Goodbye Debt

In August of 2010, I decided once and for all to get out of the cycle of continuous debt that I had created for my family. It wasn't the easiest thing to do and it took some sacrifice, but a year later I had slayed the debt that had become a $14,736.05 beast. As of now we no longer have debt consolidation companies and multiple collection agencies calling us! We even paid off a merchant cash advance loan through EZ Payments. We were happy with them, but it was always best to pay off any high risk loans first.

But it doesn't end there.

This journey is going to continue until our financial feet are set firmly in the ground. It was such an amazing feeling to get out of debt and not have that worry anymore. It is my goal to not to have worry about our retirement, our childrens' education, or if an emergency pops up. I want to to be fiscally ready... for anything!

We have started retirement accounts and education savings but our main focus is on the emergency savings at this time. All "extra' money from side income is going into this account. As much as I would like it, I have no timeline for an end date.

Starting Date of Savings Extravaganza 09/01/11
Original Emergency Fund $1,474.24
Current EFund $10,461.72
Ultimate Emergency Fund Goal $25,000.00
We're almost 42% of the way there.

Starting Date of Debt Annihilation 09/01/10
Original Debt  $14,736.05
Debt Paid        $14,736.05
Remaining       $0
End Date 08/13/11
No more credit card debt!!

Here are some of the steps we took to become debt free.
Other financial steps we took include making a five year plan and using our credit cards as if they were cash. We also tried to remember to keep ourselves motivated while paying off debt or even when we're saving.

This is updated on the first of every month.
Every month I created a debt analysis to show what I owed and how much had been paid off. You can take a looky at those right here.