rmerchant3

Dave Ramsey's advice is so simple, but it works so well. It's the knowledge we all have and have likely thought about, but never applied. My brother and sister in law turned me on to it. It led to my wife and I becoming debt free besides the house in what seemed like no time at all. My brother and sister in law are out of debt as well. Took them a little longer as they had more debt, but they stuck to it and are loving it now. Tackle the highest interest first and pay the minimum on the rest. Once the highest is gone, go to the next highest interest. Keep adding the money that you have freed up to the next bill. It's called the snowball effect. You would be amazed how fast you can eliminate debt if you put your mind to it.

There is nothing like being out of debt my friend. Keep thinking about all the extra money you would have if you didn't owe anyone money! The stress relief alone should be enough motivation to get you head strung on it. I highly suggest you listen to Ramsey's total money make over.

I'll share my experience as best I can remember for some motivation to let you know you can do it. I had a fancy brand new fully loaded Tacoma (Owed $18k), Medical bills ($15k), student loans ($5k), a 20% mortgage ($18k), and my wife had about ($6k) in credit card bills and money owed to family. I also had 2 motorcycles that were paid for. When my wife and I decided to get intense on this debt we owed, we took drastic measures. I sold the truck and got an older paid for Tacoma. I sold both my motorcycles. We sold her car and got her a beater car. We took all that money and threw it at our debt. The snowball effect really took a hold and fast. Getting rid of the Tacoma alone freed up $550 a month when you added up the payment, property taxes, and insurance. Selling my motorcylces freed up about $10k to help pay off my medical bills. So with the Tacoma gone and the medical gone, that was $780 to throw at my student loans. Once that was gone I had $880 to throw at my wifes debt. Once that was gone we had $1180 to throw at the mortgage. Once you free up all that money it is amazing how fast you can knock out a $10k plus debt. And that "freed up" money is just that, freed up money. That doesn't take into account what you were already paying on the debt.

Everyone's money situation is different, but it doesn't matter if you clear $1500 a month or $8000 a month, the principle is the same. Don't be afraid to let go of something that you may feel is important to you at the moment. You can ALWAYS buy another down the road. And think, instead of owing for that something, you could buy it straight out by just saving for a little while with all that freed up money you will have.