Our Family's Mission to Become Debt Free Forever

For many years my husband and I lived with the notion that our debt was just a part of our lives. It was something we were going to be stuck with for the next 30 years or however long it took to pay off by making the minimum payments. We weren't happy with our situation, but we just figured there was nothing to be done. Debt is just something that everyone has, how are we any different? We have a car payment, 2 children and up to our eyeballs in debt. Something most families have as well. Except, we want to buy a house. Our debt is standing in the way of this. Paying off all our debt, including our car payment will be the solution. My husband and I are choosing to stand up to the responsiblity of our debt, instead of turning to bankruptcy or debt consolidation.

The first thing we did was compile all of our bills. This included medical bills, car payment and all the credit cards. We were shocked by the total and it really brought us down, but we knew we could do it. I had been hearing a lot about Dave Ramsey and tried to find his book, "Total Money Makeover" at our local libraries, but no one had it. I ended up giving in and buying it retail price but I figured it was worth it in the end. I read the entire book within one weekend. My husband took it to work to read on his breaks, lunch and at his overtime job between phone calls. It really changed our lives and opened our eyes. We also saw a movie called, "Maxed Out" and it horrified us to find all the damaging effects credit cards can have on people. From that moment on, we swore off credit cards forever.

To pay off our debt, we knew we had to make some big changes. I had always been interested in saving money, living frugally and how to find bargains. Now it was time to kick it into full gear and put everything I knew to it's maximum capacity. The way to pay off our debt was to make the most our of my husband's income and what I make as a work at home mom, from my website Punky's Pads. I also found out that you can make money online by writing articles, doing surveys, working on get paid to sites and blogging. I had been selling on ebay for years and am using that also.

Some of our big changes have been:

My family and I no longer go out to eat. We used to go out to eat every Saturday as a reward at the end of a long, hard week. This was costing us over $200 a month! We now cook together every Saturday by making a nice meal. It's fun to try out new recipes (our favorite being different ethnic cuisine) and spending time together. The rest of the week I make all of our meals from scratch as well.

Every weekend I make a week's worth of lunches for my husband to take to work. These meals I make from scratch which are cheaper, healthier and taste much better than his company's cafeteria! He also takes to work his breakfast, snacks and something to eat at night for when he works overtime.

Grocery shopping is one of the easiest ways for people to save money. I started planning our meals according to what the sales were. I try to cook from scratch as much as possible but there are some items we buy that aren't, like crackers, juices, etc. For these items we use coupons and only when they're on sale, to get those items for the cheapest possibly price.

For entertainment, we like to visit our local libraries. Our county has at least 5 of them within decent driving distance. My family loves to read, so we all get enough books to keep up busy for the week, along with dvds and games. Our libraries offer a nice collection of dvds. My son picks some and so do my husband and I. They also offer video games! My husband and son enjoy playing them and we can get video games for free! This saves a lot and keeps them satisfied. Their game consoles we purchased used, which were their Christmas presents!

Most of our clothing is used and what we do buy is mostly for the children. Our children's clothes come from yard sales, thrift stores and rummage sales that the local schools hold. Once they outgrow their clothing, I in turn sell it on ebay! I make sure to take good care of their clothing so that it is in good enough condition to sell.

Our daughter is only 16 months and we didn't have any of the "normal" expenses when she was a baby. Before she was born I made cloth diapers and wipes, so that we didn't have to buy disposable diapers. I breastfed my son and was planning to do the same with my daughter, which I did. When it came time for her to eat baby food, I made all of her food myself. All of these "alternatives" were much better for her and the environment.

I love to knit, crochet, sew, and bake, so whenever we need a gift for someone it is almost always made by me. The recipients appreciate the time, effort and love I put into their handmade gifts, which makes me feel great to be putting my talents to good use and saving money.

Our efforts are really paying off and we have already paid off one credit card and we're about to make another payment which will eliminate another credit card. I make sure to keep track of everything in spreadsheets and I also have a blog where I post about our debt, my online money making earnings and how we are living frugally. If you'd like to know more you can visit Our Debt Free Mission.