I Want to Run Like a Gazelle and Pay Off My Debt Already

I hate debt and can't believe I had let myself get into it again. I had lost focus, made mistakes, didn't pay attention to what was happening with the economy, and let my wants exceed my needs.

I have many friends that are right there with me. People who made great money, put twenty percent down on their homes, were debt free, and had a substantial savings and are now facing massive debt and possibly losing their homes. One factor that ranked the highest with all of us was that we still filled our wants even at a time of decline in the economy. Some people you will find have a different definition of a want and a need. A recent poll from Mainstay Investments found that people considered a weekend getaway a basic need. Many people will even tell you they consider a manicure and/or pedicures a basic need. That is absolutely not my attitude and I would say that it isn't my closest friends either. One thing that is certain these days we are all becoming believer's of thrift once again.

We have all began tacking control of our finances again. Creating budgets became first priority and getting our debt paid off followed suit. We made mistakes and it is now time to reverse the damage.

If you want to reverse the damage you've done. Yes, the damage you've done. Getting into debt is primarily caused by the decisions you make. The good news is you can also choose to get out of debt. First you need to decide to start a budget.

If you feel you need help creating a budget, you can go to mint.com and the MoneyCenter at yodlee.com. These tools will help you with your spending categories like housing, credit card debt, groceries, transportation, entertainment, etc. One of the biggest enemies to our budget was eating out. We had to target that area heavily and had to decide to eat at home more often.

Once your budget is worked out, you need to decide how soon you want to be debt free. Currently my wife and I are on five year plan. This has been designed by the balance liquidation programs we are on with our credit card companies. This is where the running like a gazelle to pay off our credit card debt comes in. If we stick to our current plan and don't revert back into the "wants" side of things, there should be no problem paying off our debt in five years. But I want more.

We continue to re-structure our budget each month to find ways to cut back further and further. With the extra money we find each month, we put the extra towards our debt to pay it off faster. Currently we are on track to pay off several accounts within 2 and 2 1/2 years. Once that happens we will really be able to kick in our debt snowball and knock out that darn debt in 3-4 years . If you want to get out of debt, you've got to live on less than you earn and put the extra towards your debt.

If you are serious about getting out of debt, I suggest you get going on finding places where you can cut back on your spending. If you need inspiration follow Financial Elite or check out sites like Eventual Millionaire or The Simple Dollar. These folks have paid off thousands of dollars of debt and love to talk about it. You'll find plenty of inspiration from those who managed to kick their paying off debt into high gear.

Take action now while you're feeling the motivation. If you procrastinate, you may never get out debt. Get up to speed and run like a gazelle. Otherwise, that debt is going to be the end of you.

[This post is written and copyrighted by Financial Elite (http://financialelite.blogspot.com/ ).]

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