Discipline

These people had discipline. Hearing their stories is very encouraging. (taken from FMF)

Here's a piece from MSN Money that details how some people paid off a huge amount of debt rather quickly. Let's start with some examples of what they did:

• The Gordons retired a $150,000 mortgage in just five years.
• Cards ($154,000 in debt) is on track to own his home free and clear later this year.
• Greg Cards of Newark, Del., was saddled with $154,000 in debt after his divorce.
• Wilkinson eliminated half of her [$49,000 credit card] debt in a year.
• Thompson paid off $8,000 in just nine months.

Now, how did they do it? Actually, it was rather simple:

• They made debt payoff a priority, although most continued to save for retirement as well.
• They kept their basic living expenses as low as possible.
• They looked for creative ways to speed up their debt repayment, and some took extra work.

Interesting set of steps, huh? Very similar to my three steps suggested in the Free Money Finance Guide to Getting Rich. And if they keep these habits going, these people will certainly become rich themselves -- or at least well-off.

I've said before that getting rich is rather a simple process. It's not easy, though, because it requires discipline. Getting out of debt is the same -- it involves only a few simple steps, but you have to be determined and disciplined to make it work.

Debt

Due to many business expenses and my lack of discipline, I have been doing exactly the opposite of what I wanted to be doing. My credit card debt has now grown to $8000. It is both frustrating and disheartening.

Google @ $500

I wanted to buy google when it IPO'd. At the time I had no money, not even an emergency fund. It was bad. Anywayws. Today, for the first time, Google's stock price is above $500 per share. That's just crazy.

Long way to go

Taken from FMF's site.

Age: 20-29
Median Net Worth: $7,900
Top 25%: $36,000
Top 10%: $119,300

Age: 30-39
Median Net Worth: $44,200
Top 25%: $128,100
Top 10%: $317,800

Age: 40-49
Median Net Worth: $117,800
Top 25%: $338,100
Top 10%: $719,800

Age: 50-59
Median Net Worth: $182,300
Top 25%: $563,800
Top 10%: $1,187,600

Age: 60-69
Median Net Worth: $209,200
Top 25%: $647,200
Top 10%: $1,429,500

Source: Federal Reserve Board's 2004 Survey of Consumer Finances

As my networth is still unfortuantely negative, I have a long way to go hit the median leverl of $7,900. I should probably figure out exactly where it is since it's a new month.

Hilarious

A blog I just discovered, written by Single Ma from Maryland, has post about Sallie Mae that made me laugh incredibly hard. Unfortunately, the bytch as she calls (and spells) her also has me in her grip. Anyways, here's a link to the post.