Tomorrow always comes

Roth was just sick of juggling bills — which included $35,000 in credit card bills and personal loans.

In 2004, Roth earned $50,000 as a salesman and computer consultant in Portland, Ore. His financial scramble got worse after he and his then-wife, Kris, bought a home.

“On paper, we could afford it,” said Roth, 47. “But once we moved in, I was overwhelmed by the new higher payments and by all of the repairs necessary for a 100-yearold farmhouse.”

He crafted a three-year plan to pay off the debt — and stuck to it.

“I used be one of those who said, ‘Well, it doesn’t matter if I save because I could get hit by a bus on my way home from work,'” said Roth, who founded the personal finance site Get Rich Slowly and now runs a site called Money Boss. “That’s silly. I was simply making things harder for myself in the long term because I was so focused on immediate gratification.”