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Mar 2, 2012    |       37 comments

Err…everything is bigger in Texas?

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Thank you to everyone for such wonderful responses to my first blog entry! It was great to hear such specific examples from people who have been where I am or are currently struggling.  I especially enjoyed those who shared the parallels in our stories–and the book suggestion.  I’m always up for a new book suggestion so thanks again!

So the numbers will be going up shortly. Drumroll please. Some things I want to point out before you see them just to help complete the picture a bit. First, the auto loans you will see were just taken out in November 2011. My husband’s car literally fell out from under him (more fun details on that beloved car of his…after a little more time has passed and I can actually laugh about it).  My car was costing entirely too much monthly and I was right at that point mileage wise that it was going to dramatically reduce in value and I was drowning.   We don’t have luxury vehicles–Hondas actually–and we bought “gently used” and with a 2.1% interest rate.  This was only the second auto loan my husband has ever taken out having paid cash for all vehicles since 1993 or so…but it was time to have something reliable.

The 13 other items are a lovely collection of lines of credit, a random personal loan from my Dad (more on that later too) and then 11 credit cards.  Some of you asked what our plan is for getting out of debt.   Let’s just say at this moment the plan is A) paying cash (real paper money…not the debit card) for everything…and I mean everything…to get a handle on what is being spent and B)  this blog.  🙂  Thankfully my husband speaks Excel.  I do not speak spreadsheets at all.  This cannot be overstated–and I am so thankful for this groovy little spreadsheet he created and we have on google docs.  It is literally a track of every penny coming in and every penny going out.  Barf.  The beauty of having it on google docs is we can look at it from our mobile devices and get a handle on exactly what is in the bank, where it needs to go…and what is (or isn’t) left over.  I’ll share stories as the months and years go by with the ugly part of our story of getting to this point.  Holy Toledo!  Hideous as I look back.  Two adults who love each other madly…emphasis on MADly…totally unable to relinquish control.  Isn’t that ironic?!  Holding on to what you perceive to be control when you really have NONE.  As we look at the spreadsheet we can see the bottom line increasing and our plan is to tackle the lowest balance first and go from there.  The snowball method I believe it is called.  Input welcomed!

Last thing to share–in the coming weeks I will be posting (if my courage stays strong) on various “events” that were planned and paid for (sort of) before our commitment to debt reduction.  I already have tremendous guilt about going forward with these things (trips okay..TRIPS) but I don’t want to lose the money we’ve already put toward them.  One is a business trip for my husband that I am tagging along for and the other…okay well the other I can’t talk about right now!  PLUS, I have vowed that even if I just sit in a hotel room and then walk around the destination cities, sit and read a book uninterrupted…I am sticking to my usual cash allowance. I’m seeing it as a challenge.  More on this later.  Ugh.  I’m bracing myself for the comments on this topic. 

Now, fasten your seatbelts…maybe even put on protective headgear…and take a look at that TEXAS size debt!!!

 

Mar 1, 2012    |       46 comments

And the new blogger is…

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Hi!  My name is Claire and I’m in debt.  That isn’t the shocking part of course because if you are visiting this blog then you KNOW I am in debt.  The shock will be when you see the numbers–and it won’t be a shock just for blog readers.  It will be a shock for anyone who knows me.  I am perhaps the last person anyone would ever guess would have the amount of debt I have.  In every area of my life I am known for being organized and responsible.  I am the person people look to for advice.  I don’t live a lavish lifestyle that would explain all of the debt.  Many consider me frugal!  Heck!  I think I’ve even bought into this vision others have about me and that has only contributed to the madness!

“Failure is the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.” Henry Ford  Okay, Mr. Ford…here goes:

I don’t accept failure with grace. I’m sure you’re thinking most people don’t–but I really, really don’t accept failure with grace. When faced with failure, instead of embracing it for the learning and growing opportunity it is, I have learned that I have an incredible ability to live in denial. Avoid! Avoid! Avoid! Take sports for example–from an early age I realized I had no athletic abilities so beginning in about the 2nd grade, I never did anything remotely close to athletics.  I only do things that I am naturally good at doing.  If only my inability to handle finances had resulted in my never using credit, I’d be okay…but instead I knew I wasn’t good at managing money…so I didn’t.  I kept USING money mind you–sometimes my money, more often some lender’s money and stayed away from managing money…just like I stayed away from sports.  That’s the bad news. The good news is I’ve learned that about myself and now hope to maintain that knowledge in my conscience thinking.

I am a wife, a mom to 2, a stepmom to 2 more, a daughter, a sister,  a professional with an advanced degree and a financial failure. It feels good to admit that!

I am newly remarried. No one ever expects their first marriage to end in divorce.  While I never would have chosen my path I now embrace it fully! After 14 years of marriage and two awesome kids—I got a divorce. I took the debt from the first marriage spent two years as a single mom of two…adding debt on top of the debt of divorce…and then met my adorable match and now husband. Enter the blended family and the Mount Kilimanjaro of all challenges–on every front–and yep…you guessed it..more debt!

My financial life was spiraling out of control.  I don’t know what the lightbulb moment was really but something happened on January 1, 2012.  My new husband and I devised a plan to tackle our spending and my debt aggressively. I say “MY” debt because it is all  my debt.  When we met and married, my husband had a home mortgage and nothing more.  No school loans, no credit cards, no car loan, nothing.  That said, he’ll admit there wasn’t a lot saved either and having no credit history creates a problem of its own!  He’s sort of like Rip Van Winkle as he seeks credit! But imagine my stress level as I learned he had no debt and I was coming with a tsunami size tidal wave.  There have been BIG challenges, but he has been wonderful through the process and as his house has dramatically lost value and he finds himself upside down and unable to sell and his paid off very old car finally gave way…well we have to accept that we simply make each other better!  Without the other we are individually in a bad place…together we have a chance.

We are only 2 months into this journey and I am hopeful that by sharing my story with others, I will keep the momentum going to a debt-free life!  I just read Tricia’s update regarding her life after being debt free and it could not have come at a better time.  I expect this blog to hold me accountable.  I expect this blog to remind me that I cannot run from the debt like I ran from sports!  Thanks in advance.

So, I’ll let you have some time to absorb what you know so far about my story…and then we will reveal the big numbers we face…but don’t judge me please!  I’m stepping out with some hesitation and need to know I am not alone! 🙂  If you have to lie to me…LIE!  Just kidding!

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