Getting Out Of Debt In January 2013! - Page 3

[veganmama44]

yay trekkingirl! you must be thrilled =D

i have been reading total money makeover., it makes sense, that's for sure! still waiting to hear back from the credit union with the 5% interest (hoping its not a miss print)! cash is easier for me, because i work in cash however, i find it makes it all the easier to spend!

[delightedbutterfly]

BS1 $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund Working on this. Babysitting money, sold items and possibly a large chunk from DH's next couple paycheques will go to this.

$80/$1000 Took my babysitting cheque from last week and it's now the start of our BEF. I should get paid again either Friday or Mon and that $80 will go in too. Also planning on cashing in some winning lotto scratch tickets from Christmas today and adding that in as well.

BS2 Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball 
2.0 Do the debt snowball, paying all your debts from lowest BALANCE to highest. Currently owe $3767. Would like to have the smaller debt of $930 paid off in the next two PC's. The $2837 is on our personal LOC and I'd like to have that paid off by end April. I'm hoping that I can put $350-550 per pay depending on how much DH works.

Paid $400 to the $930 CC bill today. Which brings the debt to $530 plus whatever interest has accured.

Paid $200 to the $2837 LOC today. Which brings that down to $2675 as there was an interest charge today. 

[ILoveMyBabyBird]

hi ladies:

I am currently in BS 2: paying off a couple credit cards. I have a bigger amount in my emergency fund due to living off of spousal/child support. It is currently a little over 1 months expenses for me, so essentially I can live one month ahead.

Credit cards I have:

260$ master card--plan to pay this one off Feb,  I have been snowballing this one since my divorce was final a couple months ago

1400$ on my Visa--plan to snowball this one come march, the % rate is going up this month from 0% to 9%

I also have about 4800$ in student loans, but I may be going back to college in the summer and will get them deferred and may have to take out new loans due to my crappy circumstances. My main goal is paying off the CC's atm. I am debating getting a new vehicle (w/o payments, just an even trade) but I am waiting to see if I get a tax refund before I decided. I definitely don't want any car payment!

I know I am lucky to walk away from a divorce with little debt, but without a job things are a little shakey atm! And very scary!

If some of you remember it was March 2009 my xdh and I began snowballing about 50,000$ in non-mortgage debt! So have so little now is a great thing! He struggled with gambling addiction among other things and money management was difficult but we tried and his steady increase in income definitely helped. I am now on a fixed income with only a couple hundred extra at best a couple months out of the year but I am going to get creative to pay the rest of the debt off!

[trekkingirl]

a road less traveled for sure! Thanks

    

[trekkingirl]

I really want to get out of my car payment. I have already replaced the transmission ($4k) and it is at the beginning stages of acting weird again. I cannot pay another $4k for another transmission. My thought was to pay the loan down so I'm not upside down. I owe $9 and it's worth about $7 on the street. Maybe $5 at a dealership. I just don't know where all this money is going to come from as all my funds are going into getting this house. I would need to pay down the loan and also buy a used car on the street. Probably $5k to get out of my car. Gah, I feel so trapped!

Then what car would I buy? It would need to sit at least six and still be economical on fuel like my mazda5. I think my car is the only car in it's class, all other mini vans are much bigger and use more gas.

What would you do?

[ILoveMyBabyBird]

Rondo or freestyle?

[veganmama44]

could you try an even trade for the car? at least take it to a dealership and see what they can do for you?

[veganmama44]

could you try an even trade for the car? at least take it to a dealership and see what they can do for you?

[orangemomma]

Welcome to the new ladies on the thread - hope you find inspiration here.

trekkinggirl - I am so thrilled for you, you have had such a frustrating experience with house buying - glad you finally found THE ONE.

lilacvioletiris - thank you for the inspiration and links for saving small amounts. I think I am going to go with the 50 cents a week one.  I think that the IRS will be taking my refund this year to finish paying for the back taxes I owed from 2011 - so no way to jump start the EF that way. I will be in the clear with them for 2013 though and that's definitely a good thing.

I talked to my immediate boss at work yesterday about how the never knowing if I am going to get any extra hours is very stressful for me because of my debt. He is going to talk to his boss about trying to get me a guarantee of another 4-5 hours per week. Not sure what will happen with that - I work for a non-profit (one of my jobs) and the budget has been set since July 2011 for our division. Still, I felt like he had listened to me and will advocate for me.

[lilacvioletiris]

orangemomma, I am glad that was inspiring to see that even 50 cents a week can make a difference over the course of a year. I am focusing on the "found change" I think I am going to get one of those money counting coin jars and start digging through my drawers around the house to find the little bits hear and there and get it to accumulate.

trekkingirl, I have no idea on the car thing - I hope you can find a good exchange.

I was reading the Pinch This Stretch That blog again today and it was talking about family finances What  guys do to teach your kids about money and communicate with your significant other (if you have one)? What do you think about the ideas on that blog posting?

I am excited tonight is the beginning of the Dave Ramsey 9 week program! I can't wait to hear what he has to say.  I will definitely update everyone on what I learn.

[dziejen]

orangemama, I am glad your boss is approachable and willing to try to help.  I am also fortunate to work for an employer like that.  I hope the overtime is possible for you.

lilacvioletiris, I hope you enjoy your Dave Ramsey class - dh and I really got a lot out of it.

delightedbutterfly and ILoveMyBabyBird, Keep up the good work! Sounds like you have both a good plan in place.

I just had my wisdom teeth removed this week and we paid cash but had to dip into our emergency fund to fund part of the cost so our goal is building that back up to $1000 and continue to work at paying extra towards our car payment.  Looking forward to our taxes coming back this year so that we can keep working towards our goal. 

[Mamma2Addison]

I've lurked for a loooong time but 2013 is a new start for us financially so I'm jumping in.  I've read DR before and am rereading him now - love his no-nonsense approach.

Pre-Step 1: Get current on your debts and do a budget - Done!

BS1 $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund - This has been an exciting one for me and part of the new financial planning we are doing.  I feel so much better seeing that much money in savings and w set up our savings to make it as inconvenient as we could to withdraw from.  I work full-time teaching in a private school so I don't make much and cover much with bills.  Most of what I was earning quickly went right back out on stupid things.  Right now we're banking $1000 per paycheck and using the balance to pay the debt snowball.  We have a long term goal of buying our first house so that's where everything over the EF is going.

BS2 Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball  - In progress

[lilacvioletiris]

dziejen, glad to hear you could make that medical expense with cash, even if it meant dipping into your emergency fund.  Goodluck bringing it back up to $1000

Mamma2Addision, welcome!  Sounds like you guys are in an awesome place with $1000 per paycheck toward the debt snowball.  I, too, teach in a private school so there is no overtime pay for me but lots of work to be done. I love it though and teaching is the best.

Getting ready for the meeting for Dave Ramsey tonight.  I am so excited! DH is sick so he won't make the first one, but hopefully the others he can attend.

[orangemomma]

Does anyone know if the Dave Ramsey website (or any site really) has a sample of the debt snowball in action? I've been surfing the site but not coming up with one.

 I am a visual person and can't seem to quite SEE how to make it work.

Thanks for any links!

[veganmama44]

orangemama, try this http://www.moolanomy.com/1302/dave-ramsey-debt-snowball/ if you scroll down a bit there is a visual aid.

i was also listening/ watching some talks of his on youtube, maybe you would find that helpful?

[orangemomma]

veganmama44 - awesome link! Thank you. I will also check out YouTube when I can,

[pattimomma]

Any suggestions for handling medical expenses? I have two special needs children and we will hit our $2,000 deductible this month! Still there are a lot of other out of pocket expenses, things insurance doesn't cover. I put the max amount I could in my FSA.
 

[ILoveMyBabyBird]

I have 3100$ in savings, monthly expenses are about 2500$ so would u think I Have too much in savings? I live solely on spousal and child support. how big should my cushion be?

[lilacvioletiris]

Originally Posted by ILoveMyBabyBird 

I have 3100$ in savings, monthly expenses are about 2500$ so would u think I Have too much in savings? I live solely on spousal and child support. how big should my cushion be?

ILoveMyBabyBird, you said that you had a credit card of $260 and $1400 - Are you getting consistent spousal and child support to pay your monthly expenses that would pay off your expenses each month? I would keep $1000 in savings and pay off those two credit cards, especially the one that is about to go from 0 % to 9% .

[LoveOurBabies]

I hope it's okay to pop in with some questions for the Dave Ramsey followers..

With regard to the 3-6 months worth of expenses, what exactly is that for? Is it for when you are suddenly out of a job?

My questions are:

What if you have $ sitting in your leave pay (for us, this is payable upon being made redundant or leaving on your own accord)?

What if you have salary continuance insurance set up.. Do you still need to save those 3-6 months worth?

TIA!