Dumping Debt with Dave Ramsey/DECEMBER

[DesireeH]

Hope it was ok to start a new monthly thread!

Oh yeah, I had a question too....
Do CC go before car payments or are all debts debts and go from lowest to highest no matter what? Example....we have a $350 CC...which would go first (and hopefully fast!) and then the truck we owe 5K on and we have an 7K CC. Paying off the truck would free up a $240 payment a month. Freeing up the 7K card would free up only $112. We'll have a decent tax return and may be able to pay off the entire truck....and then we could sell it, get a beater and put the selling money towards the bigger card? Is that not the right order of "rules?"

Also about taxes....we continously keep getting a huge refund each year (like 5K)....personally I'd rather have that throughout the year. That's over $400 a month, yk? But we already claim "married/4" Hmmm........ Having extra a month would help to pay down debt.

[Maggi315]

hi,
I want to sub and try to keep up.

I have recently been hospitalized and haven't been working much. even with our insurance, our co-pays, out of pockets,etc. are killing us. I truly don't think we are going to be able to pay our mortgage this month for the first time ever!!! We have been trying hard to keep our credit good because we want to put this house on the market and move to something cheaper. But if we miss mortgage payments, I know it can kill your credit, one site (maybe live like no one else?) said that it can lower it 100 points!!! Ouch! So we are thinking we may have to put in on the credit card:to keep the credit scores looking good.

I look forwardto after the christmas season, tax season, etc. and when I am back on my feet and ready to get back to work with DR's stuff, we were working hard on getting rid of the debt, keeping our 1000 in the bank, using the envelopes, but all that has kind of gone outthe window for the time being.

I posted my budget last month, working onthis months, I am going to hop over to the other forum and ask some questions about reducing energy bills for the winter, that's a huge expense for us here in PA, we are all electric, it kills us!

[excitedtobeamom]

Dave always says go from the smallest debt to the largest. He also says don't get a huge tax refund. That would make your snowball a lot bigger. Getting a big tax refund is like loaning all that money interest free to the government.

My husband uses their calculators to figure out how much to claim for taxes so that we don't owe anything but we get very little back:
http://www.paycheckcity.com/

[DesireeH]

Barb- Can you call and see if they will defer it a month? Especially around this time of year, I am sure they would be willing to do so. I've paid a few days late before (accident, my bank took longer than it should have to send) and I got a "late fee" attached but it didnt damage our credit at all.

That's tough, mama...hang in there!

Dave always says go from the smallest debt to the largest. He also says don't get a huge tax refund. That would make your snowball a lot bigger. Getting a big tax refund is like loaning all that money interest free to the government.

My husband uses their calculators to figure out how much to claim for taxes so that we don't owe anything but we get very little back:
http://www.paycheckcity.com/

Thank you, I'll try that!! Our friends claim like 8 and they only have 3 kids and they still dont have to pay but just dont get any back.

[TattooedMama]

Originally Posted by excitedtobeamom

Dave always says go from the smallest debt to the largest. He also says don't get a huge tax refund. That would make your snowball a lot bigger. Getting a big tax refund is like loaning all that money interest free to the government.
My husband uses their calculators to figure out how much to claim for taxes so that we don't owe anything but we get very little back:
http://www.paycheckcity.com/

Definitely get your withholding changed so you don't have a large tax refund.
My DP is self employed and we pay A LOT of money to his self employement taxes, it sucks.

Thanks for starting the December thread DesireeH!!

[dealic]

Hi!

Barb - I am sorry to hear of your troubles. I would definitely look into seeing if they will let you miss or defer a payment. I'm in Canada, but most mortgages I have looked into seem to offer that feature. It can't hurt to ask.

Yesterday was payday, and a momentous payday it was: we now owe hundreds rather than thousands of dollars! My LOC is now at $900! I was able to move some money around (deposit some cash I had been given) and add another $100 to it, exceeding even my highest lofty goals! We should have no problem paying it off by the end of the year! 2008 is a clean slate!

[SugarAndSun]

I'm in! I just finished reading Total Money Makeover and we are on our way. We have some minor medical debts that we are going to pay this month and then start chugging at the ccs.

I think Dave would say to get rid of the truck, btw. He is VERY against car debt.

[gratefulbambina]

subbing I'm going to be starting full force Jan 1

[phathui5]

Hey all!

We are finished Baby Step 1!!!!! As of yesterday, our Basic Emergency Fund if at $1000. We are moving on to step two.

I'm going to list the steps here for anyone who doesn't know:

$1,000 to start an Emergency Fund
Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
Three to six months of expenses in savings
Invest 15 percent of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement
College funding for children
Pay off home early
Build wealth and give!
Invest in mutual funds and real estate

[meandk0610]

: still need the book from the library, but will probably start in january (this month i'm concentating on the grocery budget).

[dealic]

Originally Posted by phathui5

Hey all!

We are finished Baby Step 1!!!!! As of yesterday, our Basic Emergency Fund if at $1000. We are moving on to step two.

::
::::

Yay! Congratulations!

[mom2dea]

Originally Posted by phathui5

We are finished Baby Step 1!!!!! As of yesterday, our Basic Emergency Fund if at $1000. We are moving on to step two.

WTG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mom2dea]

Debt is :
HSBC : 0/600.00 PAID Nov 1st
Best buy :0/484.00 PAID Dec 1st
household :993.00/1041.00 (we had this down and then a annually fee was charged)
Providian :1174.00/1253.00
medical bill for DD theraphy was 120.00 when we started the plan now PAID Nov 1st
Verizon cell phone 360.00 canceled our cell phones this is our cancel fee
Greenbriar appartments 1300.00/1500.00
School loan 4222.00/4462.00
Car 7065.00/7673.00

Just paid off best buy YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DesireeH]

We are finished Baby Step 1!!!!! As of yesterday, our Basic Emergency Fund if at $1000. We are moving on to step two.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just paid off best buy YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats!

[Maggi315]

Wow congratulations for those hitting their goals! Especially during this holiday season, yeah!!!!

We also have car debt, a very "stupid tax". My husband bought his car and took out the full amount it was worth at the time, 17K, it is now only worth about 10K. We found out we could sell it for that, then take a personal loan out for the 7K. Which would save us about 200.00/month. BUTTTTTT, we don't have any money saved for a new car to replace, so we are kind of stuck with the payments for now, not sure what else, we definitely need two cars and we need something decent, he puts about 30K or miles on per year.

We were able to get rid of our 12 passenger van which was paid off and use that money to get a cheap minivan which definitely saves us money on gas, I drive alot too, most of my clients are rural.

[DesireeH]

I feel ya, Barb. I have a LEASE (aka FLEECE, hahahaa) on a 06 car. Dumb I know. Daphne's carseat wouldnt fit in our "old" paid off car (which was a cute 99 VW passat that I miss) so when she was 2 days old, we leased this. LAME. We didnt think that plan out well. It's $290 a month payment (versus $400 something if we bought instead of leased.) But now I dont think there is a way out until its time to turn it in (June 08). I cant figure that out from the book too. He says how dumb leasing is but doesnt say what to do if you already did it! LOL

[TattooedMama]

Originally Posted by DesireeH

But now I dont think there is a way out until its time to turn it in (June 08). I cant figure that out from the book too. He says how dumb leasing is but doesnt say what to do if you already did it! LOL

Call or email his show! That is a great question to find out an answer to.

[DesireeH]

He's on Myspace too. LOL I should Myspace him! LOL

[LilMama23]

We finished Baby Step #1 yesterday! I am so excited that we are finally on our way. Now it's time to tackle our debt - at the same time as remodeling our new house to get it ready to move into. This is going to be a long, slow process for us, but I'm excited to finally get started.

[DesireeH]

Congrats Lauren!!

Okay, emailed Dave. Let's see what happens. LOL

Sold more stuff on TP today. Have $70 already towards that $200 car tag bill. WOOT! I listed a bunch of baby stuff on Craigslist today too and a few other household things. I dont think we'll have to dip into the fund afterall! I have a photoshoot today too, that should help a bit.