Debt Dumpers - 2013

[MrsDrewsky]

I paid off my car on Monday and will have my dentist paid off this Friday! That makes four less payments each month and an extra $500/month towards the snowball.

It is very hard to budget ahead right now as DH's hours are different each week with overtime and premium pay so I base everything on a 40 hour check and whatever is left when the next check is deposited goes towards the lowest debt. It isn't much right now, especially with gas at almost $4/gallon here and my car alone using almost one paycheck/month in gas just to/from work and DS's tkd classes.

I have to update my snowball and budget now to reflect the changes.

Congrats to everyone on the progress this year!

Congratulations on paying off your car!

We are in the same boat with my DH's pay. We have a general idea of what his pay will be, but it always varies due to OT and PP.

 

[Malakaiii]

What a difference a day makes!

Yesterday we had both credit cards stolen and frauded and maxed out (thanks thieves) and cancelled. As a result of a bunch of unexpected expenses, this left our bank account at a whopping $8!

I had my husband call in some debts (he works from home), we sold a few electronics (we've had them listed on Craigslist for weeks, but they finally sold), and our childcare bonus cheque came through. So now we're swimming in more money than we know what to do with!

I get huge satisfaction in paying off loans and saving money for our trip lately, so I'm going to stash most of it away before we are tempted to spend it!

 

[Malakaiii]

One more from me before I wander off to bed...

How much should I be stressing about my mortgage? We're a young family (DH turns 31 next week and I turn 30), we have our own house with about 30% paid on it. Our monthly payments don't make a super huge dent.

I've been focusing more on saving a bit of an emergency fund (depleted 4 months ago when our car broke down), and paying off our Visa (~$2000) and line of credit (~$16,000... eep)

I've already paid off all my student loans and we have no other debts.

What should I focus on? Immediate savings and debts or getting the mortgage whittled down? The monthly payments on our mortgage are REALLY cheap (significantly less than we'd pay on rent), but it's such a slow process...

 

[VeeHam]

One more from me before I wander off to bed...

How much should I be stressing about my mortgage? We're a young family (DH turns 31 next week and I turn 30), we have our own house with about 30% paid on it. Our monthly payments don't make a super huge dent.

I've been focusing more on saving a bit of an emergency fund (depleted 4 months ago when our car broke down), and paying off our Visa (~$2000) and line of credit (~$16,000... eep)

I've already paid off all my student loans and we have no other debts.

What should I focus on? Immediate savings and debts or getting the mortgage whittled down? The monthly payments on our mortgage are REALLY cheap (significantly less than we'd pay on rent), but it's such a slow process...

I personally would worry about the savings and debt before worrying about the house. Once you have you Visa and loc paid for and your emergency fund full then throw extra at the house. This was should something happen, you have money stashed away and no other debt except mortgage.

 

[Eureka]

One more from me before I wander off to bed...

How much should I be stressing about my mortgage? We're a young family (DH turns 31 next week and I turn 30), we have our own house with about 30% paid on it. Our monthly payments don't make a super huge dent.

I've been focusing more on saving a bit of an emergency fund (depleted 4 months ago when our car broke down), and paying off our Visa (~$2000) and line of credit (~$16,000... eep)

I've already paid off all my student loans and we have no other debts.

What should I focus on? Immediate savings and debts or getting the mortgage whittled down? The monthly payments on our mortgage are REALLY cheap (significantly less than we'd pay on rent), but it's such a slow process...

This is just me but I would focus on savings and other debts. You never know what the future will bring and if you work outside the home, you might need some extra savings when you are on maternity leave. I am 42 and my husband is 50 and we have almost 14 years left on the house. Even at my age, I feel like I will still be relatively young to have paid off my house by 55-56. As long as you have a good interest rate (we refi'd last year down to 3.375% last year and cut 8 years off the term in the process), I would just let the mortgage stand for now as you work on the other areas. Good luck!

 

[beansmom]

One more from me before I wander off to bed...

How much should I be stressing about my mortgage? We're a young family (DH turns 31 next week and I turn 30), we have our own house with about 30% paid on it. Our monthly payments don't make a super huge dent.

I've been focusing more on saving a bit of an emergency fund (depleted 4 months ago when our car broke down), and paying off our Visa (~$2000) and line of credit (~$16,000... eep)

I've already paid off all my student loans and we have no other debts.

What should I focus on? Immediate savings and debts or getting the mortgage whittled down? The monthly payments on our mortgage are REALLY cheap (significantly less than we'd pay on rent), but it's such a slow process...

have you ever read "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey? We started the TMMO program on February 11 and have paid off all but one of our credit cards (that's a total of 8 paid off) and over $12k in debt. Before we did TMMO, all our monthly bills were late, our cards all had balances, we had no $$ in the bank.

Following Dave's plan, we have a small emergency fund, all but one card paid off, all bills are current and we are feeling no stress financially.

I can't recommend TMMO enough. It's worth a read.

 

[MrsDrewsky]

have you ever read "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey? We started the TMMO program on February 11 and have paid off all but one of our credit cards (that's a total of 8 paid off) and over $12k in debt. Before we did TMMO, all our monthly bills were late, our cards all had balances, we had no $$ in the bank.

Following Dave's plan, we have a small emergency fund, all but one card paid off, all bills are current and we are feeling no stress financially.

I can't recommend TMMO enough. It's worth a read.

I second this. We did Dave's Financial Peace University (home study), and it acted as a great road map as to how to get our finances in order. We love Dave.

 

[Malakaiii]

have you ever read "The Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey? We started the TMMO program on February 11 and have paid off all but one of our credit cards (that's a total of 8 paid off) and over $12k in debt. Before we did TMMO, all our monthly bills were late, our cards all had balances, we had no $$ in the bank.

Following Dave's plan, we have a small emergency fund, all but one card paid off, all bills are current and we are feeling no stress financially.

I can't recommend TMMO enough. It's worth a read.

Wow that sounds awesome! I haven't read it. I tried to, but I was put off by the religious tone of the book. Maybe it's worth skimming through and trying to get the gist of it!

 

[fun4me]

I have to agree save the mortgage for last. We have also attended a FPU and really like DR too. We like his baby steps but we aren't hard core Dave Ramsey people...we tweak as we go.

The other day we received an email from Discover saying they just upped our credit limit. This was after a phone call from them trying to get us to sign up for automatic payments so our interest rates don't increase....I refused. Then I logged on to our account yesterday and find an offer for 0% interest on transfer balance for the next 12 months with a 3% transfer fee. I thought this was odd after that phone call.

Anyway we are expecting our tax refund Friday!! We had planned to pay off another cc (the smaller one) then work on Discover. Now I think we are going to send it all to Discover and just transfer the balance of the other CC to take advantage of the 0% interest. When I read the fine print it said extra payment will be applied to the higher interest rate first so I think this could help us get out of debt faster.
We have been stagnant for a while. But things are looking better with our tax refund, extra paycheck this month and I am now babysitting my new niece! :

 

[CupcakeKelly]

Hi all! It's so encouraging to read about everyone's else's struggles and successes. I was doing so well, kept my credit card balance low enough to always pay it off in full. Then my hubby and I got a new house and all those little expenses from buying/selling added up! I knew I needed to do something different when I got embarrassed telling hubby how much was actually on the card.

Since then I took a second job tutoring high school math and I adjusted the withholding in my paycheck. Our refund was too much this year, and I don't like giving the gov't a free loan while I'm paying way too much interest on this stupid credit card! I'm using the tutoring money to save for a Disney trip, and as awful as this is, I think it's the first time that I've saved first to purchase later, and not the other way around!

 

[gracie1]

Everyone is doing such a great job!! I am still waiting on my state refund which is going towards my cc. It's been 5 weeks so I'm hoping next week it will be deposited! I also have overtime on this check which I will put on my cc. I was hoping to have it paid off by now, but it is 0% interest until June 1st so that's okay. But it should be paid off in the next 2-3 weeks.

 

[danielle79]

Wow that sounds awesome! I haven't read it. I tried to, but I was put off by the religious tone of the book. Maybe it's worth skimming through and trying to get the gist of it!

I found dave ramsey this year and also love his approach! I read a few books and listen to his radio show via the internet almost daily, I also struggle when he goes on a rant about religion but most of what he teaches is getting out of debt and building wealth, not religion. 7 basic baby steps are, 1. $1000 baby emergency fund set aside in some kind of liquid account, 2. pay down all debts except house starting with lowest amount and snowballing until all are paid down( I believe most people on this thread are in this process)3.Put away 3-6 months of expenses in savings, your fully funded emergency fund 4. 15% of household income into Roth IRA's and pre-tax retirement 5. Fund College for children 6. pay off home early (Dave recommends never getting a 30 year mortgage always a 15)7. Build wealth and give! He also suggests working on steps 4 5 and 6 at the same time. He believes in giving when you have enough and even if you don't, I don't think he really cares what you donate to as long as you do it and it's a good cause.

 

[writermommy6]

After years of never getting ahead we finally paid off about $10k last year. This year one of our vehicles will be paid off and several cc/medical expenses will be also. We haven't been on a real vacation in years and the few times we have been I am always stressed about money. I have been considering taking on a job (I'm a stay at home mom) to really knock out the rest of our debt and put some money in savings. Due to car repairs, taxes, and tags we are strapped at the moment and it's getting really old.

I also REALLY want this Disney vacation and was doing good with planning until we had our taxes done. We owe a LOT.

Here's the thing: $20k will pay off our cc and the tax man. We can't pull that off in a year with just hubby's salary.

How many of you actually took on an extra or new job to just get rid of the money worries? Oh and I will add that we haven't charged on the cards in several years. But we had to alternate who got paid so late fees kept them virtually maxed out. But we don't use cards anymore at all.

 

[PrincessKymm]

Everyone is doing such a great job! I finally can say my last CC is under $300 so ill have that paid off in the next 6 weeks. I lowered my 401k contributions from 4% to 2%. I still get some from my employer regardless but I just can't bring myself to take that down to 0. It isn't much but it should help. My medical debt is just out of control Im at $8k+. I'm just so happy my son is as healthy! I've been feeling very overwhelmed this week and reading this thread has helped keep my motivation going.

I may have to file bankruptcy because my ex was supposed to refinance the house but has instead stopped making payments. So I'm gonna owe another $100k+ because he didn't live up to his end of the bargain. I'm going to consult a lawyer and see what I need to do but in the meantime I will still tackle debt and save. I may write into Dave ramsey and see what he says to do. I'm currently reading total money makeover but not following the baby steps yet because I'm so far behind on medical bills. He says you have to be current in order to start.

Good luck everyone!

 

[jenny105]

Everyone is doing such a great job! I finally can say my last CC is under $300 so ill have that paid off in the next 6 weeks. I lowered my 401k contributions from 4% to 2%. I still get some from my employer regardless but I just can't bring myself to take that down to 0. It isn't much but it should help. My medical debt is just out of control Im at $8k+. I'm just so happy my son is as healthy! I've been feeling very overwhelmed this week and reading this thread has helped keep my motivation going.

I was thinking of lowering my 401k contribution from 5% to 3% until I pay off my debts but I'm still on the fence about it. What do you guys think??

 

[writermommy6]

I was thinking of lowering my 401k contribution from 5% to 3% until I pay off my debts but I'm still on the fence about it. What do you guys think??

I think you have to weigh how much debt you have, how much you will be putting into/earning with your 401k and how long you have until retirement.

Really run the numbers as to how much extra that will be on your debt and how much interest on the credit cards. If you still have plenty of time until retirement and it will help you pay it off a year fast or something then I would seriously consider it. JMO

I'm trying to decide how much to push myself job wise to knock out our debt. I wasn't concerned until we got slammed with having to pay $14k in taxes. Hard to enjoy a Disney vacation next year when I have that looming over my head. I work from home and if I really work my butt off I could start hacking away at the tax bill. Just trying to figure out how to fit it all in. Anyone work 50+ hours along with taking care of the house and kids? Oh and trying to reno parts of the house?

 

[gjl]

Removed

 

[jenny105]

I think you have to weigh how much debt you have, how much you will be putting into/earning with your 401k and how long you have until retirement.

Really run the numbers as to how much extra that will be on your debt and how much interest on the credit cards. If you still have plenty of time until retirement and it will help you pay it off a year fast or something then I would seriously consider it. JMO

I have about $3k in debt. Not a huge amount but I could get out of it quicker if I had a little extra to put toward it every month. I have about 35 years until I'm able to retire so I think I'm ok time wise. I have some numbers to crunch!

 

[VeeHam]

We just paid off our truck with our tax refund! Now on to the next baby step- 3-6 months emergency fund! We are debt free except the house! It took us about 18 months once we set our mind to it. YOU CAN DO IT!

YAY!
How exciting. Hopefully we'll be saying the same thing in a year.

 

[gracie1]

You guys are all doing a fantastic job! I've never read DR but from what I see, I guess I'm doing better than I thought. I have $1194 left in cc debt and I have 12 months worth of my mortgage in savings. Once the cc is paid off I plan on putting extra each month towards my home equity loan. I owe 10 and a half years on it and would love to have it paid off in 5! And I plan on taking a vacation sometime by the end of next year!!