Getting out of debt in OCTOBER

[eirual]

To help us better get to know one another, feel free to answer any or all of the following questions in your reply.

-What is your number one played song on your ipod....or other musical device of any kind....

-What is one of your favourite quotes?

-If you could choose to stay a certain age forever, which age would it be?

-If you won the lottery/came into a financial windfall, what would you do?

-If you have 30 minutes of free time, what will you most likely be doing?

-How did you come up with your username?

-The best part of waking up is ____________.

[eirual]

Oh yeah, and the whole reason why we're here:

Do you want to get out of debt? Start living on a budget? Be able to start saving? Then this is the thread for you! Some of us use Dave Ramsey's method but please join us even if you're following someone else/your own plan. All are welcome!

Here's DR's plan:

Pre-Step 1: Get current on your debts and do a budget
0.1 No new borrowing.
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) to help snowball
0.7 Cut lifestyle (Cut cable, cell, extras, eating out) and/or get a second job to raise $1000 EF.
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
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

BS2 Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
2.0 Do the debt snowball, paying all your debts from lowest BALANCE to highest.

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: http://www.daveramsey.com or if you want a good DR discussion forum, www.llnoe.com is good but hardcore. Gail vax Oxlade's Til Debt do Us Part is great tv show, very motivating. Her website is: http://gailvazoxlade.com/blog Others like Suze Orman or Mary Hunt, really doesn't matter whose method you use, just start the process to getting out of debt

.....where are you on your journey? If you'd like, I'll make a list so we can reference who's where in their debt-free journey. Post below with your progress if you'd like to be included in said list.

[eirual]

I'll go first....

-What is your number one played song on your ipod....or other musical device of any kind....most likely Paul Simon's Graceland or any song from the album for that matter....it fits with so many different moods.

-What is one of your favourite quotes? "You don't get harmony when everyone sings the same note" -Doug Floyd

-If you could choose to stay a certain age forever, which age would it be? Probably 15...as long as I could skip school as often as I did...

-If you won the lottery/came into a financial windfall, what would you do? Save, share, and keep working. I'd take a short trip or two....I've always wanted to do the Europe thing.

-If you have 30 minutes of free time, what will you most likely be doing? Ughh...check e-mail, then realise said free time is already gone!

-How did you come up with your username? It's my name backwards.

-The best part of waking up is ____________. Is waking up refreshed and ready for a brand new day...it only happens on occasion, but when it does it's lovely- it means I've been taking care of me and am feeling good and well-balanced.

BS 3....feeling a little un-focused with simultaniously paying for DH's college, sinking for car replacement, and building our 3-6 mo. emergency fund. We sink about 70% of our savings into car replacement and 30% goes to building the emergency fund. Writing it that way,that seems a little backwards, but I think for us, the reality of car repairs/replacement is much more likely than loss of employment...and we do have a couple months' worth of living expenses already saved up.

[Coconut Chronicles]

Tentatively joining... I'm about to apply for a Masters degree that will take us from being completely debt free to 15K in debt I'm in the process of researching loan options.


-What is your number one played song on your ipod....or other musical device of any kind.... iPod: Idan Raichel's Project - Mima'amakim and cell: Nichole Alden - "Baby Now"

-What is one of your favourite quotes? It's a toss up between these two: "Stare, pry, listen, eavesdrop. Die knowing something. You are not here long.” - Walker Evans and "I want nothing. I fear nothing. I am free." - Kazantzakis

-If you could choose to stay a certain age forever, which age would it be? I am loving 30!

-If you won the lottery/came into a financial windfall, what would you do? Some to charity, some to family and the rest to my financial advisor lol. We'd probably ease up on work but I doubt we'd stop altogether...

-If you have 30 minutes of free time, what will you most likely be doing? Internet or a book

-How did you come up with your username? It's the name of my website and a bit of an old joke between DH and I from back when we first met

-The best part of waking up is_______ a new day means new possibilities

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Pre Step: This is all . However neither of us are willing to completely halt retirement contributions but we will be lowering the percentage for the next two years.

BS1: We have one credit card that gets used every other month for a $20 or less purchase and is then paid off immediately. It is kept to maintain my credit score. We are a one car family and our car is paid off.

BS2: We will only have the one debt so everything we can will be put towards that. The goal is to have the entire thing paid off by the time I graduate (it's a two year degree)

BS3: We have 4 months worth of EF. With the state of the economy being what it is, I do not want to use any of this toward my SL.Our car is 6 years old, in excellent condition and won't need to be replaced for awhile so I'm not worried about a replacement fund until the SL is paid off (ditto to any other non essential sinking funds etc.) We own our home outright.

BS4: Dropping this down to 10% for now

BS5: Grandparents have set this aside for him

BS6:

[AnkaJones]

Hi,

I'm joining in for the first time and just getting started.  I put the DR book on hold at the library and am waiting for it to get delivered, but meanwhile have been doing what I can.  I think I'm on PS1/BS1/BS2:  Last week I made a budget for the first time, and in the process went through my bank statement for the first time in over a decade... and found a ton of recurring payments that I hadn't known were there.  The good news is we now have a budget!  And we're already saving money just getting rid of those recurring payments.  Plus one of the recurring payment folks actually gave us a refund.  My husband and I had a family meeting and he bought into the plan.  This month we're more focusing on having a budget and meal planning (one of our huge expenditures was eating out because we didn't have food anyone was interested in, or wasting huge amounts of food because we'd loose track of what we had).  I called our cable company to cancel, and they gave us a really nice deal, where we're basically just paying the price of the internet service.  At the same time we're starting to do some pretty reasonable cutting back, I'm going to pick up a couple of shifts at work.  We got $1000 for our emergency fund.  We were also able to pay off our car (we were real close), which was enough to start our debt snowball.  Yay!!!  I feel like we're building some good momentum (I guess it's good to have momentum when you're just starting).  I'm joining in this thread because I feel like I'll better be able to keep positive and motivated.

To help us better get to know one another, feel free to answer any or all of the following questions in your reply.

-What is your number one played song on your ipod....or other musical device of any kind....:  Probably something by Olabelle... maybe down by the riverside

-What is one of your favourite quotes?  "There is no long term without the short term."

-If you could choose to stay a certain age forever, which age would it be?  I like 31 a lot.

-If you won the lottery/came into a financial windfall, what would you do?  Be a SAHM, homeschool, learn to cook properly.

-If you have 30 minutes of free time, what will you most likely be doing?  Reading

-How did you come up with your username?  It's the name I used to give substitute teachers when I was in trouble for something.

-The best part of waking up is ____________.  Rolling over and opening my eyes to the two people I love best in the world -- my husband and my son.

[trekkingirl]

I think consumerism and advertising got me at a young age! First thing that came to mind when I read the best part of waking up..................

Is Folgers In Your Cup   

[eirual]

Originally Posted by trekkingirl 

I think consumerism and advertising got me at a young age! First thing that came to mind when I read the best part of waking up..................

Is Folgers In Your Cup   

You're not alone in that....damn those catchy jingles!!!

[Surfacing]

:lurk

[Paigekitten]

What is your number one played song on your ipod....or other musical device of any kind....

I have no clue.  I put poker face on a lot for the girls to dance to...

What is one of your favourite quotes?

I have a lot, but I can never remember them.

If you could choose to stay a certain age forever, which age would it be?

I'm liking 25, athough I've only been 25 for a month...

If you won the lottery/came into a financial windfall, what would you do?

Pay down my house.

If you have 30 minutes of free time, what will you most likely be doing?

Probably get on the computer, or read a book.

How did you come up with your username?

My first email address was paigekitten, paige because it was a nickname my cousins gave me, and kitten because I like cats.

The best part of waking up is ____________.

Not?  Can I just go back to sleep?

Pre-Step 1: Get current on your debts and do a budget
0.1 No new borrowing. 
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) The middle of this month we should be able to pick up a few clothing items we need.
0.6 Amputate "toys" (bikes, boats, ATV's etc) to help snowball 
0.7 Cut lifestyle (Cut cable, cell, extras, eating out) and/or get a second job to raise $1000 EF. 
0.8 Get current on ALL bills One medical bill left...

BS1 $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund We are so close to being able to start putting money aside for this. I'm very excited
1.1 Chop up/freeze CC's (You have an EF now) 
1.2 Get Health insurance NOW if in the US 
1.3 Get Life insurance NOW if you have considerable debt/your family couldn't make it financially if you died. Not on my priority list.
1.4 Amputate cars that you can't pay off within 24 months 

[mylilmonkeys]

Originally Posted by eirual 

To help us better get to know one another, feel free to answer any or all of the following questions in your reply.

-What is your number one played song on your ipod....or other musical device of any kind....

-What is one of your favourite quotes?

-If you could choose to stay a certain age forever, which age would it be?

-If you won the lottery/came into a financial windfall, what would you do?

-If you have 30 minutes of free time, what will you most likely be doing?

-How did you come up with your username?

-The best part of waking up is ____________.

Good questions.  I don't have a decent answer to any of them. LOL  

1.  I don't listen to a lot of pop music.  I'm boring.  I like blue grass and old gospel and big band.  Alison Krauss is one of my favorites.

2.  "Why you still arguing what's been decided?!"  Points to anyone who knows where this came from.  Often used with my kids.

3.  I don't think I'd want to stay any age forever.  Forever is a loooong time.  Anyway, I haven't been any age I'd want to stay, yet.  I'd like to keep my kids around 6mo-1y though. :)

4.  Move.  Travel.

5.  Knitting, sewing or something crafty.  Or reading.

6.  Because my kids are ridiculous climbers, all of them.  We live right next door to a playground, and I've gotten comments about their monkey abilities from perfect strangers more than once.  

7.  If I must wake up, cuddling the twins is a pretty good way to do it.  But I'd rather get more sleep. :P

ETA: We are officially on BS3 this month!!  We are saving all we can to replace our two vehicles next year, hopefully before they fail us.  Then we'll be moving on to our FFEF.  

Edited by mylilmonkeys - 10/4/11 at 6:08pm

[Coconut Chronicles]

Originally Posted by Paigekitten 

The best part of waking up is ____________.

Not?  Can I just go back to sleep?

 

[dziejen]

-What is your number one played song on your ipod....or other musical device of any kind.... I listen to Pandora or the radio so it could be anything but probably something country or classic rock

-What is one of your favourite quotes? not sure...

-If you could choose to stay a certain age forever, which age would it be? I really liked 23 but life is good now too

-If you won the lottery/came into a financial windfall, what would you do? Pay off our bills! Once those were no longer over our head (assuming we had money left!) I would put some in savings and take a wonderful vacation with my family

-If you have 30 minutes of free time, what will you most likely be doing? reading, catching up on emails/facebook, chatting with a friend on the phone

-How did you come up with your username? part of my last and first name together

-The best part of waking up is breakfast!

I am here to get out of debt - still working on pre-step 1 but making a little progress every month despite what feels like many setbacks.  Happy October everyone!

[eirual]

Suprise BFP today @ 16dpo.

This will make next year VERY interesting as DH finishes up school. Can we say "save, save, save, save, save"?!?

At least the second time around I know I actually need very little considering boobs are free, we've already got a bed, and never really used our stroller. A few flats for diapering and some clothing and voila! The biggest hit will be the dramatic reduction in income while I'm on mat. leave.

Edited by eirual - 10/9/11 at 8:53am

[trekkingirl]

wow, congrats Laurie! awesome. I have some cloth diapers I am ready to pass on. If you're interested, pm me. Nothing fancy, but functional. Exciting! I was able to get most of my baby stuff on freecycle. Do you have a local freecycle? Even all of my CD stash, all free. You're so right, babies really don't cost much. Teenagers, on the other hand.....I hear are very expensive.

[mylilmonkeys]

Congrats!!

[dziejen]

Congrats on your wonderful surprise! 

[stanleymama]

I haven't posted in a long time, but wanted to send Congrats Laurie!!! 

We have made lots of progress here and were able to buy our first home.  We had about 50% for a down payment and are slowing fixing it up with cash.  Feels good.  A gift of money from dh's aunt and we also payed off one of his student loans, which freed up $300 a month. 

We are on BS2/BS3.  BS2 is just dh's student loans from law school and will take awhile, so we have been building up our BS3 slowly. 

Welcome to the newcomers.  Feels good to be back!

[Paigekitten]

We finished Pre step 1 !!!!!  Now we can start socking money away for our $1000 EF!

[Wolfcat]

-What is your number one played song on your ipod....or other musical device of any kind.... Depends on the device: At work I listen to 70s (RUSH!!) on Pandora.com, at home I listen to SJ Tucker's House of Mama Dragon on Playlist.com, in the car I love "7" by Prince and "Who Make you Feel" by Dido, and when none of those are available, it's my MP3's on my Droid - "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga and "I Know What Boys Want" by The Waitresses.

-What is one of your favourite quotes? Only one? "I was once asked why I don't participate in anti-war demonstrations. I said that I will never do that, but as soon as you have a pro-peace rally, I'll be there." Mother Teresa

-If you could choose to stay a certain age forever, which age would it be? I rather like this age... can my kids get older, though?

-If you won the lottery/came into a financial windfall, what would you do? Immediately pay off all the bills, give my parents and DH's parents a couple thou, set up college funds for my two kids and my nephew, pay off the house. Then I will take what is left and invest a portion of it into two trusts that only allow a certain amount to be removed each month for no more than three years, one for myself and one for my business partner. I will fund the opening of our storefront and create a trust for a limited withdrawal for the store for restocking and marketing for no longer than three years (after that time, if we aren't making enough money to support the business and ourselves, we need to reconsider). Whatever is left will go into a low-risk investment to be used to bolster our retirement.

No, I haven't thought about this... why do you ask?

-If you have 30 minutes of free time, what will you most likely be doing? I don't believe in free time... it's like a unicorn or a mermaid. Seriously, if I have "free time" it's only because I'm too tired to do anything other than watch tv or read.

-How did you come up with your username? It's a magical name I came up with when I first became Pagan. I use it for a lot of my official correspondence as a minister of faith.

-The best part of waking up is ____________. Folgers in your cup? Seriously, there better be coffee and eggs ready to go when I get up. Unless I get to sleep in, then the best part is getting awakened by the hysterics of my kids.

Pre-Step 1: Get current on your debts and do a budget
0.1 No new borrowing. I'm buying a house. Does that count? It's cheaper to pay for that then to pay rent around here. And I'll build equity, too.
0.2 Talk with spouse and get him/her on the same page as you concerning finances. That's easy... I tell him this is what's what and he agrees.
0.3 Do a written budget I write many budgets... now where did I put that last one? I got one that's an app on my Droid, so that should work better. However, our status quo is: don't buy anything unless I know we can afford it.
0.4 Temporarily stop all retirement contributions I dropped my 401K from 10% to 2% (cuz I'll forget it and this way I'm still doing something), I maxed out my dependents on taxes... I have high deductible insurance and rely on an HSA to pay the deductible/co-pay stuff.
0.5 Get current on all the basics (Shelter, Food, Utilities, Basic clothing) Shelter - check; utilities - (double checks) check!; food - Yum!; basic clothing - we have clothes that fit and are in decent repair.
0.6 Amputate "toys" (bikes, boats, ATV's etc) to help snowball Toys? Bikes? Boats? ATVs?!? If I could afford any of this stuff, I wouldn't be worrying about how to pay for my first vacay in over 5 years!
0.7 Cut lifestyle (Cut cable, cell, extras, eating out) and/or get a second job to raise $1000 EF. Actually, it would be more expensive to pay for internet alone then to pay what I'm paying for super-basic cable. And we get the weather channel with school closings - very important when the sky can and will drop 3 feet of snow on you overnight. Cells are all we have, so not gonna happen. Extras? Netflix is our only sin and we don't have movie theaters or anything around here so, no. Eating out? That one time each month or two? :P

DH is getting uber overtime come the next two months or so, so that is good.
0.8 Get current on ALL bills All but medical bills should be about current. I need to go through my pile again, but...

BS1 $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund Working on it... Doing well this month, despite the emergency tire replacement we had today.
1.1 Chop up/freeze CC's (You have an EF now) I have one CC. It has a $300 limit. I use it when I need to rent a vehicle for events. I use it to build my credit - it gets paid off every single month. I haven't had a CC for over 10 years. I need my credit to go up and that requires a revolving debt.
1.2 Get Health insurance NOW if in the US Done.
1.3 Get Life insurance NOW if you have considerable debt/your family couldn't make it financially if you died. Done.
1.4 Amputate cars that you can't pay off within 24 months Both cars are paid off in full and necessary for us to have our jobs. There is NO public transport out here. *wishes for a high-speed commuter train*

BS2 Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
2.0 Do the debt snowball, paying all your debts from lowest BALANCE to highest. I don't do it like that, cuz the higher ones would send me to collections while the lower ones got paid off. I pay on everything equally, and when one gets paid off in total, the rest get more paid.

BS3 Three to six months of expenses in savings
3.1 Start car replacement fund Oh, I want a Town & Country... or a Caravan!
3.2 Save up 20% for home purchase OR pay down existing mortgage to the point you can drop PMI. We are in the process of buying our home.
3.3 Start furniture or other non-essential stuff replacement fund We don't need new furniture... Oh, in the future... heh.

BS4 Invest 15 percent of household income for retirement Hmmm... 15%?

BS5 College funding for children Those are already started by much more financially stable relatives... Yay!

BS6 Pay off home early Love this!

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

[Paigekitten]

Originally Posted by Wolfcat 

-BS2 Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball2.0 Do the debt snowball, paying all your debts from lowest BALANCE to highest. I don't do it like that, cuz the higher ones would send me to collections while the lower ones got paid off. I pay on everything equally, and when one gets paid off in total, the rest get more paid

I thought the debt snowball was paying the minimum due on all debt and putting any extra toward one debt at a time and after paying that adding the amount for that debt and any extra and putting that amount to another until IT'S paid off and so on, not just not paying certain debts, but still paying them off faster then if spreading the extra between all of them?