About $28,000 or so.....

This is the begining of my debt blog. I've tried lots of approaches to get out of debt and nothing works. So this is something new to try.

Step One: Admit I am powerless and my life has become unmanageable. Or something. I feel powerless. I've had a debt problem since I was 21 and I have never solved it. Clearly, its unmanageable.

It seems like these blogs start out with details about the actual debt. According to the financial experts, it is important that we really really know how much money we are talking about.

Here is a snapshot of the financial mess I share with my partner:

Credit Card Debt 1 (Fertility Expenses and Overspending): $9,175.46
Credit Card Debt 2 (Wedding Expenses and Overspending): $9,695.58
Credit Card Debt 3 (Car Repair and Overspending) 1,875,81
Credit Card Debt 4 (Overspending): $1,900
Debt on a Personal Loan: $3,200 (Paid back thru Bi-weekly payments of $200.00 directly out of my paycheck)
Debt on money borrowed from my 2 year olds savings: $1,300
(It sickens me that I wrote the above category):
Debt on a Medical Bill (Interest Free): 737.00

Total Debt: 27,883.85
Amount in 401k: 14,995.
Amount in Savings: ZERO.

It is really frightening. You know what is more frightening? I am leaving student loans off this list (for now).

I don't even know what to say. In many areas of my life I feel determined, successful, and tenacious. But this debt thing has been around my neck for 18 years. It is not getting better. Each time I try to tackle this I feel determined and energetic about making changes. But it never sticks. It is hard to feel any optimism when every attempt fails.

I'm feeling sort of desperate and really want my financial life to be different. I've been reading Blogging Away Debt and am so impressed by the success of these bloggers. I thought I could at least give this a try. Nothing else has worked.