Getting Out of Debt, Feb 2010 Edition - Page 6

[p1gg1e]

A little update on us.

Thanks to our money we let uncle sam barrow have our car paid down to $300. We though owe over $300 to our city tax So we are less then $2000 till BS#3

We have filed our long term home buyer credit so we will have that and it should make our FFEF almost complete by the time we get it in 6 months or so LOL

[applecider]

Eiural - awesome!! I hope to redo our kitchen soon. Did you get new cabinets? I can't remember from the pics.

I am looking into lowering my car insurance. I had switched several months ago and then they upped it on me by like $40 a month! It's not like I got a ticket or anything.

I just signed up for mint.com and spent an untold amount of time on there yesterday. FREAKING AWESOME. Don't know why I didn't do that sooner. I think I was wary of giving my banking info, but it is such an awesome way to see what we spend. I did poorly with the cash envelope system cause I still couldn't track very well were my money went, I just knew I wasn't spending over xxx $ a month overall. Now I can see all my categories neatly! I was doing it on excel but it was hard to keep up with. I'm excited ( not really) to go back a couple of months and see how we were doing.

[MyTwoAs]

Originally Posted by p1gg1e

A little update on us.

Thanks to our money we let uncle sam barrow have our car paid down to $300. We though owe over $300 to our city tax So we are less then $2000 till BS#3

We have filed our long term home buyer credit so we will have that and it should make our FFEF almost complete by the time we get it in 6 months or so LOL

Congrats!! That is fantastic news!!

[_ktg_]

Just popping in to report that Murphy has reared his ugly head and we have serious car issues.

Apparently either a head gasket or the head is cracked and I'm looking at possibly 1400 in work for the car.

UGH - we have an emergency fund & a car fund, but right now I'm wondering if its wise to sink 1400 into a car with a trade in value that's less than $500.

Thoughts and ideas are very welcomed.

ETA: We are a 2-car household and my husbands is running fine currently, so this is my car I use for work and other outings.

[MyTwoAs]

Do you have a payment on the car? I probably wouldn't put $1400 into a $500 car, I'd take that money and buy a $1000-$1400 car.

[_ktg_]

Originally Posted by MyTwoAs

Do you have a payment on the car? I probably wouldn't put $1400 into a $500 car, I'd take that money and buy a $1000-$1400 car.

No we don't have payments on either car, we own them outright. We're weighing that vs. just operating as a 1-car house for a bit.

[MyTwoAs]

Originally Posted by _ktg_

No we don't have payments on either car, we own them outright. We're weighing that vs. just operating as a 1-car house for a bit.

Well that's good news then! I'd probably try the 1-car house for awhile and see how it goes - if it is feasible with your work schedules, etc.

[PPK]

Does it have high mileage? Have you replaced alot of major parts already?

I would think buying anything for $1500 would also come with its share of near-furture issues, so its hard to say (although I once bought car for 800 and it lasted for years with hardly a problem).

I tend to feel trapped when I don't have a vehicle, so for me it'd be for sanity's sake to have a car available.

[PPK]

Its good to hear about all you ladies' progress!

I'm one minor cc away ($300) from BS#3, and can probably do it on March 1st.

I just did my taxes though and owe 4k; I don't know if I should consider that debt. I don't think so, as it'll be paid by April 15th and I've set most aside for it already.

[mamatowill]

Well we need to get out of debt even more. DH just found out that his contract is not being renewed as of now and we do not have his income anymore. I have promised myself not to panic. I am almost completed our EF which I am funding through the child care benefit. Unfortunately with just my salary we will not have enough money to cover all of the debts so we are prioritizing. The ones which will be left behind are student loans not more important things. I have a refund coming for taxes which will help.

[mtm]

eirual, love the kitchen!

MCsMom, you sound like me last month, full of blahs. What about taking a break from the worrying and upping your blow for a bit? I've see a couple of threads about this on llnoe so do know you're not alone in the upper steps and still living on a budget.

p1gg1e , it will be so nice to see you hit bs3, you've worked so hard!

cody'smomma, thanks for the tip on mint, I've read good r eviews of it.

_ktg_, yuck to car repairs. Does your mechanic think repair or replace? If you have a trusted mechanic maybe they can help with the worth it to fix or not debate.

PPK. woohoo! I'll be cheering for you as you throw your last bs2 snowball.

Go read Annettemarie's thread everyone, she's had a big success too, you ladies are on fire this month!

mamatowill, yikes, I hope your dh fonds something quickly. Don't panic and make your plan.

[eirual]

Originally Posted by cody'smomma

Eiural - awesome!! I hope to redo our kitchen soon. Did you get new cabinets? I can't remember from the pics.

.

Thanks

Those are new to us cabinets. My FIL does insurance and those cabinets came from a house fire (in a basement). We sealed them and painted them. That's part of the reason our final total was so low and why we did the reno when we did. We came into free cabinetry and decided now was the time. We doubled our storage, got a better layout, and really brightened it up.

[eirual]

RE: the car. I'd fix it. If that's all your car needs to work, it's worth it IMP (instead of spending it on a $1,500 that may need even more work in the near future or come with a bunch of other unknowns).

[_ktg_]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions re: the car. We're still hemming & hawing over here on it, and it seems like we're seriously considering just being a 1-car house and for my upcoming birthday I will be getting a bike and gear to start commuting to work that way.

I live only 5mi away so really maybe this is a sign I need to get off my tookus and ride!

The savings would be the following:
$75 gas/monthly
$150/year for insurance
*health benefits = endless!*

[proudmamanow]

Hi Ktg, good luck with the one-car thing. We dropped our 2nd car before Christmas & I haven't honestly missed it except for maybe once. I commute by bus and will also be biking when it's a bit warmer
I only wish we had found Dave Ramsey when we sold our car, then maybe we would have used the $2000 on paying down debt instead of spending at Christmas!

Sigh. We have started the slightly intimidating pre-step budgeting process. It feels really good, in a dumping cold water on your head sort of way, to actually finally be budgeting realistically. We made a huge list of all the big extras we know we have to spend on this year...which is the source of our debt and our problems (things like tax bills, Christmas, birhtday gifts for girls, girls activities etc.). It feels good to stare all this hidden stuff in the face, though we're sort of panicking about starting this off Wednesday (my next payday) and still dealing with two birthdays in the next two months...we love parties and our older dd wants to be a party planner so parties are kind of a big deal for us. We do always do them at our house & make the food & do homemade crafts & games, but it can still get $$$.
So how do we deal with big expenses we know are coming soon when we haven't had time to plan for them? I want to be following the planning to spend system someone outlined (and that is outlined in TMMO which I got from the library) but it's hard when dd2's birthday is in 4 weeks, I can't really put much aside for that.

Enough whining though, I am feeling really really good about once and for all getting this stuff under control. I feel like if we dedicate ourselves to steps one two and three then my dreams of going back to school and/or finding different work will actually be achievable....

[proudmamanow]

So we just got back $874 in refunds from our medical & dental benefits package. So that puts us a very long way towards building up our emergency fund, which is very encouraging!

[Softmama]

Originally Posted by proudmamanow

So we just got back $874 in refunds from our medical & dental benefits package. So that puts us a very long way towards building up our emergency fund, which is very encouraging!

That's fantastic!

As far as the birthday party my opinion is whatever you've saved is what you use (even though it won't be much since it's only four weeks away). You cannot allow yourself an excuse to spend money you don't have. So this year, that party might have to be scaled back and done more frugally. Next year, when you have more money, you have a pricier party. I just don't see any way around that.

edit to add: depending on dd's age, you can include her in the planning. I give my oldest the budget and we figure out together what we want to spend it on. That way he has a say in cutting back here to spend more there etc. Especially if she is interested in party planning, this could be very fun for her! It might be eye opening to see what is very important to her and what she is willing to cut out completely.

[eirual]

Originally Posted by _ktg_

Thanks everyone for the suggestions re: the car. We're still hemming & hawing over here on it, and it seems like we're seriously considering just being a 1-car house and for my upcoming birthday I will be getting a bike and gear to start commuting to work that way.
*health benefits = endless!*

I like that option even MORE!! If you can get away with it, go for it!!