Just married and digging out of debt

• Quiz: Are you financially compatible with your spouse?

Even though they've been married for six years, Leah and Tony Fontaine still consider themselves newlyweds.

Leah, 28, and Tony, 31, met online and got engaged 11 months later. Both of them entered their new marriage with credit card debt and student loan debt -- adding up to a total of about $65,000.

The first thing they did once they got hitched was pledge not to take out any more debt and they started making minimum payments on their loans. But because they didn't create a strict budget, they fell off the wagon after about 9 months.

"We found ourselves overspending what we were making and had to hope we had enough money in our accounts when bills came due each month -- otherwise we would end up taking out more credit again," said Tony.

To get back in the game, they studied the advice of financial guru Dave Ramsey and finally put together a budget in 2010.

"We started giving a name to every dollar we had," said Tony. "We tithe our church first and then take out cash for gas and groceries and minor entertainment expenses, and the rest goes to paying the smallest of our loans."

And they each took on part-time jobs to get the ball rolling.

Leah, who works full-time as an enrollment specialist for an online university, is using her photography hobby to make some extra money shooting weddings and special events. Tony, who works as an architect, has taken on a part-time gig officiating hockey at a local college and high school.

They've also stopped eating out as often and haven't taken some of the vacations they would have liked to take.

"When we first started doing a budget it brought a little tension because, for the first time, everything was put under a microscope and made us feel like we didn't have enough money for our bills," said Tony.

But now that they're used to the budget, he said it has actually improved their communication.

"It helped us look at everything differently," he said. "When we plan for anything now -- not just finances -- we sit down and talk about things more."

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