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| Mon, 12-24-2012 - 5:46am |
Hi everyone!
Well, I'm here because I have debt. Not a big shocker, I'm sure! I basically went into debt when I was around the age of 26 (I'm 34 now) because I wanted to go back to school. It has been an incredibly challenging road, from me not knowing what I wanted to do with my life, to not being employed for months on end, to difficult and frustrating job searches, to finally finding employment.
At any rate, I had a plan set out to tackle my debt starting in the New Year. I've been working for a little over a month, and while I wanted to jump right in and start clearing up some debt, I had a bunch of things that my pay had to go to first. I was living off practically nothing, so I needed to pay off some bills and get my feet underneath me.
I still feel so far behind, and I can't even imagine a light at the end of the tunnel. I roughly calculated how I could start paying back my debt. To be honest, I felt so deflated to see that even if I was super aggressive with making payments to lower my current debts, I'd still be so far behind in a year. I have a line of credit, a student loan, and a credit card. All of them together total about 70K in debt.
I don`t want to chop up my credit card, because there have been times when I`ve needed to use it in the past. I did that with my last one, and was really good at not charging anything to it until I found myself in a pickle one day. I know that if I still keep my credit card but leave it stashed away at home I won`t use it at all. I don`t have a problem with impulse purchases, thankfully.
I guess I`m going to try to plan out my debt reduction goal again, and see where I stand. It just seems so overwhelming, and I really have nothing to show for it but a piece of paper in a frame, hanging on the wall.
Looking forward to meeting everyone!
L.
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~leanne
deciding to be happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect, but that you had decided to look beyond the imp
~leanne
deciding to be happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect, but that you had decided to look beyond the imp
welcome, first begin tracking every penny to spend if that is difficult keep an envelope or pencil box in the car. For 1 month throw all your receipts into the box. At the end sort the receipts into categories gas/car, food/groceries, dining out, household expenses, etc. Once everything has been sorted total all receipts in each category you will be amazed of where your money went. To create that 1000 emergency fund, direct deposit each month a certain amount 25.00 or 50.00 into a separate acct, this way you don't see it.
Next: list your debt beginning with the highest and go down the list
Beginning paying 10.00 or 20.00 toward the principal in addition to your regular payment, make sure you send in two payments. The principal in memo line use a a red pen and write PRINCIPAL Payment then take a sticky note again red pen principal payment only. This will knock the debt down quickly.
Any additional income: throw 1/2 into emergency savings and the 1/2 towards an extra payment on highest debt.
Extra jobs: pet sitting, proctor for exams, houseclean, have a spare bedroom? rent it out, I am a teacher by day and I do all these extra's I paid off my debt of 30,000 in 2 years. In the yr 2011 I was able to buy a small home. I live in a city where there are two major hospitals and a medical school. I rent only to female medical students and female interns at the local newspaper, I rent to females only because it is a shared bathroom, the room is furnished and I rent it out for 325.00 this goes into my summer fund since I don't get paid. Pet sitting and proctoring I bring in over the year an extra 2,000.00 dollars. I don't have credit cards, I use credit uniions and will never put my money in a bank. I have bill pay so the bills are paid online each month, including a 50.00 payment into my Roth. I have a checking, savings at one credit union the first savings has 1000 in it and the second savings at the other credit union has my summer funds.
Hopefully this helps, once you have paid off a debt completely take a red pen and draw a line thru it, you will see progress:)
Hi & welcome.
I also suggest taking a close look at expenses. Sometimes we can find savings here and there that don't seem like a lot in one month, but add up over the year. For instance, I called my cable company and got my bill lowered $15 a month for 12 months. = $180. I am returning one of the cable boxes from the bedroom and I'm saving another $9.00 a month. Be sure to check your car insurance and renters insurance if you have those to see if you can save some money. Coupons help cut some household expense but can also occupy a lot of time to work them correctly. Set a monthly budget for food, Eating lunch out is a big expense for me that I need to get under control. We seldom ever eat out on the weekends. That is considered a real treat. Make it a game to find at least one good savings a week, be it at the grocery store, drug store or phone/cell phone bill. You never know what little savings is out there that can add up to a decent amount over a year.
Tackle you debts one at a time and try not to get overwhelmed. As someone once said...you didn't get into debt over night and it will not disappear overnight either. Unfortunately it all takes time and patience.
GOOD LUCK! and come back often.
Welocome to the board. You are in the right place.
I agree with dollars. You must save the $1000 efund so you don't back track and break up this large amount into small chunks. Reward yourself for achieving them and this is doable. Many people here have paid off this large of a sum including me. More even.
So dig in and get started!
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