WOMEN IN RED RACERS

[steph08]

Nov 10, 2014 18:02:47 GMT -5 Minnesotagirl7 said:

Steph08 and Janie4- You may not have seen it on the Northeast thread before it got locked, but I asked you to let us know what state you're in. Just so our tracking spreadsheet is all up-to-date and pretty. Thank you!

I am in PA. 

[nidena]

forwardwego: I've been counting since I reached 17 years but, really, I think I started really doing the countdown with my last re-up in 2010.  What service are you?  Have you been to Pre-Sep yet?  If not, get it scheduled at 24 months out.  I just attended my first round of TAP.  VERY informative!  I highly recommend.
Rocky Mtn Saver: You do such an excellent job of holding a mirror up.  I remember when you did it to me a couple years ago.  I kind of hated you for it but it was SOOOOO necessary.  Christmas might be coming in December but I, for one, have plans only to work--at the base Xmas week and at my part-time on my time off from the base.
Since it's still going to be a couple weeks before USAA pays their portion of my HEL, here's my update...
UPDATE:

nidena: 11/11/2014 $161,111.70 (8/22/2007 $223,361.20 N453,503,NE648,NPT25)  Up since the last update but down since last month.  

[sparks2710]

Hi everyone! Sparks2710 from FL.

I am super excited about the new consolidated thread. I think it will give me the motivation I need to finish up my race. I found WIRR years ago after reading an article online. I recently joined again last year and started racing on the first of this year. I have been diligently trying to pay off this debt so I can focus on paying off my car loan (which I am not racing at the moment). 

I am looking forward to getting to know everyone!!


UPDATE: Sparks2710: 11/12/14: $5,205.06 (1/1/14: $14,316.93)

[forwardwego]

Posted by nidena

forwardwego: I've been counting since I reached 17 years but, really, I think I started really doing the countdown with my last re-up in 2010. What service are you?

Postal  

[sealy]

I need that mirror and am glad to be in a safe environment where it gets held up with the right intentions. I know that by asking for help I will get it and support.

Thanks Rocky. I totally forgot about Summer.

Christmas for my family is more about food than presents. I will be getting my children presents though. Although I have no clue as to what.

I just want my race to be over. I need to work on paving my road before I ty to drive on it. I'm following Dave Ramsey's method. I've heard about him throughout the years but am giving him a try. I will have to watch as much videos as I can because right now I don't have the time or resources to attend FPU.

Thanks again to all you who hold the mirror for me.
That's why I love being here because of the love and support.

[Minnesotagirl7]

Steph08- Thanks!

Forward- Thanks for the kudos. Splitting it into a few races has definitely worked for me. I probably would've gotten too discouraged if I had tried to do it all at once. Our cc debt alone was enough to make me want to .

[Rocky Mtn Saver]

Nov 11, 2014 22:47:47 GMT -5 nidena said:

Rocky Mtn Saver: You do such an excellent job of holding a mirror up.  I remember when you did it to me a couple years ago.  I kind of hated you for it but it was SOOOOO necessary.  

Ha ha ha, I'm not trying to be mean, I promise!    But at the same time, I think that sugar-coating our own truths is what got most of us in trouble in the first place.  It certainly did for me.  I had to start holding up my own mirror a few years ago, too.  I'd ignored my ongoing debt, lack of retirement savings, and lived paycheck-to-paycheck for a long time.  But I was scared straight by the Great Recession back in 2008.  I've since come to realize that while we generally think we're here to master our finances, what many of us *really* have to do is master ourselves. 
And I'm still learning how to do that, believe me. 

[sealy]

I didn't think you were being mean Rocky. It always helps to have another set of eyes.

[Ombud]

Hi all. Yep it's Ombud here.
♤ Laid off
♡ Car totalled
♢ New car loan = $13,384
♧ Can I get UI if I'm on jury duty?
• Can't accept job offer if selected for the capital case
• Jury duty pays $15 a day
Just did projection for December & I'm $175 short before gas / food.

Ombud: $13,384 (11/15/14: $13,384)

[rr234]

UPDATE	10/8/2008	10/17/2014	11/17/2014	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
BOA	9,822.00	5,690.00	7,625.00	(1,935.00)	2,197.00
Medical	4,707.50	2,650.00	2,615.00	35.00	2,092.50
Barclay	10,627.91	3,775.00	2,920.00	855.00	7,707.91
MBNA	14,386.00	20,620.00	21,667.00	(1,047.00)	(7,281.00)
Chase	8,675.50	-	-	-	8,675.50
Discover	4,178.26	9,497.00	10,433.00	(936.00)	(6,254.74)
CITI	10,957.00	11,373.00	11,218.00	155.00	(261.00)
AT&T	3,421.00	1,254.00	1,236.00	18.00	2,185.00
PL-CAR	10,000.00	2,093.66	1,904.13	189.53	8,095.87
Total	81,356.15	56,952.66	59,618.13	(2,665.47)	21,738.02

rr234 11/12/14, $59,618.13 (10/8/08, $81,356.15, M595/M977/M1110/MPT239) 

So this is a really embarrassing update.  I've only told my husband and my therapist about this.  I don't know what happened.  I feel really stupid and mad at myself.  I was at the mall in Sept. to have something repaired and I got suckered in by those kiosk guys with the skin care products.  I have no clue how or why.  The only thing I can think of is I was having a moment of mania and ended up buying $2300 worth of crap I didn't even want.  And then when I tried to return it the next day they told me there were no refunds.  My credit card company sided with them a couple of weeks ago.  So I'm stuck paying for it.  I transferred it to 2 cards with 0% interest rates.  And I did donate the stuff to a hospital charity for an auction, so at least I can take it as a deduction on my taxes, but it still burns.  REALLY REALLY BAD.    The rest of my negative is dog and cat vet bills that I haven't been reimbursed for yet by insurance or isn't covered.          

[dizzyintellectual]

UPDATE	1/31/2013	11/4/2014	11/12/2014	Diff Last Post	Total Diff
Amazon	751.39	-	-	-	751.39
Kohls	910.64	-	-	-	910.64
Dell	995.46	-	-	-	995.46
Dodge	1,532.46	-	-	-	1,532.46
Furniture	1,952.12	-	-	-	1,952.12
Citi Card	5,428.26	-	-	-	5,428.26
BOA	2,586.06	-	-	-	2,586.06
Discover Card	6,842.42	5,009.83	4,609.83	400.00	2,232.59
Home Depot	8,030.54	-	-	-	8,030.54
SFFCU	4,445.70	4,738.92	4,635.41	103.51	(189.71)
MBNA	9,676.32	7,625.04	7,625.04	-	2,051.28
WF Student	4,970.26	3,882.38	3,882.38	-	1,087.88
AES	12,909.86	11,937.92	11,937.92	-	971.94
Citi/Discover Ln	25,917.64	21,281.62	21,049.38	232.24	4,868.26
Mohela/Direct	62,579.10	60,439.33	60,439.33	-	2,139.77
Medical Bills	2,531.58	1,636.14	1,636.14	-	895.44
TOTAL	152,059.81	116,551.18	115,815.43	735.75	36,244.38

DizzyIntellectual 11/12/2014 $115,815.43 (1/31/13 $152,059.81, MPT275 South Dakota)

[dizzyintellectual]

@ rr - I'm sorry you're suffering from one of those rash decisions. I did the same thing a couple of months ago - I made the mistake of thinking I could just window-browse at Coach. I ended up buying a $400 purse that I didn't even like that much. I was in a better situation though because I was able to return it the next day. So stupid. It happens sometimes. The important thing is to take ownership for the bad decision and move forward. Lesson learned!

[dizzyintellectual]

@ Ombud - if you've been laid off and have a job offer out there, you should make sure to tell the judge that when you're being questioned in voir dire. The judge or attorneys should ask if there is a reason anyone can't sit on the jury due to hardship. Oftentimes of course they mean physical, but in a situation like yours it's a matter of paying for food for you and your family. I would bring it up. Chances are the judge will either excuse you or one of the attorneys will. As a lawyer, if a juror said that during voir dire, I wouldn't object to you being excused Good luck with everything. Keep us posted!

[Minnesotagirl7]

Ombud- Welcome back. I agree with Dizzy that you should mention your hardship during selection. 

I hope we see lazysundays back. It was her idea to consolidate the regions. 

[Ombud]

dizzyintellectual, i was excused. Seems that i didn't fit the profile. Domestic violence murder case

[bankergurl]

Hi ladies!  I was skeptical about the regions being combined....but I must say I LOVE all the extra chatter we get to be part of!  Hope everyone is doing well!

My "happy financial moment of the day" was getting a $5.00 giftcard from Discover Card in the mail last week (for no reason ) for Starbucks and getting to use it for a treat this morning!  Only had to pay .64 for a Venti Frapp (I never EVER go to Starbucks, so yeah for a treat!).  Also they had all kinds of YUMMY food on the menu, but I just got my el-cheapo drink and rolled out of there!

Victory!

[nikiz628]

UPDATE:

                        Interest rate     Starting Debt      Last Update     This Update     Difference
Sallie Mae #1            6%             4499.82              3895.77           3863.28          -32.49
Sallie Mae #2            6.8%           2154.29              1809.97          1793.98           -15.99
AES Student Loan     2.39%          2088.37              1313.33          1294.95           -18.38
Tuition Reimb.           0%             2816.00              2016.00          1966.00           -50.00
    
Total Paid this update: $116.86
Total Debt Paid in 2014: $1,768.15
Total Debt Paid to date: $2,640.27


NikiZ628: 11/12/2014 $8,918.21 (6/17/2013 $11,558.48 MW294)
I am probably sticking with minimum payments until after the holidays just to be safe, but we are hitting the ground running in 2015 with the debt repayment. If all goes as planned, we will be paying AT LEAST an additional $140 each month to debt.


A quick re-intro about me. I started racing in 2007, after reading an article on MSN Money. I was 20 years old, engaged, and my fiance and I were stupid about money. We were living on our own and had no idea what the hell a budget was or why we needed to say NO to CC's. I raced until our wedding in June 2008, and then fell off the wagon when we returned from our honeymoon...and I was laid off my job. Our finances fell into an even bigger sinkhole for the next 2 years as we tried to dig ourselves out of the original hole PLUS the post wedding mess. In September 2010, we had our son, and in December 2010, we filed Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Since then we have been paying $206 a WEEK to the trustee to end the debt nightmare.  We are now like TWO WEEKS away from completing this! I am so excited to get back that extra money each month! ($500 of it is our mortgage every month that they pay to our mortgage company, per the agreement, so we will end up with $300+ in additional income when we are done). I came back to WIRR in 2013, with a new username (because I couldnt remember my old login info). I am now racing our student loan debt, that we could not file on. We are finally getting to a point where we are comfortable and SMART with our money. We have been on a manageable budget since our son was born, because I became a SAHM to save on daycare and gas expenses). We have also started putting money into an emergency fund so that we won't have to rely on CC's ever again.

There is nothing more motivating then being SO CLOSE to finishing this debt nightmare!

I am excited to "meet" everyone here now that we have consolidated!

[forwardwego]

Posted by trojen3 Nov 10, 2014 at 8:44pm

I might as well go ahead and start Race #2.

Great idea. I hope you are feeling well. How long til the new baby arrives? It's very encouraging to see your paydowns, and though it is more than I can manage it makes me want to do my best 

Congrats Nidena on your upcoming HEL payoff 

Nice to meet you bankergurl. You've been through a lot with the ex-H, but it sounds like you have the peace of mind that comes from having given your all before you finally had to go forward without him. It's nice you have a substantial savings, and your mortgage as your only debt. I agree that the chatter on the combined thread feels GREATTT!!! I love to give shoutouts. I can only do just so much any given day to improve my own financial situation, but the WIRR conversations and progress of fellow racers keeps me optimistic while I bide my time til my next step forward. Thank you for your contributions to the WIRRs.

Sealy UGH on the brakes  , but thankfully you got them replaced before they failed.
I spent $650 today too. Got a new front bumper for my DH's truck. That is part 2. Part 1 was the $1K spent to repair my driver side car door damaged when I hit his truck with my car. The boo boo happened about 2 months ago, about the time I was excited about joining the Saver's Thread, and Murphy's Law kicked in  . We fixed mine first because the door wouldn't work right. And waited to fix his til we had the cash since it was cosmetic. So glad to get that Murphy behind me, and glad you had the cash to take care of yours too. I'm with you too on wanting that constructive criticism, because it's how we grow and improve.

I miss our southern racer CraftySarah. She is so bright and was good at giving the truth that could help a fellow racer. Hope she finds her way back, even if just for a visit.

speechchick Nice plans for 2015. I can hear your engine revving now
Thank you for being one of our captains!

Thanks fellow WIRRS for the intros and input. I love meeting y'all, learning about you and from you.

[urdoingit]

urdoingit: 11/14/2014 $7,863.86 (3/1/13 $27,281.43 MPT279)

UPDATE                 3/1/2013     10/10/2014    11/14/2014
HFLC                     $14,175.00     $0.00          $0.00
Fifth Third Bank      $13,106.43   $8,137.47     $7,863.86
Total                      $27,281.43   $8,137.47     $7,863.86
Diff Last Post -$273.61
Total Amt Pd -$19,417.57
Total % Pd 71.2%

[urdoingit]

Greetings, Racers! I am one of the captains, and I have been a Racer for over 5 years. I am married to DH, work at a major law firm in St. Louis and between DH and I we have 5 grown kids and 8 grandkids.

My lightbulb moment came when I saw an interview with MP on the Today show and that inspired me to search out the WIRR. I almost passed out when I added up our CC debt – it was over $25 k when I first started working on it. I read a couple of Dave Ramsey and Suze Orman books and then lurked on the boards for about a year while I tried out a snowball to see if I could do it or not. My first race was all consumer debt – paid off $20,356.53 in 25 months. Then, as so many have done before me, I managed to run the CC balances right back up. I was about to start another race when DH and I both had unexpected windfalls that were enough to wipe out that CC debt again.

My second race was the balance on the new car DH got to replace our 12 year old Focus and we paid that off - $7,510 - in about 6 months. My current race is 2 cars – one for me and the one we got that our youngest DS drives and makes the payments on. I paid off my Honda and now we just have DS’s Kia remaining.

When I first started racing, my DH had not been involved in any of our finances for over 25 years. It was like dragging an elephant to a mouse race to get him started, but now he is onboard with the budgeting and we sit down once a week and go over everything together.

We’ve been through lots of ups and downs and that darn Murphy has come knocking more times than I care to think about, but if I had one piece of advice to share with all the Racers it would be to not give up. Even snails make progress if they just keep going forward, right? I am continually amazed and inspired by what the Racers have accomplished and I am so thankful to have such a wealth of information and support available to aid me along my Race to being truly debt free.

[nodebt42]

Hi all,

I know I *just* recently posted, but I figured I'd post again since my last post was on the NE boards.

Account	Starting	Current	Difference	% Paid
CC #1	$311.08	$0	$311.08	100%
SL #1	$6066.89	$0	$6066.89	100%
SL #2	$34757.95	$20676.48	$14081.47	40.5%
Total	$41135.92	$20676.48	$20459.44	49.7%

I am excited to see that student loan under 20K and I may throw some money at it in December just to start 2015 off that way.

Thanks, NoDebt42

[Deleted]

UPDATE: amiteraus: 11/14/14 $24,349.70 (6/26/14, $35,191.85, W80)

Debt	Interest Rate	11/14/14	06/26/14	PTD	% PTD	Final Payment Date
Medical Bill #1	12.00%	$0.00	$1,113.29	$1,113.29	100.00%	10/3/2014
Medical Bill #2	0.00%	$442.66	$1,192.66	$750.00	62.88%	--
Medical Bill #3	0.00%	$178.71	$578.71	$400.00	69.12%	--
Auto Loan	6.90%	$3,428.75	$3,881.71	$452.96	11.67%	--
Student Loan	3.88%	$0.00	$7,881.60	$7,881.60	100.00%	7/22/2014
CC #1	13.24%	$6,811.48	$6,859.96	$48.48	0.71%	--
CC #2	16.99%	$11,700.85	$11,756.67	$55.82	0.47%	--
CC #3	0% until Jan 2015	$1,787.25	$1,927.25	$140.00	7.26%	--
Total	--	$24,349.70	$35,191.85	$10,842.15	30.81%	--

I am looking forward to meeting everyone on this board!  I am a 30 yo living in Washington and my story goes a little something like this... Up until the end of 2012 I had a job that paid well, but I was completely unhealthy (emotionally).  I was debt free besides my auto and student loans.  After some stressful events at work that caused an emotional breakdown, my fiance (then BF) said he would support me during the transition from quitting to finding a new job.  So, I quit that job at the beginning of 2013.  I was unemployed for 5 months.  During those 5 months I had a hard time bringing my standard of living down, so I was charging everything to my CC's left and right thinking that when I found that new job I'd pay it all off quickly.  Well, I did find that new job and I am extremely happy but I started out at half of what I was making at my other job.  That, on top of an unplanned knee surgery in August of 2013 and subsequent physical therapy put me in the situation I am in now.  I've chosen personal happiness over financial wealth and am 100% confident in that decision.  I became engaged in January of this year and we're planning on getting married next summer.  I do not want to bring my debt burden and bad spending habits into our marriage so I had to get serious about paying off my debts.  That is why I joined WIRR.

Since starting, I've made great progress.  My parents gave me the gift of paying off my student loans after my mom received an inheritance following my grandmothers passing in February.  I feel like that's cheating, but if that money had just been given to me I could have spend it on something else.  My expenses are still more than my incoming, but I've cut back all that I possibly can.  I've also taken on a part-time second job to alleviate the pressure and am now only short around $100 a month in my budget, versus the $300-400 shortage a few months ago.  Once my EF is fully funded at $1000 by the end of the year and my medical bills are paid off, I should be in the positive and can stop charging the overage to my CC's and actually truly race them.  I have several savings accounts (EF, car repair, insurance, medical, vet bills, etc.) that I am serious about putting money in to.  I won't allow myself to draw on those accounts unless it is truly meant for their intended purpose.  And no, I don't consider going over $100 in groceries a month an emergency, so I just charge it to a CC and call it a day.  This method doesn't work for everybody, but it works for me.

[snapdragon]

amiteraus --

Great job on the 2nd zero - medical debt! You are making wonderful progress!

Quick question - is there a specific reason you are working on the 0% medical debt instead of possibly working on your CC#3 that is 0% until Jan? Do they have min's that you could just pay? I can understand on trying to get the motivation going but what will your interest rate be when your 3rd CC resets?

It's wonderful that you want to be unburdened before your wedding. I just want you to be sure you are doing it in the most helpful to you way. 

[Minnesotagirl7]

Ombud- I can't find your old racing info. Can you let us know what state you live in? Thanks!  

[lttlwhitetanktop]

Hi everyone!

I was just on here a couple of weeks ago, and already forgot that we were merging back together.  Haha!  Since we have merged - short back story:

All of my debt is student loans.  I have two races going because I started my first race in 2008 (after lurking for a while).  2-3 years ago I started grad school, and did the best I could to only take out the initial student loan.  Since I didn't want to "restart" my initial race and figure all of that out, I just started race #2 with only my grad school loan.  (read: I was lazy haha!  I also thought it would give me motivation to see one disappear sooner).

It will be nice "meeting" all of you who are new to me!  Here's my latest update since my auto payments just went through yesterday:

lttlwhitetanktop *11/15/14, $20,315.36* (6/10/08: $36,424) M373
lttlwhitetanktop [2]: *11/15/14, $6218.39* (6/21/14, $8500.00) MW331

I feel like this race has been taking forever, but being a librarian is a lot like being a teacher.  You don't really do it for the money.

[Ombud]

Minnesotagirl7, this is my 1st time here in WIRR so no wonder you cannot find me! I live in California. I usually hang out on another board but debt scares me.

Background: after my DS1 died, I couldn't deal with finances. That was back when having PTSD was a barrier to career advancement. So I handled it by getting a new checking account & credit card with each paycheck (10th & 25th). Got up to 30 of each but dug out.

After having been relatively debt free for over a decade, I hit a rough patch beginning with a cancer dx in July, 2 car accidents -fixed 10/14 & totaled 10/25 - neither my fault, company closed 10/31 but retained as a 1099. (FYI: Didn't get the job that I thought was starting) So how did I charge $935 in October & $775 so far in November? OUCH

Anyway, I want to try need a financial diet.

[sealy]

Background: I am from Cali.  I am working on becoming debt free.  I have been here since 
probably 2008 or so.  I also read the article. I came here when I was getting divorced.  
I don't think my heart has recovered but my mind is working towards fixing my debt issues.  

I am so glad I found this group.  I have received encouragement and stern talks when I
needed them.  I am glad that this group is just right for me.  I will win again in both finances
and love.  

[nidena]

Hey Cali folks,  I live in Delaware but I'm from Fresno (don't hold it against me--my parent chose where I grew up lol)

Although the largest part of my debt is my mortgage, I feel like my CC debt is so much bigger.  Shopping is my social outlet.  There are few places to hang out here and most of my friends work in retail establishments so I find myself purchasing, often.  So, you shoppers, you're not alone.  I'm still getting the discipline down.  It helped when my card was stolen at the end of my vacation last month.  I had no card for a couple weeks and that helped get me out of the habit of using it.  I used to justify its use by the points that it got but, really, they're not much so I've realized that it gains me nothing to use it...except interest.

[teachermom]

Background......I live in WA. I am a single parent of 3 boys. As my name says...I am a high school teacher.

Life has been very crazy. About 1 1/2 years ago, I lost my part time/2nd job. That was about $25K per year income. Also, my son has crohn's disease and although we have medical insurance, his remicade treatments are VERY expensive ($10k every 8 weeks) and I am responsible for about $1200 every 8 weeks. I don't make enough to pay that, so needless to say....the balance is increasing. Without my 2nd job, I don't make enough to pay everything just to live....thus the credit card debt. Most of it is living expenses, gas, food, etc.

I am starting my race with my credit cards...working on getting them paid off and not using them again. This will free up some income and allow me to pay more of the living expenses. Until I get them under control, I will not be able to make headway on my car and student loans, much less ever get the doctor bills paid for my son.

As I said in a previous post, this coming check with be significantly larger than normal.....coaching and extra contract days. My goal is to put $1000 in savings for Murphy and then pay off what I can of the credit cards....so I can start snowballing those payments.

Debt
Account	Beg Bal	11/16/2014	Difference	% Paid
Macy's	$112.21	$112.21	$0.00	0.00%
Home Depot	$386.50	$386.50	$0.00	0.00%
Target	$535.67	$535.67	$0.00	0.00%
Cap One 1651	$650.00	$650.00	$0.00	0.00%
Cap One 0013	$973.33	$973.33	$0.00	0.00%
Best Buy	$1,005.00	$1,005.00	$0.00	0.00%
Old Navy	$1,527.78	$1,527.78	$0.00	0.00%
Barclay Card	$2,096.73	$2,096.73	$0.00	0.00%
Sears	$2,600.00	$2,600.00	$0.00	0.00%
BofA	$2,910.00	$2,910.00	$0.00	0.00%
Total Savings	$12,797.22	$12,797.22	$0.00	0.00%

Teachermom 11/16/2014 $0 (11/16/2014 $12,797.22)

[sealy]

Teacher, I'm probably the last person who should be giving advice but is there any way you can start a son fund for his treatments. That way you'll have more room to breathe.