I was talking to a frugal friend of mine today. We were discussing the content for my next newsletter. She had recommended I discuss our (my husband and I ) intense focus on debt payoff. By the end of this year, my husband and I will have paid off approximately 40,000 in non-mortgage debt since March of 2005. That’s when we discovered Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover. That will be it except for the house and we could conceiveably be free of the mortgage in about 7 years.

I mentioned to her that I’ve hit a frugal funk. I’ve been hardcore frugal for 6 years now and I don’t think about it anymore. I guess I don’t think about saving the pennies anymore because I’m always saving the pennies. I guess it’s hard to remember when I wasn’t frugal so it’s hard to share my frugality because to me it’s old hat but to many of you, it isn’t.

How do the two points come together you ask? Well, it’s that hardcore, pennies-do-add-up mentality that has allowed us to “find” more money in our budget to apply to our debt. How can the pennies add up? Well, adding just $10 extra/month on a $129,500 mortage will save you $5270 in interest over the life of a 30 year loan. $10/month doesn’t seem like alot does it? One less lunch out. Two less trips to the expensive coffee shop. $10 seems like “pennies” but it’s all those pennies that add up!

Finding those pennies goes back to having a budget, tracking your spending and thinking about wants and needs. It can be about compromise to meet the needs and the wants. We LOVE camping. I NEED to camp! (okay it MIGHT be a want but I really NEED it, too) LOL! BUT this year, we’re realizing that we can still enjoy lots of camping but stay hardcore on our debt payoff by camping more locally and saving gas money. It’s compromising THIS year so next year we’ll be DEBT FREE!!! You might NEED a nice wardrobe for work but you can find great nearly new clothes at consignment shops. You might NEED to furnish a new apartment but you can do it nicely with tag sale finds, consignment shop finds and inexpensive throws and covers. It’s about compromising what you perceive as a need so you can throw more money to debt. In all honesty, you NEED to be DEBT FREE!