Are You Saving, Spending or Paying Down Debt?

[DawnCt1]

Credit cards can adjust the rate any time they want. Given that, are you saving, spending, borrowing or paying down debt?

 

[cteddiesgirl]

None of the above. I can't even make enough to live on let alone buy anything extra, save money or pay any debt.

And I just found out that I'm going to be out of work for a month.

And I no longer own any credit cards.

 

[NY Disney fan]

I am paying off my credit card like a madwoman. I am not saving one dime until I do. (I do have emergency savings though).

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

paying down debt, cutting frivolous costs, and saving in that order.

 

[ead79]

We're doing a mix of all of the above.

DH and I run the majority of our monthly expenses through our American Express. That way we get free points toward vacations on money that we would've spent anyway. We pay that card off completely at the end of each statement. We do still have some residual debt from earlier in our marriage that we are working diligently to pay down as quickly as possible. We've reduced it over 60% in the past year, and we should hopefully be finished paying off that debt within 6 or so months. Those cards have low interest rates, but the bottom line is that I don't like owing money. So we're working hard to get rid of the debt.

We also have a buffer to hold us over should unexpected expenses occur, so I suppose that counts as saving. We also save money to pay cash for our vacations, Christmas gifts, etc. as well.

We do still have monthly expenses of course, so we spend as well. Right now we're in the process of increasing our gas budget due to the high prices. But we're trying to be frugal in other areas.

 

[kellyg403]

We are paying down what cc debt we have. Savings are quickly becoming a thing of the past. What we used to put in savings we are having to use for gas, groceries...everything has skyrocketed in price. We don't have alot of cc debt but we did make a few purchases this year to fix up the house and dh did not want to do a heloc, he used a 0% cc.

Dh makes a higher than average living, he is self employed and owns his own truck. Gas prices alone are killing us. We used to average about $300 a week for gas in his truck. Since Jan, we have gas receipts totally more than $1000 a month. Any "pay raise" we might have gotten this year looks like a pay decrease.

Its crazy right now for us.

Kelly

 

[pr surfer]

Saving and spending... and moving almost all of my savings to non-US based banks.

 

[MouseHouseUK]

Saving like mad. Cutting down on spending, buying the basics and only what I need

We went out to Reading and they have a Disney Store. I said to my parents - "on NO ACCOUNT let me go in there" ... so we walked through a different part of the mall.

I have a savings account, I can't touch that unless circumstances become desparate (and in 4 years of me having that account I haven't touched it once)

I have been out of work too for a month. I'm half way through it now and to keep me occupied I go into town and have a walk round window shopping, looking in shop windows and sighing.

 

[castleview]

I'm concerned - we have a fixed rate CC that we got through a balance transfer offer. Can that rate change? We are paying our last card off, but I'm not sure if we should be saving along with it.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

We are paying off debt. We just bought a house yesterday and we are trying like crazy to make our other debts go away.

DH is going to have to pull from his 401K to pay off his student loans. Our dd is starting college and we need to get that one off.

Other debts are going to be paid by budgeting and absolutely no credit cards, loans, or anything will be used.

So no vacations, Christmas, and other goodies for a couple of years.

 

[Free4Life11]

All of the above! The three are not mutually exclusive.

 

[Chicago526]

We've been paying down CC debt for a while now and will continue to do so. It's still going to take us about 2 years at this point though, unless we get lucky some how. Things will speed up once DH's truck is paid off, but that's a year a way yet (well, 13 months but who's counting...).

 

[cteddiesgirl]

I'm concerned - we have a fixed rate CC that we got through a balance transfer offer. Can that rate change? We are paying our last card off, but I'm not sure if we should be saving along with it.

Yes. That rate can change for any little thing. Even if you're a day late paying on something else. If it hits your credit record, they will see it and instantly bump it up. If there are too many inquiries on your credit, they might also up your rate.

This has happened to my dad a couple of times.

 

[pooh6890]

So far so good. My problem is that I have 2 daughters each with one year of college left. I am paying $50/week in gas for 3 cars. Every semester I have $2,000 in college fees and books. I rent so I have no mortgage. I have small credit card debt that I used to be able to pay off every month. But, with gas, tolls and college I am about $5,000 on credit cards right now. I am paying $250/month on 2 cards to keep up with it. I should be able to keep them paid off next year when girls graduate, but then something else will probably set in. Luckily, all 3 cars are paid off. I am in much better shape than most of my friends, who are getting pretty desperate. At least 3 of my friends are in such credit card debt due to college and expenses, I really feel for them.........things are bound to get worse too.

 

[Piecey]

Paying down... and spending, too. I guess.

I used to have 6 credit cards, all with a (relatively small) balance.
I've now got two left- their combined total being less than $2k. I started paying them off around July so I'm doing pretty good.
DH and I are going to close almost all of our cards and only carry 2 each. Disney for the DDR and Chase Freedom for 3% cash back on gas! Both will be paid off monthly.

We've got enough in savings to wipe out our car loans and credit cards but I'd rather chip away at them and keep what we've got in savings there, just in case.

However, we're buying a house. So I guess we're spending, saving and paying down debt all at the same time?

 

[Kathi OD]

We're paying down debt as quickly as we can, but since DH has been out of work since June it's been a little more difficult than it was earlier in the year. We're hoping that he'll be back to work soon but, because of the economy, not counting on it. Fortunately, we haven't overextended too much and can pay the bills on my salary alone without drawing from our savings.

 

[MushyMushy]

Congrats on the house, MM!

We're in limbo right now with me not working. We're not saving and we're not getting ahead at all. Our credit cards are okay -- we pay one off a month, but still spend on it. I'm talking about paying one off and canceling and just keeping two of them. I guess that means we're mostly spending.

I can't wait to get back into save mode. This past year wiped us out. One big job loss will do us in.

 

[Enchanted_Mama]

all of the above.

we have cut costs in some areas, and are continuing to save for retirement. We don't use credit cards, but we do have a HEL that we are aggressively paying down (on our current plan, it will still take us close to four more years to pay off).

We are still spending, too, though - but cash only

 

[Planogirl]

We're paying down debt but most of it isn't CC debt. It's left over problems from layoffs and medical debt. It's taking a while but we're inching along!

 

[DaisyD]

I guess we do all 3. We put some aside to save, spend some, and pay our mortgage which is our debt.