please ignore

[Clancycat]

We haven't done anything as dramatic as selling our house or car (yet). But we have gotten rid of the cell phones, last year when both of our girls were in preschool we dropped them 5 days to 3 days, my dh has also started taking the bus to the subway station rather driving there & paying for parking. By doing these 3 things we save approx $250 a month.

Right now, we need 2 cars b/c of dh's job but when his job situation changes in Jan '06, we will be selling his car which will save us approx another $200 a month in expenses. On top of the monthly money it will save us, the $5000 or so that we will get from the sale of the car, will pay a good size chunk of our debt off.

 

[peacefulgirl]

please ignore

 

[disneysteve]

I am getting to be pretty darn cheap and I love it!!!!!!!!

Actually, there was a recent thread discussing the difference between cheap and frugal. Hopefully, you are being frugal, not cheap, as most posters agreed cheap was not such a good thing.

 

[peacefulgirl]

please ignore

 

[minnie1928]

I am finishing Financial peace and have TMM waiting... I also have Dave Back on audio and am passing the tapes to DH who is enjoying listening to them! I suggest this to any spouse who just doesn't have time to read.. get the Audio and get them on board.

I did this for my DH and I think he got bit harder than I did! He has always been the "spender" in the family, while I was the "saver". Now, he's come to play on my team and it's just wonderful!! He listened to Financial Peace University on CD and now he just asked me for the CDs again 'cuz he wants to hear certain segments again. Now if I could just get them back from my BIL!

 

[luvthatdisney]

I just finished reading TMM and we are almost done with baby step #1 should be done by next week with that (only took 3 weeks!!). Our WDW trip is in 10 days - and we are going to try to see how much of our spending money we can bring back to start on baby step 2 with. I am so excited!!!

DH is on board with the budget and doing the baby steps, but he is not yet completely sold reading the book or listening to Dave on the radio. He is not a financial type of person - guess that I why our debt is like it is (I caused the problem too!!). Anyway, I have started downloading some of the radio broadcasts from Dave's site as I am still a "free" member until Saturday - then I have to decide if I want to pay to get these broadcasts (I know about the 1 hour free pod casts) but you also get access to the message boards (like this one!!). I have had DH listen to some of his broadcasts (he is not on the radio in our area) and he just thinks this is another person making millions trying to get you to buy his stuff. Which he is, but I think this is a little different from some of the "get out of debt" things I have seen. I really believe if we change our lifestyle like Dave says we can change our financial position.

I will keep trying!! I wish there was a FPU in my area to go to - DH will probably not want to drive to Charlotte (NC) to one. But if is was local I think I could get him there!!

 

[mommy22gurlz]

All of this talk about debt and budgeting..... a while back someone mentioned a website that is a forum that discusses credit issues and debt etc, does anyone know what I am talking about?

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

All of this talk about debt and budgeting..... a while back someone mentioned a website that is a forum that discusses credit issues and debt etc, does anyone know what I am talking about?

Was it www.creditboards.com? There's a lot of information on credit repair over there and it can be overwhelming at first.

 

[mommy22gurlz]

Was it www.creditboards.com? There's a lot of information on credit repair over there and it can be overwhelming at first.

Thats it!! Thank you so very much, yes I really need help with credit repair!! And I do have lots of questions.

Thanks.

 

[mickeyfan2]

Maybe it is time to put the house up for sale and move into a cheaper place. Take some of the profit and try to pay off some of the bills.

 

[peacefulgirl]

please ignore

 

[peacefulgirl]

please ignorehttp://www.daveramsey.com/radio/home/index.cfm?FuseAction=dspContent&strMode=dspShowArchives

 

[tlbwriter]

I will have updates soon as I am coming up on 1 month and will have something to report! I am sooo excited about getting out of debt and the changes in the way we handle money. I am getting to be pretty darn frugal and I love it!!!!!!!!

Looking forward to your report. I know you don't want to give actual numbers, but I hope you're able to share percentages, at least (i.e., groceries went from X% of income to Y%).

 

[BARBARAAPPLE]

you can hear the 3 hour radio show for free, its under achives, he has last 10 shows on there !!

http://www.daveramsey.com/radio/home/index.cfm?FuseAction=dspContent&strMode=dspShowArchives

Thnaks I always seem to miss him so thanks ....

 

[peacefulgirl]

please ignore

 

[DiznEeyore]

Great job, peacefulgirl!! Very inspirational!

 

[Wish I lived in Fl]

It is incredible how the little pieces add up, kind of like a blizzard, a thousand snowflakes can't kill you but a billion can.

Glad you are working on it and have a way mapped out.

 

[wide awake]

Great Job !!!

 

[*Flower*]

******UPDATE******8-6-05*****

Ok everyone, here is my update. As most of you know, I started making “cuts” last year. I did some good cuts in monthly bills, but that was it. When I started this post, some of you went back to last year and saw just a “repeat post.” I defended myself that this time was different, that I was learning and was going to change finances in this house. Some of you understood I meant it, some didn’t. As I post this update, please keep in mind that the decisions we make are ours to make and if you would do things differently that we are, that’s fine, but please respect our differences.


I was the bill payer-NERD in the house and I was stupid with a lot of things I did. Every bill was paid on time. My craftiness was that I could get DH to agree on debt!!! STUPID of me beyond words!!!



I will not be reporting amounts here. That is my personal choice.



Here is an update of where we are today and the steps we have taken since June.



#1 study up on finances. Attack learning as if I was starting to learn to a new career. I got books on finance, read and took notes, listen to finance radio shows, surfed the internet. I often listen to finance audios in the car too.



ONE WAKE UP CALL FOR ME WAS THIS: from the book “The Average Family’s Guide to Financial Freedom”



Misc spending for a DH and DW (year was 2000)



$3.86 matching paper cups/plates for Christmas

$1.79 ice cream sundae

$4.25 lipstick

$6.85 exfoliating scrub

$3.70 cute bicycle license plates for kids

$1.45 nail polish

$6.25 coffee 1.25/day for 5 days him

$6.25 coffee 1.25/day for 5 days her

$5.00 sodas him

$5.00 sodas her



$ 44.40 total 1 week

$ 2.22 Tax

$46.62 grand total



$2424 grand total for 1 year

$19,392 grand total for 8 years



$26,733 grand total you would have if you invested 2424 per year for 8 years at 9%!!! OUCH!!



This showed me what spending stupid really did to your finances. If it was under 10 bucks, to me, it was nothing. Now I see the reality of thinking that way.



#2 once I got a handle on where we were financially and what we needed to do, I met with DH and got him updated in detail of our financial life. This took spreadsheets, books, notes and lots of love! Debt was a reality that wasn’t easy to swallow. Knowing you are in debt is one thing, seeing REAL numbers was another. These talks took place over time and after much talking, we came up with a plan. I also pass books and audios to DH to listen too as well. The first places I get them are the library for FREE, and take notes and copy pages if needed. We also got DD on board and we are teaching her about finances as well J



#3 Now that DH and I are on the same page and we are excited to pay off debt. The plan we are following is Dave Ramsey’s. We are not doing 100% Dave’s way, but his plan fits us best. I have gotten other good information from the other places as well. But Dave’s plan is closest to our desires. So the plan steps we are at is getting an emergency fund and using the debt snowball to payoff debt.



So we are not spending stupid anymore and we are working overtime as much as we can. DH has much more opportunity at that, and he is doing as much OT as he can get!

I am currently an OT widow!



By the time we set up the new plan, deposits changes at work, spreadsheets, getting all our ducks in a row, it was 7-15-05. Since that time, we have an emergency fund and paid off consumer debt #1!!! We also paid off some others debts that were not consumer debts.



We are very happy with ourselves. We are just starting out, so I am sure things will only get better. Selling things I think will happen as we start seeing results.



My accountability for myself is that I have to give DH an updated spreadsheet of all debts each month. He can do a quick stare and compare and see every balance go down. Or else I “got some splaining to do.” I do not worry about that though; I look forward to doing bills now!!!



The budget takes a couple months to get right; we aree still working on this and setting up an envelope system, this is a key tool to the plan.



I have to say, that our relationship is even better now. We didn’t have major problems, but man, money stress is a poison and I never understood how much better things could be! Working together toward a goal this big has no price.

GOOD FOR YOU!!!

Believe me- I was at an almost similar point about 7 years ago! DH was a spending fool (most of the time) and I was trying to hold onto every penny I could get.

He got ready to retire from the military, and I told him that with his spending habits- there was no way that we'd be able to survive on just his military pension. I told him to start looking for 'a job that will keep you in the style in which you'd LIKE to become accustomed'.

Thank goodness he took my advice! We're both working for the same company now (he got there first), and all our debt is gone. We use just 2 credit cards- and pay them off in full each month. We're saving for retirement (yeah, right) and paying ahead on our mortgage- and doing the 401k thing too!

So it can be done- it just may take serious effort to get there. I know that you can do it!

Keep your chin up......

 

[crisi]

I'm really happy for you. Sounds like you are doing great and keep up the good work.

(Hopefully, no one will ever have to resurrect THIS thread because you'll never need our help again!)