*The Dave Ramsey 'Baby Steps' Thread*

[focusondisney]

Yea, I've been trying to figure out of it's a incoming or outgoing problem. And I'm not sure. And this is where I might need help. Here's a small breakdown of this past month's bills.

Income: $5,600;
All Bills: $4,637;
Gas-Tolls: $300;
Groceries: $700;

Nov. 2024 - Got to keep the Christmas tradition going.
Feb. 2025 - My first solo trip, spending time with my niece.

To those add:
Summer 2025 Trip to Chicago
November 2025 WDW trip

Total everything these 4 trips have cost you within the last year. That’s how much money could have gone to pay off your credit cards, put towards your car & student loans, the unexpected car expenses & the emergency fund. How much did those debts total in November 2024? Are you satisfied with the progress you’ve made in a year? How many years will it take you to pay off those debts at the current rate??

I am in my very late 60s. I can give you a few truths you will learn soon enough…retirement age will be here before you know it Those last 5 - 10 years as you get close to retirement go very quickly.

My husband & I had well paying jobs & were able to save a good amount for retirement. Even still, we worked until 65 & 67 for health insurance & to keep saving. Please think seriously about this: How are you funding retirement? Do you want to go into retirement still paying student loans? If you can’t pay your bills while working, do you really think you’ll be able to do it if Social Security is your primary income? Have you looked at your SS statement to see what your projected income will be?

You have said you made bad decisions in the past. The decisions you’re making now are compounding those from the past. Your future really is in your own hands. Believe me… you have limited time left to turn your finances around while you still have good earning potential.

 

[barkley]

So that's why I asked...what is in your "All Bills" category?

I think that's vital information as well if people are going to help with suggestions on 'trimming the fat'-i know I was surprised (silently shocked to the core) when during the pandemic shutdowns some friends who would previously periodically complain about their monthly household expenses and how it was sometimes a challenge 'just to meet the basics' shifted in their periodic complaints to how the lockdowns were keeping them from 'the basics'. I learned through their lockdown complaints that we were worlds apart on what we considered 'basic household expenses', for our household it was-food, shelter, utilities, insurance and taxes that had shared priority. their household included those but ALSO included-multiple dinings outs per week as well as multiple per month golf fees (and associated adult beverages during)/hair and nail appointments.

I think 'all bills' can be a world of different from one household to another-esp. if you are using credit cards to pay for dining out and then lumping that cost into 'credit card payoff' vs. considering it as a part of your household's monthly grocery/food budget (same goes in my mind for any consumables-coffees/teas, bagel/muffin grab and go...).

What on earth are you buying to spend $700 on two people for a month? I don't even spend that much per month on groceries for my family of 5.

that's shocking to me as well-esp. where they still eat out at least once a week as a couple/him for his 'required' work lunches. maybe b/c they won't do leftovers or freeze and buy more expensive smaller portions?

Working in a bank she probably also sees bank account balances. The people coming in with all that flashy stuff generally have less money in their accounts than those wearing a flannel shirt and driving an f150.

that's def. the way it is in my neck of the woods- the local charities, youth groups and schools are greatly benefited by an unspoken mindset of those in a strong financial situation who choose to 'share it not wear it'

 

[ThereYouSeeHer]

Take cash to the market and if you go over, put back the non-essentials like bottled water, chips and sugary snacks.

Yes! My children grew up learning how to take that long walk away from checkout to put things back when we went over budget. Never complained, they just understood the mission!

Nov. 2024 - Got to keep the Christmas tradition going.
Feb. 2025 - My first solo trip, spending time with my niece.

To those add:
Summer 2025 Trip to Chicago
November 2025 WDW trip

Total everything these 4 trips have cost you within the last year. That’s how much money could have gone to pay off your credit cards, put towards your car & student loans, the unexpected car expenses & the emergency fund.

...and he only took that solo trip in February because his wife decided to go on a cruise that same weekend. So that's actually 5 vacations in the span of 12 months (plus I'm sure visits to family and other things we don't know). The two credit cards and bank loan could have been paid off with those funds. This isn't to pile on or make anyone feel bad, but the constant insistence about Walmart's prices and everything else being the reason for their lack of money is mind-boggling. He doesn't have to be honest with internet strangers, but he has to be honest with himself and his wife or things won't get better.

Have you looked at your SS statement to see what your projected income will be?

Believe me… you have limited time left to turn your finances around while you still have good earning potential.

This was going to be my next suggestion as well. Both him and his wife need to register for their online Social Security accounts so they can see the amount of money they are projected to get at retirement. If the amount they will receive at age 70 is not enough to live on, we have a problem, and we are running out of time to turn it around.

 

[focusondisney]

and he only took that solo trip in February because his wife decided to go on a cruise that same weekend. So that's actually 5 vacations in the span of 12 months

.

 

[huggybuff]

I don’t want to pile on either, but with the way our economy is in this country, a huge chunk of the population is only a few missed paychecks from being literally homeless. With our friend @WDW_fan_in_TX , the distance between scraping by every month and homelessness is even smaller. This is a terrifying and ugly thing to contemplate, but when you skate on the razor’s edge long enough, eventually you’re going to fall on your butt.

 

[Tygerlilly]

This was going to be my next suggestion as well. Both him and his wife need to register for their online Social Security accounts so they can see the amount of money they are projected to get at retirement. If the amount they will receive at age 70 is not enough to live on, we have a problem, and we are running out of time to turn it around.

What age can you do this starting at? I've never thought about seeing what DH or myself would potentially bring in. I feel like that would be an eye opening thing to see.

 

[afan]

What age can you do this starting at? I've never thought about seeing what DH or myself would potentially bring in. I feel like that would be an eye opening thing to see.

Once you start working you should be able to. I used to get a yearly letter and now I get an email that sits in my inbox until I decide I'm not going to login this year to look i should look now that I'm making a better salary. It was depressing in my 20s. I also don't want to assume it'll be there when I can sign up, esp with the age getting moved to older too often.

 

[DoubleBaconBLT]

No is the hardest for me too. We say we can't go do this because we don't have the money or we shouldn't go do that. Then someone asks us to go to lunch after church. And we can't say no in that situation. That's the hardest thing. But right now I have budget categories for the 4 bare bones (bills, gas-tolls, food) and and an extras category for anything leftover. We surpassed what we budgeted for food and also gas/tolls. We were about $800 less on bills.

I pushed a couple of key bills into the next pay cycle because we went over in a couple of categories (extras and food). But that hurts us for the next month. And I'm tired of doing that also because then we push those bills into the next month. And the cycle never ends. I've kept a budget every single month of this year. And in a couple of weeks, I will go back and total what we spent in each category. I have a feeling that is going to be very eye opening to me.

Overall, it's very easy to think we need to say no. Very hard to actually say. Again, it goes back to decisions. I need to just focus on myself and not what others have to say or do (not even my SO). I think I can force this thing back on track. The biggest key might be taking on a second or higher income. And the DW agrees I need to be making more money.

I've been blown away before by how hard you can go with "no" when you truly feel like you have to. Twice in my career I've been unemployed, and both times my wife and I managed to cut our entire budget to below $2K per month. I think we only ate about 6 different meals, never even set foot in retail stores, and even stopped buying things like paper towels and beverages other than tap water. I remember using the restroom at the library or our apartment's office building to save on toilet paper, soap, and water. We even washed aluminum foil and ziploc bags because we knew we wouldn't be buying them again until I had a job.

Honestly, if you have debts that have higher than a 10% interest rate, you probably shouldn't be going on vacations at all. As Dave would say, act your wage. Get your debt situated, and use going back to WDW as motivation to get things together.

 

[Tygerlilly]

Once you start working you should be able to. I used to get a yearly letter and now I get an email that sits in my inbox until I decide I'm not going to login this year to look i should look now that I'm making a better salary. It was depressing in my 20s. I also don't want to assume it'll be there when I can sign up, esp with the age getting moved to older too often.

Maybe I shouldn't look.