WOMEN IN RED RACERS

[nidena]

Dec 5, 2014 10:31:36 GMT -5 seriousthistime said:

Sam, I don't think you are as anti-Dave Ramsey as one could possibly be.  You both agree about paying off debt...and being aggressive (to different degrees) about it.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach.  We each have to do what works for ourselves and our situation.

An investing example: for people your age, Sam, placing most investments in the stock market makes sense.  For someone my age, a few years from retirement, it would be very risky to put all my investments in the stock market.  

A lot depends on the mortgage to be paid off, too.  Assuming that someone is in their forever house and a few years from retirement, it makes sense to pay off the mortgage. For someone in a house they don't plan to be in for a long time, paying off a mortgage might or might not be the best alternative.   

 

I will add to the part about paying off a mortgage.  I'm paying off my HEL for two reasons (but will still have my mortgage): 1) I couldn't pass up the offer that my bank made me of matching 50%, up to $6000 and 2) Once I retire from the military my pay is going to drop by 2/3--I wanted to do more than exist on the pay that I will have then and eliminating the HEL will give me an extra $305/mo until then to work with towards paying off my CC.
I don't see a reason to pay off my mortgage right now because I plan on moving within the next five years.

[urdoingit]

Ombud:  Personal property tax is Missouri's way of collecting tax on all those luxury items people have: cars, boats, motorcycles, trailers, etc.  I don't mind paying the tax so much as the timing - making it fall due on December 31 and then tacking on penalties for every month it isn't paid just stinks, in my opinion.  Also, when you purchase any registrable item (car, motorcycle, etc.) in Missouri, they make you pay all the sales tax when you register it.  Every other state I have registered vehicles in let me roll the sales tax into the monthly payment.  Not here - so when we buy new cars, we have to have close to $2,000 to get them licensed.  Okay, I'm climbing down off my soapbox now.  Thanks for listening to the rant! 

[nikiz628]

UPDATE:

                                 Interest rate        Starting Debt      Last Update     This Update       Difference
Sallie Mae #1             6%                  4499.82             3863.28          3843.87              -19.41
Sallie Mae #2             6.8%                2154.29             1793.98          1784.83              -9.15
AES Student Loan     2.39%               2088.37             1294.95          1238.37              -56.58
Tuition Reimb.           0%                  2816.00             1966.00          1916.00              -50.00
 
Total Paid this update: $135.14
Total Debt Paid in 2014: $1,903.29
Total Debt Paid to date: $2,775.41


NikiZ628: 12/6/2014 $8,783.07 (6/17/2013 $11,558.48 MW294)

This will be my last update for the year (unless the fat guy in the red suit brings me lots of money!). I wish it was bigger, but we decided to just pay minimums until after Christmas. We didnt hit our goal of paying off $3300 this year, but we made a big dent. (The difference column on this update would look much better if I had beat the interest being tacked on this bill cycle, but Im not stressing over it). Our goal for next year is to be under $5,000 and I definitely think its doable. I am looking forward to being able to throw extra money at these loans next year!

[scrgrl47]

UPDATE! scrgrl47: 12/06/14, $65,069.58 (06/06/2014 $73,996.10 NE118, 9)

State: MA

Debt	Interest Rate	Start	Last Update	Paid Since	Current Balance	Total Paid
Mom	0.0%	$1,000.00	$0	$0	$0	$1,000.00
Transferred SL	0.0%	$9,185.07	$7,260.07	$3,900.00	$3,360.07	$5,825.00
SL - G DUSL	6.6%	$1,637.35	$1,598.96	$19.83	$15,79.13	$58.22
SL - G FSL	6.6%	$6,556.95	$6,356.32	$188.94	$6,167.38	$389.57
SL - G GUSL	6.6%	$10,260.49	$9,946.51	$295.67	$9,650.84	$609.65
SL - UG DSCL	3.4%	$12,218.09	$11,922.65	$254.46	$11,668.19	$549.90
Short Sale	3.0%	$33,138.15	$32,979.66	$335.69	$32,643.97	$494.18
CC	$0.0%	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Total		$73,996.10	70,064.17	4,994.59	$65,069.58	$7,926.52

Glad to see the board consolidation, it will be great to have more activity to keep us all focused.  Speaking of focused, I  haven't posted in 3 months.  Have made good progress after finishing up the mom debt but have added a credit card on here.  I bought furniture <:-(  It's also the credit card that I float work expenses on, so I'm listing it as $0 until I parse out the two and have an accurate picture.  There will be one more post before 2015 with all the details.   

Backstory for the new board - I joined the original board waaaaaaaaay back when (so far back I'm now too old to remember when exactly). It was a tremendous resource, a great support system, and incredibly inspirational. I'm so, so happy to see it is still here.

During the few years I participated, I was able to pay off a good amount of debt but then dropped off after <<enter long list of excuses here>>. It's a few years later and I'm back to racing, no excuses. In the interim, I've picked up a ton of grad school debt, short sold my condo (to my tenant! Who paid cash! Just kill me!), complete with the unforgiven loan to show for it, and owe my mom some money from when I was in dire straights.

I'm so fortunate to have a full-time job that pays enough for me to make some headway. In the short term, I'm going to focus on reducing my expenses and picking up a little extra revenue where I can.

Let's do this thing, WIRR....

[mollyc]

update Dec 6/14 $9,840.00 (June 13/13 $18,975.00 IU, 53)

[sealy]

Oh ok.  I've just started listening to Dave and I like him but seriousthistime is correct there isn't a one fits all.  As long as
we are doing what we can get whatever debt we want to pay off completed that's all that matters.

[Ombud]

urdoingit, so you pay a personal property tax and an annual registration fee? And people complain about California taxes!

[seriousthistime]

I don't know how they do it in Missouri, but when I lived in CT the personal property tax WAS the registration fee.  

And for all my complaining about taxes in IL (which apparently doesn't get us a balanced budget, huge unfunded pension liability, and a few governors who were/are spending time courtesy of the federal Bureau of Prisons), there is no personal property tax, and the annual registration fee is about $100.

[forwardwego]

Good morning WIRRs 


teachermom good job managing the Murphy! Even though you had to spend the money on tires instead of savings or paydown, you protected yourself from further debt and you're safer. As I face situations like this I try to pause and be grateful. Compared to many people we are well off to be able to buy the new safe tires. So do you have some $$ left that could give Old Navy a punch down   How's the EF coming along?

munjoyhill WELCOME!! Does your starting number of @$155K represent only mortgage? Or were there other debts, but they are zeroed and only the mortgage is left? Nice update, it'll feel great to drop below $100K. Do you have a goal for when that will happen? Nice work on the EF's!

lulu0312 Hi, it's nice to meet you. Hugs to you & your DH, so glad he has improved and you have each other  Kudos on all you've accomplished reducing your debt to a single loan, that you can easily manage as a lesser priority.

nodebt42 Yea for going under $20K briefly, and yea for going under $20K for good Monday!!
 Doggone interest anyway

[Minnesotagirl7]

In case you guys didn't see, I updated the 5500 and 5.6k-24k clubs yesterday:

5500 Club

5.6k - 24k Club

[Minnesotagirl7]

I wanted to throw out our method for paying bills as well, just as another option for people to think about:

DH and I each get paid every other week. His two checks per month go to pay our mortgages (our home and our rental property). My two checks per month go towards our monthly bills, our one remaining debt, and to our normal monthly expenses (gas/groceries/household items). Since we each get 26 checks per year, the four "extra" checks go towards savings (i.e. to our EF, insurance fund, or vacation). We use Capital One 360 for several small savings funds. Our EF is there as well, and we have a little over $16k in it. I also maintain a $3000 "buffer" in our checking account for emergencies. I handle all of our finances, and all of our money goes into one checking account. DH handles our retirement savings and investing. Its a good system and it works well for us.

I've seen some great updates lately! And I really love all the chatter. Combining the regions seems to have worked out well, I hope you guys agree! 

[forwardwego]

urdoingit ouch...Missouri seems to have some serious taxes. I'm surprised about the auto sales tax up front. Seems like the auto companies would hate that and fight it. Here in Florida we pay federal income tax, real estate tax, and state & local sales tax. There are other taxes for business owners, and taxes that affect the tourists. No state income tax, no city income tax. I'm grateful for that. But when we retire I'd still like to see more of the U.S., I think there are places to live that would be better overall for us. 


nikiz628 nice update, That's an exciting goal to be under $5K by end of 2015. Just close your eyes and think about that. This time next year... less than $5K      


scrgrl47 Hello   , welcome back to the race! It's very helpful to hear experiences like yours. How we move forward, fall back, and then move forward again, often more determined than before. I also am very grateful for the WIRRs and am glad that we have consolidated and in the process recaptured some energy and input.


mollyc congrats on your update of almost 50% paid, 50% is one of my favorite milestones, it gives me this happy image of an old fashioned scales in balance and then it begins to tip into your favor

re: Dave Ramsey I read his Total Money Makeover, and view some of his segments on youtube. He gets me thinking outside of my old ways, and he has turned a lot of people around.

I also tune in to Suze Ormon some. I try to take from each of them. I like to hear the experiences and opinions of my fellow WIRRs, and confess to lurking at YM. There are a lot of Bible principles that can guide finances. I use "ingredients" from different sources to go for the best PERSONAL outcome for me and my family. Gradually I'm building & tweaking a personal set of standards and strategies, but also keep an open mind for the chance to improve.  

ETA: the clubs rock. Thanks Minnesotagirl7  

[mikosmommy]

Dec 1, 2014 17:54:52 GMT -5 forwardwego said:

Rocky Mtn Saver Okay, How's this?

Yeehaw, Got it, Thanks!!!

mikosmommy Welcome aboard, The captains need to know what state you live in. And when you do updates, list the page # you joined on. You can do this!!! 

I think I edited it correctly!

I get paid tomorrow and though it won't be a full time check, I took Thanksgiving and the day after off, so I don't get paid for those, and hopefully no one has stolen out of my cash drawer, I should have around $40 to $50 extra. I still have 4 people to buy gift cards for. Next check on the 22nd will be full time. Woot! 

Next month I'll have to pay my car taxes, should be around $150, and should get Christmas cash for that. And when I do my taxes, I hope to be able to at least pay off a credit card. But we'll see!

[chelsea727]

I enjoy the consolidation of boards as well.  There's a lot more action!  I've been reviewing my budget for 2015 and setting goals.  I'm going to shoot for paying off $10,000 this year which should be pretty do-able.  All of our taxes will be going to debt which will help quite a bit.  Right now I'm figuring out how I can pay for christmas presents while doing my best not to rack up more debt.  I didn't plan very well this year and money has been tight.  Luckily, DH just received a $3k raise and about a month ago I received a $5k raise.  The extra should help us pay down fast and get some money saved.  I'm going to make an effort to post more consistently to keep myself motivated 

[Rocky Mtn Saver]

Dec 6, 2014 23:57:12 GMT -5 sealy said:

Oh ok.  I've just started listening to Dave and I like him but seriousthistime is correct there isn't a one fits all.  As long as
we are doing what we can get whatever debt we want to pay off completed that's all that matters.

I like some of his advice, but not others.  I think that his approach can work well for people with a lot of debt, little/no financial education and a spending problem.  Once you improve those things, I feel that you graduate to advice better-suited to 'forward thinking' rather than cleaning up your past messes. 

The poster who mentioned she was self-employed, for example, needs to think forward (preparing for future emergencies and slow periods of work) rather than focus on cleaning up the past (mortgage debt).  For example, if she followed Dave's advice and only put $1000 in savings and the other $6000 into her mortgage, can she access that $6000 easily/freely when her client fails to pay her?  No.  She has no guaranteed paycheck like most of us do.  Hence the situation may be that $1000 is too small a savings for her and that tying up her extra money in her house may be a bad idea.  Also, if she has kids, $1000 in savings may be vastly too small for a family too.  One has to find the number that works for them personally, rather than any arbitrary number set for the wrong reasons. 

[Rocky Mtn Saver]

Dec 7, 2014 11:34:44 GMT -5 forwardwego said:

I use "ingredients" from different sources to go for the best PERSONAL outcome for me and my family. Gradually I'm building & tweaking a personal set of standards and strategies, but also keep an open mind for the chance to improve.  

This is exactly what I do.  I graze all the financial advice I can find, then cherry-pick what works for my personal situation and temperament and apply those.  I don't believe in religiously following any one person's advice given to the masses.  It's been working me so far!

[forwardwego]

Good Morning WIRRs   

Keep up the good work all.   This month can be a challenge to a budget spending plan. Keep your focus. It's a good time to be goal setting for 2015 paydowns and 2015 savings. I'm mulling over how much I'd love to polish off my race #2 in 2015, but it would keep me from building my savings as much. I know it will be exciting if I get that big fat zero in 2016 instead, but there's that desire to make it happen in the upcoming calendar year.

WIRRfriends What are your hopes and goals for 2015?  In a situation like mine now, what would you do? How do you keep focused? 

When a fellow WIRR wins there race it is so motivating.

QUESTION Who has their win in their sites for 2015? 

[nidena]

I'll be honest, I get motivated knowing that I have LESS debt than others as well as "keeping up" on debt pay down with others.
I just scheduled my HEL payoff--that's another motivator.  Each $1,000 paid off on my CC will be another motivator.  Racing my CC debt against the 2015 clock is going to be the real fun, truly.  $19k in 12 months.  How fast can I, realistically, get it paid off while still having a life and not foregoing entertainment completely.  If Congress would settle on a damn military pay scale, it would make my life so much easier.
I'll be going into 2015 with a mortgage and a credit card.  I'll be coming out of 2015 with just a mortgage.

[kcladyjane]

UPDATE	7/16/2008	11/10/2014	12/9/2014	Diff Last Post	Total Diff
SL 1 @ 2.375% Locked	15,406.00	-	-	-	(15,406.00)
SL 2 @ 4% Variable	8,114.00	-	-	-	(8,114.00)
Car @ 7.9%	2,220.53	-	-	-	(2,220.53)
Car @ 0%	10,979.17	-	-	-	(10,979.17)
CC-Chase @ 0%	4,000.00	-	-	-	(4,000.00)
Furniture @ 0%	650.00	-	-	-	(650.00)
Carpet @ 0%	482.50	-	-	-	(482.50)
Care Credit-Vet Bill @ 0%	9,066.28	-	-	-	(9,066.28)
Mustang	11,134.23	-	-	-	(11,134.23)
Equinox @ 0%	25,341.00	15,626.95	15,204.60	(422.35)	(10,136.40)
Total	87,393.71	15,626.95	15,204.60	(422.35)	(72,189.11)

KCLadyJane 12/9/14 $15,204.60 (7/16/2008 $87,393.71, M430, M902, M1227, M265)

[Sam_2.0]

I plan to restart my race completely. I've been bungling along for 7 years now here (omg, can't believe I've been around that long and STILL have debt). Obviously what I was doing wasn't working out so well. We've had some big life events along the way but I think 2015 will be the year we get finances in order. No new babies being planned for this year, no new houses or jobs. Time to settle into our routine and get things straightened up.

I think we will attack debts with a combo of interest and balance/payments. The first on my list will be DH's car. It's just at $6400 now and has our biggest monthly payment besides the mortgages. We have 5 open CCs that will be next to tackle. Two of those are 0% until 2016 so I am not too concerned with them right away, and I have auto-payments set up to pay them off in time. The other three will be my focus. They are the constant rotation of balance transfers that we've done over the past several years. If anyone remembers Keriamon from the old MSN boards, I liken it to her example of manure piles. We keep shoveling it around and making different, neat piles out of it but in the end we are still keeping the same stinky stuff around. Seems like everytime we make good headway on the cards, something comes up that derails us. This time we have our EF funded and ready to go, HSA is open for health costs, and we've worked the budget up so that we aren't getting surprised by those lovely irregular expenses (like the property taxes mentioned previously).

[munjoyhill]

To the poster who asked if I had other debts with my $155,000 overall debt, I first started with my home equity on my house which was around $30,000. I bought a condo and added $125,000 to it. Two years ago I sold my house and paid off my home equity, so now I'm just "racing" my condo mortgage.

There are times it doesn't seem like a race since I am only paying my monthly payment, and no extra. But I am following the advice of my financial planner, stashing away money that I would otherwise have to pay extra on my mortgage.

I have been self-employed for about 18 months, 2014 is my first full year. There are still a few un-knowns, so I am being conservative in my spending, and aggressive in my savings. My small jewelry business is going very well, it's growing at a manageable rate. Over the next month I am converting my third-floor into my studio, moving out of a spare room and into a much larger space.

To be poster who wanted to know if I have saved a years worth of expenses, I'm not there yet, but making good progress .

[Rocky Mtn Saver]

munjoyhill how exciting for you and your nascent business! 

[runmarathons]

Update: runmarathons: 12/9/2014 $140,568.65 (1/19/2010 $163,538.00 WU37)

I'm glad I found you all again...my last update was November of 2012 on the West Coast racers board...so let's see where I am two years later

Name of Debt	Interest	Paid this Month	Current Debt $	Starting Debt	Total Paid	% Paid off
House	5.75%	$1,123.19	$131,624.49	$143,141.00	$11,516.51	8.05%
Student Loan	4.875%	$200.00	$8,944.16	$12,943.00	$3,998.84	30.90%
Prosper Loan	10.30%	$0.00	$0.00	$4,654.00	$4,654.00	100.00%
SAS Loan	0.00%	$0.00	$0.00	$800.00	$800.00	100.00%
Total		$1,323.19	$140,568.65	$161,538.00	$20,969.35	12.98%

So in 5 years I've paid off $20,000. Wow! That makes me feel better! Still have the house payment and the student loan. I'm ready to see if I can get rid of some of this debt even faster and I remember how motivating this board was before so I'm calling on you to keep me honest and motivate me to chip away this debt mountain.

Glad to be back..hope to see some familiar faces and get some good insight.

Thanks!

[runmarathons]

Just reviewed the previous 8 pages. Here's a little info about me. 

I live in California where it's usually sunny but today is foggy and later this week we will get more much needed rain (but maybe too much at once if the weather reports are right)!

I have two full time jobs, one being real estate which I began 3 years ago and really enjoy.

I did not grow up in a family that used credit cards and did not have one until I was in my 20's. I think this allowed me to develop a realistic idea of money. I have a credit card now for the mileage points and pay it off every month.   I do get lazy and ooccasionally make late payments but this is completely avoidable and preventable.

My debt comes from my schooling and my mortgage and the interest rates are low which makes me happy. 

I have a EF and savings and some extra funds in the bank and I'm trying to determine whether I should invest them, put them in my retirement or pay down my debt. 

I am thankful to be in a good place right now, when I started back in 2010 I was barely able to stay afloat. It is helpful to look back and reflect and then look forward. 

[ses]

This past week has been very busy. I try to do my grocery shopping quarterly except for fresh stuff. Every Fall I do a master inventory for blizzard preparedness and fill in the empty spots. So I have emptied and deep cleaned the kitchen pantry, the fridge and half of the freezer. I will finish the freezer tomorrow.

I am amazed at how much I let things slide the past few years when I was in so much pain. Now that the surgery and recovery are over I am finding out how much I have to do. I updated and refilled the pantry and fridge yesterday, except for the holiday baking and cooking supplies-there will be better sales closer to Christmas. Today I am working on the linen closet and the basement household storage area.

I am currently laundering sheets and towels. I need to replace some sheets and I found a mattress pad that was so worn my fingers made holes in it. I guess I can't complain too much, I think it is twenty five years old. There are a lot of towels that need to be replaced, but I will wait for the January white sales.

This is the perfect time to lay in a supply of batteries-Holiday sales are great. I have a good store of emergency water, cat food and litter, toilet paper and some tissues. Although I would LIKE to get some cold and flu tissues before I need them. I also need to update the first aid kit and other bathroom supplies.

It wouldn't hurt to get a long fireplace lighter, I will need one for the summer BBQ season if I don't need it this winter. I am going to "pay" the neighbor kid to bring some firewood from the back to a pile nearer the house when I get the cookies made next week. He likes to help decorate the sugar cookies, what he doesn't know is that his mom uses this time for package wrapping.

I need to stop now and switch the laundry and start another load. My linen closet is starting to smell so good!

Anyway, the point of this long post is that due to the expenses of this supplies inventory and update I will not be able to make the final "medical repayment" to my Emergency Fund until February.  But thanks to the inspiration and motivation I found here February is much earlier than I expected.  I had allowed 12 mo to payback my EF but thanks to you all I will be done in 8 months!

[urdoingit]

Dec 7, 2014 9:08:17 GMT -5 Ombud said:

urdoingit, so you pay a personal property tax and an annual registration fee? And people complain about California taxes!

The registration fees are pretty minimal - I think for our newest vehicles it is less than $50 for two years each.  It isn't the amount, it's the principle of the thing - like owning a car is a luxury.  Maybe in 1914 ...

[Sam_2.0]

Dec 9, 2014 15:23:36 GMT -5 urdoingit said:

Dec 7, 2014 9:08:17 GMT -5 Ombud said:

urdoingit, so you pay a personal property tax and an annual registration fee? And people complain about California taxes!

The registration fees are pretty minimal - I think for our newest vehicles it is less than $50 for two years each.  It isn't the amount, it's the principle of the thing - like owning a car is a luxury.  Maybe in 1914 ...

I was so happy to see our tax bill for this year went down about $150. I guess the Explorer finally crossed over from being new to being old The registration on that is $80/2 yrs because it's considered a truck, but the car was only $50 or so.

We also got the HOA bill in the mail - I guess it's not included in our escrow like I had thought when we bought the house. So there's a surprise $400 we weren't expecting to pay OOP. So much for thinking we had things lined up. Will pull that out of savings and repay it later, and make sure to put it in for next December's budget!

[nikiz628]

Not really debt related, but a financial update nonetheless.
H and I just set up weekly auto deposits to our capitalone360 savings account (that we almost forgot that we had!) for 2015! We have converted it into our emergency fund, as it isnt quite as easy to access as our fire safe. We will keep some cash on hand for immediate emergencies, and we still have the $50 cushion in our checking account for emergencies as well (a tip I learned from a lovely racer on the midwest board!).

I am also one who likes to get financial advice from everywhere and then pick and choose what tips I think will work for us! You never know where you might learn something that makes your life a little easier, like the checking account cushion tip! It's saved us from overdrafting in minor emergency situations a few times for sure!

[wudnit]

I'm loving the combined board and all the activity.  I haven't had a chance to post much, but when I get a chance, I love reading the messages.  It not only helps motivate me, but it also often provides some great insights and tips!!  You all rock!!!

[scrgrl47]

<<cross-posted to WIS>> Do any of you share the mental/emotional battle between wanting to prioritize debt pay down AND savings building, especially during your annual planning cycle? I recognize that patience is a virtue and I didn't get into this mess overnight and am not getting out of it overnight and other logical, mature sayings but sometimes I just want to have a massive, stomping, "why me" tantrum. I want debt GONE and savings BUILT and I want it done NOW!

And now it's time to translate that frustration into 365 days of action, smart decisions, and progress.

What gets prioritized for you, debt or savings?  Do you switch back and forth?  Is your answer always 'depends'?