Being on a Budget

Craig and I are not major spenders. I think we are actually pretty thrifty. I do have a hard time saying no to the little things, but I pass up more than I buy. We rarely eat out, we buy clothes on sale, and only when we REALLY need them, and I coupon like crazy to save on the grocery bill. So we were more than a little confused to find that our expenses STILL outstrip our income! By a lot. Go figure.

We decided that the major issue is our debt. I was in debt before we even got married, and poor Craig just inherited that. Since then, we gradually added to that debt, little by little. We never really thought anything about it. Debt was just a way of life. Everyone had it, it seemed, and we were certainly no exception.

Then a couple of years ago both Craig and I lost our jobs at almost the exact same time. It was hard, because we both thought we had job security. We had no savings, and we had just bought a house. We were in trouble! We spent the next 6 months desperately looking for work, and living off our credit cards. Bad, bad, bad! Fortunately, we were both able to find work again, but by that time we found ourselves in a very sticky situation.

We still were not sure what to do. The debt was worse than ever, and there did not seem to be anything we could do about it. Until. . .

I am sure most everyone has heard about Dave Ramsey. He claims to have a solid way to get out of debt. It is not a "get rich quick" scheme, or even some new-fangled idea. We have heard it before. But Dave makes sense. I decided to check out what he has to offer and purchased his book, "Total Money Makeover". If you haven't read it yet, go check it out! I was really excited reading it, and feeling like maybe things were not as hopeless as we thought.

Yes, there will be a long and rough road ahead of us. Yes, we are still scared. Yes, we WILL get out of debt. Don't let anyone try to tell you that debt is just a way of life. Debt is BAD! All of it!! We have dug ourselves in to a deep pit, and now it is time to climb back out.