G.O.O.D (getting out of debt) Nov-Dec. Thread - Page 3

[ShannonCC]

My MIL pulled me aside at Thanksgiving and showed me a catalog she's buying her mother pants from. She's getting her 4 pairs and wanted to know if we wanted to buy one of them for her. SIL was right there and I felt on the spot and said sure. It was a nice offer and previously it would have been fine but not this year. The pants are $20 each. We're not spending $20 on ANYONE this year not even the kids. We just don't have it and I'm not willing to put Christmas on credit card (and get even further into debt!) just to keep up appearances, yk? I'm crocheting scarves for everyone this year and have already completed GMIL's in her favorite color anyway (lavender )

So I composed this. Does it sound ok?

(as an aside, us not chipping in won't affect MIL. She has plenty of money. She was just asking to be nice).

"Thanks for the offer to chip in on Grandma’s pants, but we’ve talked about it and we’ll have to pass. Money is really tight this year and we’re trying to come up with home made gifts for everyone. What money we do have we want to spend on the kids and even they are getting toys from the thrift store (but they’ll be thrilled anyway)"

[ChristyH]

Originally Posted by kerc

welcome christy.
Sounds like you have a computer, is there a need for medical transcription in your area? In my town there are folks who work for the hospitals who do it from home.

In the meantime, can you refinance anything to extend the length of the loan (house, car, I am thinking) to let you get back within your means and then pay off?

I can't see how old your oldest is -- in school? Could you work in a daycare? newspaper route? have you recently tried wic? in minnesota with a kiddo under two and a family of three the cut off is like 42,000. That's a fair amount.

Can you sell one car? (do you own two cars?)

I live in a pretty big city so I don't know about medical transcriptions. Plus I have a very old, hand me down computer that is not reliable at all.
We have talked about re-financing the house but with the Home Equity loan we took out almost 2 years ago we'd have to figure that in and we'd be paying the same amount we do now. My oldest is in Kindergarten right now, and I have actually been looking for a part time job but no one is hiring right now.
We have 2 vehicles, our van and my DH's work truck. The only thing we would be able to sell is his truck and we would get nothing for it. It's old run down and a complete piece of "bleep!"
But DH should be making his bonus this month which will be very nice and we have our renter that lives in our spare room off of the garage. He works with DH and is a very nice young kid. So that's an extra $300 a month!
Plus DH says as long as the house gets paid and all of the ulitities we need we can do with out cable, and cell phones. And if worse comes to worse and the credit cards don't get paid for a couple months then so be it, at least we would still have a roof over our heads.
DH is determined that we will get through this and in a couple of years things will be back to normal. He is a very optomistic person so I am trusting in him.

[kerc]

shannon --> I think I'd include something that said you're really excited about somethng creative you made (in addition to money is really tight).

We bought a tree friday. It was so much fun to take erin to cut it down and set it up and everything. To me it was worth the 20 bucks.


I try to convince my dh to stay home every darn year for xmas. We'd just be able to do so much more without the 300 dollar trip. But...off we are going again this year. I announced on thanksgiving that next year we will be traveling for thanksgiving (or maybe not) and then home for christmas.

[Ambrose]

I'm new and just found this but here's what I've done

For Christmas presents this year I have done this:

Mom and Dad: get babysitting "gift certificates" so they can get away from their DS (4) and DD (2) while Big Sis (me, I'm 19) watches them. Each Certificate lasts for one monthbefore it expires BUT I've made up 24 certificates. The limit is 2 per month. I used paper and markers and crayons that I found around the house.

DH: "Gift Certificates" for homemade food my way. Since DD was born 4 months ago I haven't been able to cook much. So I made six certificates (2 breakfast foods like omlets and french toast, 2 dinner foods like lasagna and pork chops and two desserts like chocolate chip cookies and apple pie). Restrictions apply though. He has to give me 48 hours notice. So I can make sure I have all supplies and so I can drop my DD at my mom's for the hours it takes to cook it.

That's all I have in my family aside from me and DD. But since we don't have much money (well... none for xmas presents) this was the next best thing.

[dinade]

Thats an awesome gift...

Lethia's mom. I wish people would give me babysitting gift certs. My brother asked me what I wanted and I told him babysitting and he said well you can have that anytime. I feel weird asking him to babysit but if I had those certs I probably wouldn't feel so weird.

My il's this year we are bringing a talent to christmas. So say I'm good at baking that's what I bring and then whoever wants to can take my cert for baking and make a request. Then I'll bake and deliver. I'm very excited that my dh family is finally getting the hang of it. Christmas isn't about who has the most stuff, yk. They used to really load us up and it was so ridiculous we could barely get the car loaded and home. But this year it's going to be different. It's so nice to not stress and shop and buy people things they probably wouldn't want. Going to make my holiday much nicer.

I've decided to get the boys dry erase boards and markers for christmas. I'm asking on freecycle to see if I can get some that someone has in their attic. So far no luck but hopefully some will turn up soon.

Sounds like everyone is doing so well this year. I'm very excited to telll my boys that this year they get moma and daddy's time. We've decided to play games and or do an arts craft thing every day with them. So that's what most of their Christmas presents are going to be. And most of it was stuff that I already had. Yay me. Hope you guys are having a fun holiday. I need to do some baking for my ds's teachers and then I'm pretty much done.

[lunchbox]

This are ok here. I am thankful that dd is still young enough to not care that all of her gifts come from Goodwill. It will be a small Xmas still (DH and I won't be exchanging again this year ). We've made so many gifts - knitted scarves, jams and jellies, an afghan for MIL, knitted coasters for my mom. I also wrote out 12 new recipes for my mom that I tested throughout the last year. She is always complaining that she cooks the same old things.

DH had some dental work that wiped us out. He got a tooth pulled instead of a root canal because we couldn't afford it. That makes me so sad because every time I see that empty spot, it reminds me how crappy it is to be poor. He still needs glasses (lost them a few months ago) but that will have to wait too.

DH cut, split and sold 5 truckloads of firewood for extra money. (A friend had a bunch of trees down after some storms.) I begged him to use it for his dental or glasses but he insisted on using it for Xmas gifts for the kids in our family. Sigh.

I did have some interest in some beaded fan pulls that I made using old vintage jewelry and some new beads. I gave some to DH's aunt for a hostess gift at Thanksgiving and she has some friends that would like to see what I have. If I could sell enough, I could surprise DH with new glasses.

All in all, I am much happier and less stressed about the holidays without racking up tons of cc debt to buy gifts. I am ok with giving smaller handmade stuff now - it used to bother me a lot.

[ShannonCC]

Christmas is going pretty good here It's become a challenge to see how much I can do with next to no money to spend :LOL I edited the letter and sent it off to MIL so we're off the hook for the $20 pants.

I'm planning to get gifts for the kids from the thrift store. I know I can get them presents there for less than $15 (we usually only buy 2 or 3 presents per kid anyway). I don't think my dd will notice and if she does, she won't care. We've bought plenty of toys and almost all her clothing (what isn't handed down) from there and she's never cared it wasn't new. I'm not always the best mom but at least I'm very proud I'm successfully not raising a snob

For my family we have a name draw for three people. I picked one person who will get a knick knack from my china cabinet. Another person will get a dog training book from my shelf and my extra clicker that goes with it. The third person I don't know. Before the money hit the fan (:LOL) I had planned on getting her a donation to Heifer in her name and it's such a good cause I might have to find $10 somewhere to still do it. We'll see.

The in-laws are getting crocheted scarves in their favorite colors. I did have to buy one skein of yarn for one person but that was less than $4 (every other color I already had) for 4 people. I think I'm going to take the leftovers and make crazy striped scarves for the kids if I have the time.

We're going to make a coupon for Grandma-in-law for dh to come over and hang stuff in her assisted living apartment. Pictures, plants, whatever. Dh at first objected that he'd do it anyway (like Dina's brother said). I pointed out that his mom will babysit anytime and yet she gave us babysitting coupons and we appreciated it. It's a cool idea and makes it more "real" yk?

I wanted one more gift for all the in-laws and was thinking I could make rice bags to heat in the microwave. I adore mine and it's been around and used for years. I'm going to check out what sort of fabric I have around the house and see what I can make. I'd only have to buy the rice and I can afford that (a 10 lb bag of generic brand white rice is only a few dollars!).

I have no idea what I'm doing for dh.

We're not sending out Christmas cards this year. It just adds up too fast. Buying the cards and the postage are bad enough but we usually put a picture of the kids in and that's even more money. We're still taking pictures of the kids (homemade - no studio or anything) and we'll hand them out as presents. MIL has a bunch of old picture frames she asked if we wanted. We're going to pick through them and find ones that will fit and then give close family members (the ones who will appreciate it) framed pictures of the kids for only the cost of a re-print.

And I'm collecting Sunday comics to wrap presents in :LOL We do have some leftover paper from last year too and plenty of bows left over. If the paper and comics run out we'll be making our own with craft paper and paints.

We did buy a tree : For *me* having a tree is more important than presents. It's just too big a part of Christmas for us to give up. And it was too much fun getting it, setting it up, decorating it. It was $25 and the tinsel was about $1.50 :LOL Everything else we already had from last year.

Should this be a new thread? Christmas on a budget or something?

(((Merrill))) Tell your dh that his present to you should be new glasses for him! New glasses would definitely come before presents for me but that's because I'm half blind without mine :LOL

[ShannonCC]

Oh, I forgot the best part! I wasn't going to get my mom anything and was feeling bad about it. She would understand but still, she's my mom.

So tonight she was over here and saw my silicone pot holders that MIL gave me last year. She commented that she has some but can't find anymore in the same colors (that I have) and how much she likes them.

Weeeellllll, I've never cared for them. I tried them once and I prefer cloth holders. So after she left I scrubbed them up to look brand new and she's getting them for Christmas

[ChristyH]

Luckily I am having a stress free Christmas this year. Everyone knows things are hard right now so no one in my family is expecting presents. Of course I am getting or making very inexpensive things but thats it. The only ones getting brand new items are the kids. We went shopping tonight and got the kids some nice things and didn't spend alot at all. Paid cash too so it didn't even go on the credit card.

[lunchbox]

Originally Posted by ShannonCC

(((Merrill))) Tell your dh that his present to you should be new glasses for him! New glasses would definitely come before presents for me but that's because I'm half blind without mine :LOL

The upside is that without his glasses, he can't tell how crummy I look.

[kerc]

hi everyone.
I'm deciding not to attend my grandmother's funeral due to debt. I'm : about the whole issue with my family (i.e. not returning phone calls, etc). But it is really driving home the idea that we need to get out from under this burden.

[dinade]

I'm so sorry you are going through ...

: such a rough spot lunchbox. I hope and pray you have a fun and joyful Christmas in spite of it. IT's hard when you squeeze your money so tight it squeeks.

Kerc I pray you get through this trying time and are somehow comforted. I'm sorry you can't attend and yet understand totally. no need to : :

[Peppermint]

Kristin,

I am so sorry about the loss of your Grandma. That situation sure does drive home the need to G.O.O.D..

My motivator is wanting to adopt a baby in a few years.

[Belleweather]

Originally Posted by Peppermint

My motivator is wanting to adopt a baby in a few years.

That's the most fabulous motivator, isn't it? I was thinking this afternoon as I was walking in the very cold home from school how nice it would be to have a bike or a scooter to get to class, especially when it's cold. Just as I was trying to justify it to myself I thought "You know... the money you would spend on a bike or a scooter would be a big percentage of that agency fee you hope to be paying for in the next few years." -- and suddenly, walking became ever so much more attractive!

Kirsten: What a tough thing to have happen. I hope you're doing alright and that you can find some other way to have closure with your grandmother.

Christmas is a mess here. Our checking account was overdrawn because our car insurance company didn't manage to process our automatic payment correctly... DH managed to get half the charges reversed, but that's still a substantial portion of our christmas budget that now goes to overdraft fees. :

However, my IL's just bought me the strangest blender in the universe for my birthday, which isn't until mid-december. It's this "Magic Bullet Blender", which special bits to slice, dice, and make frozen drinks. It was lovely of them to get me something, but I can't even imagine using the thing, since I'm not really into gadgetry in the kitchen, and it's just more crap to keep track of. I'm seriously thinking of E-Baying it behind DH's back and then buying him something nice with the proceeds.

[kerc]

thanks mamas. I'm not hiding in shame, more like I just don't want to deal with my family, YK?

adoption ----> WOW! What a fabulous thing.

peppermint, how's the new salary? have you gotten a check yet?

[newmainer]

hey mamas.... just checking in over here. some great christmas plans! shannon, i love the potholders- that's awesome!!

lunchbox, your dh wanting to get things for the kids instead of himself brings me to tears... that's so sweet.

well, dh and I are selling things on ebay for christmas money, and I just signed up to give to a mama here on MDC with some of the money i'll receive. As much as I'd love to give gifts to my family with it all, it will feel good to give to a mama here in need who I "know" and be thankful that I can do that, despite needing to get out of debt. Important to remember that while we have our problems, we have a lot of richness in our lives.

[Peppermint]

Kerc-
Yes, dh is bringing home $600 more a month at his new job, I am sooo thankful. Of course, that has been eaten up for a while with my transmission dying and needing to pay out $3400 in car repairs, my dad loaned us the money, but we are paying him back first before putting money to the CC debt. I think generosity must be re-paid right away. He saved us from putting it on the CC.

Adoption- I had always hoped to do it someday, and I used to consider it rather altruistic of myself . Now, it is something my heart truly aches for, and it has become a dream that I hope will come true, nothing altruistic about it. I can't physically have more kids, so really the adoption is selfish for me.

Newmainer- You are very right about giving. I spent more on our "giving tree" kids than on our own kids. My kids will get gifts from so many people and they are blessed with plently of food, a warm home, bedrooms, clothes, etc. They don't have the "need" other kids do. I have seen that many of the "needy" moms from Tracy and Gemini's thread are "giving" to others in the form of gently used items, we all are so very blessed really, we have to give back.

So, I am starting to realize the many levels of this "getting out of debt" goal. It is not just about not spending so much. It is about lowering spending, finding additional ways to bring in income, paying bills on time all of the time. There are lots of committments to make on this goal.

The past few years I have made New Year's resolutions that I have kept. One was to eat healthier, and another was to keep my house cleaner. This year it is going to be paying bills as soon as they come (now that I have the money for minimums all of time). I think this will make a big difference, no late fees, a constant reminder of how much money we have, etc.

Well, I gotta go do some work, How's everybody else doing?

Megan- did your dh get a new job?

[kerc]

patty ---> I *just* got that your username, Peppermint, goes with your IRL name. :LOL

I finished my xmas shopping yesterday. I have a handful of things to sew up for my family for their stockings -- fleece socks and the like. I feel like i have been spending money hand over fist but some of the stuff is a long time coming...for instance I just bought new shoes and new jeans for myself. Both on ebay. Erin needed new diapers, again ebay.

One key frustration I have is the inability I have to find stuff locally. I try and try to shop local --- but last week we went to buy Erin some boots and new snowpants. She needs a warm, yet trim pair of snowpants for going out in the sled for skiing and the backpack for snowshoeing. Too thick and she is a little escape artist. Anyhow, long story short -- three stores, one cranky baby and 2 hours later, still no boots or snowpants. And i was looking new, not even thrift stores. I wish i had started my search on ebay to begin with.

[Book Addict Jen]

Hi! I thought I would join you! We are about $400-500 short each month for bills. We just dropped our dish. My biggest problem is eating out. I have to stop. But I have fibro with makes me to tired to cook. DH has 2 jobs & I have 3 online biz. Tying to make ends meet. We also have been dropped from 2 car ins companies for non-payment. Trying to find out how to lower outgoing & increase incoming.


Is this a good idea?

Interest Only for the First 15 Years

With an Interest First Mortgage loan, you pay only the interest on the mortgage in monthly payments for a fixed term*. This is a great option if you are looking for greater purchasing power and increased cash flow. This plan could result in hundreds of dollars in monthly savings.

This is an excellent option which allows you to:

Gain greater purchasing power
Pay only the interest on a mortgage in monthly payments for a fixed term
Use the flexibility of an interest-only loan to lower monthly payments and increase cash flow by paying off your principal whenever you want
You may also receive a tax deduction, so consult your tax adviser for specific information.
Ultimate flexibility
Increased cash flow
Greater purchasing power
http://ditech.com/refinance/interest.html

If we can drop our house payment down a couple hundred it would help out sooo much. BUt I don't want to do something stupid either.

I am trying to organize a locaol AP yard sale too. I have so much stuff I could get rid of. I hate Ebay or I would list it all. Plus it would be a full time job listing everything I want to get rid of.

[Bethla]

O.K. mamas I need some help. I have a problem. I know we are broke but I'm having a hard time acknowledging that! We have a high credit card debt, partle due to my son having heart surgery and needing to travel. And the other part being lack of self-control.

Basically I want to know what should be my first step in changing our ways. We have gotten rid of most of our "extras" from our monthly bills. The only extra we have left is our cell phones which my husband needs for work and I need for our son. And we rarely eat out, but we do spend a lot on groceries.

I am seeking your wisdom....