What is your New Year resolution regarding debt?

I definitely know my answer to this one. By February 7, 2009, I will be completely free from all my credit cards debt. After the credit cards, I will tackle taxes head on. After taxes I will get rid of my daughters tuition debt. After the tuition, I will get rid of my daughter's car payment. By November 7th, 2009. I will be completely free from all kind of debts. Then, I will start saving for retirement. 2010, will be for me an all new beginning. I will be as fresh as a rose blooming in the early morning spring. My life will have a completely new BEGINNING.

My goal for 2009 is to pay off my credit cards, one at a time, starting with the lowest balance and going up from there. Then I will work on my credit and try to bring that up by making sure everything is paid on time...hopefully I can get everything set up on automatic withdrawal to precent the late payments. I'll be going through all the forums on this site in January to get a plan of action together. With the support of my family, friends and the people here, I know that I will be able to succeed.

I will find a second job involving selling and make 5-10 times as much as what I'm making now.

One of the main things we plan on doing is not getting any new loans. If we don't have the money for it we don't need it. I also got a better paying job and all the extra that I will be making will go towards our current debt. We have a set amount that we pay out every payday and I will still take that and the extra pay to pay off the debts. As soon as one is paid off that money being used will go towards the next smallest debt and so on. We have plans on doing some upgrades to our cabin and we will not do anything until most of our debt has been paid. With the economy the way it is we would hate to lose anything that we have because of our debts. My husband also works a second full-time job to help with paying things off. I will be looking for another job also (not full-time) We have a goal of having all our debts paid except for the car notes and the house by the end of 2009. We are quitting smoking the first of the year (employers are going smoke free as of Jan.1 which will save us $2400 a year)and trying to maintain a healthier lifestyle to cut down on medical costs.

well,it's not so much about getting out of debt,but taking the things i've learned and got through to take that to the next level.you see my father is getting up in age now and i have the opportunity to display the responsibility to take over the house,and the bills.it's a position i never thought i would be in this soon,but thanks to this forum i got myself back on track,and plan to stay that way.

We are going to start the new year on the right foot. We have plans as to how to help control our debt. We have caught up on our mortgage and installment loan for our vehicles and we can now start making smaller payments more often, this will help the principal go down faster as well as the interest be less. We have planned to pay half the mortgage one wk, half the installment the next and then mortgage remaining half and next wk installment remaining half. This will keep us 2 wks ahead of the due dates.
We do have a few credit cards with small balances ranging from $200-$500 and we are making payments on those at least 2x the amount due, which is bringing them down much faster, the interest is still there, but paying the extra is helping.
We are planning on less income in the beginning of the year with my husbands job slowing down at that time after the holidays. I currently work from home for an online employer and I work when my youngest goes to preschool in the afternoon. I have a flexable schedule so I will pick up hours on the days my husband does not work and he will be here for our son to keep him occupied so i can work extra to help compensate for the income we will be losing.
We have almost completely cut out eating out, what money you can save :). (*have to add I have lost 5 lbs!!!*) It adds up fast especially with four young boys. We dont even order pizza anymore, and of course our boys were missing it and wondered why we werent, We had a pizza night and I wanted to continue it, but now, we make our own, they love it, they want it more often, I make the dough and they shape it the way they want and top it the way they like, working out really well.
We also plan on using our income tax money we get back to put towards our auto loan and put the rest in savings for a cushion and let it grow with interest. There is always something that comes up such as our furnace going out the other day. Just before christmas of course, so we had to have it fixed right away.
We are also on the winter protection plan for our electric and gas so those payments are much much lower than paying the full amounts.
Before the new year does start I want to add we do not go all out for our kids for christmas. They already have so many toys and we never have spent that much, they get more smaller items and more to open. They also get gifts from family.

To sum it up, we are starting fresh for the new year. We have learned alot along the way and have learned from our mistakes and are ready to fix the mistakes and the right choices.

to get out of debt. I do not have much, but what I have is all short term.

My New Year's Resolution regarding my debt is to be very active in getting on top of it. I will learn from my mistakes. Some of which were that I would bury my head in the sand and not pay attention to my debt. I will no longer do this. I will check everything daily if I have to. Another mistake I made was not keeping my checkbook balanced. Again I will go online to my bank daily if I have to and check to make sure that I have entered all data and that everything is correct. In the past I have had overdrafts because of not knowing what was in my checking account. I will not let this happen ever again. Also I will communicate more with my family so that we will all be on the same page with getting out of debt. It doesn't help much if I am the only one doing something about our debt. WE All need to be doing something. Even if it is just something small like my husband not buying a can of pop everyday. We are all going to work on this together.

Do not use more than I can afford to pay off at the end of the month on my credit cards.

Actually use the budget I've made for myself.

Pay off those lingering old debt accounts on my credit report so that when I graduate I can buy a house within 2 years.

To be debt free.

We plan to slowly chip away at our debt with each paycheck. We only have one long term loan (3 year car) that is already being managed. But it is the smaller debts (doctor's/emergency room bills, previous bank negative balance, previous electric bill, loan shop online loan) that we need to take care of that I hope consolidation can help with. By the end of 2009 I would like all of our outstanding debts to be taken care of so that the positive credit we are building with our car payment will actually make some difference in our credit score so that we can begin to truly build positive and get out from under this heavy burden of bad credit.

getting it under control

I already have a head start on my New Year's resolution. I have begun to look at all options to save money on any expenses that we have. My husband's work is seasonal,so I am the sole provider right now. I started looking at ways to cut back on our bills. I had the business phone turned off and a message to call his cell phone number,that is a savings of $70.00 dollars a month. I am not using any credit cards for Christmas shopping. I am buying just what I can afford to pay for now. I know my Grandchildren will get less this year,but I won't have large charges on my credit cards. I have made this mistake for years and now I am in a really big mess with all the debt. My main New Year's resolution is to start paying off debt and become debt free.I would like to make the coming new year very special and let all my family know how important it is to have each other. We can give so much to each other just by showing our love and spending more time together. We can share this and not spend any money. I can also find more ways to save on the every day cost of living. I have gotten out of the habit of clipping coupons, I always did that when I was raising my Children.I have already started to do that again. I also can stop and think before I make a purchase, do I need this or do I just want this.

get a free Credit report
Check on my report to make sure I do not have any errors, and if I do have errors call the companies to make sure that is corrected. call the creditors to check, make a plan on how I will be able to pay of my debts, and make sure I keep the plan.

I plan to develop a budget where expenses are pared back and the extra money is used to pay down debt. The important thing is to stick to it. The expenses can be trimmed by reducing interest rates on present debt and cutting out expenses that I can do without.

first of all see your earning
calculate your savings which u made previously
now calculate your minimum expenditure which is likely to do
now from remaining earning try to save at most u can by buying the different policies in which u hav to give minimum tax

Raising my credit score so I can get a better rate on refiancing my home loan.

Stop useing my credit cards. and shred them.

To stay out of it-don\'t get into any. Do what I can to pay off what I already owe.

To completely stop using credit cards.

Savings, savings, and more savings!!!! Savings is a word that used to always sound to me like something the rich and powerful do. But me, a person who makes a decent salary, drives a decent (haha) car, but yet has a pile of bills...savings is like something I hear and think, "unobtainable."

Well I have learned quite the contrary in 2008 and will continue to apply what I learned in 2009. The first thing that everyone who is in debt needs to do immediately (if they have not done so already) is to get a checking account and a savings account. Earlier this year I thought that was impossible for me, especially since I was black-listed on the ever popular (yet not so likable) chexsystems. Then in the later part of the year I joined this bank mentioned on here numerous times...Transportation Alliance Bank. This was the key for me to start savings. They have both an interest-bearing checking and savings account. As of today the checking account yields 0.75% apr and the savings yields 3% (That APR is one of the highest in the country). ANYWAYS...with these accounts I can monitor my spending and stop spending haphazardly. With my paychecks I am able to put about $300 into savings a month. Of course Christmas this year killed that...but that's why I'm looking forward to 2009 :-)

Now back to the question...with the money I put away in Savings I can tackle my debt a little at a time. My goal for 2009 is to get out of debt. I have monitored my spending in 2008 and have cut back on the things that aren't necessary for me and now I can approach 2009 and put my money to use! I want to put some money into savings and also apply some of that money to my debts. After the holidays are over and I have made use of 2 checks (in other words refilled my savings account after the holidays have passed) I will send letters to my creditors via certified mail return receipt requested. I will offer a settlement of 10% of any balance owed (this is after I have validated the debts with the leaches...I mean creditors). If a certain debtor does not accept 10% then I'll move on to someone who will! After I settle with the creditors who accepted 10% then I will come BACK to the ones who didn't the first time and reoffer the 10%. Maybe I will get lucky, with the ones that I don't get lucky with I will offer 11% (hey they annoy me so why can't I annoy them). In the end I will keep offering settlement after settlement until I either annoy them until they just cave in or they give me a fair settlement that is feasible to me and my paycheck. Hey I work for my money so you know that these debt collectors are going to have to make my money work for my "debt" in a way that doesn't burn my pockets!

Let's face it the economy sucks right now. I'm very lucky to have a job. But think about it. Economists and politicians are predicting the economy is going to worsen in 2009 (yes they do tend to lie, but I'll take their word for it in this case). My interpretation of an economy that is going to continue to fall downhill is that more and more people than EVER are going to be falling into debt. This means that these 3rd Party Scum Sucking Agencies are going to be BLOWN AWAY with new accounts. People are losing their jobs and their homes so I doubt their credit scores will even be better. As long as I have a job and an income I will take advantage of the fact that these collection agencies are going to be inundated with more accounts than ever and let's face it these people who work for the Collection Agencies are not exactly the brightest stars in the evening sky (another plus for me who actually has some intelligence...I think).

The way I will take advantage is that with all these new accounts these agencies will have more than they can handle. If I offer them any amount of money as far as settlement, they may be more likely to take it because there are going to be so many newer debts that will be expending their energy on. My debts are old...they have cobwebs on them, they're taking up too much space int he RAM of their debt collection computer memories and they need the space for these newer debts which they may actually see as being collectible. I see it happening already!

I'll give you an example. My sister has an American Express Card. She is 2 days past due. That is not a typo...two days. Today (Sunday) at 10 AM (Breakfast), they called wanting her money and saying she is past due. This is happening with other creditors as well.

For me, it has been over 5 years since I had an American Express card or any credit card for that matter. But back then they did not even attempt to call me until I was 30 days past due. I could be wrong, but this is my experience.

Now by the end of 2009 I plan to be completely out of debt. If (God willing) I have my job I will put all my extra money into savings. I will collect interest and then the final part of my "debt resolution" will fall into place...and that is STAYING OUT OF DEBT!

No credit cards, no payday loans...NOTHING! If I can't afford it, I won't buy it!

This is my resolution regarding debt and I plan to stick to it. If you are still reading this then God bless you! You have more patience than me :-)

To not accumulate any new debt.

I would like to get into a debt-consolidation program -- through a local bank -- and pay off my debts as soon as it is possible for me.

I will cut out unnecessary expenses, such as cable T.V., highspeed internet, extra features on my cell phone and stop having my hair colored (Oh dear, that's tought to give up!) I will think positive thoughts and with God's help, I can be successful at getting out of debt.

Every year I make a resolution to be debt free. This year it is number one on my list. But why is 2009 different? It's different because I know have the tools and knowledge to handle debt. I resolve to pay everything off that I can. To never even think about payday loans, to never panic. I plan on making a budget and sticking to it! To only spend money in cash, no credit, not even checks and to only spend what I have and do not need.

I move my bills from one pile to another in hopes they will just disappear. My New Year resolution regarding debt is to get it under control. I'm tired of avoiding the phone and having sleepless nights. My first step towards achieving this resoultion was finding your website. I've completed the information to have a representative contact me to assist in attaining this goal. I already feel a bit better.

My new Year's resolution is to not get in any-more debt at all. If it can't be paid for with cash we don't need it. I think the easiest way to get into debt is spending on credit cards, it's so easy with the buy now pay later concept that's just become so accepted in today's world. I think I want to go back to the idea if you can't afford it you don't need it.


Johnita

I plan on ceasing to spending money on so many little unneccessary items that are adding up to a lump sum of money.

My New Year Resolution will not be too much different than I am already doing. Under no circumstances will I purchase anything that I can not afford or I do not need When I do go to the store, I will use a list and stick to only what is on my list. I have also learned to say NO to my children when they come to the store with me. I also tell them, No it is too expensive, I am not paying that price for that, we can't afford that right now, you do not need that. I am hoping that this instills the value of not just buying things and working for what you want in them. For me, the hardest thing has been telling people I work with or my friends, No I can't go out to lunch/dinner. All these little things add up to alot. So, with every little bit of extra money I can save by doing all these things, I then put that into paying extra on my debts. I believe that if anything positive comes out of these economic times we face today, it is that people will go back to living on what they can afford. It is not easy to tell people, "I don't have the money or I can't afford that" but I have to ask myself why? Success is not what you have or how much money you make - sucess is how you live your life.

I am going to keep one credit card for emergencies and cut all others. I am going pay for things in cash and if I can't afford it I'll have to wait. And I am going to work a second job to pay down current credit cards!

I never had any debt issues until this year, and then WHAM! I lost my job, was out of work for months, and I have a crummy job right now. In 2009, I would like to get a solid plan going for how I am going to pay off my debt, and that includes talking with the creditors and applying for a home equity loan. I am looking hard right now for a better job that will allow me to make higher payments.

My husband has been interviewing for the Border Patrol, him working and training will mean a paycheck and the ability to pay our debts. Also, while he is in training, I am planning on moving myself and our kids back in with Grandma and Grandpa to avoid excess expenses, like rent, that take up half of my paycheck.

My resolution is to eliminate my debt by reducing the amount spent on things I don't need. Increasing the amount I pay on loans each month. I have opened a savings account for vacations, now having gone on a nice vacation, I can continue to save and apply that money to any outstanding bills. Discontinue using my only department store card, use only cash for the minor purchases.

to get all that i owe payed back

I will analyze where i made mistakes with my debt and will try to control it through proper planning and budgeting, so that i do not face debt problems again. I will make sure that bills,loans are taken care of. This will help me to be debt free and also make me conscious about future expenditures. I will try to improve my credit score also. I will also try to find another job so that i can increase my income to meet any unforeseen expenditures.

GET ON A BUDGET and stick to it!

I have come to the decision that since I will be in Florida for nine more years until my daughter turns 18 that I will make the most of the time and pay off all my debts by enrolling in a debt consolidation program and definately NOT taking any payday loans. I'll work at least one extra shift a payperiod and put that money towards a new(used) car.. I plan on teaching my daughter how to manage money more wisely as well so that she hopefully will not fall into the same traps I did. I plan to also try to manage my money better by shopping almost exclusively for necessities and putting the rest of the money towards becoming debt free. And I definately plan on becoming more familiar with the laws concerning payday loans by frequenting this site..

try not to do any unnecessary spending especially things that are too expensive. try to pay more than the minimum payment when paying bills especially credit cards if you have them. Even a dollar or two makes a difference on the balance. Even with utility bills. paying a dollar or two can bring your balance also. turning off lights that are not necessary. using less heat when using your heater whether it be electric or gas. try choosing items that are lower priced in markets and stores. coupons may help too. some stores uses double coupons. be careful with name brand items too if you're on a budget. you clearly pay for the name and not always the product. Slow down on driving because the faster you drive the more gas you use. also those who start off in their car going fast, that uses up gas too. i'm going to do much better in 2009 to get my debts in better control.

Settling all my debts accounts with God's guidance. I need a good lawyer.

I plan on or rather will be responsible from here on out and will take responsibility for my wrong doings. gone are the days of new clothing for myself and starbucks coffee, they will be here again but now I am ready for this burden of guilt to be lifted.

First plan on getting a budget set up. I don't do New Years resolutions, I do goals. I set down before the end of the uear and write down what goals I would like to see accomplished. I set short term goals like getting five or ten dollars, or more if I can afford it, extra when I buy groceries. At the end of the month, I put it in a savings. I also try to add a little more here and there. At the end of the year I have a little extra money, whether it is to pay toward a bill, Christmas, etc.

I next will only pay cash in the comming year. If I don't have it, it doesn't get charged on a credit card.

The long term goal being, that not only out of debt, but have a comfortable nest egg for emergencies. That is the one goal I am shooting for. If I have a nest egg, then if something financially comes along, I won't be tempted to charge, get loans,etc.

If all possible I plan to at tax time to eliminate my current
credit card debt which free up a considerable amount
cash each month. Which in turn will help pay other bills I
have and in six months time I will be out of debt.

My new years resolution regarding debt is to 1 open a account with Bank of America they have the keep the change program, so all of my change will go into my savings account. i will not think about the change that go into my savings account. Put 50.00 into my checking account every pay period. to trick my MIND into thinking that if i don't pay my debt/bills that i will be out of a loving home/stressed with my kids there dogs and one hundred fishes to talk my debt down like if my life was depending on it to something that i can afford in one payment to thing like if i don't pay my debt now that when i get older that it would be to much stress on me an my kids will be teenagers then an being in debt when with they need money, items, things that i a bad parent if i don't get things out the way before they start needing that life would be nothing to me to no that debt free is a PASSION feeling. Smile debt FREE ain't nothing like it

Yes, Its a very good opportunity for people to pay debts. Its a very good service.

I have chalked out some simple but very important resolution for 2009. I have the reputation of breaking resolution every year but in 2009 I????????m determined to follow it. Some of these new year resolutions are the following: -
1. I have a habit of spending too much sometimes. My resolution in 2009 is to stop spending mindlessly.
2. I have also planned to take an additional job. My wife lost her job recently. So, it has become very important to increase my income. Though she????????s trying her level best to find one but it????????s not that easy to find one in such a bad market condition.
3. I????????ll try to use credit cards as less as possible.
4. I have some outstanding debts. Though the debts are small right now but it doesn????????t take much time to inflate. So, I plan to pay them off ASAP.