Women in Red Racers - South Region

[trojen3]

Thanks Speech. I definitely will be back after this race. I still have $275k in student debt. But I will probably take a break from racing hard-core as we are expecting a baby in 2 months. We need to boost emergency funds before I start throwing every penny at the next loan. But I will be snowballing which will put an additional $1550 towards the next loan in line! 

[muffyinthered]

ATTENTION CAPTAINS:



MuffyintheRed 10/16/2014 $77,945.95 (9/9/08 $128,662.37 S37, SU395, PRO77, 81, 86.137) NC
Paid off since joining: $50,716.42 Percentage: 39.5%
Paid off this month: $124.02
Medical Bills: $127.51 - $59.00 = $68.51
CU Savings - $1450.14 +25.01


Sorry I think I missed September update.  We have been going nuts with my husband's health.  Not really thinking about much else.  Nov. 11 we go in for the cancer to be frozen off. Hopefully all goes well and there will be no more surgery.  This month I did pay off a CC that isn't being raced.  Next month we will get rid of the rest of that Medical bill and we may have to add another medical bill.  Only good thing is that we have finally met our maximum out of pocket deductible, so the freezing will be 100% covered and we won't have to pay anything for that except the hotel for the night before the procedure.

Hopefully next year my bills will go down faster.  I need them to go down faster because I have to refinance my house by the end of July.  Still have a trip at Christmas back home though.  Working very hard to get giftcards from Swagbucks and ERewards for presents, so I don't have to charge or spend a lot of money.

What is everyone else doing to make Christmas not a budget buster?

[paynointerest]

Pay-no-Interest:  $87,500 (05/07 $369,884)

Paid off since last month:  $1000.00
Total Paid off:  $282,384.00
%Total paid: 76.3%

% paid on my mortgage:  53.5%

Slowly but surely the mortgage is going down.  I'm getting really close to the point where each mortgage payment will pay more in principle than interest.  That will be a great day!

It looks like everyone is making great progress.  Good job!

[forwardwego]

Good Morning WIRRs 


Paynointerest, Muffy, and Trojen congrats on the updates 

On the WIRR Savers Thread we're talking about a savings challenge that is a weekly challenge. Come on over and check it out. The savers board is a great way to bring balance to your finances....paying off debt feels satisfying...and saving brings peace of mind. It's a win/win combination. Gotta head out now to my J O B,

Hope your day goes WIRRderful...sorry to be corny, hope I can make you smile 

[sparks2710]

UPDATE: Sparks2710: 10/24/14: $5,359.87   (1/1/14: $14,316.93)

[procras108r]

Hi all!
Just dropping in to check up on everyone and say hi! I don't have an active race right now, but don't want to lose the boards if/when they move again. 
Consolidating to one group is a great idea. I know the motivation I got from everyone here is what helped me win my race - the more motivation the better!

You guys are looking great! Good to see familiar names and some new folks! Go zeros!

Life is good, and my savings are slowly building up! They should be building faster, but isn't there always something?

My poor house is falling down around me, but I have issues with paying for home improvements. One, they cost too much. Two, I can't find anyone I trust to do it how I want it, but I don't have enough skills to do it myself. Three, I hate to 'overimprove.' It's a basic 'starter house' and is currently only computer appraised for 20-30k over my purchase price. Three bathrooms, exterior paint, new septic field, and windows just don't really fit that bracket. Four, I'm not a decorator and hate picking out stuff like tile. This is how bad I am - My last bathroom developed a tub leak that plumbers can't fix without pretty much a full redo of the tub/shower. Over a year ago. Since then, I just leave the water turned off in the house unless I need it. When the water is on I stick a bucket under the drip and use it to flush the toilet. You'd think picking out tile and a contractor would be easier, eh? I think I've been through 12 contractors so far. I almost signed with one, then found out his insurance was through a private company and therefor not actually backed by anything. I have 2 more names on my list to try when I can face it again.

Retirement. We are actually getting a COLA at work this year, which will show up in our next paycheck. I just wait to see what the new actual take home dollar amount is in the first paycheck with the raise included; then I send in my withdrawal adjustment to fold the raise into my retirement savings. Not exact, but close enough. At the moment between pension contributions, fully funding my Roth, and some money into a deferred compensation plan, I have about 17% of gross going to retirement savings each month . So could do better. I like to base the percentage against take home pay instead - it looks much better!  (29%)
Alas, I can't find a retirement calculator that can actually calculate my retirement anywhere. It's because of the pension and possible early retirement - none of the online calculators I've found can adjust for both factors. I can technically retire and start drawing pension at 45. Which won't be enough to live on. But would it be enough to live on with my deferred compensation and Roth contributions for 20 something years until Social Security kicks in to supplement? (My simple math says no.)
I have a couple more years until that option comes up, and I'm having too much fun at my job at the moment anyway. Nice to know your options though!

Hope all are doing well heading into the holiday season!
procras108r

[redracerris]

 Attention Captains: Update Red Racer Ris 10/24/2014 $82,410 (3/20/10 $145,409 SU220 SPB166 OK/AK)

	Original Amount	Last Month	This Month	Monthly Diff	Total Diff	% Paid
PLUS Loan	$11,000	$0	$0	$0	$11,000	100%
SL 1	$34,236	$15,723	$15,384	$339	$18,852	55.1%
SL 2	$31,691	$26,991	$26,873	$118	$4,818	15.2%
SL 3	$30,730	$22,183	$21,986	$197	$8,744	28.5%
SL 4	$30,088	$18,633	$18,167	$466	$11,921	39.6%
Old SL 1	$7,664	$0	$0	$0	$7,664	100%
Total	$145,409	$83,530	$82,410	$1,120	$62,999	43.3%

Student Loan 4	Original Amount	Last Month	This Month/%
Student Loan 4-A	$1,003	$0	$0/100%
Student Loan 4-B	$4,440	$4,000	$3,984/10.4%
Student Loan 4-C	$4,417	$4,123	$4,114/6.9%
Student Loan 4-D	$1,338	$0	$0/100%
Student Loan 4-E	$1,765	$0	$0/100%
Student Loan 4-F	$2,035	$0	$0/100%
Student Loan 4-G	$2,590	$692	$271/88.4%
Student Loan 4-H	$5,500	$4,132	$4,116/25.1%
Student Loan 4-I	$7,000	$5,685	$5,681/18.8%

Oh how my OCD is kicking in with the amount paid off. Just one more dollar to make it an even $63,000 paid off.
Our new wood stove has been installed, and it cost less than was estimated and what we had saved up for, so we bought ourselves a snowblower. We still have money left over so now I'm going to buy some curtains to help maintain the heat that we are now getting nicely. Yay for efficient wood stoves. It has snowed a couple of times, but hasn't stuck around long. We just have a lot of frost right now. But our snow blower will be needed eventually, I mean it's Alaska.
Anyways, now that the wood stove is taken care of, we can go back to paying extra on loans! So buh-bye 4-G! 4-B will be my next victim.

[Minnesotagirl7]

WIRR consolidated thread to launch in the next couple of weeks

Within the next couple of weeks, I will be locking the threads for the individual regions and going live with the consolidated threads. There will be two new threads: one for discussion, posting updates, asking questions, etc.; and a separate thread where the captains will be posting the smiley updates. The captains for the consolidated boards are: Minnesotagirl7, jdnstl, LaramiK, speechchick71, urdoingit, and idlechatter.

Please be patient with us for the first few weeks after we launch the new threads. Let us know if we miss anything or if you have suggestions for improvement.

While it’s a bit of a bummer that our numbers have dropped and we’re going back to being one big happy WIRR family, this is also a great opportunity to get to know other racers, learn new tips & tricks, and maybe even get a new perspective on your race.

Happy racing everyone!  

[trojen3]

Well, it's finally done... and 7 months ahead of schedule. This was proof that snowballing works!!!! I would be so discouraged paying and not seeing the numbers decrease, but as soon as I started snowballing, it took off fast. Love it. Feeling free for the most part... until I look at the $272k I still have in SL's. But at least I know that I have decreased my debt payment by ~$1550/month. I will continue snowballing in to my next highest interest rate loan, but I think I will take a break from WIRR for a little while. The new addition to the family is due beginning of December. After we get settled in to our new life, I will be back to race another set of loans...

Update: Trojen3 - 10/28/14 - $0 (8/24/12 - $99,479.89)

Name of Debt	Current Debt	Starting Debt	Total Paid	% Paid Off
Car Loan	$0	$2,201.08	$2,201.08	100%
SL #1 - Sallie Mae	$0	$1,491.42	$1,491.42	100%
SL #2 - Grad PLUS	$0	$46,338.33	$46,338.33	100%
SL #3 - Grad PLUS	$0	$28,852.49	$28,852.49	100%
SL #4 - Private	$0	$20, 596.57	$20,596.57	100%
TOTAL	$0	$99,479.89	$99,479.89	100%

[Minnesotagirl7]

Congratulations on your win, Trojen3!!!

[redracerris]

Go Trojen3! Sad to hear that you'll be back, but excited for the little on that's coming into your life. We will be here for you when you need us.

[jdnstl]

CONGRATS Trojen!! 

[jdnstl]

hi WIRR friends!!

i got back from another mission trip to Haiti on saturday. i loved it so much more the second time around!! and i'm off work this week as i begin a new job monday. i know, i just had a new job a little over a month ago, but this is with a large hospital, the pay & benefits are enormously better & it's something i enjoy - accounting & research. so although i return to having a long commute, it will be better in the long run. the negative is that with my mission trip & the timing of the job offer i will be 4 weeks without a paycheck. so i've made my budget to get me through & have done the least amount of driving possible. i'll post my monthly update over the weekend as i schedule a couple more payments. 

have a great rest of the week & HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

[forwardwego]

Attention Captains: UpDATE Forwardwego 11/4/14 $11490 (6/19/2011 $38780 SPT64, PB154)

welcome home jdnstl 


trojen3 congratulations on your awesome win 


nice to see you n hear what's up Procras108r 


another great update for you redracerris doggone that measley $1, but soon 4-G is history 

sparks kudos on making it to the 5500 club!!!!!


Minnesota, speech, and jdnstl  Thank you for your work in keeping us rolling.

[Minnesotagirl7]

All-

I plan to launch the consolidated threads this Sunday, 11/9. It will happen sometime that morning. I hope you’re all as excited as I am!

[speechchick71]

Hi all! 

Trojen!  Amazing.  I"m so excited for you to have won this part of your race and your upcoming new bundle! We'll be glad to have you back whenever you're ready.

Thanks for popping in Procras!

I'm laughing at Ris because I would have done whatever I could to get that extra $1 to make it even. 

Being that the boards will be consolidated, I'm going to wait to post my update.  I did a balance transfer to a 0% card so my one big balance is looking a little more manageable.  I thought my seasonal job wasn't going to start until January and now they will have me starting at least part of the time in December.  I didn't budget for any $ coming in during December so it will be a little extra windfall.

I've also made the decision to go back to school.  I have some prereqs that need to be completed before I can apply but I'm looking at Physician Assistant programs.  I think this would be a good challenge for me.  I wanted to be in med school by the time I was 30 and that time has long ago passed.  This is a much shorter program and may not even put me into debt!  The difference in salary as compared to what I made is great as well.  It'll take some dedication and saving up some money but I think I can do it.  I am gearing up to take 1-2 classes at the local college starting in January and maybe I'll be able to get another job in FL so that I can stick around for 1-2 more classes.  I'm feeling a bit energized by the whole idea!