What does your budget look like? Where did you cut the most? What about hanging out with friends?

Angy asked: Without even going into my student debt loan and just credit cards, I’m sitting on about $8,000 in credit card debt.  (I just paid off my tiny $500 card a few days ago).  I would love to be able to do what you do and pay it down, but I feel like I have so many obstacles.  So I guess, what does your budget look like?  Where did you cut the most?  What about hanging out with friends?  Unfortunately for me I’m very stretched because I’ve graduated grad school and have yet to find a decent paying job to help me pay down my bills.  I don’t spend on my credit cards anymore but I can’t seem to bring them down, either.  I really admire your success so far.  :)

My budget looks like this.  It’s simple, but it doesn’t just happen to be that way.  I live in a really small apartment.  I sleep on a really uncomfortable futon.  I drive a car that does not have working air conditioning (I live in Southern California).  I don’t buy stuff.  I don’t spend much on entertainment, because I have almost no free time.  I make a few exceptions for going out with friends, but not more often than once a month or so.  And I work absolutely all the time.

In other words, getting out of debt is a lifestyle for me and it’s required a lot of sacrifice.  But, it’s not permanent.  It’s just what I’m doing right now to make my own life better.

The thing I’ve cut the most is spending. I just don’t do it at all.  Working so much makes that easier.  There really isn’t enough time to spend money.  In all honesty, having internet friends keeps me entertained at work and the most they cost me is a bottle of wine for #winetoreach.  My real life friends know I’m in debt and they understand I’m busy working and I can’t spend a lot when we go out.

Being without a job is a difficult situation, but my jobs are not super well-paying.  I just work a lot of hours and have very few expenses, so that’s how I’m able to put so much toward my debt.  The obstacles will always be there.  For a long time, it just seemed like it was one thing after another and, you know, it still is that way, but I don’t let them stop me anymore.  I keep doing the best I can, which almost always means putting less money toward my debt than I had planned, but that’s still enough to make a lot of progress.

It’s not easy, but if I remember anything about the time before I started kicking debt’s ass, it’s that being hopeless in debt was even harder.

Thanks Angy and congrats on paying off your first card.