Oops, should have been paying off a debt

Oops! Meant THANK YOU!!! LOL! [2008-10-10]
xx

oops... [2008-10-02]
I do not look like his mom, but I act just like her - both read books all the time, take a travel light on our trips to keep reading at night, both watch the same TV shows, both dress in similiar ways, like the same kind of careers - his whole family laughs that he just married his mom...

Well, the only debt we have is our house... [2008-09-28]
so I would put it towards the principal on our mortgage.

Oops try again! [2008-08-26]
Oops, link didn't take...try again!

Oops, it's Ramsey...nm [2008-08-24]
/

credit debt [2008-08-24]
Wow thanks for all the good tips. As this got off the subject and onto other things, I just wanted to say I have heard Al-Anon is excellent for people dealing with alcoholism in a spouse or other loved one. It might be a great place for support for you and your kids. Just a thought.

it is wonderful to see how many people have such strong opinions about people in debt. [2008-08-23]
I thought that the purpose of this board was to be able to post without being judged unfairly or have somebody tell you how wonderful their personal life is, and therefore you are causing their life to be less wonderful with your irresponsibility. Well, the saying walk a mile in my shoes is a good one in this case. Since you have no personal information about the person you are lambasting because they are looking for information on their debt, you can feel superior. Had you had personal information about them, you might act in a more human manner. Consider fighting cancer for 4 years, working and being debilitated while you do, suffering the effects of chemo, going into debt to maintain your home for your children and looking for a way out of debt SHOULD YOU EVEN LIVE THROUGH THIS!! Thank you for the kind comments. To the judgmental people I say please take a step back before you judge. You do not know who you are talking to and if you knew the personal information maybe your comments would be kinder.

Before considering the CCCS or debt relief (sm) [2008-08-22]
places, first call the companies. If you haven The accounts will likely be closed, but after 3-4 ontime payments they will re-age to show as current, will lower the interest rate so payments are lower and you will pay off over a 4-5 year period (in most cases, you can Going with CCCS or similar, has the same effect as a BK, even worse, on your credit rating. The accounts will report as closed, paying under debt management plan. While bankruptcy is an option I suppose, if you I The credit industry is in a mess right now so they are willing to work with you if you're upfront and showing good faith.

credit card debt relief [2008-08-21]
Does anyone have any experience with those companies claiming to reduce debt by up to 70%, etc. ?? I'm drowning in debt. :(

Credit Card Debt Counseling [2008-08-21]
http://www.cccsatl.org/index.asp?_method=viewsc=43cn=486md=debtmanagement Here It is called Consumer Credit Counseling Services. They are legit. Now back when hubs and I did it about 15 years ago, there were no computers, per se, so we went on site to an office. I don We did it, completed it, and it was great. However, they cut your credit cards up in front of you and put them in a huge jar (at least they did back then). Once you join, there are no more credit cards. What CCCS does is works with your creditors to reduce interest rates, payment size, etc. because they are networked. You then make one lump payment to CCCS and they disburse the money. They also take into consideration your income. I think that Also, this is what tells them how long it will take to pay off the debt. Just beware though that if you are behind on payments, sometimes certain creditors do not accept CCCS, so they may hassle you still and some just plain won Believe me, even though we are not late on payments, we had in the past 3 years so much personal stuff go on (sickness, death, etc.) that we have racked up some debt ourselves and may try CCCS again, as one card we have raised the rate to 33% interest because we have a high balance. We make regular payments. All in all, itbad mark but yet a good mark on your credit report for using CCCS. Check with them about that though, as I do not know the specifics. It is way better than bankruptcy... Hope you find some relief soon! My thoughts are with you... I

You must live in a high pizza delivery paying [2008-08-16]
area that they get $7-8/hr. Most make minimum, if that, but keep their tips. Oh, add in gas to save you the trip of lugging it home yourself, then yes $2 is insulting.

oops...paw not claw (nm) [2008-08-16]
xx

OOPS! Sorry for typo. . . . SM [2008-07-30]
As for my situation, the poor dogs next door just want to go in after they have been out for a time. They are house dogs. The owners just let them out to bark and bark, sometimes for hours. The borough I live in has an ordinance stating anything over 15 minutes can be result in a fine. Called the police once which resulted in the neighbor screaming at me outside in front of the police. It has gotten better for the most part, but now I understand that the woman on the other side of them was complaining to some other neighbors about the barking and how ridiculous it is. It is irresponsible on the part of the owners in almost everycase.God knowsso many animals are abused and starvedbyhumans, who aresupposed to bethe ones with the brains.

How about all you folks having tons of kids? I'm paying for them and your [2008-07-30]
C-sections and OB costs, as well as all your little offspring's school costs.

Do your homework on debt collection (sm) [2008-07-22]
laws also - you just may have yourself a $1000 piece of paper in your hand. Have you requested validation of this debt? If not, I would do that right away. Send it certified mail, return receipt requested. Depending on the age of the debt, I would be very careful about sending the canned do not contact me letter. If the debt is not that old, that can sometimes trigger them to sue. I bet if you send the please provide me with full validation (not verification that you have my name, address and soc. sec#) of this alleged debt. Short and sweet.

Oops - got my name and subject line mixed up above [2008-07-09]
Guess its time to call it quits. :-) The two are backwards.

I know it's popular, but don't put unsecured debt on your home. [2008-07-06]
No way, never ever do that. It's a huge mistake, you could end up losing your home. The risk is too great.

Pay off highest interest rate debt first, then the next, and onto the next. The house can wait. Do [2008-07-04]
dd

Paying down debt [2008-07-02]
It is getting harderto make ends meet because of all the straws in ourbank account. I have 17k in CC dept alone. It iswith4 different CC companies. OneCC has $200, #2 has about 4K,#3 has about2K, #4 has 10k. The 10K one has a 15 % APR, the others I believe range from 24% to 29% APR. My biggest monthly payment is my house and I owe only $4700 on it and it has 6.3% APR. I sold some things and am getting $5K and that will be enough to pay offmy house. I would love to finally, officialy own this house and get rid of that$350 monthly pmt, but I wonder if I should not pay down on the CC because of the high interest rates. Any opinions. TIA.

Paying Down Debt [2008-07-02]
I feel you, believe me. First, Bravo to you for facing this. That I think if you are so close to paying off your house, you wouldnAdditionally, the interest rates aren What is the total of payments you are making on your credit cards? If you can slap that 5000.00 on your debt first on all of the higher interest ones perhaps paying some of them off. That will free up extra money to put on the rest of your credit cards. Then once the credit cards are paid off, you can then work on the mortgage (I WISH I had your mortgage..). Also we work in an industry where it is easy to pick up extra work---have you thought of that just to get extra money to pay off the debt? That Things are just so bad right now. Good luck, hope this helps...

debt [2008-07-02]
I agree with transferring to 0% when the offers come. I have been doing that for years. Now, I just got an offer for 6.99% for the life of balance up to 12,000 dollars. Going to take that offer, (we are going to remodel our main but small bathroom) and pay off 2 1/2 cc; then what is left over, oh, and going to give my hubby 1000 to get out bike out of shop, so, what ever is left over, which should be 6 to 7000, will redo bathroom, payments won't be bad, like 190 a month and don't use your cards for a good while, just steadily pay. Hope this helps, and life is too short to stress over bills. Keep them in mind but at the same time, think of what you have.

oops - meant tunes not toons. [2008-06-19]
HA HA HA

Wow if you & hubs are paying that much [2008-05-29]
in taxes and didn't qualify for stimulus check (because you make too much?), ya'll must be rakin' it in!! Don't think you deserve much sympathy either, right? I know you we're asking for it, but seems a little harsh to kick someone when they're down...

oops, sorry, wrong board. nm [2008-05-17]
x

Strive to become debt free... [2008-05-12]
yes, that means living on a budget, telling the kids (and yourself and your spouse) no to impulse buying and splurges. You really can live below your wage if youWANT to and it is better to do it before youHAVE to due to job loss, etc. We are debt free but our home, no car payments, all credit cards paid off, only have the utilities and food each month. It feels great not to write checks to anyone. My DH just finished his obligation of 700 a month child support (Yay!!) which means more towards the mortgage to pay it off sooner. We are content with what we have...too many Americans want it all and want it now, no matter what the price, just charge it or take out a loan for it...crazy!

do you speak with your hands - and I don't mean [2008-10-06]
My husband does not listen to me either. He looks like he's paying attention but he misses half of what I say. Couple thought I have is. Awhile ago we were watching a TV special it said that people listen and remember what you say when you talk with your hands (the study was done on school children). Well I don't talk with my hands. Never have and don't know how and when it do it just looks odd. I told him maybe I should start talking with my hands because then he would remember what I tell him. Iwhat he. He's been out of work for about 5 years now and he doesn't know what he wants to do with his life (he's 50 years old). We will talk and talk and talk and then the next day it's back to square one like I never said anything. Sometimes what I will do that helps is I take scratch pieces of paper and I write notes on them and them leave them all over the place. Like I keep a running list of errands we have to do and keep it on the corner of the table and a couple times through the week I will say we need to to this or we need to do that, and then I ask him when he would like to go do them (usually ityour not interested in what I Maybe the note thing will help, it does with me. I wish you luck.

What could you do with 10,000 $$$ [2008-09-28]
I heard this was the price each american family will is paying for the bailout. Well, 10,000 would help buy me a car. 10,000 would help pay school tuition for the kids.I could get new flooring in the bedroom and still have plenty left over,I mean plenty.

I'd give to to my sister [2008-09-28]
She is in serious financial debt.

I do agree with you, but I think some [2008-09-27]
could be people who have lost jobs. I live in a state where Bank of America took over MBNA and many many good paying jobs were lost with not much severence. So, in essence those people were making enough money and now they are not and with everyone else job searching, it is tough. The funny thing is that most of them decided to try IGA, which has now failed as well and are not in good shape. Although I do strongly agree about the ARM loans, I think the trouble is coming from people who have lost good-paying jobs and have had to accept lesser pay but then the house won It's sad really on both sides of that coin.

It hasn't too much, except in the 401(k)... [2008-09-26]
We are debt free but the house, the payment only requires one of DH's paychecks (he gets paid twice a month and then on the off weeks he gets his overtime check) or my paycheck for the month when I can get my lines in, we have never taken out a second mortgage or touched the equity in our home. Our mortgage rate is low to mid 5%, cars paid off, CC paid in full, great credit score and we live below our means. We still take vacations, eat in restaurants, etc. Our circle of friends don't seem to have any problem with this economy, other than investments. We are in our late 40s, early 50s, kids grown and gone, we don't pay for college. DH drives 66 miles round trip to work, but has an economical commuter care. Our SUV gets about 20 to 24 mpg, which compares to some newer ones out there. My DH has worked for the same company for 25 years, however, layoffs are coming, and he is putting out his resume just in case. He will get a nice severance package, etc, if it happens, but weare planning in advance just in case. House is up for sale, a few very interested people, and if it sells we will make enough profit to buy a house free and clear. We have always lived below our wage and I think that has helped us tremendously. Do we want new cars, TVs, etc, sure, but why bother, we don't want the payments that come with them. We are happy with what we have, don't have a lot of the gimmes or wantitis that has a lot of Americans in debt up to their eyballs with no way out.

This may be to personal for some of you but... [2008-09-25]
How is the economy crisis effecting you? Your budget, your retirement, your family, your FRIENDS families. How is it effecting the circle you run with? Do you discuss this with family or friends? It is effecting my family. The gas thing alone is cutting our budget! My youngest started college and is driving back and forth. I've called my aunt who lives close to the school and asked if he could stay with her a few nights a week to save gas money. The drive for him one way is 1 hour. It has already saved us $$$. The fact that he can't find a job isn't helping either. There are no jobs for young people. Even in fast food! Food prices have effected what we eat! Have you priced CHEESE lately? A 2 cup packages of shredded cheese cost more than a gallon of milk! Food has gotten outrageous. We have our primary home and we have a small cabin that we go to on weekends. Our primary home is paid for and has been but we do have a mortgage on our cabin. LUCKILY and by the grace of God, we are in a fixed rate situation but it's still difficult. Did we spread ourselves to thin? Sometimes it is tough but we budget and try to be careful with what we spend. Our payment is nowhere near the $1500 per month mortgages people are talking about - and at that price point with an adjustable RATE - I don't know how people are living. Also lucky that we do not have credit card debt. I've read where the CC companys are raising limits to increase spending while increasing the payment interest as well? I see more and more credit cards being used at the grocery store. It's all just very scarey for me. We have some friends who are building their dream home. They have worked and saved for 15 years. The economy is blessing them in some ways since there are a lot of people looking for work but hurt them in others as the price of materials skyrockets!

Tell me what to do... [2008-09-22]
I have been divorced for 5 years now. My kids spend every other holiday with their dad and all summer long, since he lives out of state. This last trip over the summer they were gone for two months. After about a month there my son tells me that he wants to come home (he is 7 and A daughter thats 5). I make him stay. I tell him that its daddy's turn to see you and that he misses you very much. Now, since he has been home, he says he does not want to go for Christmas. My ex is remarried and has another child. Mind you he only married her because he got her pregnant. He was over in Iraq when the baby was born, so he is not on the Birth Certificate. So, when it comes to putting baby on tricare, they would not recognize the child since he was not on BC so the get hitched at a justice og the peace. Now I don't care what he does with his life as long as he remains a good father. Well, my son doesn't want to go back. I always said that when he was old enough to make up his mind, if he didn't want to go I would not force it. Today, my sitter calls and tells me something my son said to her. He said that when he was with his dad, he spilled his daddy's drink by accident and daddy got really mad. He pushed him into a wall and cut his ear. She stated that his sister said it did happen. I ask him about this and he gets so defensive. I did not accuse him, I just said WE need to have a talk with him. But he blows up anyway. Ever since the divorce and his new family he doesn't call but once or twice a month and on his BDU's he has his other daughters name and says he keeps her close to his heart. Well what about the other two kids he has. Out of sight out of mind. He has never paid the court ordered amount of child support either. He goes in to the finance office and changes the amount whenever he feels like it. He is now over 4k behind. I have tried calling his commanding officer, but no luck. I can't afford an attorney. I am filing a petition for modification of child support because he is a major in the military and should be paying more. He does not help with extra activities or docotrs bills. He does nothing put pay what he feels he should be paying. Please help!

condos versus hotel [2008-09-19]
Hi, the only tip I really have is check out the rates of the condos on the beach for weekly rentals. I know they are probably high for summer time, but they offer full kitchens and more amenities than hotels usually... and you can save a lot of money by making your own meals instead of eating out all the time. The end of the summer we got a really good rate at Emerald Isle in North Carolina... I know that's far from you, I'm not sure if FL is as cheap... but you could look at Myrtle Beach too. Just think you're going to be paying probably at least 100.00 a night in a hotel... depending on how many nights you are staying you may just want to look into the condo idea, and if you need any help once you figure out where you want to go I'd be happy to i LOVE doing that kinda stuff :) have fun and good idea to start saving early

I never have, but my sister did. She didn't - sm [2008-09-16]
have remorse about it because (a) the (ex)-boyfriend that got her pregnant was a creep and she didn and (b) in order to stay in school. She had just started college, which our dad, a very strict, authoritarian sort of person with old-fashioned values, was paying for 100%. She knew that without a doubt, if he had found out she'd gotten pregnant (and he was a Catholic - compounding the problem!), that he would have pulled the plug on her college-funding and kicked her out of the house. That would have ruined the rest of her life. As a result of being able to have an AB on-request, and without my parents' knowledge, she was able to finish her education and get a Master's Degree in Education. She went on to become a fine teacher who got all sorts of awards for her innovative teaching ideas. Later, she changed careers and now works in the healthcare industry in the area of aging well. Without her education, she would be working a low-paying job, and possibly even made the mistake of marrying the good-for-nothing boyfriend, just to keep a roof over her head. Anyway, that's HER story. Everyone's situation, reasons for doing what they do, and feelings about it afterward are different. Just going through with the birth of the child & putting it up for adoption doesn't necessarily guarantee it a good home, either. Especially if it doesn't happen to be a Caucasian child with no health problems, which is what not all, but most, people want. Other people have ABs because the remorse they say they would feel for that is less than what they would feel if they actually delivered, and saw, the child, and then had to give it up. Anyway, everything in life has a price, there are always decisions to make. You made the decision you had to make at the time, so I hope that in time your sadness dissipates. If you had to do it over again NOW, then of course you probably wouldn't. But this is now and that was then, so please try not to feel too sad about the past. Now that you do have children, I'd be willing to bet that you're loving them even more, and taking care of them even better, than you might have if you hadn't had to part with your first pregnancy. So in a way, your first child's legacy lives on in the lives you're providing for your existing children now. And that's what matters most in the end.

sorry for some of the typos in this post. nm [2008-09-11]
oops

Timeshare/Vacation Club [2008-09-11]
Last summer, my husband and I got suckered into one of those timeshare talks while on vacation. We ended up buying into the trial program. It wasnprice freeze should we decide to buy in after that. After returning home and reviewing the package a little more closely, we decided that we wanted to cancel the trial package. I did a little research online and found that we had 7 days to cancel a timeshare. I immediately sent a certified letter to the resort company requesting to cancel the purchase agreement. They never responded and I ended up calling them to see if they had received my request. They confirmed that they did but that it was non-cancellable. We stopped the autopay that we had set up on a credit card. From that time on, we began to get collection letters. I contacted the real estate commission for that state and asked for this to be investigated, to which I received a blanket letter from them stating that they tried to mediate but that the resort refused to resolve this. The resort basically stated that it was not cancellable and that we owed the money. What I am wondering is, what happens now? The resort said they would continue to pursue this issue through third-party collectors. If I legally am obligated to this debt, why wouldn Why would they continue to draw this out? What effect will it have on my credit score? Anyone ever been in a similar situation? I should also note that we never used this vacation package. It expires July 2009. The total due has now escalated to about $1500 due to their late fees. I don Any suggestions?

if it does show up on your credit report sm [2008-09-11]
You could try to get it removed. Tell the credit agency to remove it because you don't owe the money, that you sent a certified letter within 7 days to cancel this and that legally you don't owe it. Check out the state attorney general's office. If it were me, I would not pay it. If it does end up on your credit report, i don't know if paying it will get it removed.

Senior portraits [2008-09-11]
The $125 is just the sitting fee. However, I I It I guess it could alsodepend on the area you live in though.

I think that you are on target. sm [2008-09-11]
My son graduated last year and we ended up paying about $400-500 for pictures including the sitting fee. These were outside pictures as well as inside, sports equipment, etc. Another friend is going through this right now and her sitting fees are around the same price; she is also going to a few different studios pricing things and such. I think you are okay, they just know they can get you!

you're lucky you can control yourself with the ol' Mastercard and Visa - I can't [2008-09-09]
I had to sell my house once to pay off my debts, and then I was still paying on them.

you're lucky you can control yourself with the ol' mastercard & visa - i can't [2008-09-09]
had to sell my house once to pay off that debt & then I was still paying on it for a long time.

Is College Worth It? [2008-09-08]
As parents pack their youngsters off to college, they might ask themselves whether itAmerica The U.S. Department of Education statistics show that 76 out of 100 students who graduate in the bottom 40 percent of their high school class do not graduate from college, even if they spend eight and a half years in college. That's even with colleges having dumbed down classes to accommodate such students. Only 23 percent of the 1.3 million students who took the ACT college entrance examinations in 2007 were prepared to do college-level study in math, English and science. Even though a majority of students are grossly under-prepared to do college-level work, each year colleges admit hundreds of thousands of such students. While colleges have strong financial motives to admit unsuccessful students, for failing students the experience can be devastating. They often leave with their families, or themselves, having piled up thousands of dollars in debt. There is possibly trauma and poor self-esteem for having failed, and perhaps embarrassment for their families. Dr. Nemko says that worst of all is that few of these former college students, having spent thousands of dollars, wind up in a job that required a college education. It's not uncommon to find them driving a taxi, working at a restaurant or department store, performing some other job that they could have had as a high school graduate or dropout. What about students who are prepared for college? First, only 40 percent of each year 45 percent never graduate at all. Often, having a college degree does not mean much. According to a 2006 Pew Charitable Trusts study, 50 percent of college seniors failed a test that required them to interpret a table about exercise and blood pressure, understand the arguments of newspaper editorials, and compare credit card offers. About 20 percent of college seniors did not have the quantitative skills to estimate if their car had enough gas to get to the gas station. According a recent National Assessment of Adult Literacy, the percentage of college graduates proficient in prose literacy has declined from 40 percent to 31 percent within the past decade. Employers report that many college graduates lack the basic skills of critical thinking, writing and problem-solving. Colleges are in business. Students are a cost. Research is a profit center. When colleges boast about having this professor who has won a science award or that professor who has won the Nobel Prize, very often an undergraduate student will never be taught by that professor. It is a bait and switch tactic and very often your youngster will take classes not taught by a professor but taught in large classes by a graduate student. Faculty who bring in large grants are more highly valued than faculty who teach well. Teaching excellence is so often undervalued that the late Ernest Boyer, vice president for Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, quipped that, Winning the campus teaching award is the kiss of death when it comes to tenure. Parents and taxpayers cough up billions upon billions of dollars to the nationbait and switch, confer fraudulent degrees and engage in other practices that would bring legal sanctions if done by any other business. There is little or no oversight of the nationChoosing the Right College (http://isi.org/college_guide/choosing_right_college.html).

sorry wrong thread - goes up with sleep [2008-09-05]
OOPS!

Yes, she knows I don't like him-- [2008-09-01]
-- he I think he tries to tell my daughter what to do too much. Shedefend him--all his friends say he I have advised herat least itmightbe a good idea to get a prenup-type agreement to protect her and herlittle girlinterests, including the house. She didn His mother and fatherapparently abandoned him, and his grandmother, who he says he does love, raised him. My experience is that most grandparents are indulgent, especially with a boy in that situation. Maybe I'm reading too much into that--just cautioned my daughter to be careful and go into it with her eyes open.

Oops try again! [2008-08-26]
Oops, link didn't take...try again!

What's inappropriate to some... [2008-08-24]
is dead on the money for others. Some become uncomfortable when posts hit close to home, resulting in bashing of others.In a nutshell, we donThere are others outthere who agree with me,believe it or not. A lot of you here just wallow in your self-pity and poor me attitudes. No wonder the other board is so much better, there are positive attitudes over there.

What amazes me, though it probably shouldn't [2008-08-24]
is the number of people on this thread bashing someone for doing things right, when anon up above just suggests the OP file bankruptcy. What You think it Not one of you commented on that poster I would rather have PhillyChick in my corner anyday over anyone who thinks it You people need to get your heads checked. Before you say it, this has nothing to do with whether the OP has extenuating circumstances or not. The OP wasn The OP was asking for suggestions on how to pay things back, and for that, I applaud her.

Unfortunately, I don't think you followed [2008-08-24]
the thread very well. The responses about being in debt and too many people living for the moment were in response to a suggestion posted above to just file bankruptcy. The comments below that suggestion were not directed towards the OP. The OP mentioned nothing about any personal situation, only on how to negotiate better credit card rates. Please reread the thread and see where the comments are being directed before assuming that someone

I just don't its right to generalize about people.sm [2008-08-24]
Not everyone is in financial straits because they live beyond their means so to speak whatever that means. Sometimes you lose your job. Sometimes you have an illness or an injury. When did trying to pay utilities, rent, food, just basic needs become living beyond your means. I'm living beyond my means I guess because I can barely afford the necessities. What do I cut out? Electricity? Food? Shelter? I don't even have TV because where I live you need satellite to get any channels and I can't afford it. (Don't really miss it though). I need my phone and ISP to bring in the little money I do make. We all don't have a second income to fall back on. Please don't generalize that people are in debt for things you think they don't need.

Before the post gets buried below regarding credit - very long message sm [2008-08-24]
I just wanted to share with the posters who were considering bankruptcy. Unless you are on the verge of losing your home, I would strongly encourage you to consider another option. Bankruptcy does not just go away after a few years. It Even if you rebuild your credit afterwards, it A friend and my in-laws also filed bankruptcy in the past. My in-laws filed over 20 years ago and have recovered financially but it My husband is a credit card spender. I would only spend when I had the cash and did not depend on credit. It didn Our spending habits combined nearly led to our financial demise a few years back too. This is what I did and I hope you give it a try and it works for you too. I started with a complete inventory of all of our bills, separating them into three categories. Home (mortgage and utilities) Credit cards - (lowest balance to highest balance regardless of the APR) Miscellaneous bills (entertainment, clothing, food, gas, fast food, etc.) Since the Home category is pretty consistent every month, I set up a budget for that first. I went back through our utility bill for the year prior and chose the highest month bill of the year and added that amount to our mortgage amount. Next, I reviewed our telephone, internet, and television (satellite) bills. On average, I was paying about 230.00 per month for them all combined. Way too much in my opinion. I started shopping around and found a bundle package with Verizon. Now I pay 153.00 per month for unlimited long distance telephone, satellite TV, and DSL service. Saved $77.00 per month, just doing that. Then I added this amount to the mortgage and utilities. This totalled amount is what I know I absolutely have to pay every month and I better make sure it's in the account. Next, I did the Miscellaneous. I I started going over what was spent where and learned that we spent a lot more than we really needed to. I set up a weekly grocery budget and a fun budget. If there was anything extra at the end of the week, it was divided evenly between the two and added to the next week. I do this every week until the end of the month. If there is anything left over, that amount is divided in half again and half is divided again and added to the following week's budget (grocery and fun), the other half is locked away in the savings account. The money for monthly gas was a little trickier when the gas prices skyrocketed. I first had a set limit for gas each week but did have to adjust that. I did manage to adjust it a little bit upwards and still be able to pay the cards down (see below.) Also, every time I spend cash, no matter if the amount is $5.01 and all I need is a penny, I don Instead, I will give them $6.00 and get 0.99 change to put in my giant size espresso cup of change. When the cup gets full, the change is rolled and turned in to the bank as a deposit into the savings account. My cup last gave me $281.00 change to put in the savings account. That was in March. It Nobody touches the cup! They might lose a finger or even a hand! That being said, and having two set amounts for each budget, I then subtracted that amount, plus the Household amount from our combined monthly income. Lastly came the dreaded credit cards. To be honest, I was floored when I learned just how much credit card debt we had. My husband had wracked up over $40,000.00 in credit card debt alone. Since he paid his own credit card bills each month, I had no idea. Even worse than that, he is very inconsistent about paying his bills on time so he had late charges and the interest rates were way the heck up there. It was terrible. I took each of his cards most current statements and started from the lowest to highest balance. The lowest one was about 1200.00 but the interest rate on it by that time was 22%. This is where I started. I had him call the company and basically gave him a script to go by (my name wasn He requested a decrease in his APR on each and every card. Two of the five card companies agreed on the first call. The 22% card was reduced to 11% so they cut it in half. Not as low as I would like but it was a start. Another card was up to 31% and they reduced that to 20%. The other three didn't budge the first time. This is where I made two The first one was MS Money software. I highly recommend it. You can set up your checking, savings accounts, print your checks, balance your checkbook in about 5 minutes, pretty much a no brainer software that really keeps you in line with your bills and spending as long as you remember to faithfully enter any debit card purchase in your check register provided with the software. It will also link to many banks to update your balances online. You can also set it up to remind you for upcoming bills. (Maybe if the husband had used this earlier, we would not have been in this situation?) The second purchase was about $8.00. An accordion file folder for the monthly statements. Husband always threw his away and I cana dumb idea that is. KEEP them. Organize the tabs for each bill and put your statement in when you pay each bill. I also write the date and the amount when I make a payment somewhere on the statement, then keep them in chronological order. The actual payments came next. The smallest balance card was paid off first. All of other cards only got the minimum payment PLUS $1 more. I started doing this just for my own peace of mind I guess but I learned later that this actually helped us a bit when negotiating the lower APRs on the three more stubborn cards. It may have only been $1 extra but it was EXTRA payment and, believe it or not, they do look at that. Excluding the card to be paid off first, I added up the minimum payments of the remaining four cards (plus the extra dollar to each of those) and decided on an amount to pay the lowest balance card to get that balance moving toward 0 as fast as I could. In this case, I decided on 200.00. This left me with a little over 200.00 extra (I call it mad money but it really goes into savings anyway -planning ahead for birthdays, auto insurance, Christmas, and emergencies.) I had that card paid off relatively quickly in a few months. When it was paid off, the card was cancelled and that 200.00 was added to the minimum payment (plus $1) on the next lowest balance card. After the first month of this, once again, had the husband call his credit card company and ask for a reduction in his APR. This time it was granted. Should also mention that this card was one of the three that refused the request the first time. The first six months or so of this wasa mildly painful transition. He was used to whipping out a credit card, I was used to having cash on hand for whatever I wanted. It wasn't going to happen anymore. Finally, I wasdown to the last remaining card (754.00 per month payment by this time, having applied the payments for each card to the next as they were paid off.) When I got to this point, I started shopping around for cards with rewards programs and started comparing those cards. The last card I was paying on also had a rewards program but not quite what I wanted. I wanted to know if the terms were negotiable. It was! How about that! So, instead of losing a valuable customer the card company decided to keep me. Now I get 3% back on purchases of most things as long as I pay the balance in full every month (which I do). Any kind of air or rail travel purchased with the card is a 6% reward. I no longer use a debit card. The husband is not allowed to get a credit card again but instead, takes a certain amount of cash every week. Say what you want but he got us into this mess pretty much so he has to live with it now. It I find that I average about 400.00 per month AFTER the rewards bonuses kick in so essentially I am able to bank another $354.00 per month in savings. It adds up quicker than you might think. Should also mention that we have two teens still at home and they can really be expensive. They were made a part of the plan and do their part to help out too. Their contribution is mostly the avoidance of fast food all the time. They can come home and have a meal or eat before they leave. Things like that. Sorry for the lengthy post but hopefully I can help anyone else get out of a potentially bad financial situation like we faced.