Women in Red Racers - Midwest Region

[urdoingit]

Oh no! It didn't put my table in my post. What did I do wrong?

[shopaholic814]

Minnesota: I dont think that $30K paid off in less than 2 yrs is turteling along!! Awesome job!!! Keep up the great work!

URDoingIt:Great update! You are getting so close!!!

So I am considering adjusting my race & would like some feedback if anyone cares to....... I currently have about $55K that I am racing, $35 of which is our student loans. I realized yesterday that I am never going to get to the point where we can extra $$ toward them, and I think I have resigned myself to accepting that we will have these SLs until our 7 & 6 yr old boys graduate college themselves(oldest will be a senior in 10 yrs!!!!) I thought we would have them paid off by the time they get into college, but there is just no way its gonna happen since I am not going to be working much longer (personal issues). I know in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't really matter if I take them out of the race or not b/c they will always be there, but does anyone have experience with adjusting their race in this way? Does it help with the mental aspect of the race at all?

[rr234]

UPDATE	10/8/2008	12/7/2010	1/7/2011	Diff Last Post	Total Paid
PL	1,399.98	-	-	-	1,399.98
CC #2	6,301.00	-	-	-	6,301.00
CAR	9,283.77	-	-	-	9,283.77
CC #4	3,772.00	-	-	-	3,772.00
CC #1	10,815.00	7,824.00	7,742.00	82.00	3,073.00
CC #3	4,913.00	3,166.00	3,114.00	52.00	1,799.00
CC #5	10,957.00	3,494.00	3,454.00	40.00	7,503.00
CC #6	3,421.00	2,367.00	2,334.00	33.00	1,087.00
CC #7	3,120.00	7,100.00	6,951.00	149.00	(3,831.00)
PL-CAR	10,000.00	10,000.00	9,700.25	299.75	299.75
Total	51,578.98	33,951.00	33,295.25	655.75	18,283.73

rr234, 1/7/11, $33,295.25 (10/8/08, $51,578.98, M595/M977/M1110)

[rr234]

I'm glad to be moving in the right direction again. Not sure how fast the totals will go down. I had to bump my health insurance up to the next level and increase my FSA to the max this year. I'm waiting to see what that does to my net check.

booty call I have friends who are ex's and my last BF was friends with an ex. I never didn't take a call from an ex in front of my BF and I knew my BFs ex. I also don't really hang out with any of them either. It's more an email/text/call relationship now. I think it's fishy that he won't take her calls in front of the girlfriend. If nothing inappropriate is being said/going on, there's no reason he can't take the call in the girlfriend's presence. I second suggesting going out as a group to meet her.

[shopaholic814]

rr: Great update!!

Also, forgot to mention..... DH gave me $400 cash for CMas gift to use toward buying a 'new to me' sewing machine since I sold my top of the line, shockingly expensive, Janome 11000 quilting/embroidery/sewing machine last year to use toward debt payoff. I was a quilter, and spent too much $$ on fabric, embroidery designs, thread, that didn't really get used enough, so I decided to sell it all for $4000 & paid down a cc with it. Well, I miss it terribly and now dont have a sewing machine to hem pants for my kids, etc, but I am so afraid that the Shopaholic in me will go crazy again if I re-enter that world of gorgeous fabrics, threads, etc.... its like a drug to me and I should probably just get a cheap machine to use for hemming pants, etc. But I so badly want to steal DHs Discover card from his wallet & go buy a new $3500 quilting machine. AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHGGGGGRRRRRRRRR! I really wish there was a Shopaholics Anonymous group that I could go to. I have been doing so good until about 1.5 months ago when CMas shopping started. Im an ADDICT!!!!!!! When I get depressed, I NEED to go shopping.

[Sam_2.0]

Thanks, Kewee!! I just downloaded your spreadsheet & added the tabs into my regular tracking one. Now I can play around with it & hopefully post an update (one of these days...)

[CarolinaKat]

Popping in from the South to also say thanks to Kewee for making the excel attachments and posting them!

[kewee1131]

Just wanted to say the excel attachments were a joint effort with Turbo - she rocked getting the initial excel going with my code. Go team

If anyone wants a different version of the table to fit their way of updating and need help just let me know and I can help you out.

[CarolinaKat]

A big thanks to Turbo as well then. We must give credit where it is due

[Minnesotagirl7]

shopaholic- Thanks for the kudos, it really means a lot!!
urdoingit- Awesome update lady!

I'm trying to edit the post with my update to include the table (thanks Kewee & Turbo!!), but I can only get the first few rows to show up. Not sure what the deal is, but I'm going to keep working on it.

[kewee1131]

Wow I epically fail right now.. I need to stop doing this at work ahahah ... i copy and pasted but then didn't save the stupid file before attaching it...
Example 1

UPDATE	(start date)	(last update)	(current date)
(add debt)	(add #)	(add #)	(add #)
(add debt)	(add #)	(add #)	(add #)
(add debt)	(add #)	(add #)	(add #)
(add debt)	(add #)	(add #)	(add #)
(add debt)	(add #)	(add #)	(add #)
Total	(add total#)	(add total#)	(add total#)
Diff Last Post	(add #)
Total Amt Pd	(add #)
Total % Pd	(add %)

Example 2

UPDATE	(start date)	(last update)	(current date)	Diff Last Post	Total Diff
(add debt)	(add #)	(add #)	(add #)	(add #)	(add #)
(add debt)	(add #)	(add #)	(add #)	(add #)	(add #)
(add debt)	(add #)	(add #)	(add #)	(add #)	(add #)
(add debt)	(add #)	(add #)	(add #)	(add #)	(add #)
(add debt)	(add #)	(add #)	(add #)	(add #)	(add #)
Total	(add total#)	(add total#)	(add total#)	(add total#)	(add total#)

Attachments:

WIRR Examples.xls.jpg (28.5 KB)

[kewee1131]

I'm so sorry all! I don't know why i'm struggling so bad at getting the correct files to you

[Minnesotagirl7]

Holy potatoes Kewee, no need to apologize! You're being incredibly helpful, and we really apprecaite it!

[chelsea727]

I just want to again thank Dizzy for the spreadsheet example because it helped me tremendously! I now have my budget mapped out by each paycheck for the entire year which is pretty cool. When i pay a bill or make a payment I will shade in that line until the whole paycheck is shaded..if there's extra money it'll go to savings or debt repayment or even a bill that due on the next pay period. I also learned that in april and again in september, I'll have an extra $444 where there is no rent or car payment due because of how the dates fall. This is all going towards debt! This year might turn out better than I thought!

[Bank of Mom]

One thing this board switch has brought front and center is that we are all here to help each other. We are working together to learn the new board, learn new spreadsheet formatting so those of us who love columns and order can post comfortably, and welcome new Racers. This forum is a valuable asset.

The new year, with its resolutions and time of reflection, often cause feelings of depression. For those that are feeling like giving up, look back over your sheets since you became a member of the WIR family. I think you will surprise yourself at what you have accomplished.

Getting ahead does not always mean the balance goes down. Getting ahead can mean that you had some cash to help pay for an unexpected expense.
Getting ahead can mean you paid cash instead of pulling out a charge card at the store.
Getting ahead can mean you told yourself NO to a want.
Getting ahead can mean you came closer to your budget than you did last month.
These are all steps in the right direction.
Celebrate what seems like the small stuff. It all adds up.

I want to pass on huge thanks to CoffeeGirl for all the hard work and hours spent. Turbo Thumper and Kewee for their work on formatting spreadsheets.

[Sam_2.0]

Shopaholic - I wanted to answer your question from above. I made the decision earlier last year to take the SLs and the car out of our race. Its not that I am not paying them down each month, but I am definitely not racing them yet. It has helped quite a bit. I still keep track of them on my spreadsheet though, because even when we have setbacks its nice to see we still have that progress overall. I think doing this in more manageable chunks has helped a lot with the motivation to keep moving forward. Its definitely a less intimidating number to look at!

[chicg]

Shop - I also don't race my student loans. CC's were my trouble spot and my toxic debt and what kept me up at night. I check my statement periodically to make sure everything appears fine but I have it set up on autopay and don't really worry about it. I'm not "racing" that loan and not sure I will when my cc debt is gone either. I don't consider it "good debt" but I think it's more important for me to catch up with retirement and savings and start saving for a house, then aggressively pay down a 3% interest loan. I will increase my payment (probably triple) when cc debt is paid but that still leaves me a lot of room to direct most of my money to various savings. Plus, I have about $15K left, so it's not an obscene amount. If I had a really high balance I'd probably be more concerned about it. If racing everything is freaking you out, break it down but don't totally forget about it. You still want to remain accountable to your whole financial picture.

My financial picture is not going to improve if I keep volunteering to travel! My friend just posted that she needed travel companions for a cheap Mexico trip and instinctively my hand goes up! I wanted to take a big trip when my debt was paid this year but I've had to rethink that as I need to keep an eye on my dad's health, it makes me nervous to plan a big trip too far in advance (I'm still freaked out from 2 years ago when we found out he had cancer/needed surgery the week I was to go to Europe). Anyhow...I can plan a month in advance so if that's what presents itself, I might have to roll with it and rethink my initial strategy. We'll see what happens.

[jando]

Bank of Mom - great post! so true.

Shop - I agree with Sam. If you are really focused on your consumer debt and just paying the installment on things like SLs or a mortgage, don't include it. That way you can really focus on the things you want to pay down. Heck, I paid off my consumer debt so I'm "racing" my SLs mostly to keep myself accountable. I'm not adding on to the payments, but I'm also making sure my CCs stay free and clear of charges. You can always start a new race with other debts if you win your first one, but make sure your first one IS accountable and lists all of your consumer debt. Having "non-racing" CCs is generally a bad idea...they tend to keep going up!

[momofelliott]

Update: 1-6-11 37911.24 (5-13-09 37329.71 M949/MU14)

Doctor bills finally adjusted. Nice to know exactly what I owe.

I hope this is the year my totals go below my starting totals and stay that way. As you can see, I have almost the same amount of debt that I had when I started 2 years ago. I know we have accopmlished some things, but comparing the money totals, doesn't reflect that.

[Sam_2.0]

Look at it this way, Mom of Elliott - you have gone up a bit in that time, but you also have paid off quite a bit too If its new Dr bills you have added & not added on to existing CCs, then what about re-starting your totals to show what progress you really have made?

I know that personally I get kind of bummed when I look at the "big picture" of our debt. Since marrying DH, we have added in his debt + a car. Made me feel like we were going nowhere fast. But, I started breaking it down to see where we were on individual things, and looking at all the bills we paid without adding on to the debt (almost $10k in bills paid last year!!). Sometimes you just need to take a step back to see where you came from, and it makes the current situation look a lot better. Like what Minnesota just posted above

[radiologygirl]

Update- Radiologygirl- 1/6/11, $31145, MU3 New Board (12/29/10, $28650, MU747)

Debt	12/23/2010	1/1/2010	1/6/2011	Diff Last Post	Total Diff
Dentist	450.00	450.00	450.00	-	-
Medical	1,500.00	4,295.00	4,295.00	-	(2,795.00)
SL #1	26,000.00	26,000.00	26,000.00	-	-
CC #1	450.00	450.00	300.00	150.00	150.00
CC #2	250.00	250.00	100.00	150.00	150.00
Total	28,650.00	31,445.00	31,145.00	300.00	(2,495.00)

Credit Cards are almost gone! Can't wait till next week when the tuition reimbursment check comes... that will be a huge payoff

[tkdblkbelt28]

Update: tkdblkbelt_28: 1/06/2010 $221,678.98 (12/30/2009 $247,021.88 MU16, MU103)

UPDATE	12/30/2009	12/13/2010	1/6/2011
Sallie Mae 1	$21,678.06	$0.00	$0.00
Car	$11,058.17	$7,150.79	$6,357.61
Misc	$3,819.98	$0.00	$0.00
Sallie Mae 2	$112,992.79	$119,369.74	$117,991.46
AES 1	$31,137.80	$31,073.97	$31,073.97
AES 2	$29,423.76	$29,423.76	$29,363.01
Xpress	$11,583.48	$11,583.48	$11,565.09
Discover SL	$25,327.84	$25,327.84	$25,327.84
Total	$247,021.88

[/b][/TD] [TD] $223,929.58 [/TD] [TD] $221,678.98 [/TD] [/TR]
[TR] [TD] Diff Last Post [/TD] [TD] $2,250.60 [/b][/TD] [TD]
[TR] [TD] Total Amt Pd [/TD] [TD] $25,342.90 [/b][/TD] [TD]
[TR] [TD] Total % Pd [/TD] [TD] 10.26% [/TD] [TD]
[/TABLE]
Well I got my halo back! That was so disappointing losing it due to accumluated interest last update..

[tkdblkbelt28]

shopaholic - I took my mortgage out of this race because the total was just too depressing and daunting. Like you are feeling toward your sls, I feel toward my mortgage. I am resigned to probably paying it for the next 20+ years. As long as I get my sls paid off I will be a happy camper, and I will race my mortgage then.

Just another thanks to Kewee and Turbo for all the help! This really is an awesome board!

[shopaholic814]

Sam, Chicg, Kelly & tdk: Thanks so much for the reassurances. I think I am going to restart this race minus the Student Loans. I hate to make more work for the moderator who keeps up our totals, especially considering all they have going on with this transition. I'm terrible, I don't remember who I need to contact to do this!! How would I type out my tagline? would my starting amount just not include the SLs or would I include them in the starting amount & just erase them from my current amount?

On another note, since I was craving the purchase of a new sewing machine today, I went to an Amish-run fabric shop & walked around for about an hour. I went to this specific shop b/c they do not sell machines, only fabric, & got a nice reminder why I sold my top-notch machine in the first place. I wanted to buy, buy, buy & I even had cash to do it, but I didn't buy anything b/c I don't have a machine to use!! Problem solved!! Its amazing what just walking through that shop did for me. It was wonderful to see all of the pretty fabric & gorgeous quilts hanging on the walls/from rafters. It was calming for me, just like sewing is for me most of the time. But I was a little sad that I still haven't overcome my weaknesses.

[Minnesotagirl7]

One more shoutout to Kewee and Turbo, and anyone else who helped out with the spreadsheets. I was able to use them to update the 5500 and 5.6k-24k Clubs. Lots of movement on them, not to mention the three winners WIR has had in the last few weeks!

shopaholic- There are a few of us that can help you modify your totals. But its pretty easy - you subtract the amount from both your starting totals, and from your current totals. Just like you said.

[ilkh]

Minnesotagirl - THANK YOU .. I love those lists! I sent you a karma point (it sounds like it must be something good).

[seriousthistime]

Minnesotagirl, I love those lists too!

For anyone who feels burned out by always having too much debt and too much little money, I suggest revising the racing debt downward. The premise in Dave Ramsey's snowballing is to pay off the smallest balance first so you get the emotional boost from paying one debt down to zero. If you were paying the highest interest rate debt off first, it could be your biggest debt, which could be slow as molasses in January to pay off. It's easy to stray when you feel like you're not making progress. As I've mentioned, I have debt I am racing and debt I am not racing. I pay the same amount to each non-racing debt each month. For example, one of my non-racing debts had a minimum payment of $175 when I started, and I pay $175 to that debt each month even though the minimum has gone down over time. I do throw every extra dollar to my racing debt. When my racing debt is gone I will add in my other debt little by little. If I thought I had to chip away at $150K of debt with my mortgage, I'd throw in the towel. But I have about $18K in THIS race, and I CAN pay off $18K. So if you are feeling like you're going to lose it with the debt you're racing, consider taking some of it out of the race. I don't know what it does to the mods when you restart your race, but maybe they can weigh in on that.

[shopaholic814]

Thanks Minnesota. I haven't decided if I am going to adjust the race just yet, but thanks for the help!

[Jem0607]

Shop, it is great that you could go to a store like that and not spend any money! That is something to be proud of. I am really struggling with wants right now. Also, I am only racing CC. If (when) they get paid off, I will race my car and SLs. Facing this number is bad enough at the moment.

[shopaholic814]

Thanks Jem, I guess it does say something that I didn't buy any fabric, especially since the price was $3-4/yard cheaper than other quilt shops I've been too. Sadly, the only reason I didn't buy anything is because currently I don't have a machine to use, so it really would have been a complete waste of $$$!!!!