Dumping Debt and Building Wealth with Dave Ramsey~ MARCH

[Purple*Lotus]

Hello everyone! Can you believe that tomorrow March is here? It seems like time is flying by.

Welcome to March's Dumping Debt and Building Wealth with Dave Ramsey

We are all at different parts of our jbourneys here. Some of us are just starting out, while others have been going strong for a while now. It does not matter what step you are on, just jump on in for support, encouragment and inspiration

I have copied the main list and am including it here in the first post. Don't forget to let me know when you need added or when you need to update.

Here's to a great month, ladies!

Shane in CT:
0-- Get current on bills - n/a
1 -- $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund done
2 -- Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball done
3 -- Three to six months of expenses in savings done
4 -- Invest 15 percent of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement doing
4.5 Bar Mitzvah funding saving up to $3800/$21,000
5 -- College funding for children after the Bar Mitzvah's are funded
6 -- Pay off home early I so can't wait to be here!
7 -- Build wealth and give! --- Invest in mutual funds and real estate To be able to share will be a bessing.

Stephanie in AR (tannersmommy):
0-- Get current on bills DONE
1 -- $1,455 to start an Emergency Fund (extra for taxes)DONE
2 -- Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
1 DOWN
2 down (medical) 1/08
4 TO GO - $18K (med, cards, & car), $18K SL
3 -- Three to six months of expenses in savings
4 -- Invest 15 percent of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement
5 -- College funding for children
6 -- Pay off home early
7 -- Build wealth and give! --- Invest in mutual funds and real estate

Galatea
BS#0 - na
BS#1 - done
BS#2 - $60000+
BS#3:
BS#4:
BS#5:
BS#6: Student Loan, no mortgage

Carrie (bc1995) in SE AR
BS#1: Done
BS#2: Working on
Student Loan

wendygrace
BS#1:
BS#2: In progress

Sarah (mom2dea)
Sarah from SC
BS#0 - done
BS#1 - done
BS#2 - Just paid off 1 card and 3100.00 towards Dh student loan !!! We have 1000.0 left on the student loan and his car will be paid of Friday and our other CC will be paid off on Monday so we only have that Student laon left
BS#3-Have not started yet will in March
BS#3.5 (have house)
BS#4- contributing 3% This is for my sanity
BS#5- college We are starting a small amount After the Student laon is paid off
BS#6- pay off home 125,000.00 We do pay 120 extra every month and have done this sence day 1

Bunnyslippers:
BS#0 -
BS#1 - 80/1000

MonkeyPrincess

Sam: organic-momma in Calgary AB
BS#0 - done
BS#1 - 50/1000
BS#2 - Before getting our tax refund we owe:
$2244 MC 1
$5346 MC 2
$2633.44 Brick Card
$6234 Consolidation loan
$40,000 Van loan (this is embarrasingly large, we totally got sucked in by the 0% financing when my 6 year old Subaru unexpectedly died on us. I'm not selling it now though because we would lose way too much money)

wendizbaby
BS1: done
BS2: skipping for now. Just so I get it down, we owe: $2000 @ 0% until 2012 for furniture; $16,000 @ 4.9% for car and by the time I get to it, about $10,000 in student loans. Oh and the second on our house: $20,000 @ 8%.
BS3: $6,000/$10,000 - YIPEE!! So I'm staying on this step for the next 4 months or so and then going back to BS2.


gsmama2
BS#0 - done
BS#1 - 350/1000
BS#2 - Medical $500
cc's $2700
car $9000

Mommyjoy7021
BS#0 - in progress
BS#1 -
BS#2 - cc's $12000
IRS
SL

Piglet68 in
BS0 -- N/A (bills were current)
BS1 -- Done.
BS2 -- Currently have two low-interest debts and one small student loan (I've been paying into it for years and it's almost done). We're reversing this step with BS3.5.
BS3 -- Done. (Three months' worth)
BS3.5 -- Goal is to save 30% of DH's salary by December 31, 2008. With this we'll pay off all debts and put the rest towards a downpayment. As someone else said: we "want to own a house so badly, we can taste it"!
BS4 -- Doing this already.
BS5 -- My father is doing this for both of my kids; his idea, a (generous) gift.
BS6 -- Hope to one day!
BS7 -- More hoping!

phathui5
BS#1 - Done
BS#2 $466 Capital One- done!
Bye bye Van Loan
$1091 Best Buy
$1770 Midwife
$2184 HSBC Retail Services
$4249.63 Needed to get out of Truck loan
BS#2.1 - $593.34/$5000 sell truck fund

Sara in SC
BS#1 - done
BS#2 - done
BS#3 - Verizon Wireless 175.00 done
Greenbriair appartments 1200.00 done
IRS 750.00 done
CC#1 1000.00
CC#2 1250.00
DH school Loan 4500.00
DH Car 7000.00[/b]
BS#4 - 3/6 months expenses in bank
BS#5 - Invest in retirement - 3% currently

Jaime in West Virginia: That's me
BS#0 - n/a
BS#1 $922.05/$1000.00 Fully funded as of 02/11/08
BS #2 Roll that snowball, baby
WaMu #1: $821.65
Chase: $4747.87
WaMu#2: $6847.03

Barb in PA:
BS#0 - na
BS#1 - 1/08
BS#2 -


ReikiMommy07
BS#1 - 950/1000

JackieR
0: Get current on bills: Always done
1: $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund $300/$1000
2: Pay off all debt: $8500 home improvement @ 2.9%, $64500 in student loans at about 3.5%
3: Three to six months of expenses in savings $0
4: 15% income into retirement: Always done - Current value about $110K
5: College funding for children: $50/mo goes to their 529 - Current value is about $1100 *Last month I guessed it was 800 but it actually was higher than I thought! Yay!
6: Pay off home early - $145K home loan @5.5%
7: Build wealth and give! Invest in mutual funds and real estate. We have four or five parcels of land beyond our home (hubby's hobby)

Einley in WI
BS#1 DONE
BS#2 working on

my2girlz
BS#0 -
BS#1 -
BS#2 - gymoree - done
Target - in progress

Starling&Diesel in
BS#0 - done
BS#1 - 5/1000
In a standstill right now while getting fertility treatments. Good luck and we hope you end up with a BFP

APBTLuv in
BS#0 -
BS#1 - done
BS#2 - In progress

Guin in New Mexico
BS#0 -
BS#1 - done
BS#2 - working on

Namella in the expensive eastcost
Namellea in the expensive eastcoast
BS#0 - done
BS#1 - done
BS#2 - working on slowly. Two small student loans ($3K total) and Car (14K).
BS#3-Done (out of order)
BS#3.5 (have house)
BS#4- contributing 5% (out of order)
BS#5- college (thankfully grandparents are helping out already)
BS#6- pay off home (have combined Large SL (70K remaining) with this step; owe about $90K on house.


Heather somewhere in the northeast
BS#0 - done 1/08
BS#1 - Step 1: $771.25/1000. WOOOHOOOOO
BS#2 - HD:1867.28
Car: 3681.69
WaMu: 7078.28
At&T: 16,155.03
UCU: 11,465.43
Student Loan: 100,000
BS#3 -
BS#4 -
BS#5 - $200,000 mortgage
BS#7 -

MissSJ:
0-- Get current on bills Done
1 -- $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund Done
2 -- Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball Our only debt is our car, what is the Debt Snowball?
3 -- Three to six months of expenses in savings Definately not done.
3.5 -- save for downpayment on house if you do not already own a house Done
4 -- Invest 15 percent of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement We are currently putting 8% into dh's 401k but I'm guessing it is more important to pay off the car and build up our savings than to increase this to 15%?
5 -- College funding for children I wanted to open a 529 for the boys next month, per Dave Ramsey is it better to all of the above first? What about the tax benefits?
6 -- Pay off home early I don't even see this happening... What is the benefit, other than obviously not having a mortgage?
7 -- Build wealth and give! --- Invest in mutual funds and real estate

Amanda in
BS 0 - getting current

ILoveMyBabyBird in
BS#0 - getting current

Liz from Maryland (phathui5)
DONE0-- Get current on bills
DONE1 -- $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund
$5k to sell dh's truck, then about $5k more for other ones
2 -- Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
3 -- Three to six months of expenses in savings
4 -- Invest 15 percent of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement
5 -- College funding for children
6 -- Pay off home early
7 -- Build wealth and give! --- Invest in mutual funds and real estate

TattooedMama
0-- Get current on bills DONE
1 -- 300/$1,000 to start an Emergency Fund
2 -- Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
3 -- Three to six months of expenses in savings
4 -- Invest 15 percent of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement (still investing $100 monthly in Roth IRA)
5 -- College funding for children
6 -- Pay off home early
7 -- Build wealth and give! --- Invest in mutual funds and real estate

CeciMami in NV
0: Get current on bills: DONE
1: $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund: DONE
2: Pay off all debt: $13K in CC's, $21K in Car Loan, $16 in Student Loans
3: Three to six months of expenses in savings: $10K/$10K DONE
4: 15% income into retirement: On Hold for now
5: College funding for children: On Hold for now
6: Pay off home early: In the distant future!
7: Build wealth and give: Someday!!!


Amanda (mumkenna&lucas) in CA
0-- Get current on bills DONE
1 -- $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund (575/1000) we are here!2 -- Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
3 -- Three to six months of expenses in savings
4 -- Invest 15 percent of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement
5 -- College funding for children
6 -- Pay off home early
7 -- Build wealth and give! ---

Daisie125 (michigan)
0-- Get current on bills - done! Finally!
1 -- $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund - $40.76/$1000
2 -- Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
3 -- Three to six months of expenses in savings
3.5 -- save for downpayment on house if you do not already own a house already have a house with a mortgage
4 -- Invest 15 percent of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement
5 -- College funding for children
6 -- Pay off home early
7 -- Build wealth and give!

esokitty in
BS 0 - getting current

artparent in
BS#0 - done
BS#1 - 700/1000
BS#2 - we have snowballed both credit cards to 0, but allowed them to pop up again. i'm addressing this in another thread!!! have a creditline to pay down, and another loan. i'm hoping to get rid of our car and join a co-op/ride a bike!

Ann in MN:
BS#0 - done
BS#1 - done
BS#2 - in progress

Elizabeth in CT:
BS#0:
BS#1:

Bridget in Missouri:
BS#0 -
BS#1 -
BS#3 -

arismomkoofie, Kelsi
0 -- Done!
1 -- $2,000/$2000
2 -- All paid off except SL
3 -- Working on this while...
3.5 -working on this!
4 -- Invest 15 percent of household income (Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement)
5 -- College fund
6 -- Pay off house
7 -- Build wealth and give!

TanyaS in
0: Get current on bills: DONE
1: $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund DONE
2: Pay off all debt: Since 2/1/08, we have paid off 18% of our total debt. Mostly with the help of tax returns and selling some things around the house.
3: Three to six months of expenses in savings $0
4: 15% income into retirement: On hold to put every extra penny to debt snowball.
5: College funding for children: $0
6: Pay off home early - $112K home loan @5.5%
7: Build wealth and give!


Michelle in an expensive city:
BS#0: done
BS#1: done
BS#2: in progress

Mommyddeville
0-- Get current on bills - n/a
1 -- $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund *currently at $800
2 -- Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball *snowballing right now
3 -- Three to six months of expenses in savings *will do
3.5 -- save for downpayment on house if you do not already own a house *already have a house with a modest mortgage
4 -- Invest 15 percent of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement *currently at 7%
5 -- College funding for children *not started
6 -- Pay off home early *I want to move into a big enough house for our family, and then pay it off
7 -- Build wealth and give! --- Oh, to be at that point!

Allyoop 20 minutes from NYC
BS#0 -
BS#1 -
BS#2 - in progress

Jean (Red) in Mass
BS#0 - Get current on bills- 1 down, 2 to go.
S#1 -$2,000 to start an Emergency Fund~ done
S#2 - Pay off all debt~ 2 down, 1 to go
S#3 -Three to six months of expenses in savings
S#4 - 15% income into retirement (Ours is ok, taken care of by union, but anyone's could be better!)
S#5 - too late, counseling kids to do better.
S#6 - pay off home~ can't wait. Hoping for 2022
S#7 ~ This will be amazing.

Andrea in TX:
BS#0 - done
BS#1 - done
BS#2 - Done as of 02/14/08
Now working on second mortgage

Wendi in:
BS#0 - in progress

ILoveMyBabyBird
BS#0 - in progress

lalaland42
Get bills current. - done
Emergency Fund - done
Pay off debt using snowball - Working on it!

Viv
BS#0 -

Charissa in OR
BS#0 -
BS#1 - done
BS#2 - in progress

Curvyred in
BS#0 - already done
BS#1 - done + month ahead budgeting
BS#2 - approx $60k, aiming to get $36k done this year!
BS#3 - not there yet
BS#4 - Still contributing company match. Not willing to stop.
BS#5:- Nothing yet--babe is still young though, so we'll catch up!
BS#6:- Can't wait!

sarahlyao
BS # 1 825.07/1000

mtm
I'm in step two, paid off my cc in Dec and now we're snowballing into dh's cc.

DandeCobb Emily in Kentucky
0: Get current on bills: Done
1: $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund $2500/$5000 (see siggie - maternity leave)
2: Pay off all debt: ALL credit cards PAID OFF and CANCELLED
28,000 Truck loan @ 7%
3: Three to six months of expenses in savings- soon, i hope
4: 15% income into retirement: 6% to get company matching
5: College funding for children: $50/mo to a mutual fund
6: Pay off home early - $118K
7: Build wealth and give!

Maggi315:
:
0-- Done, current on bills
1 -- Done
2 -- Debt including car: 49K
3 -- not yet
4 -- 1% of our yearly income from husbands job
5 -- college: community for oldest, not even thinking about others yet!
6 -- someday!
7 -- Someday!

Littleaugustbaby
0 - DONE
1 - EF $380/1000 (I only got paid for 1/2 the month of January, so I should be fully funded by the end of this month!)

Lafemmedesfemmes Christina
0-- Get current on bills
1 -- $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund- done
2 -- Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball.
3 -- Three to six months of expenses in savings.
3.5 -- Save for downpayment on house if you do not already own a house.
we're in an apartment, and want to own a house so badly, we can taste it.
4 -- Invest 15 percent of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement
5 -- College funding for children
6 -- Pay off home early
7 -- Build wealth and give! --- Invest in mutual funds and real estate

allingreen
Step #0: Done.
Step #1: $1000.00/$1000.00

cdahlgrd/Courtney
#0 in progess
#1 in progress
#2 3 credit cards, 1 student loan, van loan

Crunchy Doula/Jessica
0-- Get current on bills - Just about, this was the first month we weren't able to make a bill
1 -- $0/$1,000 to start an Emergency Fund - Starting
2 -- $0/$7450 Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball - Ring, Capital One, Capital One, Chase, Discover, Us Bank; will have Ring, and both Capital Ones paid off completely in a week and the other three will be very low.
3 -- Three to six months of expenses in savings
4 -- Invest 15 percent of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement
5 -- College funding for children
6 -- Paid down mortgage n/a
7 -- Invest in mutual funds and real estate

kittywitty
1. $0/1000
2. $0/$37k (including car and student loans). Will be ~$4800/37k by end of month,
3. 0
4. 8% being taken out right now
5. College funding free for my kids, will save for extras like study abroad later
8. No home yet!
9. n/a
10. n/a

kayleesmom
BS#0- working on
BS#1- EF
BS#2 Debt Snowball

Mama Rana
Here's where we stand:
BS0 - not a problem
BS1 - done
bs2 - done
BS3 - I've got $2175/$15,000 I want to move that money into a different account though. I was thinking of a Money market (with checking) maybe with ING.BS4 - We're already at about 9% with DH's 401K and our IRA's
BS5 - We're funding this at about $200 a month
BS6 - I was working on this, but I'm going to put that on hold while I finish BS3. I did set up bimonthly payments which will end up being 13 full payments a year (26 half payments), rather than 12.
BS 7 - Can't wait!

FeelingBlessed
0-- Get current on bills - N/A
1 -- $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund - will be done w/ tax return (should be received this week - raided recently with renovation project)
2 -- Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball - here we sit
3 -- Three to six months of expenses in savings
3.5 -- save for downpayment on house if you do not already own a house - Done
4 -- Invest 15 percent of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement - we currently invest minimally in my 403(b); have IRAs from previous positions
5 -- College funding for children - both kiddos have 529s; mostly funded with financial gifts
6 -- Pay off home early - someday...
7 -- Build wealth and give! --- Invest in mutual funds and real estate - have a few real estate investment properties, one of which we will be selling within the next couple of years

dex millie
0: Get current on bills: Always done
1: $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund: always working on this(we are not as strick on this)
2: Pay off all debt: CC1-PAID(it was 4000); CC2: 1900; BIL: 1150; MIL: 5000; Studentloan1: 10,000; Studentloan2: 11,000

kerc
0: Done
1: $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund $500/$1000
2: Pay off all debt: 15k in credit card debt at 12 percent, 5 k in student loans at 7 percent, 8k on a van at 6 percent, 93k in student loans at 5 percent . we also have a home loan, but I'm not considering that here because frankly it's too depressing in addition to our student loans.
3: Three to six months of expenses in savings $0
4: 15% income into retirement: done for hubby, can't do for me yet.
5 -- College funding for children:
6 -- Pay off home early
7: Build wealth and give!

alleyoop
BS 0 - N/A
BS 1 & BS 3 - continually adding to it
bs 2 - truck loan
BS 4 - 3% for me (matched by employer), nothing for DH yet

leomom
BS 1: Done, but need to refund tomorrow to get it back to 1000
BS 2: I'll be here a while....popcorn, anyone?

ArtsyMomma
BS0: Completed in Feb 2008!
BS1: 0/1000
BS2: 1000 medical debt, 1350 in CC debt, 3364 in Student Loans

SarahLi
#0 done (we actually found an extra 300$ a month by starting a new budget)
#1 done 1000$
#2 my student loan working on this... 8400 left
#3
#4
#5
#6 save for a dp (we don't own a home yet, in military housing)
#7

mia_jean
0-- Get current on bills - done! Finally!
1 -- $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund -$1000
2 -- Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball -this looks daunting,but baby steps right?
3 -- Three to six months of expenses in savings
4 -- Invest 15 percent of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement
5 -- College funding for children
6 -- Pay off home early
7 -- Build wealth and give!

lauriem33
0-- Get current on bills : always done
1 -- $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund : done
2 -- Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball : $29K in student loans at 7.5% which will increase some over the next two years as I'm going back to school (going for my RN though so anticipate making a decent amount to pay this off fairly quickly)
3 -- Three to six months of expenses in savings : just starting, only $100 so far but are working toward this before trying to pay off student loans in BS2
4 -- Invest 15 percent of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement : currently invest 5% plus get matching 5%
5 -- College funding for children : ugh, none yet, pray for scholarships
6 -- Pay off home early : owe $128K @ 2% with 27 years left
7 -- Build wealth and give!

jeca
0-- Get current on bills ALWAYS DONE!!
1 -- $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund DONE!!
2 -- Pay off all debt :1850O TO PAY INCLUDING CAR PAYMENT
3 -- Three months of expenses in savings 1800 OF 13200
4 -- Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement :HAVE ONE BUT NOT SAVING 15% YET
5 -- College funding for children DS HAS ONE
6 -- Pay off home early:NO HOME YET
7 -- Build wealth and give! ---ONE DAY

westernskies
Brie
0-- Get current on bills DONE
1 -- $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund DONE
2 -- Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball Paid off smallest snowball today-HOORAY!, threw $100 at next snowball which is at $2037.15 now
3 -- Three to six months of expenses in savings
4 -- Invest 15 percent of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement- Investing 6% now
5 -- College funding for children
6 -- Pay off home early
7 -- Build wealth and give!


Kierdan'sMom
0-- Get current on bills Done
1 -- $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund 10/1000
2 -- Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
Currently owe:
$850 Lowes
$694.40 WaMu
$1088 Citi
$1394 Discover
$252.00 UU membership
3 -- Three to six months of expenses in savings
3.5 -- save for downpayment on house if you do not already own a house Own a house, saving for a Class C MoHo for travelling home for DH's work
4 -- Invest 15 percent of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement Not started...DH will begin pension employment in 1 year
5 -- College funding for children DS is fully funded through a pre-paid, gift. DD has been promised same, but not counting on it
6 -- Pay off home early We've done this most months, just sending in a few extra dollars
7 -- Build wealth and give! --- Invest in mutual funds and real estate

[COLOR="Navy"]dhinderliter
1- up to date on bills CHECK!
2- Emergeny fund
/COLOR]

lizziebits
BS0 -- N/A
BS1 -- $1000 Emergency Fund. Done! Yay!
BS2 -- $30 Blockbuster -- Must right check$50 -- Library Fines -- Paid
$200 -- My parents (they wanted to purchase a new stove for us as a gift, gave us an amount and said if we wanted something more than that we could pay the balance. So we owe them the difference)
$18000 -- Student loans
$24000 -- 2nd Mortgage (we got this to avoid paying PMI)
BS3 -- Fully fund emergency fund. We'll need about $10,000 for 3 months worth of saving.
BS4 -- 15% to retirement. We actually currently put 7.5% away, as my husband is a teacher in Pennsylvania, and his retirement savings are matched twice (as in, matched by two different groups) up to 7.5%
BS5 -- DS has about $200 saved for college...
BS6 -- Pay off home. We'd love love love to be able to pay off this house before we move to our "forever" house. It seems like a stretch right now, but we shall see!

[kerc]

somehow I missed this in my intro:
0: Done
1: $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund $500/$1000
2: Pay off all debt: 15k in credit card debt at 12 percent, 5 k in student loans at 7 percent, 8k on a van at 6 percent, 93k in student loans at 5 percent . we also have a home loan, but I'm not considering that here because frankly it's too depressing in addition to our student loans.
3: Three to six months of expenses in savings $0
4: 15% income into retirement: done for hubby, can't do for me yet.
5 -- College funding for children:
6 -- Pay off home early
7: Build wealth and give!



and unfortunately we don't have any "found" money. LOL we "found" it all already.

But it is friday and it is payday. Wahooooo! ok not really. it means its time to go grocery shopping and time to send out payments. Oh and it's time to pay the mortgage because it's the first of the month.

[Einley]

Subbing for March

I cannot believe it is March tomorrow. We have so much freaking snow here and I'm having a hard time believing that Spring will ever be here.

I'm having a hard time doing this zero budget deal. And figuring out where to keep this money that I'm earmarking in the budget for different expenses. And figuring out how much money to put away for the different things. It's got me all flustered. lol.
I'm thinking of opening another bank account for this. I don't know if I should do that or just put the money into savings with the BEF or what.

We're also trying to decide if we should sell my dh's car and buy a cheap one (under 5K) outright to get rid of the monthly payment for the car loan. His payment is about $360 and he is driving a relatively new Honda Accord. It's a great, reliable car and I'm scared that buying a cheap one may be buying more problems and hence eating as much money as the monthly payment that we have now. And of course shelling out that kind of money at once will really put a dent in the snowball for a bit, but in the long run, if we get a good, reliable car, it may be a good thing. I just don't know what to do.
Any insight on any of my ramblings would be greatly appreciated!

[Guinevere]

I'm back for March!

Exciting bit of news on our cc debt front -- thanks to some careful budgeting this past month and really cutting back on our non-essentials and food budget, I ended up with $725.95 to snowball towards our cc!

To put this in perspective, we have $150/mo. right now budgeted to go towards this debt, so that's like $575 I "found" by being frugal in February. How cool is that? And that was AFTER all the bills had been paid. I can't tell you how excited I am about this!

While our cc debt is at 0% interest, it's still around $7500 (minus that $725.95), so paying it off @ $150/mo. would take years and years, providing we could even keep that 0% interest rate that long (unlikely.)

I don't think we'll be getting a tax refund this year, but I fully plan on using almost all of the May tax incentive to further whittle down that debt.

Hey, if I can swing a few more months like Feb., that debt will soon be gone, gone, gone! I'm still on a high from pushing that "Pay Card" button a few mins. ago, I tell ya!

Guin

[Piglet68]

Guinevere, that's fantastic!! You definitely deserve several pats on the back for that one!

Time to tally up the rest of February's expenses and see where we ended up on the budget front...

[bc1995]

That is awesome, Guin!!

It is payday here, too. I am frustrated that dh's HR dept has still not changed our withholdings as requested. We could really use that money in our budget instead of waiting a whole year to get it back. We have figured out that was a really poor plan on our part. We always ended up slowly creaping up the cc bills with the thought that we would pay them with our tax refund. Add in the interest we were paying and it makes for an even worse plan.

I plan to have a sererate savings account that is linked to my online checking to put the money I have earmarked for things like clothing, gifts, etc. As a matter of fact, I should go open that right now. Thanks for the reminder.

[Mama Rana]

I'm playing with my budgeting numbers in YNAB, so I may have an update soon on my BS3; right now it has more in it than I'd originally reported.

March's budget feels a bit tight because we're having some work done in our basement next week that's taking money away from other budgeting categories as we figure this whole budgeting thing out better (we'd set this up before we got MAD (what is that acronym again: Mad At Debt? ETA: found it: Motivated About Debt). But we should get by. But I may not have much to put towards the emergency fund this month.

Well, I am thinking about getting serious about Ebaying some things we have around the house. We have a set of China from my DH's first marriage that I've wanted to sell for ages. It's a nice set, for 8, plus the teapot and the gravy boat. Replacements.com prices them very high, but I know I won't get that much for them. How do I know how much to ask for them? And would it be better to break the set up into parts and sell them that way, or just sell the whole box of 'em? I'd rather sell locally, cuz I'm worried about breakage if I have to ship.
I also have a bunch of stuff in my garage that might be able to go into a garage sell in April. I was freecycle stuff, but I've just been saving it up for a bit now.

I went out and spent some of my Mad Money on the "Money Answer Book". They didn't have Total Money Make-Over, and INSTANT GRATIFICATION, I didn't want to order it on-line. This book seems to have all the basics though, just not all the worksheets, and I figure I can check the book out from the library again and photo-copy those if I want them. Or scan them to PDF so I can print as needed.

[Guinevere]

Thanks for the props, everyone! I secretly suspect that the only reason I did so well this month is because it was shorter than usual = less time to spend too much.

Originally Posted by Einley

And figuring out where to keep this money that I'm earmarking in the budget for different expenses. And figuring out how much money to put away for the different things. It's got me all flustered. lol.
I'm thinking of opening another bank account for this. I don't know if I should do that or just put the money into savings with the BEF or what.

We're also trying to decide if we should sell my dh's car and buy a cheap one (under 5K) outright to get rid of the monthly payment for the car loan. His payment is about $360 and he is driving a relatively new Honda Accord. It's a great, reliable car and I'm scared that buying a cheap one may be buying more problems and hence eating as much money as the monthly payment that we have now. And of course shelling out that kind of money at once will really put a dent in the snowball for a bit, but in the long run, if we get a good, reliable car, it may be a good thing. I just don't know what to do.
Any insight on any of my ramblings would be greatly appreciated!

I would definitely open a separate bank account, either savings or an interest-bearing secondary checking account, for socking away $ for different expenses, so that it doesn't just sit in your primary checking, tempting you to think you have more $ than you really do (this was always my problem.)

IME, if our earmarked $ sits in our primary checking for more than a few days, it mysteriously disappears. I can't tell you how many times we got an unexpected windfall or a gift from someone which I gleefully deposited, plotting and dreaming about what great stuff it could be used for, only to forget to transfer it elsewhere and have it be all gone by the end of the month. I think it's kind of like that old adage that your stuff will grow to fill whatever available space you have -- your budget will expand to use up whatever available $ you have. :

As for the car situation, how much do you owe on DH's car, i.e. how much would you have after selling to put towards another vehicle? Would you be able to buy a used car outright without any financing? Do you have any $ saved up for a used car? Depending on those answers, it could be a good idea to get out from under that hefty monthly car payment, and that $ go then go towards your debt snowball. There are plenty of reliable used cars out there for between 5-8K -- I'd stick with Honda, Toyota, Suburu, or Volvo personally, for most reliability and used value. Plus, those cars run forever! Our last Volvo station wagon had 270,000 miles on it when the computer died and forced us to replace the car. The engine was still going strong, though.

Guin

[Einley]

Originally Posted by bc1995

I plan to have a sererate savings account that is linked to my online checking to put the money I have earmarked for things like clothing, gifts, etc. As a matter of fact, I should go open that right now. Thanks for the reminder.

So then what do you keep your emergency fund in? Our emergency fund is currently in a savings account attached to our checking account.
I'm debating whether to open another account or use the savings account we already have.

[Einley]

[QUOTE=Guinevere;10659860]

IME, if our earmarked $ sits in our primary checking for more than a few days, it mysteriously disappears. I can't tell you how many times we got an unexpected windfall or a gift from someone which I gleefully deposited, plotting and dreaming about what great stuff it could be used for, only to forget to transfer it elsewhere and have it be all gone by the end of the month. I think it's kind of like that old adage that your stuff will grow to fill whatever available space you have -- your budget will expand to use up whatever available $ you have. :

Oh yes I know this very well. I dream of getting all of that mysteriously disappeared money and actually doing something with it!
So now I have to decide whether to put the earmarked money in our current savings account with the emergency fund or open yet another account. I think I just said this in this thread so sorry for the repeat! lol

As for the car situation, how much do you owe on DH's car, i.e. how much would you have after selling to put towards another vehicle? Would you be able to buy a used car outright without any financing? Do you have any $ saved up for a used car? Depending on those answers, it could be a good idea to get out from under that hefty monthly car payment, and that $ go then go towards your debt snowball. There are plenty of reliable used cars out there for between 5-8K -- I'd stick with Honda, Toyota, Suburu, or Volvo personally, for most reliability and used value. Plus, those cars run forever! Our last Volvo station wagon had 270,000 miles on it when the computer died and forced us to replace the car. The engine was still going strong, though.

We owe 14,500 and I think the private party value was like 12,500 so we would actually owe on the loan and then have to pay for another car.
We would be able to do that and buy a car for less than 5K.
So a huge chunk of our money would be gone, but we wouldn't have the car payment.
I can't decide which is better.

[alleyoop]

Hi Jaime,

Thanks for adding me to the roll call. We are currently working on paying down DH's truck and also funding our emergency fund beyond $1000. DH is self employed and it makes sense for us to do this.

So here is our list:

BS 0 - N/A
BS 1 & BS 3 - continually adding to it
bs 2 - truck loan
BS 4 - 3% for me (matched by employer), nothing for DH yet

Guinivere - how great to 'find' and extra $575! You made me go and look at my March budget to see if there is possibly anything else I can squeeze out of it. It doesn't look too promising, but you are definitely an inspiration!

[lafemmedesfemmes]

helloooooooo, march!

today is payday around here, too. we worked out how we're spending this check, and dh agrees with my intention to do the month-ahead budgeting. so things are going to be a little tight until we get that reserve worked out. but it's wonderful that i *know* that we can do this now, whereas this time last year, i would've said, "well, that's a nice idea, but-- US? do THAT? are you kidding??"

this month, we'll be pulling our credit reports and figuring out just how much we owe on our old debts to get our snowball started. we don't have any open credit accounts, but we do intend on buying a house in two or three years, so we need to clean all that up, in addition to saving up the down payment. i don't think we'll be snowballing more than $10k, including dh's car loan, but we've been ignoring our old debts for so long, that i really have no idea.

when i find out, i'll be posting the total so you lovely people can help keep me accountable! :-)

christina

[mtm]

March and April are going to be harder for us. I'm taking 2 months off my part time job and that normally pays the extra on our cc's. In good news, with my Feb cheque we should have dh's cc (our only baby step 2 debt left) down just under 5000. After that its saving for a bigger house!

[CeciMami]

subbing again!

[phathui5]

I'm in again. We got our federal tax return in today and will be doing some serious debt payoff in the next week or so.

[Galatea]

Originally Posted by Einley

We're also trying to decide if we should sell my dh's car and buy a cheap one (under 5K) outright to get rid of the monthly payment for the car loan. His payment is about $360 and he is driving a relatively new Honda Accord. It's a great, reliable car and I'm scared that buying a cheap one may be buying more problems and hence eating as much money as the monthly payment that we have now. And of course shelling out that kind of money at once will really put a dent in the snowball for a bit, but in the long run, if we get a good, reliable car, it may be a good thing. I just don't know what to do.
Any insight on any of my ramblings would be greatly appreciated!

DR says that if you can't pay it off within 18 mos, sell the car for something cheaper. I don't follow that piece of advice b/c we needed a bigger car and I'm a fanatic about safety, but that is what he says.

Originally Posted by Mama Rana

Well, I am thinking about getting serious about Ebaying some things we have around the house. We have a set of China from my DH's first marriage that I've wanted to sell for ages. It's a nice set, for 8, plus the teapot and the gravy boat. Replacements.com prices them very high, but I know I won't get that much for them. How do I know how much to ask for them? And would it be better to break the set up into parts and sell them that way, or just sell the whole box of 'em? I'd rather sell locally, cuz I'm worried about breakage if I have to ship.

I had a very very nice set of antique china and I looked into selling it. Shipping and marketing such items was so difficult and time-consuming that I took it to a professional ebayer, who of course took a cut. But for the amount of work and stress, I didn't mind paying someone else to do it.

Originally Posted by Guinevere

I would definitely open a separate bank account, either savings or an interest-bearing secondary checking account, for socking away $ for different expenses, so that it doesn't just sit in your primary checking, tempting you to think you have more $ than you really do (this was always my problem.)

IME, if our earmarked $ sits in our primary checking for more than a few days, it mysteriously disappears. I can't tell you how many times we got an unexpected windfall or a gift from someone which I gleefully deposited, plotting and dreaming about what great stuff it could be used for, only to forget to transfer it elsewhere and have it be all gone by the end of the month. I think it's kind of like that old adage that your stuff will grow to fill whatever available space you have -- your budget will expand to use up whatever available $ you have. :

As soon as we get a windfall, and I mean *that day*, I distribute the money (15% to our slush fund - personal and household misc., 85% to debts). I pay those credit cards immediately or I know the money will get whittled away, even in just a few days. Our EF is in a credit union that I physically have to go to withdraw, and our savings is a 2ndary checking linked to our main checking, so I can transfer online. We used to use a savings account for it, but they limit the amount of transfers you can do per month.

[Mama Rana]

Originally Posted by Galatea

I had a very very nice set of antique china and I looked into selling it. Shipping and marketing such items was so difficult and time-consuming that I took it to a professional ebayer, who of course took a cut. But for the amount of work and stress, I didn't mind paying someone else to do it.

Do you mind if I ask for some numbers? Like how much the set was worth, and what kind of cut he took? I hadn't thought of that idea, but it might be worth it....

[koofie]

Oh, our BEF is done! $2000/$2000. Tax return, yeah!

[leomom]

Cam I join in?

BS 1: Done, but need to refund tomorrow to get it back to 1000
BS 2: I'll be here a while....popcorn, anyone?

[JackieR]

My update:

0: Get current on bills: Always done
1: $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund $300/$1000
2: Pay off all debt: $8500 home improvement @ 2.9%, $64500 in student loans at about 3.5%
3: Three to six months of expenses in savings $0
4: 15% income into retirement: Always done - Current value about $110K
5: College funding for children: $50/mo goes to their 529 - Current value is about $1100 *Last month I guessed it was 800 but it actually was higher than I thought! Yay!
6: Pay off home early - $145K home loan @5.5%
7: Build wealth and give! Invest in mutual funds and real estate. We have four or five parcels of land beyond our home (hubby's hobby)

I'm pretty proud of paying a little debt down and - even more importantly for us - not spending more in February than we earned. I think this might actually be a big year for us! I'm excited!

Jackie