Getting Out of Consumer Debt in One Year
by Brandon Eley ~ January 11th, 2009. Filed under: Debt Free.
After sitting down (for several hours) yesterday and hammering out a new monthly budget, we were able to allocate a whopping $1,700 a month towards credit card debt! After a few rough calculations on our credit card debt minus total payments plus interest charges, it might actually be possible for us to pay off ALL of our credit card debt by the end of 2009!
It would require getting on a “beans and rice” budget (as Dave Ramsey puts it) and would still require we find a little extra cash somewhere. We currently have $26,800 in credit card debt (which includes a business credit card). Paying $1,700 a month towards the debt would pay over $20,000 on the debt in 2009. With some additional income I expect to receive and by keeping an eye out for an opportunity here and there, I think it’s possible. Tough, but possible.
So I’ve set a goal for myself… pay off all the credit cards by December 31, 2009. I’ve always been up for a challenge, and maybe such an ambitious goal will keep us motivated throughout the year.
It’s so easy to set goals, but I’m hoping having a hard deadline and a very specific goal will help us stay the coarse and stay motivated throughout the year. I’ll be posting updates throughout the year on our progress.
January 15th, 2009 at 6:42 pm
Hey there! I just started a new blog about my journey to debt freedom. Please check it out. I am hoping to find some people who are on the same path as me who will become regular readers! Thanks! =)
http://debtfreeninja.blogspot.com/
I am also quite the Dave Ramsey fan and I’m basically following his plan with a little bit of tweaking. Let me know if you’re interested in trading links (I link to your site, you link to mine)!
February 24th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
Congratulations on your target and good luck. It’s quite frightening what debt is accumulated on credit cards. It’s made far too easy to get money that needs to be paid back at such high interest rates.
February 25th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Wow! I don’t even know how I came across this blog but I loooove it. It is going to be so helpful as I strive to kill my debt asap. My current dilemma is getting approved for a 0% interest, 0%, no-fee balance-transfer so I can start making serious progress on my credit card debt. I missed a few payments on my school loans when they first started up, and it caused my formerly-exquisite credit score to plummet.
I’ve been keeping up with ALL my payments and stuff for over six months now…any other suggestions on how I might snag a good credit card offer to transfer my high-interest balances?
Thanks!!
March 24th, 2009 at 6:48 am
Yea, best of luck!
Our debt problem is christmas
March 24th, 2009 at 9:56 am
We shop all year long for deals, and are usually done Christmas shopping by September or October, so it’s not that big of a deal for us. And because we buy things throughout the year when we think of people, we usually get great deals on gifts (prices are always inflated around the holidays).
June 20th, 2009 at 10:06 am
I found this video on YouTube which really opened my eyes to the importance of getting out of debt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50bWUrKAbwU
I am sure you will be as amazed as I was.
November 12th, 2009 at 12:07 am
Hi, I agree completely. Come check out my blog and ongoing debt free journey and save lots of money along the way. Check it out at mommyluvs2save.com
December 11th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
Getting out of debt is not any easy task once you clutches into it. It’s very nice if you find a way and target a given year to come out of this difficult situation, it would definitely affects your overall financial position.