My Debt Free Goal
I fed up with being in debt up to my eyeballs and want to be able to gain control over my life. This is why I have set a goal to be debt free by April 2009.
I see the debt I have looming over me as a big chain holding me back from moving forward in my financial life and other aspects of my life as well.
Paying off our $72,900 worth of debt is going to be quite the challenge, my husband currently makes a small salary with the Army and I am a stay-at home mother of three children.
On top of that, my husband is losing his job in July 2007 after being diagnosed with severe epilepsy, which cannot be controlled by medication.
I am currently pregnant with baby number 4, who is due to be born this July as well. Although there is so much happening in the next few months, my husband and I are still as determined as ever to meet our debt free goal.
My debt payoff plan is to make money online through legitimate work at home programs. I have found a few great ones so far, which you can see from my monthly progress report. From them I have been able to start a small income, which I hope to increase over the next several months.
It sure takes a lot of work to be successful at making money online, I am putting in a lot of hours because we are in a sink or swim position in our lives right now. It is sort of scary, yet quite motivating at the same time.
When my husband loses his job in July 2007, we are moving in with his parents while we pay our debts off and work to save some money for a place of our own. My husband plans to do as many side jobs as he can to supplement our income and pay down our debt.
You may be wondering what inspired me to want to become debt free. I never realized the seriousness of my financial situation until I read The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.
Ever since I read that book, my life has completley changed for the better. I highly recommmend picking up a copy and reading it if you haven’t already.
Our desire to be debt free is very strong, even to the point that we are willing to work like crazy and give up all the luxuries of life that most people like to enjoy.
We have no cable television, we never go out to eat, we only buy clothes for the children when they absolutely need them and we never buy clothes for ourselves.
We never go to the movies, we never order pizza or do anything that costs money. Our kids do not get any new toys or games. Unless of course those come as gifts from grandparents.
I don’t want to sound like we deprive our children. We do free things with them so they have some entertainment, such as go for walks and play at the park.
We don’t eat any fancy meals. The staple of our diet consists of beans & rice and other inexpensive meals such as pastas, baked potatoes, and vegetable stir-fry.
We got ourselves into debt, so it is up to us to get ourselves out of it. We have to sacrifice in order to meet our debt free goal.
I invite you to watch our progress as we dig ourselves out of debt and towards financial independence. Any emotional support or encouragement you can provide will be extremely helpful to our cause.
Progress Overview
I LIKE HOW MOTIVATED YOU ARE AND I’M GLAD I FOUND YOUR BLOG. I COULD CRY. WE HAVE THE SAME GOAL WITH PAYING OF OUR DEBTS AND IM ALSO A STAY AT HOME. I COULD JUST DEFINITELY GIVE YOU A KISS.. LOL.. NO REALLY, I THANK YOU FOR BEING SO ENCOURAGING. AND I HOPE WE EVENTUALL REACH OUR GOALS I SEE YOUR SO HARDWORKING AND IM SURE YOU WILL BE DEBT FREE SOON. YOUR HUSBAND IS ONE LUCKY GUY.
I’m glad to found your blog. I’m also stay at home mom, and I’m really desperate to found job from home. I already try many things and they just a scam. But you proofing the better way to make money online. Thanks a lot. I hope you can free from debt soon. God Bless you.
I’m glad that you are taking responsibility for your debt. So many people file bankruptcy to try to get away from it.
You really have the aim and strive to it! I can say that to get rid of debt requires great power of will. I had 10 or more credit cards and debt on each of them, but once I decided to change my life, I pulled myself together and paid them off, all of them, now having 1 card for emergencies.
I’m sure you’ve heard of them all, but I wanted to let you know about one site that I use. It’s lightspeedpanel.com – they pay you to take surveys. It isn’t much, but it adds up. And every little bit helps, especially when paying down debt. You take a survey and earn points. Once you reach a certain number of points, you can redeem it for cash deposited into your Paypal account. It’s easy, and takes very little time. I do 1-2 surveys a week, and have already earned about $40 from it. Good luck with your goal!!
I commend you for making this life changing decision! You can do it!!! The sooner in life you do this the better. And I think it’s so much easier to do it when your kids are small too, because they love playing at the park.
We just became debt free in March 07. It took us 15 months. You just have to keep at it and you will get there. We did this after we read Dave’s book too. He’s so great! I wish you the best of luck and patience on your journey.
shawn
Your commitment is an inspiration to me. You can bet that I will be following your progress.
Two Points I’d like to make:
1. Pancakes are another good, cheap meal.
2. Your children will be better off than most because they will have learned that “stuff” doesn’t bring happiness. You spend time with them and they will appreciate that more than anything you could buy for them.
Congratulations on setting your goal; you’ll never get where you want to go unless and until you identify where you want to go! In case it makes you feel better, I have committed to paying off all my debt too — all $850,000 worth! So, $70,000 is more than doable! Keep at it; you’ll be there before you know it and you’ll be a lot younger than I am!
I am really motivated by your blog. I am in serve debt and I don’t know how I am going to get out of debt. I joined Cash Crate and how to find a nothe good business to get started in to make extra income. What I want to know is how do you stay motivated to write articles and blogs everyday. Pleas checkout my blog.
I stay motivated because I HAVE to meet my debt pay off goal. I am not going to give up, I want all the debt gone.
Not only did my husband and I pay our debts we saved half a million dollars. We did this while he was told he would never walk again – he has almost completed turning a barn into a house some 7 years later and we live in another country. Will-power.
We set goals every year and stick to them. You don’t miss take-aways if you put that money into the savings column of your cash book. If you see a nice dress or jacket, don’t buy it but put that amount into the plus column of your savings. You get into the habit of not spending, not being mean but finding other ways to cut back all the time.
The greatest joy in my life is waking up each day with no debts and I am 60. It took us well over 5 years to get to that state and then we had to build the house.
It can be done, you just have to set goals and be very strict – you also have to have a ‘cheapskate party’ when you reach each and every major milestone.
Keep at it – it can and will be done. We still live the cheap life.
I am so inspired by you and I will pray for your success. I am going to use some of your advise for I am knee deep in debt and would also like to be debt free (legally and honestly). I really appreciate you sharing info. and if I find anything that may help I will certainly let you know. Hang in there and God Bless!
[...] May 23, 2007 – My Debt Free Goal [...]
Amy are you still doing this blog? Haven’t heard much from you lately.
Mauri Ora Amy!
I came across your blog as well as your niche blogging site surreptiously yesterday whilst searching for ways to make money online!!
I am glad that i started reading your blog from the beginning – it is absolutely inspiring for me, and this is something i will share with my children as well!!
I was most inspired by your commitment to share your goals online and i like the way you write your articles – they are honest, down-2-earth and very easy to relate to – thankyou & have a great journey!!
Urban