Living Debt Free Pt. 1

So I have never really understood how different my family is. We became debt free from everything in 2006, so I've just gotten used to the idea. That doesn't mean free from bills, just we don't owe anyone anything. So it gave me the idea that I could write about it and maybe somebody could find inspiration, tips, or something from my story. So I'm going to start at the only logical place and that is at the beginning.

My debt story starts where it starts for a lot of people. COLLEGE! I started college in the fall of 1993 having no idea how to pay for it. I had won a small $1000 scholarship but that wouldn't come close to covering the cost of a 4 year university. A friend I worked with told me about this payment plan option through a 3rd party company. It was awesome. I made monthly payments so I didn't have to take out a loan. Not sure why I was so averse to taking out a student loan, but I'm glad I was! It was interest free as long as I paid on time. Which I did. I lived at home and I worked 20 hours a week. So I thought I was doing okay.

One day I found an ad on a bulletin board for a student credit card from Citi Bank. The ad was pretty compelling and let's face it, I really wanted a credit card. It talked about building up your credit score etc. I was sold. I filled out the application and was soon sent my very own card. I was responsible with it at first, but it quickly turns into a slippery slope. This was the start, the moment, of my debt filled life.

During my Senior Year of college I got a job that increased my pay by quite a bit. I convinced myself that I now made enough to get a brand new car. Not just a new to me car, but a BRAND NEW car. I wanted a black Cavalier. It was a stick shift, cd player, CUP HOLDERS. I had an escort. It had a million miles on it. It had served me well, but I was ready for an upgrade... and a sporty one at that. So the payments were right at my limit of what I could afford, but I went ahead with it. I had the payments conveniently worked out so they automatically came out of my checking account. I was still living at home, so things were still going okay.

Now my dad had convinced me to join a couple of network marketing companies. The first one was a huge failure, and also a huge lesson moneywise. So I was super reluctant to join the second one. I finally did and it was great! I loved the products and I even managed to make a little bit of money with it. I then graduated from college and joined the salaried work force as an entry level programmer. So I was making pretty okay money.

Shortly after graduation, I moved out. My dad found a place for me that was pretty cheap and I was ready to move out on my own. It was after I moved out of that cheap rent place to an apartment that was quite a bit more per month that things really started to spiral out of control. I got a couple of store credit cards and somewhere along the line I decided it would be great to get another regular credit card. I also got a loan to pay for new furniture and to pay off some of my already accumulated debt. I had convinced myself that I deserved all those things. Anything less would mean that I was poor and I can't have anyone thinking that about me.

So things began to get worse and worse. The credit card balances weren't moving even though I was paying more than minimums. There were a couple of months I had to use credit cards to pay for groceries. I was still spending like crazy and not even on hugely expensive items. I didn't even own a computer at that time. I didn't understand how families could survive on less of a yearly salary than I was making. A single person! I just had a hard time saying no. Credit cards were easy money. I went to a few conventions for the network marketing company I was involved with and other trainings. I over-bought products, clothes, etc. I was getting into a bad spot. I even opened up a third credit card account.

THEN, hubby and I decided to get married. He had no idea about how much debt I had. He only had his mortgage. No credit cards and no other loans. Opposites attract! lol

Next up I'll start to cover our plan of attack becoming debt free.