Getting Out of Debt in November - Page 7

[Deir]

Paid off my first cc- 1300. Now I can almost pay half of the 2nd- and then in no time we'll be on to the 3rd! Yippee!!

[p1gg1e]

Originally Posted by Deir

Paid off my first cc- 1300. Now I can almost pay half of the 2nd- and then in no time we'll be on to the 3rd! Yippee!!

[lalaland42]

Congrats eirual and Deir!!!

[twin_mama]

I really need to put things into perspective so I have a question for you all if you're willing to share: When do you expect to have BS3 completed? (all debt paid off and your EF funded to your personal comfort level)

I was trying to crunch numbers yesterday and I think it's going to take us a solid 4 years (give or take). In the grand scheme of things, I realize it's not THAT long but.....for now it seems like forever! Made me rather depressed yesterday.

[mtm]

Congrats Deir!

twin_mama, we wanted a 6 month emergency fund so for us it was roughly 18 months to 2 years to fill it. Part of the problem is all the stuff you put off in bs2 comes in the way of bs3 payments. And its not as sexy as debt repaying. How much are you trying to save if it will take your 4 years? I don't think I would hold off on retirement contributions for 4 years.

[Sarah8Jane]

Twin_mama - will it take you two years to do step 2 and two years for step 3? I don't think that sounds too bad.

DR likes to say that it takes a while to get in trouble so it takes a while to get out. You can do it!

[eirual]

Originally Posted by twin_mama

I really need to put things into perspective so I have a question for you all if you're willing to share: When do you expect to have BS3 completed? (all debt paid off and your EF funded to your personal comfort level)
.

I was hoping a year or two...but DH will become a FT student in the near future for 4yrs, including a move our East which means I need to find new work. So who knows!

I'm just hoping we can save tuition by September. He was originally going to finish his current apprenticeship and do the university thing in a couple of years, but he's had a change of heart, and I'm happy 'cause I want to get on with things and him doing something he can feel good about. Anywhoo, I'm happy, but we've got a LOT of work to do and our financial plans will go slightly awry and will have to be accomidating!

I'm determined to do our darndest not to get in the hole with DH's schooling though! Here's hopin'!!!

[excitedtobeamom]

eirul-That is awesome that you aren't going to go in the hole for your DH's education. That means once he is done and employed the money will be yours to pay off other debt and save!

[smallmama]

Originally Posted by twin_mama

I really need to put things into perspective so I have a question for you all if you're willing to share: When do you expect to have BS3 completed? (all debt paid off and your EF funded to your personal comfort level)

At our current rate, it's going to take us about 4.5 years just to get through BS 2. And then about another year and a half to get through BS 3. So, 6 years total. *sigh*

[eirual]

Originally Posted by twin_mama

I was trying to crunch numbers yesterday and I think it's going to take us a solid 4 years (give or take). In the grand scheme of things, I realize it's not THAT long but.....for now it seems like forever! Made me rather depressed yesterday.

I wanted to mention, don't look at the 4 year picture. Look at the now and look at the habits you'll be leaving behind. If you continued on with how things are now, what would your finances look like in 4 yrs? Take it one step at a time, and no further. So, how long until you're current? a few months...great! How long until you have your first debt paid off, a few more months, great! How long until your next one, a few more months is awesome! etc.

You're planning on living for the next 4 yrs so you may as well spend it doing the right thing. Your life is what happens while you're doing all of these things, it doesn't have to be put on hold, nothing magical will happen at the end, you'll just be practicing good financial habits, and the lack of stress and feeling of organization and drive to your goals will seap into the other aspects of your life. (how's that for a run-on sentence?)

Stay focused, leave the old behind, and enjoy the ride!

[sweetjasmine]

That is good advice, eirual! I get discouraged too when I think about how long my plans will take. We still have almost a year and a half left on the car loan. I had been paying double on it each month earlier this year but put that plan on hold due to medical bills. I need to look at and tweak my budget again. I don't know what else I could be doing differently.

[Softmama]

Originally Posted by twin_mama

I really need to put things into perspective so I have a question for you all if you're willing to share: When do you expect to have BS3 completed? (all debt paid off and your EF funded to your personal comfort level)

.

I think it took us about 8 or 9 months. BUT, I moved our biggest debt (a home equity loan) into step 6 so that we could finish BS2 and 3, tackle BS4 and BS5 and THEN hit the hel. Otherwise it would have taken us too long to finish BS2 and the retirement would have had to wait longer to get funded. I know that sounds convoluted, hope it made sense.

[twin_mama]

Thanks everyone! It helps to see that everyone's goals are similar to mine. I don't know why I had it in my mind that we were 'behind' everyone else.

FTR, it will take us another two years to pay off our car loan. THEN I can start focusing on our FFEF which will take us another two years. We have definitaly changed a lot of our spending habits the past few months: no more using the CC for frivolous spending or pulling from our savings to cover ourselves when we would inevitably go over budget.

I'm really happy and proud of us for changing our habits. I know we still have a long road ahead but hopefully the 'lesson is learned'!!

[mtm]

one week left in the month, time to start prepping the december budget and ending 2009 off on a good note. And time for mtm to stop shopping, its not been a good month for me.

[annettemarie]

Originally Posted by eirual

Sink or swim baby!! If you let people know, you won't have a choice BUT to get it done. Go rock it!!

I did it!! Thanks for the inspiration.

That said, DH is really ticking me off. We haven't made the 1000 Emergency Fund yet, and we actually have a couple hundred dollars LESS than we should. Where is it going? I don't know. He doesn't know. And then he had the balls to accuse me of not transferring over $100 that I said I did. AND I DID! I showed him on Paypal. So that's another hundred bucks that seems to have gotten sucked into some sort of black hole abyss. And I just feel resentful and angry because apparently, I have to account for every freaking cent and he can just lose money.

[eirual]

HOORAY! You're fast!

As for the whole relationship/money dynamic thing, that sucks, but pointing fingers doesn't get anyone anywhere. Be accountable for yourself and lead by example. It's all you can do. One of the only things I've heard Dr. Phil say that I enjoy is this: You can't change how people react. You can only control how you stimulate them.

So from here, if he's lost track of things, try to be understanding and help him re-focus. You can't change what's been done, but you can try to do better next month!

Anywho, focus on the positive- you've done your part, you've created a product that can bring in cash flow and you should be very proud. Go you!

[Softmama]

we signed the paperwork for refinancing our house last night, so we are now on a 15 year mortgage with a fabulous interest rate
and even better news, we had to have a load of cash to do that which was hard to save for---BUT it included our December mortgage payment (something I had forgotten). so no mortgage payment next month! we will be sending the money we normally pay the mortgage with straight to our Home Equity Loan

I am almost done Christmas shopping. I have to find a day where I can go to the store without kids and pick up little stocking stuffers. The rest I did online (I HATE to shop). We have over the years whittled our gift giving down to just our kids and a small gift for each other. We eliminated all the siblings, aunt, uncles, cousins, etc. It was a hard move but people understood and nobody has complained (we did tell everybody up front months before that first Christmas to make sure everybody knew). BOY has that simplified Christmas in ways even deeper than just financial.

[eirual]

Well, it's official, WE'VE PAID OFF OUR CAR!!!...this calls for dancing fruit!


Now, I typically try to get my envelopes sorted out before the month begins (since I get paid monthly, I just do it all in one go), however our December budget calls for more $$ than we have on hand at the moment. I guess I'll have to fill as we go and hope that money doesn't drift away....

[sweetjasmine]

Yay, eirual!!! That's fantastic!! I can't wait till I can say the same!

[mtm]

Softmama on the refi and the extra money to the debt!

eirual bye bye car payment!

annettemarie, any thought about doing cash envelopes to track spending?