How I did it: My employer went out of business in 2008 when the economy went into free fall. Jobs were scarce and I was on unemployment for 10 months. I put every penny towards bills to keep from making late payments, thereby getting slammed with late fees and interest charges that would increase my debt even further. And yeah-- there was debt. Unemployment checks don't go far, and a girl's gotta eat! How did I get out of debt after almost a year without work? I just stopped spending. Sure I bought groceries (Aldi, coupons, sales), paid my rent, bought gas when I had to, but for the most part I just found free ways of doing the things I was used to doing. Instead of going out I rented movies from the library, etc. It was really hard, and not very fun most of the time. Especially when friends would invite me to do things I knew were out of my budget. I think the fact that I went into this *get out of debt* thing knowing it would be hard actually made it more bearable!

Lessons & tips: Know how much you have, know how much you need. If "how much you have" turns out to be less than "how much you need" it's time to re-evaluate "how much you need" and throw some of those supposed "needs" overboard. If you can't afford it: Don't buy it. Not with cash and certainly not with credit. And for those "needs" that are legit: If you're seriously in debt now is not the time to cave in to your preference for tri-ply ultra-quilted toilet paper at $2 a roll!

Resources: A big help for me was monitoring my spending with www.Mint.com, a
practice I've stuck with since getting things back on track. And I'm
saying that of my own volition with no benefit to me from them for saying this. It's a great site- very easy to use, very clean- and being able to get
a clear overview of my financial standing and where my money was going
was an amazing asset in controlling my limited funds.

Feb 09, 2010, 10:18AM PST | 0 comments | 1 cheer