So I’d really love to hear your opinions on debt and the road to financial freedom. Specifically do you think you have been sucked in to this consumer culture? What about the ideas to regain financial freedom: Saying no (to purchases) for a little while so you can say yes for a lifetime, praying before you pay, and planning for a debt free future. Have you found other systems to get out of debt that you could share?
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Bailout Blog-Genesis Church 
Sucked into consumer debt? No way! I needed that Cardinals jersey.
Gooooooooooo Cards!!!!
Isn’t sneaking your own treats into the movie theater just a bit dishonest? I mean,
come on $3 dollars for a movie, buy a popcorn or stay home and rent a dvd from the library. We have no car loans, no student loans, credit cards for emergencies only and then paid off by the end of the month.
(Sheepish grin.) Okay, okay, you’re right. Eat before you go to the movies then. 😉 But my other suggestions were good, right? Right? (batting eyelashes)
In response to your post, Pat, I definitely feel that I’ve been sucked into a consumer mentality. For me it’s a sense of entitlement that creeps in. I feel that I’m so tired I deserve to buy prepared food tonight so we don’t have to cook, or that we “need” a laptop because we would like to have a computer in the living room, or that we “need” cell phones because we talk to family on them. I could go on and on. Having a baby REALLY brings the whole thing to your door! If you google the phrase “newborn necessities” you’ll be surprised at how many expensive extras those little guys “need!”
I think your suggestions for getting away from debt were very good. The biggest problem I’ve seen with a LOT of people (including myself before we started Financial Peace University) is having an emergency CARD instead of an emergency FUND. The average person will face a life-altering financial situation about every 10 years. So it feels unpredictable, but it’s really predictable. Someone will get sick, someone will lose a job, your family will have to relocate, etc. But the problem isn’t really the event itself, it’s poor planning for emergencies. So for me that was a big point.
Another important aspect is insurance. I never understood what an important part of a financial plan insurance is! Everyone needs health insurance, auto insurance (if you have a car), homeowners or renters insurance (a lot of people skimp on renters’ — big mistake!), life insurance and disability insurance. People over 65 need long-term care insurance. All of these things impact your ability to stay out of debt because they impact your family’s capacity to handle an emergency situation. I see all kinds of tragic stories from people who were underinsured.
Just a few thoughts. Hope they help someone!
Eating out, even though it is often “cheap fast food” was happening a lot in our household. Since losing my job we’ve been cooking more, and have saved a lot of money by not giving into the temptation to make things easier on ourselves by going out to eat as much. We’ve eaten out a few times, but it’s been maybe once a week instead of 5-6 times a week.
Another way that we’ve cut back is to drink more water and less soda. Man that soda is addicting! And I have to admit that we haven’t cut it out entirely, but we’ve cut WAY back on how much we drink.
Even though I’m working again I know that there are other ways we can cut back and get out of debt faster. I’m happy that we’re going through this study on Sunday mornings. I think it is very timely for a lot of us. I know it is for me.
I just want to recommend, again, Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University. It totally changed our lives. If it were not for that class, I would never have been able to stay at home with this baby. Not even close. And it brought us together so well because we had to talk about our dreams and priorities and plans together so much. It feels good to approach our finances as a team, and to have success in making some of our plans happen together is a huge boon.
Here are some links to some debt snowball calculators/info:
http://www.mdmproofing.com/iym/ramsey_debt_snowball.shtml
http://www.whatsthecost.com/snowball.aspx?country=us
http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2008/08/26/free-debt-snowball-spreadsheet/