doxieluvr
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Post by doxieluvr on Jun 14, 2011 11:36:32 GMT -5
I am probably keeping my car, however i am thinking about putting any bonus i get on it to pay it off.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Jun 14, 2011 11:38:02 GMT -5
WWBG, you are a saint.
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swasat
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Post by swasat on Jun 14, 2011 11:39:49 GMT -5
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doxieluvr
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Post by doxieluvr on Jun 14, 2011 11:42:01 GMT -5
Pink, i seem to do better just paying the expenses when they are due. For instance taxes are july, but i will incorporate it for june since we have it
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8 Bit WWBG
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Post by 8 Bit WWBG on Jun 14, 2011 11:44:59 GMT -5
...:::"I am probably keeping my car, however i am thinking about putting any bonus i get on it to pay it off.":::...
I'll skip the banging my head on the wall since you can't really afford the car, and getting rid of it would really open up breathing room.
Running with this: what kind of bonus are you expecting, and when? You owe what... over $18k on the car, and your payment is $200 something/mo (please confirm whether the higher car payment in your budget is yours or your DHs, I guessed his).
You would need some WHOPPING bonuses to make a dent in that debt, AND it is for something you shouldn't even keep anyway.
I really think at the very least, you should stick with your strategy of applying bonuses to CCs. Not only are they the highest rates, they are very close to being paid off, and would free up a few hundred more per month. I realize that paying off unsecured debt when you are teetering on the brink of Bk isn't smart, but I honestly think that having the car repoed would be good for you in more ways than one.
Look, you need an IN. You need a starting point. SOMETHING has to go, because your numbers are not sustainable. Whether the thing that goes is a car, a CC, a phone, triple play, food, entertainment... it has to be something.
Also, can you clarify the following:
What is the balance, and rate on the Kohls card? Which car has the $200 payment and which has the $400 payment?
ETA: ...:::"Pink, i seem to do better just paying the expenses when they are due. For instance taxes are july, but i will incorporate it for june since we have it ":::...
This is fine, and a detailed budget that takes irregulars into account will make sure you HAVE the money to pay something when it is due.
Once again, props for paying the property taxes with money you have in hand, vs. scrambling later.
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constanz22
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Post by constanz22 on Jun 14, 2011 11:47:53 GMT -5
Pink, i seem to do better just paying the expenses when they are due. For instance taxes are july, but i will incorporate it for june since we have it Actually, you don't, because you are not budgeting for them ANYWHERE. Do you just think that the money is going to miraculously appear in your budget the month's that these items are due? No, and then you have to not pay other things, to cover these irregular expensed that you should be anticipating and saving for MONTHLY. I just don't understand how after all of these threads and all of this advice, you still don't "get it". You seem to be of normal intellectual functioning...you will always be in debt if you can't see or understand this.
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Angel!
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Post by Angel! on Jun 14, 2011 11:50:17 GMT -5
Agreed, unless you are trying to pay down the car to sell it, then putting extra money towards it makes no sense. Putting extra towards the CCs will bring those minimum payments down each month, giving you more breathing room. Putting extra towards the car won't change the minimum payment & won't change the fact you are significantly underwater. Also, consider what rate the CCs will go to after the 0% rates expire.
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qofcc
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Post by qofcc on Jun 14, 2011 11:51:05 GMT -5
...:::"I am probably keeping my car, however i am thinking about putting any bonus i get on it to pay it off.":::...
I'll skip the banging my head on the wall since you can't really afford the car, and getting rid of it would really open up breathing room.
I thought she was so far underwater on the SUV loan she'd need to bring thousands to the table to pay it off. Plus, it's a fairly new vehicle and everything is under warranty plus maintenance contract, so there's no repair budget needed. Plus there's some worry that she couldn't get another loan at this time because of her debt-to-income and debt-to-available credit ratios. I think I'd keep the SUV for now, and just learn the lesson for future vehicle purchases.
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doxieluvr
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Post by doxieluvr on Jun 14, 2011 11:52:25 GMT -5
Wwbg- the creditcards are the lowest rates. They are at 0%. the car with the $257 payment we owe around $10k, my car is in the $20k range. I have not looked it up in a few months.
Kohls is $100 and no interest for three months. I will probably pay it off this month too.
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doxieluvr
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Post by doxieluvr on Jun 14, 2011 11:53:51 GMT -5
Qofcc, pretty much everything you said is ehy it makes sence to just keep it. Its the only car that we never pay maint on.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2011 11:53:54 GMT -5
"Pink, i seem to do better just paying the expenses when they are due. For instance taxes are july, but i will incorporate it for june since we have it"
Doxie, I have to respectfully disagree. Your May budget was out of whack partly because of some expenses you couldn't pay in April. IIRC, car insurance wasn't paid for April. What would you have done about the property taxes for July if DH hadn't brought home the OT money this month?
I just had to spend $600 on my car last week. I wasn't happy about spending the money, but I knew it was coming and it was already included in my spending plan so I was happy that I didn't have to scramble to come up with the cash. 3 years ago I'd have been looking and feeling stupid, wouldn't have had the money and probably would've ended up risking destroying my engine because of it.
I use to do things the way you seem to do it. Planning it out is much less stressful for me. But again, that's just me.
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doxieluvr
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Post by doxieluvr on Jun 14, 2011 11:57:13 GMT -5
Pink, technically the bill comes out in july but they are not due until december. I am paying them now.
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doxieluvr
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Post by doxieluvr on Jun 14, 2011 11:58:47 GMT -5
Pink, i also do keep savings on hand, but most of the time i can just incorporate the bills into the month.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2011 12:01:38 GMT -5
Pink, technically the bill comes out in july but they are not due until december. I am paying them now. actually you are incorrect. The first half of property taxes (if you pay half and half) are due by september 30th. the second half is due december 31st (could be september 1 and december 1, but you do not have until december for the first half of taxes).
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qofcc
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Post by qofcc on Jun 14, 2011 12:01:39 GMT -5
Doxie, you really need a budget to understand your minimum expenses and minimum income each month. You can change how you allocate the extra to savings or debt reduction or spending every month, but you need to be sure you have enough cash flow to cover the minimums before you start going and paying extra on the car loan. That's money that you can't get back if you need it. I think you said you don't like to keep much cash on hand for emergencies because you guys get tempted to spend it, but with fluctuating income and limited credit, you guys need to grow up and keep your hands out of the cookie jar. When you look at the budget annually and plan your cash flow monthly, things are going to be much easier for you.
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doxieluvr
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Post by doxieluvr on Jun 14, 2011 12:05:31 GMT -5
Qq- i always keep cash on hand. Well cash in a savings account.
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constanz22
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Post by constanz22 on Jun 14, 2011 12:05:59 GMT -5
Pink, technically the bill comes out in july but they are not due until december. I am paying them now. actually you are incorrect. The first half of property taxes (if you pay half and half) are due by september 30th. the second half is due december 31st (could be september 1 and december 1, but you do not have until december for the first half of taxes). She could be correct on this. They are billed differently by state/county. My property tax bill comes out in like January, it's not due til the end of June. If you pay in full by the end of April you get 3% off. If you pay by the end of June, it's face value, July-Sept, it's a 3% additional fee, after the end of Sept, they are considered "late". School taxes are split into 3 equal payments, Sept, Oct, Nov.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2011 12:07:29 GMT -5
Ok, so I'm sure you have other irregular expenses coming up before the end of the year. Do you plan to pay for them out of your savings? Do you have enough in savings to do that? And how will you ever "get ahead" if you always end up spending ALL your savings (if that's what you're doing)?
I'm kind of confused about sitting on savings when you don't have enough to cover your expenses some months (like April). I'm trying to point out that if you have a plan, you can even things out. You'll know the best use of any extra money and you don't end up plopping a bunch of money down in one place then coming up short somewhere else in a month or 2.
For example, I think you said you made some big cc payments with extra money earlier this year. That doesn't really make sense to me if you ended up unable to pay some bills in April.
Then again, I'm new at this myself, so I may not be making any sense or maybe I just don't know what I'm talking about. I'll defer to the other posters.
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doxieluvr
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Post by doxieluvr on Jun 14, 2011 12:07:31 GMT -5
Sroo- i do not do well putting money aside. Its easier for me to just plan that every three months i will have a water bill.
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doxieluvr
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Post by doxieluvr on Jun 14, 2011 12:09:19 GMT -5
No pink, it does not generally come out if my savings. If auto registratuon is due tjen its incorporated in that months bill. I have them on alternate years to avoid having to pay too many in one year
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2011 12:09:28 GMT -5
actually you are incorrect. The first half of property taxes (if you pay half and half) are due by september 30th. the second half is due december 31st (could be september 1 and december 1, but you do not have until december for the first half of taxes). She could be correct on this. They are billed differently by state/county. My property tax bill comes out in like January, it's not due til the end of June. If you pay in full by the end of April you get 3% off. If you pay by the end of June, it's face value, July-Sept, it's a 3% additional fee, after the end of Sept, they are considered "late". School taxes are split into 3 equal payments, Sept, Oct, Nov. Possible, however, since she lives in MD (as do I, just a different county) and my bill comes out in July (as does hers), it's not a stretch to imagine that the due dates are the same or nearly so....but I will wait for her to chime in.
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8 Bit WWBG
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Post by 8 Bit WWBG on Jun 14, 2011 12:10:17 GMT -5
...:::"Wwbg- the creditcards are the lowest rates. They are at 0%. the car with the $257 payment we owe around $10k, my car is in the $20k range. I have not looked it up in a few months. Kohls is $100 and no interest for three months. I will probably pay it off this month too.":::...
Thank you. I have updated Post 21 to reflect this information.
Indeed your SUV is a quagmire. So fine then, getting rid of the CCs ASAP frees up $400/month that can then be rolled directly towards other debt or just plain savings.
Alternatively, since the CCs are at 0%, if you get a lump sum of cash, keeping that in savings and continuing to pay the cards down on schedule might be good. But you are not at a point to worry about what interest you might have made retaining cash vs. prepaying 0% debt. Pay off the cards because:
1) You NEED simplicity. Your machine has too many moving parts and you aren't keeping track of them. 2) Getting the CCs paid in full as agreed will help your credit. 3) I just don't trust yours and your DH's discipline (you have admitted as much).
...:::"If auto registratuon is due tjen its incorporated in that months bill. I have them on alternate years to avoid having to pay too many in one year":::...
Less cars would fix that, but that isn't happening I guess.
Again, you really need this budget so that you aren't scrambling to find money in months that irregular stuff comes up.
We are doing really well here delving into the depths of your finances. Help us out. PLEASE everyone read post 21, especially doxie, and see what else we need to fill in. The irregular expenses that need to be budgeted for in pieces (just so they are on your radar, even if you put in 0 when they aren't due) are of prime importance.
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doxieluvr
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Post by doxieluvr on Jun 14, 2011 12:12:06 GMT -5
Con- technically what single said is what the bill says. I just have inside info and i know in my county, i can pay them in full in december. I will get a discount paying it now.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jun 14, 2011 12:12:20 GMT -5
"I think you said you don't like to keep much cash on hand for emergencies because you guys get tempted to spend it"
This has been one of my struggles. First I had to get clear in my head on exactly what an emergency is. Then I made it a bit more difficult to get to the emergency money. Finally, I ended up seperating the money by accounts, putting the savings accounts on autopilot, and *forgetting* that they exist.
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doxieluvr
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Post by doxieluvr on Jun 14, 2011 12:20:06 GMT -5
Wwbg- i do need simplicity. I want to pay off everything just so I wont have to worry about having to pay anything.
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qofcc
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Post by qofcc on Jun 14, 2011 12:33:01 GMT -5
I don't know if this would help you, but I have a separate account I set up for my mortgage, taxes and home insurance. Every paycheck an amount is direct deposited in that account and the mortgage payment is taken out automatically. When I receive my annual bills for taxes and insurance, I can write those 3 checks out of the account. There is always enough money to pay those irregular expenses and I don't have to think about it.
You really shouldn't be prepaying fixed loans (car, house) until you have cash and/or available credit equal to 3-6 months expenses.
My bank has free checking if you keep a minimum balance of $200 and have a direct deposit. Maybe it would help for you to have an account like that for your house expenses and maybe include the car payments, auto tags & car insurance. Take the total you need for the year, then divide by the number of paychecks. That's how much you need to deposit each pay period. Direct deposit the money in, auto draft the money out.
Then, the rest of your money sits in the regular checking, your EF and regular savings.
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doxieluvr
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Post by doxieluvr on Jun 14, 2011 12:38:30 GMT -5
Qo- i use to do something like that and i ended up with like 10 different accounts across three banks. Its easier for me to do one checking, one savings, one ef, and then dh and the kids have savings attached to my checking.
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constanz22
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Post by constanz22 on Jun 14, 2011 12:45:06 GMT -5
5+ years ago, I never "budgeted", lived paycheck to paycheck, never had any EF, and was always sent into crisis mode when one of these "irregular" expenses came up because I was living so close to the edge, even though I THOUGHT I had enough to pay it when it came up, I really never did, because I had never sat down, made a budget and planned through ALL of my expenses, which is what we are all BEGGING you to do doxie! I am nowhere near being debt free, but , let me tell you, once I did that, I realized what a BAD situation I was in. If you don't see it all in black and white, it's easy to convice yourself that you're making it. What a huge wake up call it was for me. I was so far underwater every month, I don't know how I survived, except that I did what I needed to do to change it. I worked extra jobs and brought in more money. I cut expenses, sold a car I was underwater in, that had a big payment and got terrible gas mileage. I dropped cable. I didn't go out to eat. I didn't buy new clothes. I sold a ton of crap I didn't need. It can be done, you just have to do SOMETHING. You don't seem willing to do ANYTHING. My credit union allows up to 9 sub accounts. This is how I budget ALL of my irregular expenses. I have one for sewer/water bill that is quarterly. One for property/school taxes. One for heating fuel. You get my point? This money is automatically transferred from my bi-weekly direct deposit and accumulates until needed. I honestly don't even "see" the money and am not ever tempted to "borrow" from it. It is so much easier to save and not see $50 a paycheck, than to have to come up with $600 in November to fill my fuel oil tank. Your statement that you "can't" save up money is BS. You can, you just "won't".
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midjd
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Post by midjd on Jun 14, 2011 12:51:28 GMT -5
Yes, what it all comes down to... plenty of people have trouble not spending money when it's right there staring at them. But you need to either learn not to spend this money, or put it somewhere out of sight. If not, things will ALWAYS be tight.
I am one of these people. I don't carry much cash, because it seems to trickle away. I keep the bulk of my savings in a bank that has no branches in my state - so it takes 3 days for the money to make its way to my hometown branch. These are the little things I've done to keep money from being frittered away. There is no reason you can't do the same.
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8 Bit WWBG
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Post by 8 Bit WWBG on Jun 14, 2011 12:53:26 GMT -5
...:::"Qo- i use to do something like that and i ended up with like 10 different accounts across three banks. Its easier for me to do one checking, one savings, one ef, and then dh and the kids have savings attached to my checking.":::...
I advised a friend to keep it simple as well. Too many moving parts. I'm not saying it CAN'T work, it just probably wouldn't work for you.
Doxie, can you please clarify how much the Child Support is, and whether it is received once per month, twice per month, or irregular? If you can count on it, I will include it in your "regular income". If it is sporadic, I will move it to your "irregular income" along with your bonuses and DH's OT.
Can you also please clarify how much your triple play is?
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