Setting Debt Goals

At the beginning of this year, Marco and I set a few goals for ourselves.  You know, regular stuff like, "be healthier" and "participate more intentionally."  This has led to a few guidelines in our home that we have been working on over the last few months.  The guidelines are not rules- they're more like guidelines, but their purpose is to help us achieve our goals.  For instance, "be healthier" means move more; eat more slow foods; listen and take control over your body.

Well one of the guidelines for "participate more intentionally" is to pay off my debt- which I shared on Monday.  *I know, I know, will she ever stop talking about her debt?!  Not until it is gone.*

But what I want to share today, are a few of my (our) guidelines for how we are going to get there.  Honestly, right now I am only thinking about my personal student loan debt, but I can see this becoming fairly addictive (mortgage debt?!).  So these are a few things I do to make sure this is a positive experience that still leaves plenty of time (and money) for playing.

Guideline #1:  Set A Debt Spending Goal.  Each month, I am trying to put $1,000 towards my debt.  Oh yeah, it's serious.  This means that sometimes I have to get a little creative in my endeavors  and sometimes I make a few sacrifices  but it really helps me see a smaller, more achievable goal than just the grand total looming over me.  I picked $1,000 because it is roughly 3 times my minimum payment and it is large enough for me to push myself each month, but small enough to actually be achievable.  If you are planning your own debt free plan, you may want to pick a different number, but $1,000 is perfect for me.

Since I am not making tons of cash yet with Oxford Handmade, meeting my $1,000 goal pushes me to promote myself more (you can check out upcoming classes here), sell more, and produce more (to promote and sell).  This also means that I am going to host a sample sale in a few weeks- cleaning out samples/seconds will free up some closet space and make a little cash to help me with my goal next month.

Guideline #2:  "Found" Cast Goes Straight to the Debt.  My income tax return?  Straight to the debt.  A refund for a service I never received?  Straight to the debt.  Stuff that I find in my house that we no longer want/need that I can sell on Craigslist or via a Facebook Resale page?  Straight to debt.  This month alone I have "found" over $200 in stuff to sell on line or at my booth at the Antiques Depot.  Again, easy money and spring cleaning all rolled into one.

Guideline #3:  Trim the Fat.  I decided several months ago that there were areas that I was willing to cut back on in order to have more money for my debt.  One of them being new clothes- this was easy since my friends and I have clothing swaps about once a month and I really like my clothes anyway.  But another area was groceries.  Y'all know I like a challenge right?  So I made the personal goal of only spending $100 a month on groceries.  I have been following www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com for several months now, and you know, so far so good for us.  I know that we have a little extra lenience if necessary, but my goal has been $100.  There has only been once when I went over- and that was because our favorite salsa was on sale... The extra money that is left over from the grocery budget goes straight back to my debt.  So I have incentive (other than personal stubbornness) and a built in safety to help meet my $1,000 a month.


And finally Guideline #4:  Have an End Date.  My goal is to pay off all $9.000+ of my student loan debt by December 31st.  That means roughly 9 months of payments (I am counting March in those months).  With a goal of $1,000 a month I should just be able to make it.  Does the acid in my stomach boil as I worry about whether or not I will be able to make it?  Yep.  But I am bound and determined.  And once January 1st rolls around, that will be an extra $1,00 a month in our pockets!


Is anyone else trying to tackle a demon like debt this month?  I am all sweaty just thinking about it, but I know I will feel so much better this time next year.