Getting out of Debt in March 2013 - Page 2

[Wolfcat]

JNajla, offer to pay whatyou can afford. If they say "no", ask them if they are denying acceptance of your repayment. If they deny acceptance of the payment, record it (digital recording) and keep the recording. Tell them that by denying your payment, you will consider the debt cancelled. This is a technically legal loophole that often puts them in a frame of mind to work with you. The other method is to just pay what you can and ignore them. So long as you are paying a reasonable amount, they shouldn't be able (or willing) to sue/garnish. Just don't look for this to do your credit score any tabors.

[JNajla]

Thank you so much Wolfcat, I was hoping to get advice like that. I've been reading about the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act and have been reading horror stories about deceptive collection attempts by private student loan companies now that the bubble has burst. I've even called a few attorneys who've said they don't touch cases with private student loans or they don't return my calls. I found it odd that Chase is threatening to sue me, but yet they cashed my $200 check.

[orangemomma]

Today I paid off my two smallest debts on my debt snowball - $3 I owed to my DS and $7 I owed in library fines. THIS I find motivating.

I can't wait until I have $1,000 in my baby EF to start doing this - sorry DR. I am going to keep going with the debts while I build the EF - which right now is at $47.60.

Got some disappointing news. My son applied to private high schools and got accepted by one of them but he did not receive any financial aid (scholarships). We do not want more debt. We have an appt on Thursday to talk with the financial people at the school about a payment plan. I am considering applying for a job at the school so that he could get a tuition waiver - but I don't even know if they have any openings that I am qualified for.  It's worth a try though I think.

[lilacvioletiris]

orangemomma - congrats on paying off 2 debts and it looks like your EF is climbing in value a little at a time. Goodluck on the private high school.  Tuition can be very tough at places like that. I work at one currently and I know how much some of the parents sacrifice to have their children there. Can you son work to make up some of the cost? I know I valued my private education more because I worked to contribute to its payment.

AFM, DH and I would really like to refinance our house but I had gotten a home improvement loan that has the house as

collateral plus I did an 80/20 loan with 80% conventional mortgage, 20% HELOC. The new company won't let me refinance because there are 3 mortgages on the house and they are confused how I got a third since they said companies aren't supposed to do that.  Anyway, the third mortgage is $1807.44 and I want to focus on paying that off so we only have 2 mortgages and can hopefully refinance the house.

[SunRise]

trekkinggirl: How is the short sale going?

welcome Jnajla!

Quote:

Originally Posted by JNajla 

How is this possible?  I don't know much about how this works, if it is based on income, etc?

It is income based. Im not getting the full amount for my two children, but I do get some.

"Limitations - The credit is limited if your modified adjusted gross income is above a certain amount. The amount at which this phase-out begins varies depending on your filing status. For married taxpayers filing a joint return, the phase-out begins at $110,000. For married taxpayers filing a separate return, it begins at $55,000. For all other taxpayers, the phase-out begins at $75,000. In addition, the Child Tax Credit is generally limited by the amount of the income tax you owe as well as any alternative minimum tax you owe."

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Ten-Facts-about-the-Child-Tax-Credit

Originally Posted by lilacvioletiris 

orangemomma - congrats on paying off 2 debts and it looks like your EF is climbing in value a little at a time. Goodluck on the private high school.  Tuition can be very tough at places like that. I work at one currently and I know how much some of the parents sacrifice to have their children there. Can you son work to make up some of the cost? I know I valued my private education more because I worked to contribute to its payment.

AFM, DH and I would really like to refinance our house but I had gotten a home improvement loan that has the house as

collateral plus I did an 80/20 loan with 80% conventional mortgage, 20% HELOC. The new company won't let me refinance because there are 3 mortgages on the house and they are confused how I got a third since they said companies aren't supposed to do that.  Anyway, the third mortgage is $1807.44 and I want to focus on paying that off so we only have 2 mortgages and can hopefully refinance the house.

Thats good to have something to focus on. Once this is done, its worth asking about an assumable mortgage at the low rate. (I need to call in about this, as a motive to refinance). So if you sell your house, you can pass on the mortgage amount with the low rate to the new buyers.

AFM I haven't been able to increase my savings or ef recently...which is the stage I am at. I have money slotted towards maxing my 2012 IRA next pay. Then I can file my taxes. But this year my credit deductions decreased a lot, so I have to pay federal taxes but get a state return, cancelling each other out. At least I dont owe any more. I have had to change my withholdings for this year. (I used to pay for private health insurance which gave me a significant deduction in taxes, but my HI costs had decreased by over 50%, so I lost that "credit"). Also my contract ended in Dec. I just got word that there is a 6mth extension and then a  new contract will be up for bid in July. For now I know I have 6 more months of work/income. I have always been saving for this situation, but now I am encouraged to pad my EF to a full years worth of expenses.

[orangemomma]

We met with the folks at my DS potential private high school yesterday. They have a 12 month payment plan with the first installment due on April 10th - we wouldn't be going into debt - but the monthly amount is quite steep and it's not something I am sure we can commit to for the next 4 years..

The school might have a job I am qualified for coming up in the next weeks -  I just have to wait for it to be posted on their website. In the meantime, I applied yesterday for a job nearby that I am perfectly qualified for - we shall see.

DS will have to work over summers to contribute to his tuition - it would be part of the plan to make this work. He's good with that.

[lilacvioletiris]

Sounds good orangemomma!

[esg]

Th

Originally Posted by JNajla 

How is this possible?  I don't know much about how this works, if it is based on income, etc?

that's what I thought. I looked it up and it should still apply. She also didnt want to count any gas mileage. Said it wouldn't work. I'm doing mine online this time.

[trekkingirl]

Sorry I have been MIA. I got the flu and just when I thought I couldn't get any more sick I threw my back out and haven't been able to move without screaming for two days. 

We're still waiting to hear back from the bank about the short sale. No new news.

[lilacvioletiris]

Trekkingirl sorry to hear of your health wows.  My DH and I along with my little brother have all been sick - coughing aching annoying coughing!  Went to the doctor last week since some people at school at broncitis and pneumonia and I didn't want to let something go to far.   Doctor said it was some virus - go home take cough medicine and motrin, sleep, drink lots of water and wait.  That has been the mantra for the last 5 days. DH is taking another sick day, but I am going to work.

[k x s]

Originally Posted by lilacvioletiris 

Chocked off part of a goal for this month- reduced our home phone cost by half by converting to ATT Uverse. Now onto reducing cell phone fees. The Mr. Money Mustache articles are great, although they have profanity every now and then.

I love mr. money mustashes no nonsense attitude to frugality and money =) Best thing his blog taught me was BIKE.

*edited because I posted a different response meant for somewhere else

[lilacvioletiris]

I got a call from the HR department at the school I was considering. Turns out my salary would be $10,000 less than I make now, I would have to drive an hour to get to work, and I wouldn't get paid during the summer. I am going to turn down that job and keep looking for something closer to home and hopefully better pay. Ugh. Looking for work is hard work.

[orangemomma]

I am right there with you lilac. The job that I applied for last week - they filled it - they never even called me and I was perfectly qualified :(

The job at my DS potential new school hasn't been posted yet so I can't even apply - might have even gone to an internal candidate for all I know - just hasn't shown up on the website. So I wait on that one.

Good luck at finding a better job closer to home!

[trekkingirl]

Work Comp doctor wrote me off work for 4-8 weeks. I hope the payments on work comp are comparable to what I normally earn. On the plus side, better now then when were locked into a mortgage payment, right.

[lilacvioletiris]

Hope your back gets better soon. I keep having a runny nose and coughing. It is annoying.  Just want it to go away!

[veganmama44]

Yes! Finally got my tax money back, so now my EF is up to four thousand!!! I am totally stoked about that, even though I have been, how we say, not so frugal lately. I think I'm just bored of this long ass snowy winter, so I buy stuff to a.) Have something to do and b.) make myself feel better. So, I put a big chunk of refund into savings, having the suspension done on my car, and filling the oil tank (hopefully for the last time this season), and that is that. We are coming into busy restaurant season, and I should be able to bank a couple more thousand this summer. I was hoping to get my big EF up to ten grand by year's end, but that is seeming like wishful thinking at this point. Also working on building some good credit, because we need to buy a house within the next couple years. Our lease is coming up and I think our land Lord wants to sell soon. By the time we move we will have been paying rent here for 4 years and paid 64800.00, crazy right? Anyhow, sorry for the ramble. Hope everyone is feeling better soon, and best wishes for the job searches

[tillymonster]

Would love to join up here, hope I can stay on top of this. I am newly pregnant which was planned and we even waited longer to make sure we were doing well financially! Then DH was laid off. Lucky for us, his parents offered us some help and we are moving into a great situation-- almost $200 less in rent. Although the area is less than desirable and I would have really loved to stay where we are (I can walk to the store/park, awesome grocery stores and shopping nearby and *not* being close to the inlaws!) but I am trying to make the best of it. ;)

Pre-Step 1: Get current on your debts and do a budget
0.1 No new borrowing. <== This is a challenge for us, especially being pregnant. I want to buy stuff.
0.2 Talk with spouse and get him/her on the same page as you concerning finances. <== Another challenge. We get into over money constantly.
0.3 Do a written budget <== Please post where I can download a good budget, we are using mint.com but it's not helping much.
0.4 Temporarily stop all retirement contributions <== Done. Hubs lost his job. Hoping to roll over to IRA and use that as emergency fund.
0.5 Get current on all the basics (Shelter, Food, Utilities, Basic clothing) <== We are current right now, thank ye gods. We are having trouble buying quality food and clothing went on a CC.
0.6 Amputate "toys" (bikes, boats, ATV's etc) to help snowball <== Ha. Never had any to begin with! We don't really do vacations either, mostly just local dinner dates.
0.7 Cut lifestyle (Cut cable, cell, extras, eating out) and/or get a second job to raise $1000 EF.  <== Considering the cable going back on as DirectTV is giving us a year free with contract!
0.8 Get current on ALL bills <== Thank goodness, this isn't an issue.

BS1 $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund
1.1 Chop up/freeze CC's (You have an EF now) <== Easy. Only issue is, at dept. stores I always have them "look up" my card when I purchase things knowing full well I shouldn't.
1.2 Get Health insurance NOW if in the US <== Hopefully approved for medical. ;(
1.3 Get Life insurance NOW if you have considerable debt/your family couldn't make it financially if you died. <== Scary thought but good idea.
1.4 Amputate cars that you can't pay off within 24 months <== Trying to sell off a car that we refinanced in order to pay off credit cards. What were we thinking!

[pollyanna02]

i want to thank you guys for keeping me on track. I haven't posted but read all the other posts. I have paid off my car :) i am almost half way to my emerancy fund. all i have left to pay off is my SL less than 2K. According to the budget i have done I should have 200/month extra after bills and am using it for the EF. I have been guilty of purchasing some stuff not budgeted for but I keep telling myself it is ok since i have some extra. :(

My goal is to payoff this SL by next jan what i don't have paid off will get paid with what ever my refund is next yr.

[esg]

A little update on me:

I did my taxes online a week ago and I should be getting back more than I did last year!

I'm not sure how to budget it but I'll be paying on at least one debt and getting caught up with the mortgage a bit.

Beyond that, having my emergency fund is helping me to breathe a little bit easier. I'm not to the point where I don't have to touch it during the month yet though.

I've also been staying on budget for the most part so this month has already been so much better than last month! Now to find a job that doesn't cost so much in gas...

How is everyone? Hope you're well. Happy holidays if you're celebrating.

[eirual]

Tilly,

In regards to the cable, I'd run for the hills, I think. ....I tend to be skeptical of any free hook to get you to sign a contract. It's obviously benefitting them in the long-run, or else they wouldn't do it.

We don't have cable, but DH finally broke me and I approved $8/mo for Netflix. Is that an option for your family? ....or TV-free or library DVDs?