What a way to start the New Year!

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-05-2004
What a way to start the New Year!
2
Thu, 12-23-2004 - 1:01pm


DH and I did some budgeting this morning over the phone (he's on a business trip), and we looked at what we had left over from this 2 week pay period (minus expected bills and some Xmas shopping he wants to do tomorrow when he gets home, and also a little bit he wants to move into an IRA account before the end of the year to help plan our retirement), and when we added what was left to what should be left of our next paycheck (December 31st--which was an extra check for the month since there's 3 pay periods this month), we realized that we have enough to pay off our car!!!

There's $1820.13 left on our car, and the last payment should have been in March. But we're going to go ahead and go to the bank on January 3rd (first Monday after the holiday) and pay the whole thing off. Then we'll have that extra money to "snowflake" to our other debts.

DH says that we've got the credit card bill (currently at 9,800), but he says that the interest rate on our 2nd mortgage (to replace rotten wood siding and old wood windows that didn't close properly on our home in 2000) is at a higher interest rate than the credit card, so he feels we should snowflake that car payment money to the principal on the 2nd mortgage. He feels that if we take the normal amount of our 2nd mortgage and add the car payment to it, we should be able to pay off the 20 year loan in as little as four years! Amazing!! He's so much better with numbers than I am, and that's why I'm glad he's helping me with the bills now.

I have to say that Christmas feels different this year. Sure, we've got debt we need to pay back, and the holidays aren't loaded down with a ton of gifts like usual (believe me, we used to go all out on holiday gifts), but I still feel like this is going to be a nice holiday. When DH said he wanted to go shopping tomorrow when he gets home, because he hadn't gotten me anything for Christmas, I told him that all I wanted was to have him home with us, and I meant it. Telling him about the debt on the credit card and giving up control of the bill paying and finances, and working together on it as a team has made us so much closer as a couple. Naturally, he said that he felt he had to get me something and wouldn't take 'no' for an answer, but I really meant what I said. I'm so driven to get our debt down, that I really don't need anything for the holidays other than my family being with me. :-)

Hope everyone has a beautiful holiday with their loved ones!

Patty :-D

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-05-2004
Thu, 12-23-2004 - 1:23pm


Update! I called my bank, and they will be working their normal operating hours on New Year's Eve, so that means that first thing on December 31st, I can go straight to the bank at 9am when they open their doors and pay off our car loan!! Wow, you know I'll be doing a Happy Dance all night long as I wait for the ball to drop, in Times Square, on the TV.

I feel like I should pinch myself to make sure that this isnt just a dream.

Patty

Avatar for cl_beckymk
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Thu, 12-23-2004 - 2:15pm

Woo Hoo!!!