“Keeping Motivated” Archive
On this page you will find the search results for the search term that you queried.
This is going to sound crazy. As I was leaving the office today, I received an email with a comment from a reader. I took a look at the brief comment and it was suggesting I visit www.debtinfocus.org. From memory, the comment said they weren’t sure if the website had been mentioned before and it was helpful to set out a plan of attack. Before I left the parking garage, I quickly visited the site on my phone and it looked very user friendly on its opening page. I drove home and after a few hours I sat down to explore the site further. Here’s the crazy part—I could not and cannot find the comment from the reader! Maybe this is user error as it IS Friday and I am fatigued but there was no email, no comment on the blog itself and then no comment on the site I access the blog through! I felt like I was and feel like I am losing my mind! Thankfully, I had accessed the site on my phone so I was able to find the website address again.
I want to know who gave me this tip so I can thank you! OR if another reader locates the comment let me know where! I can hardly contain my excitement with this fabulous find of a debt payoff website. I’m sure many of you have seen similar ones but for this rookie debt reducer, this is awesome! Now…it wasn’t without pain as I had to input ALL of the information on ALL of my debt. Honestly, that’s like poking myself in the eye with a stick (and I know some of you will say “IT SHOULD HURT…WE HOPE IT DID HURT…YOU IRRESPONSIBLE MESS OF A BLOGGER!”) to go through all of those numbers again. BUT what a great exercise that yielded results for me to get my mathematically challenged brain around! It will generate all sorts of reports for you to consider for your approach to paying things off. It has the standard “minimum payment until well after you are dead” plan…the “pay the highest interest card first” plan…the “pay the lowest balance first” plan…AND then you can input what extra dollar amount you can put toward debt each month to see the impact of your efforts. It will also provide a printable 12-month payment plan telling you exactly what amount to pay to each debt. Now, maybe this is what some of you are already doing on your own by creating your own spreadsheets (my husband was very interested in discussing what went into creating the program to make all of that information come out in the end….soooooo not my thing to know the details behind it…) but I am amazed! I now have several scenarios to consider and chew on. I KNOW this will relieve many of you as even without a direct mention for a few days, I ”hear” many of you shaking your computers and yelling “CLAIRE! WHAT IS THE PLAN?!” I will figure out how to post a payment plan once I learn for sure what that April raise nets us.
Which reminds me…no announcement on the promotion. It has been 8 weeks now since the interview process began. I think we are all beyond obsessing about it and will almost be surprised when they do announce it b/c we’ve all put it on the back burner just to get through our regular work duties!
So, thank you Mystery Commenter! That little tip was a goldmine for this weary brain. I feel energized and motivated by what I saw on the timeline. If it goes according to plan, I will have my debt paid off before I am looking at nursing homes to check into for my golden years.
I’ve taken some advice from other comments and have come up with some possible additional sources of income. It will take some sacrifices of time but nothing so detrimental that we can’t cope. That’s one of the few perks to divorce…we are kid free every other weekend so we have time we can use to increase income. I’ll fill you in on those things soon!
Have a great weekend!!!
UPDATE: I just found it! Thank you Lys. Although the info is not showing up on your comment under “Perspectives” but I found it in my email! 
Forgot to mention this website is sponsored by the Credit Union Association. You don’t have to input any personal info and help is offered, but not pushed. Totally anonymous! And yes, we do bank at a Credit Union. Love my credit union!
Of course my husband’s company sent him to Vegas for company business. This was the first time we decided to add a short vacation to a business trip. Please know I am not trying to throw my shoulder out patting myself on the back on this trip–but I am excited to share how this all went on the money front.
First, we are not Vegas people. No offense to those who are but it has never been a destination that we even discuss going to visit. We do enjoy spending time together though without the kiddos and if the travel gods make it happen for very little out of pocket cost, we probably are not going to pass it up. I realize that will open me up to criticism and that is okay–time with my husband is worth it.
Now–the breakdown of things…hubby’s airline ticket was, of course, paid. My airline ticket was also paid because of the travel points I’ve built up through my work travel so airline was $0. Hotel was covered for Tuesday and Wednesday. We gave Priceline “name your price” a whirl for Saturday, Sunday and Monday and managed to get The Wynn for a total price at 70% off the regular price. While we did book and pay for that hotel stay before I started this blog, I still could have walked away from the money already spent but I didn’t. While I didn’t walk away, I DID leave on that flight the morning of March 3 knowing in many ways that I should not be flying to Vegas…that I should be cancelling the entire thing and not spending a penny more. While I did not cancel like many of you absolutely positively think I should have done…I did carry your voices with me as I spent 5 days in Las Vegas! And I do not think it was an accident that I found myself in the city that is DESIGNED to get you to spend money as I kicked off this blog and my “attack on the debt.”
I’ve only been to Vegas twice before and definitely did not have spending limits when I went! This trip I had some serious self imposed spending limits. I was completely prepared to read my book in a gorgeous hotel room or by a pool while spending quality time with my husband. Honestly–those were my only expectations. Good news is I did not exceed my usual weekly budget that I would have had at home AND thanks to a slot machine at the airport, I managed to come home with only spending $70! How did I do that? Well in addition to some good fortune, I also followed some tips that you guys have already given me on this blog. I bought all the fixings for PB&J and avoided even fast food low prices while there—I easily battled through the voice inside of me wanting a lavish meal reminding myself that I cannot afford a lavish meal. I created a spreadsheet where I input every single penny spent each day of the trip so I could take a complete look at it at the end of the day and make appropriate decisions on the next day. I did Vegas on a budget.
I never ever gamble (there’s a great story to share of me at the craps table breaking every rule they have in a matter of about 60 seconds and just for your future reference…they are very serious about those rules!!) I don’t know what possessed me to put all of $2 in that airport slot machine about 15 minutes before my flight left b/c WHO wins at the slot machines at the Vegas airport?!? But I did and hit for $137.00! I promptly took my money and RAN to my plane! Meanwhile, hubby was doing that networking thing in the casino after work stuff and while he is definitely not a gambler either he has definitely figured out the statistics behind the craps table. I told you he did numbers well and he managed to turn $20 into near $400. The good news is we’ve used that $537 toward debt reduction and savings. No, we do not have plans to pay $100,000 in debt off with gambling but as people who do NOT gamble, it was a nice little shot in the arm to make good decisions as we won the money (not ride the wave to nothing) and then manage to get home with the money and make good decisions again. I won’t apologize for taking this trip–it was a wonderful time with my husband and we learned so much as we were cautious and thoughtful through the process. It was helpful in many ways to hold on to all of the moments of this trip and embrace them because we recognize that we won’t have these trips after this year…for a very long time–until the debt is paid off.
Now…talk amongst yourselves.
When my sister told me that there is no way to express the exhaustion you feel as a new parent, I laughed at her. When she said, ‘Learn to sleep when the baby sleeps’, I felt like saying, ‘If I do that, when will I get back to running?’
Yup. Totally planned to start jogging on my treadmill while the baby slept.
I was hilariously ignorant.
It’s true. I can’t begin to express how tired I am. People visit. I stare. I smile. But I’m not here.
Fortunately, the kiddo keeps me home bound but even then, my finances take a hit. It’s amazing how much damage you can do to your checkbook from your sofa. Suddenly, I don’t care how much 20 more channels are on cable tv. I don’t care how much it costs for drive through dinners. I don’t care how much that nursing item is on Amazon. As long as it makes my life easier. I just don’t care.
I’m hoping this level of fatigue only lasts a few more weeks (ha ha right?), because my finances aren’t ready for the war I’m in.
I’ve been preparing our post-baby delivery finances and things aren’t looking good. Between the loss of roommate income and the addition of daycare expenses, we won’t be making those $1,200 debt payments each month.
In fact, for a while, we will only be making minimums on student loans. At best, we can hope for a killer tax refund next year to pay off the remaining debt, otherwise… we’ll be in this minimum payment boat for a while and it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed at the sudden loss of momentum.
Since we both received nice pay increases this year, we will likely have to wait two years for further income boosts.
I worked myself into a nice emotional tizzy until I remembered that I need to be more optimistic so I sat down and wrote a list.
I’m grateful we don’t have car or credit card debt. Those payments would sink us.
I’m grateful my husband will graduate a few days before the baby is born. No more tuition payments!!!
I’m grateful we have a healthy emergency fund and savings account. I sleep a little better with them.
I’m grateful we have some household items to sell after helping someone move. We will likely be able to buy all the necessary baby furniture with that cash. Otherwise, I’m not sure how we’d pull it off.
And, I’m grateful for my family. If we can’t afford food, I know my mom and grandma always have something good cooking. We’ll never starve.
I’m with you. I get depressed and overwhelmed and my list made me feel slightly better but I’m certainly no Pollyanna.
I guess we’ll just have to work through it.
I struggle a lot with motivation. Sometimes, I actually convince myself that $19,000 in debt isn’t that bad and start to wonder why I’m working to pay it off so quickly.
Working to become debt free would be an easy journey if it were only a few months, but when it stretches to years, that’s when you discover who you really are in terms of dedication.
It’s been just shy of 18 months since we began our journey and to be honest, I find myself growing weary – especially when my personal life gets slammed (more on that tomorrow). I find that when my personal life gets messy…so do my finances.
I was browsing iTunes for free podcasts and stumbled over the Dave Ramsey radio show. His podcasts are free (shorter versions of his radio program – there are some commercials) and you don’t need an iPod to listen to them. You can listen directly from your home computer. I was feeling down this morning and for some reason, listened to his podcast on my way to work. A family had paid off nearly $100K in debt and drove all the way to Dave’s studio just to shout, ‘We’re Debt Free!!!’
It made me smile. Today, it was what I needed.
Check out the show. It’s free and a good source of encouragement.
You are going to get tired. You are going to get weary. You are going to flounder in your decision to live below your means. But we can stick through it because one day, it’s going to be you and me screaming…
WE’RE DEBT FREE!!!
The unemployment checks have started to arrive with somewhat regularity. What we didn’t understand at the start was that the unemployment office in California requires an interview. You receive no checks until the interview has been completed. My husband’s interview with the unemployment office wasn’t until 6 weeks after he filed the claim. Claimants have no control over this date and cannot request a sooner time.
My best advice to the recently unemployed, be ready for a long ride. Prepare your finances immediately and don’t assume a check is coming anytime soon.
Our finances took a hit since we were carrying our mortgage and bills on my paycheck and savings alone but we’ve been able to level out a bit since the checks arrived. Whew!
Looks like I can finally buy some splurge items – and by splurge, I mean an occasional sale priced ground beef instead of a cart full of Ramen alone.
When I went on my search to find a dog, my goal was to own a fat lazy dog. In fact, I chose him specifically because he sat on the floor, completely lethargic while the other dogs barked and jumped in the kennel.
Maybe it’s because he’s happy, maybe it’s because he’s eating healthy, or maybe it’s because he’s out to SPITE me, but he’s the most energetic dog I’ve ever owned.
Saturday, I went hiking and took him along to see if I could finally wear him out.
We hiked for HOURS.
Up hills, down hills, up steep mountain faces, jogging on trails, climbing through brush, he chugged along beside me. Naturally, I expected him to be exhausted and ready for a break…
But he wagged his tailless butt with fervor, suggesting no rest was necessary.
Drenched in sweat and resting my hands on my knees trying to catch my breath, I couldn’t help but compare him to my debt. I push, I fight, I struggle, but it pursues me with unending vigor. I feel like I can’t win.
My husband’s job loss and our recent setbacks have felt like an overwhelming stumbling block to our journey.
I pushed a while longer and ran a few more hills before going home. I took off his leash and tossed it on the counter. As I gulped a giant glass of water, I looked to see where my endless ball of energy went.
He was curled up on the couch fast asleep…and he didn’t wake up for a solid two hours.
I had two words for my energetic ball of fur…
I win.
Be stubborn with your debt fight today.
Eventually, we’ll win.
Site search
About This Site
My Debt
- Original Debt: $97,293.06
- Paid: $1,927.89
- Remaining: $95,365.17
- Emergency Fund: $1100
- Broken Down
- Line of Credit 2: $0.00
- Line of Credit 1: $0.00
- Credit Card 1: $0.00
- Credit Card 2: $245.00
- Credit Card 3: $405.00
- Credit Card 6: $1,785.00
- Credit Card 7: $2,381.17
- Consolidation Loan: $11,000.00
- Credit Card 10: $14,519.00
- Auto Loan 1: $16,093.00
- Credit Card 11: $23,873.00
- Auto Loan 2: $25,064.00
Finance Blogging Buddies
- Beachgirl’s Budget Blog
- Becoming and Staying Debt Free
- Boston Gals Open Wallet
- Debt Free Hispanic
- Debt Kid
- Debt Reduction 101
- Dual Income No Kids
- Everybody Loves Your Money
- Financial Hack
- Free Money Finance
- From the Brink of Bankruptcy
- Generation X Finance
- GRACEful Retirement
- Grad Money Matters
- It’s Your Money
- Josephsangl.com
- Kick Debt’s Butt
- Lazy Man and Money
- Low Income Life
- Make Love Not Debt
- Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge
- Mighty Bargain Hunter
- Money, Matter and More Musings
- My 1st Million at 33
- No Credit Needed
- One Million and Beyond
- Personal Finance Advice
- pfblogs.org
