Debt Reducers

[maxiesmom]

I want to join in!

I'm having a good day today. I got my income tax back ($929) and immediately used it to pay off my Sears Card Now I just gotta find the scissors!

Plus I spent the day yesterday figuring out where I can cut, and found 1 good spot. My cell-phone contract expires in April, so I am going back to a pay as you go phone. That will save me almost $50 a month. And I realized that I only have 4 more car payments to make! So that will be another $216.18 a month I will have.

I am always looking for more great ideas. Keep em coming!

 

[rebecca06261]

Can I join? We need to start reducing our debt. We made a huge mistake in the fall by getting two new credit cards because our credit got so much better over the last few years. Well of course both of those are now maxed out. So that's another $4500 we just added to our debt.

I haven't read any of those books or follow any sort of budget. I know that's why we haven't been able to get ahead it for the last few years with all our 'trying'. So what do you all recommend? We have 6 credit cards, two joint and then our seperate ones from before we were married. Our total credit card debt is around $8100. We are making double the minimal payments on all fo them for now. All except the news ones have crazy interest rates. We have student loans as well but those are the least of my concern because they are so low interest.

We need to get our credit up even higher now and start saving up money to buy a house as well. DH works a job that gives him bonuses and commissions throughout the year. We need to work very hard at doing the 'right' thing with them instead of buying something for the reward of hard work.

So I am in ...

Most of us are refering to Dave Ramsey's book Total Money Makeover , but really he does nothing but tell you what our parents should have taught us. In short, once you've written out your monthly budget, you begin with the baby-steps as follows:
Step #1- Save a baby emergency fund of $1000.00 (families) or $500.00 (single) Step #2 - If you are current on all of your basic needs, i.e. food, clothing, shelter, lights/gas, begin listing all of the balances for your consumer debt (student loans, cc, payday loans, cars - essentially everything but the mortgage.) Pay the smallest balance 1st, then so on and so on. I know, mathmatically it doesn't make sense, especially when you're dealing with 28% interest credit cards, which is why some of us chose to modify this part of the plan a bit. I did transfer a balance which carried 32% interest to a fixed 1% and will work it back into this baby-step. Step #3, save 3-6 mo. of living expenses. There are 3 more steps after this one but I don't want to take up too much room since most of us are on these three steps. Afterall, it took me 4 months to save $500.00 after keeping up with everything else. Just remember that it's very important to do a budget "write in on paper, on purpose, every time."

 

[I Believe n Fairies]

I'm on board too. I'm SO tired of being in debt. I'm a sahm to two and my dh took a new job in June that reduced his pay about $12k. It's been tough. To top it off, my dh HATES his job. He is thankful for it, just doesn't want to do it anymore. Currently, our home is on the market. We're in Alabama, and our market is steady. Slow, but homes are selling. Once our home is sold, ALL of our debt (except a new mortgage) will be paid off. This will allow my dh to go back to school and focus on finding a more rewarding career. He's a drummer and would love to play full time, but that's not in the cards right now.

Our church is doing a Crown Financial series starting next week. Has anyone done that? Was it helpful? We know what to do to get out of debt, but getting the funds is our challenge. All money now is going straight to bills just to get by. We're SO tired of living like this. My goal is to reward our debtfreeness with a paid in cash trip to WDW in 2009.

 

[comicguy]

Count me in.

I started in Jan 07 with reducing our debts. Last year we paid off the Lowes card 3000(redid DS room complete right down to the studs, new electric, new subfloor and carpeting, doors,windows, the works). Paid another CC(had 7500 on it) Have another cc down to 4500 and one down to 8000. DW's student loan down to 2800, my student loan(Graduated last may only 38,000 left ) then of course there is the mortgage but I am not too worried about that right now.

We still use one cc every month for gas, groceries, ect... and pay it off when the bill comes in so we can get Disney Reward Dollars to use on out trips to WDW

My plan is to wipe out the 4500 cc and DW's SL plus lower that big cc a bit. By Dec. Things are tight because my SL's are 450 per month, so that does not leave much left over.

 

[mattsmom2000]

I am in too. We just came back from our Disney vacation that I can happily say was paid in CASH. Now all we have to do is work on the debt that we still came back to. But I did vow to not use the credit cards for anything except emergency in January 2007 and I did accomplish that! I am Looking forward to report better things for 2008. In 2007, we managed to pay one cc down by $5000.00, but we need to do much more than that this year.

 

[Illuminations_Rocks]

Now I'm starting to freak out a little. My DF has gone to his new job for a few weeks, and to find us an apartment in Ohio. Meanwhile, he asked me to pay the last month's rent so he has money to get us an apartment. That's $825 I wasn't expecting to pay! Plus my student loan payment - ugh, so something's going to come out of savings since I don't want to drastically reduce my payments but I'll probably pay $800 instead of $900. And since I am the one with a little bit of savings, I will also be fronting most of our moving expenses. His company will reimburse $3k and we'll probably spend around $3500 or $4k between the truck, gas for the truck, hotels, and gas for my car. At least I get one more paycheck before we move. And, to top it off, it's not looking good for me to be able to transfer within my company... which means I'll probably have to take a lower paying job in something that I once again have no idea what I'm doing! And I really do like the job I'm doing and the company I currently work with. Sigh. It has been a rough couple of days.
And I'll have to take the cat to the vet for a hefty bill there, and my car into the shop for a tune-up and I realllllly hope it won't be like my last one!!!!

Hopefully something works out! I just wish I'd get my W2s already so I can figure out my taxes. I'm hoping for a refund, but I am just praying I won't owe anything!

 

[angeluna]

Hey guys! I need to join. We had been doing sooo good. (There's always a but) But, my DH and I (mostly DH) just bought a very large purchase. He never really asks for anything. So, somehow I gave in. But, this purchase (an RV) is bittersweet. We will definitely use it. We've had our current one for 12 years. (Traded that one in, for a good price). It was time for a new one a few years back. I just can't wrap my head around being in debt like that. He also uses his bonuses every year to pay off things or catch up on house maintenance. I have a 401K (his company doesn't offer one) and we both have Roth IRA's. We have educational Roth's for the kids college. They won't cover college but will take a chunk out of a state school. Credit cards are almost paid off. Trying to figure out what to do with tax rebate of
$2000. Finish off the credit card and lower monthly out of pocket, or put it in emergency fund (which always seems to disappear). DH says we can pay off the purchase early (we always have with other things), especially with his bonuses. I'm just freaked out with the economy right now I guess. Any encouragement, ideas, or help will be appreciated. We are currently cutting out lunches (remembering to take lunch now) and stopping eating out. I don't want to stop living, just to cut back. That's why I'm here. You all are such an inspiration to keep going. Thanks. (Sorry so long).

 

[angeluna]

Our church is doing a Crown Financial series starting next week. Has anyone done that? Was it helpful? We know what to do to get out of debt, but getting the funds is our challenge. All money now is going straight to bills just to get by. We're SO tired of living like this. My goal is to reward our debtfreeness with a paid in cash trip to WDW in 2009.

Crown seemed good to me. Follows my beliefs. I just have to continually go over the figures to see it in my head. If I don't review "the plan" I tend to stray. Good luck staying on track. Your goal sounds like a great motivator!

 

[ourwed]

I am so in!!!!! New Year resolution, PAY OFF DEBT!!!!!!! Major budget for our family

 

[angeluna]

DH and I started a "real" budget Nov 2006 and since then we have
Paid off our 2005 SUV (about 20k)
Paid off $35 in CC debt
Sold a house and bought a newer house with the proceeds

Found our problem areas
1. FOOD - oh my eating out is insane
2. WALMART - I swear that place is evil and the most expensive food store when you consider the non-food items you buy
3. Extra's- prem cable movie channels - large cell phone minutes, etc

While I still increased my mortgage quit a bit - we have extra money each month with the CC and Car debt gone.

My 2008 Goals

1. Max out each of our Roth IRA's
2. Double our 401k contributions
3. Build our EF (man cash burns a hole for us..lol)
4. Still enjoy life

Good luck everyone

Congratulations for reaching some goals and AMEN on the problem areas. Me too! Walmart is our closest grocery store, but they are killing my wallet and my time! Here's to all of us meeting our 2008 goals!

 

[0hmyheck]

I am in also. I thought I was ok until I saw it all in black and white. A budget is a good thing to really see where the money goes and then where it should go! I have kept track of every penny I have spent for the past month and was surprised at the waste.

Good luck to everyone!

 

[akmom]

Hi ladies!
I'm definitely IN! I don't think I can get to debt free by the end of the year, but I want to put a HUGE dent in it. January is starting off very badly though. We need to replace our furnace, possibly the air conditioner too. DH's truck is in the shop as we speak! And our bathroom is falling apart. It's overwhelming.
One bright spot, van will be paid off in 4 more payments. Then it's on to DH's truck and then the cc's. Those are teh big goals for this year.

 

[Heluvsme]

akmom, I'm like you, we won't be debt free, but the dent we will make this year is huge. We are currently on a 3 year plan. Three years seems like a lot when you're tackling this, but I know it really isn't. It took us years to get here, 3 is definitely do-able.

Today was another no-spend day for me! YAY!! Heat's been down to 62 all day, we've used space heaters. All meals are from home today, dinner is less than $5.00 for all 4 of us tonight. Laundry was done in cold water during off-peak hours and dishes were washed up by hand. Didn't use any gas today, stayed home all day.

Baby steps.

 

[Laxmom]

Well, you all have inspired me. I felt totally overwhelmed with our debt until I read this post. I felt like I was treading water. Here is what we have done so far. We already have our emergency fund in place. We have limited ourselves to eating out 1 night a week. We have put ourselves on a budget of $20 per pay period to use for lunches or coffees out....each. Otherwise, we are brown bagging it. I have banned my husband from the grocery. He would make a run once a day and spend and average of an extra $100 per week by doing this. I have taken the shopping responsibility back but it will be tough working full time and going to college part time. It will be worth it though. This month, I am paying off 2 small credit card balances. Then I will snowball toward my teenage son's $2500 car loan. We did lower the thermostat by 2 degrees - my bill this month was $285! That is the highest we have ever had in this house. I signed up for level billing for our electric. And most importantly, no new debt!!! In 3 months, we also won't be debt free but we sure will be in a better position and we will have put a dent.

At least I fill like I am back in control of this situation. Thanks for listening and inspiring me to act.

 

[Heluvsme]

Laxmom, I've always likened it to swimming in peanut butter, that's exactly what it feels like to me some days.

 

[ldb1030]

what are your "off peak" hours?

 

[Laxmom]

Laxmom, I've always likened it to swimming in peanut butter, that's exactly what it feels like to me some days.

That is a great metaphor for exactly how I felt!! Well put!

 

[cobbler]

Feds cut interest rates today and prime 6%. Call your credit card companies to get them to lower your rates.

I was able to get mine down to prime + 3.99% today. (9.99 down from 12.99) so that is good. I plan on paying it down by leaps and bounds this year, if not totally off.

 

[Heluvsme]

I'm in Northern Kentucky and our off-peak hours for running appliances are before 7:00 am and after 6:00 pm. We received a cost cutting pamphlet with our utility bill last year and this is what they recommended.

 

[roadtripper]

20 months ago, I got my DH a glass of wine, and told him we needed to have a 'date' outside to talk. I let him know how much debt we had (lots), what the plan was going to be to pay it off, and that I needed his help. Bless his heart, he was totally on board, which was great, considering that he had no idea how deep of a hole we were in. Granted, it was for things like a new roof, a heating system, and (oh yeah) a 100 pt DVC add-on . He just assumed I was taking care of the bills, which I was, but not really aggressively paying anything off. Since he was in the dark, I was the only one up at night thinking about debt. Needless to say, I don't recommend the stealth household finance management system

As of this month, we are 600 dollars from being CC debt free-- and that's on a 0% CC. Even better, we have been building up our emergency fund so that we won't get sidelined by a big bill. We had to tie into city sewer this year at over 4000 dollars, and didn't add one penny to debt, or decrease retirement, etc. So keep at it Disers! You can do it!

One really great site recommended by Money magazine that I just started using is the Yodlee Money Center. You can keep track of all your bills, investments, bank accts, etc in one place. It also has a budget center that alerts you by email when you are close to you budget threshold in any given category-- all of which you set up yourself. Hope this helps someone.

As you can see below, we're planning to take advantage those new DVC points in a few weeks- all paid for What a way to celebrate!