Debt Dumpers - 2014

[dtr_angel]

I agree that is what he means, but it still doesn't make me feel good to have only $1000 in reserve even while paying down debt. I prefer to keep saving at the same time even though it will take me longer to pay things off. I realize not everyone would agree, but DHs pay can fluctuate and I need to know I have some back up money on hand.

I totally agree. My husband has a steady job but his pay can fluctuate a decent amount from pay to pay. While our savings account isn't a huge amount, I would never feel comfortable dropping it down to $1000 while trying to pay off the car and student loans.

 

[penguin1102]

I have been reading along and just finished reading the 2013 thread. I got some really great ideas so DH and I worked out a plan that would help us dump the debt. We are also trying to save for a house so we can purchase one when we both graduate. We are both full time students and he works part time so it is going to take us awhile to get there. I know that we can do this and I love all the support that is offered on here.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I agree that is what he means, but it still doesn't make me feel good to have only $1000 in reserve even while paying down debt. I prefer to keep saving at the same time even though it will take me longer to pay things off. I realize not everyone would agree, but DHs pay can fluctuate and I need to know I have some back up money on hand.

I totally agree. My husband has a steady job but his pay can fluctuate a decent amount from pay to pay. While our savings account isn't a huge amount, I would never feel comfortable dropping it down to $1000 while trying to pay off the car and student loans.

So there's the difference. Neither of our checks fluctuate much at all except the monthly train fare that gets taken out of my first check of the month and the cash that dh gets at the end of each month for waiving their health insurance. It's all very predictable though and I can budget around them.

I know I wouldn't be good at unpredictable budgeting. Heck, I'm not good at it when it is predictable.

I have a neighbor who's a real estate agent and I often think it must be hard to budget when you don't know when your next check will be.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I have been reading along and just finished reading the 2013 thread. I got some really great ideas so DH and I worked out a plan that would help us dump the debt. We are also trying to save for a house so we can purchase one when we both graduate. We are both full time students and he works part time so it is going to take us awhile to get there. I know that we can do this and I love all the support that is offered on here.

Welcome!

It's a great idea to get rid of the debt before buying a house. Looking back, I wish we did. Houses are never-ending money pits. Not that I don't love ours but it sure sucks a lot of money out.
When we first bought our house, it needed a lot of work. Some right away, some could wait a while. That first month, dh would look in our checkbook and say, "EEk! We're hemorrhaging money!" I would just laugh and say, "yes, when you open the checkbook you hear the vacuum sound?"

What else can you do? In 17 yrs here, by the time we get to things at the bottom of our original "to do" list, the things that we did early on, like new carpeting, exterior painting, needs to be done again.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

Popping in to say hey. It's been a crazy week here with wild weather and school activities.
Nothing big to report yet, DH had a 1/2 pay check this week because they are switching to paying a week in arrears so I'm pinching pennies this week.

 

[dayvewc]

I guess I'll see if it was a good thing, or a bad thing in the next 20 days. lol

I realized that my Sam's club membership renewal time is here, so with my goal of not adding anything to my credit/charge accounts I changed the auto renewal to my debit card. Now to see if I can bite that bullet and manage to pay my regularly scheduled bills without having to resort to cc's.

On that note, it has also been 20 days since I've used my cc's to charge anything. Don't they say it takes 2 weeks to form a habit and 3 weeks to break it? Then if I can make it through tomorrow, I should have my habit of using my cc's broken!!

 

[Sew into Disney]

I'm on board!! Hoping this board will help me stay on track. Like the YNAB but hate the 60$ rage. I read some people have gotten it cheap - anyone know of a coupon code or when it might get lower? I like the $14.99 price a poster got at the beginning of the year! TIA!

I am not sure of coupons but I purchased my copy of YNAB via Steam. They had a 75% off sale. I would keep an eye on the Steam site and see if it goes on sale again.

 

[EpiStitch]

Hi everyone,

I'm new to this board, but I'm excited to get started because I really need to get in better financial shape. I'm so glad I found y'all!

I currently have 58k in student loans and obviously can't pay it all off in 2014, but my goal is to pay 10k in principle this year and get it all paid off by May 2018 (5 years from when I started paying).

I'm also going to try the 52 week plan, but in a random order depending on how much I can afford each week (via spreadsheet).

 

[aclov]

Some of you mentioned a vacation fund,is this s separate bank account or are you just stashing money somewhere? We have a joint checking and saving accountbut I really feel we should have a vacation account. I know some banks used to have Christmas Clubs do banks have the same for vacations? I had an ING account before but closed it.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Some of you mentioned a vacation fund,is this s separate bank account or are you just stashing money somewhere? We have a joint checking and saving accountbut I really feel we should have a vacation account. I know some banks used to have Christmas Clubs do banks have the same for vacations? I had an ING account before but closed it.

ING is now Capital One 360. Ive had mine for years, since they were ING.
Once you open one savings account it's easy to open another online. They allow a crazy amount of accounts like 18, maybe 20-something. I probably have around 6. Then they offered a $50 bonus to open a checking acct. So i got one for me and one for dh with the intention of cancelling after we got the bonus, but i kinda like it now. I transfer all of my snowball there each week so if for some reason I dont pay 100% of it to bills, it wont get left in with spending money.

 

[Holly Quinlan]

Hi everyone,

I'm also going to try the 52 week plan, but in a random order depending on how much I can afford each week (via spreadsheet).

someone mentioned earlier starting at the end and working backwards so they would have more around the holidays but I have already figured I would just do whatever week I can $3 so far

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

I think when DR says $1000 for an emergency fund, he means just a little go to $ so you dont feel the need to put minor "emergencies" on a credit card. If your car needs brakes, the clothes dryer dies, etc. It's not for catastrophic illnesses or set backs like job loss. I guess thats why its called baby steps. It's only a start.
Once the debt is gone, one can quickly build it up to a proper amount.
Everyone has their own comfort level of what amount will give you peace of mind. His example of dipping into the emrgency fund was to have a flat tire fixed without having to charge it. Most unexpected expenses are not due to catastrophic reasons.

But what IS the proper amount? This is my problem. I have quite a bit in our "emergency fund," but in my mind it is never enough. We want to pay off the mortgage, but instead I add to the emergency fund. In my mind, it would need to cover our bills for at least a year in the event of a layoff and also cover one new vehicle (we pay cash for new vehicles) as DH's vehicle is 8 years-old and will need to be replaced within the next 2-5 years. What is the target number? I would say that including the mortgage and all other spending/bills including insurance we need about 3K a month (in the event of a layoff).

 

[tdmoney7]

I am not sure of coupons but I purchased my copy of YNAB via Steam. They had a 75% off sale. I would keep an eye on the Steam site and see if it goes on sale again.

Thanks!!

 

[Minnie-Mickey]

Someone asked about vacation accounts. My normal bank does not however my work related bank does it is Metro Credit Union. It is in the Boston area but is also online. They have both Christmas and vacation accounts. It pays out on Oct and April if I remember correctly. I love it. The only problem with these types of accounts is you cannot touch the money. You need to know that going in or there is a fee to take any money out. The way the fee is it is not worth touching the money. Doesn't Ing let you open accounts under different titles. It would probably be a better option. No fee if you really needed the money ie emergency.

 

[Nayan]

But what IS the proper amount? This is my problem. I have quite a bit in our "emergency fund," but in my mind it is never enough. We want to pay off the mortgage, but instead I add to the emergency fund. In my mind, it would need to cover our bills for at least a year in the event of a layoff and also cover one new vehicle (we pay cash for new vehicles) as DH's vehicle is 8 years-old and will need to be replaced within the next 2-5 years. What is the target number? I would say that including the mortgage and all other spending/bills including insurance we need about 3K a month (in the event of a layoff).

I follow Suze Orman's advice and have an 8 month emergency fund. I would never have less than that in case of layoff.

 

[Stuarotra]

I'm on board!! Hoping this board will help me stay on track. Like the YNAB but hate the 60$ rage. I read some people have gotten it cheap - anyone know of a coupon code or when it might get lower? I like the $14.99 price a poster got at the beginning of the year! TIA!

One thing I can suggest, YNAB gives free webinars all the time and it takes about 45 minutes to an hour but there is so much good information about how to use YNAB. The best thing is, at the end of each webinar they give away a free YNAB!!! So maybe you can sign up for several and see if you can win a free one. Another thing you can do is check the budget board daily and scroll through and see if anyone posts if it's on sale. That's how I found out. Or go to steam directly. Just to let you know, my husband loves it so much, he said he would have paid the $60.00.

Taunya

 

[aclov]

ING is now Capital One 360. Ive had mine for years, since they were ING.
Once you open one savings account it's easy to open another online. They allow a crazy amount of accounts like 18, maybe 20-something. I probably have around 6. Then they offered a $50 bonus to open a checking acct. So i got one for me and one for dh with the intention of cancelling after we got the bonus, but i kinda like it now. I transfer all of my snowball there each week so if for some reason I dont pay 100% of it to bills, it wont get left in with spending money.

It looks like you can have 25 accounts! I'm not sure if the savings has the $50 bonus or only the checking. I may just go ahead and open one up

 

[tdmoney7]

One thing I can suggest, YNAB gives free webinars all the time and it takes about 45 minutes to an hour but there is so much good information about how to use YNAB. The best thing is, at the end of each webinar they give away a free YNAB!!! So maybe you can sign up for several and see if you can win a free one. Another thing you can do is check the budget board daily and scroll through and see if anyone posts if it's on sale. That's how I found out. Or go to steam directly. Just to let you know, my husband loves it so much, he said he would have paid the $60.00. Taunya

Thanks!! I've thought if I don't find a code or something soon I'll just buy it but any discount will make me happy! I'll definitely watch the webinar. Thanks!

 

[SpaceGirl]

But what IS the proper amount? This is my problem. I have quite a bit in our "emergency fund," but in my mind it is never enough. We want to pay off the mortgage, but instead I add to the emergency fund. In my mind, it would need to cover our bills for at least a year in the event of a layoff and also cover one new vehicle (we pay cash for new vehicles) as DH's vehicle is 8 years-old and will need to be replaced within the next 2-5 years. What is the target number? I would say that including the mortgage and all other spending/bills including insurance we need about 3K a month (in the event of a layoff).

Most Financial Advisors advise an Emergency Fund of 6-8 months of your actual living expenses. Depending on your specific situation and whether or not you have children, carry substantial debt and types of insurance coverage will determine what amount is best for you.

It is best to plan for a worst-cast scenario so that the smaller emergencies such as replacing the hot water heater that just went out will be easily covered.

Each amount is different because of income levels, this money doesn't have to be in a typical Savings Account you just need to have access to it.

Most people just starting, should start with a savings account because it is simple to use and generally does not cost anything. The convenience factor is what is important when getting started. As your account grows you will want to find an account that can earn reasonable interest so that your money is working for you. The next best options to look into are money market accounts or certificate of deposits (CDs).

It is important to keep this emergency fund in a place that is fairly liquid so that you can get to the money quickly in the event of an emergency. You also don’t want to have this money tied into stocks or mutual funds because the volatility of the market could cause you to lose money.

You posted that In your mind it's never enough, Do you have your retirement fund fully funded? Do you carry credit card debt? Do you have savings for children's college funds? (if you have children) These other financial obligations are more important than saving money for future items like an automobile, because they are right now events not what if.

 

[SpaceGirl]

I guess I'll see if it was a good thing, or a bad thing in the next 20 days. lol

I realized that my Sam's club membership renewal time is here, so with my goal of not adding anything to my credit/charge accounts I changed the auto renewal to my debit card. Now to see if I can bite that bullet and manage to pay my regularly scheduled bills without having to resort to cc's.

On that note, it has also been 20 days since I've used my cc's to charge anything. Don't they say it takes 2 weeks to form a habit and 3 weeks to break it? Then if I can make it through tomorrow, I should have my habit of using my cc's broken!!

Sounds like you are on the way to breaking a HABIT.