International Region, Women in Red Racers

[ldawngirl]

DH - Actually I am doing just that! haha The extra paycheque is going into the wedding savings account as we've depleted it with wedding (and, oops!... some non-wedding) stuff.

The spendy bug seems to have gone away now. I went shopping to get DF some new clothes for an upcoming wedding and consistently saw stupid prices on dress pants for men that I refused to pay. So I wound up buying him stuff at Walmart! haha He doesn't care either way; it's normally me who buys him his nicer clothes. And I splurged on some gum for myself. I hope that buy will stay away for a few more months. After the wedding, I'll be in a better position to placate the spending bug when he comes around again.

[debtheaven]

Zs
Do you realize you have paid off over 21K in just 18 months?! Wow!!! You have a lot to be proud of!

Idawn
Good for you for finding a way to deal with the "Spendy Bug"! I always find great deals at those stores when I'm in the US, I'm sure your DF looks great!

I just wish you hadn't sent the "Spendy Bug" over here though LOL.

We haven't had rain in over two months. So I spent more than I should have on replacing part of our automatic watering system because I didn't want last years' new roses to die. Then I realized our hose reel was leaking A LOT, so yesterday I replaced that (I got a 5% discount because we were at the end of our store card.)

And of course, once I did all that, it finally started to hail (in June!), and rain, and and pour! For the first time in OVER two months!

By the way, I am STILL waiting for the gardeners. The new ones never showed, so I called the old ones, two brothers who both live out of town now. They said it would take them a few weeks, but they'll get here eventually. I had a text message from one of them tonight telling me they haven't forgotten us, so I'm still waiting!

[bankergurl]

$100K Club Summer Challenge! Summer is here and can make it harder to focus on the debt game, but I know we can do it! To give us a little more motivation I would like to challenge the $100K club to pay off $100K this summer. It would be like graduating 1 member all the way to $0! Let's set the challenge from June 1 to August 31. We currently have 27 racers (though I expect we may lose 2 more this week) so that would be an average of $3,700 per member for the whole challenge. I know there are some that can pay much more then that, and some (like myself) that number will be hard to meet, but let's all do our very best and stay on track for the summer!
So our current total for the $100K Summer Challenge as of 6/5/11 is 3 updates totaling $3684.68! Remaining to meet goal is $96,315.32!

[bankergurl]

Updated as of 6/5/11! $2,584.68 paid off this week!
- Congrats to Wudnit from the Midwest for getting under $140K!
notmsnmoney.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=wir&thread=2929&page=2

[el1504]

Zs - wow great update. Karma you ;D

DH- I swear it did not rain here for years and then it floods! At least you will be ready next time it decides not to rain for a while.

[debtheaven]

The two "gardener brothers" are coming next Wednesday. They both live about 90 min away now (in opposite directions) so the estimate was a bit steeper than I thought. But I'm thrilled that they are willing to come all the way out here. And six years on, the garden really needs a pro.

Three more days and that boiler loan is dust.

After all the palava of selling one place and buying another, we'll only be saving about 200/mo, which we need to keep up with rising costs. I can get that 200/mo up to nearly 400/mo if I include the "earnest money" loan I took out in Nov and paid back in Feb. But that would be dishonest, because that loan was short term.

I know there are other positive factors besides the 200/mo we will save:
- we are rid of the future money pit
- we are rid of that tenant who would only cook with gas bottles
- we are rid of that very expensive syndicate that runs the building
- the new apt doesn't need a reno
- we are getting market rent for the new rental

But my next "win" is in 4.5 years LOL.

I know I really need to just "set it and forget it", and learn to feel good about it. And continue to use my energy constructively to try to earn more money.

[indebtyogini]

Shoutouts!

Happy Monday racers! Hope you all enjoyed your weekend!

Idawngirl – I have had the spendy bug big time this whole year. I finally kicked it when I stopped allowing myself to look at shopping websites. I’m glad you kicked yours too. It’s a nasty little thing to get rid of! Great update. 72% paid is amazing!

ZsDebt – Great update! You are cruising. I too have bunches of weddings to go to this year. They are SO expensive!

[indebtyogini]

Please repost for me

Smiley update!!!

=$100, ;D=$500, =$1,000, #wink_smile# =$5,000, #party# = $10,000, #angel2# = $25,000, #tongue2# = $75,000, #kiss# = $100,000, #palm# =$200,000, #lightbulb# = Location Needed

#rose#debtheaven[4]: 2/23/11 $0 (11/25/2009 $11,500 I257)#party# ;D
alicesfreedom: 5/30/11 $11,424.23 (9/2/2009 $25,341.42 I226, IPT4) #party# ;D
bubbleepink: 5/8/11 $36,129.92 (4/17/2009 $41,648.59 N178, IPT7, IPT9) #wink_smile# ;D
#rose#financiallyfreeinbc: 12/24/10 $0 (1/5/2010 $28,343.05 IU13)#angel2#
#rose#EL1504[2]: 5/26/11 $0 (3/19/2010 $6,751.42 IU62) #wink_smile#
Idawngirl: 6/1/11 $7,632 (1/4/2010 $27,993 IU10)#party##party#
InDebtYogini: 5/31/11 $4,574.66 (9/19/2007 $14,490.83 N559)#wink_smile# ;D
#rose#Writer88: 1/4/11 $0 (12/21/2006 $27,917 IU51)#angel2# ;D
ZsDebt: 6/3/11 $37,703.51 (1/7/2010 $59,198.18 IU16)#party##party#

[debtheaven]

Yogini's Smiley Update!!!

=$100, ;D=$500, =$1,000, =$5,000, = $10,000, = $25,000, = $75,000, = $100,000, =$200,000, = Location Needed

debtheaven[4]: 2/23/11 $0 (11/25/2009 $11,500 I257) ;D
alicesfreedom: 5/30/11 $11,424.23 (9/2/2009 $25,341.42 I226, IPT4) ;D
bubbleepink: 5/8/11 $36,129.92 (4/17/2009 $41,648.59 N178, IPT7, IPT9) ;D
financiallyfreeinbc: 12/24/10 $0 (1/5/2010 $28,343.05 IU13)
EL1504[2]: 5/26/11 $0 (3/19/2010 $6,751.42 IU62)
Idawngirl: 6/1/11 $7,632 (1/4/2010 $27,993 IU10)
InDebtYogini: 5/31/11 $4,574.66 (9/19/2007 $14,490.83 N559) ;D
Writer88: 1/4/11 $0 (12/21/2006 $27,917 IU51) ;D
ZsDebt: 6/3/11 $37,703.51 (1/7/2010 $59,198.18 IU16)

[debtheaven]

Hugs to Yogini and Minnesota, you gals are SO kind to keep up with this thread!

[alicesfreedom]

Hi. A quick update:

owe
cc1 -----------0.00
cc2-----------0.00
credit union -----2940.35
cibc plc ----------8839.27

Thought about paying half of the credit card #2 but decided to pay it off totally. So credit union plc went up a bit. So if I stay home and not go into town until next payday, nothing should change much. I have DD#1 grade 7 grad dinner for 3 and movie to pay for, so est that is 100.00. So everything should go down quite a bit,( a good vibe dance going on here just in case). ;D
Really happy to see CIBC plc under $9000.00. Decided to give myself until May 2012 to pay off CIBC plc. That should be doable at least that's what my long term estimate budget shows.


alicesfreedom 07/06/2011 $11,779.62 (9/2/2009 $25,341.42 I226 IPT4)

[debtheaven]

Congrats on the new zero Alice! You've paid off over 13K in less than two years, well done!

[ldawngirl]

Way to go Alice!

[bubbleepink]

UPDATE	04/17/2009	05/08/2011	06/08/2011	Diff Last Post	Total Diff
Student Loan	23,997.78	20,998.04	20,598.70	399.34	3,399.08
Car Loan	17,650.81	15,131.88	14,903.93	227.95	2,746.88
TOTAL	41,648.59	36,129.92	35,502.63	627.29	6,145.96

Bubbleepink 06/08/2011 $35502.63 (4/17/2009 $41,648.59 N178, IPT7, IPT9)

That's it for my May-June update! Almost under 35!!! Can't wait for next month!

[debtheaven]

Great job Bubblee!

[ldawngirl]

Great update Bubblee!

[Minnesotagirl7]

debtheaven- Thank you!
alicesfreedom- Your new 0 looks fabulous on you!!
bubbleepink- Nice update! Can’t wait to see you under $35k – woo hoo!

[debtheaven]

This message has been deleted.

[debtheaven]

Minnesota I'm sorry about your car.

I'm not sure it makes sense to put nearly 3K to 4K into a car that is worth 4K.

We decided to replace my car in late 2009 because it needed 2.5K worth of repairs, and it was worth exactly 2.5K. It too was just under 10 years old (it was an inexpensive car).

Do you trust this guy? Can you get a second opinion? Could you get a firmer estimate (2.5K might be worth it, 4K would not be, IMO)? Could you live with one car for a while? (I'm guessing not.) If you do decide to replace it, is there anyone in your family who is planning on replacing theirs?

And remember, although it's a bummer, it's only metal, right?! HUGS Minnesota!

[debtheaven]

There was a cocktail tonight at the association where I teach my night class. I called the president today to tell her that I wouldn't be teaching the night class next year, and that my friend was fine with it, and that I would be happy to replace her occasionally. I only stayed for 30 minutes because I was teaching.

The treasurer asked me not to put anything down in writing, so they could "keep me on their books". He explained that if I "officially" resigned / quit, I wouldn't be able to replace the two other teachers. Of course I agreed!

[el1504]

DH - One day to go on the boiler loan! Good news also on the job front thats really good of the company to want to keep you on the books.

Bubblee - great update

Alice - that new zero looks good on you

[Minnesotagirl7]

debtheaven- Thanks for the sympathy. The estimate is from a dealership. We have a friend that is a certified mechanic and could probably do the work for us, but I expect it will still be at least $2500. I know these numbers are better, but still not ideal. And I still worry about 6 months or a year down the road and something else going wrong. But I also know I really don't want a monthly car payment again. My car has been paid off for years, and its one of the things I love about it! But I know I'll be angry as hell if I have to put another $2000 into it down the road for a new transmission or something. I haven't talked to DH about it, he told me the situation and I've been off on my own thinking about it. I know what my Dad would say. Maybe I should call him. He can talk some sense into me. I've already started looking at the car I want. Dangerous, and bad!!

[el1504]

Well th spendy bug has made its way to Australia! First I spent $100 online shopping (4 books I really wanted and 1 CD) but they were on sale and with free shipping ;D

Then DH decided we should go away for the long weekend so $350 later we have a place by the beach (It's winter and freezing here) to stay in for a couple of nights

And to top it all off we are getting another dog - its a rescue from a bad situation so we really want to do this but we will have to get the vacinations and de-sexing done $$$$$ plus buying additional dog realated materials. On the other hand our current dog gets very lonely during the day and apparently whines quite loudly 9one of the nighbours commented) so hopefully the new dog will help with that.

So far everything has been paid for in cash tho

[el1504]

Minnesota - no advice just hugs to you

[debtheaven]

Minnesota
At least your friend will give you an honest opinion on whether he thinks it's worth repairing or not. Wait to see what number he gives you. I wouldn't make any decisions before you find out as closely as possible what the repair would cost you. And yes, I'd definitely call your dad, that's what dads are for LOL. (Remember, you don't necessarily have to take his advice).

I know that the YM people keep their cars for 20 years and 250K miles, but in my experience, 10 years and 150K miles is about the limit. I'm hard on cars though, and my two kids who got their DLs on my old car were even harder LOL.

El Congrats on the new dog, and the beach weekend, with both paid for in cash! Yay!

I think the "spendy bug" is particularly virulent, it is quickly making its way around the world LOL.

ETA: Minnesota, what kind of car are you looking at? Are you looking at new or used? I hope you're looking at used, even gently used.

[ldawngirl]

I seem to be missing a post, as I don't see Minnesota's original comment regarding a car situation... can someone fill me in?

[financiallyfreeinbc]

@minnesota-I well know the pain of another vehicle payment, it was part of the debt I was racing. I think that you have to weigh getting it repaired (the cost and the worry about it breaking down in the future at an inconvenient time/costing more money) vs another debt. You can get great used cars out there for a little more than what you would to repair what you have now.

My father gave us his old truck that needed a new transmission. We are pretty happy about it overall but this will be it's 3rd transmission so I am a little leery. On the bright side, I don't think we'll be as hard on it as he was. We wanted a truck for all the things DH wants to do (haul wood, buy snowmobiles, etc ad nauseum) but didn't want to pay for one. In a sense, we will be paying $2000 but the rest of it was free!

[debtheaven]

Idawn
You didn't miss a post. Minnesota posted about it on her regular midwestern thread, and I felt more comfortable answering her here.

[debtheaven]

Well it's 3:09 am now, and the last payment on the boiler loan hasn't yet posted. Not that I'm impatient or anything LOL!

Hopefully it will have posted by the time I wake up tomorrow.

[Minnesotagirl7]

Idawngirl- DH is correct. I posted about it on the Midwest thread. My car died on my way home from work on Tuesday. Its worth ~$4000, and it will cose $3000-$4000 to put a new engine in it. We're trying to decide whether to repair it, buy a new-ish used car, or buy a new car. It stinks, trying to decide. There are a lot of things to consider. I really love my car, and tonight we've been heading in the direction of payng for the repairs. But nothing is decided for sure.

And just so you know debtheaven, the International is my regular thread too!