*The Dave Ramsey 'Baby Steps' Thread*

I may can squeeze 20 extra hours a week. I'm thinking Monday, Thursday and Friday. And I talked to Whataburger a few weeks ago about part time, and the guy at the counter said I was too old (I'm 50, so I get it). I have also applied at Lowes, but they said I didn't qualify because I have no customer service experience.
Saying you are too old is discrimination. Are you sure he didn’t say, “are you sure this is the job for you as you have a lot of experience?” The approach you should take is that you are trying to get a second job. This is not a filler job until something better comes along.
 
From what I understand, your two credit cards have a higher APR than the car. I highly recommend following the Baby Steps and attacking the smallest credit card first. Freeing up that first minimum payment quickly is what gives you momentum to focus on the next debt.

If you choose to follow your own plan and focus on the car, I would make sure your extra payment is getting applied toward principal only. Please do not add extra money to your payment if you have no idea where it's actually going. Sometimes, a bank will take any extra funds and apply that money toward a future month's payment, instead of actually paying down the balance. That will not help your situation.

This is why the Debt Snowball WORKS! :thumbsup2 :banana:
When people say but, but but, attacking the higher interest rate is smarter mathematically, DR would say if you were actually doing the math, you wouldn't even be in debt in the first place.
It is very much psychological and why it's hard to succeed if you're not gazelle intense. I floundered around for years throwing extra money at this and that and frustrated for seeing no progress.
The smallest debt, when viciously attacked, is most easily conquered. Then take the minimum payment from Debt 1, and apply it to Debt 2, in addition to the Debt 2's regular monthly payment. Now the snowball is a little larger. When Debt 2 is done, move on to Debt 3. That is now being attacked with minimum payments that used to go to Debt 1 and Debt 2, and all going to Debt 3, along with Debt 3's minimum payment.
By the time you get to the largest debt, you snowball is an accumulation of ALL monthly payments of all of your debts. So instead of taking tiny nibbles out of that largest debt, your taking huge chomps out every month because your snowball is the biggest it's ever been.
Want to know how big will it be? Add up all of your current monthly minimum payments.
This all has to be mapped out every month and every payday. You don't want to grab money for rent and apply it to debt or you will later come up short.
It requires being very organized and downright anal about watching where your money goes. This is why dh would never be good at this. He has a lot of great qualities but being financially organized is not one of them.
 
The smallest debt, when viciously attacked, is most easily conquered. Then take the minimum payment from Debt 1, and apply it to Debt 2, in addition to the Debt 2's regular monthly payment. Now the snowball is a little larger. When Debt 2 is done, move on to Debt 3. That is now being attacked with minimum payments that used to go to Debt 1 and Debt 2, and all going to Debt 3, along with Debt 3's minimum payment.
By the time you get to the largest debt, you snowball is an accumulation of ALL monthly payments of all of your debts. So instead of taking tiny nibbles out of that largest debt, your taking huge chomps out every month because your snowball is the biggest it's ever been.
Want to know how big will it be? Add up all of your current monthly minimum payments.
This all has to be mapped out every month and every payday. You don't want to grab money for rent and apply it to debt or you will later come up short.
It requires being very organized and downright anal about watching where your money goes. This is why dh would never be good at this. He has a lot of great qualities but being financially organized is not one of them.

Very true. More mindset oriented than anything. You see the progress by knocking out one then another then another. I posted something in one of the budgeting groups, and it was split half and half with people saying pay the highest ARP first and the other half saying pay the smallest debt first. I was just curious what the masses said. But I might shift gears and just pay the minimums on everything except the smallest. Pay it off then minimums on all the others and focus on the next., etc. Just means I'll probably be paying 3-1/2 more years on that car, which is what I'm trying to avoid. Not that a 24% APR is bad or that high, but I just want it done.
 

Very true. More mindset oriented than anything. You see the progress by knocking out one then another then another. I posted something in one of the budgeting groups, and it was split half and half with people saying pay the highest ARP first and the other half saying pay the smallest debt first. I was just curious what the masses said. But I might shift gears and just pay the minimums on everything except the smallest. Pay it off then minimums on all the others and focus on the next., etc. Just means I'll probably be paying 3-1/2 more years on that car, which is what I'm trying to avoid. Not that a 24% APR is bad or that high, but I just want it done.
Very true. More mindset oriented than anything. You see the progress by knocking out one then another then another. I posted something in one of the budgeting groups, and it was split half and half with people saying pay the highest ARP first and the other half saying pay the smallest debt first. I was just curious what the masses said. But I might shift gears and just pay the minimums on everything except the smallest. Pay it off then minimums on all the others and focus on the next., etc. Just means I'll probably be paying 3-1/2 more years on that car, which is what I'm trying to avoid. Not that a 24% APR is bad or that high, but I just want it done.
Questions you have to ask yourself
Why do we pay the minimum on credit cards yet still take 3 trips a year
Why do I think I am going to pay for the next 3.5 years on a car with a 24% interest?

Why do I think I am going to work until I am 70+
Very true. More mindset oriented than anything. You see the progress by knocking out one then another then another. I posted something in one of the budgeting groups, and it was split half and half with people saying pay the highest ARP first and the other half saying pay the smallest debt first. I was just curious what the masses said. But I might shift gears and just pay the minimums on everything except the smallest. Pay it off then minimums on all the others and focus on the next., etc. Just means I'll probably be paying 3-1/2 more years on that car, which is what I'm trying to avoid. Not that a 24% APR is bad or that high, but I just want it done.
Questions YOU need to ask YOURSELF
WHY am I only paying minimums on my credit card yet go on 3 trips this past year?
What items on my credit cards are wants vs needs?
WHY am I going to paying on a car for 3.5 more years with a 24% APR instead of attacking it with gazelle intensity?
WHY will I be working for another 20 years?
WHY do I need to take a 2nd job?
Again these are questions YOU need to ask YOURSELF.
 
By the time you get to the largest debt, you snowball is an accumulation of ALL monthly payments of all of your debts.

Exactly. $1000 in current minimum payments is a huge snowball, if funneled correctly.

I was just curious what the masses said.

The masses are broke and, unfortunately, being broke is normal. As Dave says, we don't want to be normal, we want to be weird. Multiple people on this thread have already succeeded in being debt-free and know the Baby Steps work.

With only $75 to start your snowball, you can clear three debts in just over a year. That will be more progress than you've probably made in a lifetime. By that time, you will have $850 a month to start throwing at your car ($500 minimum payment on the car plus previous $25 minimum payment on CC1, plus previous $25 minimum payment on CC2, plus previous $225 minimum payment on the bank loan, plus your extra $75 a month).

Credit Card 1: $300 balance ($100 monthly debt payment = $25 minimum payment for this card plus an extra $75 each month)
January: $300-$100=$200
February: $200-$100=$100
March 2026: $100-$100=Paid Off

Credit Card 2
: $500 ($125 monthly debt payment = $25 minimum payment for this card plus the $100 payment from above)
April: $500-$125=$375
May: $375-$125=$250
June: $250-$125=$125
July 2026: $125-$125=Paid Off

Bank Loan
: $3200 ($350 monthly debt payment = $225 minimum payment for this loan plus the $125 payment from above)
August: $3200-$350=$2850
September: $2850-$350=$2500
October: $2500-$350=$2150
November: $2150-$350=$1800
December: $1800-$350=$1450
January: $1450-$350=$1100
February: $1100-$350=$750
March: $750-$350=$400
April 2027: $400-$350-$50extra=Paid Off
 
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