I was reading back through my posts about my credit woes and my work to get out of debt. I was pretty disappointed in what I wrote because it didn't convey the way I felt going through this stuff. It definitely didn't capture how I felt when I was getting started down this road. I was scared. Petrified. Paralyzed with fear

The Fed reported today that Americans increased their spending in November. Some might see that as good news and a sign of economic recovery, but because that spending increase was on credit cards and through auto loans, that doesn't strike me as a good news. In fact, that sounds like whatever lessons people learned about

I've been working to pay off my debt for a year and a half. Based on my latest estimate, I have 2 years to go. Then I will be debt free. I got through my second Christmas without charging any gifts or expenses on a credit card. So, there is no post holiday remorse or added financial stress to deal with this month. I didn'

I canceled a credit card today.  I had intellectually made the decision to do it a while ago, but didn't for what I thought was a practical reason. I had chopped up the card and could not find the account number, which I thought I would need. Today, a new card for the account came in the mail, so I placed the call. I le

The credit card companies, once a source of endless hours of stress, now merely amuse me. A few weeks ago I got notification from one of the banks with which I still have a card with a balance. The letter informed me that they were lowering my credit limit, due to information they had seen on my credit report. I admit, I w

I didn't know this was even possible, but here is proof the federal government can actually close a program this is no longer needed. It was announced today that the House of Representatives will end it's page program. Here is a link to the Los Angeles Times' version of the story. But, of course, the Senate page program w

Uncle Sam is going through the same thing many of the rest of us have already experienced. His credit score has been downgraded and financial experts are saying he may be at higher risk of not paying off his credit card bills. Oh, sure, he was still paying his debt. He hadn't missed a payment. Shouldn't Standard and Poor's

I'm fed up with this political game of financial chicken taking place in Washington, D.C. If these idiots that the rest of us idiots elected to represent us can't prevent the federal government from defaulting on its debt, I'm not sure what we are paying those morons for. However, it is equally infuriating is the simplisti

A new Discover card came in the mail today. I didn't realized the old one was about to expire because it had been shredded months ago. I"m not sure it really was about to expire, because the expiration date on the new card is only about 18 months out. So, I activated the card, which seems strange to do, since this on

I have not been faithful to my budget. I've been cheating. Fortunately, I have not been using any credit cards. All my financial indiscretions have been committed with cash.   I haven't busted the budget completely, or burned through any funds needed for bills, but I've slipped up. This month, I have had some extra mon

It was one year ago this month that I finally sat down to figure out just how much debt I had accumulated and try to figure out if there was a way out. One year ago, I wasn't sure there was, but I knew I needed to do something. Figuring out how much I owed was the first step. The second step was trying to learn how to do a

I learned something interesting today. My ex, from the failed engagement that was a regular theme earlier in this blog's history, got married. I wasn't sure how to feel about that. There was no twinge of pain, but I must admit I was curious, so I tried to learn a little more. All I really knew at the beginning of the searc

I heard on the Today Show this morning that the current estimate on the damage caused by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami is $300 billion. The amount of money the U.S. government is overspending this year is 4 times that much. That's a massive tidal wave of economic destruction caused by Congress and the president. Ar

The more time I spend agonizing over my own budget, and my own debt, the more I get irritated with governments' handling of public money. We are hearing a lot about government spending in recent weeks and we will hear a lot more about it now through the end of next year's presidential election. Sadly, what we are hearing i

I'm beginning to understand what Dave Ramsey talks about when he says you need to get "gazelle intense" at attacking debt. I paid off Debt No. 4 this month, and now I can't wait to get rid of the rest of them.Of course, the first 4 debts were pretty small. The ones that are left are going to take a while to polish

The Federal Reserve reported on Friday that consumer borrowing rose in November for things like cars and college loans. However, the Fed also reported that people are actually saving more and spending less on unsecured credit, meaning credit cards.We, the people, borrowed 6.3 percent less in November on our credit cards. It

I got through the holidays without tapping into any credit cards. It's the first time since I've had credit cards that that has happened. It was an all-cash holiday.I am proud of myself for that.I wish I could just accept that and move on, but I can't resist the urge to beat myself up a bit.I didn't go a very good job of pl

If the Federal Reserve or the nation's banks are waiting on U.S. consumers to heat up the nation's economy by going back to our old ways and spending more money on credit, it's going to be a long wait.The Federal Reserve reported Thursday that credit card debt is down for the 24th straight month.There are a lot of us out he

I've paid off my first credit account since deciding to use the debt snowball method to tackle my outstanding debts.One down. Nine to go, including $100 dollars I owe a family member.Actually, that $100 should have been the first bill I paid off, but I wanted to tackle the interest-charging creditors first. If all goes as p

I've spent part of the last two days carting recyclable cans and bottles and taking them back to stores for refunds. And I'm still not completely done.I guess I let the cans and bottle stack up for a while. I haven't bought any beer or soft drinks in months, and still I had a ton of cans and plastic bottles stacked up and t

It was not that long ago that I used to make a point of buying a lottery ticket every time one of the jackpots got big.Sure, I knew I wouldn't win, but I could still dream, right? I justified the expense, even on weeks and months where I was stressed about finding a way to eat until the next pay day, by saying it I got days

My new hobby seems to be crunching numbers. I am learning how to prepare, and stick to, a personal budget. I seem to spend a lot of my evening and weekend hours working on spreadsheets and doing math.Some days I am looking for ways to pay off my debt as quickly as possible. Other days I am looking at the numbers to make sur

The ol' wardrobe is threadbare. I was so relieved when summer started and I could start wearing short-sleeved shirts again, because I didn't have enough long-sleeved shirts to get me through the work week. The collars and cuffs of my shirts were worn out.Now, with summer seemingly making a very rabid departure, I realize I

I've had this craving for a while and I can't shake it. That's probably because I don't know what I'm craving.I'm hungry, even when I'm full. I'm thirsty, even after drinking lots of water. It's as if my body -- my brain -- is missing something it absolutely must have. I just don't know what it is.It's driving me crazy. It'

For the record, being financially responsible is BORING!I'm going more than a bit stir crazy. Summer is ending, and I have a profound urge to be out doing stuff, attending festivals and fairs and celebrating the wonderful weather that is left. Instead I sit around plugging numbers into budget spreadsheets that tell me I don

I'm beginning to notice a pattern. My mood falters and my confidence seems do wane at the end of the month. I start doubting my ability to stick to the plan I've laid out for getting out of debt.Maybe it's because the money between paychecks has to stretch the longest at this time of the month.I was actually ready to abando

I guess I should have been listening to Dr. Laura. It might have been fun to hear her say the N-word 11 times on nationally syndicated radio and then try to apologize for it.Maybe Dave Ramsey will be back on middays again on 1190 KEX AM, now that Dr. Laura says she won't renew her contract. (Read her blog post here and read

Portland, Ore., radio station KEX, 1190 AM, has been promoting a smart phone application for iheartradio lately, and they finally convinced me to use it more. I had downloaded the app for my phone, but had not really used it, until today.It was not the commercials for the app itself that led me to use it. It was the fact th

I had hoped to start my 48-month debt payoff plan this month. I'm going to wait, though, until I rebuild my savings account.It looks like it will be at least next month, or perhaps the month after, before I get the savings account back where I want it and can start tackling the first account on my debt snowball.I'm not thri

Me efforts to get out of debt have involved some lifestyle changes. The biggest one is that I rarely eat out anymore. For most people, that may not be much of an adjustment, but it was for me. I used to live on fast food and other restaurants.At one point I was actually convinced that eating out was cheaper than eating at h