Debt Dumpers - 2018

[amalone1013]

I'll add that we were looking at my car vs DH's, which has like a 2.5% interest rate, because I'm halfway through my loan already and paying off the balance is much more in reach than DH's since his vehicle loan is just starting.... like we need to make the 2nd payment this week just starting. So it's definitely doing more of a 'snowball' balance focused take instead of interest rate focused, which is how we tackled student loans.

I understand wanting the cash flow, but that's a big amount to pull out of a savings goal. You're just going to end up taking the same amount of time to build the savings back up as it would have taken to pay off the car at 0%. It seems like you're just missing out on interest to me.

We were planning to put all extra income towards the car anyways, so it would be paid off before the end of the year no matter what. So this would mostly just switch it up and yes, we'd pull around $7k from that savings goal... but then if we're throwing the extra income at that savings goal it'd be replaced in under 3 months... even less as the ILs are paying us back, plus the extra $450 to budget to that savings or other goals.

You sound a lot like me. When I was so close to paying off our mortgage with accelerated payments, I simply took $ out of savings ahead of schedule just to have it gone. It probably didn't make financial sense because the rate on the mortgage was pretty low, but it made me so happy to pay it off that the few dollars we missed out on earning on our savings was nothing compared to the euphoria paying it off brought.

I think paying off our student loans has lit a fire under me It's just so nice to not have those payments, and we were projecting the car to be paid off by the end of the year anyways... so why not just twist the budgeting and put the extra $$ that was going to be for that back in the down payment goal?

I'm not a fine-tuned budgeter, but maybe put the car funds in a separate savings account and leave them out of the regular budgeting? On the other hand, it's not a huge amount in interest that you'd be losing, so if it's causing you stress, maybe just go ahead and pay it.

Yes, at the end of it it's under $200 in interest... Though we could put the money aside and it'd be sitting there if we ended up in a situation where we needed it gone for some reason. I'm also torn on just waiting until I'm eligible for a CIP in November and using Plastiq/the car to meet minimum spend It mostly stresses me because I haven't budgeted for an apartment/utilities since college, and the market for housing/rentals is INSANE out here so it's like going in with a $450 payment we could get rid of makes me nervous. Maybe I'll just funnel everything into a separate Ally account until the CIP idea at least...

 

[Patches Lee]

There isn't much for me to complete which is a big accomplishment after the end of previous long relationship. (Not the guy in my picture)

• Pay off personal loan of 8k when out heat/air system went out. Down to 3k
• Continue pay $150 extra towards DH car payment each month. Payoff will be done in Dec.
• Not really a current debt but from DD9 talk for couple years now a future one: Continue to contribute $100/month into college fund.
• Keep limiting CC use to purchase gas and paying off each month (necessary item, get cashback, and building credit so this I can be okay with)
• Once DH car paid off start paying extra $150 towards my car payments. This one is a new loan cause mine finally couldn't limp anymore. Owned that one debt free for 9 years so it was bound to happen sometime.
• Keep saving our change for summer activities. This one we average about $800/year which goes to visiting zoos, museums, local fair, ect with DD. It could go elsewhere but we do want fun times.

 

[Jason_V]

After a year of making the minimum payment and then a bit extra as I could, finally paid off the bed we bought in April 2017. Got the original $6k bill down to $3300, used a PTO payout check from my old job to pay an extra $900...and then used savings for the rest. It feels to have this one done. Now to get some savings back and then start hitting the house...the last debt. Currently $63k left. I likely won't hit it too hard until the Europe trip has been completely cash flowed, though.

 

[StacyStrong]

Does anyone have recommendations on savings accounts for kids? My brother and I want to set something up for our nephew/God son as part of his baptism/first birthday gift. We are both childless and clueless on where to begin.

 

[Ngwira]

Does anyone have recommendations on savings accounts for kids? My brother and I want to set something up for our nephew/God son as part of his baptism/first birthday gift. We are both childless and clueless on where to begin.

I'd be looking at credit unions or a local bank with a sign up bonus.

 

[Patches Lee]

Does anyone have recommendations on savings accounts for kids? My brother and I want to set something up for our nephew/God son as part of his baptism/first birthday gift. We are both childless and clueless on where to begin.

I don't know what the wording would be but I can tell you one experience that left my kid without a portion of her savings.
When kid was 1 me and her father who was together at the time opened a savings account for her. Both of us contributed so naive me thought nothing of it at the time. In 5 years she had over 4k because we put gifted money from family in as well. We split a year later, didn't think anything about the account cause it was a weekend and I was busy trying to move mine and DDs things. Come Monday when I was doing normal banking to check that things have been deposited and such, I find the bank withdrew over $1900. I call the bank and they say it was for the last months missed home and car payments. (Don't get me started on me being stupid enough to believe her father was paying his bills when I gave him half every month) I tell them those are not in my kids name, and further not in my name. That's when they were nice enough to drop the bomb that since her father had his name on the account as well the bank can withdraw the money for missed payments from it. So of course account had to be closed and half her savings gone.

 

[AmyAnne]

I don't know what the wording would be but I can tell you one experience that left my kid without a portion of her savings.
When kid was 1 me and her father who was together at the time opened a savings account for her. Both of us contributed so naive me thought nothing of it at the time. In 5 years she had over 4k because we put gifted money from family in as well. We split a year later, didn't think anything about the account cause it was a weekend and I was busy trying to move mine and DDs things. Come Monday when I was doing normal banking to check that things have been deposited and such, I find the bank withdrew over $1900. I call the bank and they say it was for the last months missed home and car payments. (Don't get me started on me being stupid enough to believe her father was paying his bills when I gave him half every month) I tell them those are not in my kids name, and further not in my name. That's when they were nice enough to drop the bomb that since her father had his name on the account as well the bank can withdraw the money for missed payments from it. So of course account had to be closed and half her savings gone.

Wow that's horrible. Another less nefarious but still negative thing to consider is that bank accounts usually charge fees after periods of inactivity. If you are thinking that you are going to make regular cash gifts (birthdays, holidays), I would set up a college savings account -- then you can make the contributions to the same account and the funds can also be invested.

 

[piccolopat]

I think I finally, FINALLY, got DF 10000% on board with getting rid of all this debt, not buying himself a new truck and taking out another car loan, and not renewing our personal loans for the millionth time. I tried to show him our bills vs income spreadsheet and he kinda blew it off. Last night I sat down and told him exactly how the next 3 months were going to go. I think hearing that we will have an extra $600/month just by knocking out his truck payment and our small loans lit a fire. I think by October we should have that free, which will then shuffle most of that over into the wedding fund.

My ultimate goal is to be able to essentially live off just one of our incomes. I want to put 2 months of monthly expenses back and then start really putting extra into our retirement accounts. He's 47 and while I'll still have a while more to work after he retires, we don't exactly have a lot of retirement savings. So I'm glad he is finally realizing how important it is to me.

Great progress! Please don't be offended, but since you already live together and have two young children, would you ever consider just a quick, inexpensive wedding and put the wedding fund money towards one of your other goals? You can always save up when you are in a better financial situation for a vow renewal ceremony, maybe for your 10th anniversary.

 

[Tygerlilly]

Great progress! Please don't be offended, but since you already live together and have two young children, would you ever consider just a quick, inexpensive wedding and put the wedding fund money towards one of your other goals? You can always save up when you are in a better financial situation for a vow renewal ceremony, maybe for your 10th anniversary.

Absolutely not. I've made a lot of sacrifices to budget and save money. I won't sacrifice my wedding. As of now, we are only at $9600 and that's everything together. We already have deposits on everything and it isn't for another 15 months. Plenty of time to pay the rest off, especially once we get past these next few months. Besides, in 10 years, DF will be pushing 60 and many of our family members will be too old to travel.

 

[imbatman]

I think I finally, FINALLY, got DF 10000% on board with getting rid of all this debt, not buying himself a new truck and taking out another car loan, and not renewing our personal loans for the millionth time. I tried to show him our bills vs income spreadsheet and he kinda blew it off. Last night I sat down and told him exactly how the next 3 months were going to go. I think hearing that we will have an extra $600/month just by knocking out his truck payment and our small loans lit a fire. I think by October we should have that free, which will then shuffle most of that over into the wedding fund.

My ultimate goal is to be able to essentially live off just one of our incomes. I want to put 2 months of monthly expenses back and then start really putting extra into our retirement accounts. He's 47 and while I'll still have a while more to work after he retires, we don't exactly have a lot of retirement savings. So I'm glad he is finally realizing how important it is to me.

Isn't it wonderful when they see the light? DH got us into this mess, so he didn't have a choice, but he chooses to work OT to help pay it all off. He chooses to ask about purchases beyond the norm. He chooses to listen when I give him a run down of the finances. Is it perfect? No. But we are around the same age as you (sounds like) and that light at the end of employment tunnel is what we are looking toward.

can someone please come slap me occasionally to keep me on track?!!!! We seem to do well then fall off the wagon- and when we fall it's like a "F*** it" mentality. Why not spend more? Why not buy that, eat that, do that! We have a lot going on and coming up and we really need to get on track and stay there!

It sucks getting into the habit. I hear you. I just took my entire lunch hour updating my Excel spreadsheet. I HATED doing it. But I loved seeing the results, forecasting out what we can pay off and splurge for. And while $400 in concert tickets seem trivial to some, in terms of spending, our oldest will be graduating next spring and my heart leaps for any chance to be with her.

Don't beat yourself. Do you use Outlook at all? I actually schedule myself time to work on the spreadsheets. Works for me. You just gotta find the thing that works for you. FYI, YNAB did not work for me. Neither does Dave Ramsey or simply doing my bank reconciliation. Pop in here more often. There are some fantastic cheerleaders and even better advice givers.

 

[Jason_V]

Don't beat yourself. Do you use Outlook at all? I actually schedule myself time to work on the spreadsheets. Works for me. You just gotta find the thing that works for you. FYI, YNAB did not work for me. Neither does Dave Ramsey or simply doing my bank reconciliation. Pop in here more often. There are some fantastic cheerleaders and even better advice givers.

That's what I do, usually on Sunday mornings. I wake up, take one of the pups on a walk, take the other out, feed both and make my coffee. Throw a podcast or music on my phone and I work through any receipts from the week or statements to reconcile.

The night before payday I am creating my budget at 9 pm. I set any non-recurring payments and know how much I have to spend after bills before I even get paid. It drives the BF insane...he's in a mountain of debt and doesn't like any of this. I only have the house at this point. I get into those "F it" moments, too, when I do too much and go too far.

 

[piccolopat]

S

Absolutely not. I've made a lot of sacrifices to budget and save money. I won't sacrifice my wedding. As of now, we are only at $9600 and that's everything together. We already have deposits on everything and it isn't for another 15 months. Plenty of time to pay the rest off, especially once we get past these next few months. Besides, in 10 years, DF will be pushing 60 and many of our family members will be too old to travel.

Sorry if I upset you. I do understand making sacrifices to reach a goal like this. Good luck with your planning and saving.

 

[Tygerlilly]

S

Sorry if I upset you. I do understand making sacrifices to reach a goal like this. Good luck with your planning and saving.

You didn't. I'm just a pretty firm believer that goals should be maintained, but I'm not going to put off the big things in life like the wedding or our yearly family vacation to knock them out sooner. Memories with our families are far more valuable than that $800 of interest we could have saved by paying something off sooner. ☺

 

[amalone1013]

Since there's quite a few Kroger/Fred Meyer shoppers, here's 10% off your next visit: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/kroger-10-off-your-next-purchase/ Thought you guys might like

 

[crazycatstacy]

Isn't it wonderful when they see the light? DH got us into this mess, so he didn't have a choice, but he chooses to work OT to help pay it all off. He chooses to ask about purchases beyond the norm. He chooses to listen when I give him a run down of the finances. Is it perfect? No. But we are around the same age as you (sounds like) and that light at the end of employment tunnel is what we are looking toward.


It sucks getting into the habit. I hear you. I just took my entire lunch hour updating my Excel spreadsheet. I HATED doing it. But I loved seeing the results, forecasting out what we can pay off and splurge for. And while $400 in concert tickets seem trivial to some, in terms of spending, our oldest will be graduating next spring and my heart leaps for any chance to be with her.

Don't beat yourself. Do you use Outlook at all? I actually schedule myself time to work on the spreadsheets. Works for me. You just gotta find the thing that works for you. FYI, YNAB did not work for me. Neither does Dave Ramsey or simply doing my bank reconciliation. Pop in here more often. There are some fantastic cheerleaders and even better advice givers.

Thanks for the support/ideas. I am hoping this weekend to get my husband to help come up with a plan- he says he's on board but is always "oh we can do this, it's not that much" etc. I think if we came up with a plan together he would be more invested and it would be way easier!

A coworker of mine has made almost $1,000 selling clothes on Poshmark. I don't have that many extra clothes but I do have several things I am considering listing on there. I figured I could put the money towards debt or I am leaning more towards saving it and putting it towards the remaining wedding expenses for my daughter so they are paid in cash and not charged later on. I only need about $900 to finish all of it, so although I can't make that much off my old clothes (unless people want to just way overpay ), a start towards it would be better than I am now.

Plan B is to win the lottery tonight. Fingers crossed.

 

[Jason_V]

Since there's quite a few Kroger/Fred Meyer shoppers, here's 10% off your next visit: https://www.doctorofcredit.com/kroger-10-off-your-next-purchase/ Thought you guys might like

Thank you! Loaded it onto my FM card just in time...pay day is Friday and we're likely grocery shopping this weekend!

 

[imbatman]

That's what I do, usually on Sunday mornings. I wake up, take one of the pups on a walk, take the other out, feed both and make my coffee. Throw a podcast or music on my phone and I work through any receipts from the week or statements to reconcile.

The night before payday I am creating my budget at 9 pm. I set any non-recurring payments and know how much I have to spend after bills before I even get paid. It drives the BF insane...he's in a mountain of debt and doesn't like any of this. I only have the house at this point. I get into those "F it" moments, too, when I do too much and go too far.

The only way I got DH on board was tough love...then softening it by showing him the snowball. He liked seeing the forecasted results. Also, I said we weren't on a "budget," but we would have weeks where we have to buckle down. That seemed more manageable than throwing down the "thou shall not" path. Heck, I failed Dave Ramsey because of the strictness.

And for sake of transparency, when I posted yesterday, I'd just caught up on two weeks of NOT doing the snowball. I stressed that it wasn't done--I stressed when I sat down. But, I feel better (for a week).

Thanks for the support/ideas. I am hoping this weekend to get my husband to help come up with a plan- he says he's on board but is always "oh we can do this, it's not that much" etc. I think if we came up with a plan together he would be more invested and it would be way easier!

A coworker of mine has made almost $1,000 selling clothes on Poshmark. I don't have that many extra clothes but I do have several things I am considering listing on there. I figured I could put the money towards debt or I am leaning more towards saving it and putting it towards the remaining wedding expenses for my daughter so they are paid in cash and not charged later on. I only need about $900 to finish all of it, so although I can't make that much off my old clothes (unless people want to just way overpay ), a start towards it would be better than I am now.

Plan B is to win the lottery tonight. Fingers crossed.

Poshmark is a lot of work. More than budgets But I hope you can sell your items!

 

[Jason_V]

The only way I got DH on board was tough love...then softening it by showing him the snowball. He liked seeing the forecasted results. Also, I said we weren't on a "budget," but we would have weeks where we have to buckle down. That seemed more manageable than throwing down the "thou shall not" path. Heck, I failed Dave Ramsey because of the strictness.

I hear ya! We tried that a few years ago to dump all of our CC debt. Came up with a plan, struck to it. We both got rid of the CC debt...and then we went and got back into it. Travel, impulse purchases, grocery shopping without a list...you know the drill. He'd much rather put everything on a CC and then work like a crazy person to pay it off. I'm not that kind of guy.

Don't get me wrong...I have literally bought 15 movies this month. That's my vice. But I've used cash on every one of them. The bills were paid, CC's down to zero, one non-house debt eliminated, groceries bought, etc. So I don't feel too bad about it.

 

[crazycatstacy]

We (really it's me but I will be generous lol) do a budget for every two weeks. Husband gets paid last day of the month and 15th and I get paid 1st of the month and the 16th so we do two week budgets. We budget down to zero but then we WANT something and it gets charged. We do well if we have nothing on a credit card but the minute a dime is on it we consider it free reign. We sold our house and moved in March so we paid stuff off and have managed to keep all but one card paid off. The one card has stuff for our daughter's wedding and then just a bunch of random crap we felt we deserved or needed. Hopefully we can get on the same page this weekend.

 

[Ngwira]

Wonder how Dave is doing?