Six Figure Debt

Today is the day that most Americans wake up with a feeling of dread wondering “how am I going to pay for Christmas?”  Not me today.  We managed to provide a great Christmas for the kids without swiping the credit card once, we paid cash for everything.

Here is how we did it.

1.  We never shopped without a list.  Whenever we planned to go Christmas shopping we knew specifically what we were looking for and if we found it we bought it, if we didn’t find it, we only purchased items that were LESS than the money we had budgeted.

I found this article surfing the web and it made great sense.  During this holiday season, why resolve to go on a “money diet” in 2008.

Our debt reduction plans took a small hit this week as we were hit with $300. in unexpected medical bills.  It isn’t anything we can’t handle but it put a serious crimp in our debt repayment this month.  Looks like the minimum payments for at least one of the three credit cards.  We will still make a double payment on the home equity line of credit.

I will update you on our debt this week; we did manage to take a chunk out of our debt, reducing our HELOC by $800, cutting a few hundred of each of the three credit cards and even adding a few hundred dollars to our emergency fund.

Here are some great tips from 43folders.com

These tips aren’t necessarily “debt reduction” related but they are important.

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This is easy for the wife and I, we are very focused on our goals.  They are…..in order!

1.  Eliminate 25% of our total revolving debt.  This amounts to about 25k between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2008.  We can do this, we are making enough money and have more on the way when our small business opens in March 2008.  In addition my other Internet sites are beginning to show a serious profit, maybe as much as 20k in 2008.

Welcome all stumbled upon readers, thanks for stopping by my new web site.

Please feel free to follow my journey, please leave comments and subscribe to my e-mail feed.

-Bad spender….

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Here are a couple of great suggestions from my favorite site about how to save money and have a great frugal Christmas holiday.

–Trent at The Simple Dollar lists twelve things he’d like to see under the Christmas tree under $10.  I personally love a “memory stick full of memories.”

–We’re in Debt lists a receipe for “Cheap Christmas Cookies.”

–Million Dollar Journey lists helpful hints to keep your budget in-line during the Christmas season.

–Cheaper than cheap explains how to save money on your holiday grocery bill.  Great advice.

While I attack my debt I am also exploring options to make extra money on-line.  Here are 5 that I have used and have already starting to see a little income from after just a month.

1.  Blogging.  There are many ways to monetize your blog.  The best for me so far is Google Adsense.  I haven’t made any money off this site yet, but the traffic is growing and I hope to see some revenue soon.  My other blogs make close to $1000 a month.