I was recently interviewed and featured in an article in USA Today.
The article talks about how the downturn in the economy had more people saving. While our main motivation for saving money and paying down debt has more to do with peace of mind, I can’t say that the economy doesn’t play a part in it as well.
These times are tough for a lot of people, but hopefully this will be a big wake-up call for Americans. We need to be saving more and spending less than we earn.
Imagine if you had no debt other than a mortgage, and maybe your student loans. How much extra would you have a month?
For us if we had no debt other than our mortgage we’d have an extra 20% income! Now granted that number is with me throwing anything extra in the budget towards out debt, but still it’s HUGE!
After the debt is gone, here is my plan:
-maxing out the 401K
-saving 6 months expenses in an emergency fund
-maxing out our IRA contributions
-college funds for all the kids
How much more would you have in your budget, and what would you do with that extra money?
If you already have no consumer debt, how did you get rid of yours?
Kelly
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