My introduction....

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-30-2009
My introduction....
11
Wed, 12-30-2009 - 11:45pm

Hello everyone!

Jenn<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft

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iVillage Member
Registered: 08-23-2006
Thu, 12-31-2009 - 7:32am

Welcome Jenn, I think you've come to the right place! There are some great folks here to offer you advice.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-01-2008
Thu, 12-31-2009 - 9:28am

Hi Jenn & Welcome.

Norma


"Patience is the best remedy for every trouble"- Plautus


iVillage Member
Registered: 07-02-2008
Thu, 12-31-2009 - 9:29am

Welcome Jenn!

First off, do you two have a savings/emergency (efund) fund?

How much of your debt is in credit cards? Personally, although my mortgage is a loan I don't really count that as my "debt" because its secure. I count credit cards, personal loans, car loans, etc as "debt."

Perhaps the daunting number of $270,000 seems overwhelming. If you can drop that number and just focus on say credit card debt then you might feel like you are making some progress along the journey.

Also, what are the interest rates on your credit cards? Do you pay late fees? Do you pay overdraft fees to your bank? These are the things you need to fix ASAP. Get as low an interest rate as you can. That will help so you are just paying down your debt and not paying only interest per month.

I would start by listing your monthly expenses and seeing where your leaks are. Do you eat out for lunch a lot? Do you splurge on new clothes often? This is the kind of stuff that can be cut down considerably or stopped altogether to free up extra money to pay down debt.

Good luck and stick with us!

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-24-2007
Thu, 12-31-2009 - 9:35am

Hi Jenn and welcome to the boards!

Kate


empty purse

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Thu, 12-31-2009 - 10:36am

Welcome, Jenn! I'm a fan of Dave Ramsey. I haven't paid for any of his products but I do have the TMM book (I requested it as a gift one year) and if I so much as want to make a fast food run I read it for a little slap on the hand (or one to the back of the head, LOL).

I'll spare you the details of most of our story because it's as unconventional as they come. Suffice to say we're about 2k in the hole each month and doing all sort of "gazelle"-like side work to knock down our monthly expenses. We don't have credit cards and our installment payments don't go down when the balance does, so the only way we get any relief is to pay accounts off. Not an easy road! But on the flipside, we have a LOT to show for our debt and I wouldn't change any of it at this point. I hope we'll see the last of our debt in 2011 so we can build a house.

I LOVE crunching numbers and DH gets a headache just listening to me talk about my spreadsheets, so by mutual agreement I handle ALL of the money stuff. He doesn't spend money at all (unless it's $2 on lunch and then he asks first) so this system works great for us. If we're short on money (if, HA!) I just let him know how much and he handles it. Constant shortages aside, I do love our system. It's perfect for us!

I've found that some of ol Dave's talk seems extreme, but I wouldn't deny that it would work. We just don't feel the need to be THAT extreme. We could sell everything of value, but DH uses most of it for work. We could get rid of our extra vehicles, but it would severely limit what we can do to make money. (For example, DH has a big rig Mack tow truck that he got for free and it runs great. He might use it once a month, but it doesn't cost us a penny to own it and he does make a couple hundred dollars an hour with the thing. No way are we getting rid of it - especially when it would costs tens of thousands of dollars to replace it tomorrow!) But anyway, if you stick around long enough (and I hope you will) you'll find me to be a pretty bad influence, LOL. Sometimes we do the wrong things for the right reasons, but our progress over the last year has been amazing and I'm proud of it!

Welcome to the board and I wish you all the best in your journey. It's tough to get started and "mean business" but the more you get into it the more addictive it is. I turn it into a numbers game and try to win, and I'm way too competitive NOT to, LOL.

BTW, if you want a wake up call, figure up how much you spent just on credit card interest in the last year. Multiple it by 10 or 20 years to see what kind of money you're losing. If that doesn't smack you around a little, NOTHING will! =c)

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FLINGING DEBT:
Sarah
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-14-2008
Thu, 12-31-2009 - 12:23pm

Welcome!

You are in the right place for support and advice. There are lots of smart ladies and guys here that can help.

I like the idea of Dave Ramsey......but I'm not sure I agree with all of his steps or the order of them. The main thing is you have decided to do something about your debt and something is better than nothing by a long shot so good for you. I do agree with the efund though, it is very important to get at least $1000 tucked away before you start your journey so you are not tempted to use your cards if something comes up. I didn't think it was important when I started but believe me, it is essential.

Sit down and list out your pay periods and what must be paid in each pay period. What do you have left over? If you do a more detailed budget include everything you can think of including things that are not paid monthly but still have to be paid like car insurance or kids camps etc.

It sounds like you and your husband should record everything you spend for a whole month(perhaps while you are saving your efund) and see just where your money is going? Where can you cut back. This has be a joint effort between the two of you.

Good luck and post often!


iVillage Member
Registered: 08-04-2008
Thu, 12-31-2009 - 1:32pm

Welcome Jenn -
You found a supportive and active board to share your debt journey with. There are people here of all income levels and all debt levels. Many of us also follow many of the Dave Ramsey outlines, myself included.
I would say the #1 thing that helped DH and I was to get rid of Credit and Debit cards completely for daily use. I did use them for Christmas, but everything is paid without interest because I had savings for it - but I was really able to save the 15-30% at Kohls because I paid NO interest.
#1 tip from my book of lessons is to get a baby emergency fund in place of $1,000, and put $100 tucked in back of your wallets (both for you and your DH.) Then you can work the program on a cash basis and really begin to FEEL what spending money is like again.
I also would avoid stocking up - all that means is money sitting on a shelf somewhere that could have been used to pay down interest. I did this all the time when I thought I was getting short. But now I plan menus every week, pack lunches every day, and we buy what we need. That alone cut our grocery bills by half - oh, and I stopped using coupons! Yes, stopped and saved money because I put that time into my second job, and bought more store brands only when I needed them for a much lower price.

So there are the lessons I learned! It is not an easy journey, be sure to allow yourself some blow money you are both not accountable for so you can ease into this.

Remember, you were living on MORE than your income as you used credit to supplement. You were living in a FALSE REALITY. Now you are trying to live one only what you make, as well as paying down debt - so you are trying to live on a LOT LESS.

Give yourself credit for just not charging and using cash at first, put that plan in place for future spending, and find cool ways to have fun and connect. (DH and I have a lot more sex now as we don't shop or go out to dinner but spend more time talking and cuddling - it keeps him out of the online gun forums so he does not get an desire for guns, but for me!) Sideline benefit can be a lot more communication and common goals in your marriage - just ask Sarah how close her and her DH are as they pool their goals together as one unit.

Good Luck,

Marie




iVillage Member
Registered: 07-28-2004
Thu, 12-31-2009 - 1:56pm

It sounds like we are in very similar places....

KAREN
Proud mom to
Kalvin (Aug '96) and Kolto
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2005
Thu, 12-31-2009 - 2:33pm

Hi Jenn and welcome.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-03-2009
Thu, 12-31-2009 - 3:17pm
The Dave Ramsey class is very helpful.

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