Getting out of debt

I love to read articles that tell me how I can get out of debt or save money. I don't know why I continue to be drawn to them. The truth is I find very little useful information. I read things like:

• Don't buy junk food (okay this is good advice but lets face it the healthy treats I love cost more than the junk food so although I love this advice, its not saving me money maybe calories but certainly not money)
• Don't eat out at lunch - take your lunch to work. Okay who can afford to eat out and where do you find all that money to go out to eat for lunch. Eating out is a treat for a date night or a celebration not a lunchtime activity. And for that matter, lets celebrate getting out of debt. Save eating at the fabulous restaurant for a reward when you pay off a bill, not as a daily activity.
• Give up an addictive habit (hmm I don't drink, smoke, or play the lottery). 
• Negotiate a lower rate on your credit cards. Come on, its those dumb cards that got you into trouble in the first place. Stop using them. Cut them us and ban them from your life. 
• Cut your cable bill. Seriously you have a cable bill. You are broke, struggling to pay your bills and you are at home watching cable. Something seems wrong with this picture.

And the advice to get out of debt can be just as helpful interesting.


So I have decided to post my own advice here for everyone to read, or at least those who manage to find my blog in its obscurity.
How to save money

• Use the library (if you decide you love a book and want to reference to it repeatedly then go ahead and buy it, but most books can be enjoyed and returned to the library)
• Shop at the thrift store. We love this, we find so many great things shopping at the thrift store, but its important to buy just what you need at least until you are out of debt. Don't buy things just because they are a good price.
• Trade services. Its great if you can find someone you can trade services with like babysitting for piano lessons. However if you can't try other avenues like learning from the internet. 
• Get rid of your cable bill and for that matter any bills that you don't need. Come on you know what they are.
• Take advantage of free music lessons if you can. The public schools often offer Choir, Band, Orchestra and sometimes other music that your kids can learn at the school for free or an extremely reduced rate compared to private lessons.
• Have family game nights instead of vacations for a while. 
• Take advantage of free community events. Actually if you want to go to a good concert or play you might actually enjoy one from the local high school.  There are lots of free (or super cheap) community activities that you can enjoy when you are taking a break from Vacations and getting out of debt.
• Plant a garden. Well this can be interesting. Here you must set a spending limit. The first time we ever planted a garden we spent $100 on supplies and didn't get anything out of it. Last year we buried a few seeds on a family night and reaped a whole lot of food.  The idea was we just planted a few seeds and didn't spend a lot of money. If we hadn't gotten anything, we wouldn't have been out much. However the first time we spent $100 and got nothing. 
• Work, work, work. I can't say this enough. I am a stay at home mother, but there are dozens of things I do a week that save my family money because I am willing to work and so something myself instead of pay someone else to do it. 

How to get out of debt
Stop buying things you can't afford.

• For most of us this means don't use credit cards EVER because if you don't have the cash for it, you can't afford it.
• Don't buy a car without cash.
• Don't buy a house that is more than 25% of your take home pay.
• Don't take out a second mortgage.
• Don't spend more than you make. Tell everyone NO when they invite you to do something that you just can't afford. And lets face it when you are getting out of debt you can't afford just about everything because to get out of debt you need to one stop spending and two put extra money on the debts until they are gone.
• Don't buy anything that isn't necessary until you are out of debt (with the exception of small rewards that you pay for with cash built into your getting out of debt plan)
• Do pay extra on your debt.
• Do pay extra on your debt.
• Do pay extra on your debt.
• DO PAY EXTRA ON YOUR DEBT.

However the best advice I can give is just as follows. Stop spending money on purchases that are wants not needs. Too often we are plugging along and someone tells us about a great sale, a fabulous book or an amazing once in a lifetime vacation we just have to take. Here I like to apply the advice of Dave Ramsey. Live like no one else so later you can live like no one else. There has to come a time when you tell yourself NO until you can afford to tell yourself YES. And finally, DON'T GIVE UP! If you have kids, love them enough to teach then how an adult is supposed to act. That is be responsible and stop spending money you don't have. Its a terrible thing to teach them by your bad example to spend money you don't have. Your really teaching them how to live a life of bondage to debt and your not happy there, why would your kids be. Rather work hard at getting out of debt and show them a better way. And there you have it.