I’m no expert in the field of getting out of debt but I could say I’m an expert at getting into debt. Lets see my wife and I Got married in 2004 bought a house and a $36,000 dollar car, racked up almost $30,000 dollars in credit card debt along with $15,000 in school loan debt. Then on top of everything I decided that I needed a new car, big mistake we were already at the breaking point. Another $15,000 was added just because we were stupid. This is the point when you know your marriage was made to last. Now your probably wondering why I am posting this on a technology review site? Well this is just my way of sharing a story that really has changed my life.

See also in this time frame, we were blessed with a wonder baby girl. I wanted to desperately spend time at home with my family. Working a second job along with my own small business was spreading myself way to thin. I figured I could write about things that mattered to me and ideas I had to spur change in my own life, and others alike. The whole getting out of debt website is well covered on the internet. I needed my own spin on things. Thats why on Data-Drop. I review open source software, and of course other things that cross over my desk. But what better way to get out of debt than not pay hundreds of dollars on software for our computers.

About 6 Months ago I was browsing the XM channels and trying to find something different to listen too. I found Dave Ramsey’s radio show. Okay what first caught my attention was the music in the beginning of the show but I started to listen, then I felt really stupid for what all I have done in these last few years. I was digging myself a hole that I would probably never have gotten out of. At this point we were in risk of my wifes car being reposesed and we were getting later and later on everything. The phone was ringing off the hook with collection agency’s looking for their money. We were getting judgments in the mail every week and it came to the point that I just couldn’t emotionally deal with it anymore. I turned off the ringer to the phone, stopped checking the mail and even stopped answering my phone at work for a short time. They were calling me at work too. This went on for a couple of months and the judgments kept rolling in and we would steal money from our utility bills to pay the judgments. Our telephone got shutoff our internet shutoff It even got to the point if it wasn’t winter time our power would have been shutoff.

Thats when my parents started to notice my constant state of depression, the whole experience had taken us on a emotional roller coaster. I couldn’t sleep at night, my wife and I were fighting constantly and really taking its toll on our life. I would tell my parents everything was fine we were just behind on a couple of bills and money was tight, then another judgment came in that we couldn’t pay. Thats when I finally broke down and told my parents the whole story. We had hit rock bottom, It was winter time and no Oil for the furnace the power was on just because they cant shut it off legally in winter and we were tapped, emotionally, physically, spiritually and financially. My wife and I went to my parents house that night to come to terms with what we did. I have never seen my Father so mad before in my life, but the realization of what we did hurt even worse. We worked most of the evening trying to figure out where to start. We made some phone calls and crunched the numbers. Total Debt $142,000.

The next day we decided to go to the bank for some help, they wouldn’t give us a loan for sure with that much debt. So my parents allowed us to take a home equity loan over their house. Rap everything into one payment to get current and pay off the credit card bills. Looking back this still seems like the only way that we could have done this. I’m not saying that we live comfortably now but we are living within our means. I still have many questions that need to be answered, like should we sell the house and everything and rent for a while till we gain more traction. A debt snowball is kinda hard when at the end of the month you are left with $75.00 even with a second and third income coming in. I did manage to eliminate some monthly expenses. You can read about them here. We have gained some traction we turned the ringer back on our phone, we can answer the phone without worrying what bill is overdue. This whole experience has changed my life so much.

So that brings me back to Dave Ramsey, what a great person helping those people who lost faith not only in themselves but with faith altogether. Listening to the show gave me the drive to continue on. To fight with my creditors to settle for lower than they should have, and to put every dollar to use in our weekly budget, and my wife and I are in this together not just one of us got us in this mess. It took 2 to get there, now it will take 2 to get out. The whole community around www.mytotalmoneymakeover.com is truly the best place to go for budget questions or financial questions. I can say for sure Dave has saved my life and made it better for every person I talk to about it.

Again your probably wondering what this has to do with technology? I am asking for your help, what ways do you save money at your house. Do you find using technology saves you money or cost you more. I’m open to suggestions on what I could do to “Live like no one else, to live no one else.” You ask how I am today, Better than I deserve.