Making the Commitment

After approximately ten years of carrying debt and multiple attempts to pay it off-or at least multiple attempts to commit to paying it off, I have finally made the ultimate decision. Why now? Well for one, my fourth child was just born. The other reason is I am about to turn 43. If I don't get this ball rolling, I could have a huge problem on my hands in 10-15 years. And lastly, I am sick and tired of living paycheck to paycheck and not being able to do the things I want to do.

Here is where things stand right now:

I sat down and made a budget. Figured out how much we make and what our true expenses are. My wife and I have made a comittment to live as lean as possible and to not accumulate any additional credit card debt. We have cancelled the cable as well. If we don't need it, we don't have it.

I found a great site called www.powerpay.org You can list all your credit card balances and payments and it will show you how long it will take you to eliminate all your debt and the best way to do it. Low balance, high interest first etc. You can also put in extra payments and see how that affects the outcome. One of the keys is to keep your payment the same amount even if the payment changes. So if your Discover card payment is $110 in January and then goes down to $108 in February, continue to pay the $110. Pay as much as possible on the card you are focused on. Once that card is payed off, move onto card number two with the payment you were paying on card number one. So now you really start to roll.

So now it is budget time!! How much do I have to work with and how is this all going to work?