Comments on: 10 Things That Will Happen On The Road Between Being In Debt And Being Debt Free

By: karla (threadbndr)

karla (threadbndr) — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 23:02:20 +0000

And when you get down to the end of the count down, please start counting “up”.

That’s why I like Dave Ramsey’s baby steps, getting out of consumer debt is just step 2. You need to channel that intensity (and that money) into things that will build your wealth once the debt is gone.

In order to keep my motivation high, I made a series of small goals re increasing the emergency fund, the escrows (car replacement, house project/repairs funds) and investing (retirement and taxable accounts). Being able to mark those off one at a time has been even better than marking off the debts was!

By: Movingonup!

Movingonup! — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:15:50 +0000

Very accurate list! I’ve gone through a lot of these.

By: Heather Paige

Heather Paige — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 22:06:39 +0000

I can’t wait for #4 and #2. I am currently on number 10..

By: valerie

valerie — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 13:20:11 +0000

This list is great! We are currently struggling on #’s 7 & 6 – doing great on a plan to enrich our EMER account by $5k and WHAMMO – I need a crown, kid breaks his finger, husband needs glasses!! I guess we just need to acknowledge and move on.

By: Alex Fear

Alex Fear — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 23:07:37 +0000

Cool, you just described my journey so far – I’m at No. 3 already!

By: Mama Koala

Mama Koala — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 18:50:39 +0000

Thank you so much for posting this. We’ve been able to use our small emergency fund for a root canal and to go out of town for a funeral–both would have been put on credit cards if we were still living the way we did last year….We are in the very early stages of a debt snowball, but can already feel some relief…3 small debts down….7 more (larger) to go…the first step for us was really getting it down on paper–our situation was scary, but it motivated us to start doing the smart thing–the right thing, with our money.

By: Raj

Raj — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 00:35:15 +0000

Thanks for putting out a guide to the milestones on the path out of debt. I’m working at a company that’s trying to design a product to help people get out of debt, and the main issues that keep coming up involve two initial hurdles: (1) how to even get the strength to look at one’s debt and total financial picture and (2) taking the first steps towards paying it down. In other words, what do I tell those who are struggling to get them pumped about facing reality in the first place?

Much thanks,

Raj Patel
GoalSpring

By: Evelyn Guzman

Evelyn Guzman — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 23:00:08 +0000

Those are wonderful steps that will encourage anyone to get out of debt. While it is true that an emergency could derail anyone’s plan to manage one’s debt, still if they have your “Ten Things”, it will be easier to bounce back. The other scenario would make one feel overwhelmed that the debt will just be shoved under the rug.

Evelyn Guzman
Debt Challenger

By: Amber Weinberg

Amber Weinberg — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 20:18:03 +0000

Awesome List…I’m about on #4 right now

By: Money Beagle

Money Beagle — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 16:26:47 +0000

Great post. It applies not only to debt in general, but to each individual debt. You’ll have elements of these along the way and be at different stages depending on how many debts you have.