iDude glad to help. Are you married? Have you processed your plan of action with your wife yet? It is a difficult thing to get out of debt. But it is totally worth it. Keep moving forward!

Edit: To correct quoting format.

The second set of numbers were in response to kombats question as to how much each is worth.

Missed that. Thanks.

25 characters

Have you considered how you are going to tackle your debt?

Have you gotten your family on a budget?

There is light at the end of the tunnel!

Spending less than I make is something that i'm definitely taking note of at this time.

Congrats to you and your family on getting out of debt. No I haven't considered the financial peace university course. I'll take a look into it.



My wife and I have talked about the finances before where we both sat down and went through line by line to understand why we don't have money for this and that. So we pretty much motivate each other, but we started back sliding a bit and it started getting out of hand. So for the past week i've come on here looking for assistance as I can see that we cannot do this alone.


I'll have to get back to you on this one.



I'm planning to do a debt snowball starting on the lowest balance.



I've just completed my financial tracking starting with this months bank statement. After doing an assessment, I realize that I could've saved about $700 by doing more grocery shopping and cooking. Instead of eating out as well as the money I spent at the movies.



I haven't looked into this, but i'm pretty sure that it's more beneficial to us for her to work. Will definitely take a look into this further.



I have a pretty good accountability partner.



I'm working toward the 3 month goal right now. With some luck I should be able to get this by early September. Having different accounts for particular expenses I think is a great idea. I'll try that.



Yep, I have a good feeling about it at the end of this fiscal year.



I want to be able to pay the first car down to at least 10K by December of this year.



I'd like to say thanks Eagle for your awesome input. I hope to post here by this time next year with awesome results that I paid off both cars and that we are working towards paying down are mortgage. Until that time I'm going to update this thread with as much info as I can to keep me on the right track. There is an awesome community here with people that really care about one another. That's the place where I want to be. Offline as I mentioned, I have an accountability partner, but I will continue to surround myself with others who are like minded so that I will not backslide.

It will take work and some serious lifestyle change but you can do it!



Thanks! It will be your reality too sooner than you think. I honestly can say I resisted the FP course for about a year. Finally I listened to my wife who thought we could at least give it a chance. One of the best decisions I ever made.



That is great! Communication is key for this phase of getting out of debt. And seeking other peoples’ advice is a good start. When we first started the journey out of debt we talked to my parents and parents in love. Keep it up! You are on the right track!



It’s a good choice from a motivational standpoint. And tackling this debt is all about motivation and commitment.

Debt Snowball:

1. Create a list of all of your debts: credit cards, car loans, student loans, mortgages, etc…
2. Next to each one write down the total balance owed.
3. Re-order these from smallest to largest debts (use Excel to make this simpler.)
4. Pay the minimum payment on all of the debts – except the smallest one.
5. Put every extra dollar you can find towards paying off that smallest debt.
6. Celebrate like crazy when you get that first debt paid off.
7. Take the amount you were paying towards the first debt and put towards the next smallest debt. Do this until this one is paid off.
8. Celebrate again!
9. Continue this process until each one is paid off.



Excellent! Groceries > eating out when trying to get out of debt. Plus it makes eating out more of a treat in any case. Try the local library for movies if you live in a big city. Or Netflix/Redbox for entertainment? Also some theaters have half price days. A theater near where we live charges $4 on Tuesdays for a movie. Or go to the movies on Saturday morning? Saves a ton.



September - That’s a great goal with your E-fund. I have a friend who actually has debit cards for each of his accounts (He has 10). That is a bit extreme but hey whatever works. We like one checking and the rest savings. Kind of like the envelope system through the bank.



That is a great goal! Keep on moving forward my friend!



You are very welcome. Glad to help. I'm so pumped for you. This is a great place to be. Make sure to surround yourself with people who are like minded – wanting to live within their means. Broke people act broke. And remember if people think you’re weird you’re doing something right

Well it's been a few days and just wanted to update.

My wife and I have been talking a lot about the finances lately and we realize that we need to cut back in some areas. For the past two weeks i've been packing a lunch which is awesome. I also have been spending a little less at the grocery store looking for deals like buy 5 for 10 and i'm going to start looking into clipping coupons.

Our family is supposed to be going on a trip this week to the midwest and, but I was unsure as to how much the trip was going to be. My wife is pretty frugal so I let her handle the trip costs and such. She told me that she got a discount and we were staying at the place for $205 a night (which really turned out to be 305, but that's another story) and I almost had a heart attack. We're supposed to stay there for 5 days and 4 nights so that's well over $1220 not including food and sites. So after talking it over I convinced her to look into another hotel for a cheaper price that's a little further out. Unfortunately there were none so I simply told her that I wasn't going. So my wife is planning to make the trip on her own and stay with family in one of their rooms. So that cut down the cost, but I truly feel that we shouldn't take the trip now cause of our financial situation. I've decided that I'm still going to take off work, but stay home for relaxation.

Aside from that my goal next month is to have 10K in my money market account so that will be our 3 month financial help in case something happens. Currently I have $6576. 56 so I need 3423.44 next month. In my contract at work I'm supposed to be getting a $2500 bonus which will help get me there.

More to come.

Sometimes we get caught up in the weeds of the personal finance world. We shouldn't forget what is most important to us.

Bichon has a good point. It's a little concerning she's going by herself and you are staying home DenjinLee.

In any case sorry to hear you will not be going on vacation. A staycation can be fun. And as they say "distance makes the heart grow fonder."

I though it was "distance makes the heart go wander."

Hopefully that isn't the case.

With her family there I don't think adultery is the immediate concern. Rather, I would be worried the disconnect between the two partners in the financial relationship, and its long terms effect. Furthermore the knee-jerk reaction/over-steering - one moment planning a trip, the next moment canceling it. And where in the world is a place with no hotels cheaper than $305/night?

Yes, I was making a joke of course. But there does seem to be something more going on here. I can't imagine NOT going on a trip like that if my wife wanted to over $1200 when I had a well-funded EF ($10000) IF it was a one-time expense. Basically, I'd think two people should be able to work that kind of thing out. $205 a night may or may not be excessive, but I can't imagine booking that without a discussion. But every couple is different.

Well my wife is out of town now, but I'm sure it had more to do with her family. My in-laws expressed their disappointment when she advised that she probably wouldn't be coming. When that happened she advised that this was a once in a lifetime thing possibly among other things. I don't mind that she travels with friends or anything like that. In marriage we all need time for each other and ourselves.

I've been thinking. Ever since I've been reading DR's book I wonder if I should use most of the money that I have saved up for paying down my car note. That will get us one step closer in paying one of them off. I'll just ensure that I do not use $1000 from the money market account which will be my emergency fund. Also I have some money going toward life insurance each month that I've recently stopped cause I have life insurance with my job. So that's additional money that i'm going to use to pay off my car. Which is about $2400.00.

What do you guys think about the money market idea?

I would NOT reduce my emergency savings, if that is what you are asking. A $1000 may get you out of a bind, but probably won't get you out of 2 in a row. We all sleep differently, and I carry more cash than most people make in a year (probably more than they make in 2 years). I could not sleep with a $1000 being my fall back. YMMV.

eliminating the car debt seems reasonable through throwing excess cash at it. It is a long and uphill battle, so don't expect it to be done by the end of the year. Also, your decisions have been made, and there are no mulligans in this case. So, you should look at YOUR (meaning you and your wife's) goals and figure out what makes sense. Perhaps, eliminating the debt ASAP suits you best, perhaps throwing an $100/mo at each loan and maxing out your 401k makes sense. Je ne sais pas...that is for you to decide.

I would not pay anymore than you have to for the house. Again, you get to decide...