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How
We Paid off $20K in Five Years on a $22K Income
by Mike and
Tawra Kellam
In 5 years we paid off $20,000 of debt and
medical bills on an average income of
$22,000 per year.
We didn't have $20,000 debt when we were
married. My husband had $3,000 in credit
card debts at the time. Over the 5 years we
made 2 major moves, killed 3 cars, and our
daughter was born and placed in Neonatal
Intensive Care.
During the 5 years we have been married, our
income averaged $22,000 a year. The first
year we earned $13,000 and steadily went up
to $28,000. We paid off $10,000 in debt and
medical bills the last year, so half of the
debt was paid off when we were earning the
most money. Our basic living expenses were
$18,000 and we put the rest on debt. We also
used any extra money we received like income
tax returns (usually a few hundred dollars)
gifts of money, etcetera to pay off debt
rather than splurging on things we wanted.
What it boils down to is we nickel and dimed
our way out of debt. First we made up our
minds that it had to be done. There never
has been another option for us -- we HAD to
figure out a way to do it. (I am disabled
with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome so I can't
work a regular job even if I wanted to.)
One of
the ways that helped us the most to pay off
the cards was to transfer to other credit
cards with low 0-2.9% interest rates. We
kept paying the same payment, which was then
more than the minimum but we had a lot more
money going to principle.
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