“Reducing Debt” Archive
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I laughed out loud when Angie brought up ‘The Great Pee Debacle of 2010’ in her comment on yesterday’s post. (For those who missed ‘the great pee debacle’, see the house-sitting post here for an explanation)
Seriously awesome name for a bad experience. Totally worthy of a blog title.
A few people brought up the dog sitting/roommate mess and to be honest, yes, that is a big part of the reason my husband is done with roommates. Even now, we both grumble a bit when mopping our warped floors and we were disappointed we couldn’t sell our old couches because of the pee stink.
I forgot to mention that our raises will cover the amount we usually receive in rent (when you don’t charge much in the first place, you don’t miss it) and will actually enable us to pay a little more than we usually do on debt. Our emergency account is fully funded again.
We came out ahead!! Yes!
And for the inquiring minds… the person who house-sat for us and caused ‘the great pee debacle of 2010’ is moving in with my brother when they close escrow.
My husband, who is normally the sweetest man on the planet, let an evil grin slip out when he heard the news. I think I even heard him sing a song about Karma while mopping the warped floor.
The August payment to Toyota is due in precisely eight days. Our usual monthly payment is $1,000.
Our remaining balance is $1,500.
Oh that annoying extra $500. It’s the itch I can’t scratch. I could wait until September to be done with Toyota or… I could take every odd job under the sun and finish it now.
I’ve never been a patient person.
My husband and I have been taking random jobs this month and so far, we have $380 extra dollars. We are on an eight day challenge to earn the last $120.
We can do this.
A reader recently e-mailed and asked how I told my family about my debt problem.
Here is a warning – you may not like my answer.
Let me explain…
I didn’t have a lot of debt when my husband and I married. He brought in some pretty large chunks of debt and collections that were ‘inherited’ from someone else. Since I had never dealt with lines of credit or collections, I sought the advice of my parents for a problem solving strategy.
They suggested I pay off the debt as quickly as possible, negotiate with the collections company, and move on with my life.
Being the mature, reasonable adult I was, I promptly ignored them. Then, wisely, since I was already drowning in debt, frustrated, and hurt, I bought a brand spanking new car and took several trips to Hawaii.
When you have lots of debt, you get to a point where you simply give up. To the reader who e-mailed me, I’ve been exactly where you are right now and I’m getting to the other side – alive and breathing.
When I finally came to my senses in late 2008 and started to make efforts to fix the problem, my parents already knew I was a financial idiot. I think they were just waiting for me to raise my hand and ask for help. They never got angry and never made me feel bad about myself. I’m very fortunate to have a great set of parents. In short, unless you are REALLY REALLY good, you parents and family probably already know.
As for the exact words I used? You read them with my parents. Yup, I ‘came out’ on this blog.
If you need help with ideas on how to fix more serious issues in finances, ask for it. Then, save the grief, listen, and take action.
Here’s the part you won’t like. Only ask for advice and support, don’t ask for money.
Dave Ramsey is right. When money exchanges hands in families, Thanksgiving dinner will never taste the same. I can tell you that from personal experience.
You made the mess. Clean it up.
Oops! Thanks to a heads up from readers, I realized I was paying my bills incorrectly!
I know, I know, leave it to me to figure out how to pay my bills wrong.
I haven’t been requesting my lender for Auto Loan 2 to place all payments toward principle and not advance the payment! I’m left paying a little more interest than I should be paying.
Even in my non-debt reduction days, I always paid a little more on my car payments. I’d let it get a month or two ahead and consider it my rainy day fund. If I couldn’t afford my car payment one month, who cared? I wouldn’t get penalized for not paying. But now that I’m a YEAR ahead in payments, perhaps it’s time to request all payments from here on out go toward the principle.
If you are pushing forward on those car payments (or mortgage payments, student loan payments, or other secured loans), remember to request a principle reduction.
And thanks to my readers for making the catch!!
I was reading an article in last Sunday’s newspaper about new ways to sell things called, ‘Count the ways to sell your stuff’ by Dan Sewell. He suggested two new and different ways to sell household items or clothes: Facebook & Plato’s Closet.
I’ve heard advertisements for the Plato’s Closet chain but hadn’t researched how it worked. I have always donated my used clothing to the local thrift store and hadn’t looked into other possibilities. Plato’s Closet will pay you for your clothing (if it’s 12 – 18 months old and made by one of their acceptable designer brands including Charlotte Russe and Forever 21). My first thought was, ‘12 to 18 months? If it’s that ‘young’ I’m probably still wearing it.’ But hey, we all know that somewhere, hidden from our husbands, is a shirt or two or three in the back of our closet with the tags still on that didn’t look as good at home as it did in the store.
Sewell also sites Facebook as a great way to sell things. He referenced a woman who sold nearly all of her possessions in 24 hours. While I think her experience is rare, I think it’s a great idea to use Facebook in combination with other methods like garage sales or swap meets.
My grandparents are moving into my parent’s home next month. My mother was asking me for ways to sell the duplicates from their newly combined households. When I shared this article with her, she volunteered to be the guinea pig to see if these new methods will actually work. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Have you ever used Facebook or Plato’s Closet as a way to sell things? Where have you successfully sold the most items?
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!!
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?
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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
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- 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
