How to Fight Back Against ‘Stupid Youth Debt’

This LearnVester wants advice on how to deal with her and her husband’s debt, and is trying a variety of clever things to increase her income. Have you paid off credit card debt of your own, and have advice to share? What do you think of her strategies? Tell her in LV Discussions.

When my husband and I married, we both brought with us what we refer to as “Stupid Youth Debt” (those great college credit cards they send you). We’d been doing well, paying more than the minimum payment to get rid of them as fast as we could. Then I started my own small business in 2010, but it closed, leaving me with $45,000 in business debt.

RELATED: How to Pay Off Your Credit Cards in 5 Steps

So now … here we go again on the debt. We’re still working on the credit cards, as well as the business debt, while trying to keep from going broke or insane. And we’d like to start a family soon. Somehow, our plan went kaput!

So we made a new plan. My husband and I are both working full-time and part-time jobs, and I make custom cakes on the side as well. I coupon like a madwoman, and this past summer we had a large family garden, which is providing us (as well as my parents, brother and his two kids) with green beans and corn, as well as a few pickles and onions for the winter.

RELATED: Debt 101 – Pay Off Your Credit Cards

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I am on a number of survey panels that provide me with points that I accumulate to redeem toward gift cards (we’ve used these for wedding and birthday gifts mainly), as well as products to test. Just in the last week, I’ve received a full-size shampoo and conditioner and a full-size laundry detergent! So I get both the products and the points from filling out a survey about them after a few weeks.

RELATED: Paid Off Credit Cards and Became a Mom: Why I’m a Financial Adult

In the coming months, I plan to reduce my grocery spending with coupons by another $20 per month. We’re planning an even bigger garden next year with more variety.

If any of you have suggestions of things that are helping you save and cut costs, I’d love to hear them!

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