Women in Red Racers - Northeast Region

[shanendoah]

The 25-50K List has been updated

• In the last two weeks, this list has paid off over $780 in debt
  
• CLS 328 jumped to the top of the list, and Seahorse hopped into the number 6 slot
  

[lark1964]

I'm in a weird place today. I'm at the end of the month, and at the end of my money again, and I'm sitting here just thinking to myself, "Wouldn't it be nice if I ran away?"

And I'm seriously contemplating it. Taking my cash at the end of the month, running off to Florida or something, not paying my bills, mooching off my sister for a couple of weeks, then maybe I'll go somewhere like Puerto Rico and wait tables in some little cafe and not come back...

Have I mentioned I'm freakin' COLD?

*sigh*

So, we should have a snowstorm tomorrow. And I'm just hoping and praying my front steps don't collapse. My contractor can do the steps in February, it's not like he could just put together 5 concrete steps in a heartbeat, you know, I just - what really concerns me, I don't want a mail carrier falling on the steps or my neighbor and her kids, or anyone. I go out the back door to my car every day, her family goes out the front door every day.

Or maybe I'll run away to Italy. Ooooh, Tuscany!

[heartvolunteer]

Hey Lark! My folks did Tuscany twice - lemme know if you want some suggestions on where to visit! *wink wink* I know it's cold and snowy - believe me, I'm having a HILARIOUS time around here - the Baltimorons, oi vey, what a bunch of amateurs!  Me personally, I like the cold just fine. And I know how to dress for it. Must be the northerner in me...someone remind me again why I moved south Cheers to all!

[munjoyhill]

Hey Lark, so did you make it to Florida?  I sure could use some sun and warmth right about now, I might join you.

[dschmidt1007]

dschmidt1007, 1/25/12, $105,338.42 (8/7/12, $110,668.68, NE90)
DEBT	STARTING DEBT	INTEREST RATE	CURRENT DEBT	MINIMUM PAYMENT	PAID OFF!!!	ANTICIPATED PAY OFF
United Teletech Loan	$6,893.40	6.99%	$6,074.55	$202.24	$818.85	7/1/13
BoA - RCCL	$21,495.01	6.99%	$23,299.88	$371.00	$(1,804.87)	7/1/14
D's Car	$19,706.13	2.99%	$16,944.77	$510.00	$2,761.36	11/1/14
W's Car	$25,265.93	0.90%	$22,083.66	$550.00	$3,182.27	2/1/15
Sallie Mae SL	$13,609.27	4.38%	$13,199.01	$139.40	$410.26	6/1/15
Discover SL	$22,695.03	2.94%	$21,441.72	$263.79	$1,253.31	11/1/15
Direct Loan SL	$1,002.11	2.11%	$710.83	$50.00	$291.28	4/1/14
Care Credit	$1,584.00	0.00%	$1,584.00	$177.00	$-	10/1/13
Total	$110,666.88	-	$105,338.42	$2,263.43	$6,912.46	11/1/15

Hi ladies!  I just did some math and had to come share with all of you, because honestly, no one else gets it!

My husband got a new job last year with a bigger company & a nice increase in pay.  But (!!!! there's always a but!!!) because I make half what he does, there's a disparagement in our taxes (he's taxed at a higher rate than me and because we file jointly, we are at an even higher rate) we wind up owing a little bit.  Well, last year wasn't a little bit - it was nearly $5k because of the disparagement and a Roth IRA conversion.  Anyway, I socked away money to pay for taxes (about $1,300) and increased my taxes being withheld in September after our accountant ran preliminary numbers based on our paystubs year to date. We are estimated to pay about $2,000 between state & federal (better than last year, but still high because of the Roth IRA conversion, which was spread over 2 years). I think I may have more than what's needed for taxes saved up (which would be awesome) and I would then be throwing that at our Disney savings for our trip in September/October (with will be paid for *almost* before we go).

Soooooo, we decided to try to nip some of the taxes in the butt by increasing his 401k contribution from 4% (just enough to  get the match) to 8% and then we would stop contributing after taxes dollars to my Roth Ira (we have about $50k in our 2 Roths but only about $5k in his 401k).  We were going to increase it to just 6.5%, as that matched what I was putting in my Roth with post tax dollars, but I really feel like we need to kick that savings up a notch, even if it is "in theory" at the expense of us paying down our debt quicker.  I also stopped withholding  extra money from my paycheck, but I got a raise & retro pay back to my anniversary, so we are finally getting to see what our checks will actually look like today! Whew!  Lot's of backstory!

That said, there's actually like an extra $150 in each pay period (we get paid on the same day - biweekly).  So of course, I had to rerun all our numbers with this extra $300 monthly to see what that does to our debt reduction payoff!!!!!

Ok, drumroll please!  We'll be out of non-mortgage debt by November of 2015!  Woo-hoo!!!!!!!!!! And, in all reality, probably sooner because of the hubby's annual bonus in February (and the following 2 Februarys should he stay with the company)! I'm very excited by this prospect, because my "total" debt is very scary and gives me nausea at least once a month.

[bankergurl]

$100K List updated as of 1/26/13! $5,951.22 paid off in the last 3 weeks! Some great paydowns right after the holidays!
- Welcome back to ambellamy from the West!
- Congrats to dschmidt1007 from the Northeast for paying off over $5K!
- Congrats to DebtFreeRedux from the South for paying off over $40K!
- Congrats to nidena from the Northeast for paying off over $55K!

www.notmsnmoney.proboards.com/thread/11187/page/4/100k-club#scrollTo=1482123

[maryjanemanolos]

Update: maryjanemanolos[2]: 01/27/2013 $18256 (6/24/2011 $32525 NPT32)

Loan	Starting	Current	Paid Off
Anaestheseologist	$775	$0	100.00%
Hospital	$3,454	$0	100.00%
Richmond Ped	$401	$0	100.00%
OB/GYN	$2,965	$0	100.00%
CC	$1,326	$3,600	-171.69%
State (audit)	$5,608	$1,724	69.26%
Navy Fed PL	$5,230	$3,518	32.73%
IRS (audit)	$13,168	$9,414	28.51%
	$0	$0	$0
Totals	$32,927	$18,256	44.56%

Finally under $20,000 (not including student loans, which we're not racing right now)! We're really focused on the state taxes bill. We just put $1,000 on it from a 401k my husband cashed out and we're really just throwing everything that we can at it. I'll be beyond happy when it's gone.

[redruby]

50-100K Club Update as of 1/27/2013.  <o:p></o:p>

We have newmembers!!   Let’s make some awesomeprogress this year. <o:p></o:p>

notmsnmoney.proboards.com/thread/11190/wirr-50-100k-club?scrollTo=1482820&page=4<o:p></o:p>

[raven64]

Update: Raven64: 1/27/13: $47,255.64 (1/19/10 $53,326.18 NEU60)

Credit Card	Rate	1/19/10	1/18/11	Difference
Barclay	18.24%	$8123.54	$6784.28	$1339.26
Discover	15.99%	$5236.61	$4366.02	$870.59
Chase	13.99%	$5447.62	$3184.81	$2262.81
US Bank	12.99%	$8721.55	$8445.87	$275.68
Barclay	8.99%	$7315.37	$7418.57	$-103.20
Citibank #1	7.24%	$6199.01	$5871.79	$327.22
Citibank #2	7.24%	$12282.48	$11184.30	$1098.18
Total		$53,326.18	$47,255.64	$6070.54

Total % paid : 11.384%

Goals
Be under $45,000 by July 1
Increase EF to $2,000

Holy cow!!!   It just took me forever to figure out how to make this nice little chart with the new version of proboards. I'm not "code" literate. LOL!

Anyway, our new plan worked well this month and we were able to pay off over $500 toward debt.   Things are looking up. We also decided to refinance our mortgage for a much lower rater and a shorter term and will be saving between $200-300 a month. The difference will go a long way to paying down debt. 2013 is looking to be a good year so far. Happy racing! 

[lark1964]

WOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!!

I just looked at the 100K club - I've paid off 28% of my debt! WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!!

[heartvolunteer]

Hey there ladies & gents! Here we are at the end of January - can you believe it? I've still got xmas projects to work on - but the recipients are fully aware of why they're late. Basically, I made a project (a hooded scarf) and now everyone and their mother wants one...so I've been kept busy! I've made 6 so far, and still have 4 more to be worked on!!!  I'm good with it though. In other news, my frigging car died last nite. And no, not in a dead battery kind of way - in a timing belt kinda way. Even tried to jump it with the help of a nice girl and her friend - and we managed to EXPLODE the jumper cables! I mean the clamps are no longer attached and the rubber melted. NOT pretty! I had to call AAA and get towed to my mechanic. On a plus note, I was in a parking lot and not driving on the road at the time. AND it was still early enough that my mechanic was still at the shop so I was able to call him and give him a heads-up on the situation before dropping it off. Sigh. Based on what they find, it will either be a $750 or a $1800 repair. Based on the fact that the car HAD been driving fine before I parked and did my pharmacy run, it should be the lesser amount based on the damage. Theoretically. I'll be finding that out later tonite. I wanted to post my numbers BEFORE the icky close to a grand jump. Oh well. OHHHHHH WAIT! I just got the phone call from the mechanic! It's the $750 repair!!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!  I'm a happy camper right now! Now the ulcer that had been threatening to take me over is going away! Happy Happy Joy Joy! I know it's a problem, but it's less of a problem then it could have been, right?

Now to make my day complete, the guy I met this weekend needs to respond to my email and then I'll be all good. (I went to another Lock & Key party - it really is a different way of meeting people! ) If you're single and wanted to meet someone and don't know what it is, ask. More than happy to share.

Anywho, here's my data and my numbers. Let's see if I can get the data table right and stuff. An oh look, there's another ZERO on my list this month! I'm wishing it were for one of the bigger ones, but I know I'll get there. Hopefully that'll happen as soon as I get rid of this apparently now nothing but clunky car of mine!

Heartvolunteer: 1/30/13 = $10,222.33 (4/30/08 $15,351.37, NE75)

Name	Since 12/20/12	Paid	Current
BOA	$6,709.28	442.62	$6,374.69
Citi	$1,842.69	60.00	$1,763.65
Royal	$497.45	100.00	$397.45
Monro	$1,786.54	100.00	$1686.54
Home Depot	$103.45	103.45	0.00
Car Loan	0.00	0.00	0.00
Best Buy	0.00	0.00	0.00
Totals	$10,939.41	$806.07	$10,222.33

[ravenhaired]

UPDATE!
Ravenhaired: 1/31/13 $52,350.73 (12/23/09 $72,190.66)
Overall decrease $19,861.74
Pittsburgh, PA NE U4

DEBT	Dec '09	Dec '10	Dec '11	Dec '12	Jan '13
Home Equity Loan	63,865.83	58,603.12	50,508.60	52,350.73	52,328.92
MISC Debt	8,324.83		379.00	0.00	0.00
Totals	72,190.66	58,603.12	50,887.60	52,350.73	52,328.92
Change:		13,587.54	7,715.52	-1,463.13	21.81
SAVINGS	Dec '09	Dec '10	Dec '11	Dec '12	Jan '13
EF	0.00	1,985.02	5,000.00	8,000.00	8,202.71
Totals	190.20	1,985.02	5,000.00	8,000.00	8,202.71
Change:		1,794.82	3,014.98	3,000.00	202.71

2013 Resolutions / To Do List
* Make and use only natural cleaning and personal hygiene items
* Study homeopathy
* Experience something new once a month
* Sincerely compliment someone new each week

Daily Goals
* Think less, LOVE MORE
* Invest in passionate pursuits

* Meditate daily
* Accept what is
* Live honestly
* Anger and worry less, Smile and laugh more
* Be grateful and remember LIFE IS GOOD!

[lark1964]

Well, I just made the unfortunate discovery that my ING Direct has been merged with Capitol One, and my accounts are now sitting under their little web umbrella and they got everything all screwed up... and I'm just sitting here thinking to myself that I really liked ING Direct, and I've heard up and down reports on Capitol One, but I do know I'm not sure about having my savings in a credit card bank... maybe it's just me, maybe I'm weird, I dunno... *sigh*

TGIF. 

[heartvolunteer]

Lark1964 - I'm totally in the same boat as you. I almost cried when I found out about the merger a couple of months ago. I don't want to have anything whatsoever to do with Capital One (no CCs, no banks, etc.) but them's the breaks at the moment. Sigh. Anyone else have any suggestions about where we could go to use an internet bank somewhere else? ING *used* to be the gold standard, and now...sigh.   So, it's also National Wear Red day...of course, being in Baltimore, I'm currently the lone lady in red in a sea of purple. Anyone watching the SuperBowl this weekend? Me personally, I'm a commercials and music performance watching kinda girl, but I'll be routing for the Ravens nonetheless. Otherwise, couldn't care less. Glad I don't live with a die-hard fan who would insist on throwing a big party!!! 

[mourningcloak]

we're watching the super bowl heartvolunteer  We're from Pittsburgh originally so we don't really care about the teams, but my son wants the Ravens to win so I guess he'll be cheering for them.  I'll be watching the commercials and texting my brother and sister through out the whole thing - "did you see that one?" "wasn't that commercial hysterical?"  

[mourningcloak]

I hate making tough decisions and I'm absolutely procrastinating on this one!  Thursday I went to the credit union at work and found out I could get a LOC at 7.75% which would pay off another one at 9.25% and a credit card at 18.99%.  Sounds like a no-brainer right?  Well I'm just not sure.  They expect me to close both of the other accounts to get the loan.  I really don't want a LOC at all.  I'd rather have a personal loan that once it's paid off, it goes away.  The credit card, while it has a high interest rate, has the most credit currently available to me.  There's enough on there that if my heater goes, I could replace it.  Right now at work we are looking at the possibility of being furloughed this summer regardless of how well we manage our budget.  Basically if Congress or DoD decides we have to be furloughed, it doesn't matter that we have a bunch of open positions we aren't currently paying salaries to.  We had hoped by not filling all our empty spots, we could count those spots as our personnel savings and wouldn't need to furlough or lay off anyone.  But now it's sounding like, no matter how much we save now, Congress or DoD could still decide that we have to be furloughed because everyone else is.  They are talking right now about taking away 20% of our pay.  My savings is now down to $500 instead of my usual $1000 "Dave Ramsey EF".  So closing an account that has available credit for an emergency concerns me.

I did check out my personal bank and I could get a personal loan through them for 6.99%.  But I applied online and haven't talked to anyone so I'm not sure if they will make me close all the accounts I want to pay off or if I could go the route of closing the $10k LOC but paying off the $5k card but leaving it open so I have the $10k to fall back on if furloughs do hit.  At this point I think I'd either need to charge that card or take a financial hardship withdrawal from my retirement to get through the furloughs this summer.  The personal loan would work in the financial hardship calculation, but I don't know if a LOC does or if it's considered a charge account.

I hope this all made sense!  I hate being in this position, because I know I should have said no to so many things we did this past year for the wedding or for family or helping other people out.

[irishsob]

UPDATE:

as of 5/16/07 (1st post)	as of 12/30/12	as of 1/31/13
cc #1: $3,878.37	$0	$0
cc #2: $13,498.94	$0	$0
cc #3: $17,226.41	$21,203.28	$20,894.50
cc #4: $21,992.36	$0	$0
auto: $5,650.00	$0	$0
Total: $62,246.08	$21,203.28	$20,894.50
Monthly Change:	~	-$308.78
Total $ Paid-to-Date:	$41,042.80	$41,351.58
%-age Paid-to-Date:	~	66.43%

irishsob (N20): 1/31/13 $20,894.50 ($62,246.08 5/16/07)

All the Best!
IrishSOB

[munjoyhill]

Update Munjoyhill  2/4/13  $119,982.56  ($155,340.30 6/18/09)

I'm pleased with my progress, my mortgage is under $120,000!  

[heartvolunteer]

Hey there ladies! So WOOHOOOO the Ravens won! And my vote for favorite lady-friendly commercial has to be the Calvin Klein ad. YUMMMMMMY. The Go-Daddy ad made me want to throw up in my mouth a little bit...plus, I didn't spend any money for partying - I ate leftovers.

In other news, the guy I mentioned earlier, well, we ended up talking on the phone for two hours on Saturday night and then went out on Sunday morning - we sat at Paneras for 5 hours...enough time to meet for breakfast, and eat lunch there too! We're getting together this weekend as well. I can't remember the last time I felt so overwhelmingly compatible with someone - it was kinda freaky. But it's made me excited too, so this is a...*good thing* (a la Martha Stewart).  Wish I could share the undeniable upwelling feeling of joy with the lot of you, but I'm passing it on through the ether anyway. Hope everyone's well and recovered from yesterday!

[wudnit]

UPDATE:  Wudnit 2/4/13  $99,652 (1/13/10 $172915 NEU46)



Okay, I FINALLY made it off the $100K list!!!!   WHOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!  As many of  you know, that was my October 2012 goal!!! 

[munjoyhill]

Congrats Wudnit for dropping off the 100,000 list, we'll miss you.  

Morningcloak, a few comments on your Feb 2 post.  Is the LOC attached to your house?  And why would the credit union "expect" you to close a credit card?  I can see if you already have a LOC that they would want you to close that, but close a credit card?  

You say you don't want a LOC, then if you're uncomfortable with it, don't get it.  I would pursue the personal loan avenue.  

What I'm not sure of from your post is why you are looking at a personal loan, of LOC?  What are you trying to pay off?

[mourningcloak]

No the LOC I have now and the one I could get through the credit union would not be attached to my house.  I wanted the loan for bill consolidation, so they wanted me to close the two accounts I was trying to consolidate.  I would guess it would be to avoid me charging those accounts back up, but in the long run I'd be consolidating a $10k LOC and a $10k credit card into a $13.5k LOC.  I want to lower my credit availability in the long run by closing that LOC, so that doesn't bother me, but closing the card does.  And ending up with another LOC that I'm gonna close down the road just seems annoying when I could possibly go the route of a personal loan.  

I was looking to try to pay off my higher interest rates and wrapping them into a personal loan, because if Congress doesn't get there act together and do their job, or decides that doing their job means putting defense civilians on furloughs that would cut our pay by 20%, a personal loan will go into calculations for a financial hardship withdrawal from my retirement account, but charge accounts don't.  It would allow me to close the LOC, would put it at a lower rate, and I could focus on paying off my credit cards.

At this point, I might just take my chances that Congress won't do anything to hurt us and beg my brother for money if they put us on furlough before I've caught up enough on my debt to take the 20% cut.  I definitely dislike the idea of closing a card that helps keep my debt-to-limit ratio down.

[shanendoah]

The 25-50K List has been updated

• We have a GRADUATE! Zsdebt from the International thread. Congratulations!
  
• In the last two weeks, this list has paid off over $780 in debt
• Welcome to sockeymom and busybee. Welcome back to lttlewhitetanktop (all from the Midwest)
  
• Seahorse hopped into the number 5 slot
  

[Maryland Monroe]

Update	2/24/08	2/7/13	Paid	% Paid
Card A	$9,746.38	$1,471.46	$8,274.92	84.9%
Card B	$1,218.41	$0.00	$1,218.41	100.0%
Card C	$5,656.86	$1,470.89	$4,185.97	74.0%
Card D	$1,813.97	$0.00	$1,813.97	100.0%
Total	$18,435.62	$2,942.35	$15,493.27	84.0%

Maryland_Monroe 2/7/13 2942.35 (2/24/08 $18,435.62 NE 108)

[lark1964]

How-do -

	Original	2/1/2013
Car	5027.43
Sears	585
Ch 13	36,660.00	26,273.00
Mortgage	153,320.00	146,700.84
Wells Fargo	4,819.00	4,819.00
Prepgate	31,688.00	31,688.00
	232,099.43	209,480.84

lark_1964: 2/1/2013 $209,480.84 (5/17/2007 $232,099.43 N29,NE61,NEU176,NPT86)

OK... so, I have a goal this year, let's see if I can do it: get below $200K. *sigh* 

[bankergurl]

$100K Club updated as of 2/10/13! $23,996.86 paid off in the last 2 weeks!
Welcome back to DizzyIntellectual from the Midwest
Congrats to Wudnit for graduating from the $100K Club! AMAZING!
Congrats to DebtFreeRedux from the South for paying off over $60K and over 20%!
Congrats to Munjoyhill from the Northeast for paying off over $120K!

www.notmsnmoney.proboards.com/thread/11187/page/4/100k-club#scrollTo=1502158

[munjoyhill]

One of my 2013 goals was to reduce my monthly expenses, and a big one is refinancing my mortgage.  

I called my bank a month ago to start the paperwork on refinancing my mortgage, my current interest rate is 4.625% for my 30 year mortgage, and I still owe $119,982.  

The bank suggested I consider a loan modification (rate modification) instead of the refinancing since they still own my loan (thankfully they don't sell their mortgages).  I didn't think this was available to me, I assumed a modification was for homeowners who were having trouble paying their mortgage.  She explained that it's available to me, I have 27 years, 8 months left on my 30 year mortgage and that I qualify for a rate reduction for those years.  I've checked into it, talked with my financial advisor who thinks this is a great idea, and last week I did it.

The process was quite simple, a phone call to the mortgage department of my bank, I paid a fee of 1.25% of my loan, and voila! the modification was underway for my new rate of 3.625% (a 1% reduction).  In a day or two I'll receive paperwork in the mail, I need to sign it, have it notarized, send it back and I'm done.  My current mortgage payment is $642/month, effective April 1 my new payment will be $526, a $126 monthly saving!  

My fee was $1,375 and I'll break even in 11 months.  I still have the same loan, the bank just modified the rate.  

My mortgage amount was $119,982, I put $10,000 down on it to reduce the principal, so the new amount is $109,982 at the lower interest rate of 3.625%.  

Now I'm moving on to reduce other monthly expenses, anyone have a solution to the rising costs of groceries (and I do use coupons)?





 

[lark1964]

Feb 10, 2013 18:54:19 GMT -5 munjoyhill said:

Now I'm moving on to reduce other monthly expenses, anyone have a solution to the rising costs of groceries (and I do use coupons)?





 

Well... there's always starvation? 

Congrats on the mortgage, I would love to get mine reduced, but unfortunately, until I'm out from under the Ch 13, I actually can only get a reduction from my mortgage lender IF they agree to it - and since BofA bought my mortgage (not MY choice), guess what they do NOT want to do? Lower my interest, of course!

*sigh*

Seriously, though, about the groceries, try buying local, that's about the best suggestion I can offer: if you buy fresh from farmstands, it's cheaper than the grocery store. At least here in PA and NJ.

[murphath]

Now I'm moving on to reduce other monthly expenses, anyone have a solution to the rising costs of groceries (and I do use coupons)?


Well, coupons do help.  Also, knowing your prices.  For instance, I've found that prices on many things at our Target grocery area are much less expensive than at Safeway.  Grey Poupon mustard at S/W is $4.99; $2.84 at Target.  I also will stock up when something is on sale.  Barilla pasta was .99 at S/W and there were $1.00/2 coupons a few weeks back.  The other thing about Target: they have their own coupons with their logo.  Just go to their website and type "coupons" in the search box.  Most of them are Target coupons (some are manufacturer coupons: those that start with "When you buy....or "with purchase of").  It it's a Target coupon with their logo, you can also use a manufacturer coupon on the item thus increasing your savings.

I cook much more pasta these days---good thing we love it, as well as, casseroles and soups.  Farmers markets are great for produce most of the time (with our mild Calif. weather we have them year round).  We're not big red meat eaters either, which helps.  I will buy the frozen chicken tenders (not breaded) to use in chicken casseroles, chicken tacos, Chinese chicken salad etc.  I made chicken/sausage jambalaya for Super Bowl Sunday and that lasted quite awhile.  We rarely eat out but when we do, we truly enjoy it since it's usually for a special occasion.

Take a look at the Grocery Challenge thread.  All us gals there are very helpful to folks with questions like this.



 

[nidena]

For anyone looking for some tips and tricks on how to save money, I always recommend The Tightwad Gazette by Amy Dacyzyn.  She takes it to the extreme but there are small things in there for everyone's level of tightwaddery and frugality. 
I also recommend the Grocery Challenge thread.  I stockpiled like crazy in 2007 and 2008 with things that I learned on that thread and I'm STILL working my way through the stockpile.  You stock up on non food items so that you can splurge a little on the healthy stuff.