Last week at the Beartaria Times Community App, we asked our members about getting out of debt. This sparked many to chime in with their own posts and start conversations in the comments section.

One member started the conversation by explaining how the different members of their household were all holding onto personal debt and not hiding it but not sharing the responsibility. They explained how, when it came to light, they all devised a plan to get each person out of debt together and how they could all make specific changes to get out of debt together.

Some of their recommendations focused on not always getting to eat the food they want but eating what they have or making sacrifices to their grocery list to meet the budget.

“We are eating from our pantry. We are using old emergency food storage. We are even using some of our old emergency food storage grains for our animals. They are loving it. It is working out.”

Another member gave a list of ways they see as the best practices for getting out of debt. Some of these include:

• The main sources of high-interest debt that I’ve seen are student loans, car loans, and credit cards. Make a spreadsheet with your debt balances in one column and the APR in the second column. Make the third column the product of the first two. This will roughly give you the annual cost of each debt. You’ll form your plan of attack based on this.
• It’s beating a dead horse but make a budget. Can be paper, but spreadsheets or other electronic solutions would be much better. Include cash! Log cash transactions as well as electronic so you get a full picture of an average month. Really dive in for at least 2-3 months on this to capture everything. Eliminate what you don’t need.
• Deep dive your grocery bill. Figure out what categories you’re spending the most on. Consider buying those things in bulk from somewhere like Azure Standard. Often you can save quite a bit this way, and even get a better quality product for cheaper! You can make your own bread from their flour for about 1/3 of the store bread cost.

Lastly, another member shared how they could purchase land and build a home without debt. Although they are not entirely debt-free, they believe mortgages to be the most complex debt to get out of but mention that it isn’t impossible. They mention Dave Ramsey, a well-known anti-debt radio host who has helped countless people escape the chains of debt through his effective program that this member notes has detractors, as just about any plan or method in life will.

“…the program is all about living within your means, spending only cash, and only treating yourself when and if you’ve truly earned it. If you’re still in debt, you haven’t earned it.”

We express our gratitude to all who participated in last week’s community discussion. We had some valuable ideas and approaches discussed, and we are excited to see more members achieve the goal of becoming debt-free in 2024!

Read everything our members had to say at app.beartariatimes.com with some users posting under the hashtag #debtfree23.

Join our growing community and get in on the next conversation at app.beartariatimes.com or search Beartaria Times wherever you get your apps.

This week on the Beartaria Times app, the theme is “escaping the chains of debt.”

On Wednesday, the 20th of December, at 6 pm PST, we encourage our community to share their stories and methods for getting out of debt and managing debt.

We’d love to see our community come together from all different angles and experiences on this topic — from intention, mindset, and motivation to the nitty-gritty details. Sharing your stories and experiences can help others in our community.

At The Beartaria Times, this theme holds significant importance for us. We recognize that unmanaged debt can burden individuals, making them feel trapped. Understanding this predicament can empower people to grow and thrive.

We love seeing our community thriving and know that all those beautiful homesteads and lifestyles have a backbone of challenges conquered and struggles faced.

As we delve into this topic, we invite participants to not only discuss success stories but also share the hurdles they encountered along the way. Whether it’s navigating unexpected expenses or discovering effective budgeting techniques, your insights contribute to the collective wisdom of our community.

Furthermore, this initiative aims to foster a supportive environment where individuals can exchange practical tips, tools, and resources. From budgeting apps to debt consolidation strategies, let’s empower each other in the journey toward financial well-being.

The Beartaria Times values the resilience of our community members. Your openness in discussing financial challenges helps break the stigma surrounding debt, reinforcing that it’s a shared experience.

Together, let’s turn this theme into a catalyst for positive change, lifting each other up as we navigate the path to financial freedom within the Beartaria community.

We hope to see you there!

Sincerely,

-The Beartaria Times

Here at The Beartaria Times, we have been busy recalibrating since our Second Annual Beartaria Times National Festival. It has been a labor of love, and we were so happy to see you all there. We know we have been quiet in other aspects of the community, but we have been preparing behind the scenes to be more active on our website, BeartariaTimes.com, and to encourage community dialogue on our community app.

This Wednesday at 6 pm PDT, we will host a Community App Activity similar to the reintroduction campaign we launched a couple months ago. This time we will be asking all app users to join the discussion and let us know, “What are you most grateful for this week?”

This will mark the beginning of what we hope will be a weekly activity of prompts from the Beartaria Times Official account to provoke thought and encourage engagement with each other on the app. Along with community wide questions like we have this week we will also have activities focused on specific groups in the app along with prompts to encourage a “Fruitful Focus” on things that highlight the good, true and beautiful.

Onward.