Getting Out of Debt, March 2010 - Page 2

[_ktg_]

Originally Posted by cody'smomma

Same here!! I've had a BAD case of the wanties. Plus DP's pay was cut so that hurt. He should be making more here soon but I"m not sure when. So that put a damper in saving.

I know - DH & I went through all the expenses and it was just laughable, lots of lunches, or dinners out. Splurges for more groceries instead of just making what we had... just plain evil.

[mtm]

MyTwoAs, I really think you need to look at Feb as a success, paid cash for your a/c is a big victory. Its not always about seeing the amount of debt going down but also about changing behaviour and not reaching for a card to pay for a big home reno is success.

mamabain, I think going away for your anniversary at this point is a good idea. Obviously I would recommend doing it on a budget but you've been making such good progress and the thought of 2 more years with no extras would be too hard to sustain. I'd go, recharge with your dh, enjoy your time off and then come back itching to pay off the rest.

_ktg_ no more student loan is great news! Now put that money back in your ER fund before murphy notices its gone.

proudmamanow, I keep 1000 in a local bank so I can easily access it and then keep more in ing that is harder to reach. Good job putting that cheque towards the ef. Do post your budget, a fresh set of eyes helps a lot. I do an annual budget where I write down the extraordinary stuff and the month its due so I don't forget stuff, mine has taxes, Christmas, gifts, dental, car insurance, camping etc. Then I have a budget line to cover them, this month I had x for property taxes built in.

Mom2Wilmo, congrats on finishing bs2! Do post your story so we can all cheer you on! My best advice for bs3 is to take what you were spending on debt repayment and automate it so it goes straight to bs3 and doesn't seep away.

Hedgehog Mtn, will you link us to the new babe details please

Welcome Resque, glad you came out of lurkdom. Let us know if there's anything we can do to help you get started. I wouldn't worry about the student loans or mortgage while dh is still in school, just get started on the emergency fund and then tackle those ccs.

Jes'sBeth, ouch. I think either the sinking funds have to be cut way down or income has to go up. Do you need all the sinking funds started right away? I kept mine to bare minimum in bs2 and am now opening them up a bit in bs4. Do post your budget/sinking funds and we'll give our advice. Have fun cutting up your cards!

cody'smomma, it will feel so good to throw that 13000 though. Scary to do but then its gone, another weight lifted.

major_mama11, I'm glad you're back. I was wondering how stuff was going with your dh's business. I'm sorry to hear you lost your health care, that scares the shit out of me. Good luck with the new job!

p1gg1e, so close on the van, are you plotting out your bs3 plans yet?

My dh is home from his birthday vacation and he came in 100 under budget so I'm happy. Now its back to funding a few sinking funds and building up bs4.

[Purple*Lotus]

Hi everyone. I used to be really active on this thread many months ago.

I can't really do the Dave plan now because I am barely making ends meet as it is. I am trying to get a second job but so far haven't been able to find one that can accomodate my other job.

But I would still like to post in here for support, if I could

I am Jaime, recently left my husband. I live with my parents now. All of my bills are medical right now. I am as gazelle as you can get I can't tell you the last time I bought something fun. I even used my gift cards my students gave me at Christmas to pay for groceries

I will add in a list of my debts later, I have to round them all up.

Thanks for letting me participate

[AllieFaye]

We're "on hold" with the baby steps while we await the arrival of baby #3 in June.

[Sarah8Jane]

Originally Posted by Bunnyflakes

Hi everyone. I used to be really active on this thread many months ago.

I can't really do the Dave plan now because I am barely making ends meet as it is. I am trying to get a second job but so far haven't been able to find one that can accomodate my other job.

But I would still like to post in here for support, if I could

I am Jaime, recently left my husband. I live with my parents now. All of my bills are medical right now. I am as gazelle as you can get I can't tell you the last time I bought something fun. I even used my gift cards my students gave me at Christmas to pay for groceries

I will add in a list of my debts later, I have to round them all up.

Thanks for letting me participate

Jaime! Welcome back! I've missed you around here. Sorry you've been going through tough times; hope you can find a second job quickly.

[twin_mama]

Didn't post last month but we are still here plugging away at BS2....kind of.

Dh and I agree that we need more $$$ in our EF to feel comfortable. So instead of $1000 in our EF, we plan to have $5000. Once that is funded, I will continue to throw our snowball at our car loan which is our last debt.

EF: 30%
BS2: 21%

[Hedgehog Mtn]

Originally Posted by mtm

Hedgehog Mtn, will you link us to the new babe details please

I hadn't gotten around to posting it so I just went over and did it. He was born 1/11/10

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...1#post15136811

Sara

[Leav97]

This thread is moving really fast!

Feb as a whole wasn't as good as it could have been. We broke the budget in a couple of areas. The next couple of months won't make as much progress as the beginning of the year.

BS #2
CC 1 - 360
CC 2 - 3300
CC 3 - 5375
Med Bill 2 - 875
Car Loan - 12173
Medical bill 1 - Done
Signature loan - Done

[proudmamanow]

Hi there,
I accidentally posted using my dp's profile the other days, so this is actually my update
oops!

Originally Posted by Jes'sBeth

okay so we have finished working out our budget, with $ for all the sinking funds we would like. And we are currently planning to spend $1038 more than our income. So that's bad.

hmmmmm no wonder we're in debt! so now what? When I have a chance I will post our budget on here to be critiqued (or on another thread)....I'm thinking that we need to cut back on our sinking funds until we can free up money somewhere else...I will be back when we reconcile our budgets a bit more. yikes.

oh, in good news though, we now have our $1000 emergency fund so we can chop up our credit cards!

We revised our budget for the month and brought it down dramatically in several areas (most particularly the sinking funds) so that we are only $200 over our income.
In other good news, dp might be doing part time daycare out of our home two days per week starting shortly. She can both help out a friend in need and earn us an extra $400 a month, which would be a huge help right now! Keep your fingers crossed.
More later

Tonight's job will be to put it online and allocate it by pay period. We are both afraid to start spending before we have made the plan, lol.

[_ktg_]

murphy strikes again! This time my glasses broke, actually this is the 3rd time they have broken, as the first 2 times I re-attached the bow with superglue.

This time not so much - I lost the screw to my right bow and then my left bow's superglue trick failed again. So now I am sporting an awesome tape job by DH with some electrical tape on my glasses.

Glasses cost - (with my insurance) $245 and I also bought an extra frame incase the other one starts to go, so I can switch my lenses into it easily. $100

This is an awesome start to March - in like a .... lion!

[proudmamanow]

So the plan is coming together, though we still need to get selling stuff in order to deal with the shortfall. I have cash in my wallet ready to put into envelopes tonight.
And I am going to start listing things on our local version of craigslist right away. We have a good list of stuff to sell, including a stroller and a bike, that will hopefullly bring in extra cash.

That's a drag about Murphy striking again, ktg-dp & I wear glasses too and they are so expensive....and so essential!

[Denvergirlie]

So we are still in BS3......

Have been here for over a year now.. ugh.

Had the 6 month FFEF, and was half way thru a car replacement fund and then we found a supplementary "job", so had to move.

Moving is really expensive...

So while in the long run, the new job will mean much lower monthly expenses, it was painful to watch my car replacement fund disappear as well as half of the FFEF.
I am so DONE with spending, but of course the list of needs seems to be growing.

Oh well, at least we are still debt free and in a month or so, should be able to buckle back down and save some money.

Keep up the good work all!

[applecider]

ktg - you should check out zennioptical.com. I just ordered two more pairs of glasses (a regular and a sunglasses) for around $25 total. I already have one pair from them and they are great. I would suggest measuring your current glasses to get the right size, but at 8-15 bucks piece, you really can't go wrong!

[_ktg_]

Originally Posted by cody'smomma

ktg - you should check out zennioptical.com. I just ordered two more pairs of glasses (a regular and a sunglasses) for around $25 total. I already have one pair from them and they are great. I would suggest measuring your current glasses to get the right size, but at 8-15 bucks piece, you really can't go wrong!

I've looked there before and I'm a little uncomfortable in ordering over the web, given what i need in eyeglasses. I'll take a look again, and keep it in mind for next time.

[mtm]

Bunnyflakes, nice to see you again Jaime, I've been wondering how you were doing

AllieFaye, what a great reason to be on hold.

twin_mama, we did a higher ef too, $1000 didn't seem enough for some of our emergencies.

Hedgehog Mtn, love the name!

Leav97, how long til you can knock out that first cc?

proudmamanow, sounds like you got it figured out with the extra income, fingers crossed. Yay on the cash envelopes, let us know how it goes.

_ktg_, I don't trust the cheap companies either, with my luck I'd measure wrong and get ones that gave me a headache.

Denvergirlie, moving is expensive, hopefully the expenses are all settling down now.

welcome chanibell!

[Belia]

Hi all!

Haven't posted in a few months, but have been working the plan.

We've always used an envelope system and budgeted pretty well, but since October we've really buckled down and been very strict about it. Still in BS2- but our only debt is a HELOC.

The bad news: That HELOC started off at $42,000. Bummer amount- hard to feel like you're getting anywhere when your one debt is a monster.

The good news: The HELOC is currently at $27,000!!! And after we get our tax refund in a couple of weeks it will be at almost $20,000 exactly!!!

It feels like we cheated, though- most of our payments to that bad boy were due to a couple of windfalls from a small inheritance, a bonus from DH's job, and something else that I can't remember right now. So don't get all impressed or anything by my intensity. Like I read on LLNOE... "I'm a slow, fat gazelle on a 5-year plan."

[eirual]

Debt chart

http://www.shutterfly.com/lightbox/v...bbd47cbb382743

Here's the chart I made to track our debt and savings. First time using Shutterfly. Hope it works properly!

ETA: With the kitchen reno I haven't coloured in a square in a looong time. I can't wait to get back on track in March!!!

[_ktg_]

Originally Posted by Belia

"I'm a slow, fat gazelle on a 5-year plan."

I love this quote!

[applecider]

eiural-It's making me log in to see the picture. But I'd love to see it!

[MyTwoAs]

Bunnyflakes - welcome back. When I posted on this thread a few years ago you were also there. It is good to see you again. I've been following your blog for some time now.

MTM - Thanks, I know that changing habits are a big part of this process and so I have come to consider the a/c replacement a victory…although it was an expensive victory here.

eirual - I'd love to see the chart but alas, no login.

Belia - Welcome! It looks like you are making great progress with that HELOC. Totally not cheating, the windfalls are put towards debt instead of wasting away into whatever, which is great!

Denvergirlie - Good luck with the move!

Proudmamanow - Best wishes with the craigslist sales.