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Step 1: Admit the Problem

July 20th, 2006 at 05:53 pm

The first step in this process for me has been to admit my mistake to myself and my wife. As many of you already know, it's hard to NOT know that you are in debt up to your ears, but many of us, myself included, don't like to admit it to ourselves.

So here it is: I've gotten myself in too deep, I've caused unnecessary and unhealthy stress in my life and my marriage, and I am going to change it.

Boy, does it feel better to get that out!

What was your turning point? What made you decide to take control of your financial life?

Posted in Thoughts, Feelings, etc | 8 Comments »

8 Responses to “Step 1: Admit the Problem”

  1. cashqueen Says:
    July 20th, 2006 at 06:07 pm 1153418858
    1153418858

    I ultimately want to have a more fulfilling/family-friendly career. So I have a good plan to get me there in 2 years. 1 year to get rid of all debt except the mortgage and 1 year to save everything I possibly can. My hope is then to start teaching. My REAL goal is to start teaching by the time ds goes to school and that is in 3 years. I am really going to work on doing it in 2. Technically I could probably do it in 1 year but I want to make sure we have a good nest egg for both retirement and emergencies before I cut my income in almost half.

  2. miclason Says:
    July 20th, 2006 at 06:59 pm 1153421994
    1153421994

    ...the credit cards caught up with me!...my salary was not enough to cover even minimum payments...that's when I "decided" to stop using the cc's, start living with my salary and, scrape whatever I could to try to make payments...

  3. LdyFaile Says:
    July 20th, 2006 at 07:30 pm 1153423830
    1153423830

    My turning point was realizing what I felt I am called to do for the rest of my life and the knowledge that my debt was the only thing keeping me from it. I have skills that can be used by mission organizations around the world but working for them means raising my own support and not being $70k in debt. We'll see when I get to a point of being debt free whether or not I'll still be headed in that direction.

  4. elgin526 Says:
    July 20th, 2006 at 09:19 pm 1153430373
    1153430373

    My turning point was just looking at my CC balances and realizing that I could have bought a car for what we owed! Now, a lot of that was wedding related so at least we got something for our money. But now it's time to buckle down and pay it off. It will give us so much more freedom. The money we were paying to the CC's can be saved for new cars and a down payment on our next home. Once we have kids, college saving will be easier, not to mention retirement planning. Plus, not having CC debt in case of a layoff or medical emergency will make such a situation just that much easier to deal with. When all you have to worry about is the house payment, food, and utilities, you can get by longer on your savings or if lucky, can scrape by on temp or part time jobs until the emergency passes.

  5. Bookie Says:
    July 20th, 2006 at 09:40 pm 1153431604
    1153431604

    In my case the definitional moment came in the aftermath of my divorce. I took the credit card debt as part of the settlement, and I was stunned to finally see the enormity of the hole we had dug ourselves into in the last years of the relationship. We both had accounts, and there had never been an honest summation of what we owed.

  6. squatto Says:
    July 20th, 2006 at 10:05 pm 1153433140
    1153433140

    Adding up all of your balances is one of the hardest realizatio moments ever. I keep track of everything (balances, dates, payments, etc) in an Excel spreadsheet, and seeing everything in one place is a big wake-up call!

    @cashqueen
    It sounds like you have a very similar plan to mine - out of debt in 1 year, save from then on. I know many teachers, all of which feel it is a very rewarding career, despite the pay cut.

    @miclason
    That's the hardest part - putting SO much money toward SO much debt - it feels like walking up an escalator!

    @LdyFaile
    That's very wonderful of you! It takes a very strong person to make a career change to something that is more rewarding every way except financial =) I commend you on your life decisions!

    @elgin526
    You're telling me! $17,000 can buy a fantastic car, and knowing that I'm simply going to be paying it back and seeing nothing for it is a sadly humbling thought!

    @Bookie
    Wow, that's quite the responsibility! Hopefully there's a steady stream of dirt filling up that hole =)

  7. Carolina Bound Says:
    July 20th, 2006 at 10:50 pm 1153435811
    1153435811

    The defining moment for me came when I realized I had to take a second job just to keep up. I won't let that happen again.

  8. beans6 Says:
    July 24th, 2006 at 03:57 am 1153713467
    1153713467

    I was raised frugal so I never had such amoment. But you are so far ahead of the game compared to most people.I know several people who are filing for divorce over money debt.
    You are very brave & I know you will be sucessful ! Dont forget to post your progress.

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