International Region, Women in Red Racers

[debtheaven]

Hi Minnesota! I have been thinking about you! How is the new job going?!

[ldawngirl]

UPDATE

ldawngirl: 6/28/11 | $7,023 (1/4/10 | $27,993 | IU10)

$20,970 (74.9%) paid off

Well, not quite 75% paid off, but pretty darn close! It's coming along and I can't wait until I see it under $7,000.

Things are just rolling along nicely - the automatic savings that I've set up for the various goals are climbing slowly and it's so nice to see them increase. I can't wait until after the debt is paid off and the wedding is a memory and we can start throwing a lot more money into savings!

[debtheaven]

Idawn

You're getting closer and closer every day, yay you!!! 21K paid off in less than 18 months, that's just AMAZING!

[el1504]

Go Idawn!

[Minnesotagirl7]

debthaven- Love the new name, btw!! I haven't really had a chance to do my new job yet. The day I started, I started in training and that's where I've been for the last several weeks. I'm on vacaton now, but when I go back on Tuesday, I will actually start. I'm excited & nervous - which is a welcome change from the boredom I've been feeling.
Idawngirl- Woo hoo!!!

[ldawngirl]

Did anyone else see this...

I posted a question on the general board asking what kind of investment to go with for our $5,000 gift (short-term investment). Someone said to pay off the debt, but I said that the gifters wanted us to spend it on something special and how do you write a thank you note saying that! Anyhoo, someone posted this:

Easy.
Tell them what you did that you went into debt for.
I hope it was special if you didn't have the cash and still did it.

I mean, really? You come to a board for people who are in debt and you make someone feel bad about it? Some people...

[debtheaven]

Idawn
I'm betting it was a YMer. When things get slow there they come over here ... some of them are great, others, not so much.

I hope you got some good advice too though! Has anybody explained what a CD ladder is? If not I will but my knowledge is theoretical ...

TONIGHT WAS MY LAST NIGHT CLASS! Hopefully for the rest of my life LOL!

I have an interview on Monday for another teaching job (a block of 3.5 hours per week) right near my DS3's school. Fingers crossed!

[debtheaven]

This message has been deleted.

[debtheaven]

Minnesota
Enjoy your vacation, and I hope the new job goes really well!

Idawn
That poster has always been extremely "holier than thou", don't sweat it. He used to be "spell" on the old boards.

I answered you about the CDs on your thread. But for the rest I prefer to answer you here. I know the wedding is already taken care of (more or less). Is the honeymoon too? If not I'd use the money for that (or a trip to Europe, or a DP).

Other thought: since you want to go to Europe, how about "killing two birds with one stone" and using that money to go to Europe for your honeymoon? If it means not leaving on your honeymoon immediately, you could always spend your wedding night and another night or two somewhere nice closer to home. Just a thought!

[paynointerest]

FYI...I'm going to be doing some work on the Women in Red Racer threads. The plan is to create a sub-board at the top of the page and to move all of the WIR related material to it. This should happen in the next 3-4 days. If you lose your regional thread, look at the top of the page. Thanks! Pay-no-interest.

[debtheaven]

Thank you Paynointerest for all your hard work!

[indebtinoz]

hello to all the old and new faces. I raced a debt on this wonderful board (the old one) a while back and that debt is with me still, having grown a bit too! I have been without a computer for many months but am happily re conected now and would like to race this pesky debt once again . Hope its ok to just add back on to my old numbers and take up where i left off

Indebtinoz 1/6/09 $20,000 1/7/11 $11,000

I had it down to about $7000 at one stage but it crept up again as soon as I turned my back! These debts are sneaky like that

[indebtinoz]

Scrolling thru past posts and am thrilled to see DEBTHAVEN and your great progress WOW seems like you only just bought that boiler and now its all paid off!! a very big congratulations to you WELL DONE it shows me that persistence does truly pay off

[el1504]

Welcome Back Oz! So easy for that credit card to sneek back up isn't it... but you did so well last time I'm sure you can do it again

[ldawngirl]

Thanks for the info DH! (Great name change BTW). We're still pondering and I think we will be until after the wedding. We'll put it into savings for now and just wait. I'm thinking now that we should wait until we know what the wedding presentation will be. It's different looking at $5,000 now and then another (potentially) $5,000 in a few months versus deciding what to do with $10,000. This is definitely something we don't want to rush into.

Ah, I remember 'spell' on the old boards. He was a bit of a jerk. I wasn't really put off by it as you always get those occasional posters who have nothing better to do.

Welcome back Oz!

[ldawngirl]

I read this post on a PF blog I read regularly and I loved her analogy... "Life is Like a Game of Chutes & Ladders

myprettypennies.com/2011/06/29/life-is-like-a-game-of-chutes-ladders/

[debtheaven]

Welcome back Oz!!! Good to see you!

I'm so glad you found us! Once you put your mind to it again I'm sure the numbers will go right back down again! And thanks.

Idawn, I think you definitely made the right decision putting that money in savings for now.

[debtheaven]

Well, I'm done for the summer!

To be honest I would much rather have worked in July but I couldn't find anything. I am still officially "on the books" for UE, although I've only gotten UE once since last August. Since I have only had contract work, I will probably get UE for July and August.

I have a TON of overdue paperwork to do, and I have to clean out my "teaching shelves" in the niche in the LR (and in DS2's bedroom) to get rid of the stuff from my old jobs and make room for the stuff for my new jobs.

[psychobabbler]

Hello all,

I'm back and after putting my head in the sand I've finally done my numbers. I was down to 18K in Jan but then fell off the wago. I thought I was at 27K but I'm (pleasantly?) surprised the figure is 25,140

details as follows
outstanding payment
CC1 5955 165 monthly
CC2 4508 101.98
CC3 7280 87.24
Loan 7398 381.37 monthly

Hope to break the back of this!
The plan is that hubby will be debtfree of his 31k by next month because we're downsizing on the house. I have rent coming in from the rental next month so my payments will rise from the current 745 to 1333. Hubby will give me 1000 every month to pay off debt so my monthly payments will be 2333. I hope to be debt free then in 12 months. We can then save 2000/month...all technically doable but at this point it feels like a fantasy/wishful thinking- all this while we'll both have 1000 each for discretionary monthly spending and food, except it seems like we're perpetually broke.

Coming back here and reporting in is the first step..you all kept me on track once. Thanks so much for that

Babbler

[financiallyfreeinbc]

Babbler-Good for you for getting the numbers crunched and owing less that you thought. It's 1 more month you won't have to pay someone else! Congrats on hubby being debt free in a month!!

Those are amazing numbers to have as repayment! I have to ask...what do you need $1000/month for as discretionary spending/food, if I may be so bold? That seems like a heck of a lot that could be going somewhere else? Maybe it is neccesities like clothing/gifts, transportation, groceries (not eating out) and a bit of entertainment? If not, can you slash that some and get out of debt more quickly? I know it is really hard to change your lifestyle and not go out for dinners/movies/plays etc but while you can do a bit of that now and then, throwing most everything at the debt while at the same time saving a little for emergencies will go a long way!! If you are not currently saving, can I suggest even $25/month just to start since there are always those things that come up that you could use the money for rather than putting it on credit?

Another thing I was wondering, is there any way to consolidate your stuff so you pay less interest? Are you getting offers/able to transfer balances around to lower interest cards? Do you have a LOC that is a lower interest rate? Can you call your credit card companies (and keep asking for someone who can help you until you get results) and ask them to lower your interest rates? (I am assuming your cards are at 19.5% like mine were... maybe you have a better deal!) I know that moving money around saved us a TON in interest. At a couple of points, I was paying 2.99%, 1.99% and for the last 5 months we were paying 0% interest!

I know that buckling down and getting it done aggressively is very difficult. It was what hubby and I were doing too. I had my moments of anger, resentment and frustration but then I realized that things would get better once the debt was gone and we were actually saving.

I know that I needed a break after we paid off the debt so we throttled back to saving (officially) $1600/month. That doesn't include the $400/month to our Visa for gas etc, $100/month to my hobby, $200/month to property taxes (which will now drop to 1/2 since we have a whole year to save but I will still put that money into an account for something else) We have definitely been much looser with the spending-eating out, going to movies, running around the western part of Canada (ok, that's all me), buying new camping stuff since my old stuff is dying, extra booze etc. I have actually mentioned to hubby that we need to pull back on that again and maybe get more into savings so we will be able to take a trip at some point next year.

I guess what I am trying to say is that get this done and over with and you will be surprised at what you will have to save/planned spend/play with. You will not feel perpetually broke.

Hang in there!!!

[debtheaven]

Welcome back Babbler! That's great news about the house.

It does sound like you make really good money. What's your "weak point"? Maybe if you tell us we can make some suggestions. Also, are you "snowballing", ie paying extra on ONE loan at a time, rather than trying to pay down ALL of them at the same time? It really does make a huge difference because every time you pay one loan off, you have one less payment.

1K spending money each probably sounds pretty good, you should be able to manage with that. Maybe you can do it for three or four months (but REALLY do it), then take a month off, then do it for another three or four months, etc. That would take you another few months, but you'd get there in the end. It's better to go more slowly and get there than to get frustrated and run the credit back up again.

I think FFBC gave you great advice. I think most of us here prefer to "bite the bullet" and be done sooner rather than later. But, I'm just offering up an alternative solution.



I had a MARATHON and went through ALL of my teaching materials and teaching paperwork. Got my stuff off DS2's shelf (since he's back from his semester abroad) and reorganized my shelves. I moved a metal box file so now I have an extra half a shelf. So I'm all set for September now LOL.

[debtheaven]

Babbler
Once your DH's 31K is gone, you really don't have that much left.

CC1 5955 165 monthly
CC2 4508 101.98
CC3 7280 87.24
Loan 7398 381.37 monthly

What are your interest rates? With 2333/mo would take you 3 months to pay off CC2, your lowest balance. But that would only free up 102/mo. However, it would only take you 4 months to pay off the loan, and that would free up 381/mo.

So how about taking four months to pay off that loan? Then take a month off as a "reward". Then it would only take you another two months to knock out CC2.

And every time you get rid of a card, either take a month off, or give yourself a smaller "reward".

This said, I'm assuming that all those debts are at more or less the same interest rate.

Just a suggestion, of course!

[psychobabbler]

FFBC:
about the 1000/month discretionary. good ?. we budget 250 a week each for personal spending including all food (eating out and groceries). Unfortunately we've both had a bad habit of having visa take us for dinner a few (3-5!) times a week. We also like our wine and we both smoke a pack a day...just the cigs alone are 50/week per person. Yes all these things could be altered by lifestyle changes and sometimes we decide no drinking during the week and we're both constantly quitting (says he's with cigarette in 1 hand and typing w/ other!) but no joy yet...and we live in london- very very expensive. Excuses I know but we'll eventually address some of these things. All this while hubby will be putting 350/month so we can build up an emergency cash fund.

About transferring balances...the reason I got in trouble again is bad habits...In Feb I was already getting tight having blown 8 months of rent in advanc in 6 months and got a 0% balance transfer deal for 15 months with a 7500 limit. I transferred balances but then things starting creeping up again...we had the house to fix upfor sale with no ready cash so that went on cash advances to pay decorators.. I know myself and the best way to get back on track is just to leave things as they are an just whack the debt down with the hefty payments. www.whatsthecost.com has a great snowballing calculator and it indicates on the plan outlined above I'll only pay 1500 in interest in the year, if I did highest rate first it would be lower but I really need to win some races psychologically to get motivated again. So i might do minor shifts but really dont want access to more credit, as I really bad at managing it...might just shuffle around with what i have

debthaven:
weak point: eating out without a thought, and because we get lazy because there isnt any food in the house....soooooooooo I ordered groceries online which I am waiting for as I write. I've found when theres a well stocked fridge and menus for each week we're excellent with eating out for the week...we shop carefully(and have a veg household, even though I eat meat outside) and always make enough at dinner to take to work the next day so I think its a matter of getting into the habit of aving a weekly shop...whereas we manage to usually do that only 1-2 weeks of the month.

Havent started snowballing or paying down debt yet....my income goes up from the 25th of july onwards...and hubby can only give me money once we complete the sale of the house hopefully 1st week Aug

your idea of a reward after each card sounds like a great idea...will definitely plan something

interest rates CC1 16.9%
CC2 17.9%
CC3 0% til next july but it has lots of heft cash advances on it, standard rate 17.9
loan 21.33%

i worked out an average rate(ignoring the 0% teaser) at 18.65%

yes at the rate i plan to pay things off i hope to pay off each debt in 3-4 months. cant wait- another month to go.

thanks for all the support

Babbler

[bankergurl]

$100K Club has been updated as of 7/3/11! Great job this week, we paid off $9,177.69!! We are right on track with the Summer Challenge to meet our goal by August 31st! Everyone have a safe and happy Independence Day!
- 2 Leapfrogs this week, dragon2008 from the West and Keepinthefaith from the Midwest leapfrogged to the #1 spot!
- Congrats to Banker Gurl from the Midwest for getting under $130K!
- Congrats to Wudnit from the Northeast for paying off over $35K!
- 1 member lost due to no update in over 60 days.
$100K Summer Challenge - $35,458.88 paid off! $64,541.12 remaining!
notmsnmoney.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=wir&thread=2929&page=2

[financiallyfreeinbc]

Babbler-I totally appreciate how hard it is not to eat out. That was one of our biggest downfalls as well. I think that you are on the right track with meal planning and getting groceries (totally jealous of the grocery delivery!!) I know that I still struggle with that sometimes but I also know it is probably one of the best things we have ever done for ourselves. We also love our wine. it was hard to go to homemade wine but when it is soooooo much cheaper that way... I'll tell ya...

I know you can't give up everything and not everyone can do things the way we did. I think that DH gave you some excellent advice as well! We have totally all gotten to our goals through many different means and not one way is going to work for everyone.

Looking at what you owe and what you will be paying down each month, you are gonna kick butt!!

The biggest thing to remember is that this needs to be a lifestyle change so that you don't wind up slipping overboard! (just think of what it will be like when you put that first payment into savings. Trust me, you will become very pissy about spending. I have since I never want us to go back to where we were!!)

Karma for you for coming back and working hard. Hang in there!!

[zsdebt]

UPDATE! Sorry I've been MIA again - my bf is out in Halifax until the end of September so I've been out visiting him for the majority of the weekends and I've been out here for the last week - so I haven't had the time to check the boards. Sorry!!

ZsDebt: 7/4/2011, $36,893.25 (1/7/2010, $59,198.18, IU16)

Starting Debt (1/7/2010)

Current (7/4/2011)

[/td][td] 0 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]CC 1: 1,935.71[/td][td] 0 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]CC 2: 3,312.03 [/td][td]0 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]CC 3: 2,948.52[/td][td] 3,645.46[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]CC 4: 5,926.85[/td][td] 0 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]LoC: 9,928.32[/td][td] 9,633.41 [/td][/tr]
[tr][td]St. Loan: 19,852.79[/td][td] 17,471.44[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]St. Loan 2: 6,912.68[/td][td] 6,142.94[/td][/tr]
[tr][td]TOTAL: $59,198.18[/td][td] Current: $36,893.25 [/td][/tr][/table]

Total paid: $22,304.93

Trying to get CC3 paid off as quickly as I can! My predictions is that it'll be gone by end of Sept (hopefully!)

debthaven Woo!! Love the new name!

ldawngirl Some ppl can be jerks.. I don't know how they find pleasure in making ppl feel guilty. I know a few of my friends... well use to be my friend (lol) would use to make me feel really stupid about being in debt. What is important is that I think you've been doing fantastic! Only $7K more to go

[psychobabbler]

WOW ZS!

in 18 months you did serious debt reduction!! Way to go! 40%?

Better day today- Only spent £12.70(cigs(7.20 and coffee/toastie 5.50)- and latter can be dealt with eating breakfast at home) also made tofu stir fry for dinner and made a curried roasted parsnip and carrot soup for tomorrow so I didnt waste any veggies about to go off....i'm feeling good about this no spending/eating out thing....and cooking is a great stress reliever...didnt think once about awful boss while I was cooking.

grrrr CC2 people wote to me and said come sept they are ratejacking me from 17.95 to 20.95% (balance is 4544). I can opt out of the rate ratejack but that means I cant use the card(its maxed out anyway) and because its my lowest balance it is my target to snowball anyway come august. Might just opt out...the only thing that makes me think twice is that its my oldest card so was thinking opting out and effectively closing the account once its paid off hopefully this year is not great in terms of credit history...the rate hike is unlikely to mean much in terms of £££ because I hope to have it paid off in dec, but do I need the card longevity for credit hisotry purposes? whats your take?

babbler

[debtheaven]

Babbler
I'm a heavy smoker so I "get it". I would suggest you face the facts and start buying cartons so you're not running out every day to buy ciggies and also buying this, that and the other thing. Quitting is another issue, I have the same problem. I'm just talking about the (extra) money for now.

but do I need the card longevity for credit hisotry purposes? whats your take?

My take is NO, you do NOT need the card. For what, to run up more credit? You don't have enough debt already? I'd close the card, and pay it off. By the time you do, your score will have gone back up. I'm assuming that you're not in the market for a new car or home in the next 6-12 months. So close it, pay it off, and worry about your credit score in six or 12 months. Again, JMO.

ETA: YAY YOU! on the groceries and cooking! A tip: cook double portions, and freeze the leftovers. I think there are just two of you. Lots of recipes come for four. So do that, and just automatically set half aside to cool and freeze. If you're used to eating out a lot, you won't want to be eating leftovers nights in a row. So if you freeze them, if you're fairly diligent about cooking even three a week, within two-three weeks you will have a bunch of home cooked, healthy meals to look forward to.

Another thought. Get some ready meals from Marks and Sparks or Tescos, a couple for the fridge and a couple for the freezer. That way when you REALLY don't feel like cooking, you won't have to, and it's still a lot cheaper than eating out. Aim to eat at home at least five nights a week: three home-cooked meals, two ready meals, one cheapie night out, one nicer night out. Stop eating breakfast out. You're probably not enjoying it anyway since you're rushing to work.

Nothing wrong with spending some money, but start thinking about what you spend, how you spend it, and spending it CONSCIOUSLY.

[debtheaven]

Z's kudos what a great update!!! That CC is shaking in its boots LOL! You have indeed made amazing progress in a short lapse of time!

I got the job I interviewed for today! There is a bit of paperwork to do but hopefully it will all work out. That gives me another 3.5 hrs per week between Oct and May.

So now I'm now up to 12 hours a week, or 13.5 hours a week if the elective comes through at the business school. I am still looking for more, but I also have several "floating" jobs (the subbing, plus the two irregular adult-ed jobs, plus my occasional free-lance writing). Plus there are always extra hours for orals and entrance exams at certain times of the year.

I'm still looking, my goal is to hit 15 hours of regular teaching per week (FT here at college level). Of course I would prefer to be offered more hours at one of the places I am already teaching. I had EIGHT employers in May, and the paperwork is insane, so I'm trying to cut that down to four or five.

DD's Baccaulareat results come in tomorrow morning at 10. I would appreciate any good juju ... we really have ZERO idea of what to expect.

Thanks for letting me work it all out!

[indebtinoz]

Sharing tips

I was never good at the grocery shoppihng, didnt meal plan, and wasted lots of food. but I have got on to the online shopping that the supermarkets are now offering here, order from home where I can check the fridge and pantry as I go, and shop from the specials brochures. I collect it from the supermarket so I dont have to pay delivery but it keeps me out of the shop, and away from the impulse buys and so far is saving me heaps. Its worth a try if you are trying to cut the food bill. I just need to cut down the power bill so I can afford to cook it now! The last electricity bill was $770 (quarterly) and the goverment is announcing a new carbon tax on power this week so its bound to head up more, rumours are at 20%. so I would be pleased to hear from other ;posters as to how you have managed to cut power bills.