Interview: Tricia - BloggingAwayDebt.com
December 30th, 2006 |
I found Tricia’s Blog, BloggingAwayDebt very interesting. You know, we’ve been spending a lot of time talking about saving money. But what about paying down debt? If you have credit cards, then you know how quickly their monthly fees add up. Do some math and you’ll see they’re getting sometimes 20% return on their money.
Instead of saving money, Tricia has focused on paying down Debt. She hasn’t done bad either. She’s paid off $12,733 in the last year. That’s impressive. I interviewed Tricia for all of the Million Dollar Savings Club members. I think there’s a lot to learn from what she has to say.
Enjoy -
What made you decide to write about Personal Finances?
I discovered the world of personal finance bloggers and I came across Defying Debt by lpkitten. Here she was, trying to pay off her debt and writing about it. She was doing so well and I thought I would try it. For the record, lpkitten’s debt is paid off! 
What was your biggest Money Managing mistake?
Where should I begin! We’ve made our share of mistakes, but all of them boil down to one simple thing…we spent more money than we made.
How long have you been paying down debt?
I started trying to reduce our debt in February of 2006 when Blogging Away Debt was born. Before then, I just couldn’t get focused on paying it off. I’m still in the process of really reviewing the emotional side of debt, but I think before February I felt like we were too far in debt to really do anything about it.
When did you start seeing your debt as a big problem and think to yourself “Wow, we really need to do someething about this”?
I think in the back of my head I always knew that our debt was a problem even when it wasn’t that large of an amount. But for some reason, instead of trying to do something about it, we began having the attitude that it was normal. For example, when we were in college, we thought it was normal to have debt. We thought that we would graduate and have great jobs and pay it all off. Well, the great jobs never came because we chose location over pay. Instead of our debt shrinking, it started growing even bigger.
What the biggest thing you’ve given up in order to pay down your debt?
My time. I have been working multiple jobs to try to bring in as much income as possible. It has been rough and I am tired most of the time, but we have made excellent progress this year. Next year, I plan on taking things a little slower and getting back some of the free time. I think I need a “recharge.”
What advice can you give to the readers of Million Dollar Savings Club who are just getting started saving money?
I will be 30 years old next year, and I only have $120 (and some change) saved in a bank account. That is my life’s savings right there. It has taken me a while, but I now know that there is a golden rule of personal finance…spend less than you make. I’ll add to that a little bit and say spend less than you make, and take that money left over and stash it away in a savings account as quickly as possible. Out of sight, out of mind. My “stash” is going towards debt right now, but one day I would like to see it going towards savings. I have some catching up to do 
