Get Out of Debt June 2010

[Tradd]

Since I didn't see anyone else had started this month's thread yet...

Welcome to June! Lets make May a good month for getting out of debt! Most of us use Dave Ramsey's method but please join us even if you're following someone else/your own plan. All welcome!

Here's DR's plan:

These are the Baby Steps:

Pre-Step 1: Get current on your debts and do a budget
0.1 Commit to NEVER borrow $$$ again
0.2 Talk with spouse and get him/her on the same page as you concerning finances.
0.3 Do a written budget
0.4 Temporarily stop all retirement contributions
0.5 Get current on all the basics (Shelter, Food, Utilities, Basic clothing)
0.6 Amputate "toys" (bikes, boats, ATV's etc) if they will keep you from completing the snowball within 12 months
0.7 Cut lifestyle (Cut CATV, Cellphone, Regular phone "extra's", Internet, Eating out, etc) and/or take second job if $1000 EF will take more than 30-90 days.
0.8 Get current on ALL bills

BS1 $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund
1.1 Chop up/freeze CC's (You have an EF now)
1.2 Get Health insurance NOW if in the US (chances of getting sick w/ major medical bills are larger than that of death)
1.3 Get Life insurance NOW if you have considerable debt/your family couldn't make it financially if you died.
1.4 Amputate cars that you can't pay off within 24 months
1.5 Consider raising insurance deductables to $500 or $1000

BS2 Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
2.0 Do the debt snowball, paying all your debts from lowest BALANCE to highest.
2.1 You can take your first vacation since finding Dave if you can pay cash for it (no using the EF !!!)

BS3 Three to six months of expenses in savings
3.1 Start car replacement fund
3.2 Save up 20% for home purchase OR pay down existing mortgage to the point you can drop PMI.
3.3 Start furniture or other non-essential stuff replacement fund

BS4 Invest 15 percent of household income for retirement

BS5 College funding for children

BS6 Pay off home early

BS7 Build wealth and give! Invest in mutual funds and real estate


Here's the link to Dave Ramsey's website:

www.daveramsey.com

Please join us!

[mtm]

Yay! June is here. I did good on my trip out west, came home with money in my pocket which was nice. Boy is it good to be home again. lets see how many people we can get into the next category this month!

If you need added or removed from the list, or I got your details wrong just let me know and I'll fix it.

Pre-Step 1
anstar
BelovedK
BonnieNova
chanibell
dagny.galt
dfunk98
Gray's_Mommy
kittywitty
lactivistmama
luckybamboo
madsommer
Miasmamma
papayapetunia
punkrawkmomma27
Stephenie
waldorfknitmama

BS#1: Save up $1000
2lilsweetfoxes
annettemarie
Contrariety
CookiePie
crunchymomof2
dex_millie
Evenstar
fairydust020409
greenmom4
JamieB
JenniferH
JustKiya
Kaitnbugsmom
Krisis
Ksenia
lakeruby
lj2blessed
mamabain
mommaknowsbest
neveryoumindthere
NWmt_Mama
prana
Sihaya
teenyToona
Tryingforbaby
vmommy

BS#2: Pay off all Debt (except the mortgage)
100%Mom
2Rubies
AAK
AFwife
AllieFaye
astar326
Belia
Bluegoat
canuckgal
claddaghmom
Cody'smomma
ColoradoMama
Contrariety
cparkly
cymbeline
Deir
dkenagy
eirual
excitedtobeamom
FeelingBlessed
FiveLittleMonkeys
goldfishkate
HappyMommy2
Hedgehog_Mtn
herwitsend
hollytheteacher
indie
jeliphish
jjawm
kat.c.stevens
kavita
Keeta
killick
kings5queens4
KnittingKara
ktg
lalaland42
laohaire
Leav97
LittleBirdy
lizziebits
Livi's_Mama
llamalluv
LZP
major_mama11
mamabain
MamaPam
MamatoWill
mamimapster
mich
mrstice
MyTwoAs
my2girlz
Nickarolaberry
okapi
onlygirls
onthemove
Pernillep
PluggingAway
proudmamanow
Resque
RisingSun
RoadWorkAhead
samandhenrysmom
scrandall1173
Shellie
shllywlly
smallmama
stanleymama
stellarae
sweetjasmine
thenaturefreak
Tradd
tricia80
triscuitsmom
tynme
twin_mama
whiddle
wife&mommy
willew

BS#3: Build up to 3-6 months of savings
akichan
annethcz
beansmama
corrie43
Crunchy*VT*Mom
Denvergirlie
HappyHelpmate
MomtoWilmo
mammamo
maryjane
MCsMom
Nora_SEA
phatui5
phillytwinmama
p1gg1e
PPK
Rev1053
rionnhannah
sarafi
sparkprincess
Stone_Fence
yasinsmama

BS#4
mtm

BS#5
Maluhia

BS#6
kanga1622
rebeccalynn
Sarah8Jane
Softmama[/LIST]

[Tradd]

Please see my thread here in F&F on getting rid of a smart phone. I've had my iPhone for a year, but do I NEED it. No? It was a total impulse buy, and while I love it, it's too much of a distraction at work, and a plain jane Tracfone prepaid would fulfill my cell phone needs QUITE well! $80 a month! Cheapo Tracfone phone would be $20 and then just the minutes as I go. I can even port (transfer) my current number over (I also still have very basic landline service).

I think I'm going to do it, just taking a few more days to mull it over.

I've got about $2K on cc, that I'm paying down. This is my ONLY debt. Car was paid off last fall. Sold a bunch of books on Amazon ($220 profit), and that money went directly to cc.

We're very busy at work, so I'm getting OT I've not had in a while.

Have $1K BEF, but I need to save up at least $5K for some major dental work. Glad to be back on the wagon!!!

[_ktg_]

Hello Ladies - Sorry about being MIA in May, but it was crazy with work and life (HUGE WORK project, and my MIL visited- enuff said!).

Back on board for debt busting in June, as we just got hit with my mandatory required payment into a 403b account (per my work). Its not terrible, but its an extra 300 I would like to have back until our debt is dead!

DH is busy working out switching various insurances for us to lower some payments if possible and we're continuing to shop around for life insurance.

We've been naughty in regularly accessing our EF for overspending, but now with such a tight/fine bottom line to work with, I think that has snapped us back to reality.

Tradd - rehone DH & I are in a similar boat, we don't have smartphones per se but we have a plan for our phones and have just considered downsizing to what we actually use/need with them. Unfortunately our phones double as our landline phones too, so I am nervous to switch because our #s will change and that's a load of paperwork for us to re-fill out for a lot of things

[Tradd]

ktg, at least with Tracfone, you can transfer current number...

[waldorfknitmama]

Can I be added to the list? Under the *pre-step* ahaha sad, but now is the best time to get our money situated, with the 3rd baby on the way Hopefully ya gals will keep me outta trouble!!! Def. gonna keep up with this thread! I'll be back with more intro's later!

[waldorfknitmama]

Originally Posted by Tradd

Please see my thread here in F&F on getting rid of a smart phone. I've had my iPhone for a year, but do I NEED it. No? It was a total impulse buy, and while I love it, it's too much of a distraction at work, and a plain jane Tracfone prepaid would fulfill my cell phone needs QUITE well! $80 a month! Cheapo Tracfone phone would be $20 and then just the minutes as I go. I can even port (transfer) my current number over (I also still have very basic landline service).

I think I'm going to do it, just taking a few more days to mull it over.

I've got about $2K on cc, that I'm paying down. This is my ONLY debt. Car was paid off last fall. Sold a bunch of books on Amazon ($220 profit), and that money went directly to cc.

We're very busy at work, so I'm getting OT I've not had in a while.

Have $1K BEF, but I need to save up at least $5K for some major dental work. Glad to be back on the wagon!!!

We got rid of the contract phone along time ago!! This is seriously the most money sucker I swear I've ever seen! Seriosuly, to us after using our phones wayyyy too much, and spending waayyyy too much we ditched the contract and bought ONE pay as you Nokia cell for $10!!!!!!!!!!! We put in about $15 to $20 a month and sometimes we don't even use that all up! We made decided that whoever will be using the car get's the cell, that way in any real emergencies (like if we were in an accident or something) we can call for help. It's been such a blessing to breeak the cell phone habbit. People think we are sooooo weird but now we often forget the cell phone or loose it

I encourage all people who want to save money to buy a pay as you go!

[Tradd]

Well, I switched over!!! Bought a Tracfone for $30. It's a phone where you get double minutes for the life of the phone. I also got a year service card for $125 with 400 minutes (or less, have to look at my receipt). Anyway, I'm set, although it might take up to a week for my number to switch over. I've still got a landline, so no big deal, and I can call 911 on iPhone if necessary. Will cost $115 to break iPhone contract early, but worth it. That's not too much more than one month's service ($85 or so).

[mtm]

ktg, I'll be checking up on you to make sure you have a good month. Want to check up on me too? I really need to get back on track this month to save up for summer stuff.

good job Tradd!

welcome waldorfknitmama. Anything we can do to help you get started?

[mtm]

I'm slowly getting caught up on the end of may stuff. Welcome mrstice. Sorry to hear your mat leave didn't pay as much as you thought. How did your first day back to work go? Let us know if you need any help getting started.

[mtm]

scrandall and punkrawkmama, how has the first couple of weeks gone? Need any motivation? Any questions?

[MyTwoAs]

Happy June!

Here's my monthly update. In May, I set a goal of 20% of BS2 paid off by 6/1 and thanks to a more than 100% commission payout that my husband received, we were able to reach 25.7%! I'm more than 1/4 of the way there. My goal for 7/1 is 29%. I didn't make us much in May as I'd planned (I took a week off after I graduated to just...do...nothing) and it isn't a commission month.

Tradd - I don't know if I could part with my iPhone. If I needed to, absolutely it would go, but it is my lifeline - it syncs with my computer and with our web calendar, it is entertainment, it has my DR Podcasts, etc hehe. Of course I don't NEED it but I certainly want it and I've had one for 3 yrs (I don't even have the latest one) so I keep it. It helps that my husband's cell phone is paid for through work so we technically only pay for one plan.

MTM - How was your trip?

Welcome to everyone that joined in late May or this month!

[waldorfknitmama]

Originally Posted by Tradd

Well, I switched over!!! Bought a Tracfone for $30. It's a phone where you get double minutes for the life of the phone. I also got a year service card for $125 with 400 minutes (or less, have to look at my receipt). Anyway, I'm set, although it might take up to a week for my number to switch over. I've still got a landline, so no big deal, and I can call 911 on iPhone if necessary. Will cost $115 to break iPhone contract early, but worth it. That's not too much more than one month's service ($85 or so).

So proud of you girl!

[Tradd]

Originally Posted by waldorfknitmama

So proud of you girl!

Thank you!

There have been some changes at work, in addition to business picking up, that mean I am getting huge amounts of overtime. I had almost 10 hours of OT on the paycheck I got today. Boy, was I happy when I checked my online banking this morning to look at my direct deposit and found out what the amount was! And this week, even with it being a 4 day week due to Memorial Day, I worked 48 hours. Just today I worked 12.5 hours! I'm exhausted. Anyway, lots of OT for the next few months. I happen to hate summer (I don't do heat and humidity - October is my favorite month!), so working long hours during the summer doesn't bother me. Will go towards paying down debt. I also found out that since we're going to be hard pressed to take the vacation time we've got coming - get this - they're going to PAY US for what we don't take (or roll it over to next year, but that never works for me)! My anniversary date is in early November, and I just have to let HR manager know a week before that if I want to get paid for not taken vacation time or roll it over. I'm going to take the CASH. I've got two weeks coming (with only three days scheduled off in early October).

If I get paid for even one week's vacation time, that will put me quite far along the road to debt free!

I'm exhausted from working that long today. Need to sleep!

[eirual]

Sharing good news as we prepare our house to rent it out-

We have an old house with a hump in the upstairs hallway. Right now it's the old linoleum floor that's very worse for wear in the hallway and master bedroom, well we were willing to spend up to $700 to do all the floors upstairs in carpet (I shudder to admit it, but if it would be quick and cheap, and solve our flooring problem, I'd do it). We just found a flooring that's flexible enough to work with our hump, looks half decent, and cost us only $150 to do the hall, we can leave the two bedrooms alone, and the master has the floor panted, so we're just going to patch it up a bit and re-paint it.

Soo...our $3,000 moving cost has been reduced to about $250 + gas, now flooring's been reduced from $700 to $150....wooohooo!!

....now just to find renters....

[Softmama]

hello everyone and Happy June!

I was so excited last month because it looked like our entire tax return was going to be sent off to the Home Equity Loan. I even colored it in on my little chart

and then....the regrading of the yard (water pooling with potential to damage the foundation) was more than we had planned for (and still not done right, so maybe even more than that)

....dh's used car is on it's last leg, we fixed the AC and replaced the brake pads, and he wants to start saving all extra money to buy a newer used car instead of sending all extra money to the HEL

.....the rental agency for our house in SC (that we can't sell and have rented out) called to say the AC unit needs repairs (about $900)

and the amount getting sent to the HEL is whittled away to nothing

HOWEVER, it has lit a fire under our butts to get back on board with keeping track of the budget (we got a little lazy in certain categories over the last few months) so that is a pretty good thing.

One small thing we are going to do is that we usually take the boys to Panera bread for a cookie after church on Sundays (we don't usually eat out, this is their treat) and I found out that Dunkin Donuts gives kids a free donut each time they come in. So we are going to move our post church treat to Dunkins and dh and I will have coffee and the kids can eat a free donut

[Tradd]

Just paid $300 on my credit card. I'm so glad July is a 3 paycheck month! The cash for a short trip I'm taking to a church-related conference in October will be set aside from the extra check in July. I'm driving with someone to the conference, so will share the gas expense, and then it's just hotel and conference fee. Most meals are included in conference fee.

[giddiegoof]

New to the thread

Hi! My husband and I are on baby step #2. We just finished our budget for the next 4 weeks tonight. We feel like this step is taking FOREVER - it is a large student loan that his parents took out without telling him (yes, it's in his name; he believed them when they said they were paying for college and signed papers without reading them well). We're a single income family with two little boys & he's a teacher doing occasional side jobs. I can't seem to get my act together beyond mommying and home management to do something else for income.

My main questions are:

1) I'm guessing that since most of you are discussing this on mothering.com, you're somewhat interested in natural health or eating differently from mainstream America, which is our interest/commitment as well, and of course, this costs more than SAD food and medicine. We have a small garden and I want to try a four season harvest method this year, but we definitely eat more than a "beans & rice, rice & beans" diet. For one, we don't like most bean recipes I've tried (anyone have a good resource?) and if I skimp too much in the grocery department we get desparate for something that tastes good and end up busting the restaurant allotment of our budget. I've looked into couponing, but most of the items I find with coupons are full of stuff I can't bring myself to serve my family (one son has corn allergies and that's in almost everything; the other is sensitive to wheat). So I feel like in the long run I am saving us $$ on health bills but it makes "beating the cheetahs" as we call it, more difficult.

2) Does anyone has any ideas on how to overcome the bitterness I feel toward my inlaws about the way my husband was duped into this debt? Any time we have any sort of uninvited financial setback I immediately go into a sort of "it's all their fault; if they didn't stick us with this payment every month we'd have the money to cover that." In reality, the debt may have been a good thing to get us on track and serious - I don't know if we'd actually be putting the same amount in savings if we weren't in debt. But, the bitterness is still there on my part and I don't want it to somehow poison my relationship with my husband. My FIL actually gave my husband a big lecture a week before we were married about avoiding credit card debt, and then 2 weeks after our wedding came and told him it was time to start paying on the 45k he owed for college.

Thanks! I was excited to find this thread! I think that at the end of the summer we'll have made some measurable progress, between our tax refund and my husband's two summer jobs.

[Softmama]

Originally Posted by giddiegoof

it is a large student loan that his parents took out without telling him (yes, it's in his name; he believed them when they said they were paying for college and signed papers without reading them well). .

Are you kidding me???? Who does that to their child????

wow. as far as getting over the bitterness, I don't know what to tell you. I think I'd have to get good and mad, confront them about saddling not just their son but me and my kids with this debt due to their lies, and then head to therapy (err...perhaps the therapy ought to come first)

As far as groceries go- I am allergic to corn and wheat. You are right, corn is in 99% of all food manufactured in the US and very hard to avoid. So we budget more for groceries and always have. I found two friends to go in on a cow with me, and the beef split three ways has lasted me a loooong time. Google side of beef to figure out where you can order in bulk like that. It saves a lot of money, but costs money up front so you might need to start a savings envelope for that. I don't garden, so I am part of a CSA and get fresh organic veggies from a farm. I save a lot on milk by buying it fresh directly from a farmer (I actually go to his farm and get it out of the tank). I get my eggs there too. I guess a lot depends on where you live and whats available? I found all these things through joining a local yahoo group.
I make a lot of baked omelets for lunches/sides at dinner (like a quiche but without the crust). Fill it with any meat and any veggies, mix eggs with milk and pour over the top and bake 30 min or so.
to save money I don't use any of the "replacement wheats" like rice noodles or gluten free flours. I just don't eat those things.
HTH

[_ktg_]

Originally Posted by mtm

ktg, I'll be checking up on you to make sure you have a good month. Want to check up on me too? I really need to get back on track this month to save up for summer stuff.

good job Tradd!

welcome waldorfknitmama. Anything we can do to help you get started?

mtm - I'm in! This weekend was DS1 birthday party, so I am sorting out the various charges, but I am pleased to say I'm 99% sure we stayed within budget for supplies, presents and the party. though it will be close once I get done tallying these receipts.