Thursday, January 1, 2015

New Year, New Totals

Here we go....the new, updated totals for the new year!  (note, graphics are from various sources.  The car pics are not out actual cars, but pretty close look alikes!)

For prosperity:


Retirement Loan:   $13,460.50



As I stated previously, we adjusted the terms of this loan in October 2014 to allow a greater cash flow in anticipation of G-man's move to NC.  Previously this loan was going to be paid off in April/May 2016, and it is now April/May 2017, based on the current repayment of $221 per paycheck (26 checks a year).  Previously it was $380 per check. 



Student Loan:        $22,474.73

This loan is the last on the list of priorities of repayment.  It always has been.  We pay $229 a month for this loan.  I *think* I am out of deferment or forbearance time for these loans, so even though we are dealing with some income fluctuation, I am not sure there is much I can do.  If we get to the point where we have to find a place to reduce...I will call and ask.  The worst they will say is no.




Credit Card:          $9,998.97

*sigh*  This total is a self-soothing, psychological game.  I couldn't deal with it going into 5 figures, so I made sure it was UNDER 10k, even if it is only by $1.03.  This is by far the BIGGEST area for improvement.  We have used it as a crutch, and we know it.  Especially in the past 6 months...there has been so much change, we failed to really pay attention.  That is on us.





Mysti's Car:           $5,150.00

At $230 a month, and a very low interest rate....this loan just gets chipped away each month.  It is scheduled to be paid off in November 2016.  I have started this little habit of paying an extra dollar or two to the principal to round the number off.  I just like the zeroes at the end. 

  




G-man's Car:         $3,500.00

This loan started at $6,000 at the end of October 2013 (first payment was November 2013).  So in 14 months, we have paid off  41.7%, and this was scheduled to be a 5 year loan (even though we never planned on taking that long).  This loan was done as a personal loan due to the age of the car (2001 Camry), so it also comes with a hefty 9.99% interest rate. 





Med/Dental:          $0.00

This is our starting number.  The question mark for 2015 is if this will STAY this way.  Bossy's supplies are on a 100% financial waiver that expires in February.  We will reapply for assistance, but there is a chance that we could lose the waiver, or have it reduced.  At that point...this number is going to go up.  Other medical and dental procedures will hopefully be covered by insurance and our FSA.  But we also have put aside extra to cover costs once the FSA is used up. 








Lastly....our EF.  It is currently sitting at $3,000.  My EVENTUAL goal is to have this at 5k. (In my perfect world, there will also be an account that has 6 months of expenses, but that is so far down the road, I don't really think about it). 

14 comments:

  1. Happy happy new year to you Mysti! I hope the coming year is everything you hope for, & that this move works out for the best! Funny about that CC balance, oh the mind games we play with ourselves LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know in my deepest heart that this move is the right thing. I just need the dust to settle.

      Gotta love the mind games....

      Delete
  2. So how much did you pay off in 2014? For me, seeing the progress in black and white is a motivator. Regardless of whether it was just a little or a lot, if it went down it was the right direction!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Believe it or not, I don't have an exact number! The last number that I have concretely was from 2/1.....not 1/1.

      It is about 15,000.....

      Delete
  3. Keep going at it, you will get there. When our consumer debt was at it's highest, my husband quit a good job to change careers, then had 11 jobs in two years and many no income months. I have a great job, but his spending was a terrible problem added to medical bills.
    I finally had it, put my foot down, stole his credit cards and even cut up his debit card at one point. Started doing all shopping myself, buying only what I could pay for, put everything on a credit card with points that you can use toward payments and paid it in full every week. Starting stockpiling food as I could in order to have it for his no income months and discovered I could save money by buying only on sale. When I had a little extra I bought bulk quantities of meat on sale and butchered it myself.
    When he got back on track job wise, we continued to buy what we needed second hand and only if we had money to pay for it. We paid our debt off, saved an emergency fund and our six months worth of expenses. You can do it!
    By the way, I love my 15 year old suv with no payment. Hey, I have a kid in college and I am not racking up debt to help him pay for it. Everyone in my house (including my 71 year old mother) has a job and we are so happy to live without all that debt.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the encouragement. I look forward to no car payments in the future. And I really look forward to being in our new locale and figuring out the next piece!

      Delete
  4. You are lowering the numbers so that is progress. When did you start paying off your student loans? I recall you graduated in 1997(I think) which seems an insanely long time to still be paying off loans. Although my BIL had 150k in loans when he finished 6 years ago.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I graduated with my B.S. in 1996, and had about 25k in student loans (Mom and Dad didn't pay anything). I started paying that back in 1997, but only at $50 a month (way before I understood alot of this). My parents co-signed my loans because I was under 18 when I started college, and they negotiated a rate of 10% interest, and a few other gems.

      Anyway, I paid a few years on this...went back to graduate school and my loans went into deferment. Finished grad school in 2002 with more student loans (5 semesters worth, which includes living expenses when I was not working for money when I did my student teaching).

      Eventually consolidated what I could in 2003. Most of my undergrad loans weren't eligible. Went into forebearance on the consolidated loans, as I wasn't working (kids were born in 2002), but had to keep paying my undgrad stuff (see the Kicked to the Curb tab).

      Then I started paying interest only for a period of time, and it went into full repayment in 2011.

      So the long answer is that my student loan in TOTAL were around 45k for both degrees, and I am at 22k now. Take out about 5-6 years of deferment/forbearance, and several years of paying interest only...and that is why they are still around.

      Delete
    2. I forgot to add in that before I started this blog, I had already paid about 15k in loans (including interest), then there was the loan I was paying on when I started this blog that was another 5k in loans (plus insane interest).

      What is left is mostly my grad school loans. And before the comments start about my job....yes, I am aware that my job doesn't use my degrees and that they are very expensive pieces of paper at this point. But I was home with my kids for 5 years, and this job came about as way for me to work around my kids' schedule when they were young.

      In hindsight, there are many things I would have done differently with my loans, but there isn't anything I can do about decisions that I made in 1997 other than deal with things now.

      Delete
    3. I think students often get sucked into huge interest rates. My BIL's father cosigned on one loan without either if them reading the small print. Last year my sister and him realized that the loan was such that the interest rate would go up every six months eventually making the payment unaffordable. They sold their house and lived with my parents to pay off the debt. I think many young people just don't know what they are getting into. So predatory it is sickening!!

      Delete
  5. Happy new year! Wish you luck in 2015 and hopefully that debt comes down

    HS

    ReplyDelete
  6. Urg.. student loans. I started paying in Fall 2010. A short stint of forbearance during my divorce. I don't remember what I started at, but I'm at $37k now. Based on very rough calculations I should have them paid off by 2026 using the snowball method.

    Great job paying stuff down!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Bah! I posted a comment and it disappeared. All I said was I too am paying down some hefty student loans. Started in Fall 2010, short stint of forbearance during my divorce, currently at $37k. Based on snowball calculations, should be paid off in 2026.

    Great job on your progress!

    ReplyDelete