How much debt have you been in and how did you manage to get out of it? As you can tell girl here has some issues to work out in the shortest amount of time. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

in 1995 i special ordered a dodge ram truck bout $28,000 ...

that was/has been my biggest dept ... i paid it off in 2 1/2 yrs

by doing what i always do when there are payments due ... at least over paying each month by 1/2 the payment... and sometimes double

i always pay more on the debt then is owed so its paid off faster and IF something comes up one month its always prepaid ...

my largest debt to the bank was about $5,000. That was due to my former employer who was always late on pays. So I sued him and he paid my debt

I recently had a large amount of debt.

I lucked out and got a job as a mortgage consultant. I've managed to earn more than I ever have in my life (I made close to $8000 last month). I get my commission in large chunks, so I have been paying off my debt much more easily lately.

When I was 21, I had scores of credit cards. I had a lot because they damn near throw them at you when you're in college. I love to shop so I did use most of them: 3 visas, Discover, American Express, Fashion Bug, Mandee, Macys, Sears, etc.
One day I just made myself cut up the cards and close the accounts. I was about $3,000 in debt which isn't a whole lot, but it was to me them.
I kept making payments, but I always sent more than the minimum payment. When I paid one off, I just added the amount I was paying on the one card to a few of the others, which upped the payment amounts I was making. I don't know if I'm being cvlear here, but hopefully, you get the idea.
It takes willpower, though, and isn't the easiest thing to do, but the peace of mind you'll feelk when you're finally done will be priceless, no pun intended.

My hubby and I had about $7,000 in credit card debt at one point. I tossed the cards and started making huge payments right after payday, so the money would go away before I had a chance to spend it on other crap, and got it down to $4,000, and then we took some of the money out of his retirement savings to pay off almost all of the rest (which is a controversial thing to do, but we're 25 years old and it seemed more important to get out of debt than to worry about our financial picture 50 years from now). We've got a few hundred dollars still to go, but basically we're down to just our mortgage and student loans, which feels GREAT.

First thing i did was cut up and close all credit card accounts except my Micheal Tire Credit Card, to use for my car repairs in an emergency. There haven't been any emergencies thank God!!! After I closed them up i started paying off the smallest to largest cards in that order making minumum payments on the large ones and larger payments on the smaller ones to get them paid off.

Next I started doing a budget. I am so good at this now that I plan my budget for one whole year in advance!!! Certain things are a must that you pay every month lights, utilities, phone, car payment, rent, car insurance, food etc. Anything left beyond that I used to pay off my debts. The most debt I had at one time $20,000 in credit cards which are now paid off and gone!!! Only have car payment of $200 a month and it feels good. After I kill off some more Dr. bills I will add 50-100 a month more to my car payment to pay it off!!!

And shop for bargains!!! The Dollar Tree and Dollar Store carry name-brand health and beuty aids along with snacks and tolietries!!!!! Even though I am single with no kids I clips the hell out of coupons which can also be used at FAMILY DOLLAR TOO!!! I buy clothes out of season, sweaters in the spring and summer and shorts and tanks in fall and winter. I always by on sale and never pay full price for anything!!!

When I was looking for my car i spotted it in August but I waited until October when the new models were rolling in and they had to make room plus also had to pay taxes on the inventory that was left over, I saved $3,000 on my car by doing this. It is a used certified 1999 GM Chevey Cavalier I took from a woman who had it on lease with only 26,000 miles. And I have a full 4yr manufacturer warranty as well.

EmeraldCity said:

Don't do those consolidation places. They'll get you into bigger trouble.

The best thing I ever did was (and still do) hand over all my money to my wife. She cleared up some outstanding things from years back and continues to stay on top of all our bills. She's done it for a few of her friends too. They thank her still today.

BTW, I'm not saying give your money to my wife, this just worked for me and I love her dearly for it. She's going to keep our family debt free.

I'm the type of person that counts their chickens before they hatch so to speak. So if I estimate that I'm getting all X amount of money from side jobs and/or bonus, I go ahead and start spending. What I tend to forget is the expenses to do some of those side jobs, emergencies, etc ... or a side job I thought was coming either doesn't fall through, or my customer decides they need to cut costs and pull back on some of the things they asked for, thus not getting the amount I thought I was going to get.
[Edited 2/7/05 13:15pm]

yamomma said:

My partner takes care of all of our finances He thinks he's horrible at it, but he's actually quite good.

superspaceboy said:

I didn't like it at first, but I'm glad I did. I don't tell her about some earned side money here and there so I can treat her and/or the kids to something special now and then.

yamomma said:

OMG...I was so scared. It takes a lot of trust to do that especially when you make more than they do. But I looked at it like this. He made like half of what I did. Had ...mmm...about the same amount of expenses (except for rent). But could save a grand in less than 2 months time no problem, where I would always be doing the direct deposit advance (my bank has that evil feature).

As I said it's kinda scary, even now...he's thinking of switching jobs and maybe working as a temp. I just have to keep telling myslf that he can pull this off. If he says money will be replaced, then money gets replaced. I have NO idea how he does it.

Thank you all for the nice response. I guess I'm doing pretty well given my situation, it just hurts to know it'll be a couple of years before I'm debt free. I owe about $9,000 in credit cards but paid off my school loan within a 1 1/2 of finishing school. I'm forking over a nice $2,000 chunk to American Express this week. Those bastards.

Meannwhile my car is falling apart.
This never ends!