“Reducing Debt” Archive

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Two Things I Never Want to See Again…

1.) A car payment

2.) An elderly woman wearing pants with ‘Naughty’ crocheted across her hind quarters.

While I can’t stop an octogenarian shopping at my local Target store from reliving her youth inappropriately, I can stop car payments. How?

Our tax refund this year is just shy of $6,000.

We will wipe out 60% of our car debt. SIXTY PERCENT!!

YES!!

Posted by Beks on February 5, 2010 at 9:00 AM in Reducing Debt, Spending Money | 31 Comments »
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Financial Advice from an Odd Source…

My office is putting my through a 12 week management training course. While I have sincerely enjoyed the teachings about management techniques and understanding people, I have benefited the most from one statement…

Begin with an end in mind.

OK, so here’s the sad part, I don’t remember how exactly they applied that statement to management. BUT, that statement is HUGE for me personally.

Often times, I pick a task with no end. I want to get more fit or I want to eat a healthy diet or I want to live as a penny pincher and on and on and on. Here’s the problem: Unending goals like these will lead to burnout.

Head smackingly obvious right? Then why do I keep making these stupid never-ending goals?

I think that’s what I appreciated about the Dave Ramsey program and why it has worked for me. I was convinced to pay off one debt at a time. It’s a goal with an end followed by another goal with an end. I also think that’s why training for a marathon and a triathlon has kept me more motivated than working out without an end in mind. If I want to quit after I finish I can, but I have a feeling I’ll be signing up for another one as soon as I cross the finish line.

Rather than say, ‘I want to be debt free forever’, say ‘I want to pay off my car by next summer’.

Begin with an end in mind.

What is your end?

Posted by Beks on September 15, 2009 at 5:00 AM in General Personal Finance, Good Info, Keeping Motivated, Reducing Debt, work | 16 Comments »
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Our next step…

Now that our credit card debt is gone, a reader asked what our next step is going to be.

Dave Ramsey suggests paying the extra amount on your lowest debt (which would be the student loan) but the minimum payment on our truck is more 4 times higher than the student loan. Plus, the interest rate on the truck is twice as much.

Another good reason to pay more on the truck is to quickly rid ourselves of the hefty payment. In the event of job loss, a student loan can be deferred due to financial hardship – auto loans are not nearly as forgiving.

We’re hoping to have the truck paid off in 10 months or less.

Here we go!

Posted by Beks on September 3, 2009 at 5:00 AM in Credit Cards, Debt Updates, General Debt, General Personal Finance, Loans, Reducing Debt | 21 Comments »
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Debt Update…

Here are the current numbers (I’ll work on getting the sidebar updated):

Total Starting Debt: $38,495.86
Total Paid: $16,727.33
Total Remaining: $21,768.53

Breakdown of Remaining Debt –
Truck: $11,934.57
Student Loan: $9,833.96

We’re nearly halfway there. I got an updated payoff date according to our Debt Snowball Calculator on DaveRamsey.com…

December 2010.

We shaved off 4 months so far. Can I get a Woo Hoo?

Posted by Beks on August 28, 2009 at 5:00 AM in Debt Updates, General Debt, General Personal Finance, Loans, Reducing Debt, Spending Money | 10 Comments »
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Slowing Financial Progress… on Purpose

My husband works a lot. He works days and nights and I do what odd jobs I can to help pay our bills more quickly.

We don’t see each other often. Perhaps that’s why our marriage is so great. We don’t have time to fight – heck we’re just so darn excited to see one another we don’t really… um… talk much.

He took a rare three nights off last week and we went running and cycling together every day. We made dinner. We walked the dogs. We watched movies. We remembered what it was like to be married.

I couldn’t help but think about how wonderful it was to have him around – to see him relax, even for just a night or two. He must have been thinking the same thing. He said, ‘I want to work less and live my life more.’ He has decided to work 6 days per week and 2 nights per week – and yes, that’s a cut-back (he was working 6 days and 6 nights).

I can’t agree with him more. As he toils to pay our debt, I can’t help but wonder if our self-inflicted punishment of hard labor is worse than the crime of spending. I wonder if one day, we’ll look back and regret the time we missed when our life was just us. We can cover our bills plus some without the extra work so we’ve decided to slow down.

So… we will pay things off more slowly BUT I have my husband back – and I’ve missed him dearly.

Posted by Beks on August 11, 2009 at 5:00 AM in General Debt, Keeping Motivated, Life Experiences, Living Frugal, Making Money, Money & Relationships, Reducing Debt, Spending Money, work | 10 Comments »
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Overcoming Financial Mistakes…

My husband and I both know there is some padding in our checking account. Paying overdraft fees is a pet peeve of mine so I try to make sure we have a little more than we think. This month, we both used the debit card a few times and before we knew it, the padding was gone and we were well over our budget. I had to do a pricey and frustrating balance transfer from our savings to avoid an overdraft.

I am very disappointed.

This event led to the following changes:

1. More involvement by both of us. Often in relationships, one person manages the finances. When things don’t go well and money is too tight, this person feels the stress, the pressure, and the responsibility for the mess. We have both decided to dedicate and hour each week to review each transaction. Now we have more checks and balances on each others spending – otherwise, we’ll have another bad month.

2. We are refocusing our goals and setting rewards. Our next payoff is still a ways away and we’re getting frustrated and bored. We decided to give ourselves something to look forward to after our next payoff. It’s nothing huge, maybe a dinner out or a trip to the theater, but rewards between payoffs has become something we need to stay motivated.

3. Reconsidering our numbers. We went back to make sure our numbers were working for our ever changing budget. We’ve been underspending on gas and overspending on miscellaneous necessities (car repairs, house repairs, etc.). We decided to adjust our numbers and perhaps pay a little less on our credit card so we can stop panicking when things aren’t balancing. Leaving the numbers the same would be great, but it’s obviously not working and it’s causing frustration.

4. We have decided to spread our focus. It’s easy to let finances consume our thoughts and lives. Rather than let this stress grow, we decided to let ourselves enjoy other things in life. Running, swimming, yoga, gardening groups, and organizing the garage help to keep our mind free of the finance clutter in our brains.

When there are long distances between payoffs, it’s important to work at what is frustrating you. You can’t solve everything, and it will be painful, but taking steps to at least reduce stress will help to prevent burnout. I’d rather take things a bit more slowly than give up entirely.

What have you done to motivate yourself and prevent burnout?

Posted by Beks on June 29, 2009 at 7:49 PM in Confessions, Credit Cards, General Debt, General Personal Finance, Keeping Motivated, Life Experiences, Living Frugal, Money & Relationships, Monthly Spending, Reducing Debt | 5 Comments »
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Normal by the Numbers?

I’ve been asked to reveal my actual monthly budget numbers. I was reluctant at first and then realized it may be a learning experience and I should see if I am normal in my expectations of my money.

No, I am not going to reveal my housing costs. Asking a San Diegan to reveal her mortgage payment is like asking a New York housewife to reveal her age. The only thing likely to happen is a giant string of lies.

I’m also not going to reveal our charitable giving amounts. What we decide to give is a very personal decision and it’s not an amount I’m willing to change just to pay more on bills.

Savings: $50
Electricity/Gas: $105
Cell Phones: $100
Cable/Internet/Phone: $100
Grocery: $300
Gas: $260
Laundry: $10
Toiletries: $11
Clothing/House Repairs/Animal Care/Spending Money: $200
Water: $70
Trash: $18

All remaining money is used to pay our mortgage, our credit card, our student loans, and my husband’s truck.

So. Am I normal by the numbers? What does your budget look like?

Posted by Beks on May 18, 2009 at 5:00 AM in About Me, Confessions, General Debt, Monthly Spending, Reducing Debt, Spending Money | 29 Comments »
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