Battling Debt: From Big Challenges Come Big Changes

Time for Some Big Changes?

Going through the Debt Diet has prompted some of the women involved to consider making big changes to their lives that they never would have thought of before. A major reason why Melissa hasn’t been able to pay down her debt as quickly as she would like is because she and her husband pay an expensive mortgage and high property taxes to live in a town with some of the best public schools in the Boston area.

“I’ve been saying this whole time: Good schools, period, end of discussion. I don’t care how much we pay,” Melissa says.

But looking at her expenses and debts every day is making her reconsider.

“I dunno, maybe we don’t need to live here,” she says. “We could have a better house and lower mortgage somewhere else with decent schools.”

[Article: To Save or Pay Down Debt? Budget for Both]

Penny and her husband own an RV that they pull behind her husband’s pickup truck. But the truck has required many expensive repairs this year, and pulling the RV only increases the wear and tear, so they’re thinking about replacing the RV with one they can drive instead of pull.

If they were still spending money willy-nilly, they might have already traded up to the better RV. But now that she sees where her money is going, and knows how much she must improve her credit score to avoid losing their house, Penny is putting off any major purchases.

“For now, the camper is just a thought,” she says. The Debt Diet “has changed my whole way of thinking.”

The experience of working closely with three people for over 15 weeks had an effect on Chatzky, too. She co-created the Debt Diet along with Pro-Change Systems, a company in Rhode Island that uses a blend of behavior modification theories and practices to help people do everything from quit smoking to maintain an exercise regimen.

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The model works, especially for people who are ready to meet the challenge of debt head-on, Chatzky says. But even people who are committed to the program, people like Chris, Melissa and Penny, benefited greatly from the simple act of calling Chatzky on the phone and talking about their challenges.

Which has Chatzky wondering about ways to add one-on-one coaching to the Debt Diet.

“My big revelation was the importance of the calls,” Chatzky says. I built the diet to be a stand-alone. But I think you need to find somebody in your life to talk about this process as you’re going through it.”

As Chatzky figures out how to build some kind of coaching program into the Debt Diet, the three challenge participants are able to find some interaction with others by writing blog posts on Credit.com about their progress and struggles.

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Like interacting with someone face-to-face or over the phone, writing the blog posts has occasionally been difficult. But each participant said it also helped to hold herself accountable.

“I found the blogging challenging because I think I’m a positive person, and sometimes blogging I’d say, ‘I’m depressing myself, who wants to read this stuff?'” Melissa says. “But actually the blogging helped me stay focused.”

So be sure to stay tuned as Chris, Penny and Melissa continue to write about their experiences of paying down their debts. And feel free to write into the comment section with your own thoughts about the difficulties, fun and satisfaction you’re having paying off your own debt.