Ok, I need some help from some of you experts out there. I want to pull in about $500-$1000 extra a month to give me some breathing room. Right now anything extra we want to do goes on credit cards and I want to stop doing that. Our debt gets out of control, we reel it back in a bit, gets more out of control...and so on. In the past I would volunteer to go overseas to get a little out of debt, but we just get used to that large income and whatever we make we spend...

Anyway...is there anything (aside from whoring myself out....or my wife) that any of you do to bring in a little extra cash? Stocks...work online doing something? I don't want to sell spend my entire off time working on something else....

THOUGHTS???

I really don't mean to sound sarcastic at all ...

just cancel the cards.

I only have one credit card left, just in case of emergencies. And I don't carry it on me. If I can't pay cash I don't buy it.

Initially I would pay the credit card off at the end of the month. But then I started realizing I would still be buying more stuff that I didn't need.

When you actually see the cash leaving your hand and not seeing the hundred dollar bills in your wallet, then you think twice before spending any money.

oh...I TOTALLY agree with you. I know what we need to do. We just don't do it. If I can pull in a few extra $$'s and we don't have to change our lifestyle I'd like to do so. If I need to tighten the purse straps....I guess I'll end up doing that then.

Stop paying for those BJ's every Friday and Saturday and put that money to good use.

I WISH that's where my money was going. Try karate for the son, dancing for the daughter, swimming lessons for both..... then things pop up like the A/C died =$275, brother in-law got married up in NY and all 4 of us were in it....all said and done I put up about $5k for that wedding.... it doesn't end....

http://www.gixxer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=179171

You're normal, which means outta control and destined to be broke your whole life. Time to develop a plan and follow it. Sorry to be harsh, but there's no magic pill. Want out of debt? Income must go up, outgo must go down, difference must be paid on debt. Want out of debt? Quit borrowing - period. Want out of debt? Get control of your money - a budget. Spend every dollar of next month's income on paper, on purpose, in agreement with your wife before the month begins. Then follow what the paper says. If it needs adjusting, sit down together and fix it. Trust me, money is flying out of your house in all directions, so your first estimates on how much to budget for each category will be off. You are going to make mistakes. That just shows how out of control you used to be. Now you've got the whip and a chair and you're money is going to go where YOU say it will go. Keep at it. It's worth it. Expect it to take around 3 months to get really good at it. But again, it's worth it. You either learn to control your money or the lack of it will always control you.

Follow the plan I posted, in order, exactly. Get on the same page with your wife. Bring the kids along to learn from your mistakes and show them that money is finite and when you screw up sacrifices must be made to clean up the mess. Later you can show them the fruits of following a better plan.

Crisis to crisis living, "Thank God It's Friday; Oh God It's Monday", paycheck-to-paycheck, no emergency funds, every car/HVAC/job/plumbing problem also a financial problem, car payments, no retirement fund ("can't afford it"), no college fund ("can't afford it"), which card has room on it for us to go out to dinner - all of these things are "normal". They also suck as a way of life.

You sacrificed time with your family as well as personal comfort and convenience to go overseas and earn more money. As it stands right now, you did that for - NOTHING. You are right back where you were before. Don't do that again. This time, make it count for something. Make it stick. Change your life. You DO NOT want to live like that anymore.

Good luck to you. But it's not really about luck. It's about getting PISSED OFF! There is NO power in reason or understanding. There is tremendous power in standing up and saying "That's it!! I've had it!! I'm NOT going to live this way any more!! I AM GOING TO CHANGE THIS!!".

http://www.gixxer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=179171

You're normal, which means outta control and destined to be broke your whole life. Time to develop a plan and follow it. Sorry to be harsh, but there's no magic pill. Want out of debt? Income must go up, outgo must go down, difference must be paid on debt. Want out of debt? Quit borrowing - period. Want out of debt? Get control of your money - a budget. Spend every dollar of next month's income on paper, on purpose, in agreement with your wife before the month begins. Then follow what the paper says. If it needs adjusting, sit down together and fix it. Trust me, money is flying out of your house in all directions, so your first estimates on how much to budget for each category will be off. You are going to make mistakes. That just shows how out of control you used to be. Now you've got the whip and a chair and you're money is going to go where YOU say it will go. Keep at it. It's worth it. Expect it to take around 3 months to get really good at it. But again, it's worth it. You either learn to control your money or the lack of it will always control you.

Follow the plan I posted, in order, exactly. Get on the same page with your wife. Bring the kids along to learn from your mistakes and show them that money is finite and when you screw up sacrifices must be made to clean up the mess. Later you can show them the fruits of following a better plan.

Crisis to crisis living, "Thank God It's Friday; Oh God It's Monday", paycheck-to-paycheck, no emergency funds, every car/HVAC/job/plumbing problem also a financial problem, car payments, no retirement fund ("can't afford it"), no college fund ("can't afford it"), which card has room on it for us to go out to dinner - all of these things are "normal". They also suck as a way of life.

You sacrificed time with your family as well as personal comfort and convenience to go overseas and earn more money. As it stands right now, you did that for - NOTHING. You are right back where you were before. Don't do that again. This time, make it count for something. Make it stick. Change your life. You DO NOT want to live like that anymore.

Good luck to you. But it's not really about luck. It's about getting PISSED OFF! There is NO power in reason or understanding. There is tremendous power in standing up and saying "That's it!! I've had it!! I'm NOT going to live this way any more!! I AM GOING TO CHANGE THIS!!".

I absolutely agree with you 100%. Thank you so much for taking the time to write this out for me. It's nothing that I don't already know, but just haven't put my foot down and done yet. The key thing you said there is to get my wife and I on the same page and put it in writing.

Thanks again. I'll let you know how everything goes.

On a side note.... I still wouldn't mind another way to bring in a few extra $$'s if anyone has any ideas while I'm doing the above suggested plan.. :biggrin

Dork - and are you just speaking from experience or are you a financial planner or what?

Dork - and are you just speaking from experience or are you a financial planner or what?

Mostly just speaking from experience. When I got out of the military in '99, I realized I had been sheltered from the requirement to understand this stuff. Luckily, my wife has always been a good budgeter and home economist, so when I separated from the AF, I found myself with - money! At about the same time, I discovered this lunatic: http://www.daveramsey.com on the radio insisting that debt-free living was not only possible but far preferable; that credit cards are stupid; that wealth-building is not for "other people" who are somehow special - it's for everybody. Anyhow, the common sense of it and the wisdom behind it appealed to me. So I set about learning everything I didn't know: what are the investment vehicles; what are the tax rules; what is a 401k; what is an annuity; what is a "loaded" mutual fund; how do income taxes actually work; how do mortgages actually work; what kind of insurance should I have; etc. I spent about 3 years just diving into this stuff head-first. Upon becoming debt-free myself in 2002 (thanks be to God for my virtuous and patient Wife as my contribution to the process was to mostly complain about it), I realized that with no debt any income becomes a serious wealth-building tool. With your financial feet under you, you can have the new Gixxer and your kid's college fund at the same time. You can live without a credit card. You can tithe. And when you get a raise - IT'S YOURS!! Imagine that.... not one solitary person outside you and your wife having one stinkin thing to say about where your income goes. When you borrow money, you give the lender first claim to your future income. Money you haven't even earned yet goes to them first. Proverbs 22:7 says: "The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.".

If you follow the plan, you will find yourself 18-24 months (on average) from now with no payments but your mortgage and 3-6 months worth of cash sitting in the bank for emergencies. Close your eyes and visit that place for a minute.... You will relax (and trust me, your wife will too) in places you didn't even know you were knotted up. It releases creativity you didn't even know was stifled. Until you've experienced the peace that comes from being recession/high gas price/job instability/terrorist attack/media hysteria - proof, you won't believe the difference it makes.

great responses Dorkfish:cheers :punk

F'N - A..... thanks for the response. You've motivated me. I'll read that link you posted. I find it hard to believe that I could be ANYWHERE near out of debt in 2-3 years though even if I cut out all of my "luxuries" and don't have any fun or go on vacations ever. I don't want my kids to grow up like that though. I want to be able to take them places. They are 6 and 4 right now.

You have a PM Mr. Fish.

Look into Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover. Its working for me.

I've already been turned on to him and plan on attempting that. Thanks

Yeah I had the same problem, usually you can call the card companies and set up some kind of payback program. But first you definitely need to have them turned off! And if you do, make sure its noted on the account and to the credit companies that it was done at your request!