Debt Dumpers - 2014

[BernardandMissBianca]

I must have missed something...What happened?

Kymm and her boyfriend split up so she was starting from scratch. I was hoping we heard that she found a new apt and got some furniture, etc.

 

[EpiStitch]

Hi everyone!

I'm not a regular on here, but I check in occasionally. I have a personal goal for 2014 to pay off $10,000 worth of principle for my student loans (out of $55,000 as of 1/1/14). I originally set a 5 year goal to pay them off, but I don't get big enough raises at my job to allow that currently.

So far, I've paid $3750 in principle in 3 months, but that includes the extra, large, payment I made after I got my tax return, so I won't be able to keep up at that rate all year. On average, I will probably pay $750 in principle each month, so I'm on track to hit $10,000!!!

Additionally, due to overspending on a visit to my sister last month, I now have a credit card debt of about $1200. Luckily, I opened the card in the fall and still have 0% APR, but this is the first time I've ever carried a balance over, and I essentially save $0 a month.

I've cut back on eating out, which is hard for me, since I'm a terrible cook. I'm also trying to earn whatever little extra money I can online, but it seems to take a lot of work to earn anything. I already work about 60 hours a week (sometimes including weekends), so I'm unable to get another part time job.

Anyways, now I'm just ranting, but I'm trying to be better, and I'm glad to have a place to share progress!!

 

[ceemys]

Kymm and her boyfriend split up so she was starting from scratch. I was hoping we heard that she found a new apt and got some furniture, etc.

Hoping along with you. Hugs to Kymm.

 

[crazycatstacy]

Things are going okay here. Still waiting on my student loans to figure it all out but the good news is the consolidation place says they have all the needed information now and just need to do whatever it is they do and my current loan holders have put them in forbearance pending the consolidation so that is good for me!

Had surgery a week and a half ago and thought that being home for 3 weeks would be frugal but it has not ended up that way. Seems I am spending more money while at home than I do when I am out and about. I am reining myself in this week and focusing on doing some things around the house that I am able to do rather than entertaining myself spending money!

Hope everyone else is plugging away.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Hi everyone!

I'm not a regular on here, but I check in occasionally. I have a personal goal for 2014 to pay off $10,000 worth of principle for my student loans (out of $55,000 as of 1/1/14). I originally set a 5 year goal to pay them off, but I don't get big enough raises at my job to allow that currently.

So far, I've paid $3750 in principle in 3 months, but that includes the extra, large, payment I made after I got my tax return, so I won't be able to keep up at that rate all year. On average, I will probably pay $750 in principle each month, so I'm on track to hit $10,000!!!

Additionally, due to overspending on a visit to my sister last month, I now have a credit card debt of about $1200. Luckily, I opened the card in the fall and still have 0% APR, but this is the first time I've ever carried a balance over, and I essentially save $0 a month.

I've cut back on eating out, which is hard for me, since I'm a terrible cook. I'm also trying to earn whatever little extra money I can online, but it seems to take a lot of work to earn anything. I already work about 60 hours a week (sometimes including weekends), so I'm unable to get another part time job.

Anyways, now I'm just ranting, but I'm trying to be better, and I'm glad to have a place to share progress!!

I find that having breakfast for dinner is inexpensive and yummy. Pancakes or French toast is pretty easy to make. I've even had Cheerios for dinner. Eating out is expensive. Also, here in NJ, food from a grocery store isn't taxed but it is in a restaurant. Another reason to eat at home.

Do you have rent to pay too? Could you stay with family to help pay loans down faster? My niece has student loans too and complains about being broke but doesn't want to hear about it when I suggest she move back home with her parents til the loans are paid off. She's an only child and they have a large 4BR townhouse. She had her own room and bathroom before she left for school so it's not like she'd be squeezing into triple bunk beds with 2 younger sisters. They give her plenty of space and freedom so I don't get it. She has just accepted that she'll have these loans "forever".

She only has 1 semester of tuition to pay for since the school she attended also has a teaching hospital. Since my sister worked there, children of employees can attend free. My sister had left for a few months (the 1 semester she paid for) but when my niece decided on that school, my sister quick got another job there for the free tuition & they reinstated her old seniority date. So anyway, it's not a lot of loan to pay off so she wouldn't have to live at home for a long time.

 

[EpiStitch]

I find that having breakfast for dinner is inexpensive and yummy. Pancakes or French toast is pretty easy to make. I've even had Cheerios for dinner. Eating out is expensive. Also, here in NJ, food from a grocery store isn't taxed but it is in a restaurant. Another reason to eat at home.

Do you have rent to pay too? Could you stay with family to help pay loans down faster? My niece has student loans too and complains about being broke but doesn't want to hear about it when I suggest she move back home with her parents til the loans are paid off. She's an only child and they have a large 4BR townhouse. She had her own room and bathroom before she left for school so it's not like she'd be squeezing into triple bunk beds with 2 younger sisters. They give her plenty of space and freedom so I don't get it. She has just accepted that she'll have these loans "forever".

She only has 1 semester of tuition to pay for since the school she attended also has a teaching hospital. Since my sister worked there, children of employees can attend free. My sister had left for a few months (the 1 semester she paid for) but when my niece decided on that school, my sister quick got another job there for the free tuition & they reinstated her old seniority date. So anyway, it's not a lot of loan to pay off so she wouldn't have to live at home for a long time.

That's funny because I actually just had breakfast for dinner tonight. I wish the grocery stores here were tax free! They tax everything they can here.

I wish I had the option to live with family members, but unfortunately, they live 100 miles from where I live/work, so that would be a really tough commute every day (especially since driving would be the only option). I try not to spend too much time complaining about my loans since it was my choice to go to a private school for my Masters (at least it did help me get a much better job). I should still be able to pay them off in about 6.5 years if I continue on my current trajectory, I just wish I could have followed through with the original 5 year plan. They're like a weight hanging from my neck.

I appreciate the help! I hope I'll be able to help give others advice sometime too.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

That's funny because I actually just had breakfast for dinner tonight. I wish the grocery stores here were tax free! They tax everything they can here.

I wish I had the option to live with family members, but unfortunately, they live 100 miles from where I live/work, so that would be a really tough commute every day (especially since driving would be the only option). I try not to spend too much time complaining about my loans since it was my choice to go to a private school for my Masters (at least it did help me get a much better job). I should still be able to pay them off in about 6.5 years if I continue on my current trajectory, I just wish I could have followed through with the original 5 year plan. They're like a weight hanging from my neck.

I appreciate the help! I hope I'll be able to help give others advice sometime too.

Hang in there! You will. When it comes to school, it's usually money well spent in the long run. That's great you earned a Masters! You should be proud of yourself.
The weight you describe is like my mortgage. It seems like it never ends. The "light at the end of the tunnel" isn't so far away when I plug all the numbers into debtMD.com. If I stick to our current payment amounts, our home will be paid off in just 6 years. I don't know if we'll be able to stick with it since dh is 56 and we really need to put away more for savings but I'll be happy as a clam to eliminate our credit cards and truck payment. We could still save a good bit and pay extra to our mortgage without the other bills. We just have to stay focused.

 

[Shanan]

DH & I have been oh so good for several years. Been paying off credit cards & even have been able to recently start paying extra towards our mortgage. However recently I have not only fallen off bandwagon of Debt Dumpers but been run over by the wagon! Rationally i know that it is emotional spending but the heart is more broken & ruling me now.
Mother in law died 2 days after a fall at her home (12/12). DH & I dealt with depression era estate who saved everything then my mom had torn esophagus & almost septic poisoning June 2013; in ICU area for over 2 months then nursing home 1 month; home for 3 weeks then got sick again; finally terminal cancer diagnose on 10/10/13; passed away 1/13/2014 In amongst this time DH Had his company bought out (job change) & we bought a house 10/13 & moved in 11/13
I see my credit card balances go up & I care but ....
I know what I need to do because I know rationally that things don't replace people
Lots of excuses for lots of hurt. My question is when you know you are off track how do you get back on track?

 

[writermommy6]

DH & I have been oh so good for several years. Been paying off credit cards & even have been able to recently start paying extra towards our mortgage. However recently I have not only fallen off bandwagon of Debt Dumpers but been run over by the wagon! Rationally i know that it is emotional spending but the heart is more broken & ruling me now. Mother in law died 2 days after a fall at her home (12/12). DH & I dealt with depression era estate who saved everything then my mom had torn esophagus & almost septic poisoning June 2013; in ICU area for over 2 months then nursing home 1 month; home for 3 weeks then got sick again; finally terminal cancer diagnose on 10/10/13; passed away 1/13/2014 In amongst this time DH Had his company bought out (job change) & we bought a house 10/13 & moved in 11/13 I see my credit card balances go up & I care but .... I know what I need to do because I know rationally that things don't replace people Lots of excuses for lots of hurt. My question is when you know you are off track how do you get back on track?

Having been run over by the wagon a few times my advice is baby steps. Figure out your budget and look at what you keep putting on your credit cards. If you really want to jump start saving then cut the cc up or put them in a bowl of water and freeze them. That way you have the whole drive home, thawing process and drive back to the store to think about whether you really want to you them.

 

[EpiStitch]

Hang in there! You will. When it comes to school, it's usually money well spent in the long run. That's great you earned a Masters! You should be proud of yourself.
The weight you describe is like my mortgage. It seems like it never ends. The "light at the end of the tunnel" isn't so far away when I plug all the numbers into debtMD.com. If I stick to our current payment amounts, our home will be paid off in just 6 years. I don't know if we'll be able to stick with it since dh is 56 and we really need to put away more for savings but I'll be happy as a clam to eliminate our credit cards and truck payment. We could still save a good bit and pay extra to our mortgage without the other bills. We just have to stay focused.

Thanks for the feedback! I'm nowhere close to even buying a home so I can't imagine having a mortgage or being a few years away from having it paid off!!! I'm glad I found this forum since it seems like everyone really cheerleads for each other.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Thanks for the feedback! I'm nowhere close to even buying a home so I can't imagine having a mortgage or being a few years away from having it paid off!!! I'm glad I found this forum since it seems like everyone really cheerleads for each other.

I would not have thought it possible. We still have 13 years left but with debtMD.com showing me how, it is possible. Maybe not probable but it can be done. I'd like to get as much paid off as possible before ds17 starts college in fall 2015. I want to be able to help him out as much as possible.

 

[crazycatstacy]

DH & I have been oh so good for several years. Been paying off credit cards & even have been able to recently start paying extra towards our mortgage. However recently I have not only fallen off bandwagon of Debt Dumpers but been run over by the wagon! Rationally i know that it is emotional spending but the heart is more broken & ruling me now.
Mother in law died 2 days after a fall at her home (12/12). DH & I dealt with depression era estate who saved everything then my mom had torn esophagus & almost septic poisoning June 2013; in ICU area for over 2 months then nursing home 1 month; home for 3 weeks then got sick again; finally terminal cancer diagnose on 10/10/13; passed away 1/13/2014 In amongst this time DH Had his company bought out (job change) & we bought a house 10/13 & moved in 11/13
I see my credit card balances go up & I care but ....
I know what I need to do because I know rationally that things don't replace people
Lots of excuses for lots of hurt. My question is when you know you are off track how do you get back on track?

So sorry for your losses

 

[Eureka]

We got our tax refund in and I'll be paying off our credit card a the end of the week. It will leave $200 in our savings account but now that my parking is paid for and we won't be paying a lot on the balance every month, I should be able to put some back in every month too. Might take a month or so because there are a couple things (like last month's parking pass) that haven't posted yet but we are so glad to be done with credit card debt (for now). I won't say forever, because every couple of years we seem to end up with a balance again but I'm going to work hard to not have it happen. DH's contract is up for rebid so you never know. But, in addition to my full time job I have continued doing a tiny bit of freelancing and use that money for wants like clothes that I would formerly take out of our regular checking account. So, overall things are going well for us

 

[noelle8818]

Hi all! I am new here. I'm 35, married for 13 years and have 4 kids. Two kids had major health issues at birth. One was a micropreemie born 14 weeks early and weighed 2.5 pounds. Another had a congenital heart defect that was diagnosed hours after birth and required open heart surgery. I lost my job and was without work for 9 months on two separate occasions in the past 8 years. We fortunately were able to make things work and have never had a late payment on any of our accounts. However, we had to use credit to survive. The past year we have been doing the Debt Snowball, and have seen 4 small accounts disappear. Our goal this year is to erase 2 more accounts of around $7k each using our regular income. I am also an extreme coupon and our grocery stores in NC are AMAZING for couponing. I have a $50 a week grocery budget for my family of 6, and most of the time stay within it. Additionally I am a photographer on the side, and am using that money to fund a Disney Trip. We had debated on whether to use the money to get out of debt even more, or to fund a trip, but this is the last year we can stay at POR because my youngest will be 3 next year, and my oldest will be 10 so we won't be able to stay at POR and the expense is going to get that much more!

So, that's where we are. We've done pretty good this year so far, but this month we've blown the extra payment out of the water. I am planting a garden, and we are doing some landscaping. The good news is we are able to pay cash for it, but the bad news is we made zero progress on debt this month. :/ Here's to getting back on track for May!!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

We got our tax refund in and I'll be paying off our credit card a the end of the week. It will leave $200 in our savings account but now that my parking is paid for and we won't be paying a lot on the balance every month, I should be able to put some back in every month too. Might take a month or so because there are a couple things (like last month's parking pass) that haven't posted yet but we are so glad to be done with credit card debt (for now). I won't say forever, because every couple of years we seem to end up with a balance again but I'm going to work hard to not have it happen. DH's contract is up for rebid so you never know. But, in addition to my full time job I have continued doing a tiny bit of freelancing and use that money for wants like clothes that I would formerly take out of our regular checking account. So, overall things are going well for us

Jmho, but I think the key to staying debt-free is to put away enough savings once the debt is gone so that little splurges or ups & downs in income does't have such an impact on getting regular bills paid. For now our emergency fund is minimal but by next March our cc balance will be gone and we should be able to build a decent savings pretty quickly. With enough savings, no more living check to check.

 

[Eureka]

Jmho, but I think the key to staying debt-free is to put away enough savings once the debt is gone so that little splurges or ups & downs in income does't have such an impact on getting regular bills paid. For now our emergency fund is minimal but by next March our cc balance will be gone and we should be able to build a decent savings pretty quickly. With enough savings, no more living check to check.

We have a long-term savings account for emergencies but would like to leave that for college/retirement (on top of what we're putting away for those things) if possible, so really I think we'll be fine. We don't really live paycheck to paycheck but almost everything is allotted to something and sometimes I would like a little more to "play" with weekly. That's why I'm going my freelancing here and there.

Edited to add, a lot of our credit card balance was from before I went back to work full time. My current job pays three + times what I was making as a part-time freelancer.

 

[ceemys]

Jmho, but I think the key to staying debt-free is to put away enough savings once the debt is gone so that little splurges or ups & downs in income does't have such an impact on getting regular bills paid. For now our emergency fund is minimal but by next March our cc balance will be gone and we should be able to build a decent savings pretty quickly. With enough savings, no more living check to check.

I agree. I charged my house painting on my CC but it will be paid off next week. That is taking about 50% of my paycheck. DF has a savings that we leave alone and that is going to be our emergency fund while all the extra money will go towards the wedding and trip. I will be debt free again next week. DF has the card for the rings which will be paid off by May and he has his new car that we will tackle in September when we get back. I am a little stressed with the money that we need to save, but with both of us, it CAN be done. It's only been scheduled for a month and there is only about 10% paid. Next month we will see a huge jump in the percentage.

So in September, we will be able to start putting a lot of money back into savings....while putting at least double to pay off his car.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Just bumping and seeing how everyone is doing. Spring is such a busy time of year it seems. Hope you're all hanging in there.


It's a beautiful day and I'm in my lovely painting clothes, ready to tackle our house painting project. I may not be checking in for a while but still counting down, only 4 more weeks until our next card is paid off.

 

[hmack]

I'm doing well.

good news is that I'm sticking to the budget. And our tax return is finally on it's way. We had to wait eight weeks before we could call to find out what the hold up was, and they said that they were concerned about identity theft (perhaps because my husband is a third?) and it could take another six weeks to come, but it looks like it might be here next week.

My question is - does this get any easier from a mental perspective? I'm finding that I'm thinking about money ALL of the time and it's exhausting.

 

[AirGoofy]

Jmho, but I think the key to staying debt-free is to put away enough savings once the debt is gone so that little splurges or ups & downs in income does't have such an impact on getting regular bills paid. For now our emergency fund is minimal but by next March our cc balance will be gone and we should be able to build a decent savings pretty quickly. With enough savings, no more living to check.

Agree, added to a zero based budget. Budget can be a scary word, but for me, it was sickening once I saw where all our money was going. Now that I have a budget, I estimate category amounts from the previous year's totals. Thus, when a repair, medical, or vacation expense occurs, I have the money to pay for it. Then, if an emergency arises, money is available.