October getting out of debt!!!

[PapayaVagina]

Hi everybody. I know that there are many out there that I've talked to previously who are working on getting out of debt! Just thought that maybe we could start a thread to announce our accomplishments with paying things off to share in our excitement!!

This month we:
Consolidated almost all of our credit cards onto one 0 interest and no charge on balance transfer card (x1 year) so that we could pay on principle for a year.
AND
I just wrote a check for $700 to send off to the IRS for some taxes I've been making payments on (leftover from a business I ended a while back, self employment taxes are HORRIBLE!!)

I don't dare say how much debt this leaves us with still but I feel sooooo good that we're really dedicated and actually making a dent!!!!

Anybody else?

[mrzmeg]

We're working on this too:

* Buying a home. Yes, this is more debt---BUT payments will be around $100 less than rent, leaving us with more money to put toward our consumer debt, which is a much bigger worry.

* We got our interest rates knocked down about 3% on each of our two cards.

* DH has a lead for a second job. We calculated it last night and, if he gets it (which is likely), we would have all of our consumer debt, as well as my car, paid off in two years.

Good thread! Let's cheer each other on

[PapayaVagina]

That's so nice that a house payment would be LESS! We've been seriously thinking about buying a house for the tax deductions and to build equity but even with the cheapest houses around here it will cost us at least $300-400 more a month! Yikes! We've decided that we're definitely going to wait until after January before looking again so it gives us time to pay down more debt, save up more, and dodge paying so many property taxes.

We have freed up some more money also since we got married, especially with our insurance. We saving nearly $80 a month now on car insurance since we combined policies and will save more once we transfer over our renter's later this month.

[mrzmeg]

Wow, that house pricing is awful! We really lucked out on this; it's a FSBO by a family friend. I actually remember visiting when I was a kid and hunting for spiders in the back yard . We're getting it below market value and feel pretty lucky.

You never know, though, they're expecting the housing bubble to burst within the next year, especially along the east and west coasts. You might happen upon something great.

[mama kate]

We are in the middle of buying our home but have some redecorating to do - We just paid off a butt load of CC debt - only 10k left to go! (still have s.loans & car but we only have 1 car)
I am working on the daily frugal things - I also am interviewing for another toddler to watch in our home. so a little extra income!

[newcastlemama]

We are thinking about buying land and putting a modular home on it....we could have little or no house payment, more land, and a newer home!!!
Plus gardens, animals, chickens ect....
Our house is our only debt right now , but if we sell now (we live in CA, super expensive) we could make 200,000 in equity !!!!!!!!!

(The only way we were able to get a house is that my husband bought in the fastest growing place in CA before they strated developing it, then they were selling for over double when we left..this house has gone up 100,000 in 2 years!......It's so wrong....we want to sell-out and be truly DEBT FREE!!!!!)

[cloudswinger]

I'll add my accomplishment for this month:

Consolidated 10 credit cards to 5 cards, while reducing the max interest rate from 30%(!) to 6.99% and paying off 10K worth. While dh is working, the goal is to knock off 10k per month. It's a contract job, so it's short term but great paying.

[CarolynnMarilynn]

Well, we bought a house this month, which in the long run is a good thing... DP was laid off for 2 years and we accrued a lot of debt to keep us afloat (I was still a student for 9 months of this time).

We also: made a budget with a plan to pay off and extra $300 in high interest credit a month for 15 months, eliminating that debt

We: bought needed new appliances on an equal billing program, rather than charge them, with a fee that is low and works out to be 2% of the purchase price rather than much higher store credit card rates (didn't have cash outright)

We: Parked some house money in a line of credit account for a few months, thus evaporating the 300 bucks a month payment and interest (though temporary, it will allow us to save $600 and use that money for other things).

We: are working towards a goal of paying all credit cards down to 75% of their balance to further improve our credit score -- then work them down to nothing!

Small things this month, but good things!