[neatdesign]

Another suggestion I have about paying down debt is what I've been doing, off and on, for the past year or so. It's sort of a two-part strategy. First, I find a fixed amount that I can afford to pay on a monthly basis. For instance, if my minimum amount due is currently $100 and I can afford that EVERY month, then that's what I'll pay every month -- even though the minimum amount due will go down incrementally as time goes by. Then, I pay $50 every two weeks, making sure I make my minimum payment by the due date.

Now, notice I did NOT say I pay $50 twice a month (ie, 5/01, 5/15, 6/01, 6/15, etc.) -- I pay $50 every two weeks (5/01, 5/15, 5/29, 6/12, etc.) There's a difference! Doing this allows me to squeeze in an extra $100 a year than if I paid $100 a month, or $50 twice a month.

If you pay $50 twice a month, that's $50 x 24 = $1200/year

But if you pay $50 every two weeks, that's $50 x 26 = $1300/year

Of course, this works the same way for savings contributions as it does for paying down debt.

I set this up with my online bill paying service through my bank, so the $50 is taken out of my checking account automatically every 14 days. I find it helps to break up the payments into smaller chunks, and best of all I don't even notice that extra $100 gone at the end of the year.

~ Jenney

PS. To jhd815 -- No, we did not know about that site -- thanks for the link! We may try that out later once we get this under control. Right now we're just trying to cut out eating out (hee, that reads funny doesn't it?) as much as we can.