How are you doing compared to a year ago
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| Fri, 12-31-2004 - 6:18am |
I guess someone should ask THE BIG QUESTION, and so it will be me!:
How are you doing compared to a year ago????????????????
Even if you do not respond here, I am hoping you will take a few moments to reflect on how your financial situation and aspects of your life that it affects have changed or not changed in the past year.
To be considered:
Are you more or less in debt?
Is your mental/physical health improved?
Is your job situation different?
Are you more or less dedicated to reducing debt?
Have you been working on and executing new ideas to make things better?
Have you made some bad decisions or had bad luck?
Do you have support from family, friends and professionals that has made a difference in your situation?
How is your self-esteem?
Are you better educated about money?
Do you have the same goals or new goals?
What have you learned this past year? What have you learned about yourself?
I know I am going to have to examine my situation more before I can answer this question. I hope that anyone who is journaling thru their debt experience will answer the questions above in their writing. and revisit these answers a year from now.
Happy New Year!!!!! Littlesbigs

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Good question...
Last year at this time, after having been cc/car/school debt-free for about a year, I came out of xmas about 1500 in the cc hole. Spiked to a high of about 1800 Jan/Feb. Worked like a dog to pay it all off before May, when I quit my job. I have been relying heavily (but not exclusively) on credit since then for living expenses.
This year, I was successful in following my modest xmas spending plan (I worked a temporary job so as not to add any holiday debt). I do have 6000+ in cc debt from the past 8 months (mostly parked on one card with 0% until Nov of next year). Mentally and physically I am doing far better. Over the past 2 years I have lost 40 pounds and am within 8 of my ideal weight. That has been a tremendous stress reliever in and of itself.
The only thing on my to-do list for 2005 is to find a job I enjoy doing, and to pay off my cc balance within 12-18 months of doing so. My commitment to getting plastic out of my life is still the same. I just needed a break MORE than I needed to be debt-free this past year.
BK
It's been a very long time since I've posted, but this seems like a good question to kick off my "I will participate more on the DSG" resolution! LOL
I've spend alot of time over the past week or so reflecting on the past year. Initially, I was disappointed in our progress, and did a fair amount of beating myself up about it. Once that was over with, I was able to see the REAL progress that we've made:
*We bought a house this year! Yes, it's a big mortgage, and slowed down our CC payoff, but it was worth it
*We have $1000 in our emergency fund
*I recently needed $850 in unplanned car repairs - and I didn't use a CC to pay for it!
*We reduced our CC debt by more than $5000 (that's where the disappointment stems from...I've certainly PAID more than $5K to CCs, it's just that the balances have only gone down by $5K - another way that I look at this is that we've reduced our CC balances to 47% of our limits, vs 56% of limits in Dec 2003
*this is a smaller thing, but it means a lot to me - I've gotten comfortable enough with our finances that I've moved many regular payments to automatic status
I'm looking forward to ordering our credit reports tomorrow (my New Year's day tradition!). Going through the reports will really help to refocus our energies on getting our CC debt eliminated.
Happy New Year everyone!
Katy
I think I'm doing better than a year ago. I know I have more debt than I did a year ago, but the stress of carrying it all inside of me and hiding it from my husband (ie. stopping mail when the credit card bill was due to arrive on a weekend because I was afraid he'd get to the mailbox before me and see the bill) is definitely gone. We openly talk about our debt and where to put our snowflakes that we find. We say how proud we are of each other in dealing with our spending and trying to find ways to cut back.
As far as dedication, I'm much more dedicated to getting my debt load down. I want to see those numbers just drop and drop in 2005, and I know they will if I keep trying hard.
Happy New Year to all! :-D
2004 was an awful year. forced salary cuts, overtime was taken away. expenses went up. so did our debt in spite of all the changes we made to our daily life to accomodate them. We are determined to get our money and debt under control. If we have to cut more (though i am not sure where) we will. I used the angry icon because i am angry about the past year and determined not to let it beat us. Things happended, unfair things but we are just going to get smart about money and budget, budget budget.
Mary Anne
I love seeing our progress over the past 12 months.
All my best,
Danni
Wow Danni! What an inspiration!
Well a year ago DH and I maxed ut our cc, moaxed out our line of credit, Dh was working a dead end fishing job that was unreliable (he had just left school cause we couldn't afford tuition)our car just got smashed up by our landlord, we discovered there was no heat in our apartment (the snow blow through the cracks!!!!!!), I found out I was preg and things weren't going too good, my job had major layoffs, our debt was out of control!!!
Jan-We decided no new debt (we were $52,000 in the red)
Feb-we moved from the city to the country, to a house, less rent but the place was a dump, we spet so much time cleaning it up, Dh worked like a dog, he often worked two jobs.
Mar-I went on sick leave, too mnay problems w/ the baby
Apr-our new car got hit by a bus (yes a BUS!) we got screwed by the insurance company cause it was an older car, the sad part was it worked beautifully and the were no problems with it all all! So we had to go back and patch up our old car that our landlord busted (we still have it and it is in sad condition)
Summer-paid down debt!!! And new baby!
Sept-Dh returned to school, gov't program paying for everything, we moved in with my parents to save money.
Dec-Dh received some money from a job (unexpectedly) so that was out Xmas
We begin 2005 with $45 780.03 in debt.
Kiki
Last year at this time I had no consumer debt, a decent contingency savings, and I had just bought a house. I was wiped out though, taking the bus back and forth after work in the snow to scrape, spackle, and paint to get ready for my first move in nearly 9 years! I was single, and I despised my job at the local newspaper. I was financially in great shape, but exhausted in most other areas.
This year I am $2300 in debt, not too bad, but still annoying. I LOVE my little house and I just got a new job that I also love. I feel really lucky about the job, I quit my old job in June and took a leap of faith that something better would come along, and it did! Right in the nick of time! I should be back in the black by April, and get my contingency rebuilt and then on to Freedom Accounts. Sadly, I just had to put my beloved cat and roomie of 12 years to sleep. Then my car died, and I'm going to break up with my guy. Still, I'm in good spirits and I'm really looking forward to this new year! With everything on the news, I feel so fortunate that I have all I need and most of what I want.
Happy New Year!
I am slightly more in debt that this time last year. The first part of 2004 was out of control and then in the summer I moved and that money I didn't have to spend.
But things are MUCH better than last year. I am now living within my means, focused on my spending/budgeting, have a better job, eating better, I exercise, I have less stress and I have a financial plan that should enable me to buy a home by the summer of 2006!
Unfortunately I didn't keep track of exactly what we paid off in numbers last year, but I know it involved a $21,000 payoff of my car...three years early!
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