Wanna Pay Off Debt? Just How Serious Are You?

 I thought I would share some of the things that we started when we really made the commiment to get out of debt.  But before I get started about the past, let me tell that starting to make radical changes in your life often do not stop once you reach your goal.  For us, we still practice many of the things you will read below.  And for those we may now be a little lax on, I can guarantee you after a few months without my income we may have to revisit some.  And, we are always finding new ways to save...

• Johnny is currently growing a beard.  He always shaves it when it gets to the stage it is in. He describes it as needles poking out at you--screaming for attention.  His theory is that if it keeps growing, it will just continue to poke out and never lay down like most beards.  I told him he should stick with it and try this time.  Well, as it has grown out, it has taken on a little character. For some reason, who knows why, his chin has been snow covered--you know, gray...He has investigated the Just for Men but fussed that it was $6.  Well...Sunday, he comes into the living room and asks, "Do you notice anything different?" All of a sudden, his beard was brown--all over--no more snowy chin.  "What did you do?" I asked as I enhaled an aroma of cologne (he rarely wears cologne). "Shoe polish. I took this little brush, dipped it in the shoe polish--and it worked. But I had to put some cologne on because it smelled pretty bad."  Again, I ask you how serious are you about getting out of debt?  We are serious about staying out of debt in the Cox house.  Not a believer yet, check this out...

• Do you have any guesses of what the picture is of? That' right...a duct tape special--and do you know where--on the couch. I don't want to buy a new one--so what do you do when a small tear becomes a large tear--you create art. John Gannon has even recycled his binder with duct tape!

So, for some of the other things...

• We got rid of the satellite--no tv service.  This is one area we still practice today--all those things we enjoyed watching that we thought we would miss-- we don't!
• Basic cell phone package--no texting, no data. We upgraded about 3-4 years ago (after being debt free 3-4 years)! But, I would give it up today if I needed to!
• Portion control--I often ate a half can of beans for lunch one day, ate the other half the next day. I would also pre bag my snacks so I wasn't temped to buy the more expensive pre packaged stuff. It wasn't as bad as it sounds--I was full when I was done--the same kind of full as everybody else at the table!
• We didn't have dental ins, a cancer policy or vision insurance. We just pre planned these expenses, paid cash, and asked for discounts because they weren't having to file and wait on payment.
• Cooked one meal and ate it a long time. We still do this--we may eat a soup or chili all week. It's cheap to make, tastes good, and lasts a long time!
• My daddy will fuss at me if I don't tell this one--we have been guilty in the past of going to Sams to eat--not at the snack bar--but for the samples. I am not necessarily saying this is a good idea, but it did occasionally work for us.
• When we did actually eat out, we either had a coupon or we ate somewhere we knew we would have leftovers--so we could eat more than one meal!
• Gifts--we asked for things we used--like garbage bags, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, soap, clorox, etc.  Really--we did!!!  And we used every bit of it--and was very grateful for it--lots of money saved!  
• We stopped using paper plates and paper towels.  We washed more dishes and started using hand towels.We still do this!
• We got cash out of our hands--for both of us, having cash readily accessible in our wallets--meant we were more apt to spend it on useless stuff. For example--if I had a few dollars in my purse--I would convince myself I needed a snickers bar so that I could stay awake in school (I was in grad school).  We still practice this today.  It is a rare occasion for one of us to have cash on hand!  When a dollar is found around our house or a quarter for that matter--it is really an exciting thing!
• At the core of all it--we really wanted the outcome of being debt free--we just didn't think about it or like the idea--we wanted it bad enough to stay disciplined--even when we were tempted to give in.  There was nothing easy about it--I mean, this list isn't fictional--it is real.  As a matter of fact, it is actually lots longer--these are the only things I can thing of to list right now.  
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• Wanna pay off debt--it really just boils down to this...just how serious are you?