how to get out of debt quick Archives

This is a post by Chelsea who is currently doing a Spending Fast®.

Change can be such a scary concept! Leaving the life rituals that you are used to and starting something new seems almost suffocating at times.

I was living in Ohio and having to work two jobs because after seven months of living there, I still couldn’t find full time employment. The world as I knew it ended and here I am, three weeks later, sitting in my new apartment in North Carolina with not one but two full time job offers. I have no idea which one to pick! How did I get to this point? Does it matter? What an awesome predicament!

Change is awkward and uncomfortable and unfamiliar but sometimes it’s good. Although I am very lonely and unhappy about my recent relationship split, I now have time to focus on my career. Which, when on a Spending Fast, is a great thing! What do I wanna be when I grow up? I have no idea! Now is a great time to channel my energy into figuring that out.

During the move, the bottom drawer to my dresser decided to break. My apartment has a big enough closet that all of my dresser items can fit inside it. As I was starting to take the dresser to the dumpster, I realized that I don’t have a desk. And a desk is really just a dresser without the drawers! So I took that bad boy back inside and started unscrewing the drawer brackets. After about 30 minutes of work, I have a new desk! It got beat up a bit in the move so I will have to paint it but instead of spending money on a desk, I created a free one. I changed something familiar into something new and useful.

After thinking about it, isn’t that what being on a Spending Fast and paying off debt is all about? Deciding to commit to the change instead of pushing against it. Changing your spending habits may seem weird and uncomfortable now but in the long run, it’s going to be beautiful and make your life more functional.

What are some ways a life change turned out surprisingly well when at first you weren’t sure it’d all work out okay?

Chelsea Overton is in the midst of a Spending Fast® and writes about it from North Carolina with her bulldog, Xena the Warrior Princess, by her side.

18 comments
posted on: April 30, 2013
in Motivation, Spending Fast

tagged // change your life, how to deal with change, how to do a spending fast, how to get out of debt, how to get out of debt quick, spending fast

It’s an And Then We Saved Sketch Video!

I’m thrilled to show you this short sketch video that Becoming Your Own Bank created for And Then We Saved. If you haven’t done so already (or if you want to re-new your pledge) sign-up for the Debt Free Life Pledge right here. I don’t get anything out of you taking the pledge. I really just want you to have a debt-free life too! xo, anna

Thanks Becoming Your Own Bank!

What do you think does the sketch video tell my story and the And Then We Saved story well?

7 comments
posted on: March 28, 2013
in Just For Fun, Motivation

tagged // becoming your own bank, debt free life pledge, how to change your life, how to do a spending diet, how to get out of debt quick, the and then we saved story, what is a spending fast?, what is and then we saved all about

Month Two Totals: In the Spending Fast Trenches

This post is by Chelsea who is currently doing a Spending Fast®.

My second month of being on a Spending Fast has come to an end and I must admit that I am thankful. During the first month I was all like, “Woo, look at me! I’m saving money and being awesome.” This month has been more like, “Ugh, I really want to buy nail polish and chocolate and wine and this whole not spending thing sucks.”

I know that by writing about my journey through And Then We Saved and on my personal site, I have been able to stick with my commitment. It is so tempting to cheat and buy something small every once in a while, but knowing I will have to report back on my progress has helped tremendously. I am an extremist by nature and often get pumped up about doing things and then burn out almost immediately. I jumped into the Spending Fast with the notion that I was unstoppable and could do anything. After eating cold soup (no microwave at work) and cracker sandwiches for lunch, the idea of being on a Spending Fast has become a reality. I am so grateful to receive motivation and encouragement from all the readers who share similar experiences. It’s comforting to know I am not alone.

All that being said, it’ s time to report my month two totals. Drum roll please…

My Month Two Spending Fast Totals…

19 comments
posted on: March 26, 2013
in Savings Total, Spending Fast

tagged // getting out of debt, how to change your life, how to do a spending fast, how to get out of debt, how to get out of debt quick, paying debt, personal finance, spending fast, Spending Fast Totals

How To Stay Motivated Throughout the Entire Year

As with many resolutions, made at the New Year and beyond, we start out strong towards a goal. But as time goes by and glitches in the road trip us up, we tend to lose our steam. When our path to debt freedom is sidetracked by an unexpected expense or we fall off the wagon when we see something we just ‘can’t live without!’ we tend to get down on ourselves and blow our commitment towards getting out of debt and staying there.

Staying motivated is possible for all goals – but you have to work at it.

How To Stay Motivated To Get Out Of Debt For The Whole Year…

16 comments
posted on: March 11, 2013
in Motivation

tagged // how to be the person you want to be, how to change your life, how to do a spending fast, how to get out of debt, how to get out of debt quick, how to stay motivated to get out of debt

Let’s Talk Morality – How Far Would You Go to Pay Off Your Debt?

When I was on my Spending Fast® and Spending Diet I wanted nothing more than to pay off my debt, and I wanted it done quickly! I had opportunities where I could’ve taken advantage of the situation and put my dishonestly accrued “savings” into paying off the debt. Desperate times, call for desperate measures, right? And when you are very serious about saving money, living frugally and/or paying off debt – you may find yourself tempted to steal or do other bad acts in an effort to reach your financial goals. I’m curious would you steal? Would you not tell the cashier if he accidentally forgot to ring up something? How far would you go to save money and get that debt paid off?

How Far Would You Go to Pay Off Your Debt? Would You Steal, Be Dishonest, or Do Other Bad Acts?

18 comments
posted on: March 4, 2013
in Paying Off Debt

tagged // how far would you go to save money?, how to do a spending diet, how to do a spending fast, how to get out of debt quick, morality and saving, paying off debt, what is a spending fast?, would you commit a crime to pay off debt?

Credit Cards in Ice Blocks and Other Urban Myths About Money

Have you heard the one about the lady who freezes a credit card to prevent her from spending (have you ever frozen yours)? There are a lot of myths out there about money that are believed by a good majority of consumers, so it’s important to recognize the myths when you see them, educate yourself, and change your habits to include true financial knowledge.

Money Myths to be Aware of…

11 comments
posted on: January 14, 2013
in Bankruptcy, Money

tagged // clerk cutting up credit card, freezing credit card, how to get out of debt quick, is it cheaper to buy in bulk?, money myths, responsibilty of co-signing, should i cancel my credit card?, what is discharged in bankruptcy?

28 Reasons Why Budgets Suck! (& What REALLY Works)

If you hate budgets you’ll LOVE this. When we start thinking about saving money and getting our financial lives in order the word that comes to most people’s minds is the word ‘budget’. I know budgets work for some people, and if they work for you I’m really glad (tell me your tips!) but they’ve never worked for me even though I’ve really wanted them.

28 Reasons Why Budget’s Suck…

24 comments
posted on: December 10, 2012
in Paying Off Debt, Spending Fast, Struggle, Take Action

tagged // best method to get out of debt?, budgets, budgets are sexy, budgets are stupid, budgets dont work, budgets fail, how to do a budget, how to do a spending fast, how to get out of debt fast?, how to get out of debt quick, pool images, why budgets suck

A Year of Living Awesomely 2013 Calendar!

Every time you look at the calendar think of it as me cheering you along! This is gonna be the best year yet!

Since I like ya so much and because I want you to succeed and be motivated with everything you do I’ll be selecting 2 random winners to win A Year of Living Awesomely 2013 Calendar!

Don’t feel like gambling? Buy the calendar below (available for US and International shipping). This is a great gift to ask for and to give;)

details: $11.95, 6″x9″, cover, hard backing, hole at the top for easy hanging, order by 12/15/12 for best chance of delivery by the 25th

ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!

Must use the Rafflecopter entry form below
Giveaway is open until 12/5/12
Like And Then We Saved on Facebook
Follow And Then We Saved on Twitter
Tweet the phrase: “@AndThenWeSaved is giving away A Year of Living Awesomely 2013 Calendar & I just entered cuz I wanna win it! http://wp.me/p2GORN-Gi”
Two random winners will be announced on this post 12/6/12!
Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

**CALENDARS ARE NO LONGER FOR SALE and the GIVEAWAY HAS CLOSED. Thank you! xo!

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posted on: November 28, 2012
in Giveaway

tagged // 2013 calendar, and then we saved calendar, calendar giveaway, how to get out of debt quick, motivational calendar, year of living awesomely

How to do a Spending Diet

This week I’ve been thinking about how The Spending Diet should work. I thought I had it figured out and then I didn’t and then I did and well, I wanted to have a plan that would work for me for life. Not something that I wouldn’t be able to keep up. So. I think I’ve got it sorted out now and I’m ready to spill the details.

The other day I was talking with a pal I hadn’t seen in awhile and he’s all “I’m doing the budget thing too” and I’m all “Oh, I’m not budgeting” then he’s all “Yeah, you are.” Me, “No, not really I wasn’t spending any money at all.” Him “That’s budgeting.” Me “Uh, no it’s not”. Him “Uh”. Me “Uh”. Him “Uh”. And so on and so on for like 5 minutes maybe more, and then we said our “goodbyes” and that was that.

Since budgeting is something that I tried pre-Spending Fast and since I didn’t have success with it I never considered that what I was doing was a budget technique. I don’t know, maybe it is? Maybe it’s just the word that I don’t like. That is a possibility. It’s kind of like the word “networking”. That word is scary but that’s all that’s scary about networking. Anyway, that’s totally off the topic. So, for me budgets weren’t a fit. I don’t like the category thing and defining a certain amount for each category and then going over or under categories and what if a certain thing goes into 2 categories?! Then WHAt!? Then WHHAHHHHATTTT!!!?? PANIC!!

Budgets work for millions of people and that’s cool. There’s a ton of different ways to do the same thing.

Anyway, here is my Spending Diet plan that I don’t think of as a budget:

How to do a Spending Diet

1. Make list of my NEEDS. These are things like: shelter, phone, food, utilities, mortgage/rent. See my original Spending Fast Needs list here. I’m going to re-do this list. Re-evaluation is a good thing.

2. Out of my NEEDS list figure out where costs can be reduced.

3. Stop spending money. (simple but not easy!)

4. When a NEED from the NEEDS list pops up I’ll spend money on those. Those are NEEDS. Those are okay.

5. Since this is the Spending Diet and not the Spending Fast I am allowing myself a $200 $100 limit on “non-needs” for the month. Things that go into this section are things like: clothes, make-up, entertainment, dinner out, other random “non-needs” stuff. I’ll follow this criteria for purchases so I don’t go buck wild buying corn dogs and bubble gum.

6. I’ll keep a running monthly tally of the money I’m spending on “non-needs” and once the $200 $100 is hit then that’s it. I’ll stop spending money and go into the Spending Fast mode for the remainder of the month.

There you have it! My Spending Diet Guidelines!

With this plan I hope to have a life long livable plan that works for me. I’m hoping with this plan I will be able to live in the world of “Enough” and not feel the deprivation I felt with the Spending Fast and also I won’t feel the tedious-ness that a budgeted life makes me think of.

7 comments
posted on: January 7, 2011
in Paying Off Debt, Practical Solutions, Spending Fast, Staying Out of Debt, Take Action, Things To Do

tagged // how do i get out of debt, how do i pay off debt with kids, how to do a spending diet, how to do a spending fast, how to get out of debt quick, what is the difference between a spending diet and a spending fast

Trade you a Liberry for a Library

Whether you pronounce it lie-berry or lie-brary nothing is better than the library. If you’re fortunate enough to live in a city that has a library system half as good as the one here in Denver then you’re a lucky little chap.

The library system here is so great because you can go online, type in your library card number then look for any book, movie, magazine, cd, tv series that you’re interested in and then say what branch you want to pick the item up at and they have it delivered there for you.

Uh.

Can you spell a-w-e-s-o-m-e?

Sometimes, I’ll find myself in a certain well known book store using the camera on my cell phone to take a picture of book covers I’m interested in so that I can then go home and look the title up on the library’s website. Better that than shelling out the money for a book I’ll read once and then it just gets shipped off to the basement only to start the getting-musky process.

There have only been a couple instances where the library didn’t have the item I requested. I still don’t know why they wouldn’t carry the tv series “Hogan Knows Best”. What do they have against big blonde muscle-y wrestlers? It’s not like its a moral issue or anything like that because they carry “The Girls Next Door” and I can almost guarantee they will be carrying “Jersey Shore” just to please Snooki.

Also, I can tell you from personal experience that paying the late fees stinks. Our library recently lowered the check out limit for overdue fees from $10 bucks to $5. I was bummed as I paid a whopping $7.75 in late fees the other day.

That.

My friend, is NOT in the Spending Fast budge. Never thought I would say this, but the money actually hurt as it left my card. I had been doing so good before the fateful checkout counter run-in.

I’ll suppose I’ll have to forgive you library. You un-wieldy beast you.

I love the library because if I have an interest in a topic either vaguely or huge-ly I can research it from every angle up and down and all for free… that is if it gets returned on time.

So, I’ll keep checking things out and keep my fingers crossed that sooner or later they’ll come to their senses and order ”Hogan Knows Best”.

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posted on: January 18, 2010
in Spending Fast, Things To Do

tagged // how does the library work?, how to borrow movies from library, how to get out of debt fast?, how to get out of debt quick, things to do instead of spending money

More Reductions on Spending – Progress Report

Here’s an mini-update of things I have done to reduce my out-going costs even more:

Changed my 1/2 size locker at the gym to a cube one that is $4 less per month
Bought face wash that was $7 less than my normal one
Consistently making coffee at work… un-told savings there
Checking out cd’s from the library instead of buying new music online
Swiping and then returning (of course) old magazines from the gym
Ran out of yummy smelling fabric softener and not gonna replace it
Making homemade notepads out of scrap paper (8×10 paper cut into 4′s and then stapled together)
Constantly working at eating away my soup collection (makes it sound like I bought all that on purpose if I call it a collection, see)
Decided to not take showers or eat or buy stamps in an effort to cut costs even more
Lied about the last thing on my list

3 comments
posted on: January 15, 2010
in Paying Off Debt, Spending Fast

tagged // how to cut down on spending, how to do a spending fast, how to get out of debt quick, ways to save money

Spending Fast Difficulty and Reality is Setting in

It’s only DAY 5 but things are getting difficult. The bills have been paid and this is usually the point of the month where I go through my Etsy favorites and see what I want and then justify why I NEED it and then I simply buy it.

I’m starting realize that just because I have money in my account and I like something that that isn’t nearly enough of a reason to buy it.

Around this time of the month in the past I would find myself at Walgreens purchasing something we can probably all agree is a need, you know, something like toothpaste and then I would find myself starting to wander to the make-up aisle to see if there is any new shade of make-up I should be testing out or something else that would be some sort of miracle cure for some problem I never knew I had until I saw an item I was convinced would fix the mysterious ailment that I have suddenly acquired. Then by that point I would find myself walking out of the store with a $62 bag of crap that I really didn’t need at all and the toothpaste had been completely forgotten.

Also around this time of the month, I used to make my way over to the famously inexpensive and trendy, yet shabbily built clothing and accessory shop Forever21. I liked to see if there might be something to add to my wardrobe to make myself feel better about myself and all my hard work at the gym. After all, what’s the point of working out if you just have crappy frumpy clothes to wear? The answer is- there is no point. Health should be a good enough reason but somedays it’s just not. Then, as anyone who has shopped at Forever21 knows the item usually falls apart after a few washes and is definitely not anything that I would say is any sort of investment. Disposable is what that clothing is and that’s exactly what I was doing with my money before I started this spending fast. Mindlessly and aimlessly disposing of my money.

This whole process has made me realize that the dollar really doesn’t mean all that much to me. If it meant more I probably wouldn’t be so fond of letting it go from my grasp.

It has been really hard to shift my habits to start thinking differently about money and spending and saving and about what I do with my spare time (since I’m not finding myself in stores as much ’cause it’s not all that fun if you can’t buy anything. can I get an amen.)

Surprisingly, I’m actually feeling empowered and more willing to make the right choices financially. It could and most likely is because I feel accountable since I have said I would tell you all about any set-backs that I may have. And… I don’t want to mess up because I don’t want to tell you about messing up.

Because of the spending fast I have:

Cancelled the internet on my phone
Down-sized my unlimited text messaging package
Down-sized my fancy html email service (it’s almost free now)
Reserved some books from the library about being financially responsible (I’ll tell you all about which ones in another post)
Kept the thermostat mostly at 68 degrees
Ran out of shampoo and then found some old discarded shampoo hidden away in a back closet and have actually been using it
Monitoring how long I’m in the shower and trying not to be in there forever like I used to do
Decided that I shouldn’t be using my dryer (that is right next to the shower) as a towel warmer for my princess ass
Ate shriveled grapes even though I didn’t want to

one comment
posted on: January 5, 2010
in Motivation, Personal, Spending Fast

tagged // how to change your life, how to do a spending fast, how to get out of debt quick, how to get through a tough time?, motivational quote, the spending fast is difficult, we are going to make it through this year

Day 2 of the Spending Fast. Ok.

Rollerblading around a park is free. So, that’s what I did today. Money spent $0.

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posted on: January 2, 2010
in Spending Fast

tagged // how to change your life, how to do a spending fast, how to get out of debt quick, spending fast blog, things to do instead of spending money

Day 1 of The Spending Fast – Irony at it’s Finest

It’s the 1st day of my year-long Spending Fast and I ironically found myself at the mall with the hub. Say what? Yeah. I know.

It was kinda like testing myself and probably way too soon. It’s DAY 1 for goodness sake!

He wanted to return something and I said “I can do this. I can handle it…” and I did but it was kind of a weird experience going there knowing that no matter what “Great YEAR END/NEW YEAR Deal” I saw and whatever I found that I couldn’t possibly live without that I was in-fact going to walk out of there item-less. Oh, poor me huh. I know what you’re thinking and yes, I did do this to myself.

Browsing from store to store I was surprised to find that through this project that I may actually be able to find myself released from the burdens of my self-imposed debt. The constant heaviness of that debt that however subtle it feels on somedays is always there. It prevents me from doing certain things and definitely holds me back. If not literally then mentally.

Being in those stores I found that I no longer had the unspoken pressure/expectation to spend. That due to the Spending Fast that expectation has been removed (at least for the moment). Ok. I proved my point. Now, can I stop? ha.

In lovely lovely Anthropologie, it was a new experience to be able to enjoy the smells and textures and the true beauty of the items. Strange. Needless to say, that was quite a different experience than I usually have in shops. Usually I am consumed with the desire to find the best thing for the best price so I can be the best at whatever I’m trying to do/look-like/whatever. The American way? Be the best-est?

I’m happy to say that I left the mall awkwardly empty-handed.

Todays experience made me realize that I have been constantly and mindlessly spending money based primarily on convenience, instant gratification, boredom and I’ll be honest… out of laziness too. It’s a lot easier to buy a new shirt or skirt than try to figure out an outfit from old stuff that I’m sick of already.

This is only Day 1 with a total of $8 spent (on oranges, cilantro and other grocery store fruits) and who knows how much saved. As I sit here freezing (68 degrees on the thermostat) with a hat on and 2 pairs of socks I’m excited to see what other revelations come into being throughout the year… however hard it is in the beginning I think it will be worth it in the end.

Back in my home town of York, pa a local film critic spent half of every review she wrote explaining why it is so awesome that she is a film critic. ¾ of the column was dedicated to her awesomeness yet the review totally stunk.