BUT DAMN #239 REAL ESTATE & MONEY: SAVING EVEN WITH A BIG MORTGAGE

My husband and I were so good with our money.

We had a vision to buy a home.

BUT DAMN ...

This big Mortgage and "extra stuff" for the house has us broke!

When we closed on a new house in January, we had zero credit card debt, but have now racked up $15,000.

"My husband said last night if we had to buy air, we would both be dead. We barely make enough to get by. Only by the grace of God and he's probably tired of us too. Every time I get to a $500 balance in my emergency fund, I have an emergency. We're putting our foot down. We are coming out of this debt!"

One suggestion is to always continue saving even if it's just putting a few dollars away. Save while you work to pay down the debt. In the meantime, work on that budget. Bankrate's "Secrets to creating a budget" advises some steps, such as prioritizing your spending, tracking spending for a month and putting savings on autopilot.

Another of our reader suggest utilizing the following method to stay on top of his/her bills:

"Use one credit card for every purchase and pay your credit card in full each month. Open a free checking account and pay your routine monthly bills via online banking. At the end of the year you should be able to account for almost all of the money you spent. It works."

Another reader wrote in and suggested preparing a personal list of "Revelations" that basically are personal admissions as to where you've spent your money. The reader's "Revelations" included: "purchasing a tool you really didn't need but it was so cool, you knew you would use it one day (yea, right)," and frequently eating out or having pizza and Chinese food deliveries.
What has been the best way you have controlled your spending? Share it with us!

Nod to Brigitte Yuille for assistance on this article.