Debt Dumpers - 2013

[dansamy]

I need to sit down & do my budget. My son is going to be my accountability partner since my dh is just not up to it right now. I guess our budget committee meeting will consist of me, dh & ds.

I just went through & paid on each card that we have. Some of them I had not been able to make a payment on since April. I guess I will look at which ones hit me with penalty rates & slay those dragons first.

 

[ceemys]

Hello, I'm a little late to the game for 2013 but what counts is I'm here right?!

I accumulated a LOT of CC debt, starting when I could first get a CC at 18yo (now 24, almost 25) and have been a slave to debt since.

I was unemployed from Jan to March, thank God unemployment kicked in quick and was enough to cover my bills and even put a little aside.

I started my current (contract) job in March and have since been renewed until Sept, when I hope to be renewed again for the full 18 months allowed.

I had 4 credit cards, 3 maxed out and one close to it
So far I've paid off one and am now snowballing to the next. Thankfully I get paid every week.

I'm currently 'in school' to postpone my student loans until I can get a permanent, full-time job.
I have a Disney trip planned for Sept 2014. So in addition to paying toward my debt each week, I am also saving some for that.

One CC down! That's great. Just continue to snowball and it will happen.

I need to sit down & do my budget. My son is going to be my accountability partner since my dh is just not up to it right now. I guess our budget committee meeting will consist of me, dh & ds.

I just went through & paid on each card that we have. Some of them I had not been able to make a payment on since April. I guess I will look at which ones hit me with penalty rates & slay those dragons first.

I started involving my oldest with my budget. I do not want her to learn the hard way like I did on budgeting. They can only teach you so much in the school finance classes. She was shocked at how much time it takes to reconcile a bank statement. And that just because I had $1,000 in the account, after internet, electric, gas, groceries, household stuff, etc, it goes down fast! This past month was just her helping me find receipts. Next month she will be helping me with the Quicken program and actually doing the work. This weekend I am having her input the receipts into my Quicken account.

 

[momof2gr8kids]

You are definitely in control of your finances!! Look at that ticker with 75% saved for your down payment I am so happy for you!

I know - I love checking out her ticker! Way to go.

 

[momof2gr8kids]

I started involving my oldest with my budget. I do not want her to learn the hard way like I did on budgeting. They can only teach you so much in the school finance classes. She was shocked at how much time it takes to reconcile a bank statement. And that just because I had $1,000 in the account, after internet, electric, gas, groceries, household stuff, etc, it goes down fast! This past month was just her helping me find receipts. Next month she will be helping me with the Quicken program and actually doing the work. This weekend I am having her input the receipts into my Quicken account.

I really need to do that with my dd. She's 12 and is starting to think she's a diva - wanting starbucks, expensive icecream from a certain place, etc. She does have her own money (she helps clean at a friend's office once a week) and I do make her put some in savings, but I think if she saw on paper how much she's spending on stupid things she will think twice.

 

[Doodlebug939]

I need to sit down & do my budget. My son is going to be my accountability partner since my dh is just not up to it right now. I guess our budget committee meeting will consist of me, dh & ds.

I just went through & paid on each card that we have. Some of them I had not been able to make a payment on since April. I guess I will look at which ones hit me with penalty rates & slay those dragons first.

That is great that you are starting to figure out where you stand. I can honestly tell you that it is very humbling and a little sickening.

However, I reminded myself that it was never going to get any worse than that moment. With each payment it does get better. Not perfect but better. I can honestly tell you that it has taken me about 5-6 months to feel that I have gained some control over debt. Don't get me wrong I still have a way to go but I am much better off than I was in January when we started.

There are different ways to tackle your debt so it is important to see what works for you. I was not behind on debt just had a lot of it. So what I did was to pick one debt that was small (Under a few hundred) and paid minimums on everything else and applied any extra on that bill until it was paid off. Paying off that small debt was a small step in the right direction. If you want pointers or find yourself stuck don't hesitate to ask on here for opinions. I have found some really valuable encouragement and help on this board. Looking forward to reading all about your success.

 

[Doodlebug939]

Hello, I'm a little late to the game for 2013 but what counts is I'm here right?!

I accumulated a LOT of CC debt, starting when I could first get a CC at 18yo (now 24, almost 25) and have been a slave to debt since.

I was unemployed from Jan to March, thank God unemployment kicked in quick and was enough to cover my bills and even put a little aside.

I started my current (contract) job in March and have since been renewed until Sept, when I hope to be renewed again for the full 18 months allowed.

I had 4 credit cards, 3 maxed out and one close to it
So far I've paid off one and am now snowballing to the next. Thankfully I get paid every week.

I'm currently 'in school' to postpone my student loans until I can get a permanent, full-time job.
I have a Disney trip planned for Sept 2014. So in addition to paying toward my debt each week, I am also saving some for that.

You are welcome to join the board at any time! Glad you are here. It seems that you are really focused on changing your spending habits and at such a young age so you should be proud.

I definitely recommend the snowball strategy because I feel that I have made a lot of progress. I am planning to go to Disney myself in November 2014. Seems so far away but if I wanted to pay cash for each piece I felt that I needed to clear out some bills and save so I didn't add any more debt to the stack. So while I am focused on debt reduction I know that next spring I can start to have some extra funds to set aside for the trip.

 

[Doodlebug939]

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I agree with your statement about self esteem and DEBT. It's hard to enjoy life when you know you have debt and just never see an end to it.

This effects so many other things in our lives health, weight, environment and personal relationships.

I know you can accomplish all your goals...Why? Because you have doing it for over 6 months now, even more important You know you can accomplish them.

Weight and Debt...you don't get either of then overnight, and you can't get rid of them overnight.

Thank you so much for your support. I am taking baby steps but in the last month I have really felt a sense of accomplishment. I try to look at how much better it will be at the end of the year when I post a year in review and share where I am and how far I have come.

I found your personal story to be so inspiring and motivating. Thanks for sharing.

 

[zy144622]

Woot Woot! This thread has made paying of debt so exciting for me. 2 months in I have 3 accounts paid off. Julys snowball will kill another account for sure and maybe 2 (car repair cost will determine that). Staying true to not adding debt is a great feeling and I'm loving it!!! Thanks everyone for sharing your stories. Those around me just keep pilling on the debt with a "debt is part of life" attitude. My husband couldn't be happier I found you all either. He agrees this is doable and snowball makes much sense.

 

[ceemys]

You are definitely in control of your finances!! Look at that ticker with 75% saved for your down payment I am so happy for you!

I know - I love checking out her ticker! Way to go.

Thanks!!

 

[schoonersky]

Subbing in!

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[HSXJedi]

Congrats to everyone for paying down or off their debt.

Wife and I followed Dave Ramsey's plan, haven't had any credit cards in over 10 years now, and paid off all of our debt except our mortgage on March 2, 2006.

It's amazing to go on cash funded vacations and road trips without expecting a bill in the mail. Same with birthdays, holidays, etc. Years ago we would just put it on a card and get hit with it later on.

So glad we found Dave and his common sense approach to saving, budgeting, and paying off debt.

 

[disney-inspired]

You are welcome to join the board at any time! Glad you are here. It seems that you are really focused on changing your spending habits and at such a young age so you should be proud.

I definitely recommend the snowball strategy because I feel that I have made a lot of progress. I am planning to go to Disney myself in November 2014. Seems so far away but if I wanted to pay cash for each piece I felt that I needed to clear out some bills and save so I didn't add any more debt to the stack. So while I am focused on debt reduction I know that next spring I can start to have some extra funds to set aside for the trip.

I'm hoping my contract job lasts the full 18 months because then I'd be leaving (for a 'cooling off' period of 3 months) right before my planned vacation begins!
I'm hoping to pay off another CC at the end of August/ beginning of Sept.

 

[disney-inspired]

Anyone else hoping to pay off a good chunk, if not all, of their debt before April so you can actually keep your tax return? Yup, me!

 

[zy144622]

Anyone else hoping to pay off a good chunk, if not all, of their debt before April so you can actually keep your tax return? Yup, me!

I think we will be at a half/half point come tax season. Half of the return to debt other half savings. Feeling really good about this!

 

[pryncess527]

Anyone else hoping to pay off a good chunk, if not all, of their debt before April so you can actually keep your tax return? Yup, me!

This is my goal. In our case I'm not sure it's a realistic one but it's the only way I have any hope of getting to take a Disney vacation in 2014, So I'm setting my sights on it and doing everything I can to get us there. At least if we fall short will be in better shape for a possible 2015 trip to Disney instead. Sadly though based on my current projections unless I get a promotion it's not gonna happen

 

[SpaceGirl]

I just went through & paid on each card that we have. Some of them I had not been able to make a payment on since April. I guess I will look at which ones hit me with penalty rates & slay those dragons first.

Dansamy,

Sounds like you are on your way to be DEBT FREE which is great, I so believe in paying credit cards with higher interest rates first. Higher Interest Rates=More money I have to pay.

Good Luck

 

[SpaceGirl]

Thank you so much for your support. I am taking baby steps but in the last month I have really felt a sense of accomplishment. I try to look at how much better it will be at the end of the year when I post a year in review and share where I am and how far I have come.

I found your personal story to be so inspiring and motivating. Thanks for sharing.

Doodlebug,
You are so welcome I think having that support is very important. I also know that while you are working on your debt that there will be pumps, remember just keep on rolling...

 

[SpaceGirl]

Woot Woot! This thread has made paying of debt so exciting for me. 2 months in I have 3 accounts paid off. Julys snowball will kill another account for sure and maybe 2 (car repair cost will determine that). Staying true to not adding debt is a great feeling and I'm loving it!!! Thanks everyone for sharing your stories. Those around me just keep pilling on the debt with a "debt is part of life" attitude. My husband couldn't be happier I found you all either. He agrees this is doable and snowball makes much sense.

I'm beginning to think we should do away with "The Snowballing" and rename this method to "The Fireballing" Because you are all burning that Debt up.

 

[milwaukeemommy]

Everyone is doing so well!!

I finally have some positive news of my own. I think I had reported that even though I didn't think we were going to qualify for a refinance, we actually did. The better news is my loan officer emailed me today, saying our house appraised way higher than we had thought, which means we get an even lower interest rate! We were going to be getting 4.1%, but that's now down to 3.875%! I'm so excited, I hope we close soon. Our mortgage payments are going to be sooooo much lower, almost half!!!! Finally I can make some headway on our debt!

Who knows ...we may just actually be able to go to Disney again someday after all

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Everyone is doing so well!!

I finally have some positive news of my own. I think I had reported that even though I didn't think we were going to qualify for a refinance, we actually did. The better news is my loan officer emailed me today, saying our house appraised way higher than we had thought, which means we get an even lower interest rate! We were going to be getting 4.1%, but that's now down to 3.875%! I'm so excited, I hope we close soon. Our mortgage payments are going to be sooooo much lower, almost half!!!! Finally I can make some headway on our debt!

Who knows ...we may just actually be able to go to Disney again someday after all

Wow! That's awesome! Just think how sweet it will be to save all of that interest you were paying!

I was happy when we refi'd it cut our payment down almost $300. Not so huge but still good since we had just refi'd 2 years prior.

We did save enough for a new roof so that's a relief. Next we'll set aside some $ for this big summer trip then by Sept we'll start working on paying off some bills. It's not a lot or out of control, but it's there. Kind of like when pp said how people just accept that some debt is inevitable/acceptable.
We'll probably be putting our tax return into home repairs/maintenance. That's our usual thing.