Debt Free by 2020?!?!

[Katie Little]

Hello!!

I’m Katie. I’m new to online forums in general. Not really new to this one, I’ve lived in the RunDisney page for a year now. (I believe it’s called a sub forum? Maybe? It’s embarrassing how little I know about this). I’ve had a “training journal” there and it’s made all of the difference in my running. I’ve met loads of wonderful people and had the perfect amount of accountability along the way.

This year my New Years resolution has everything to do with getting out of debt so that we can go go to Disney more often -of course. I know I’m not alone in that mind set. Would it be okay if I kept this thread as. My “debt journal” and updated my progress along the way? I mean I know it’s not against the rules and that I can physically do it, I’m not asking that. I guess I’m just asking on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the most obnoxious) how annoying would it be if every week or so someone updated a thread that was completely self indulgent and provided very little benefit to anyone else?? Like it may inspire you and if I learn helpful things along the way I’ll certainly share and other people are definitely welcome to share their progress. However, if it works out anything like my running journal, I’ll definitely be taking more than I give.

My husband and I have about $30k in debt. I think we can get through a good chunk of it this year, but it’s going to be tight. I guess what I’m saying is, we need all the emotional support we can get but I also don’t want to be a bother. So what do you think?

 

[cel_disney]

Good Luck Katie!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Good luck! I would check out the Debt Dumpers 2019 thread as well, we are all working on dumping debt there with lots of support, updating to keep ourselves on track, advice and more. Obviously the 2019 thread just started but you can also look over the 2018 thread to see how it's gone in the past! But if you choose to just stick to your thread here I'm sure you'll still get advice and support!

 

[fifthdimensiondweller]

I'd love to follow along on your journey! It can always be inspirational and helpful to see what sorts of things another person puts into practice to get out of debt. Like pp said, definitely join us over on Debt Dumpers 2019 as well if you'd like, we're always getting new member so you won't feel like an outsider or anything, and it's a great way to hold yourself accountable! Plus we're always giving each other tips and tricks on there as well and we come from all different walks of life/ debt types and amounts. Good luck!

 

[Dsny4fun]

good luck Kate....feel free to post...I'll be cheering you on to be being debt free by 2020

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Another vote here for the Debt Dumpers thread.
I joined back in 2013 with an embarassing amount of debt. I paid the credit cards all down then paid off dh’s truck 6 mos early. Now I’m saving to pay cash for my next car because I don’t ever want to take on more debt unless there’s no other option.
The entire experience has been life altering to say the least. If I can do it, anyone can.

 

[imbatman]

Another vote here for the Debt Dumpers thread.

We are friendly on that board. We don't even bite.

 

[pigletto]

Good Luck Katie ! We’ll be cheering you on.

 

[Katie Little]

@cel_disney @PhoenixStrength @fifthdimensiondweller @Dsny4fun @ruadisneyfan2 @imbatman and @pigletto Thanks so much for all of your support and all of the recommendations for the debt dumpers thread! I will check it out now.

My husband and I have been on this journey for a few months, but things slowed down for the holidays. We've paid off our 2 smallest debts and the 3rd one will be paid off this month. We are doing a few extras in January so our total contributed to debt will be $1445.40.

Extras (basically anything we don't buy every month):
-Welcome Gift for my friend who is staying with us this weekend (typically I would skip this; however, our basement recently flooded and to get to the guest bathroom she'll have to walk on a concrete floor so we are going to get her a pair of cheap bedroom slippers.)
- Saving towards fixing said basement.
- Air Filters
- Kia Inspection + a little extra because it's our beater car.
- U-Haul Pick-up Truck to take of trash and de-clutter garage
- Coat (I didn't have on that fit and baby it's cold outside)
- Coach fee for my next race

This week isn't a pay week which means no money towards our debt, but we do have goals.
- Spend no more than $125 on food. It's A LOT for 2 people for a week; however, with it being the first week and that being the area we CONSISTENTLY struggle in we wanted to set ourselves up for success. Plus if we manage to stick to that embarrassingly enough it will be an improvement.
- No Restaurants - Another reason for the larger food budget. We've been eating out a lot so our pantry is missing a few staples.
-No impulse buys. It must be written in our budget before we buy it.

Plan - We are using the Dave Ramsey plan if you aren't familiar he has 7 baby steps - I'll list them below.

Step 1) $1000 emergency fund
Step 2) Debt Snow ball (this is the part I'm on). List your debts smallest to largest (except your house) and pay them off in that order.
Step 3) Build Emergency fund - 3-6 months living expenses.
Steps 4, 5 and 6 (done at the same time) - Start a college fund for kids, save 15% for retirement and pay off home mortgage. (We get to go on Vacation during this step so Disney here we come!!)
Step 7) Max out retirement and give away tons of money!

 

[barkley]

Spend no more than $125 on food. It's A LOT for 2 people for a week; however, with it being the first week and that being the area we CONSISTENTLY struggle in we wanted to set ourselves up for success. Plus if we manage to stick to that embarrassingly enough it will be an improvement.
- No Restaurants - Another reason for the larger food budget. We've been eating out a lot so our pantry is missing a few staples.

before you go out and buy any 'staples' consider just trying to make due with what you've got on hand. it's freaking amazing how many items we think are staples of our pantry but when it comes down to it we don't HAVE to have them on hand and could just wait to pick it up when needed. there are multiple free websites that let you plug in ingredients you have on hand then search for matching recipes. yummly is a great site that lets you pick and choose ingredients based on what you've got/personal likes and dislikes.

i'm going to try my best not to buy any groceries this month with the exception of dairy and fresh produce. i've got dibs and dabs of leftovers in the freezer that can be pulled for lunches and i'm working on trying to use just what we've got on hand (tonight was taco soup-had everything on hand for it and we'll eat on it a couple days then freeze the rest to have another nite later in the month).


keep up the good work-YOU ARE SUCCEEDING! it's january 2nd-you are one day closer to your 2020 financial goals

 

[cel_disney]

We are fortunate to have an emergency fund, no debt besides our mortgage (below 4% rate and about 12 years to go), solid retirement accounts (not including the recent market crash)....but I would like us to be saving more for house updates and kids college....

And the way for us to do that is most definitely to cut our food budget. Between breakfast and lunch at work cafeteria ($10-$11/day each) plus eating out 3-5 times a week our food costs are atrocious!! Dinner out can be unavoidable sometimes because we are between work and sports but we eat out waaaaay too much - and not at cheap places!

Anyway - the point of this post - is to say that I wish you the very best in your effort to control food costs and I know that it’s REALLY a big lifestyle adjustment to make it happen so don’t underestimate how hard it will be. I made some small progress in 2018 - I have stopped buying coffee at work. I bring K-cups bought on sale, caramel syrup, and creamer (stays in work fridge) and also bought myself some bags of candy/chocolate - one bag costs the same as about 3 candy bars at work but lasts closer to 10 workdays. It’s small start but I’m hoping to build on it in 2019!

I know that there are so many on the dis that are much more frugal in the area of food than we are who will think it’s easy to adjust to - take their help and hints but don’t stop being proud of yourself for everything you are changing to get there!!!

 

[LovesTimone]

We are in the process of paying off the credit cards... Not alot of debt, more than than normal for us... we did have a couple of unforeseen things crop up this year.. so we did add some CC debt...

Last year we paid off our SUV, which made me do the happy dance, this year we are going to pay off the boat... another happy dance coming....

We have stopped eating out during the week. - except once in a while we go to the Mexican restaurant less than a mile from our house, for Taco Tuesday... 35.00 for the both of us and tip..... for all you can eat tacos and your choice of regular drinks... no adult beverages..

For us it the daily stuff - So for the last several of months I have been shopping differently... and I have found that it is paying off... It take a few months to see if its really saving money..
There's just the 2 of us, we do have family and guest's often... Plus I have a huge pantry, and 2 frig's so I have room to store stuff, make head meals and such.

1) I hit the warehouse store for a lot of stuff that last around 2 to 6 months some items even longer - Paper towels, Toilet tissue, Ziploc bags, trash bags, dish washer tabs, and dish soap, Tide, body wash, lotion, canned soda/ bottled water etc... I do buy some grocery items, but its never the same...depending on time of year, and what plans we have coming up...

2) Wal-mart ~ Target = savings--- the thing is you have to spend time figuring out the best deals... I really dislike having to go to Wa-mart there are certain items that they carry that you can not beat the price or an item that I can't find anywhere else... even so I try to make trips there few and far between... I make a list... and live by it when I am in there... As for Target I am into the cartwheels, and their coupon and my coupons, and price matching... again I make a list and live by it when I am in there...

3) Aldi - At first I was kinda like ify about them.. so I started off with a couple of items then, the next trip more and more each trip... I stock my pantry with items from Aldi... So far they only item that we did not like was the regular chips and ... I haven't tried any canned veggies or soup yet... I love the all the baking items... good quality at a wonderful price. Again living by the list...

I also meal plan, I make a lot of 2 for 1 meals, and I do make freezer meals in advance... this week I will be making a bunch of meatball...

When I was working outside the home, I took my lunch to work, along with snacks and drinks... It saved a ton of money... around 250 to 300 a month

DH and I both have daily med's that we take, luckily we have really good health insurance and choice of pharmacies... By switching to CVS our prescriptions are free... yay... Plus at the CVS that we use, the pharmacist is really nice and will take the time to help you and answer questions. My parents go the mail route with some of theirs, which my dad said saves them almost two thousand dollars a year. So something to check out...

We use coupons for lots of other things oil changes, tire rotations, DH or I wash the car at home now... dinning out, shopping,

I love retailmenot if there is a coupon it will be listed there.

By taking a look at everything and looking at the bigger picture... long term you can save money, and get out of debt...

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I found over the 2.5 yrs it took me to pay off credit cards was just spending more time focusing on bills and budgeting, really paying attention to where money was going and coming up with a plan. I added up how much interest was costing us and thought of other things I’d rather being spending that money on.
Another thing that took time was learning how to just say “No, we can’t afford that.” To myself, dh, kids, friends and family.
Lastly, I spent probably a year or more not buying anything unless it was a need, not a want. I would put things in my online shopping cart and sleep on it just to make sure it wasn’t an impulse buy.

 

[Katie Little]

You guys!! 3 big things happened tonight! 1 bad. 2 good.

The bad. I made an impulse purchase. I’m a supervisor at a call center and this year we played secret Santa. I made the smart choice not to participate because of money; however, one of the girls on my team didn’t get anything from her buddy. I felt bad because I know she put a lot of effort in the gifts she bought for her SS. So, I quickly went to Amazon and bought her a few little things to give to her since she didn’t get a gift. I went home for lunch and my husband and I were able to quickly add it to the budget. I’m disappointed. I literally could have done the same exact thing but in a different order and it wouldn’t be considered an impulse buy (at least by my standards.) So lesson learned and moving on. (Although, that’s such a reaction for me that I may make that mistake a few more times.)

The good - part 1. I won an incentive at work and received a $50 gift card. I also have another $50 GC on the way! They are Visa GCs so my husband and I are deducting each one from the food budget , using the GCs towards noms and using the actual money towards debt. So far we’ve moved $50 over to debt from food and will move the other $50 once I have the physical GC in hand.

The good - part 2 (AKA the best). I am getting a $800 bonus this month! They tax it as income so I’m only counting on $600 to be safe for now, but that brings our total about to be paid on debt in January to $2045.40.

I know some of the things that happened are one offs so we can’t count on paying off that much every month; however, I’m a dreamer so stick with me. If we did, we’d be out of debt (except our house) in 17 months!!! That’s 5 months shorter than our current target. I think this was good. It really shows what cutting back could help us achieve.

 

[LovesTimone]

You guys!! 3 big things happened tonight! 1 bad. 2 good.

The bad. I made an impulse purchase. I’m a supervisor at a call center and this year we played secret Santa. I made the smart choice not to participate because of money; however, one of the girls on my team didn’t get anything from her buddy. I felt bad because I know she put a lot of effort in the gifts she bought for her SS. So, I quickly went to Amazon and bought her a few little things to give to her since she didn’t get a gift. I went home for lunch and my husband and I were able to quickly add it to the budget. I’m disappointed. I literally could have done the same exact thing but in a different order and it wouldn’t be considered an impulse buy (at least by my standards.) So lesson learned and moving on. (Although, that’s such a reaction for me that I may make that mistake a few more times.)

The good - part 1. I won an incentive at work and received a $50 gift card. I also have another $50 GC on the way! They are Visa GCs so my husband and I are deducting each one from the food budget , using the GCs towards noms and using the actual money towards debt. So far we’ve moved $50 over to debt from food and will move the other $50 once I have the physical GC in hand.

The good - part 2 (AKA the best). I am getting a $800 bonus this month! They tax it as income so I’m only counting on $600 to be safe for now, but that brings our total about to be paid on debt in January to $2045.40.

I know some of the things that happened are one offs so we can’t count on paying off that much every month; however, I’m a dreamer so stick with me. If we did, we’d be out of debt (except our house) in 17 months!!! That’s 5 months shorter than our current target. I think this was good. It really shows what cutting back could help us achieve.

That's so great you got some extra pixie dust...

I don't look at the "the Bad" as really bad, you did something nice for someone... and you got something back that you did not expect a reward incentive at work...

One thing that we have learned, is that once you get the debt paid off, you keep it like that ... you have to change your lifestyle and find a balance.

I have some friends that went through bankruptcy twice, almost lost their house due to way over spending... the last time took them about 3+ years to get back on their feet... the thing is once they got back on their feet they started right back with the CC spending, huge vacations, shopping spree's... it was crazy. Her Dad put his foot down about giving them money to get out of a jam... he instead paid for them to go to a financial planner, that picked apart their spending and made a budget for them... It took a couple of months but finally they came up with a budget that works for them...They met with him every month for 18 months, and now they see him twice a year...For them she said they need someone looking over their shoulder...

They invited him to speak to a group of us several years ago... it was all very casual, more of a conversation... He talked about how you can't live life without some type of entertainment, vacations, some pleasure's whatever that is, playing golf, gym membership, cable TV with the channels you want, clothing and other extras like date night, movies, vacations to where ever... but you have to be alert, on guard, at all times on where the money is going... he told us that's what happens is people go from over spending ~ to~ starving themselves (no extras) for months and /or years at a time ~then~ back again to over spending, see sawing back and forth...
he went on to say you have to find a balance in your daily financial life to effectively get on financial solid ground... you have to create a lifestyle financially that matches your lifestyle and/or the lifestyle you want and can afford to live... Goals are an important thing to set... but they must be realistic and obtainable ... all in all it was a great conversation...

Your doing great...

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Jmho, but I think declaring bankrupcy would not have taught my dumb a$$ a lesson. It doesnt make you change your ways. It’s like having liposuction to lose weight, instead of lifestyle changes (diet & exercise). If you go right back to your old ways, you’ll gain it back.
This is why paying bills down the hard way does work. For us we were in cut back mode for so long, we just got used to it.
The first time we got in over our head, we took the equity out of our home to pay everything off. We did ok for a while but gradually creeped back up and I knew we couldn’t go back for more equity and HAD to change our ways.

 

[Katie Little]

Week 1 Recap -

We went over our food budget by $47 and I made an impulse purchase that I already mentioned. My husband forgot and went to hardee's for lunch one day so we met none of our goals!! The bright side. We have a ton of food in the house. Shouldn't have to buy stuff this time. If we hadn't been so mindful about impulse purchases or restaurants we would have spent way more on each. We also sat down and looked at our budget and decided to buy a Sams club membership. Not an impulse buy because we planned it ahead of time, but still wanted to mention it since it's new.

Goals for week 2 -

Food A goal $50 B Goal - $75 ($50 seems like a stretch so I will still consider us successful if we keep it less than $75).
Impulse buys - 0
Restaurants - 0
Paid Towards smallest debt - $307.68

 

[cel_disney]

Keep chugging! Both of you discussing budget and being mindful of the missteps and setting goals is still such a huge step!

If you can get to no restaurants in the second week of trying you would earn hero status in my house! Haha!

 

[Katie Little]

If you can get to no restaurants in the second week of trying you would earn hero status in my house! Haha!

“Zero to Hero in no time flat.”



Lol! Thanks for the encouragement!!!

 

[barkley]

and decided to buy a Sams club membership.

be careful with sam's, like costco it's the land of impulse buys. you go in and see a massive pack of batteries on sale and think 'wow, i need 4 double a's and for what it would cost to buy 2 packs anywhere else i can get 48 here' and there goes a much bigger amount of your budget. same thing with their food-by unit price it's for the most part cheaper (depends though-i find canned goods much less on sale elsewhere) but unless you're going to use within a budget period that entire flat of whatever you're buying it means your taking from THIS WEEK'S budget for many other weeks or months of consumption.

those stores are real budget busters for us so i have to try and steer clear of them without a set in stone list (and NOT go hungry or w/ds who is a sucker for anything they are sampling). i end up keeping an ongoing list of what we get there and stash a bit of each week's food/cleaning/toiletries budget aside so that when we go in it doesn't consume the budget and i'm spreading the cost over the use period of the previous purchases (so if a massive batch of dish tabs lasts me 3 months then the 3 months i'm using it i'll put 1/3rd the price aside each month for the next purchase of them).