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personal debt

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Texacon:

--- Quote from: fatboy on January 03, 2024, 09:24:25 AM ---Thank you. And you are correct it is a great feeling and we likewise want others to have this experience. And I think most people (or couples) could get out of the debt pit, I mean we are not special, but it was a long difficult struggle, 5 years to pay off debt and a year now saving and investing.

When I look back at where our heads were before we started this endeavor, spending without any plan or thought and on that day when we looked at our dismal financial situation it looked really hopeless. I think the hard part was facing the reality and making the commitment to ourselves, from there on it was basically learning how to budget and handle money.

On the day that we made the last payment on our last debt, when I think about it, it brings tears to my eyes, but another big milestone was when our savings account balance exceeded our total credit card debt (credit cards were 1/5th of our total debt portfolio) that amount was $35,000.00 which is insane but that was where we were at.

The one beautiful thing that we learned and has become our habit now is living below our means and always putting something into savings. I'm maxing out my 401K, Sue is 15% on her 403B, we have a brokerage account, money in savings and we just started a new car sinking fund so we will not be going back into the pit for a new car.

We basically followed the Dave Ramsey 7 Baby Steps. Not to the "T" but close. For the last 3 years or so I have been reading a lot and always have a book that I'm reading on some aspect of personal finance. Most of it is actually simple but it is the hardest simple thing to do.

--- End quote ---


It gets addictive and becomes somewhat of a game to see just how much you can put back.  It's always interesting to me to go buy something and see the difference in price if I'm going to pay cash.  Prescriptions are one of those things.

Using my insurance for one of my prescriptions was costing about $90/month.  I started paying cash and that prescription cost me $90 for 4 months.  Imagine that.

KC

fatboy:
I have started asking a merchant for a cash discount since the credit card processors invoke a fee on every transaction.

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