The Light

I am excited to say that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I know darn well that it is not a train! I started out with $71,779.01 in credit card debt. While the debt hasn't gone away, I have chipped away at some of the problem ones and now have it down from 11 accounts to 4. Two of the accounts are at no interest (hey, "some money is better than no money I told the creditors", and after not being able to collect anything for several years, they concurred).

Part of the change is in my thinking. I used to see just the mountain of debt that I was diligently working on. I was working 70+ hours a week just to keep my head above water. Now, I am focused on building wealth, even though I haven't fully eliminated my credit card debt...yet! I also used to be extremely miserly with my money, but have come to realize that there are people that have it worse than I ever did, so I am sharing out of my abundance.

I have truly been blessed with health (which is improving), family, and employment. Some don't experience that blessing.

Thank you for all that you have done, and keep fighting to keep more of what you make!

Have a great day!

A Confession

Many of you have been following this blog for the last several months and you know that I advocate taking your food from home (it's less expensive and you know what it is that you are getting). Yesterday I ate dinner out. The rush was on to get the yard mowed in the extreme heat, get cooled off, and get to my weekday job in time. After work, I was going to spend the evening watching the rest of the Cardinals ball game at the RV. I managed to do that, but it was realized about halfway down to the campground (about an hour and a half away in good traffic) that there was no dinner packed for me. I easily could have spent $10.00 at Hardees, but that would have packed on the pounds. I did manage to drive by a Taco Bell and picked up a couple of $0.99 bean burritos. There was already a drink in the car, so I managed supper for a couple of bucks.

How often do we not think about the financial consequences of our actions. $8.00 was saved by doing that. If one meal a week is eaten that way, $416.00 could be saved in a year. If you were to charge that, and make minimum payments on the card over a year, it could easily have cost $500+. Personally, I would rather have the $500 even if it meant that I don't eat a Monster Burger and fries. You see, in order to have more money to pay down your credit card debt, or build your future, you have to have the long-term mindset.

Have a GREAT day!

Where Does It All Go?

We have been working toward eliminating our credit card debt by saving money. How do we save the money? We keep track of all that we spend and eliminate the ways that are not productive. For example, I like to have an occasional adult beverage, particularly in the summer (and especially after the yard is mowed). If I were to go to a local establishment to purchase a beer, it would run $4.50 (depending on where you went).

Ouch!

Instead, I can purchase a case of 30 (which will last quite a while) at a store for around $0.60 a can. That means that I would save $3.90 per drink. If that case lasts the entire summer (and it may), I will have saved $117.00. Wow! And it saves me the gas to drive to an establishment and the time, yada, yada, yada. You see, it is the little things that add up.

That is why having a budget and keeping track is essential to gaining control of your finances. Rumor has it that when Michael Jackson passed away yesterday, he had amassed nearly $200 million in debt. Our credit card debt may not be anywhere near that amount, but when compared to our income, I am sure that some had nearly the same rate of debt. He didn't have control over his spending habits and it caused him financial worry. Everybody has the ability to gain a little more control over their finances, but you have to make a decision to be informed and willing to work at it. The good news?:

You CAN do it! Have a GREAT day!

Father's Day

Financial wisdom comes from a blend of teachings from my father (which, unfortunately, were largely unheeded) and life experiences of trial and error (or, as Zig Ziglar would say, trial and success). My father is very smart and wise when it comes to money. Money was a bit of a taboo subject in our house and we would rarely talk about it.

I never saw the tough times or ever thought that there was a challenge with money because it was never brought up to anybody.

Looking back, it does sort of make sense. My dad didn't have a credit card when I was growing up: If he didn't have the cash for something right then (and we didn't need it), we simply didn't buy it. Period. There was very little impulse buying. We only went out to eat on kid's birthdays and so special meals were often prepared at home (mom is great about making meals at home). Birthday cakes were made, not bought (although as my brother and I got older, we asked for banana cream pie instead of cake). Presents were not the extravagant kind of gifts that now are more popular, At Christmas, we would usually get one toy and some more practical things like clothes.

Dad lived a frugal lifestyle without coming across as cheap.

I am letting my son see my struggles so that he will know that credit cards can so easily entrap you into paying a lot more for something that you may want, but not necessarily need. I think he sees the message.

Happy Father's Day and have a GREAT day!

PMA: Developing The Habit

A Positive Mental Attitude is essential to success when it comes to your life and when it comes to eliminating your credit card debt. Some people mistakenly assume that you have to think that they have to walk around the whole time of their life with a smile on your face, say that "everything is great" (even with your world crumbling down, and always be peppy. That may be perfect for a select few, but

I am a realist.

Some may say that if a 16 ounce glass has 8 ounces of water in it that, if you are a pessimist, the glass is half empty. Somebody else will look at that same glass and say, if they are an optimist, that the glass is half full. I will look at the glass and say that the glass is the wrong size. The same exercise can be used with credit cards. You may have the ability to keep up with your monthly payments so you may look at how much credit line you have left. Or, you may look and see how much debt is piling up.

Sometimes you have to step back and ask yourself what the heck is going on. Credit cards can be a trap for many people and it may take them years to develop the habit of not using credit cards except in an emergency. Developing that type of habit can take time. Having a positive mental attitude to help you attract the things that you want in life takes time as well. Start small, if you must by writing down a small goal and work toward that. Make it attainable and achievable and when you tackle that goal, move on to another one that is slightly more challenging for you and that will build on the strength that you developed earlier. The pattern of success will help "train" you to become more and more successful.

Keep working at it and have a GREAT day!

Can Credit Card Debt Elimination Happen In A Timely Matter?

That's a question that is answered by: "It Depends." It depends on a combination of things:

*Your Ability To Pay at Least the Minimum Monthly Payment in a Timely Matter - If you are having a difficult time making your minimum payment on all of your credit cards, you might have to look at getting a higher paying job, getting a second job, getting a loan from a bank (with poor credit, that may be easier said than done), getting a loan from family (unless they have none to loan), getting a loan from friends, or, when all else fails, seeking professional help

*Your Ability To Stay Employed - In these tough financial times, it may be difficult to keep your job. There have been times where I have not been as fully employed as I could have been, but I have always been willing to work, even if it meant that I was doing something "below" my abilities. After all, "Oatmeal is Better Than No Meal".

*Your Desire To Get Out of Credit Card Debt - Sometimes you have to keep a PMA (positive mental attitude, but "Where There's a Will, There's a Way" has never rang more true. Once you decide to do something, subconsciously, you cut yourself off from all other possibilities and you find ways to make it happen.

Hang in there, Have a GREAT day!

Friday, Friday, Finally Friday

For most people, Friday is a day that is looked forward to from the beginning of the week. Since I have been on a quest to eliminate credit card debt, it represents another day. I work most weekends. It will happen occasionally that I am not scheduled on the weekend, but knowing that the small amount of money that I earn on the weekends is used toward finally eliminating credit card debt, I don't mind. Weekends are a good time for celebration, relaxation, and a bit of planning.

Celebrations don't mean that you have to go and run up your credit card bill at the bar or club, just an evening's drink and snacks (because they seem to go hand in hand) can easily run up $100 or more for two people. Multiply that by 52 weeks in a year, and you have over $5,000 a year. That would be enough to eliminate a credit card or two for myself (the lower balanced ones).

Wow.

Here's is a suggestion, and it is only a suggestion. I drink occasionally, but it is usually one or two (OK, sometimes three) and it is pretty exclusive to the weekend. I usually have a snack with them as well. I could easily go to a bar/club and spend $10-$15 for the drinks and $5 for the snacks. There is a $20 bill that has gone away. What I do now, and enjoy more is sitting on the screened-in porch and have those drinks, have a snack, and have a relaxing evening with my beautiful wife. I buy the drinks and snack ahead of time and the cost is around $5. That is $15 dollars saved. The great thing is that I don't have to worry about drinking and driving (sore subject) and, if I perchance have too much to drink, I just have to worry about tripping over the dog (who wouldn't mind because there would be more crackers for her). It is a win-win situation because I get some relaxing one-on-one time with my wife and we will listen to some music or a ball game (in season).

Perhaps there are some ways that you could think of to have a good time for less, free up some money, and eliminate your credit card debt. My book is nearly ready now (it is written), and if you would like to receive notification of when that is ready for you, you can sign up for the Never Surrender newsletter on the right side of this blog. You simply enter your email and first name, there will be a confirmation sent to you (check your spam box), and I will notify you of where to get your hands on the book, plus I will send out information occasionally on ways to eliminate credit card debt.

Have a GREAT weekend!

Tuesday = Monday

Three day weekends happen occasionally and in the United States we just experienced one. From my days in education, the Memorial Day weekend usually signalled the beginning of summer vacation. A lot of businesses honor the three day weekend, but the retail industry and medical field don't always have that luxury: they remain open year-round.

When you are on the quest to eliminate your credit card debt, you must remain always vigilant and ready. It is not suggested that it become obsessive, but it always needs to remain a steady undercurrent to you daily activities of living. These days my mind is always searching for ways to say a few dollars. I drive by several gas stations on the way to my day job (at least nine), so when the tank hits the halfway mark, the light turns on to compare as I go. When I notice one gets a few cents lower than the others, I will make a point to pull in and fill up. When I notice Diet Coke on sale, I will stock up (both my wife and I have a bit of a vice for Diet Coke, but I will not buy it at a convenience store because of the jacked-up prices there).

You can do the same.

If you are like most people, you purchase the same things over and over, but when you look to save money, you will notice when those things are on sale, or find a coupon for, or even print on from coupons.com. Believe me when they say that it all adds up, because it does.

But you are becoming wiser and you will win.

Have a great day!

Watch 'Em Like a Hawk

As I was reminded by the comment from Everett yesterday (thanks), there are some banks and credit card companies that will sneak as much money and interest from you as they possibly can. They will change your billing cycle to ensure that you are late just so they can attach a "late fee" on you and jack up your interest rate. Oh how times have changed.

Remember the days when banks used to be your friend? When you needed money for a car or a personal loan, the bank (where you went to put in your hard-earned money for checking or savings) would lend it to you. If you were late on a payment, you would call up the bank, explain things, and there would be no harassing phone calls, no sudden spike in interest rate, no late fees. It was if you were dealing with somebody who saw you as a member of the family, not somebody that you could take advantage of and suck money out of at every opportunity.

That is one reason that, if possible, you bank at a credit union. It used to be that credit unions were hard to become a member of unless you were an employee at a certain company or you belonged to an organization. Nowadays, most credit unions have an open policy and, although not protected by the FDIC, they are insured through the National Credit Union Association or the National Credit Union Insurance Fund. What makes credit unions different is that they are owned by you and all the members who bank with them. The rates are typically lower for loans and the returns are usually slightly better. I have been a member of one since 1979 and still do part of my banking with them.

Just another way to save money to help eliminate your credit card debt. Have a great day!

Only 11 Months Until Taxes Are Due

Most people have a major anxiety attack when they thick about income taxes and those taxes are due each an every year on April 15 (unless the 15th falls on a weekend or that rare occasion in which it falls on Patriot's Day, a holiday that is celebrated in the Northeast but is rarely even mentioned in other regions of the country. The problem with April 15th is that people are rarely prepared for it.

It doesn't have to be that way.

If you hate owing taxes each and every year, you can plan your withholding to where you may actually get money back each year. If you are a do-it-yourself type of tax preparer, even software such as Turbotax or Taxcut offer a section on withholding support. You can always get advise from the IRS. You can actually change your withholding allowances from your employer (some larger employers offer that online and you can quickly and easily change your W-4.

When I worked for H&R Block, I even ran across people who owed several thousand dollars each year and were happy about it. That type of person was a very disciplined person who knew how much of his money he/she would owe back to Uncle Sam at the deadline and they used all the extra money (because they manipulated the system to have no money withheld and they had the maximum paycheck each week) to invest and make back more money than they would owe come April 15th. Unfortunately, most of us are not that disciplined.

If you like getting a large refund each year, you can plan for that. If, on the other hand, you would rather have a little bit larger check each month and have extra money to help you eliminate you credit card debt, you can do that as well. If you are having difficulties understanding how the whole tax code thing comes together, you can always consult with a tax professional to get the advice that you need.

But ultimately remember that it is your money and the government isn't giving you money when you get a refund, it just means that you paid too much of your money to the government interest-free. Keep up the excellent job that you have been doing to have more money for your life (and thank you for the tips that you have shared with me!). Have a GREAT day!

Two More To Go

$161.44. With just two days to go (and no grocery store in sight) accomplishment can definitely be felt. There honestly is at least three weeks (probably more) of food remaining, but the daily update will no longer be necessary. So, the question is "how are YOU doing?" Have you found any ways to save on things that you hadn't thought of yet? How far would you go? Recently, I was at Dolans.com and ran across an article that really made me think. It was asking about things you would do to save money (and nowadays, who doesn't look for ways to save money?).

Here are some ideas (and believe me, some of them made me feel a bit squeamish)
* Plan trips around for samples, like at the grocery store, free appetizers at happy hour, or wine tastings.
* Wash clothes in only cold water (over 75% of the cost of using a washing machine is used in the heating of the water)
* Abandon toilet paper and use washable rags or even newspaper (Okay, I am not that desperate yet)
* Stock up on condiments like ketchup and mustard from McDonald's or other fast food restaurants
* Toilet train your cat (kitty litter can be expensive)

There were others posted there, but it did make you think that desperate times call for desperate measures. Some I could do (cold water for laundry), but some I would not (I don't have a cat at our home). I am not advocating living life on the cheap, but there are ways that you could stretch you dollar further and pay down your credit card debt sooner or have for the future like retirement and education for your children.

Have a GREAT day!

24 . . . Hours a Day,

If your thoughts are concerned with eliminating credit card debt, it may seem that is how much time you spend on it a day. That is both a good thing and a bad thing: If you spend all of that time worrying and take no action to get you on the path toward being credit card debt-free, then it is a bad thing. However (and there is always a however in life), if it spurns you to ACTION then it is a good thing. If you do nothing, nothing will change.

It Isn't Going To Happen Overnight!

Chances are that your credit card debt did not magically appear overnight. You were doing fine making your minimum payments, but something may have come up (like an emergency crown for your back molar that, despite insurance, sets you back $514.30) and you may have missed a payment. No big deal, right?

Wrong!

The credit card company will slap you with a $39.99 late fee, plus an interest rate hike (not just a temporary one), plus all of the extra interest. Without conscious effort, it does not get better from there. The time to act is NOW! Contact your credit card companies and ASK for a better rate, STOP using your credit cards, and BEGIN the journey to freedom.

By the way, the running total (on day 24) of the 30 day challenge stands at $128.10, and when I was preparing food for dinner last night, a quick inventory revealed that I could stretch this out for another 30 days and I may just do that.

Keep working, TAKE ACTION, and here's to your success!

...And Miles to Go Before I Sleep

Thus ends one of my favorite poems by Robert Frost, "Stopping by Woods On a Snowing Evening" (for the complete poem, click here). The journey is far from over, but it doesn't mean that you can enjoy it along the way. The day count stands at 22 and the savings stand at $120.97. That's impressive for me. With only eight days to go to the culmination of the challenge, it is known that there is still lots of uneaten food out there because the pantry is still relatively full, there is a pound of hamburger in the freezer still (used for making a batch of homemade chili-mac), and a habit is being deeply ingrained in the psyche. What a wonderful feeling!

I will have to admit that I am in the midst of writing an eBook about eliminating credit card debt. I have been working at it for a while, and it is starting to solidify: more and more each and every day. One chapter of it (so far) deals with what we have been discussing here. A way is being found to free up more money and thus pay down the debt and work toward a lifestyle of being debt-free. One way of generating extra money is to get a part-time job. More companies are willing to hire part-time workers because they don't have to pay benefits. That's fine. You don't have to have a "glamour" job, in fact, most second jobs that I have had would not be classified as glamorous. There have been temp jobs on third shift assembly lines, jobs as a cashier, jobs cleaning buildings after hours, yard work, and so on.

The point is that we are talking about extra income here. A mundane job will suffice for that and will generate some extra cash. Mine generates roughly $100 a week. Sure, I miss out on a lot of television shows (who really has time for it?), but I use TIVO (a luxury) to watch my favorite shows in half the time...on my schedule. My budget includes the income from my second job and it still needs to be worked so that I will become debt free in a much more expedient manner.

What are you doing to generate extra money to pay down your debt? Let me know.

Twenty One Gun Salute

Is usually used as a salute for Presidents, heads of state, and special occasions. So, paying down debt is not exactly a reason for that kind of respect, it is deserving of at least notation. We are at day twenty-one (I had to think of something catchy for the title) and the running total now stands at $112.63. While that may be chump change to a lot of people, it isn't exactly that for someone who has spent the last quarter of a century living paycheck to paycheck. These techniques I share with you will hopefully help you in your quest to become free of credit card debt, or prevent you from getting in those dire straights to begin with. A question often arises when the discussion about saving money on food.

Do we have to sacrifice quality and taste when we save money on food? That depends. Store brands of food items are often made by the same manufacturer as the name brand foods. Take for example Frosted Flakes. I have been a fan of cereal for most of my life. There is a slight difference in the Kellogg brand and the store bran, but that is really a minute change. When shopping at the grocery store, you will notice a big difference in the price of the two. Why?

Advertising costs. As a child, I would spend many of my afternoons and most of my Saturday mornings watching cartoons. Looking back, there were tons of cereal commercials on, particularly from Post or Kellogg. I don't recall a single commercial for the store brand of those foods. Since stores don't have to pay for the advertising, they can basically get the same thing for a fraction of the cost. In fact, the store may make a higher margin of profit on these items so we, as consumers, win by having a fine quality food for a fraction of the cost of a box of cereal.

As an ingredient, one can rarely tell the difference between the store brand and the national brand. It is when you eat them as a solo item that you may be able to tell a marked difference. You should try the low-cost alternatives...at least try them to see how much more food you get for your money. You can always use that saving to pay off debt.

Have a great day!

Twenty Is Plenty?...

...for some, but as the Carpenters song goes: "We've only just begun". On the quest to eliminate credit card debt, twenty days have passed, and so has the $100 mark. For those keeping track (I know that I am) the total now stands at $104.30. The only shopping at the grocery store that has been done has been for perishibles like bread, eggs, and milk because those have a limited shelf life. The amazing thing is that there is still plenty of food to be had in the pantry (it is certainly more than enough to last 10 days, and one might estimate that there should be enough to last for sixty days).

New, and frugal, habits have certainly been engrained into my lifestyle and I hope that you can find some habits that will help you to save money where you have been wasting so that you can pay down your credit card debt, or, if you are fortunate enough to have none, save for the future or for whatever dreams you may have.

Being broke and struggling to pay even the bare minimum on your credit cards is a drain on you mentally, physically, and spiritually. I have worked nearly sixty hours a week for the last five years in order to stay afloat, and it has only been in the last year that the credit card debt level has plummeted from $71,154.15 to the present $61,926.44 (one of the "secrets" of gaining control over your credit card debt is to know exactly where you stand at all times). It may hurt to sit down and actually calculate where you stand, but the pain will make you stronger.

One of the best sources on the Web is dinkytown. Better than the calculator that comes with your computer, they have 350+ calculators including mortgage, retirement, credit card and debt,...so forth and so on. Or you can set up your own spread sheet in excel (or for some of us "old school" people, you might use Quattro Pro). Whatever method you decide to use, just choose and use, it makes you more in control of your life.

Until tomorrow, have a great day!

And So It Goes

The 100 dollar mark looms oh so close. There will soon be a payment mailed (or submitted electronically) to lower credit card debt. This is great news for those try to find solutions for their credit card debt. A simple change in lifestyle has now freed up over $1,000 to first eliminate the debt and then have that money to build for the future. Some more good news:

The "Credit Card Holders' Bill of Rights" cleared the House of Representatives yesterday (May 2, 2009) and it now heads to the Senate for approval. One of the key elements of this bill (information here) is that it will be illegal for credit card companies to engage in retroactive rate increases. These are rate increases that are announced at the end of the billing cycle, but applied to the billing cycle for which you just received a bill. It would be like having dinner at a restaurant. You went there for a $4.95 dinner special, but when the bill came they told you that they are changing the price to $6.95 and it took effect when you ordered your food. Would you be angry? Would you ask to speak with the manager?

Probably so.

Too often these things have been happening to consumers and we have been powerless against the money and power of the credit card companies. But change is in the air, but we cannot be too reliant on others to do things for us, we have to take matters into our own hands, particularly if we are to eliminate credit card debt from our lives. You have the power to be in control.

Take action today!

Seventeen Come Sunday

Okay, so it is Friday, but as a former band director, I had to come up with a title with seventeen in the title. This is a beautiful song from Ralph Vaughn William's Folk Song Suite (you can see a YouTube performance here). This is day seventeen. It was time to buy some perishables and $15.41 was spent on bread, milk and eggs) and that brings our total down a bit to $81.40. Considering that $15.41 was spent (and it will last for nearly two weeks), no tears were shed. The momentum is still moving forward and will top $100 by next week. We are still seeking to eliminate the credit card debt by freeing up money that wasn't known to exist earlier.

Last night, an article was found on Dolans website that discussed some signs that you are having problems with your credit card debt. Often we get o involved with life that we don't think that it is happening to us until we wake up one day and discover that we are $71,000+ in credit card debt. Some signs that you might be be in over your head and need to take action now to take control of your life include:

* Avoiding Your Credit Card Statement - your statement comes to your mailbox, but you don't want to face it, so the bill remains sealed in a pile (guilty)

* Losing Track of What You Owe - you spend with your credit card, but you never keep a receipt or hide them altogether. After all, if you don't have a receipt, did you really spend it? (guilty)

* Doing the balance transfer game -you transfer all of your balances to a no interest card (for a short period of time), but sometimes you miss a payment and get stuck with some atrocious fees that, instead of saving you money, cost you even more (not guilty)

If you find yourself doing this, you need to get some help, either on your own, or through a program (such as here).

Here's to your success and have a great day!

Sweet Sixteen

Like a snowball rolling down the mountainside, this has started to gain momentum. Day 16 and the running total is $88.47. It's all downhill from here. One thing that hasn't been discussed too much lately is communication services. Yes, that means the landline. What once was a necessary item in the American home is losing its stronghold. I should know: I was the third generation of telephone employees. My grandfather retired from Michigan Bell (which started out as Bell Telephone back in the grand old days of the telephone monopoly), my father retired from AT&T (although it was SBC after it was Southwestern Bell), and I attempted to be the black sheep of the family but because there was a need to eat, I succumbed and worked for Verizon (I was hired by GTE, but my first paycheck was from Verizon).

Cellular phones were once considered a luxury and now they are extremely prevalent. When I worked for Verizon from 2000-2006, I witnessed first-hand the demise of the landline. For Internet services, it was just about the only way to hook up. It was first through slow 56K dial up modems. If you wanted the ability to receive incoming phone calls while you were checking your email (and boy, was service slow back then), you often had to have second telephone line. I know, because that is exactly what we did. A second phone line was installed so that my wife and I could be on the internet at the same time. That was before DSL which gave you the ability to be online and on the telephone at the same time.

Telephone service has come down in price as the demand has dwindled. Sure, there are less populated areas that only have a connection to the Internet via phone line. There are satellite services and cable services that allow you to do away with your landline completely. Whereas we used to pay over $100 a month for our landlines alone, phone service is now through our cable company and we, through technology, can have two or more connections to the Internet simultaneously.

Do you need to have a phone line? It used to be that it was for safety that it was considered necessary, but with the popularity of cell phones, most people have one and use it exclusively for their communication needs. I cannot recall the last time that I took a call on our landline. I never give the number out as I exclusively use my cell phone which has built in voicemail so I never lose a call. You may be able to save the money that you spend for a landline to help erase your credit card debt. You simply have to weigh the pros and cons. It may come to the point where the cons outweigh the pros and you find that it is less expensive to go with an upgraded cellular plan than it is to hold on to the landline. That is an individual decision, but when it comes to saving money, you have to take a hard look at everything in your life.

Until tomorrow, have a great day!

Fifteen and We Are Halfway There

Wow, still going and the savings add up. Now the total stands at $80.14 and the sweet scent of success can be felt. Last night, a pot of black-eyed peas and rice was scrounged up that will make 4 or 5 meals for the next few days. Not only are those items low cost to purchase (they were already in the pantry), but they are low-fat options for taking my lunch to my day job (which solves a couple of issues at one time). If you work at a job which has a refrigerator available that you can take your lunch in and save money, here are some ideas that you could use that will allow you to survive the day without blowing your budget or diet.
* Try making a pot of soup (better, for some reason, in the cooler months of the year). You can find some great recipes out on the Internet such as places like recipes.com.
*There is always the good old sandwich routine. Buy a loaf of bread, a package of lunch meat and perhaps even some cheese. You will be able to make quite a few meals that work out to be less than $1.00 a meal. When I was a kid, we often would be packed a peanut butter or bologna sandwich. Hey, it has worked for people for years.
* Make some casseroles and take the leftovers. I haven't been as good with eating leftovers until the past few years. Who says that a good meal can only be eaten once?
* There is always a bowl of low-cost ramen noodles. There is a wide host of recipes available as well.
* Frozen dinners and pot-pies give another low-cost option. There is no need to spend a fortune when many of the "bargain" meals can run right at $1.00 per dinner (Hint: You need to keep your eyes open for deals at your local grocery store or Wal-Mart. Look online for specials and coupons as well.

Keep up your success and you will find the money that has been mysteriously slipping between your fingers! You can then eliminate your credit card debt.

Have a great day! Visit my website if you like.

Fourteen = Two Weeks

It is difficult to imagine, but now it is at the fourteen day mark (only shopped for perishables) and the savings now stand at $71.81. That's $71.81 that can be used to eliminate credit card debt and push further toward the path of being debt-free. A few years ago, if one would have asked for $71.81 (okay, let round it to $70) in two weeks time, I would have thought that it would have been impossible to come up with the extra money, but now i am learning that the money is there, you just have to be wiser with the spending of it.

You can find "extra" money as well. You see, you just have to look for it, and you will most assuredly find it. As people are fond of saying that "you do what you have to do", once the mindset is there to save money/pay off credit card debt, the doors will open wide. You will think twice about buying a candy bar on impulse at the checkout lane of the grocery store or when picking up a box of nails from Home Depot: that "only a buck" will add up to wasted money in the long haul. Stores count on consumers to pick up things on impulse. Usually those items are marked up slightly (yes, I can remember when candy bars were bigger and cost only a quarter) if not a lot. Why do you think that there are impulse items at the checkout lanes of Wal-Mart? It certainly isn't that we need those items, it is that the stores need us to help line their pockets with a little more of our hard earned money.

Stand your ground! Buy only what you need and make do on less so that you can enjoy life more. I have lived most of my entire life from paycheck to paycheck when, in retrospect, I could have done without the soda and still lived, and had a lot more to show for life. You can too! I am just trying to be a guide for you (it is the teacher in me that wants to share this with you).

Here's to a happy, successful and financially worry-free life!

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