Reply to Make $200k, credit card debt, no savings

Forum Index » Money and Finances

Reply to "Make $200k, credit card debt, no savings "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]OP, you stated right up front that you need to reduce $1500/month of discretionary spending to $800.

Good news #1: it is awesome that you acknowledge that and are willing to dive in.  Also awesome from the follow up that DH is on board too.  This isn't about finding the right credit card, it's about reducing spending.  You can worry about what order to pay things off after you've reversed the cash flow.

Good news #2: $800/month in discretionary spending is totally doable.  I know it sounds like an overwhelming reduction, but it really is manageable with a good quality of life.  If you make deliberate choices, you won't have to feel deprived all the time - you can have all of your needs and some of your wants met, just not all of your wants ... And that's a perfectly good way to live.  Keep the mindset that budgeting is about making choices, not straight up deprivation.

So here's the first thing you need to do: figure out where that $1500/month is going, and make some choices.  You can cut everything in half, or you can choose to protect some categories of spending and eliminate others entirely.  That is your choice.  Just be deliberate about it - if you just go in with a vague goal of "spend less", you'll stress out daily and probably never get there.  Set realistic (but aggressive) targets for household goods, groceries, entertainment, eating out, clothing, etc.  Keep track weekly of how you're doing month-to-date.  We're only a week in to Feb, so use this as your starting month.  You can do it!

Also, plan a chunk of money in your monthly budget for things like home repairs or car repairs.  If you don't use it, that becomes extra savings or debt payoff.  But if you do need it, it doesn't feel like a total budget-buster if you've been planning for it.[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics