Where Are We Now?

We read Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeup in July 2015 after knowing about the program for a year. We have Dissed a good amount of debt over the past 9 months. We made every effort to cut expenses all around. We reduced our utilities, cut back on groceries and saved money in envelopes for common overly spent categories. This allowed us to place $500 on each current debt per month.

Honestly this hasn't been easy. Dave Ramasy said that if you are making people made around you and have people looking at you like you're crazy, then you are doing it right. Well we must be doing it right because our families cannot understand why we are dealing with cash and tracking every payment.

I learned about Dave's plan is unusual ways and I keep sharing him in unusual ways. I have told people in stores, at social events and even to employees. Everyone deserves to know that living in debt doesn't have to be your norm and that living debt free isn't a dream. It's a reality. It takes a lot of work, but you have to keep trying.

So what have we done? Below is the list of deb that Hubby and I had and knocked out.

Medical Bill: $303
Medical Bill: $831
Credit Card #1: $730
Credit Card #2: $2,400

We've Dissed $4,264 Worth of Debt in 9 months!!!

We aren't done. We still have the bulk of our debt to go, but it feels good knowing that we don't have to keep up with those 4 monthly payments. Most importantly, we are proud of ourselves. We could have been further along if we had started in 2014, but no looking back.

Bills and Debt that are in progress (original debt amounts):
Forgotten Medical Bill: $1,141
Surgery Bills Total: $1,618
IUI Medical Bill: $1730
Private Student Loan: $5,273.53
Car Loan: $11,818.01
Student Loans: Still A Mortgage Worth!!!

Sometimes things happen and it's out of our control. In February Hubby had a surgery. His recovery time had him out of work for two weeks and was restricted at work for a week after that. We calculated sick leave and possible charges before agreeing to the surgery. We have to pay $1,618. We were slightly prepared for that, but that's where the emergency fund comes into place. We looked at the various bills that came in and sorted them by price. We paid the bare minimum on the remaining original debts so that we can knock out the new bills. It was a plan that worked. We didn't fret nor argue. We threw everything right into Dave's plan and kept going.

If we stay on target, we figured we can finish paying off all medical bills and the private student loan by the end of the year. We will then move onto the car and hopefully pay it off one year early. I'll update you guys on our progress later in the year.

Please let me know of your success below. Have you jumped on Dave's plan and started kicking debt out of your household? Have you freed yourself from the chains of debt yet?

We have!