Its May! Dumping Debt with Dave Ramsey - Page 5

[stellarae]

congratulations kanga!!! piling up the cash sounds like a great idea now

bluegoat - im by no means an expert, but if im understanding you correctly, i think you have a good plan. you mean to look at what a new car would cost and then save up 1/12 of that amount each month instead of putting that money (the twelfth) into your snowball? thats how i understood it, anyhow.

i definitely think that putting that amount of money into your monthly budget is acceptable. after all, if you dont budget for it now it could sneak up and bite you. and the dr drive free cars thing says to pay yourself that $400 payment anyhow to get on the road to driving free cars.

make sure you factor in the additional expenses, too, like registration and all that. but i would put it in my budget and not even count that money as "extra" money that would go towards the snowball in the first place.
hope that helps and i wasnt too confusing

[mtm]

Bluegoat do you mean reducing your bs2 payments to save for a car? How desperate do you need a car? If possible I'd try to get bs2 done first then stockpile for the car.

Softmama, I was wondering where you are. Glad to hear you did not fall off the wagon.

beansmama

kanga1622. so happy for you :

[tricia80]

thanks for the ideas ladies... imay just need someone here to come and kick me in the butt

well i got my hydro bill.. higher than i expected but i think its doable... i received extra $$ back from canceling my insurance.. so we shall see what i can do there... i am tired today so i am just gonna chill out and not budget... i did treat myself to breakfast out this a.m. under $6 so i am ok with that... anyways i find listening to D.R. on the web easier as he is not broadcasted anywhere around here...

Kanga - Congrats... I wish you a happy healthy pregnancy...

[thenaturefreak]

Originally Posted by kanga1622

Well, I guess it's time to start piling up cash...:

I'm a little sad that I don't get to see our mortgage balance shrink but seeing the savings balance increase will be great!

: Congratulations!!!

[Sarah8Jane]

Congratulations Kanga! :
Hope you have a happy and healthy 9 months.

[Bluegoat]

Originally Posted by mtm

Bluegoat do you mean reducing your bs2 payments to save for a car? How desperate do you need a car? If possible I'd try to get bs2 done first then stockpile for the car.


beansmama

kanga1622. so happy for you :

Right now, all aour extra is going to the debt snowball. I do have a $1000 EF. So far, our car is holding on, but we are worried it won't be long for this world. We have an old, worthless truck my husband could take to work, but our family can't travel in it. We'd be fine around town here, we can walk, but I need the car to go to work in town once a week, and our entire family is an hour away.

So, we could manage for a bit, but in the end we'd need a car.

I was thinking it would be nice to get BS2 done first too, but I am worried that our car may just give up, and we will not be done Bs2 anytime soon, it will be a long haul, unless we sell our property - but the maret for woodlots isn't great now.

So I am wondering if I should reduce our paying down debt payment to save some cash in case we need the car? If we don't need a car, we could always use it as a lump sum payment later? Or am I missing something?

[Sarah8Jane]

Originally Posted by Bluegoat

Right now, all aour extra is going to the debt snowball. I do have a $1000 EF. So far, our car is holding on, but we are worried it won't be long for this world. We have an old, worthless truck my husband could take to work, but our family can't travel in it. We'd be fine around town here, we can walk, but I need the car to go to work in town once a week, and our entire family is an hour away.

So, we could manage for a bit, but in the end we'd need a car.

I was thinking it would be nice to get BS2 done first too, but I am worried that our car may just give up, and we will not be done Bs2 anytime soon, it will be a long haul, unless we sell our property - but the maret for woodlots isn't great now.

So I am wondering if I should reduce our paying down debt payment to save some cash in case we need the car? If we don't need a car, we could always use it as a lump sum payment later? Or am I missing something?

You can get a $1000 car next year using your EF. Depending on your area, you might be able to get an ugly clunker for that price.

Or another thought I have is...could you pick a spot on BS2 to pause at? For instance could you finish CCs and then pause to save for a car before moving on to lower interest debt (i.e. student loans, property)?

[Softmama]

Congrats Kanga

I REALLY want to do some work around the house (new kitchen floor, dinning room floor, new carpets etc). In about three months we'll be done with BS3. At that point we will start retirement and college saving. This would seem like a good place to start saving for some house work BUT
we have a $32K home equity loan (that I put at the end with the mortgage instead of in step 2 because I wasn't comfortable putting off step 3 too long). So I'm guessing I'm supposed to go from BS3 to paying off the HEL. We are HOPING to sell that house (we moved over 2 years ago and have it rented but have not been able to sell it) and that would remove the HEL right there....but it might not happen anytime soon.
I cannot even begin to guess how long paying off 32K will take. sigh. I'm a bit discouraged...

[beansmama]

Originally Posted by kanga1622

Well, I guess it's time to start piling up cash...:

I'm a little sad that I don't get to see our mortgage balance shrink but seeing the savings balance increase will be great!

YAY! Congratulations!!!!!:::

[hollytheteacher]

Originally Posted by kanga1622

Well, I guess it's time to start piling up cash...:

I'm a little sad that I don't get to see our mortgage balance shrink but seeing the savings balance increase will be great!

Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Update for me,

BS2c.... I am down to 7,400 in debt (was 9,000 as of last month)
after that I can attack student loans

[hollytheteacher]

Originally Posted by hollytheteacher

Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Update for me,

BS2c.... I am down to 7,400 in debt (was 9,000 as of last month)
after that I can attack student loans

ETA: make that 7,350

i found a way to sneak over an extra 50 out of our checking:

ETA: make that 7,250 as of 5/17

ETA: make that 7,100 as of 5/24

[hollytheteacher]

Originally Posted by tricia80

Ok i have a question... HOw do you mama's stay motivated???

i have a very bad habit of having great motivation at the beginning and then it dies off and back to the old routine...

I talked to my mom tonight and she is going to rent TMMO from the library since she thinks my plan sounds great...

The debt snowball really gets me motivated...also having a long term goal...like once you are out of debt what you want to save for and stuff might help.

For us, we have decided NOT to ttc #2 until we are out of debt and let me tell you that is a HUGE motivator for me! We may have kid number 2 earlier than DH anticipated! lol

[PluggingAway]

Originally Posted by Softmama

Congrats Kanga

I REALLY want to do some work around the house (new kitchen floor, dinning room floor, new carpets etc). In about three months we'll be done with BS3. At that point we will start retirement and college saving. This would seem like a good place to start saving for some house work BUT
we have a $32K home equity loan (that I put at the end with the mortgage instead of in step 2 because I wasn't comfortable putting off step 3 too long). So I'm guessing I'm supposed to go from BS3 to paying off the HEL. We are HOPING to sell that house (we moved over 2 years ago and have it rented but have not been able to sell it) and that would remove the HEL right there....but it might not happen anytime soon.
I cannot even begin to guess how long paying off 32K will take. sigh. I'm a bit discouraged...

I'm a newbie so I really don't have any words of wisdom but I just wanted to offer I can empathize with *wanting* to fix up the house, but knowing that I don't *need* too. Stay the course!

[PluggingAway]

Congratulations Kanga :

[Maluhia]

Congrats Kanga!

[tricia80]

Payday Update:

BS#1 - 500.06/1000
BS#2 - 4057.01/13882.08 (As of May 15)


I have 2 jobs so i received one whole day in this pay so not alot but hey i put all of it but $16 into my EF.. Halfway there!!!!!

[kanga1622]

Thanks everyone for the well wishes. We are extremely thrilled but it really hasn't sunk it yet. I think I had started to give up on it ever happening and was focusing so much on losing weight and being more healthy that I'm finding it hard to shift my mindset. We're waiting to tell family until we're 9.5 weeks (when we'll see them in person) so it should feel much more real then! On the plus side, I lost 22 pounds before the BFP so I shouldn't have to buy transitional clothes since all my clothes are currently too big.

Tricia = Way to go with adding to the BEF. It seems like it takes forever to get traction at the beginning but you really do pick up speed once that BEF is done.

Softmama = I'm sorry your other house hasn't sold yet. Try not to get too discouraged. Is there any way you could save for future repairs/replacement and at the same time work on your HEL? Could you come up with a compromise so it's not so long to wait to fix up where you live but also pay down the debt? Who knows, maybe your house will sell when you least expect it and you can wipe that debt out completely soon.

[stellarae]

Originally Posted by Bluegoat

So I am wondering if I should reduce our paying down debt payment to save some cash in case we need the car? If we don't need a car, we could always use it as a lump sum payment later? Or am I missing something?

yes! that is what i meant before im just not as good at summing it up. do not use the emergency fund! its not an emergency to get the car. definitely reduce how much you are paying on your debt snowball to start a car fund.

[rebeccalynn]

The lawn tractor died. Poor DH has been trying to tear it apart and fix it for the past week or so and every time he makes some progress then there is another problem. I think that he is at the point where he thinks that it will not work unless the engine/transmission is replaced which will make the repairs only slightly less than a new one.

We have to at least get our front yard mowed soon b/c our sweet neighbors are trying to sell their house and our grass is high.

[Sarah8Jane]

Originally Posted by stellarae

yes! that is what i meant before im just not as good at summing it up. do not use the emergency fund! its not an emergency to get the car. definitely reduce how much you are paying on your debt snowball to start a car fund.

It could be an emergency if the car dies completely.