tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8465887551310827456.post4318948489961551555..comments2023-09-02T07:09:34.264-04:00Comments on Digging Out From Our Mess: My 5th Blogiversary and an UpdateMystihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17496508600320205581noreply@blogger.comBlogger22125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8465887551310827456.post-72199949986678076542014-08-07T09:57:38.498-04:002014-08-07T09:57:38.498-04:00CONGRATS on the great progress! I really enjoy rea...CONGRATS on the great progress! I really enjoy reading your blog.<br /><br />Something similar that has helped me A TON is saving for those expected periodic expenses. Something that doesn't have a due date every month, but will need to be paid for eventually. I hated scrambling for the cash when it was time to get my hair cut or the car needed an oil change.<br /><br />I now have multiple 360 Savings Accounts set up for various yearly goals (many of them already aimed at 2015).. Christmas, photo sessions (important to me specifically), gifts, float trip, etc.<br /><br />In my cash wallet (expenses I dip into more often than once/year) I have cash set aside for car care, pet care, household/personal items, etc.<br /><br />It's been such a relief to have the CASH to spend.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8465887551310827456.post-50393692272889603722014-08-07T08:01:01.860-04:002014-08-07T08:01:01.860-04:00As soon as you possibly can I hope you will at lea...As soon as you possibly can I hope you will at least start contributing the amount required to get matching funds for the TSP. That is free money as I am sure you know.Juhlihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14440147890620303894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8465887551310827456.post-43180124035317130542014-08-07T00:54:42.350-04:002014-08-07T00:54:42.350-04:00Happy 5! I Love your blog, please don't ever q...Happy 5! I Love your blog, please don't ever quit! I think you're doing great given the situations, we all want to see you succeed! <br /><br />HSHS @ Our Debt Bloghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15832696189497002591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8465887551310827456.post-31958381223233633062014-08-06T17:19:00.417-04:002014-08-06T17:19:00.417-04:00I appreciate your support!! I appreciate your support!! Mystihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17496508600320205581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8465887551310827456.post-14793915768893319412014-08-06T17:16:07.573-04:002014-08-06T17:16:07.573-04:00You are too sweet. I hope that something I have l...You are too sweet. I hope that something I have learned along the way has helped you out.<br /><br />Life is so much more than numbers...and life gets in the way sometimes. Heck, I get in my OWN way sometimes. But my main goal when I started blogging (other than getting out of debt!) was to show that life HAPPENS. Plans are great, but curveballs HAPPEN. And you need to figure out how to back up and punt.<br /><br />Keep on going....if we can do it, you can do it!Mystihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17496508600320205581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8465887551310827456.post-61721759328966909742014-08-06T17:11:49.011-04:002014-08-06T17:11:49.011-04:00I understand what you are saying - you have gone u...I understand what you are saying - you have gone up and down on each debt category over the years. But at the end of the day your debt has gone from $84k to $58k in 5 years. If you just look at the overall totals, you've paid off $25k or nearly 30% of the grand total. That is a huge accomplishment! Scoozehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17563404602635266577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8465887551310827456.post-64308573107393673012014-08-06T16:51:02.608-04:002014-08-06T16:51:02.608-04:00The if you add in the 1st retirement loan to when ...The if you add in the 1st retirement loan to when I started the blog...we were in the 83-84K range.<br /><br />I would really have to crunch numbers to see how much we have actually paid. For example..we paid off $10k on a car loan. Since then we took out $18k more in car loans, but have paid back almost $8k. So that is $18k we have paid just on cars, but we still owe $10k at this point. We are at net zero for progress.<br /><br />I said yesterday I lost track of how much we have actually paid. If you look at the Geek page...you will see we started at $76k, dropped to $63k, rose to $80k, and are now at $59k(ish). Just there we have paid $34k. Add in $7k for the retirement loan...and now we are at $41k. <br /><br />See what I mean??? All those mis-steps and backslides....some of which were our fault, and some of which weren't....they all add up. If it had been a straight shot....we would have been out of debt by now.Mystihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17496508600320205581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8465887551310827456.post-14049219155569571752014-08-06T16:49:03.638-04:002014-08-06T16:49:03.638-04:00Our car insurance and maintenance are one account....Our car insurance and maintenance are one account. But it is great that you have so many future plans. I wish we were able to save for big purchases, but not in the cards at the moment. <br /><br />When we first started pre-saving...it was hard. now it is all just part of the budget.Mystihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17496508600320205581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8465887551310827456.post-67097612989107918932014-08-06T16:49:00.294-04:002014-08-06T16:49:00.294-04:00Seriously, stop beating yourself up. You're do...Seriously, stop beating yourself up. You're doing great! I love reading your posts. They make me feel so...normal. Especially when you blog about agonizing over various life decisions, and just life in general. Love to follow your thought process. So many times I've read a post and rushed over to my own spreadsheets to play with the numbers and see if it would work for me. Thanks for so many lightbulb moments! I'd also like to add that it's nice that you talk about family, work, and things other than just the numbers. It makes it so much more human. Life isn't just about numbers, although 90% of the personal finance blogs I follow focus only on that. Thanks for keeping it real. Keep up the good work!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08336588537825652241noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8465887551310827456.post-68759240179957326592014-08-06T16:47:05.040-04:002014-08-06T16:47:05.040-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Mystihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17496508600320205581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8465887551310827456.post-1224651016212972242014-08-06T16:40:50.361-04:002014-08-06T16:40:50.361-04:00Unfortunately, the payment structure that is in pl...Unfortunately, the payment structure that is in place doesn't allow us to change it right now. I agree that "pay yourself first" is a great idea...but because of things we did in the past...it just isn't an option right now.Mystihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17496508600320205581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8465887551310827456.post-35293216415778856622014-08-06T16:18:22.998-04:002014-08-06T16:18:22.998-04:00I love that you are prepping for the future! WE ha...I love that you are prepping for the future! WE have savings accounts for Christmas, car insurance, car repairs, a $1k emergency fund, a house down payment, grad school and a new to us car fund. I'm sure I'm missing something...<br />It is hard to get started on this path, but you don't have to do everything at once. Start off slow and then you get to a point where it's just common pracitce Newlyweds on a Budgethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10165059665185786849noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8465887551310827456.post-32938345776495450782014-08-06T16:05:17.786-04:002014-08-06T16:05:17.786-04:00As they say "pay yourself first" contrib...As they say "pay yourself first" contribute to it and then work out the budget after. I know for me, whatever 'extra cash' I seem to have always disappears on a 'need'. So I put a big amount into 401k first and then worry about bills and debt and needs after. The way I look at it, if you stop sawing towards retirement to pay off bills and fail. you double fail. if you save towards retirement but fail at the debt, atleast you still have the retirement savings. Good luck Mysti! alarin033https://www.blogger.com/profile/07802049213576722796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8465887551310827456.post-27807851827794975852014-08-06T15:13:31.072-04:002014-08-06T15:13:31.072-04:00Well, I tried to comment earlier, but somehow it d...Well, I tried to comment earlier, but somehow it didn't work. I think you're doing great - I'm curious about how much you actually started with. I know that it was about $76k in loans, but that didn't count your retirement loan, right? So you've paid off $18k PLUS whatever you have paid off of the 401k loan. What is that total? Now that you've reduced the interest rates and are paying more principal, things should speed up. Good luck!Scoozehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17563404602635266577noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8465887551310827456.post-72793032676533514012014-08-06T13:24:35.869-04:002014-08-06T13:24:35.869-04:00I wouldn't say awesome or great...but it is he...I wouldn't say awesome or great...but it is heading in the right direction. Thank you though!Mystihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17496508600320205581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8465887551310827456.post-20310101886868493922014-08-06T13:23:46.760-04:002014-08-06T13:23:46.760-04:00Kim, you have always been one of my biggest cheerl...Kim, you have always been one of my biggest cheerleaders! Thank you! I am happy to be in the 50's....but I am already trying to figure out how to get into the 40's! LOLMystihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17496508600320205581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8465887551310827456.post-23393772707201647702014-08-06T13:15:50.062-04:002014-08-06T13:15:50.062-04:00This is awesome! You are doing great!!!!This is awesome! You are doing great!!!!Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16415121623388897396noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8465887551310827456.post-66977501414392145882014-08-06T13:07:05.907-04:002014-08-06T13:07:05.907-04:00Wow Mysti way to go! Under $60,000 that must feel...Wow Mysti way to go! Under $60,000 that must feel great! I love your posts especially when they are long.Out My windowhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13456481267171643227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8465887551310827456.post-76290204597252200682014-08-06T11:49:12.093-04:002014-08-06T11:49:12.093-04:00This was discussed WAY back in the beginning of th...This was discussed WAY back in the beginning of the blog. No, we are not contributing to the acct (and it isn't a 401k....it is a TSP, which is the gov't version of a 401k, but it does have some different rules). We had a financial advisor at that time (who we fired) who convinced us to stop contributing because we needed the cash flow to make our budget work. So we did. At this point, yes...we have missed out on that interest. We had discussed starting to contribute again last fall, right before the car died and we then needed to have 2 car payments. <br /><br />However, we do have about 111k in the account right now. (it was 114k...stupid market!)Mystihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17496508600320205581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8465887551310827456.post-80961393932387547402014-08-06T11:37:13.409-04:002014-08-06T11:37:13.409-04:00Retirement loan, I can definitely see the benefit ...Retirement loan, I can definitely see the benefit of using the loan to pay off higher interest debt. But one thing I haven't seen mentioned in your blog(probably just missed it) is, are you still contributing to your retirement fund(401k)? If not, you're missing out on compounding interest opportunities you can never get back. alarin033https://www.blogger.com/profile/07802049213576722796noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8465887551310827456.post-34699478063468672772014-08-06T11:31:50.442-04:002014-08-06T11:31:50.442-04:00Thanks! I actually have another post in mind abou...Thanks! I actually have another post in mind about where I thought we would now. But I do feel good about some of the changes that have happened over time. <br /><br />I took the archive button off when I realized that my labeling was so far gone that no one would find anything anyway! But can put it back. :)Mystihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17496508600320205581noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8465887551310827456.post-18384320256288317312014-08-06T11:14:42.867-04:002014-08-06T11:14:42.867-04:00Congratulations on five years and the debt reducti...Congratulations on five years and the debt reduction. Even though some of the numbers might not have gone down as much as you wanted or expected them to when you started the blog, you've still achieved a lot. And I think putting things like accounts in place to cover less frequent but still regular costs is a huge step. I've done that for years but this year is the first time that I haven't also raided those accounts for things they weren't actually intended for. This week, I've just finished paying most of my bigger annual expenses (moved here at end July so everything falls due then) - and I did it using last month's salary rather than the money I did have saved up for them. Which leaves me, for the first time, with something still left in savings after paying for everything. It's a nice feeling. And, for me too, a huge boost towards feeling a bit of security. <br />I feel for you on the labelling posts thing, too. I've been good about it the last year or so but still haven't gone through older posts properly. I would recommend, if you decide to do it, to make a list of labels you want to use first. When I started using labels, I would just add them as they occurred to me and my list is totally out of control, with quite a few that really are so similar they could be merged. One of these days...<br />By the way, is there any chance you could add the Archive button to the blog? I've only read sporadically through the archives as it's kind of a pain difficult to have to keep clicking "older post", always starting from today and working my way back. Moonwaveshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16018956740090192993noreply@blogger.com