Debt Reducers

[Deffenm]

I made the last car payment today. However I hate my car. It is a 2003 Hyndai Accent, 2 door, 5 speed manual - gets great gas mileage but is a pain to drive in traffic, forget about snow, and cramming 3 kids in the back. So we are looking to replace my car. Let the car shopping games begin.

 

[madxhatter]

For me, keeping blockbuster online actually helps me and my BF reduce the amount of spending we do.

It keeps us from going to dinner and a movie, instead we cook and watch a movie at home. It also keeps me in on nights when I am off and he works because for me boredom leads to shopping, but a good movie means I spend no money.

so we spend 20 a month, plus the cost of gorceries which are already a part of my budget every month...

a typical night out to dinner and a movie is at least 50 bucks...

 

[8 Ears]

We are down to only 6 payments left on DH's truck!

Then we will be able to make double payments on my vehicle!!

How are you doing with the holidays around the corner?

 

[tinaninea]

Deffenm WTG on paying off the car! Now at least you can trade it in for a new one and use all of it's trade in value towards the new car.

8 Ears - My holiday plan is to save $800 for Christmas. We're doing thanksgiving at my Dad's this year & I just have to make a dish, so that cost is virtually nothing. We're not doing anything big this year. My budget is

$400 - Our 2 boys. We buy a lot of shared gifts for them.
$100 - For DH to spend on me!
$100 - For me to spend on DH.
$200 - To split up among the rest of the kids in the family.

I have plenty of decorations and I've sworn not to buy new ones this year if it kills me.

Anyway, I'm taking my little $100 checks that are my income and applying them to the Christmas savings until I have my budget money & then I will return to putting it on my debt. It sets things back a bit (DHs student loan won't get paid off until mid-January instead of December), but it's well worth it!

 

[bubba]

8Ears - Woohoo ! Great job ! As my DS (5) would say ... "Yay you !!"

 

[udsweetpea]

I paid off a medical bill 2 months ago that was $34/month, and this month I paid off another medical bill that was $100/month. So now my snowball is $134/month! I'm so excited I can start putting more towards other debt! Yay me!

 

[Momto3Girls&Max]

I paid off a medical bill 2 months ago that was $34/month, and this month I paid off another medical bill that was $100/month. So now my snowball is $134/month! I'm so excited I can start putting more towards other debt! Yay me!

Yay you!

Isn't it satisfying to have $134 extra to pay down your debt? Eventually, you'll be putting that (and more) into paying yourself and then things will really get exciting!

 

[ski_mom]

Next Monday we are closing on the sale of a duplex that we bought about 10 years ago. We (I) have been losing money on it for the past 4 years. This whole project/money making idea was mine and DH really didn't want any part of it. He's very busy with his job, doesn't really like fixing things that aren't his, etc. Anyway, when we bought this, the idea was that we would have it paid for (with the rent paid to us from the renters) by the time the kids started college and then the money from the renters would be used to pay for/on their college while they were there.

At first, it was great - relatively few problems and my dad is a big fix-it man, loves tinkering with things like this and had some rentals of his own. So, basically, he helped me with it a lot - did most of the repairs, checked on it periodically, etc. Well, a little over 4 years ago, my dad died in a car accident and since then, I've not really done much of anything with it, so needless to say, it has drug us down.

Anyway, not to bore anyone with our story, but Monday we will be selling this and will be able to start seeing the light at the end of the tunnel!! When I find out how much we will receive over the amount of the mortgage, I'll post what we still owe and my plan to get us out from under this! I'm so excited!

We've got a lot on 2 different credit cards. One is at zero percent until January and the other is at 2.99% until paid off. My goal is to have the zero % one paid off by January and to not have to try to find another place to put that debt. I think it is doable, but right now, the balance is over $17,000. I'm hoping to have at least $5,000 to put toward it from the sale of the duplex and DH get a large bonus in the middle of December. It should be at least $10,000. So, hopefullly between that and the fact that we won't be throwing around $600 each month into the bills for the duplex, we will be able to achieve it! Then we can start on the other with the 2.99% until paid off.

Anyway, I've rambled on more than I was planning, but at least I'm started my journey!

Thanks for listening!
Becky

Well, I'm quoting myself , but I Friday night (Oct 3rd) after I first posted this, I thought I jinxed myself. I got a call from our realtor that the buyer wanted another $9,000 to put towards repairs and the they just wouldn't sign the papers if they didn't get it. I about cried and knew right then that I shouldn't have posted at all until after everything was signed! As it turned out, we ended up closing on it, but instead of it being on Oct 6th as originally planned, it was on Oct 10th. So, it is finally done !

I still don't have my final numbers together on the payoff though, because I'm still waiting on money from the mortgage company for the extra interest and the insurance/taxes we have paid up front with them as well as the check from the insurance company for the unused part of the year that we already had paid them.

We got a check for $4100.00 at closing and I'll be able to add those 2 checks to it when I get them, so I should be at least at the $5,000.00 mark I was hoping for. Now, I need to get our new budget on paper and figure out where I'll be each month.

Anyway, I just wanted to check back in with the good news that we did close on the duplex and we are no longer landlords!

 

[udsweetpea]

That's wonderful ski_mom!

 

[desmar9]

Just started on this thread and am finding some great ideas to save money for vacation!

 

[udsweetpea]

I need opinions....

I have no savings besides a very tiny IRA account. I'm getting an extra $2000 this month, and I'm unsure how to dispurse it. Should I put $1000 in savings and pay off some small credit cards (I have 5 small credit card balances and 4 large credit card balances)? Should I use it all to pay off cc debt? Should I put all of it in savings?

I have a salaried job which pays the bills, and I have a part-time job to help accelerate paying off debt. I also make commission, but it's not always a reliable source of income.

My ultimate goal is to buy a home in 2 years, and in order to afford the type of home I want (around 200k), I need to get rid of this credit card debt.

Please give me your opinions.

 

[ski_mom]

I need opinions....

I have no savings besides a very tiny IRA account. I'm getting an extra $2000 this month, and I'm unsure how to dispurse it. Should I put $1000 in savings and pay off some small credit cards (I have 5 small credit card balances and 4 large credit card balances)? Should I use it all to pay off cc debt? Should I put all of it in savings?

I have a salaried job which pays the bills, and I have a part-time job to help accelerate paying off debt. I also make commission, but it's not always a reliable source of income.

My ultimate goal is to buy a home in 2 years, and in order to afford the type of home I want (around 200k), I need to get rid of this credit card debt.

Please give me your opinions.

Well, I'm definately no investment expert and I'm not sure how small you 5 small balances are, but if it were me, I'd be tempted to try to get some of those paid off. I think it would be a huge relief to not have to pay on 9 credit card balances each month. You would then be able to start putting the money you were paying on the small cards onto one of the bigger payments each month.

 

[minnie1928]

I need opinions....

I have no savings besides a very tiny IRA account. I'm getting an extra $2000 this month, and I'm unsure how to dispurse it. Should I put $1000 in savings and pay off some small credit cards (I have 5 small credit card balances and 4 large credit card balances)? Should I use it all to pay off cc debt? Should I put all of it in savings?

Since you have no readily available savings I would put at least $1000 in a savings account to start an emergency fund. The remaining money, if it could pay off some balances...I would probably pay off the smallest ones. With 9 cards it would probably be a great psychological boost to get some of them out of the way.

 

[udsweetpea]

Since you have no readily available savings I would put at least $1000 in a savings account to start an emergency fund. The remaining money, if it could pay off some balances...I would probably pay off the smallest ones. With 9 cards it would probably be a great psychological boost to get some of them out of the way.

This is exactly what my mom just told me. I can pay off 2 of the cards (store/department store cards) with $1000. The payments per month are only $45 total for those 2 cards, but if I add that to my current $134 snowball, that should make a good dent every month!

 

[nike]

I LOVE READ HIS THREAD

AFTER MY DAUGHTER BIRTHDAY DISNEY TRIP IN NOVEMBER (SHE WILL BE 10)
WE ARE NOT GOING TO VACATION FOR A FEW YEARS MAYBE WHEN SHE TURN 13 MAYBE NOT

I DON'T WANT ANY MORE BILLS WHEN THEY ARE PAID I WILL DO THE HAPPY DANCE BECAUSE MY MONEY- WILL BE MY MONEY

 

[tinaninea]

Ohh, an exciting update! DH and I found out this weekend that he has been paid $1 less/hour than he should be almost all year long. Add up all those hours at $1 each and that comes out to almost $1900! I'm guessing we'll get about $1500 after it's taxed.
So now, I think our Christmas money is saved, lol! That leaves me with $1100. Hopefully, DH will let me put all of it towards his student loan that's so colse to being paid off!
Here's my current numbers:
Starting Debt-$61834.88, Current Debt-$54424.10, Paid-to-date-$7410.78!

 

[nike]

Bump

 

[8 Ears]

Hello! Yes I am still here. Tend to forget about posting as we are not knocking off the bills as we were.

We are down to only 5 more payments on DH's truck! So! looking forward to having it paid off.

Even with the holidays around the corner, how are you doing with paying off bills??

 

[Kathi OD]

I'm still here too, but with DH being laid off since June, we haven't been able to make extra payments on any of our bills. I've actually been thinking about closing a small 403(b) account I have as we have loans out against it and closing out the account would not only pay them off, but also give us enough money to pay off my car, and leave us with an additional $1000 per month to put to other bills. I haven't pulled the trigger on this because I really don't want to pay the penalty on the withdrawl.

Decisions....decisions....decisions.

Way to go on the truck pay-off!

 

[8 Ears]

Kathi OD- hope the new will be good to ya