Would love to join in

[motherto2]

Hi all! I mostly post on smart spending and your money, but have always wanted to join in over here. My situation is a little different than most. I live in VA so I wasn't sure exactly which region I should get involved in. I saw Maryland in NE, but haven't made it through all the posts, so thought I'd start my own.

I've been working on debt reduction, budgeting and saving for a good 3 years now. I've been through 2 divorces (long stories for both ). I didn't really have any debt from the first, but have 2 kids from that marriage. Took on alot of debt with the second so that I could keep my house. My difference is that I have both kids with student loan debt, and the ex and I always agreed (and have in our settlement agreement) that we would pay for half the kids college expenses. Unfortunately, that is mostly all the help he gives, but we both do pay their loans. The mortgage is the only other debt that I have. I've paid everything else off. So, I'm kind of in a unique situation where I pay my portion of the loans (we each pay $600/month) but I refuse to pay extra to hurry them along, since I still am the one that pays for insurances, extras, etc. I am paying extra on my mortgage, because I'm of the opinion I would like to have my house paid for before I retire. I will be retiring in about 7 1/2 years. I've had to increase some of my expenses for various reasons, some are because I want to (like donating to charity/church), some are out of necessity. I've also worked these last 3 years to reduce expenses as much as possible. Now with gas going up and food prices skyrocketing, I'm trying to figure out where else to cut, but not too many options right now.

So, that's me in a teacup. Because I'm a little different than most, I've mostly stayed away from the WIR boards. My remaining debts are not projected to be paid off for several more years, so it's kind of disheartening to post and not see much progress. Thanks for the ears, and hoping you can point me to the correct zone. Thanks!

[shanendoah]

motherto2: Welcome! I am not certain what region you'd be in for the racers, but you don't have to be in a debt payoff race to be a member here. If you have a goal of growing your savings, you could joine the Savers. If you're trying to keep your spending under control, the Controlled/No Spend thread (there's a very similar thread over on Smart Spending) is a great place to get support.
Tell us about your goals and we'll see if we can get you hooked up with the right support group.

[CarolinaKat]

Motherto2 Welcome! I encourage you to introduce yourself for your regional thread as well. We have all kinds.... People who've paid everything and decided to stay with us. We've even got a couple of guys in the South, who are awesome!!! You can also post your morgage if you want to watch the numbers go down. Feel free to pop in and chat on the regional threads, they're not only there for tracking progress; we share stories and give advice and support.

[Jem0607]

Welcome! There are quite a few people paying mortgage-only debt. I can only dream of that at this point! However you will not find a more supportive group of people anywhere. Good luck!

[mizbear]

We have people on WIR from all different walks- I am from MD myself and even though I would love to race my dents off, know I can't because I am on a fixed income, so I focus on controlled spending, saving and budget. Nobody here is going to tell you you are not welcome here because you are different or have a different goal- sometimes in this economy the goal is to keep your head above water right now- and that can happen with no debt.

[motherto2]

Thanks all! I have been thinking about exactly what I am looking for since I first posted this, and I think I'll post the kids student loans and my mortgage. You are all correct, even though they won't go down quickly (especially as quickly as I'd like to see!), it would still be something to watch. Since I'm in VA, would I fall under NE or South? With us, it just depends on who you are talking to. Some still include us in the south, others just call us east. I remember when you were on msn you had instructions on how to post, etc. Do you still have that somewhere? I'll start my numbers when I know which one to post to. Thanks!

[mizbear]

I'm not sure if the guides are still posted, but if you check with those groups, I am sure they will help you. (Being born and raised here, I am partial to that whole "MidAtlantic" delineation )

[DVM gone riding]

virginia & marlyland are NE! They are a little in disarray at the moment as their primary captain hasn't come back but rrpt is the captain over there for now and I am sure they would love to have you. Lots of us on here are going to be here for many years. I keep thinking we need a greater then 300k club but right now you will fall in the over 100k club and bankergirl keeps the rolls for that and is very good at motivating them to keep going and starting a few friendly race offs!! Welcome we are very glad to have new members--west captain

[paynointerest]

Hi Everyone!

I just created a post that shows the regions and the states that are a part of each region. It is at the top of the Women in Red page. Welcome!