Debt Dumpers - 2016

[yupikgal]

Personally I found success with the snowball method, starting with smallest balance and ending with the largest. The reason it worked so well for me is that getting through the smaller ones early on really boosts confidence that you can do it. Sort of instant gratification. As you pay off more and more bills, the snowball grows so that by the time you're attacking the largest one, your snowball is pretty fat and each month takes huge bites out of those bigger bills. Instead of feeling like an ant climbing a mountain, you feel more like you're driving a Hummer up.

Thanks so much! I like hearing other people's successes. It just seems so far off right now, and with winter right around the corner (for us) and the darkness, it's pretty depressing already knowing I'm not planning a trip anytime soon, but what I am looking forward to is the debt payoff!!! It's going to feel so good once that starts to happen, so each time it does, I want to celebrate with a small reward (dinner out, movie, new shirt, something to keep my stamina up!) I will keep posting here off and on to help keep me on track and get energized with everyone's support!!

 

[yupikgal]

I would still love & appreciate any suggestions/feedback on my original question?

My question are kind of twofold, i guess...we have 4 credit cards we are tackling. Really, 5, but Discover is down to $300 and will be paid off next month. We have one card @ 0% for 18 months (just opened recently) which is the lowest balance card. Interest rates on all cards range from 13.49, 12.74, 10.5%, then the 0%. Once I pay off the Discover card, we will have $12,500 credit to transfer over one of the other balances to.

Discover is offering a 12 month, 0%, 3% transfer fee option or 18 month, 4.99%, no transfer fee option. I would transfer over one of my balances from one of the other cards (I'm thinking Disney Chase or BOA, both are the highest interest rate ones, they aren't the highest $$ balance, we have one more huge one, although BOA is the 2nd to the highest) Which option would you choose?

If/when I do the transfer, then which card do I start paying the most $$ on, the one with 18 months or 12 months if both have 0%? lowest balance or the higher balance? I kind of like that snowball idea, to see the lowest balances go away first to give momentum, but the lowest balance would have the longer term, depending on which option I choose for Discover. The balances are $6400 (18 mos to pay) & $7733 (could have 12 or 18 months-0% or 4.99%).

Initially I was planning on paying the Citicard (smallest balance) off by April (6 months) but because my husband has surgery next month, and with the holidays, I think it may get pushed to more like May or June, which would in turn push back the payoff of Discover to more like Jan. 2019 (assuming I transfer Chase to that account).

Thanks for your opinion!

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I would still love & appreciate any suggestions/feedback on my original question?

My question are kind of twofold, i guess...we have 4 credit cards we are tackling. Really, 5, but Discover is down to $300 and will be paid off next month. We have one card @ 0% for 18 months (just opened recently) which is the lowest balance card. Interest rates on all cards range from 13.49, 12.74, 10.5%, then the 0%. Once I pay off the Discover card, we will have $12,500 credit to transfer over one of the other balances to.

Discover is offering a 12 month, 0%, 3% transfer fee option or 18 month, 4.99%, no transfer fee option. I would transfer over one of my balances from one of the other cards (I'm thinking Disney Chase or BOA, both are the highest interest rate ones, they aren't the highest $$ balance, we have one more huge one, although BOA is the 2nd to the highest) Which option would you choose?

If/when I do the transfer, then which card do I start paying the most $$ on, the one with 18 months or 12 months if both have 0%? lowest balance or the higher balance? I kind of like that snowball idea, to see the lowest balances go away first to give momentum, but the lowest balance would have the longer term, depending on which option I choose for Discover. The balances are $6400 (18 mos to pay) & $7733 (could have 12 or 18 months-0% or 4.99%).

Initially I was planning on paying the Citicard (smallest balance) off by April (6 months) but because my husband has surgery next month, and with the holidays, I think it may get pushed to more like May or June, which would in turn push back the payoff of Discover to more like Jan. 2019 (assuming I transfer Chase to that account).

Thanks for your opinion!

So I think that since you have so much going on with the different cards, it might help us help you better if you could give us a break down for each card of the balance, interest rate (if special financing, when 0% expires and rate after expiration) and current minimum payment.

Also getting an idea of what you are currently putting towards debt payments, so we can help you plan out a snowball plan.

 

[yupikgal]

So I think that since you have so much going on with the different cards, it might help us help you better if you could give us a break down for each card of the balance, interest rate (if special financing, when 0% expires and rate after expiration) and current minimum payment.

Also getting an idea of what you are currently putting towards debt payments, so we can help you plan out a snowball plan.

Citibank $6444 18 mos, 0% I just opened this, min. $98. Next pmnt will be $100 due to Xmas, husbands upcoming surgery, snow tire changeover, oil changes for winter. It's an 18 mo. 0% promo, it just started last month. Expires 3/13/18. I know this one will be the highest interest of all cards once it expires-it doesn't show the regular rate on the statement, but I think I saw it on original paperwork. I DEFINITELY want to pay it off way before the 18 months!
Chase $7733 13.49% Current Minimum $141. I've been paying between $145-$150 per month
BOA $8980 12.99% (it went up-it used to be 12.74%) Current minimum $186. I've been paying between $190-$250
AK USA $17,100 10.50% Current minimum $529. I've been paying between $530-$550

Ok, there it is, the sad truth. We also have a car with a $15k balance (mine) but the interest is only 2.25%, and my husbands truck balance is only $4892 with 3% interest, it's due to payoff in Aug. 2018. If we didn't have the cc bills, we could live off my husband's income, which is so sad, because I am an entrepreneur at heart, I would love to concentrate solely on my home businesses I'm also going to be able to draw on a small retirement soon, I just need to apply. It won't be much, because I just have enough in there to be vested (5 years) but I want to start drawing it now because it's considered "defined benefit" which basically means, I'll get it until I croak. It will also pay for both my and my husbands medical premiums, which is very nice.

 

[pittsburghmom]

Citibank $6444 18 mos, 0% I just opened this, min. $98. Next pmnt will be $100 due to Xmas, husbands upcoming surgery, snow tire changeover, oil changes for winter. It's an 18 mo. 0% promo, it just started last month. Expires 3/13/18. I know this one will be the highest interest of all cards once it expires-it doesn't show the regular rate on the statement, but I think I saw it on original paperwork. I DEFINITELY want to pay it off way before the 18 months!
Chase $7733 13.49% Current Minimum $141. I've been paying between $145-$150 per month
BOA $8980 12.99% (it went up-it used to be 12.74%) Current minimum $186. I've been paying between $190-$250
AK USA $17,100 10.50% Current minimum $529. I've been paying between $530-$550

Ok, there it is, the sad truth. We also have a car with a $15k balance (mine) but the interest is only 2.25%, and my husbands truck balance is only $4892 with 3% interest, it's due to payoff in Aug. 2018. If we didn't have the cc bills, we could live off my husband's income, which is so sad, because I am an entrepreneur at heart, I would love to concentrate solely on my home businesses I'm also going to be able to draw on a small retirement soon, I just need to apply. It won't be much, because I just have enough in there to be vested (5 years) but I want to start drawing it now because it's considered "defined benefit" which basically means, I'll get it until I croak. It will also pay for both my and my husbands medical premiums, which is very nice.

I think hitting your 0% interest balance super hard and getting it paid off before the interest rate kicks in is a really good idea. I might be wrong, but some cards that do the 0% promo will hit you with the past interest for those 18 months if you do not pay the balance off in the agreed upon timeframe. Either way, just throwing that out there.

Doing the math, it appears that you pay upwards of $90 total (spread out between all the cards) over the minimum payments. In order for you to pay off the 0% card in 18 months, you will need to pay $358 a month for 18 months to get to zero balance. If you start making only the minimum payments to the other balances and use that extra $90 towards the 0% card, you will still need to come up with an extra $268/month to wipe out that card in time. Once that card is payed off, I would snowball that payment into the BOA first, then the Chase, and finally the AK USA and so forth.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Citibank $6444 18 mos, 0% I just opened this, min. $98. Next pmnt will be $100 due to Xmas, husbands upcoming surgery, snow tire changeover, oil changes for winter. It's an 18 mo. 0% promo, it just started last month. Expires 3/13/18. I know this one will be the highest interest of all cards once it expires-it doesn't show the regular rate on the statement, but I think I saw it on original paperwork. I DEFINITELY want to pay it off way before the 18 months!
Chase $7733 13.49% Current Minimum $141. I've been paying between $145-$150 per month
BOA $8980 12.99% (it went up-it used to be 12.74%) Current minimum $186. I've been paying between $190-$250
AK USA $17,100 10.50% Current minimum $529. I've been paying between $530-$550

Ok, there it is, the sad truth. We also have a car with a $15k balance (mine) but the interest is only 2.25%, and my husbands truck balance is only $4892 with 3% interest, it's due to payoff in Aug. 2018. If we didn't have the cc bills, we could live off my husband's income, which is so sad, because I am an entrepreneur at heart, I would love to concentrate solely on my home businesses I'm also going to be able to draw on a small retirement soon, I just need to apply. It won't be much, because I just have enough in there to be vested (5 years) but I want to start drawing it now because it's considered "defined benefit" which basically means, I'll get it until I croak. It will also pay for both my and my husbands medical premiums, which is very nice.

So your minimum payments are $954. How much extra per month can you afford to add to that?
The more you can throw at it, the faster you will pay it down. Here is the gray area where people may differ as to how much you're willing to give up to pay this stuff down. DR suggests we stop making payments to our returement accounts, cancel cable and cell phones.
I just can't go that drastic but dh and I can easily pack breakfast and lunch on workdays. We also go out to dinner maybe 4x per year and don't mind plain old Maxwell House coffee at home each morning. YMMV
Another one of his suggestions is to go into attack mode at your debt. You need to get into the mindset that every spare dollar should go toward debt. Examine what in your life is high priority and eliminate what you can live without.
Seriously, if I have $5 left in checking the day before pay day (besides our cushion) I put it toward my debt.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Citibank $6444 18 mos, 0% I just opened this, min. $98. Next pmnt will be $100 due to Xmas, husbands upcoming surgery, snow tire changeover, oil changes for winter. It's an 18 mo. 0% promo, it just started last month. Expires 3/13/18. I know this one will be the highest interest of all cards once it expires-it doesn't show the regular rate on the statement, but I think I saw it on original paperwork. I DEFINITELY want to pay it off way before the 18 months!
Chase $7733 13.49% Current Minimum $141. I've been paying between $145-$150 per month
BOA $8980 12.99% (it went up-it used to be 12.74%) Current minimum $186. I've been paying between $190-$250
AK USA $17,100 10.50% Current minimum $529. I've been paying between $530-$550

Ok, there it is, the sad truth. We also have a car with a $15k balance (mine) but the interest is only 2.25%, and my husbands truck balance is only $4892 with 3% interest, it's due to payoff in Aug. 2018. If we didn't have the cc bills, we could live off my husband's income, which is so sad, because I am an entrepreneur at heart, I would love to concentrate solely on my home businesses I'm also going to be able to draw on a small retirement soon, I just need to apply. It won't be much, because I just have enough in there to be vested (5 years) but I want to start drawing it now because it's considered "defined benefit" which basically means, I'll get it until I croak. It will also pay for both my and my husbands medical premiums, which is very nice.

I agree with the others, you need to find some extra money in your budget in order to get the snowball moving. Your required minimum payments are very high right now, but once you get the Citibank card eliminated, it will start to feel easier because you can move that money into the next card.

Firstly, you said the Discover card has $300 left and you plan to pay that off next month. Can you continue using that $300 each month for your snowball?

You minimums would be $954, plus the extra $300 each month for a total of $1254 in your snowball. The key is to keep this money all in your snowball and not take it out or use it for anything other than your credit card debts. These numbers are pretty rough estimates, but it will give you an idea of how you can work down your debt.

You can start with the Citibank card, paying $398 toward this card starting in December and it will take you about 16 months to pay off this card.

Then, you can move on to the Chase card. By then, if you had continued making the same $141 monthly payments, your balance would now be around $6850. You would now have $539 to apply towards this card and it would take you approximately 14 months to pay off this card, accounting for interest payments.

Then you could move on to the BoA card, which if you had continued the same $186 monthly payments, your balance would be around $6000. You would now have $725 to apply towards this card and it would take you approximately 9 months to pay off this card, accounting for interest payments.

Finally, you would move on to the AK USA card, which if you had continued making the same minimum $529 monthly payment, your balance would be around $2300. You would now have $1254 to apply towards this card and it would take you approximately 2 months to pay off this card, accounting for interest payments.

This means that in just under 3.5 years, you could eliminate all of the credit card debt. This is just one possible method.

Now, as far as the balance transfer goes, if you used all $12,500 of the credit on your Discover card, it would cost you $375 in transaction fees for the 12 month option or $935 for the 18 month option, so I would recommend just the 12 month option (even accounting for the extra 6 months of interest, the 12 months 0% works out better). If you moved all of your Chase balance and some of your BoA balance, then you would forego about $1660 in interest charges over that year. So this is a net gain of about $1285. This savings might help you shave a few months off of the total repayment time. But if at the end of the 12 months the interest rate will be much higher than the Chase and BOA, it may not be worth it.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

www.debtmd.com can map this all out for you also, however it doesn't allow you to rearrange what order you prefer to pay bills off or to factor in promotional interest offers. Still it's a good tool.

 

[yupikgal]

Thanks so much everyone!! If all goes well, I hope to have $1000 to put towards the Citicard starting in January, after surgery, tire changeovers and Christmas is over. If I can do that, I could eliminate it within 6-7 months. I'm going to try to do $500 per paycheck to gang up on it! It's due on the 8th of each month, so I would have to save up enough from the first & 2nd paychecks each month to do this. My job became full time recently, so next Friday is my first full 2 week paycheck. They are also paying me $400 extra each month in lieu of medical premiums. I really don't want to drag it on into the 18 months they are allowing. Then, I would switch over the remaining BOA balance & pay it off before the 18 months is up. In the meantime, Discover will have been paid off, and I would have transferred Chase over to Discover, as well as some of the BOA balance. I think I'm going to keep having to play cat & mouse with the 0% accounts. This is all assuming there are no major things that go wrong with our house, etc. I've started an emergency fund, but it's slow and steady at this point.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

JMHO, I find it easy to pay each cc online at their website on payday or the day before. The funds usually come out of our bank account the next day and there's no temptation to spend it any other way. Also the credit is applied to my cc account by the next day which feeds my urge for instant gratification. My paycheck hits in the wee hours of pay day (direct deposit)and by 5:30 am it's already taken from my account.
If I had to save up over several paychecks to finally make a payment, then wait a week from mailing date til the check clears, I think I would have been a miserable failure from the start.
I'm stronger-willed now but in the early days, not so much at all.
I know a few people who are reluctant to bank online so my method then wouldn't work.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

JMHO, I find it easy to pay each cc online at their website on payday or the day before. The funds usually come out of our bank account the next day and there's no temptation to spend it any other way. Also the credit is applied to my cc account by the next day which feeds my urge for instant gratification. My paycheck hits in the wee hours of pay day (direct deposit)and by 5:30 am it's already taken from my account.
If I had to save up over several paychecks to finally make a payment, then wait a week from mailing date til the check clears, I think I would have been a miserable failure from the start.
I'm stronger-willed now but in the early days, not so much at all.
I know a few people who are reluctant to bank online so my method then wouldn't work.

I also like the instant gratification of seeing that balance go down weeks before the card due date, or in the case of last month, disappear completely! I do find that with using YNAB, I don't have the temptation to spend money that is already allocated. It has been such a powerful tool for us in terms of cutting out impulse spending. We used to use Mint, but there was always a lag between when we would spend money and when we would make the payments, and money needed to pay down those expenses would get spent on other things in the interim. Now, YNAB automatically shifts money we spend from our designated categories into our credit card category so it is just waiting to pay off those expenses. And this means that money is already there and I don't have to wait for payday even to pay off those expenses. The extra money from payday is now completely going towards our debt payments.

 

[yupikgal]

Thanks again for your suggestions and insight. I guess at this point until things settle down and the holiday spending is over, and I start getting a full month's paycheck from my job (the 14th is the first full 2 week paycheck at my new rate) I will be a bit hesitant to pay in advance, because I have earmarked a certain $$ amount for groceries, utilities, mortgage (it comes out twice a month) and I have certain bills paid with the first of the month's paychecks, and the 2nd 1/2 paid with the 2nd 1/2 pay, I'm so used to doing it this way, and being cautious about not ending up in the hole, that I panic, and tend to want to stick with what works. For instance, 1/2 the months' bills have been paid as of today. I added up what is left for the month (internet, auto insurance, 1/2 months mortgage, water, AK USA Visa & BOA Visa, electric and then on the 8th of next month, the Citicard) EXCLUDING the Citicard, we will owe $2307. I know my husband's next check will cover that and have a little bit leftover, and then I get paid on the 28th. His will hit our bank about the same day (it's hard to know exactly, because although their payroll calendar shows the 31st, often it's a couple of business days before that) Since it's due on the 8th of each month, I have to pay the Citicard bill out of our end of the month $$ because we don't get our next pay until the 11th & a little bit later than that for my husbands. I'm going to set aside a portion of my paycheck for Christmas $$ & put some in an account for my husband's surgery bills, the rest will go to food & gas. I guess I could follow your suggestion in that I can pay the Citicard earlier than the 8th, since the $ for that is coming out of the end of this month paycheck? I'm not paying much over the minimum right now anyway, so I guess it's totally doable!! I will set it up for coming out the 28th, the day of my paycheck.

 

[yupikgal]

FYI, I do pay all my cc's on their website. Although they usually show the payments right away, the $$ doesn't always come out of our account right away. Case in point, with Discover, I made a $300 payment this month, to pay on the 14th (it's due on the 15th). It didn't clear our account until the 17th. Maybe that is not too long after, but it felt like forever. Is that what you were referring to when you said to set it up to pay earlier? The scary thing is, some come out right away and others don't.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

FYI, I do pay all my cc's on their website. Although they usually show the payments right away, the $$ doesn't always come out of our account right away. Case in point, with Discover, I made a $300 payment this month, to pay on the 14th (it's due on the 15th). It didn't clear our account until the 17th. Maybe that is not too long after, but it felt like forever. Is that what you were referring to when you said to set it up to pay earlier? The scary thing is, some come out right away and others don't.

For our credit cards that no longer have any debt, but are being used for regular monthly expenses, I pay the entire balance on the day that the statements get sent to my email. I just log in, click "current statement balance", choose "today" as my payment date and hit send. YNAB is all about breaking the paycheck to paycheck cycle because instead of spending money and then planning to pay for that spending with next months paychecks, it actually helps you get to the point where you are paying for those expenses with last months (or earlier) paycheck. Because of how YNAB works with cards that don't have debt, we actually have all of the money to pay off those cards set aside and just waiting to pay off the cards.

Since we started using this program, my stress level has plummeted in relation to money.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

FYI, I do pay all my cc's on their website. Although they usually show the payments right away, the $$ doesn't always come out of our account right away. Case in point, with Discover, I made a $300 payment this month, to pay on the 14th (it's due on the 15th). It didn't clear our account until the 17th. Maybe that is not too long after, but it felt like forever. Is that what you were referring to when you said to set it up to pay earlier? The scary thing is, some come out right away and others don't.

Yes that is what I mean. My bank/billing is very predictable so it doesn't vary much. Do what is comfortable for you. I'm not suggesting using $ earmarked for other bills or expenses, food, gas etc. to use toward debt. I'm talking about $ leftover.
Dh and I get paid biweekly but on opposite weeks so every Thursday is payday. Each check has a list of bills that it will pay. I include bills that don't follow a monthly pattern such as car insurance, property taxes, sewer, etc. so that enough will be there when needed. For those bills I put $ aside in their own Capital One 360 accounts. So when car ins is due, I just transfer to checking to pay it.
Once you're caught up with your known upcoming expenses, finish your emergency fund. DR recommends $1000 min but some people prefer more. Once you have that ready, start on the debt.
I also agree that I pay the bill either on pay day or the day before so that the money is gone from our checking account. Leaving it there only creates an illusion that we have $$ to spend. It's better to just pay it when the money is there. By the time I get home on Friday, all the bill money for that week has been paid out and it's easy to see what is leftover.
Once the snowball gets rolling there isn't a lot sitting there as leftover, just a small cushion. Whatever would have been leftover has already been paid to the debt that I'm attacking at that time. It takes time to fine tune the amounts.
I don't have YNAB but I hear so many wonderful comments about it, I probably should get it.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I don't have YNAB but I hear so many wonderful comments about it, I probably should get it.

I feel like a broken record, but I just can't say enough good things about YNAB. I found it here, on the recommendation of another debt dumper. We were really needing to find a new way to get back on track financially and this has changed our whole relationship with money. DH really likes it too. They have a free 1-month trial so we decided, why not? During the first few weeks, we sat down together and watched all of their online classes. It teaches you how to use the program and also about their philosophy, their 4 rules to help break the paycheck to paycheck cycle. We will have eliminated all of our credit card debt by the end of next month, barring any unexpected expenses. I do not think that would have been possible without using YNAB. I now see this as a lifelong tool to keep me organized and on track towards my goals.

And YNAB has actually inspired me to become more organized in other aspects of my life too. I used some Swagbucks money from last month to purchase an Erin Condren Life Planner and I love it. I realized a while ago that using Google Calendar just wasn't keeping me organized enough. I used a Franklin Covey planner in college and law school. YNAB has made me realize that I need to find the right tools to help me succeed. After using the planner for a little under a month, I realize that I have been amazingly more productive at work and in my personal life than I was before.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I feel like a broken record, but I just can't say enough good things about YNAB. I found it here, on the recommendation of another debt dumper. We were really needing to find a new way to get back on track financially and this has changed our whole relationship with money. DH really likes it too. They have a free 1-month trial so we decided, why not? During the first few weeks, we sat down together and watched all of their online classes. It teaches you how to use the program and also about their philosophy, their 4 rules to help break the paycheck to paycheck cycle. We will have eliminated all of our credit card debt by the end of next month, barring any unexpected expenses. I do not think that would have been possible without using YNAB. I now see this as a lifelong tool to keep me organized and on track towards my goals.

And YNAB has actually inspired me to become more organized in other aspects of my life too. I used some Swagbucks money from last month to purchase an Erin Condren Life Planner and I love it. I realized a while ago that using Google Calendar just wasn't keeping me organized enough. I used a Franklin Covey planner in college and law school. YNAB has made me realize that I need to find the right tools to help me succeed. After using the planner for a little under a month, I realize that I have been amazingly more productive at work and in my personal life than I was before.

Wow, that indeed is the ultimate compliment of a product. I'm not in denial that it would help me but honestly I feel like I have a good system down and once I get rid of the debt I can pad my EF a lot thicker to cover more of the unexpected. Well yes I suppose that is denial. Lol
I have considered creating a buffer now, instead of post debt, so that we are using last month's income for this month's bills but I feel like that would funnel my snowball for so long and don't want to lose my momentum. We were a month away from having no debt except our mortgage. Then ds left college making the parent plus loan enter repayment, he needed a car for work, then got a home quity loan to close in our back porch. Arrgh!
So ds is paying his own car payment & insurance and the PP loan will be paid off in early June. Debt MD estimates 18 mos for the HEL and we can attack the mortgage.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Wow, that indeed is the ultimate compliment of a product. I'm not in denial that it would help me but honestly I feel like I have a good system down and once I get rid of the debt I can pad my EF a lot thicker to cover more of the unexpected. Well yes I suppose that is denial. Lol
I have considered creating a buffer now, instead of post debt, so that we are using last month's income for this month's bills but I feel like that would funnel my snowball for so long and don't want to lose my momentum. We were a month away from having no debt except our mortgage. Then ds left college making the parent plus loan enter repayment, he needed a car for work, then got a home quity loan to close in our back porch. Arrgh!
So ds is paying his own car payment & insurance and the PP loan will be paid off in early June. Debt MD estimates 18 mos for the HEL and we can attack the mortgage.

YNAB is by no means the only tool and it probably isn't right for everyone. But for us, it is easy to use and gives us a much better handle on our financial situation. Once we have paid off the credit card debt, we will be replenishing the savings that we had to raid for IVF costs and then we will be building up our emergency fund to 6 months essential expenses. After that, we plan to start tackling the auto loans and finally, the mortgage. My brother and I always talk about being mortgage free some day. I am actively working towards making that dream a reality.

 

[kool_kat]

I feel like a broken record, but I just can't say enough good things about YNAB. I found it here, on the recommendation of another debt dumper. We were really needing to find a new way to get back on track financially and this has changed our whole relationship with money. DH really likes it too. They have a free 1-month trial so we decided, why not? During the first few weeks, we sat down together and watched all of their online classes. It teaches you how to use the program and also about their philosophy, their 4 rules to help break the paycheck to paycheck cycle. We will have eliminated all of our credit card debt by the end of next month, barring any unexpected expenses. I do not think that would have been possible without using YNAB. I now see this as a lifelong tool to keep me organized and on track towards my goals.

And YNAB has actually inspired me to become more organized in other aspects of my life too. I used some Swagbucks money from last month to purchase an Erin Condren Life Planner and I love it. I realized a while ago that using Google Calendar just wasn't keeping me organized enough. I used a Franklin Covey planner in college and law school. YNAB has made me realize that I need to find the right tools to help me succeed. After using the planner for a little under a month, I realize that I have been amazingly more productive at work and in my personal life than I was before.

I have to agree with J&A's love of YNAB. I started using it two months ago and I love it.

Prior to it, I had budgeted for years using a paper budget and writing everything I spent down. Basically, it was the same method as YNAB, but a paper version that was a lot of work. I got married last year and while I'm an accountant and an extreme budgeter / financer, my husband was not. I struggled for a year trying to figure out how to get two people involved in a budget (he was all for it, but not good about giving me receipts or having any clue what money we had). YNAB has been great for getting him on board by using the app. He now enters his own spending in the app, plus he can now see what kind of money we have, which helps him be more a part of our family finances.

The odd thing is even though I had basically been doing the same thing on paper, somehow we are actually now saving more using YNAB. I would definitely recommend this product (and have to several people).

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

I have to agree with J&A's love of YNAB. I started using it two months ago and I love it.

Prior to it, I had budgeted for years using a paper budget and writing everything I spent down. Basically, it was the same method as YNAB, but a paper version that was a lot of work. I got married last year and while I'm an accountant and an extreme budgeter / financer, my husband was not. I struggled for a year trying to figure out how to get two people involved in a budget (he was all for it, but not good about giving me receipts or having any clue what money we had). YNAB has been great for getting him on board by using the app. He now enters his own spending in the app, plus he can now see what kind of money we have, which helps him be more a part of our family finances.

The odd thing is even though I had basically been doing the same thing on paper, somehow we are actually now saving more using YNAB. I would definitely recommend this product (and have to several people).

Getting married last year and trying to get my husband more involved in the finances was one of the major drivers for trying YNAB. I was feeling overwhelmed because I was handling everything and then DH would whine about money issues. I wanted him to see exactly what we had and where it was going. It has put us on the same page and completely eliminated money related strife between us.