Debt Dumpers - 2015

[hmack]

well the "good", the "not so good" and they "wow, didn't see that coming"

The good - I deposited $21.00 into the savings account and sure, while $21 may not seem like a lot. It's the first time I've put money into that account in 3 years (at least).

The bad - I was sure that the balance on the receipt was a mistake. It was $300 less than I remembered it being. But my dh reminded me that we took some out for car expenses about a year ago. This account truly was the "forgotten" account - but I am determined to breath life back into it.

The "wow, didn't see that coming" - my daughter became engaged this weekend and I have to admit that one of the 1,000,000 thoughts I had after I found out was, "how am I going to pay for this thing?" at least they are planning to be engaged for 3 years. So it gives us some time to plan and prepare but I'm still feeling a bit woozy about the whole thing.

so:
Jeep balance 0/5,375.36 = 0.00% progress
savings 21/1000 = 0.021% progress

Right now, it may not look like much, but for me, it's all about small and sustainable steps.

 

[gracie1]

Honestly, I'm not sure. I'm on my way home from holiday visiting right now but tomorrow evening once we're home and our last guest (my MIL) is gone, I'm going to sit down with DW and figure it all out. Between us we got $500 for Christmas, so I'm going to stretch that as far as I can to cover our groceries and any other household needs for January.

I have to say, I really appreciate the advice without judgement that people give on this thread. DISers are the best.

One thing you don't have to worry about is people being judgmental on this thread. If you don't mind me asking - the credit cards that your using for everyday expenses - does it exceed $500? If not - you could take the $500 that you received from the holidays and pay off the cc and be straight on the cash method. Just a thought.

 

[gracie1]

well the "good", the "not so good" and they "wow, didn't see that coming"

The good - I deposited $21.00 into the savings account and sure, while $21 may not seem like a lot. It's the first time I've put money into that account in 3 years (at least).

The bad - I was sure that the balance on the receipt was a mistake. It was $300 less than I remembered it being. But my dh reminded me that we took some out for car expenses about a year ago. This account truly was the "forgotten" account - but I am determined to breath life back into it.

The "wow, didn't see that coming" - my daughter became engaged this weekend and I have to admit that one of the 1,000,000 thoughts I had after I found out was, "how am I going to pay for this thing?" at least they are planning to be engaged for 3 years. So it gives us some time to plan and prepare but I'm still feeling a bit woozy about the whole thing.


so:
Jeep balance 0/5,375.36 = 0.00% progress
savings 21/1000 = 0.021% progress

Right now, it may not look like much, but for me, it's all about small and sustainable steps.

Sounds like you have a plan! And that is a plus that you added $21 to your savings account! I have transferred less than that over at times - every little bit adds up!
Congrats on your daughters engagement!!! Atleast you have a while to plan and save! I work at a hotel with a wedding venue - and weddings are definitely costly!!!

 

[ilovediznee]

Hi Everyone! I LOVE everyone's ideas and input and totally agree that this thread should be non-judgemental. I myself am looking for support and advice, not for people to tell me what I've done wrong.

That being said, I was lucky enough a week or two ago to post that I had paid three bills off and I just paid another one today - YAHOO! Had medical expenses from my hysterectomy five years ago and had a loan with Bank of America. Got the pay off and paid that sucker off today!

As FYI to others, I do work another PT job in addition to my FT job and I was lucky enough that my Mom sent some money over the holidays in order to complete this payoff so between those three things - FT, PT and Mom, I was able to do this. The PT job paid for DD's cheerleading and now I am using 1/2 for debt reduction of other bills and 1/2 for our June Disney trip.

STAY STRONG EVERYONE AND CARRY ON!!!!!!!!!!!! Looking forward to reading others stories, advice and questions.

Diane

 

[gracie1]

Hi Everyone! I LOVE everyone's ideas and input and totally agree that this thread should be non-judgemental. I myself am looking for support and advice, not for people to tell me what I've done wrong.

That being said, I was lucky enough a week or two ago to post that I had paid three bills off and I just paid another one today - YAHOO! Had medical expenses from my hysterectomy five years ago and had a loan with Bank of America. Got the pay off and paid that sucker off today!

As FYI to others, I do work another PT job in addition to my FT job and I was lucky enough that my Mom sent some money over the holidays in order to complete this payoff so between those three things - FT, PT and Mom, I was able to do this. The PT job paid for DD's cheerleading and now I am using 1/2 for debt reduction of other bills and 1/2 for our June Disney trip.

STAY STRONG EVERYONE AND CARRY ON!!!!!!!!!!!! Looking forward to reading others stories, advice and questions.

Diane

Congrats!! It's a great feeling when you get to make those final payments!!

 

[JnKinVA]

So I went ahead and purchased YNAB yesterday off of steam and continued from the free trail. Added it to my iPhone and iPad and I hope this will help us know where our money is going.

I am also going to participate in the 52 week challenge where each week number is the amount you put into a savings account.
$1 for week 1, $2 for week 2, etc.
If I do that for both of us, we could have over $3000 in savings by the end of the year.

I have to admit though, it is going to be very tough until DH goes back to Afghanistan as he is not getting a paycheck right now, and I have been on a Medical LOA since last February.
I hope I can get back to work soon so we can start knocking out some of this debt.

I love that there is the support here

 

[Docmom]

Just found this and jumping on board too! Will try out YNAB for budgeting. Right now I have a big binder where I write most big things and am supposed to write everyday things but never do. Hopefully a computer program with an associated phone app will work better for me. Want to pay down some credit card debt and car loan - about $10k total. Question on savings account. Our savings and checking accounts are connected - so if over a certain amount in checking it automatically goes to savings, if under it automatically draws from savings. So psychologically I see them as one. Would it be better to get another, non-attached savings account to use just as savings or does the YNAB program do that virtually for you? Thanks! Can't believe I'm getting excited about budgeting!

 

[KimP5]

Boo - my post got lost.

I'd like to join as well!

Our debts are as follows: Mortgage, Huge ginormous student loan, federal taxes, car payment, lots of little medical bills I can't even seem to keep track of.

I think my goals for the new year, would be to pay off the annoying little medical bills first, then maybe start on the tax debt. I think it's the smallest of the remaining items.

Other financial goals: Save for replacement car for DH. Save for next Disney trip! Possibly increase contributions to the kids 529 college plans. Actually pay stuff on time and stop using overdraft protection constantly. (that's a biggie for us... I swear nothing is paid until they are ready to shut it off. I hate to think how much extra we're forking over because of that.)

Thanks for letting me join! I look forward to other's successes and ideas for inspiration!

 

[bcwife76]

As far as saving money goes, this will be our 3rd year of doing the 52 week money challenge. We call this our Jar Money as we put it in an old pickle jar (well cleaned LOL) and every so often deposit it in our vacation account.We haven't reached that $1300+ number yet but both 2013 and 2014 we saved about $900-$1000 so we were very pleased. A lot of this jar money comes from survey's we fill out and stuff we sell through craigslist and Facebook swap sites.
Additionally we have our weekly automatic savings account (that we put $50 in every single Monday) and DH has a retirement RSP that we pay into once a month (I don't have one at the moment as I'm a stay at home mom and there are no tax benefits for both of us having one) so I think we are doing ok with saving, but need to funnel more money into our debt repayment schedule. We did YNAB for a few months last year but in the end we abandoned it......=0

Our debts include mortgage (our current interest rate is 2.15%) a car loan (at 0%) and our HELOC (current interest rate of 3.4%)

 

[AlohaNow]

These two goals may not seem like much, but it's place to start.

Wherever you start from is a great place to start. Starting is the key! One thing about personal finance - as the name suggests, it is very personal. We all place emphasis and value on certain things that we will always put money towards. For some it is vacation, for others it is a hobby or collection of some sort. Then, after those things, money goes towards the 'other stuff' of life. And we all know that stuff happens - medical stuff, kid stuff, family stuff. That is why we have debt! Whatever your reasons for having it are now in the past. Everyone's starting place for 2015 is different but just realizing that something serious has to be done about it is a huge step forward!

You mentioned that you put $21 into a long inactive savings account. That is fantastic! That is how it starts! I have a sign up on my home office wall, placed there about this time last year, that says "Every Little Bit Counts". Because I feel that is the over-arching message of this thread! You start off good habits small, you see how your savings grows or how your debts go down, and you get excited about it!

After 'inactively saving' for quite sometime, I started automatic transfers of $30 per pay into my savings account. I then thought, "Heck, that doesn't hurt much at all." So soon after I upped the amount to $40, then $50, and I am now at $70 per pay period. And guess what? When DH's brakes had to be replaced, we were able to pay for it up front rather than charging it like we would have before. For us, that's progress!

I'm excited to see so many people jumping on and I hope we can all learn a lot from each other in the coming year!

 

[greentea]

Just found this and jumping on board too! Will try out YNAB for budgeting. Right now I have a big binder where I write most big things and am supposed to write everyday things but never do. Hopefully a computer program with an associated phone app will work better for me. Want to pay down some credit card debt and car loan - about $10k total. Question on savings account. Our savings and checking accounts are connected - so if over a certain amount in checking it automatically goes to savings, if under it automatically draws from savings. So psychologically I see them as one. Would it be better to get another, non-attached savings account to use just as savings or does the YNAB program do that virtually for you? Thanks! Can't believe I'm getting excited about budgeting!

I have a checking account linked to my savings, and like yours, it can draw from it or I can transfer money instantly. So while I have savings, it can be hard to know how much because I also just lump it all together in my mind. (I'm also hopeless at writing things down.)

I am opening two additional savings accounts at an online bank. No min balance and no min deposit, and I can set up transfers from my local bank. One will be for an emergency fund, the other will be for short-term savings (we get some self-employment income, so we need to hide about 30% of that somewhere for taxes, and eventually I'd like to also put away some extra in this account for things like vet bills and car repairs). The hope is that then my local bank savings account can be for fun things like vacations. I'll be automatically transferring set amounts into the online savings so I know that's taken care of, and can start small and go higher as I get the hang of it. I'm hoping having the separation will help set up some mental lines between the money.

I've never used YNAB, so I'm not sure if it does what you asked. I'm sure someone else will know!

 

[Docmom]

I have a checking account linked to my savings, and like yours, it can draw from it or I can transfer money instantly. So while I have savings, it can be hard to know how much because I also just lump it all together in my mind. (I'm also hopeless at writing things down.) I am opening two additional savings accounts at an online bank. No min balance and no min deposit, and I can set up transfers from my local bank. One will be for an emergency fund, the other will be for short-term savings (we get some self-employment income, so we need to hide about 30% of that somewhere for taxes, and eventually I'd like to also put away some extra in this account for things like vet bills and car repairs). The hope is that then my local bank savings account can be for fun things like vacations. I'll be automatically transferring set amounts into the online savings so I know that's taken care of, and can start small and go higher as I get the hang of it. I'm hoping having the separation will help set up some mental lines between the money. I've never used YNAB, so I'm not sure if it does what you asked. I'm sure someone else will know!

Opening two separate accounts like that is a great idea! I like the idea of having an account set aside for emergencies and for true savings. For me it would be an out of sight / out of mind scenario so it would be money I wouldn't normally spend.

 

[SirDuff]

Just found this and jumping on board too! Will try out YNAB for budgeting. Right now I have a big binder where I write most big things and am supposed to write everyday things but never do. Hopefully a computer program with an associated phone app will work better for me. Want to pay down some credit card debt and car loan - about $10k total. Question on savings account. Our savings and checking accounts are connected - so if over a certain amount in checking it automatically goes to savings, if under it automatically draws from savings. So psychologically I see them as one. Would it be better to get another, non-attached savings account to use just as savings or does the YNAB program do that virtually for you? Thanks! Can't believe I'm getting excited about budgeting!

I only have one account as well. In YNAB it is down as one account. However, I have budget items for savings (I divide it into RRSP, TFSA, emergency, random, etc.). So, I can easily see how much I have saved for everything (and avoids me looking at my bank balance and thinking that all of that is for spending!).

 

[pigletgirl]

Just found this and jumping on board too! Will try out YNAB for budgeting. Right now I have a big binder where I write most big things and am supposed to write everyday things but never do. Hopefully a computer program with an associated phone app will work better for me. Want to pay down some credit card debt and car loan - about $10k total. Question on savings account. Our savings and checking accounts are connected - so if over a certain amount in checking it automatically goes to savings, if under it automatically draws from savings. So psychologically I see them as one. Would it be better to get another, non-attached savings account to use just as savings or does the YNAB program do that virtually for you? Thanks! Can't believe I'm getting excited about budgeting!

Yes!! The savings account needs to be separate from your checking account. We are not using YNAB, but we just finished Financial Peace University which has been awesome. It was a but painful in the beginning but now we know where every cent is going. There is major peace in that.

 

[kjs1976]

Count me in! Want to pay off around $4000 in CC debt and save for a WDW trip. We should be able to pay it off with our tax return and have some leftover. However, I don't want to rinse and repeat. I want to have that done for.

I'm also planning to no-buy in Jan when it comes to clothes for DD and myself, since we don't need anything. I fall into the sales trap of when it's a super good deal, I should buy it. Nope, not going to. Also rethinking weekly food budget and being more responsible there. Only buying what we need and plan for and using more coupons. I've been pretty good about it, but could look more carefully.

I hope I have my DH off of his $$80-100 a month fast food spending. He would not stop that last year!!!! Instead of making lunches at home, he just grabbed fast food. But now we's joining an 8 week weightless challenge at work. I hope that's going to keep him on track, since he hates to lose.

In the process of refinancing, which will save us $100 a month on a lower interest rate. Also, just paid off my SUV.

Thanks for the support!!!

 

[hpfan100]

I'm in too. Just got married in October and now it's time to pay down the debt. I have a few thousand on credit cards, a car payment and huge massive student loans. Hubby has a car payment and large credit card debt.

Hoping to tackle my credit cards and car by May and then battle the monster student loan debt

 

[tikitorie]

I'm in again this year. Last year was able to pay off a car payment and one cc, but still have many debts to go. Also, need to put money aside for another car down the road. Was planning on putting aside our old monthly payment but that never panned out. Hoping to be better this year!

 

[gracie1]

I'm in again this year. Last year was able to pay off a car payment and one cc, but still have many debts to go. Also, need to put money aside for another car down the road. Was planning on putting aside our old monthly payment but that never panned out. Hoping to be better this year!

Way to go on getting your car paid off and a cc . Sounds like you are doing great with your budgeting!

 

[gracie1]

Sounds like everyone has a great plan for 2015! I'm hoping Murphy doesn't make as many visits as he did in 2014. I definitely will not miss him!
so this is my problem - since I had gotten into the savings mode and after having Murphy hit so much - I can't get myself to budget for a vacation. Is something wrong with me . Every time I research a vacation I just don't want to part with my savings. In my mind I know in a couple years I will need a car, and I think about the unexpected things like possibly needing roof repairs, and things around the house, etc. I never thought I would be thinking like this if you asked me a couple years ago!

 

[mrssmith06]

All in. We have some major cc debt to pay off!!!