Coffee Break: Becoming Money in the Bank

coffee break

My husband battled his fears of eventual bankruptcy by supporting my decision to leave my staff job and pursue freelancing full-time. And when I succeeded in bringing in my former staffer income within half a year as a freelancer, I sort of wanted to wiggle my butt and point and scream “In! Your! Face!”

The only thing that kept me from doing so was the knowledge that I still had a lot of debt to manage…debt that I probably should have taken care of before leaving my job.

There have been some awesome finance-centric posts floating around the blogosphere lately. April Borbon wrote about the 10 Items You Absolutely Need For Financial Security over at Freelance Switch, and I immediately began implementing some of her tips (better late than never!), such as throwing 30% of each paycheck into an interest-bearing savings account for quarterly tax purposes, and working harder on becoming debt free. Jeffrey Way helps out over at Freelance Folder with a simple budget how-to.

I’ve since transferred all of my credit card balances to two 0% interest rate credit cards, and have been throwing chunks of money at them monthly. I’ve also signed up for Mint as a means to track my finances. Most drastic of all, I’ve locked my credit cards away and now pay for everything with cash.

While this means that I’ve placed an embargo on pretty-dress-shopping (sad), it also means that I will most likely be debt-free (student loans aside) in one year’s time.

Any money-saving, debt-smashing tips to share with the masses?

Comments

  1. I recently came accross your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I dont know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog.

    Tim Ramsey

  2. Thanks Tim! Good to know I’m not typing into the void. Meanwhile, it looks like you’re writing the blog that I need.

  3. I agree with Tim…thanks for the useful info on this blog. My husband and I are working hard at becoming debt free. We just went over our budget again last week. Have you ever read Total Money Makeover? Sweet book. We are not using CC either. Cash only. It is super hard, but we will make it. We are going to try the cash envelope route. I am so excited about using mint.com. I think this will help a lot.

  4. The hubby and I are struggling with the debt as well. It’s rough, especially when you have to spend so much sometimes to start a life together. I keep trying to remind myself of what’s at stake: an eventual house, children, and career flexibility.

    As for the cash-only rule, I thought it would be tougher than it is, but it gives me such satisfaction to be able to pay in cash! A sense of accomplishment or something…

    Oh, and I heart mint.com.

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