Found a truly stellar article that outlined the steps to getting out of debt while living P2P (AND I SURE DON’T MEAN PLAYSTATION) / of course most of it doesn’t work for us thusly or already in effect but it might be helpful to pass along the info … real brief/undies only:

1.  Halt-cease-end use of credit cards / full stop, no more, all done
… rather than add to a credit card balance, sell something, work more, get add’l $$$ instead of digging the hole deeper and adding interest on top … yehno

2.  Create working budget / OK so we’ve been through this … budgets don’t WORK
Think:  7Qs spending plan … yeh it’s a mental trick but those are the best kinds …
the 7Qs + cash = taming&training debt monkey; ergo / to wit – money = monkey ohyesss

3.  Wants ≠ Needs.  Article claims food (in-home/house-fixed groceries), clothing (thriftshop? I say ohyesss), shelter (home again home again), transportation (getting back home again after not being there) and utilities (making home habitable … altho’ caves shelter from the elements)

Cable is not a need, but (at this point in the human experience) the Internet is … this little section of intersphere relies on the whole wide world of the web so … yeh, the Internet is a utility, like heat and electricity, or hot running water and flushing toilets.  Don’t need those either.  We can dig holes to squat and still make fire … might need a permit, tho’

Somewhere around here there was a discussion about this … food, clothing, shelter, healthcare, and purpose/reason to live – got to eat, got to cover the body up, got to protect the body from the outsides, got to fix the body when the insides are broken, and got to give the body a reason to keep going.  So wants v. needs really depends on personal circumstances so not as helpful as initially supposed but could be if given some thought probably should but later moving on

4.  Verify debts via credit (à la translation: DEBT) report – use the free online thing to get a free credit report from the big three … or one of the big three … anywhy the inhuman conglomerates that automate the accumulation and storage of ALL of your personal transactions, business and history for the purview of others … yah, should probably see what the mankind masters are saying about you.

So check the credit (à la translation: DEBT) report and find out for certain total due – how much is owed, and to whom.  This article does highlight the irrelevance of the score because you/me/us/we SHOULD DEFINITELY NOT BE OH NO NOT BE seeking more credit (à la translation: DEBT) … but still must determine your assigned placement on the borrower spectrum by the masters of mankind, and then work to adjust position / get off?

5.  ER fund, or savings in case SHTF … something hits the fan, or as the article puts it, “protect us against life.” 
I like that.  Like life itself is the threat.  How encouraging. 

This article goes on to discuss that money = mass, as in stockpile, as in … dare I say it? Of course stackpile of cash (heh) (methinks approx. $2.5K) is doable simply with the intention of doing so … again, sell stuff, work more, don’t spend … same tropes, repackaged well. 

6.  Debt avalanche (snowball, snowflake, yadda/yadda) – repayment strategies … all boils down to consistent little at a time and chunks whenever possible

One thing: article says not to give account info over the phone … Suggestion?  Set up a separate bank account used solely to fund debt satisfaction … that way, only put in rotten fruit to feed the monkey 😊

7.  Negotiate / Settle with Creditors (see! tol’ja!  debt satisfaction …) – lenders are like lovers … they want communication and money, and most will accept less of the latter for more of the former … just sayin’ …

Another thing: article also says to expect debt feeders to lie – if they use words don’t believe them – and get all settlement details and agreements and amounts and terms in writing, in hand, before mailing/sending/paying ANY amount in debt satisfaction … and then US tracked mail … I/me/we would send a cashier’s check AFTER receiving the debtfeeder written invoice with the terms for satisfying the debt.  That monkey is DONE well not yet but working active on it …

8.  Increase income – get another JOB!  sell all your CRAP!  build a BRAND!  write a BLOG!  
Ad infinitum, ad nauseum … the point is to succeed to the point we don’t have to work.  Right. 

            Sooo, sloth is the human ideal. 

            Also happens to be a deadly sin.  {Proverbs 20:13} moving on

9.  Reduce Expenses / save wherever&whenever possible – and we present to you previously somewhere … the 7Qs … and only use cash … unless you can’t (more on that later …)

Later:  To my/our/a general surprised and mounting displeasure, it is proven that many current businesses do not accept cash or personal check payments in exchange for goods and services, seeking only the elusive “ones-and-zeros” represented by a credit (à la translation: DEBT) card or debit (à la translation: CASH) card. 

First off – don’t like/want/need direct electronic access to entirety of household funds.  Nope.  Do not like / want / need.  Bad things can happen with banks and a loose debit (à la translation: CASH) card.  Suuurrre, the bank replaces your funds, until the investigation is complete.  Ooo.  Then what if the bank tells you SOL, or sorry out of luck?  What then? 

Explain what happened to the mortgage company.  It cares. 

And again, credit cards are the problem, but in many instances the only solution to obtain the desired goods and services wanted v. needed to maintain the whole life routine. 

So, altho’ above-advice #1 makes perfect sense … not practical / practicable for many of the masses … at least, not this one. 

Good thing?  Paid off each month.  Another good thing?  Spending on that card 100% manageable, no surprises.  Except the annual fee.  To use the card.  In addition to the interest.  Which I don’t pay.  So I see their point moving on

All the rest of it is in process, step at a time … this monkey is huge … but time heals all wounds, and wounds all heels (saw that somewhere … and do not want / need to be a master of mankind … Christ Jesus Himself was very explicit about a camel, a needle and a rich man, and Book of Enoch says GOD has a place for those who have escaped judgment before death … just sayin’ … more to come)

The thing I/we/us/the group has not seen thus far is a discussion of the dysfunction in the relationship related to spender v. saver dynamic, when the conflict has reached the apex (nadir?), and the saver has abandoned the spender to figure it out.  

I s’pose that’s what we’re here for.  Heh.  Hi. 

At this point funds and expense responsibilities are divided, which is actually a good thing; the majority of wartime hostilities revolved around money … since Half and other half no longer discuss finances, the marital union/household is much calmer. 

Maybe that’s the advice.  Money = marriage, and money ≠ marriage. 

Hmm. 

But taxes on filing joint are lower. 

Another trick?  Probably.  Or maybe not.  Maybe … it’s just us. 

And no, counseling is not an option.  That’s what the blaaawwwggg is for … pay ATTENTION