Published: September 19, 2008 10:42 pm         

Experts: Getting out of debt takes new financial mindset

EDMOND — Edmond Allegiance Credit Union accounting employee Karen Yates is a disciple of Dave Ramsey, who helps Americans get out of debt.

Recently, Yates had about $15,000 in student loan debt and about $1,000 worth of balances on credit cards. She said that because she didn’t have a car loan she was able to buy a house with a larger mortgage than she could afford.

She was left with almost no wiggle room and she was paying a $60 a month fee that protected the mortgage company, but did nothing for her.

“That was the price of buying a home with no money down,” Yates said. “I was in too big a hurry and had not developed a plan for the financial future.”

Nick Massey, a certified financial planner and regional vice president for Householder Group, said keeping up with the Joneses and living beyond one’s means are the main reasons people acquire debt.

“We have created a spending society where people feel entitled to whatever they want without having to save up to get it,” Massey said. “We love to shop. Banks and credit card companies encourage it.”

Excessive use of credit cards and consumer loans has become a major problem for many Americans, Massey said. Not having an emergency fund is another major cause of debt also, he said.

Massey said he encourages people to have at least three to six months’ income or expenses in an emergency fund. Without this, when inevitable unforeseen expenses arise, people turn to credit cards to solve the problem, he said.

“Usually the intention is to pay it back right away, but somehow that doesn’t always happen,” Massey said.

Amy Petty, chief operations officer with Edmond’s Allegiance Credit Union, said when she and her husband decided to get out of debt they had to remind themselves of the old saying, “How do you eat an elephant?”

Consistency is really the key to a breakthrough on this, Petty said. Tackling a small amount consistently over time will yield success.

The trick is keeping yourself motivated during the time it takes to get out of debt, Petty said. If possible, people should devise a plan that gets them out from under the debt in 24 months because it becomes a huge challenge to stay motivated for a longer period of time, she said.

“Getting out of debt is a lot like going on a diet,” Petty said. “You need to see those first few pounds drop to give you the excitement and motivation to keep going.”

Petty said it’s a good idea to track the amount paid off and to celebrate each dollar gone. Petty believes in using the snowball method Dave Ramsey teaches. Instead of arranging the debts to be paid off in order of interest rate — highest to lowest — Ramsey recommends listing the snowball in order of smallest debt to largest debt.

“It is purely psychological,” Petty said. “When the $200 department store card pays off you get excited and you have a sense of accomplishment, even if the card is a lower interest rate than your $2,000 Visa.”

Yates said she had been listening to Dave Ramsey on the radio and she loved the idea of being debt free. Then her mortgage company changed the amount required for her escrow account. The increase in the payment put her in a bind.

“I was taught that when you sign on the dotted line there are factors that you can’t control,” Yates said. “I thought that I was doing well, even paying extra principal several times, but I didn’t have any savings and the slightest change in any external event could cause disaster.”

Yates said she had had “flat tires” before but she was living as if she would never have one again. She said she has lost a job before but she was living as if her job was 100 percent guaranteed.

Now Yates has a $1,000 emergency fund and when something unforeseen comes up she has a fund to deal with it.

“When I get my debt paid off I will increase that fund to three to six months of expenses so that even losing employment for a time will not be as disastrous,” Yates said. “That gives you a sense of security that can’t be found by pretending that problems don’t occur.”

Massey quoted Ramsey, who says, “Stop spending what you don’t have to buy things you don’t need to impress a bunch of people who don’t care.” That is the first step, Massey said.

Massey recommended Ramsey’s book “Total Money Makeover,” in which Ramsey describes six steps toward getting out of debt.

NEXT WEEK: How to get a low interest mortgage.

     

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