For those that have debt to pay off

[Rach]

and are not financially comfortable...

When you are paying off your debt, do you buy whatever you please or are you as frugal as possible, sticking as close to your budget as possible?





I'm pretty frugal. Sometimes we will get a lunch or dinner at this place that costs $8 for both of us or maybe a few Starbucks runs a couple times a month, but that's it. I don't buy myself anything fun and neither does he.

It's very annoying to me to hear others complain about their money situation but yet still spend like money is burning a hole in their pocket. My mom is like this. Drives me nuts and takes a lot to bite my tongue.

[Sophie*]

With about 14yrs of university between us, two cars and a mortgage, it's going to take a loooooooooooooong time to pay off our debts! Whilst we don't spend as we please, we do set aside a small amount of money each month to enjoy ourselves with.

[joanna766]

I am on a very tight budget. When I get paid I make sure all my bills are paid, house, electric, etc. Then IF I have anything left over I might treat myself and kids to a dinner, nothing fancy, normally a chinese place where you get lots of food and can take some home.

[Kris]

we do make a point to "pay ourselves" each month. We are very careful with our money and don't spend a lot of money during the month. Normally we go without so that we can have that one special thing whether it be a new shirt or a trip to a museum.

[*Crystal*]

Originally Posted by Rach and are not financially comfortable... When you are paying off your debt, do you buy whatever you please or are you as frugal as possible, sticking as close to your budget as possible? I'm pretty frugal. Sometimes we will get a lunch or dinner at this place that costs $8 for both of us or maybe a few Starbucks runs a couple times a month, but that's it. I don't buy myself anything fun and neither does he. It's very annoying to me to hear others complain about their money situation but yet still spend like money is burning a hole in their pocket. My mom is like this. Drives me nuts and takes a lot to bite my tongue.

Same here

[bettyboop604]

We have a lot of student loans, plus our van payment.
We try pretty hard, but we are human and have three kids.
If we were really trying to get rid of our debt quickly then my daughter would not be in dance twice a week and the boys in karate, along with other stuff, but we make choices and try and find a balance. We are lucky though, most of our debt is back in Canada so it really does not affect us out here as far as credit and what not goes. We pay what we can.

[Genna]

I try and stick to a decent budget, I allow for some extras- some blow money, babysitter money, etc. But I am still able to put over $1000 towards debt, my school tuition and saving for my future school tuition, all on E5 pay, so I think I'm doing pretty well. Our monthly bills and necessities are actually really low.

[Rach]

Originally Posted by bettyboop604 We have a lot of student loans, plus our van payment. We try pretty hard, but we are human and have three kids. If we were really trying to get rid of our debt quickly then my daughter would not be in dance twice a week and the boys in karate, along with other stuff, but we make choices and try and find a balance. We are lucky though, most of our debt is back in Canada so it really does not affect us out here as far as credit and what not goes. We pay what we can.

I don't think that's bad! I would do the same for my kids Your spending your money on something worthwhile, not some frivolous material thing, etc.

[Jennie]

When Dh joined and was all on his own, he didn't pay most of his bills, he spent most of his paycheck on crap. Most of his bills went to collections, we are paying the last one off as we speak. Once everything will be paid off, it'll be $4000, give or take, just on his bills.
This year, and I know it's not the best idea, but this year is pretty much a credit card Christmas, so that set us back quite a bit. I pay more than the minimum due on each card.
We don't really do anything fun. Going out to eat is McDonalds, and that's maybe twice a month.

[Trey]

We are a little of both. We splurge on ourselves to keep motivated with school and work to make it seem like it's all worth it. But we also pay down our debt in huge amounts each month. And we are never to the point where we can't buy groceries or clothes or Christmas presents or anything like that. When we splurge, we use the extra money we are paying on our debt, rather than adding more debt by using our credit cards.

But I know what you mean... when I hear that someone can't afford Christmas presents for their kiddos, but they have a new camera three weeks later, it makes me think twice about how they are handling the situation. At the same time, I did the same crap when I was younger which is why we have the debt we do now, so I guess I thankful to be out of that mindset.