Start to Relieve Your Debt Burden by Making a Commitment

Today, I want to talk about the debt "feeling". I am talking about that overwhelming feeling and stress that accompanies the burden of too much debt. I have rid myself of that feeling in just a few months. Actually, the burden began to lift shortly after I decided to really do something about getting my debt to zero.

Once I made the commitment, the burden began to lift. I still am very aware of the debt that I still have on my books, but now it feels more like a goal that can be accomplished. Even though my debt is still quite high, I am thinking about the future and saving for the future. If I can stress anything to today, it is just make the commitment with the intention of following through and the burden will begin to lift.

Now that so many of us are in this together with the state of our deteriorating economy, it is the right time to make the commitment.

Credit Freeze

I've been thinking about freezing my credit. I have a couple of reasons for this. First, of my original $74,400 in credit card debt, I have now paid that down to $45,416. That leaves about $30,000 in "open" credit. My credit score should be improving and I don't want to be a victim of identity theft.

Second, under a credit freeze, even I could not get anymore credit without first "unfreezing" my credit through the credit reporting agencies. In the event that I got tempted to buy something on credit, this would certainly make it more difficult as I would first have to contact the credit reporting agencies that I told to freeze my credit to unfreeze my credit.

I don't see a downside as my credit score will not suffer. I think that I have convinced myself of the value of freezing my credit.

Money Obsession

I have been wondering why reducing my debt is working this time when I have tried and failed so many times before. What is different this time?

After a lot of thought, I believe that the main and most important difference this time is the commitment from both me and my boyfriend. Let's face it, if there are two people spending money from the same pot and only one is committed to a specific financial goal, it is not likely to be met. From the day we wrote $162,000 on the board, we were both committed.

Prior to our commitment to reduce our debt to zero, I managed the money and didn't let him in on it. He just thought that I had everything under control. I did not. I still manage the checking account and pay the bills but he updates the board with a lower number as we lower out debt. It is satisfying for both of us. We have a new mindset - something close to an obsession.

One final thought is that by displaying the number boldly on a board in the kitchen, we were (and are) committing our goal in writing and remain constantly reminded of our progress. I think there is something to writing it down that makes us even more committed. It serves as our "word" that we will do something, so we must.

Bottom line - commit in writing and commit together.

Long Road Ahead

Why now after not blogging in 8 months? Maybe it is easiest to answer the question of why I quit blogging. I began this journey so that I could share my success of climbing out of debt with others in a very public way.

By doing it publically, I thought that I might be more committed to actually getting out of debt because, after all, others were reading my story and would expect me to succeed in what I said I would. I also hoped to inspire others. I am not sure exactly what happened, but the more successful that I became in eliminating debt, the less desperate I felt and the less that I thought others would be interested in my story. I now look at things differently. The whole point is to feel less desperate.

With all that is going on in the nation and world today, I think it is more important than ever to give hope to people in the same situation as I. I began this journey eight months ago with a whopping $162,000 in debt. I am now happy to report that the number is now $124,600. That may still seem like a lot to many, but what I see is that in eight months, I have reduced my outstanding debt balance by $37,400. For me, that is quite an accomplishment. I know that I have a long road ahead, but for the first time in my adult life, I am eliminating debt rather than increasing debt.

How did I do it and what are my plans to reduce my overall debt obligations to zero? Well, that is what I commit myself to blogging about until I have accomplished my goal. I hope to hear from others who are in similar positions and hear their ideas about how they plan to go forward in light of their personal circumstances. So please post your comments and let's get through these hard times together.