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How to live the new year with NO debt

Posted at 6:08 AM, Dec 17, 2015
and last updated 2015-12-17 08:08:43-05

“Every person every household should have a budget; a spending plan.”

Wise words from Sulie Richardson with Desert Schools who teaches people all the time that just because we live in a consumer culture, doesn’t mean you should drown in debt to buy the latest and greatest things.

So is there an easy way to commit to stopping the credit card spending spree for the new year?

“Put that card on ice,” Richardson said. “Put it in some water and put it in your freezer…. No, literally.”

This country needs a freeze on poor financial choices as Americans carry an average of $16,000 in credit card debt. And the high interest rates will have you digging out for years.

So the first step toward financial fitness is deciding to make a change.

“We take care of other things about ourselves, our health, we take days off to go to the doctor, to get our checkups. Why not do it for your finances?”

But taking that financial ‘sick’ day means making a plan and sticking to a budget.        

“A budget is not that we don't have any money that you can't have fun or that you can't go out to dinner or buy nice things. It’s making a plan on how you’re going to make those purchases.”