Ready to get rid of the credit card debit, so tired of living with it hanging over my head. Love your site, and know it can be done if I put my mind to it.

I am also in. I have been trying to get out of debt for the last 10 years, As soon as I am near paying off my credit card then I just start making debt again. I today pledge to be debt free by the end of 2012 :-) Thanks for this website. It is inspiring.

Sooo ready to get out of debt! We are at about $18,000.00. That includes everything but mortgage. Our dream to start our own business is on hold until this debt is under control! I started budgeting in January and have knocked out 3 bills already. My blinders are on (no binge shopping) and nose is to the grindstone. Here we go!!

I just "stumbled" upon your blog today and I already love it! :D
In comparison with numbers I see above, my debt seems not so relevant, but it does annoy me to count every cent. :D I don't earn much and my debt now is about 2,5 monthly salaries + a bit that will be paid off by August.
I would love to travel more again and take some courses which right now doesn't seem doable, considering the whole in my budget. So, I'm in.

I already have some ideas on how to earn extra money (my boss laughed when I asked for a raise) but I can't get myself to start. Hellllp!
Ah, yes, I'd love to quit this job and do something else. Owing money to the bank prevents me from doing it.
I take the pledge to live debt-free as soon as possible.

40k in debt on my line of credit ... has been "creeping" up for years, i don't know how it happened but ignoring it is obviously not helping, i keep thinking that as i make more money it will be easy and natural to pay it off but it's only getting worse. It's time to take action, NOW!!!!! I'm ready to stop being stressed out about it all the time.

I am ready to take the pledge! Last year I got into $7,000 of credit card debt trying to pay for my wedding. My husband also has his own credit card debt to the tune of $5,000 and both of us have a heap of student loans (mine--about $10,000 and his about $20,000). Long story short, we have a lot of debt and we're tired of feeling financially crushed. I have been trying to pay stuff down over the last few months, but when I got hit with a $500 medical bill this month I realized that paying debt needs to become my number #1 priority so that I can get things back under control--once that bill hit I barely had enough to pay my basic expenses and I had to use my meager savings to get by. I am not one for shopping or spending a lot in general, but I have some weaknesses (particularly eating out) that have to change. If I can take control over my expenses from eating out and other entertainment activities, I am confident I could pay down some of my debt. I want to take the pledge to do the spending fast and get out of debt!

Count me in!

This last year has been great in terms of looking at money and debt realistically. My blog has been my lifesaver BUT I have let bad habits creep back, so I commit, once again, to get back onto the same bandwagon I rode on all last year. I bought and paid for a car, in cash. I paid down $7 k in cc debt, and saved $10k. Reality check indeed, I am about to repeat, only better.

The reality is, I know I can do it, I want to do it, and I am going to do it. As are all you lovely people above...remember, without freedom we are lost. Francesca the TM.

I'm in. I'm done worrying. I'm done lying awake at night. I'm done wondering how we will ever be able to retire. I'm just done. We're bringing home more money than we ever have...and have less disposable income than ever. Time to change that. Happy Valentine's Day to us. It's time to fix this.

I am new to this site and found it by accident.I am completely Ready to start my spending diet and yes I have a lot of debt but for me the first step is not buying anymore Things only the basics.I am a Shopaholic that loves to Shop but I realize all that it does is make my apt overcrowded and me broke!!I can't keep spending yes It's a temporary fufillment but that's the problem.As soon as I leave the store I am sick especially because I can't return the stuff. I have to do it cold turkey and now will!!!Thanks for your inspiration!!I will have a new goal on selling my extra stuff and paying off my debt so I can live Free without the weight of bill collectors.I can't believe it finaly sunk in now!Please pray for me that I stay on track. I will change my spending for my future!its starts today Feb 2nd! I thank you so much!!!!

I figured we'd pay off the $15,000 in credit card debt eventually. But after the birth of my daughter in October and returning to work in January, I decided I NEED to be a stay at home mom- I miss raising her and seeing her grow, too much. My daughter is my inspiration. My goal was to be stay at home mom with her by the end of the Summer, but my husband just lost his job so I am afraid that won't be happening. Perhaps by January 2013? Nothing has made me as committed to NOT spending as my baby girl!

It has taken me about four years to pay down 30K of my debt (education, car, credit cards). Now that I am 10K away from being 100% debt free, my goal is to accomplish this in the next 6-8 months with the help of the Spending Diet. Your website's practical advice WILL keep me on track to meet my goals in 2012.

Tired of the dread that comes with opening the Visa bill. I'm done. Done buying things I don't NEED just to feel better. I am committed to getting rid of the debt and only spending money on NEEDS.

I would like to pledge that from this moment on, I am on a spending diet and will free myself of debt within 6 months. Last year I paid off the last of my $14k loan and I now have $5k of credit cards to pay off. We are moving country and will be unemployed for a little while but I am going to get that well paying job, spending wisely and pay off my debt!!

Thank you so much for the inspiration <3

I'm constantly unsettled and stress over my debts. I have swear off Credit cards and now I want to SAVE up and pay off my debts. BRING IT ON. 2012 will be a DIFFERENT year! Welcome all bright suggestions to make it anyway easier. U GO GIRL!!

I'm in. I'm sick of making myself sick, obsessing over my debt.

After spending hundreds of dollars on "stuff" I really didn't need this weekend I have decided to take the pledge. I have some serious debt and I need to get out of it. My friends are in full support (probably so I will stop complaining about all my debt while standing in line at Whole Foods.) No more emotional spending for this gal. Thanks for the incentive. ☺

We're IN!
Its amazing how much things have already changed for us since Nov 2011 when we took the pledge. Looking forward to your continued advice and support forum in 2012.
Thanks Anna!

It's been a mental commitment for my husband and I for 2012 but this makes it sort of official doesn't it?! I love love love to thrift/antique shop and I think my friend might kill me! But We are in. Good bye debt!

I'm in. I will start on January 15, 2012. I have ~76K (84% student loans) I need to pay off- then hopefully I will can buy a house.

I'm in. This will be hard, but it's time to make a change. Thank you for the inspiration, Anna.

i'm in! i started the spending fast on january 1st, but am just now getting around to letting the whole world and all of the blogosphere know. 6 days down...only 359 to go. waaaaaaaaaaaa!

Okay, I keep reading my story over and over and in my mind i know i need the fast--for the entire year!
My story is a tick different. I have been disabled and will never be able to return to my life/career as a kindergarten teacher.
I tend to spend. NO, I DO Spend to make me feel better. And guess what? It does not make me feel good for any more than 5 minutes.
I am on and I need to use your site as my homepage so I see this everyday and build myself up while learning to save. The rainy day has come.

I sat on New Years Eve and added up all our debt (98% I created) and I almost passed out cold. Needless to say, I am considering even going to shoppers anonymous, as well as debt therapy--does that exist??? I have been doing my best to keep the diet under my control. I actually walked the mall for 3 hours yesterday with a friend, and only bought lunch (6.00). Honestly do you know how many sales are going on right now?????
I feel like I am going through withdrawal!!!

I sat on New Years Eve and added up all our debt (98% I created) and I almost passed out cold. Needless to say, I am considering even going to shoppers anonymous, as well as debt therapy--does that exist??? I have been doing my best to keep the diet under my control. I actually walked the mall for 3 hours yesterday with a friend, and only bought lunch (6.00). Honestly do you know how many sales are going on right now?????
I feel like I am going through withdrawal!!!

I am absolutely on board..... 2012 Debt Free!!!!

My husband and I are in! We reduced our debt last year so we don't have that but if we EVER want to buy a house and retire someday we really need to be saving TONS now. I am sticking to JAN and FEB but I think we will go longer once we see the rewards from our fast. I love your blog so much (Just found it the other day) and it has already been super helpful. Thanks so much and I am excited to see our savings grow!

Okay, I'm ready. One of my main goals in life is to be able to live without the anxiety of the next bill and the next and the next. I need to cure myself of some bad habits and put the credit card to bed for good. We'll start with a year. Then, we'll see what happens.

Ok, so after being off of work for an entire year to be home with our baby girl, I returned to work Oct 27th 2011. Every two weeks, I would go into the minus. I have since got out of there and have stayed out of there for the past 2 or 3 pay checks. So that was our first step.....to get me in the plus side of things. That goal has been met. Now on to paying off my only credit card and then onto my line of credit and personal loan. We are hoping to have at least the personal loan paid off before we have another child, so here's hoping. I'm not pregnant at the moment and am in no huge rush to do that quite yet. We are super happy with our one little girl at the moment and want to give all of our time and love to her and only her at the moment. Plus, it will also give us time to catch up with our money sitch, which in turn is the best idea for her and the next one to come :-). I absolutely love this blog and have enjoyed reading as much as I have so far. Great to hear that I'm not the only one. I knew we weren't, but still nice to see details of someone else's debt. Looking forward to a debt free life.

Ok so I'm IN!! I've got almost $40K in credit card debt and $25K in student loans for my kids.... AND have a second mortgage on the house of $35K. I'm frequently "rewarding" myself and indulging in general pity-party stuff and that stops NOW! I know I have a HUGE hole to dig my self out of but I'm ready, finally ready, to take these steps and get it done! I've always had the mind-set that those $2-$5 dollar purchases don't add up but it's just as easy to dig a hole with small purchases as it is with large one! IT WILL STOP NOW! Thanks for the motivation! I'm going to need more of it I'm sure but I'll keep tuning in for motivation to keep going!

Well I was already planning to do something similar to this especially since I'm about to take out student loans for grad school. And what better time to be saving then while I'm living under my parents roof. Here's to spending money on NOTHING but gas and toiletrees. Wow. This will not be easy.

We are doing a spending fast for January! We are usually pretty frugal but December was a little nuts. To make a long story short, I spent six months away from home last year and have been back home for two. We haven't been able to put any money into savings in the past two months (although I was away working four jobs at a time to put that money into savings because I knew times would be scarce when I returned home). So we are saying NO to anything that's not a necessity for the month of January, maybe longer.

My blog post for tomorrow actually talks about our spending fast and I linked to your page because you totally rock. Viva La 2012!!

I have credit card ($15k) and student loan debt (~$90k). Since I just read about this, my spending fast starts now!

I'm in - I have $8,000 in credit card debt, $4,000 in a car loan and $16,000 in student loans. I'm living paycheck to paycheck...and I'm tired of it! Here's to 2012 Spending Fast and THANK YOU for reaching out to the rest of us to help us along with the debt recovery!!

I was so inspired when I saw you on The Nate Berkus Show! I am in and it's a little scary but I know if you can do it, I can do it too!

I was so inspired when I saw you on Nate Berkus! I am in for the spending fast for 2012! This is scary buy I know if you can do it, I can do it too!

I'm in! I don't think it'll take me a year to be completely debt free, as I am a student and a mother with a minimum wage job that I barely work at half-time, but, I would really love to get to the point where my boyfriend and I aren't at each other's throats because we have to choose between food and diapers, or food and paying our electric bill! Thank you so much for this challenge, I have been waiting for something like this!

I'm in 102% and I am so excited to get started. I'm still planning out the details, but I have a snowball based repayment calendar that puts me debt free in 2014. Amazing!

I started my Spending Fast last month - my goal is to be out of debt and invest $20K by Dec 31, 2013. Then I saw your article in the USAA Fall 2011 issue, this is what I need - something in writing! I'm done living anxious over finances!

I'm in! I've got about $19,000 in debt on 2 credit cards and I feel like I've dug myself into a hole. I'm scared that being in debt will hold me back from opportunities in life and I'm ready to do something about this. Here's to 2012!

I'm in! I've been enslaved by credit card debt ($19,000) and I've got to do something about it. Thanks for the push I needed to get started and the encouragement you've provided to all of us readers by doing it yourself and leading the way! My goal is to pay it all off in two years. Here's to 2012!

I'm lucky that I don't have a lot of debt, but it's enough to weigh me down -- two credit cards and a small student loan. I hope I'm ready for it. Bring. It. On.

I can do this. Right? I want to. I think. Yes. I'm in.

I am in! This year my husband and I have decided to spend less, save more and pay off some debt. More than anything, we realized that we are making pretty good money and yet, we have debt. We are not by any means drowing in debt but we could be doing better in the saving/budgeting front.

We got ourselves a copy of "You Need A Budget" software and we like it! Hopefully we will be using it throughout the year!

Here it is to 2012 and becoming financially wise!

I'm in too!! I have made a mini start already in 2011 but having started a new job and paying emergency tax for a while it was kind of impossible. It did make me think carefully about what I spend, where, when and why though.

My minimum aim for 2012 is to have paid off my final credit card and to have paid back mum and dad the money they loaned me. Then I can make a serious start on the loan I have which is my main debt and my only obstacle to a normal life to be honest. Still, I cleared 2 credit cards already in 2011 so I know it can be done.

Thanks so much for the inspiration!!

Sarah

I'm in. My husband and I have over $106,00 with student loans (undergrad and graduate school), with some credit card debt and 2 car payments. And a baby. It's overwhelming. I want to have money in savings, pay down debt, and save for a future down-payment for a house. Here's to 2012.

I take the pledge! Here's to 2012 credit card freedom! Thank you Anna for sharing your experiences

We're in!!! We'll sort of be doing a combination of the Spending Fast and the Spending Diet. My fiance and I are getting married in September of 2012, so there will be money going out, but our goal is to pay for the wedding entirely through Savings, no loans, no new credit cards, etc. Also, I have about $4,000 in debt on my credit card, and about $2,000 left to pay on my car, and I'd llike to have those cleaned up by the end of the year as well. I have about $45,000 in student loans, and I'd like whittle away at that also, but major work on that may have to wait until after the wedding. We're moving into a new apartment this weekend, but we've been using gift cards savings to buy things that we need, and being handed down furniture from friends, not going into new debt, so we;ll probably start the new year with a small amount in the savings dept, but not a lot of new debt. I can't ell you how excited I am to start working on this!!! I've wanted to break the debt cycle for AGES!!! 2012 will be an AMAZING year!!!

I am in! I am done having debt control our lives.

I'm so happy to see all of you getting ready TO CHANGE YOUR LIVES!!