impatiently waiting to pay off car

[n2dzny]

I have $800 left on hubby's car, we pay $500/month. We are doing the snowball method. Once I pay the car off, I will move on to other smallish debts. Anyway, since I am so close, I find myself logging in and envisioning the zero balance and going over the snowball again and again.... I JUST WANT THESE DEBTS TO BE GONE!!!!!

Does anyone else find themselves impatiently waiting to get paid to pay off debts???

 

[dclpluto]

I have $800 left on hubby's car, we pay $500/month. We are doing the snowball method. Once I pay the car off, I will move on to other smallish debts. Anyway, since I am so close, I find myself logging in and envisioning the zero balance and going over the snowball again and again.... I JUST WANT THESE DEBTS TO BE GONE!!!!!

Does anyone else find themselves impatiently waiting to get paid to pay off debts???

Yep but I don’t count car payment as debt. I know you should but a car payment is not going to keep me up at night.

 

[n2dzny]

Well its mainly excitement and impatience.

After the car payment, I have an overdraft for $2400 & Lowes for $2000, with the snowball, those will be done by Oct/Nov & then its onto my Disney CC. The good news is that I can get it knocked out by the end of next year (the Disney CC has way more that I want it to). We have come long way but we have a long way to go. I am just soooo ready for this to be behind us.

 

[amcnj]

I am one who doesn’t like to hold any debts. It helps having them automatically paid from my checking account, as I think physically writing checks years ago was even more painful!

 

[n2dzny]

I am one who doesn’t like to hold any debts. It helps having them automatically paid from my checking account, as I think physically writing checks years ago was even more painful!

I have some automatic but have also been taking advantage of my Credit Union's "Bill Pay" option, I don't send paper checks anymore but I do watch the bank accounts like a hawk, especially the ones with small balances.

 

[pryncess527]

OMG Im the same way with our car loan. Im not used to having one & I want it gone so badly. I dont regret the car, but we are throwing every extra penny at it, & i look at the balance and run numbers in my calculator more than is reasonable.

I’m hoping October . . .

 

[n2dzny]

OMG Im the same way with our car loan. Im not used to having one & I want it gone so badly. I dont regret the car, but we are throwing every extra penny at it, & i look at the balance and run numbers in my calculator more than is reasonable.

I’m hoping October . . .

same here. I run the numbers REGULARLY (pen & paper and excel and loan amortization table). I just want it GONE. I also run the numbers looking ahead to the two smallish bills and envision how quickly the balances will go down. ha ha

#soimpatient

 

[pryncess527]

same here. I run the numbers REGULARLY (pen & paper and excel and loan amortization table). I just want it GONE. I also run the numbers looking ahead to the two smallish bills and envision how quickly the balances will go down. ha ha

#soimpatient

Right??!?
We’ve had the loan 14 months & my personal goal was to pay it in 2 years. But every month i can shave off feels like a new personal best

 

[tvguy]

Right??!?
We’ve had the loan 14 months & my personal goal was to pay it in 2 years. But every month i can shave off feels like a new personal best

We bought a new car in June 2018. I hope to have it paid off by June of this year. We bought the car as our retirement car, but we can't retire until it is paid off. It is currently our spare car. Going to sell either my wife's 2000, or my 2007 when we retire and scale back on cars. But now we may jump again, but this time buy a good used car and retire both our current commuter cars. The auto loan is our only debt. Last auto loan we had was paid off in 2006 so we made it 12 years with zero debt.

 

[Hook326]

I just paid off my car last Thursday a year early I was so excited! DH’s truck was paid off last fall so fingers crossed they hold up for a long time. I hate car payments Good luck, OP, getting it all paid down! It’s a great feeling!

 

[Lvsdisney]

Well its mainly excitement and impatience.

After the car payment, I have an overdraft for $2400 & Lowes for $2000, with the snowball, those will be done by Oct/Nov & then its onto my Disney CC. The good news is that I can get it knocked out by the end of next year (the Disney CC has way more that I want it to). We have come long way but we have a long way to go. I am just soooo ready for this to be behind us.

Good for you! I had the worst spending/saving habits as a young adult. I racked up so much debt (though not nearly as bad as other people's situations, it was overwhelming to me) that I felt like I was losing control. When you finally get a hold of your debt and make the plans and payments to reduce it to zero, there is nothing like seeing it finally GONE! The good news now is I don't spend above our means (I probably am even more frugal than I need to be!). It definitely changes your mindset on spending. I'll be celebrating with you when you make those final payments!!

 

[wishuponastar1984]

I am not a fan of the snowball method as it doesn't take into account the interest rate on the debts. The Disney CC most likely has a huge interest rate (likely 18 to 20%)compared to a car loan which is usually less than 5%. You would be better served paying the highest interest rate debt first.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I am not a fan of the snowball method as it doesn't take into account the interest rate on the debts. The Disney CC most likely has a huge interest rate (likely 18 to 20%)compared to a car loan which is usually less than 5%. You would be better served paying the highest interest rate debt first.

Yes, when you do the math, of course it doesn't sound like the most prudent way to get out of debt. Then again, if everyone was doing the math, there wouldn't be any debt because we wouldn't spend more than we have.

For me the snowball method worked when nothing else would. For several years I've been a reformed spendaholic and I'll never go back. Before discovering the snowball method, I felt like I was paying extra on 5 different debts and not putting a dent in any of them. Snowballing puts all of your focus on the smallest one to get rid of it quickly. Not quite instant gratification but generally an easy 'win' which keeps you motivated to keep going. It's works psychologically, not mathematically. You line them up and it's very systematic to go right down the line.
In the beginning I only had approx. $50/month extra to pay down debt. As each one was paid off, that amount kept growing so that by the time I attacked the bigger ones, the snowball was over $2000/month. If we tried paying those big ones first, only taking little bites, it would have been very discouraging.
In OP's situation, being that close to paying off a car loan (less than 2 full payments) will help immensely to free up that $500/month that could then be applied to other debts. She'll kick them to the curb in no time because by then you are super motivated, you see one success after another, and you're like a grizzly bear in attack mode. It's amazing how it all changes your mindset.

good luck OP! You're so close to the finish line. I know how you're feeling. I used to log in once bills were paid, just to look at it saying Balance: $0. I'd even snap a pic and send it to dh.

As for car buying, I only drive 2.5 miles to the train station and cars stay very low in mileage for me. When it was time to trade in my 2006 (only had like 56000 miles on it) last Jan 2019, I bought one slightly used, 3 yrs old post lease which was still under manuf. warranty and added additional 'certified pre-owned' warranty, saved $17k and it felt brand new to me. First payment was due last March and I paid it off by Halloween. I hated having a car loan again and I don't think I'll ever buy a brand new car again.

 

[n2dzny]

In the beginning I only had approx. $50/month extra to pay down debt. As each one was paid off, that amount kept growing so that by the time I attacked the bigger ones, the snowball was over $2000/month. If we tried paying those big ones first, only taking little bites, it would have been very discouraging.
In OP's situation, being that close to paying off a car loan (less than 2 full payments) will help immensely to free up that $500/month that could then be applied to other debts. She'll kick them to the curb in no time because by then you are super motivated, you see one success after another, and you're like a grizzly bear in attack mode. It's amazing how it all changes your mindset.

You are sooo right. We just finished a $340/month debt as well but hubby and I send it directly to the church so we don't "see" it in our snowball. The $500 payment will be rolled into the snowball and yes, my focus has been full ATTACK mode. I am constantly thinking of ways to cut corners and keep as much as I can in our checking account so that when I go to make the payment, more will be there. ha ha

I am sooooo pumped about being able to pay $600+ toward my $2000 credit card, I will kick that to the curb in less than three months and then its on to the next. This feels so good!!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Not exaggerating, if there's $5 left in our checking account (besides cushion) on the day before payday, that $5 is rolled into the snowball as well.
It is such a simple system and I think back to all the years I was such a spending fool. Oh well, you live and learn.
For now our snowball goes toward the 14 night Panama Canal cruise next Feb if it's safe to sail by then. Only need $2500 then it's off to the next thing on the list, saving for new bedroom furniture.

Another thing since I started snowballing... I used to stress out with Christmas shopping/charges and paying off through spring & early summer. For the past 4-5 years, I've been diverting the snowball during summer to put aside $4k for Christmas. When I start shopping in Oct, the $ is there and ready. Usually $1000 or so leftover depending on if we host dinner or not, but I keep a list of what I bought for whom and just transfer from the Christmas fund to pay when the bill comes. Takes so much stress out of the holidays.