Being debt free has become our ultimate goal in our lives. Living paycheck till four days before the next paycheck, month after month, has became the thing of the norm. We seen no reason to make our way out of debt, but to just keep paying the minimum payments on all of our debts.
Currently my wife and I have 2 credit cards. The interest rates are quite high and offer no real value to us other than keeping us poor, and keeping them rich. Credit One Bank is one of the cards we have and First Premiere is the other. Credit One interest rate is 26%, and First Premiere is a whopping 36%.
In 2010 we had filed bankruptcy with over $60,000 in credit card and consumer debt. We started out really well with budgeting our money and using credit. We built up our credit so well that we were able to buy our home. With all that we had accomplished in such a short period of time, we just never really learned when to hit the brakes. We were using credit for everything, including frequent stops at fast food joints. That radical behavior just spiraled into the temple of doom. We found ourselves up against a wall, not knowing how to get out. With a newborn child at the time, we just stopped paying on our debts except for our house and cars. Companies started attempting to sue us, and we even had Citi Bank start garnishing our wages. That was it we decided we needed some help and claimed bankruptcy. Fast forward to present, our decisions are still very rash, and we still have two cars that hold high interest rates 16% for a 2010 Ford Focus and 18% for a 2010 VW Jetta. We had another baby and decided its time to get out of debt, mainly because our budget it stretched way to tight, with all the costs we have per month.We started researching debt free strategies, and were able to create a debt snowball system to make us debt free. We have just made our first large payment to our Credit One credit card of $150.00.
If we stay on track and stick to budget we should be completely debt free including our house within 6 years. Which leads me to believe that I should have thought of this way before choosing to do bankruptcy,but hey you live and learn. So debt free is living is our top priority from here on out.
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