Neighbors making saving easier!

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2006
Neighbors making saving easier!
3
Mon, 03-27-2006 - 9:09am

Good Morning!

I found this board yesterday and spent a few hours reading through all the great suggestions. I was up at 6 am on a Sunday (and I like to sleep on my days off!) worrying about our cc debt and when we were going to be able to get into a house. I feel pretty lucky - we both make great money, no kids, and with the budget I came up with yesterday we can put $2,000 a month on the cards. We owe $27,000 (gasp), but if I can stick with it, we'll be debt free and in a house by next summer. I'am just hoping to get a little support on the board so I'll stick with my weekly allowance to make this happen. The DH isn't much of a spender - it's me, I know.

Luckily, we have the worst neighbors ever which is making my need for my own house much more drastic. They are middle aged "partiers" who are loud at night and then blast the radio at 7 in the morning on a Saturday. We've had midnight shouting matches and power tool use at 6 am right outside our bedroom window. We share a duplex with them and we have the front half, so we're just too close for comfort! They are the type that lease Mercedes and Lexus (no joke) while renting a two bedroom duplex at age 40 and 50, with no nest egg to fall back on. They do not understand why we aren't out on Saturday nights since we're in our early 30's(saving for a house!) and make snide comments about it.

Anyways, that's my motivation for getting debt free and buying a house (far far away from them:)

Avatar for endomagazine
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2004
Mon, 03-27-2006 - 9:49am

Hello,

It sounds like your neighbors and their lack of respect for quiet time (and spending plans) are providing a great motivation for you to reduce debt. My husband and I are in our 30s, have a mortgage (87k) and credit card debt (36k). My DH was hired in a new job this week that will also help us send $1500 - 2000 toward our debt each month. It's great to see that kind of snowball versus the $20-50 I was sending when we lived on just my income. =)

Congratulations on making the commitment to pay off that debt before you start house shopping. Having all of those payments disappear will make it easier to save up for a 20% down payment and a 15 year fixed mortgage. I wish *we* had saved up a large downpayment and moved to a 15 year fixed, because currently we're on a 30 year, having financed with a 5% downpayment. Looking at all of the interest we've paid on credit cards and mortgage makes me slightly ill.

Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke

Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke

Geeks on Tap: Mission Accomplished

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2006
Mon, 03-27-2006 - 10:03am

Hi Lindsey,

It's funny what will finally wake you up and realize that you have to get serious about the debt and move on with life:) Sounds like you and your husband are well on your way to doing that also. Thats great! We were just going on my salary for a month or so last year as well, so I know how great that feeling is to be sending big payments instead of eeking by with the minimum.

We do have $20,000 saved in our 401k that we were planning to borrow against for a downpayment. Unfortunately, where we live, there isn't one house in the entire County for less than $350,000 so once we pull ourselves out of credit card debt, we're looking at serious mortgage debt. We have thought of moving, but the job market is so great here and we both grew up here, have family here, etc, we just don't want to do it. The good thing is that the real estate market here has been historically really strong so it is something of a good investment.

I love everyone's good cooking suggestions. I admit, I've been living on Trader Joes pre-made foods and just went through my cupboards last night to see what could be made at home. I had a great Indian simmer sauce, some frozen veggies, frozen chicken, and rice so I whipped up Indian food to take for lunch all week. I saw a sale on Roma Tomatoes (79 cents a pound!) so I also whipped up a great tomato basil pasta. I'll have to give you all the recipe, it was so good and super cheap. I didn't realize we had so much food on hand at home and I'am loving doing all the cooking. It's actually fun:)

Avatar for endomagazine
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-09-2004
Mon, 03-27-2006 - 2:44pm

Hello,

I understand that houses in your area are expensive. If I were living closer to work (45 minute commute one-way) I would have to pay the 150-200k more for the same house.

20% on a 350k house would be 70k. Consider that my husband and I have a combined income of 80k with 35k in debt. We *were* living on a 33k income and still paying down the debt. If we wanted to save 70k, it would take us 2-3 years. I know that sounds like a long time, but when you're saving for a purpose (like a house downpayment) time goes pretty quickly, especially as you see that balance go *up* each month just like your debt balance went down.

Please, don't get into the new house too early, just to get rid of the pesky neighbors. I'd suggest taking a little time to save up some money to pay down part of that 'huge mortgage debt' you're likely to have.

We were able to live on my income for 5 months *because* our mortgage payments were originally 25% of our combined income. When my DH lost his job, the payments became 50% of my income! It was a little tight for awhile, but we were able to pay the bills and keep afloat.

Now that my DH has a better paying job, the payments are 18% of our income. Just knowing that if we had our debt paid off, that we'd be able to comfortably live on my income is a nice thought. As soon as our credit card debt is paid off, we'll fully fund the emergency fund, start contributing 15% to retirement, then pay off that mortgage in 3 years or less. I'm looking forward to living in a paid-off house at the age of 35. =)

Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke

Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke

Geeks on Tap: Mission Accomplished