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Post by debtheaven on Feb 2, 2011 18:06:19 GMT -5
Oz, any news?!
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Post by financiallyfreeinbc on Feb 2, 2011 20:21:02 GMT -5
Minnesota-they do have them but for me, they don't feel the same. Don't ask. I am not being logical. Maybe it's because my focus is different... not less intense, just different....
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Post by debtheaven on Feb 3, 2011 18:02:27 GMT -5
I did my first day at my "long commute" job today. The job went well, the people are super nice, both the adult ed gal who runs the program and the (adult) students. But the drive was VERY stressful. It took me 45 min there and 60 min back. It's not the time (that's typical commuting time for Paris which is much closer), it's that the other drivers were SO aggressive! The speed limit is 130k and I just don't feel comfortable going over 110k. So even in the FAR right lane, I had cars and TRUCKS constantly honking me, flashing me, and coming up just inches from the back of my car to intimidate me. I was at 110kph, not 70!
So I am SO thankful I only have to do that drive one day a week rather than two! I'm sure it will get better, and the days will get longer so by March it should be daylight when I drive home.
I applied to yet another job tonight ... you guessed it, 10-15 min from me! Hopefully one of those two local jobs will work out, even if they don't pay as well as the Board of Ed one further away.
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Post by thriftyinmtl on Feb 3, 2011 18:29:51 GMT -5
Update Name | 01-06-2009 | 02-03-2011 | Paid Off | %Paid Off | Car | 10532.49 | 0.00 | $10,532.49 | 100% paid off 05/2010 | RSP | 7500.00 | 0.00 | $7,500.00 | 100% paid off 04/2010 | Mtg | 159732 | 157882.56 | $1,849.44 | 1.16% | CC 1-5 | 4539.71 | 1900.00 | $2,639.71 | 58.15% | SL | 11327.28 | 8492.10 | $2,835.18 | 25.03% | Dad | 0.00 | 8232.72 | $2,767.28 | 25.16% | LOC | 7600.00 | 2600.00 | $5,000.00 | 65.79% | Total | $201,231.48 | $179,107.38 | $22,124.10 | 10.99% |
Thrifty_in_MTL - 02/03/10 $179107.38(01/06/09 $201231.48- I140, IU22,IU100, IU116, IU142, IPT3) Things here are going very well.. work is super busy.. I'm applying to (but am pretty sure i won't get it ) a temporary Team Leader position (14mth replacement). I figure it'll give my boss a reminder that this is a position i would like to hold in the future. On a personal side i have a wonderful new bf Still in starry eyed mode but that's a fun part of a relationship and i'm fully intending on enjoying it! debtheaven.. glad the bank finally came through and good luck on those closer to home jobs. el and Oz.. hope you guys are safely out of the way of storms, waters and whatever else mother nature has in store for you guys! Great updates from everyone.. i'm glad to see all the progress everyone is making.. and i just realized i hit the 22k mark!!! Halo smiley here i come! Take care, Thrifty
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Minnesotagirl7
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Posts: 1,826
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Post by Minnesotagirl7 on Feb 3, 2011 19:06:25 GMT -5
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paynointerest
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Post by paynointerest on Feb 3, 2011 21:00:40 GMT -5
Hey folks! Head over to the South to give CraftySarah congratulations for winning her race!
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el1504
Junior Member
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Post by el1504 on Feb 3, 2011 21:20:53 GMT -5
Update on cyclone. According to reports here it appears that cyclone Yasi hit in the areas of north queensland where it could do the least amount of damage. No deaths reported so far and 3 births during the storm (a reminder that in the darkest moments there is a ray of light). Not sure if Oz will have power at her place at the moment. They are talking about flooding (as a result of Yasi) as far inland as Ayrs Rock.
Where I am seems to have escaped everything for which I am very greatful.
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ldawngirl
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Post by ldawngirl on Feb 4, 2011 10:37:33 GMT -5
Wow! I've been super busy with work, school and various other commitments, and when I come back there's all this news! Congrats to everyone on all the great updates! DH - Congrats on the bank thing getting settled. The job situation is also looking pretty good! oz & eli - I hope you're both doing well and staying dry! Thrifty - Yay for the new boy! Things on my end are plugging along. I'll post an update next week. I don't want to post until I'm at 4 digits! I just found out this AM that my health spending account for my insurance goes back to pay figures from the previous year. So the last few months of 2010, we had used up all the HSA money and were just paying the extra 10 or 20% out of pocket, but then I found out once 2011 kicks in, the HSA credits I get for this year will go to pay back what I spent last year! So I'm getting a cheque for about $220. That will go directly into the wedding savings account as it's been depleted by various wedding costs lately. I love 'free' money!
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Post by moodymanitoba on Feb 4, 2011 12:20:40 GMT -5
This message has been deleted.
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Post by moodymanitoba on Feb 4, 2011 12:51:50 GMT -5
Update: | Debt | % | Original | Current | Paid | % Paid | CC-Visa - RBC | 19.99% | $509.80 | $0 | $509.80 | 100% | LOC | 10% | $4,000.00 | $3,799.19 | $200.81 | 5.02% | SL1 | 4.75% | $80.59 | $0 | $80.59 | 100% | SL2 | 5% | $345.16 | $0 | $345.16 | 100% | SL3 | 5.5% | $4,244.72 | $3,970.33 | $274.39 | 6.46% | Orthodontist | 0% | $5,278.00 | $4,603.00 | $675.00 | 12.79% | Mom | 0% | $10,729.41 | $7,144.46 | $3,584.95 | 33.41% | CRA | 5% | $2,043.07 | $1,717.18 | $325.89 | 15.95% | RRSP loan | 3% | $1,314.73 | $80.63 | $1,234.10 | 93.87% | Mortgage | 5.78% | $157,260.45 | $155,237.65 | $2,022.80 | 1.29% | Totals | | $185,805.93 | $176,552.44 | $9,253.49 | 4.98% | |
Goal for 2011: $30,000 or 15% paid MoodyManitoba: 02/04/11 $176,552.44 (02/12/09 $185,805.93,150,I206,IU113,I144,IPT2) MG7: Thanks for all the work on the updates and smileys. DH: So glad the RE situation is finally making progress. Look forward to your new updates after the sale goes through. Also happy the work situation seems to be looking up. Hope all our friends from OZ are doing ok. We are thinking of you.
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Post by debtheaven on Feb 4, 2011 16:46:23 GMT -5
El so glad you are safe! I don't think I realized you were in Queensland too, so sorry! Thrifty Congrats on the great paydown and the new BF! MM Great paydown! So nice to "see" you here! Idawn Can't wait to see your next update, four figures, yay! I blew my interview today. He immediately asked me to teach him a grammar point that I have not taught before (too basic for the students I teach) and I answered a question he did NOT ask me instead. He asked me about four more grammar questions and I got them right, but I'm guessing that blowing the first question won't bode well for me. I was also nervous because I really want this job. It was a pretty weird interview. Pretend your best friend or husband is here, and tell me about yourself in the third person. Then he asked me a bunch of questions about "her" (ie me) and again I had to answer in the third person. Is she ever late? Is she patient? Pretty odd. BUT, I was home in less than 15 min (despite getting lost!) so I DO really want this job. He also asked me what my plan was long-term. I told him, to work for you, and for the business school. In the meantime, the place I interviewed on Monday called me for the FOURTH TIME (I am NOT exaggerating!) to ask me if I was free on Fridays. I'm afraid at that point, after telling three people the same info FOUR TIMES, after the blown interview, I got a bit testy with them. So I probably blew that as well. But seriously, how complicated is it to comprehend "I am free Mondays NOW and I will also be free Tuesdays and / or Fridays AFTER April 1." I've told that to the secretary (twice, in French), to the owner who interviewed me (in French) and to the head teacher (in English) who called me the other day to make sure I could indeed speak English. Because apparently the couple that runs this (very successful) language school can't speak a word of English, so they always have their head teacher call prospective employees to make sure they aren't hiring somebody who is conning them, because they have been conned before. LOL! ETA: Thanks to all of you for bearing with me. I appreciate having this place and all of you so much!
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Post by kiwigirl on Feb 4, 2011 17:53:48 GMT -5
Hi everyone,
I am a new poster to the boards, but I have been reading them for maybe 4 months now (I caught the last leg of writer88's race). I think you are all incredible and I think it will be amazing to follow you all on your path to being debt free.
Anyway - I'm kiwigirl - from New Zealand. I am married with a 5 y.o. son.
We have a few different debts which I would like to tackle in stages - I think I can do multiple races so I will overview each race (mortgage and student loan (which is interest free here) debts are not included) - oh and I am no good with tables, so I will attempt that another time, I just wanted to get started.
Race 1: Credit card debt x 3 - total of $17,150. Smallest debt is $3000. Has the highest interest rate (21%). I am getting 3 fortnightly pays in March, and my DH has just been given a pay rise (he is paid monthly) which will hopefully come through in Feb, which means if we have a good month we will be able to pay off this cc all in March. Next ccs are $4300 and $9850. Both @ 13.5% but we could probably knock off the $4300 over two months and I think that would be very motivational to have two debts paid (that we have had for 3 years now) so quickly. I think most might argue we should tackle the higher debt before that one though. I hope to be finished this race by November (but it will require incredible amounts of self-control, stringent planning, modest spending and few emergencies (I have a 1k e-fund in a 6 mth term deposit and then we have just started saving $100 p/f which will be kept in an on-call account that takes 3 days to access money from).
Race two: interest free debt x 2 total remaining $10,100: first debt here is an interest free loan from DH's parents towards our house deposit and the second is an interest free hire purchase (interest free expires in September 2013). Loan from DH's parents was $17,000 (Feb 09) but we have paid $8900 and so have $8100 to go. HP was $3650 (September 09) and is now approx $2000 (just waiting for latest statement).
Anyway, sorry for the long post, but I am excited to be here and I hope that posting here will keep me accountable to my goals.
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Post by debtheaven on Feb 4, 2011 18:24:20 GMT -5
Welcome Kiwi! One of my best friends is a Kiwi! My license plates end in NZ and she is just furious about that LOL.
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Post by debtheaven on Feb 4, 2011 18:27:12 GMT -5
Kiwi I would just worry about Race 1 for now. Even if you don't do the table, just line up those debts as best you can. I agree about tackling the 3K first, especially since it's at the highest interest rate.
And I agree about racing in "heats". We have some very enthusiastic posters who "put it all out" and want to see those amounts decrease every month. But if you're young and starting out and have a new mortgage, I think that could be discouraging.
Again, welcome!
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el1504
Junior Member
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Post by el1504 on Feb 5, 2011 4:25:32 GMT -5
Welcome Kiwi - great to have you on board! DH - I'm in New South Wales (south of Sydney) which seems to have missed to floods and cyclones of Queensland and the floods that are also in Victoria! All our rivers are up quite high and I'm not sure that the ground can take any more water but so far we have escaped any problems because of it. Thrifty - a new boy how exciting! Idawn - yeah for 'free money'
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2011 9:40:29 GMT -5
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bubbleepink
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Joined: Feb 5, 2011 12:49:15 GMT -5
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Post by bubbleepink on Feb 5, 2011 13:03:28 GMT -5
Hi everyone! I have student debt and a car loan for a total debt of about 38G's. I am also saving for my wedding/house. I am so happy to have found this web site! Here are my digits. I hope they are formated right! How do I add the table so this look pretty like on my excel spreadsheet?
Update: 05/02/11 Debt % Original Current Paid % Paid OSAP 5.50% $22,200.59 $0 $0.00 0% Car 2.40% $16,077.68 $0 $0.00 0% Totals $38,278.27 $0.00 $0.00 0%
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Minnesotagirl7
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Joined: Dec 27, 2010 11:43:59 GMT -5
Posts: 1,826
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Post by Minnesotagirl7 on Feb 5, 2011 14:10:09 GMT -5
kiwigirl- Welcome!! As far as your races, I think you have them split up perfectly. And whichever debt you tackle first is up to you. Good luck! bubbleepink- Welcome back! I remember you from when the boards were on msn. Glad you found us again!
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Post by debtheaven on Feb 5, 2011 15:05:31 GMT -5
Update!
2007Debtheaven 5 February 2011 3935 EUR (25/11/09 11,500)
That's the car loan. 12 payments left.
I was supposed to have won by now but still no date for the sale. Maybe by 5 March?!
Bubbleepink, welcome back!
ETA: Although I am not racing it, our rental reno loan is now at 10,912e. Under 11K!!!
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bubbleepink
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Post by bubbleepink on Feb 5, 2011 19:12:13 GMT -5
Thanks for the welcome notes! As I mentioned before I am paying down my debt while saving for the wedding/house/life. My BF and I have a question: We have a car loan each (mine is 16G's and his is about 17,000). Also, I have my student loans of about 20,000 - all of these debts are owed to the bank. BF also owes MIL about 28,000 (interest free) from when she paid off his student loans. He pays her every month. We are looking to buy a house summer 2012 and are wondering about how the bank debt is going to effect our mortgage-ability. We have good credit with no other debit (cc's are paid monthly in full). Where should we focus our payments?
TIA! Bubbleepink, BF, and Riley the Dog:)
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Post by debtheaven on Feb 5, 2011 19:41:29 GMT -5
Bubblee, I recently had this issue with our credit union because we wanted to sell one rental and borrow 41K to buy another. I went in to see our banker to discuss selling one place and buying another and she did a simulation on a 41K loan.
So that's what I went with. Nonetheless, it was HECK to actually get that loan that SHE chose to simulate.
So my suggestion would definitely be to concentrate on / pay off the loan with the highest monthly payment (ie show your bank / credit union that you will soon have X more disposable income per month). I would target one loan and try to pay it off rather than spread the money between all those loans. (I'm guessing all your loans are at similar interest rates). Also, the car loans are "worse" than the SLs.
Also, I would not mention the MIL loan to them. Obviously keep paying her what you owe to her, but don't put your extra payments there because the bank won't see them. And if you're planning on asking them for a mortgage, you need to show them how things are getting better for you. That's another important point, they need to see that things are getting better, not worse.
Last point: before you go in there to ask for a mortgage or any other loan, I would try to get all those loans (besides the MIL one) UNDER the next 5K point, if that makes any sense. 14990 looks much better than 15010.
But the best would be to pay one car off and show the bank you now have that much extra per month. Which car are you most likely to keep long term? That is the debt I would try to pay off.
IMO it is much, much harder to get a loan that it was before.
Hope this helps!
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bankergurl
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Post by bankergurl on Feb 5, 2011 23:28:34 GMT -5
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indebtinoz
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Post by indebtinoz on Feb 6, 2011 6:24:08 GMT -5
hi to all and thanks for your thoughts and wishes. the worst of the cyclone hit north of me and we survived just fine, a bit wet and messy but all ok power and water are back on and the clean up is well under way. the kids are so happy to have the tv back!
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Post by debtheaven on Feb 6, 2011 11:59:55 GMT -5
Oz I'm so glad to hear that!
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bubbleepink
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Joined: Feb 5, 2011 12:49:15 GMT -5
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Post by bubbleepink on Feb 6, 2011 22:35:38 GMT -5
debtheaven - thanks for that advice! Another Q: do we take our combined savings of about $25000 and pay down the debt? or continue to save? We have each upped the payments on our loans. My SL is at 5.5% - $269.64 - I pay $500.00 My Car is 2.4% - $250 His Car is 7.9% - $132 - Already upped to $250 biweekly - thinking of going up to $300 bi weekly What do you think?
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Post by financiallyfreeinbc on Feb 7, 2011 2:18:42 GMT -5
Bubblee-when you add up all of your outstanding debt, it comes to $81 000.00. Are you sure you have the money to pay a mortgage, house insurance, all the utilities and property taxes?? (not to mention closing costs, lawyer fees etc!) Don't box yourself into a corner you can't get out of. Put off buying the house until you are more financially stable. There are 2 ways to look at this- keep the $25 000 savings in case you run into "emergencies", write out exactly what you owe and your minimum monthly payments then look at what you are paying your highest interest rate on and throw all the money you have spread out as extra payments on that one ( the idea being you spend less in interest over time), then take all of that money when that debt's paid off and add it to your next highest interest rate payment. OR you can take that $25000 and pay off his car and some of your student loan...pay that out and go on to your car then his SL. of course, if you use the savings you will have to start over for the house but that may not be such bad thing either since you would be way more financially ready for a house and not under a mountain of debt.
Have you watched 'Til debt do us part'? Gail vazoxlade deals with this situation a lot and you could learn quite a bit from watching her show.
Hope that helps!
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ldawngirl
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Post by ldawngirl on Feb 7, 2011 10:27:08 GMT -5
Bubblee - I agree with FFinBC. With $80,000 in debt, taking on a mortgage and all that comes with it would really stretch your finances. I know the situation that you are in right now - getting married (my wedding is in October), thinking about settling down, starting a life together, having babies, etc. and the house just seems like the next natural step. But once you take that step, you can't (easily) go back. We're down to about $10,000 in debt and I still don't feel right at the thought of buying a house.
My first step is to buy a car (next spring with a sizeable deposit) and have that completely paid off before we buy a house. Many times people in their 20s and early 30s do everything at once (wedding, car, house, babies) and it's no wonder people have a whopping amount of debt now. Focus on one or two things at a time (i.e. debt and wedding) and then go from there. Just my thoughts...
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Post by debtheaven on Feb 7, 2011 14:32:02 GMT -5
Bubblee I hadn't added it all up but I agree with FFBC and Idawn. I'd at least pay off one of the cars (both would be better). If you share money (not sure you do), I'd reduce the SL payments to 300 and put everything else towards his car. I wouldn't use the savings. Again I don't know if you share money or not, but if you do, it's quicker to throw all the extra at one loan at a time. Many times people in their 20s and early 30s do everything at once (wedding, car, house, babies) and it's no wonder people have a whopping amount of debt now. Focus on one or two things at a time (i.e. debt and wedding) and then go from there.I think this is great advice! My niece (in her 30s) just lost her job and they are very bad money managers and they are in a world of hurt.
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Post by debtheaven on Feb 7, 2011 14:44:16 GMT -5
I got the local job!!! However, he is talking about sending me to a client that is not as local as his offices are. I told him I would prefer (the local place) but that the other place is great too. I can't expect all his clients to be so close by, and I'd still rather be working for him than somewhere based further away.
And we finally have a date for the sale: 22 Feb. I hope to win my race 5 March with a final regular payment. However, I will probably not pay off the rental reno loan until the purchase has gone through, just in case it falls through and we need the money for something else.
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el1504
Junior Member
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Post by el1504 on Feb 7, 2011 16:12:34 GMT -5
DH - Congratulations on the new job
Bubblee - I agree with the others about paying down some of the debt before you get a mortgage. It is much easier to deal with rising interest rates (or a leak in the roof 2 months after you move in) if you have some wiggle room in your budget
Kiwi - it sounds like you have a good plan. Can't wait to see your first update!
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