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May 2012 Moms
(NBR) Come brag about your debt payoffs!
Whether you're a Dave Ramsey-ite or just wanting to be in a better place for baby, come brag about your debt paid off or savings!
DH and I have "drunk the cool-aid" and have been doing Dave Ramsey's babysteps. In under 3 years, we've paid off $40,000 of student loan debt and will be debt-free by this summer!!! :-D
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Re: (NBR) Come brag about your debt payoffs!
Wow! That's awesome!
**December 2014 September Siggy Challenge - Favorite Thing About Fall - Fall Leaves and Apple Cider**
What is this debt free stuff people are talking about
Good job, we are trying to get in a better place, we are paying off a few credit cards with our income tax refund! But besides that, we will just keep trucking along. We did buy a whole new bedroom set, we upgraded to a king size bed, so we have that now, but its interest free for a long time and we will definately have that paid off way before interest starts to kick in. Both of our vehicles are paid off, but its still expensive to just live, not to mention the money it cost just to conceive this child that insurance didn't want to pay..argghhh!!!
Beta @ 16dpiui=289
Beta @20dpiui=1309
Beta @24dpiui=3969
IT'S A GIRL..MADELYNN ELIZABETH
Madelynn Elizabeth born 31w6d's due to pre e.
Welcome to the world princess!
3-9-12
3.7lbs/ 17 inches
We'll be 100% debt free by May, if all goes well. $65,000 in 2 years.
RICE AND BEANS, BABY!!!
This.
Congrats! I've heard good things about Dave Ramsey's program.
My Blog on PPD and life in general**
That is awesome! Congrats!
The only debt we have is the mortgage. Please share your tips as we are working on getting that paid off soon. Tell us how you did it!
YAY!! Great job! :-D
We got "Total Money Makeover" as an engagement present 4 yrs ago and saw Dave live here in Kansas City last year. My DH is TOTALLY loving Dave and even bought a bunch of TMM books recently on their $10 sale so he can pass them out to folks who are looking to start working their debt snowball.
SaintCity-
The biggest thing that I've found is doing a budget: on paper, on purpose before the month begins. Put your household income at the top of the paper and go down listing must-dos: food, mortgage, gas money, utilities, etc.
Dave talks about "rice and beans, beans and rice" which means that you cut down to the bare necessities for a while to have more momentum. We don't eat out much, we rarely go to the movies, we don't have cable, etc.
All that "extra" money left over you throw towards your debt (or mortgage in your case). Your budget should come out to zero by the bottom of the page (spend all the money on paper).
To help us stick to the budget for groceries, eating out, etc. we get cash from the bank and divide it into those categories. When the cash is gone, you're done with that category for the month. There are studies that show when you spend cash, it activates the pain centers of the brain. It hurts to hand over that money! But when you use plastic (even a debit card), that doesn't happen. It's also a visual reminder of how much money is left to make it to the end of the month.
Check out Dave's website (DaveRamsey.com), his radio show, or his books from the library. Good luck and YOU CAN DO IT!!
Music Teach -
Thanks so much for the detailed response! I am so motivated to say bye-bye to the mortgage. This totally sounds reasonable and doable. I will definitely look into his books at the library. There are so many though - - is one better to start with than another?
Thanks again!
We no longer have a mortgage - paid it off last summer (combination of savings & my husband sold a house that he had rented out for years after dealing with a lot of BS tenants who didn't want to pay their rent). The only "debt" we have is my student loan, which has dwindled down to about 10K now and has a very low interest rate so I haven't been trying to pay it off more than the monthly payment. We pay our credit card bills in full every month if/when we use them. I rarely use mine unless I'm shopping to earn points for rewards. My husband uses his Visa for everything and pays it off every month because he gets money back.
4/25/12 ~ Our angel, Persephone James, is here!
We paid off our student loans in December! We have a few thousand car loan, but the interest is almost zero, so we aren't losing anything. It will be paid off in a year.
We still have our mortgage, but I don't consider homes a "bad" debt (unless somebody over bought) especially where we live where the home prices never went down.
We use credit cards almost exclusively for reward points but pay them off every month. Neither of us buy things spontaniously so that is no different for us than using cash, but I do know for some people they shouldn't own a credit card.
Way to go everyone! We have never had any credit card debt so that is nothing to worry about (thank God)!
We have 2 cars...both paid off. Our only debt is my student loans (at about $7k right now and I graduated in '09 from a private university...not too shabby!) and our mortgage.
No debt other than the mortgage. No credit cards, student loans or cars (we pay for our cars with cash).
We both worked 3 part-time jobs throughout university to graduate debt-free (well, student loan free anyway) and we've always been smart with credit cards.
We're also pretty fortunate to have great jobs now and we double our mortgage payments every month to be able to pay it off completely in about 7 years.
Eleanor Noelle - 18/05/12 Claire Elisabeth - 16/-5/10
Yall are an inspiration. I will need to google this baby steps!
We paid off a credit card and almost have the other paid off. With the exception of mortgage and car all of our stuff is interest free so we have it set to pay off within so many years. Our house is paid off in 5.
Saint City- I would start with his "Total Money Makeover" book. It is a very easy read, and takes you step by step through the process. It also features couples/families that have done it also.
Personally, we don't want to have ANY kind of debts (credit card, mortgage, student loan, medical, car, etc.). One thing I like about Dave Ramsey is he says he uses "God's and Grandma's advice." Proverbs 22:7 says "...the borrower is slave to the lender..."
(my DH wanted me to add) There is a study by M.I.T. that says when using credit cards, you spend on average 12-18% more than you would when using cash. This is one of the reasons McDonald's began accepting plastic b/c when they did, they found that customers spent 42% more there than their cash customers. Who knew spending with cash would also keep you healthier?
Way to go girls with paying off your loans, cars, houses, etc!