Debt: 13 months later

It has been a year since we started our Debt Management Program (DMP). I'm so happy to report that, after this month's payment to Family Means and an extra $800ish on top of that from summer school money, our credit card debt total will be down to $26,000. That's $9,000 less than where we started.

Plus, we were able to pay off a few other things this year: one of Kevin's student loans (3 more left between the two of us), a line of credit, and by the end of this month, the Explorer. There might be more; it's just that they're a distant memory so I can't remember them!

We haven't put any extra money into our DMP yet since we were focusing on building up our emergency fund and paying off other non-credit card debts. However, now that those are paid off, we can shift our focus onto the DMP and really get things rolling. Hopefully by next summer we'll be able to say our debt is less than $15,000!

We couldn't have done it without Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. We created a budget we actually stick to. I'm even a huge dork because I use a calculator at the grocery store each week to make sure I don't go over my allotted $100. We don't splurge on anything. We talk about where our money will go each month. It's not an argument; it's not a "we'll never get out of debt!" crying fit I used to throw on occasion. It's marked progress each month when we erase old balances and write smaller ones on our whiteboard.

It's slow, but it's sure, and it's good.