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Beginnings

November 12th, 2007 at 08:56 pm

From the time I moved out on my own at the age of 17 I have struggled to pay bills. We have been in debt and behind on bills for our entire marriage. As soon as I think we are getting caught up something happens that slaps us right back behind in payments. Not that we are way behind but I can't seem to get bills paid on time. It's more like I am a few weeks behind instead of months.
Today I made a budget that seems to be doable and should get us all caught up in 2 months. I am going to stick to my guns and once we are caught up then I will begin seriously throwing money at our debt. I hate not having money for emergencies and stressing over how I'm going to get the kids shoes.
It's crazy that I should have to worry about this since we make more than enough money to pay all our bills and still have extra. It just seems that trying to get caught up keeps us broke. In reality it's the wasting money on things we don't need that hurts us.
My hubby isn't big on budgeting and doesn't help with bill paying. Today I'm showing him our budget and how much money we waste every month and pushing him to help me get motivated.
With or without him I am going to do this. I know he'll stand behind me all the way though so we'll be fine.

Posted in Talking about my debt. | 8 Comments »

8 Responses to “Beginnings”

  1. Joan.of.the.Arch Says:
    November 12th, 2007 at 09:01 pm 1194901269
    1194901269

    Good luck!

  2. madhaus90 Says:
    November 12th, 2007 at 09:44 pm 1194903897
    1194903897


    Welcome - the first successful month of budgeting I did was taking out cash for all extraneous items (non fixed utility bills and automated deductions for retirement/ education). Then when the cash is gone, it is gone. Also allow for 15% over in certain categories for "just because" things (like stocking up on great sale items) I used to "borrow" from one category or another and it got all muddled. BUT taking the first step to budget is a great step to "stopping the insanity"
    You can do it! I did and this is the first holiday that I am paying CASH for everything And it is already there just waiting to be spent.

  3. ceejay74 Says:
    November 12th, 2007 at 09:55 pm 1194904541
    1194904541

    Welcome! I started telling my family to stop spending money we didn't have in March, got them weaned completely off the credit cards by probably July, and started an aggressive debt-repayment plan in August. If you can get your husband to take out a set amount of cash per week and only use that for spending, that works really well for us. We still use debit cards for groceries, but I check my account online daily and am able to make sure we're following our grocery budget. If we want something bigger like a meal out or a show, we have to start putting aside for that and wait until we have enough. Sometimes we have to say no to something we really want, but when we do buy something it's with no guilt, because we know we had the money for it.

    I still have years and years to go getting out of debt, but this site has been invaluable in getting and keeping me on the right path. Hope it helps you just as much!
    CJ

  4. JanH Says:
    November 12th, 2007 at 10:29 pm 1194906580
    1194906580

    Welcome! Looking forward to watching your journey! There are a lot of great ideas on this site and great people to root for you!

  5. Ima saver Says:
    November 12th, 2007 at 10:38 pm 1194907081
    1194907081

    Yes, I am rooting for you too. It is great to be debt free!!

  6. db1974 Says:
    November 13th, 2007 at 01:37 am 1194917878
    1194917878

    My DH has always been supportive of our budget, yet continued to overspend. He occasionally uses credit cards much to my dismay, but has over the years made huge progress( as we both have). We've been strict budgeting for almost a year, and I just now feel like he's getting gung ho about paying off debt. I think seeing that we were making progress just through my own frugal ways eventually won him over. Sometimes, I guess, seeing the plan in action and working makes the difference.

    Good luck to you...and stick with your guns. He might be looking to you for an example. Smile

  7. baselle Says:
    November 13th, 2007 at 04:10 am 1194927024
    1194927024

    Good luck. I've found it useful to maintain a routine to keep from spending a lot. Keeps me from spending money as a hobby!

  8. clubneary Says:
    November 14th, 2007 at 01:19 pm 1195046395
    1195046395

    Good luck to you! Remember it is the small steps that will help you succeed. Don't get discouraged if you slip back into what is comfortable for you now and then. Just learn from your mistake and keep moving forward. I think the worst thing we do sometimes is beat ourselves up too much for small mistakes and that prevents us from being successful.

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