There are so many inspiring bloggers that have done some incredible things to get out of debt. Carrie recently talked about her experience living the bare minimum to pay her’s off. FB at Fabulously Broke worked her way out of $60,000 debt on a $65,000 salary. SS4BC each month pays 38% of her paycheck. Krystal paid $17,000 debt in 10 months. Debt Ninja pays over $1300 towards his debt. Now granted each of them have different salaries and different living expenses, but I surely I can afford to get a little more intense with mine.
What would it look like if I pay just $100 more each month?
Currently I pay $600 a month, which is still a lot of money for me. But $700 towards debt? That would be hard work! And pretty freaking awesome! If I start in November, then it will be an even six payments of $700 and I would be one month closer to becoming debt-free. *dreamy sigh* I think I could definitely handle $700 in January, but with November and December’s holiday expenses, that may make things a bit tight. It’s not a huge sacrifice to add more to savings because if I need the money, it’s still within reach. But paying off more debt is a bit riskier because once the check is sent, it’s gone forever!
Hm.
I’m going to do it. I’m going to pay $700 towards my debt starting next month.
April 2010… here I come!!!
I’m at the $700/month debt payment now — it’s always scary to up your payments! Like you said, if it’s in savings, it’s reachable, but you can’t get it back once it’s applied to debt.
I’m also aiming for early an 2010 credit card payoff… we can do it!
Good luck! :)
Aw, good luck with your CC payoff! We CAN do it! :)
Good Luck!!
I’ve been working on my 2010 budget to see how much money I can sock away towards my student loan debts.
Best of luck! I am paying between $800-900 per month and always *want* to do more, but somehow don’t end up doing more. It’s a long struggle though, so you should be proud to be as close as you are and have the end in sight!!!
In the grand scheme of things, 1 month isn’t a big deal, so do what feels right from month to month (I’d say be a little cautious during December for the obvious reasons!).
I used to pay just $400/month towards my credit card and $500/month towards my total debt. When my interest rate went up in August I thought I would NEVER be able to put $700/month on my debt to even pay the new minimum balance. Now I’m at $1,000/month – which is incredible – but I would have NEVER been able to do without extra income coming in.
Using my “part time job” money as the money that I live off of (for food, clothes, entertainment, ect) has freed up a lot of income to use on my debt. So that is where I would look for that extra $100/month – earning more through babysitting or some other outside source – in combination with cutting down expenses.
Good luck MPP, if anyone can do it – it is you! (and thanks for the link love). =)
Good luck with your challenge! When I was paying off my debt, I made it a game to see if I could pay off a little more each month. And when I saw that debt-free goal line down the stretch, I put everything into it and drove to the finish line. The feeling at the end is like none other. So liberating!
I had a similar realization recently….but if you don’t try, you won’t figure it out!
You’d be surprised how much more you can squeeze out of your spending when you really try! Besides, if you find that you’re REALLY struggling the first few months you can always scale back later, but give it a good shot first! (At least that’s what I’m going to try!)
Thanks for the link back!
I do want to say, to NOT push it. Don’t push it too hard, because you may end up living right on the edge.. and that isn’t the best feeling
If you could use that $100 as wiggle room then by all means keep it.
I would try putting $600 towards debt, and at the end of the month with the $100 set aside for an end of the month payment.
That way, you commit but without any consequences of not being able to make another unexpected bill.
I think you should go for it! If it’s too hard or you find yourself overrunning your income, then you can always scale it back. Any extra money to the debt is going to be helpful.
That said, FB’s suggestion isn’t a bad one. If you put the money aside and consider it spent on the debt so you don’t touch it, it will be there in case of emergency. Once it hits a threshold, you can put half toward your debt.
Only you can tell what will work for you – I’m willing to be you’re committed enough that either one will work!
Good luck! You can do it!
Awesome! That is great that you can calculate when you will have debts paid off. Many can not do that for a host of reasons. Keep up the good work!
Hi,
I just stumbled across your blog and I’m glad I did. I find it very inspiring! I’m currently drowning in $10,000+ of debt, have a young family, and want to get myself out of this mess so I can teach my kids better financial planning. If anyone has any great ideas about how to supplement your income part-time from home, let me know! Some new ideas would be most welcome.
Thanks for the shout out! I say go for it if you can! You’ll be so happy when it’s paid off! You can do it! Good luck!!! :D
Oh, we’ve been thinking alike. What am I doing to make that little bit of extra effort. Nothing right now. lol. Oct – Dec are hard months to make that extra effort with the holidays abound. But, I too have been reading fabulous articles about going the extra step. And it is starting to inspire me to work harder at making an extra income. Two things right now for me: work more diligently on writing and start selling my stuff on ebay, craigslist, etc…
Looking forward to your progress!