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We feel like this debt is just getting higher and higher.

Why do we feel this way?

Debt is something that grows just like investments grow, but the other way around.  When we feel like we can never get ahold of anything like our debt, everything becomes effected by it. We thought we were the only one, but reality is our neighbor, our family, our best friends are in the same situation as we are.  

Decide to just start. 

The budget template will help you start!

Why is starting a smart idea?

Debt is possible to overcome.  Million, yes, millions of people have been just like us and have gotten out of debt.  We are not alone. 

Start small. 

Why small?

Start with the smallest debt.  It will make us feel better when we accomplish a small goal and make us feel like we are on top of the mountain.  Just like when we go hiking and enjoy the nature for free. When we start with the smallest, we enjoy the accomplishment of tackling the first bill — debt free. 

Auto to [[ZERO]]!! 

What the heck do we mean by this?

Automatically paying our bills for the minimum payment this includes all your bills!! This way we never forget about paying for any of the bills. Thinking to myself, okay, we will have it come out later in the month because we do not want to see our account go to nothing right away. But hey, hey — no way! This should be automatically done right when our paycheck comes in. 

Review Monthly. 

Monthly — What? We cannot look at our debt this much!

Yes, we can review our debt monthly to see how much progress we have made on the smallest debt.  Once you have one month down, it is easy to review it each month.  Plus when we review it monthly, we get excited how close we are getting to our goal and we can throw an extra $25 to $100 at it or whatever is in our reach. 

Still with me on reviewing monthly?  It has been 6 months now… 

Are we still together? Or did we break up and give up?

We know this paying down debt thing is hard.  Life is hard, but we are telling each other we cannot give up on it.  We have to be committed in this together it is just like losing weight.  There are ups and downs.  So now 6 months have passed or even if it hasn’t been 6 months and its been 3 months.  We can re-evaluate.   Are we hitting home runs or we striking out?

Home runs? 

Why home runs are so important?

Home runs mean we are putting down the minimum to all of our debt payments automatically.  We are starting with the smallest debt and adding additional payments to our smallest debt to eliminate it FAST. We feel like we just hit a home run in the major leagues.  Congratulations!!   Continue to complete these steps until you reach ZERO on all of your debt!!  It will be fun and you will find other ways to save money too!!

Striking Out? 

Can we get back up to the plate and get back on our game?

Of course, if we are striking out and getting off track with paying down our debt.  We are going no where…or maybe going backwards.  What is holding us back?  Lifestyle? Shopping to much? Credit Cards? Going out to eat?  Living to large? Where is the money being spent?  Join mint.com it is where we view all our accounts at once to know where we spend too much. 

Practice and more practice.

Think we are done once we hit DEBT FREE!!!

Well it is true we are DEBT free and this feeling feels great for the first 30 days, the year anniversary, and the 2nd year anniversary because millions are still in debt.  Celebrate, but be careful how you do so. We do not want to get back into a bad spending habit.  We did so much work to get out of this jail like feeling.  We were just practicing to save for our future. 

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Believe and Budget