My favourite line of the whole video was Carole Caroll (a slightly difficult name for me to say) saying that they didn’t want to declare bankruptcy: “We made the debt, we should pay for it!”
And Don Carroll — “You learn to live with what you need, not what you want.”
How inspirational. That’s $29,333 a year net that they paid towards their debt.
They had a goal, they cut back, didn’t feel deprived even though they must have cut back drastically in their spending and made it work. They said that all the extra spending they were doing was extraneous and not required. This is exactly what I feel about treats like Starbucks and electronics now. It’s fun, it’s a want, but it isn’t required.
Link came via Sharon of Midlife Mom Musings
NOW FOR A BREAK FROM ALL THAT FRUGALITY
For a really funny read, check out this article from the Atlantic by Sandra Tsing Loh called “The Frugal Divorcée” – How to survive—and even thrive—in the new age of austerity.
It’s a bit frantic in its writing, but I found the style humorous and engaging.
Teaser:
Struggling with my finances, nudging toward 50, I sometimes daydream about being happily married to a matching frugaholic husband in a matching Christmas-red tracksuit with matching walkie-talkies as we troll Ralphs, excitedly comparing triple coupons.
(Did I mention that Steve gave Annette her very own custom-made coupon box? You see, her coupon wallet had become too small—coupons were falling out. She was thrilled!)
How satisfying it would be to have a von Trapp family–like army of homeschooled children whistling as they spin their chore wheels—doing the dishes, folding the laundry, mowing the lawn—while I meticulously reward them in 25-cent increments, according to a complex yet motivating point system, dropped in three glass jars (spending, saving, tithing).
Thanks to Moneyapolis for the link to such a funny article. 🙂
Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver.
I cleared $60,000 in 18 months earning $65,000 gross/year.
Now I am self-employed, and you can read more about 
”We made the debt, we should pay for it!” Love that! Only a mature responsible adult is willing to admit that.
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I really enjoyed this couple\’s view on life. It was so unassuming and matter-of-fact, rather than \”LOOK LOOK AT WHAT WE DID\”
I think it's a really inspiring story. It's great that they did not file for bankruptcy, while they probably could. I wish we had some of these stories in the Netherlands, where everybody just seems to go for debt remission (my dictionary offered this translation, but what it is, is that if you are for example 30k in debt, you can apply for debt remission. It takes three years, in those three years, all your money is handled by an organisation. It pays your bills with it, keeps little jars for unexpected things, and you get about €70 a week for groceries etc. The remaining money is used to pay off your debts. After three years, you can start with a clean sheet. However, if you do not make a lot of money, the 30k will not be repaid after three years, which leaves your creditors with your problems (since you have a clean sheet and do not have to pay anymore, even if you only paid off 10k of the 30k).
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I think debt remission is probably closer to what we\’d call debt management here. It\’s very unusual for me to have heard of anyone paying an organization to handle their money for them, negotiate with lenders and so on. It\’s more common for people to just have their debt go to collections agencies who buy your debt for pennies on the dollar, and harass you to pay back the money by calling you, your family, sending letters…
You can negotiate the amount you pay back if you talk to these collections agencies, settling for $10,000 instead of $15,000 (they don\’t care, they\’re earning an 80% – 90% profit for every dollar you owe and pay to them).
That sounds like a very interesting sort of method in the Netherlands. I wonder what the statistics are on organizations getting their money back. It seems so controlled but so unfair to those companies in a way, even if someone was put on a forced budget for 3 years. Some people take 5-10 years to clear their debt.
But do a lot of people get in debt there? I would think it is not in the culture, as it is here.
Those people truly are inspiring. Did you hear the story about Sonja Morgan, one of the Real Housewives? She's millions of dollars in debt and she filed for bankruptcy. Yet her monthly income is $26,000 a month. Some people don't even make that much money in a year, and yet she's filing for bankruptcy! Stories like that make me mad, but when I think of the people like the one you described, then it gives me hope that the entire human race isn't lost. 🙂
Tell me about it. They buckled down and got \’er done.
I think that's awesome. Good for them 😉
The only thing I hate about PF articles sometimes is when people say to spend on your wants and not your needs. At that rate we would only spend money on shelter, food, clothing and that's it. There has to be at least some money for wants, at least a tiny bit. Most people don't do good with self-denial and they crack. I think its healthy to budget for "mad money."
You mean spend on your needs and not your wants, right? 🙂
I really agree with you.
For me, I kind of feel like I only spend on needs, but that\’s my own personal feeling. I tend to only spend the bulk of my money on shelter, food and some clothing. My wants however, tend to be few and far between. New Apple iPod Touch, yadda yadda yadda.. I do spend on traveling and buying things, just not as much as I used to.
A balance for everything.
yes that's what I meant to write, sorry I was getting ready for work and wrote that in a rush. Yep I get what you mean about balance.
Thanks for the video, FB! Thta’s very encouraging. My husband and I have about £38,000 (GBP) of debt to pay off and *if* I get the job that I’m having a second interview for, we’ll be able to pay it all off early in 2013 — just over 2 years from now.
We started working on debt reduction in 2007, although it took a while for my husband to get as serious about it as I was. Unfortunately, in early 2009 both of us had our hours cut at work and then I was made redundant (laid off). We had to go into a Debt Management Plan, which is an informal agreement with lenders, because we couldn’t make full payments anymore. Eventually all of our creditors accepted the plan. Now, though, after 22 months of under/unemployment for me, my job prospects are very good. Even though I won’t be making what I did before it’ll be enough for us to be debt free in 2+ years.
Now my husband, who is still on reduced hours, is looking for another job. Even with increased costs (he wouldn’t be able to walk to work anymore) we would still be able to pay more off and even be debt-free sooner.
Oh goodness what an inspiring story. Thank you for sharing!