Just found this place this evening...

**Suzee** · 11-14-2005, 11:10 PM

I am new here. My husband and I, through difficulties in our 'Government paid super fast move" (HAH!), lack of furniture and operating appliances, addition of 2 more dogs, etc...etc...have amassed a considerable debt. It is not 6 figures, but a little bit more than half of that. We have not been in the house long enough to refinance or debt consolidate. I am not working. Because of the 4 dogs, a part time job is out, too. My husband has a very good paying gov't job. This week, I will start redoing all of our finances into Quicken. We had some computer problems and they finally got fixed. My spirits are not at the best at this time. My husband is a bit stressed, too. We don't go out and buy. But, I'm having difficulty making him see that you need to have the money in the bank BEFORE you use the credit card. Although, I think we had a BIG breakthrough tonight. I'm not quite sure where to start. I want to downsize cable to just the local station and go from cable to something like People PC. Also recheck our insurance packages, etc. He keeps balking at this, although I think it would help. And, do you really need to have all of those options with a cell phone? I'm starting with Quicken...where should I go from there? Any suggestions? We'd like to relax and quit stressing. I know this is lengthy, but I wanted to put it out there. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you so much!

**thrifty gal** · 11-14-2005, 11:22 PM

First of all welcome to Frugal Village! I'm sure you will find all the info you need here.

Most of us have been there. We are working on our cc debt at my house too. It is a long journey, but well worth it. One of the first things I did was track our expenses. A real eye opener. Second, I printed out a spreadsheet with the names of all our credit cards, and the balance on each. I update it every month when the new bills come in. I have used the snowball method to pay down our debt. For us it is the best way. There's quite a bit of info on it here at FV.

Good luck!

**PrairieRose** · 11-14-2005, 11:28 PM

Firstly, hello and

to the Village!

I think that putting everything into quicken is a great idea to begin with. It's very important to track every penny spent for about a month so you can see where your financial leaks are. The little things (like options on cable tv or even cable tv for some people, and all the bells and whistles on cell phones, etc....) absolutely add up. You have to see where the money is presently going, prioritize (shelter, food, utilities first) and then decide what things that cost you money are wants and what things are needs. I mean you may not want to pay that credit card payment, interest only if you are strapped but you really NEED to.... . (that was sort of a tongue in cheek metaphor there...sorry) I mean, do you need a cell phone at all? Or, could you possibly make do with just a cellphone, cut the cable to bare bones, have a cable modem and save $15/mo.? I don't know what your circumstances are in enough detail to help but have a look at the debt reduction forum, check out Dave Ramsey's book Financial Peace from the library or even buy it (it's a good investment). Do the beans and rice, rice and beans diet for awhile.....most of us here have at one point or another and can attest that it works. (I didn't lose any weight though....

)
We're all happy to answer any questions that you may have, so fire away.
(Just so you know, my dh---Gripey and I paid off $140k in debt in 3 years. We're not debt free but you can find our story in the link below.....it's true, I promise....making the payments we were already making)
Hang in there......make a plan and get busy!

Can we really pay this off?

**Suzee** · 11-14-2005, 11:30 PM

Thank you for the friendly welcome, Jennifer. Could you tell me what the "snowball effect" is that you mentioned? I'm still exploring the site.

There is a lot of information here. Wow!

Lisa...thank you for all of that information. Whew! We're at half that amount of debt. (I'm REALLY ticked at the government.) I will see if I can find the book. Thanks for the boost, too.

**PrairieRose** · 11-14-2005, 11:39 PM

The "snowball" is a simple yet amazingly effective way to pay down debt using the money that is committed to payments or debt right now. You add up all of your debt and consider that one huge payment. Then you take the debt with the smallest payoff or the one with the highest interest (the later being what the "experts" do, but I did the former b/c I'm an instant gratification kinda girl....) and when you pay it off (being creative to throw any extra money you can whittle out of your budget at it in the beginning to see it decline rapidly in amount) then you "snowball" that payment onto the next debt (the next smallest for me again) and add to the payment that you're currently making on it. When it's obliterated, you do the same to the next, adding payment to payment (like the first one is a $125 computer payment, paid off, add that to the $325 car payment=$450/mo. on the car, etc. and so on). It's quantum physics for debt! It's not quick in the beginning but as you get closer to the bottom of the mountain of debt it rolls faster and faster. It's actually kind of fun! (sorry, I'm not Jennifer

but I hope I answered your question)

Also here's a very inspirational thread by a wonderful member here, some great reading for sure.

From riches to rags and then back again

and, You're very welcomed

Sorry Jennifer, I didn't mean to take over .........

**SHOPGIRL** · 11-14-2005, 11:42 PM

Welcome, your sure to find a lot of information here.

**Missy** · 11-14-2005, 11:44 PM

snowballing is where for instance you owe debts A, B and C. You finally pay off debt A. What do you do with the money that you'd otherwise be spending toward that debt?? Snowball it downward to debt B. Or split it between B and C. Once debt B is paid off, apply all that you'd normally pay into debt B now into debt C.

Welcome to FV, hope you enjoy it here, there's tons of information!

**rebecca** · 11-15-2005, 12:09 AM

Welcome to FV! You have gotten alot of good information from the above ladies. We all have been where you at sometime or another in our life. Try not to get to discouraged. You did not get where you were overnight. Just take it one step at a time and things will start to look up. If you get a chance get the book by Dave Ramsey, Total Money Makeover. It explains what Prairie Rose is talking about on the debt snowball.

**frugalfarmwife** · 11-15-2005, 05:02 AM

Welcome, the people here are wonderful! Other things to look into are couponing, loss leader shopping and work at home ideas like ebay, every penny counts!

At our house there is no going out to eat, no extra frills or perks, watching the thermostat, turning those lights off, hanging laundry to dry and a LOT of eating from the pantry/freezer. It's a lot of work but it will be SO worth it to see that mortgage total go down

Also with Christmas coming up it's a great time to get imaginative on gifts, what talents do you have? Home made gifts are so thoughtful and appreciated.

KJ