Tightening the Proverbial Belt

These next few months may be the biggest test on T and I's relationship as we not only create a joint budget (we are pretty diligent with our personal budgets, and manage our joint account well) but also begin to squeeze every penny out of that budget to pay off all, yes all, of our consumer debt. I am not just talking about credit cards here, that would be waaay too easy! I am talking about credit cards, cars, student loans... everything except our mortgage. On top of that we are creating a 3-6 month emergency fund, where we could survive for 3-6 months without income. Right now we would be unable to survive 6 weeks without income, so you can see how far we need to go!
To me it is interesting how the American Dream consists of being a steward to thousands and thousands of dollars of debt. Think about it, most people think they are not in debt when they don't have a credit card, but what about that depreciating vehicle, or student loans, or home equity lines of credit? We live off of this idea that we can buy stuff we don't have the money for. Then we spend the next coming years being a servant to this stuff that we bought. Check out this video, that is ridiculous and true about how we spend money.

Think about it, if you had no debt, how much money would you really need to make to survive?
And if you had no debt, and made what you currently make, how much could you put away into an investment for your retirement or kid's college or medical emergency fund?

T and I don't want to be servants to our debt forever, so we are starting now... tightening the belt so we can be one step closer to our dreams. But what are our dreams...? Good question! We will spend the next week talking about things we want to do with our life so we understand why we are giving up that latte, dinner at a restaurant or new jacket now? So we can travel the world for 12 months and not work, so we can have kids someday and I can stay home while they are young, or so we can be financially independent by 50 and enjoy life while we are still physically able!

We will see how it goes as we discuss whether it is worth it to buy those new mountain bikes, get my hair done ($120 every 6 weeks), or eat out when we could cook at home. It's gonna get ugly, but it is time to start owning up to what we really spend and what it is costing us.