Pay Off My Debt
This year I will pay off my debt! By the end of 2010 my family and I will be debt free. No more home mortgage, car payments or credit card debt. Below is my story of how I managed to pay off my debt in my forties. It wasn't easy but it is possible and you can do it to!
This website is for all of us who have busy hectic lives and need a refresher in debt management. Haven't we all neglected our personal finances because we are too busy to take the time to get a plan or get motivated to do anything at all?
This website is here to help put personal finances in simpler terms. Keep it simple and we all have a better chance of accomplishing it!
Managealldebt.com is not written by financial professionals. I write most of the articles you read here. My husband and I have put our own personal finances in order and we are now out of debt (except for the mortgage). No car payments, no credit card debt, and our home will be paid off in 2010. That's right. Almost mortgage free! How did we do it? We got serious.
We are putting our daughter through college and paying for it as we go. No student loans for her and no college loans for us. She is attending our local community college for the first two years and then will attend the University that is close by. This saves us from paying out of state tuition and room and board. Big savings!
Pay Off Debt
We both work full-time. We are in our Forties. Neither one of us has a college degree. We do not earn six figures. We are middle class. Yet we are close to having a $280,000 home paid for. How did we do it?
When we decided that we were tired of being a slave to debt, we sat down and mapped out a strategy to pay off debt. We refinanced our home in 2003 with a $92,400, 10 year loan with an interest rate of 4.75%. We decided we wanted to get the house paid for quicker so we added an additional $400 a month to our payment to be applied to the principal. Our loan will pay off in Sept. 2010. Our house is a 3000 square foot ranch style home. Very nice but not extravagant. My husband built our home which saved us a lot of money. Plus, we know it is very well built.
When my car needed replacing we paid cash for a used 2003 Saturn Vue. Great vehicle with only 45000 miles on it and we got it for $8000. Way below Kelly Blue Book value. How did we do this? We had set up a car account and had been steadily paying into it in anticipation of having to purchase another vehicle. Then we patiently searched for a reliable car. Good things come to those who wait!
Pay Off Debt To Save For The Future
We each have a Roth IRA and we put money into them every year. I also have a Simple IRA at work that I contribute to every paycheck. You should always take advantage of any retirement plan your work place offers. Saving for our retirement is very important to us. Neither one of us will have a pension. Who does these days? It is now up to us to prepare for our retirement.
We do not deprive ourselves at all. We eat out more than we should. But we eat at economical places. I shop at Kohl's and Target. And we don’t have expensive hobbies. Except for golf. My husband likes to play golf. But thankfully our local golf courses are not overpriced and he doesn’t golf too much. We go out with friends and vacation with our family every year. But we are always looking for the best value for our dollar. We rarely pay full price for anything. Why should we? Everything eventually goes on sale. It all comes down to patience. And we have plenty of that!
If I can pay off my debt you can to! We hope this website gives hope to everyone that living debt free is possible. You just have to have a plan to get there!
