$125K paid off (not us)
Posted on February 16, 2006 by Him and tagged credit, debt
I was cruising the Fool.com discussion boards today, and saw this post of the day about a family with over $125K in credit card and consumer debt, paid off in 7.5 years! They did it with a combination of the snowball method of paying off credit cards, personal finance discipline, and a lot of hope. Not only that, but the guy lost 30 pounds, gained a bunch of muscle, and is going to run in a half-marathon this spring.
I subscribe to the pfblogs.org feed, so I read many PF blogs. There are only a few PF bloggers who are in debt, fewer who are in as much debt as we are in. It was a relief to see that someone got themselves out of a mountain of debt, versus reading about other bloggers who post about their capital gains, house flipping adventures, blah blah blah ad nauseum.
No offense, but I mean it takes a few PF bloggers' net worths to even pay for our debt.
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My fiancé and I have only a quarter of the debt you have, but we stand with you in solidarity. I think the only reason I have a personal net worth that's positive right now is my employer's generous 403(b) matching, and I was smart enough to sign up for that right away (I've been watching Suze for years).
I will be here to cheer you on.
There's a threat on FatWallet in the finance forum about IBJanky's struggle to get out from under credit card debt. It's a great thread and chronicles his entire journey.
I think now that you have made your debt a priority in your life, you will be surprised at how quickly you can make progress towards eliminating it. I've been tracking my personal net worth for just over a year, and my progress has amazed me... mostly because net worth was never a consideration in my decision making process before.
You will get there and it will feel good!
The "personal finance" segment of blogging is pretty darn expansive. Sometimes it's great...you get exposed to all sorts of things you never knew about -- and sometimes it can be overwhelming or discouraging. Take heart...you two are definitely no the right track. (I don't mean "take heart" like in a "threatening" Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom way...naturally!) ;)
Just a word of encouragement. I'm inspired that you're both on board so completely. I think with the two of you working on this and getting support from other PFbloggers, you'll be out of debt faster than you think.
You're not alone. I am another blogger on a journey to get out of cc debt. I think my biggest money mistake (aside from amassing the debt of course) was simply ignoring the money for years. Now I've got now choice but to pay attention. I look forward to more posts!
it definitely can be done and i know that with your motivation you will sooner than you think. it may feel like it is forever (sometimes i can't even remember what it feels like to be without debt) but knowing that there are people out there cheering you on (like me) will make it that much easier!
Miserly Mistress | Feb 18, 2006
Thanks so much for this!
I "only" have about 20K worth of student debt, but man does it bother me. It's always so helpful to see others pull themselves out of debt. I'm reading your site whenever you update it, it's so refreshing to see others in my situation do positive things to get themselves out.
Flexo | Feb 16, 2006
There is certainly a wide range of bloggers in the 'sphere when it comes to net worth. I wish I had my blog back when I had a negative net worth... if I had, I would have probably gotten above sea level that much faster.
I think we all like to read about experiences from people who are like us. House flippers want to read about other house flippers. Braggers want to read about other braggers so they can lay them out on the table and compare size. People struggling with debt want to read about people struggling with debt. We all want confirmation that there are people like us out there, and maybe (just maybe) some tips from others' experiences.
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