the resources is not enough...then account is getting due. I hate thinking where to find the money, what excuse should I make. There are times that i experience our electric bills will be due by tomorrow but still there is no money that we can use to pay... Ouch! I almost gone crazy. Atleast though we dont have lots of money... we dont have debts to be paid... we can have a good night sleep. When we're through paying for that loan then we can have our savings that we can make use when we need it...
@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
13 Mar 07
Only one debt is great. I hate paying bills. I hope someday we can live on a cash system. I just want to get to the point where we can spend money on things we want instead of always things we need.
@champnaid (29)
• South Africa
8 Mar 07
i'm happy for you, the moment 1 credit card goes the more income you would generally have.
Thats why me only have 1, which i only use in emergencies.
Oh & buying things you want is'nt really considered as an emergencies :)!
I had to learn that the hard way !
Any ways hope you bring them depth cards down !
@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
13 Mar 07
Instead of using the money we are no longer paying to the card to spend we areputting it to the next debt. We are trying to get out of debt as fast as possible. We need a new home and dont want to have these debts as well.
Thanks for the well wishes.
@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
7 Mar 07
It is always hard to afford your own life. We tend to spend what we make. As soon as we get a little extra money we find somewhere it needs to go.
I hope I will learn a lesson from this stressful debt we are trying ot get out of so we dont do it again.
@cutepenguin (6431)
• Canada
8 Mar 07
This is great for you! We hope to do this soon too...we are being very careful with our money, and hope to have two of our cards paid off by May!
@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
13 Mar 07
May! That would be great. We are in a little more debt after our cards. My husband needed a 4 wheeler one day. I told him if he really thought he needed it and I guess he did. He usualy isnt like this but he was that day and now we have that bill too.
It is kind of like eating an elephant. It seemend really big at first but we have been taking small bites out of it and we are finaly able to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
13 Mar 07
We always have things comming up. That is how we got into debt in the first place. We are just trying to be more selective in what we deal with. If we have an emergency then we eat top ramen and mac and cheese for a while till we have funds again. It has taught us a lot about what we can really live off.
@tallpaulno44a (1574)
• United States
7 Mar 07
Yay for you! I've got two credit cards that are close to being paid off (another few months for each) and I'm really looking forward to it.
I pay an extra $10-$15 dollars each month on my car payment. I hardly miss that much money each month, but in the 4 1/2 years of the loan I've now saved over two payments worth and now have only 4 payments to go!
Good luck to you on your continued success.
@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
7 Mar 07
Thank you. We have a plan we are following and when we started I felt like I would never see the end of it. Hopefully we will be debt free by the end of the year (except for our house payment, only 20 more years to go on that one).
We are trying to buy a new car soon. I want to put half down on it if it is new so we can pay it off in a year to a year and a half. I am sick of being a slave to payments so if we want a new car I want to earn one.
Thanks again for your support!
