Happy Blogiversary WEEK - Retirement and Student Loans Today!

Did you all know that I like to write really long posts that really should be WAY shorter?  You did?  Good for you! Yeah, I know I ramble....and if I was writing all of this for pay, then I probably would do it differently.  But since my AdSense takes a year and a half to add up to a minimum payout, I don't exactly see this as a money maker, so I ramble.

My actual Blogiversary is Thursday, Aug 6.  I am going to break everything down into (still too long!) chunks, with a summary on the 6th.  I hope you will stop by everyday, but there will be a summary later this week in case you don't! Here is the schedule for the week:

Aug 3:  Retirement and Student Loans
Aug 4:  Cars and Medical
Aug 5:  Credit Card
Aug 6:  Summary

I am going to write a little Way Back Then vs. A Year Ago vs. Now kind of thing....so enjoy.  Alot of it is a rehash, so feel free to skim if you are familiar with the story.  As I have realized over the years, I used my side bar to update numbers and wasn't as good at putting those actual numbers in the body of a post....so some of the numbers are estimated or are from the closest post that I can find.  So for you math-y people...I totally realize that if you add some of these numbers, they won't always equal. 

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Retirement loan

Day one of blog:  This particular loan didn't exist, but a different loan did that was not included as part of the original total
2014: $16,376.69
2015: $10,052.45

Looking back, I think we didn't "count" the retirement loan in the debt total because we were a little in denial about it.  Since it was auto-debited from G-man's pay, and we weren't "physically" making a payment, it just didn't really exist.  But that was so far from the truth.  That money was paying a loan, and it was money that we didn't have to pay other things.  Yes, we were paying ourselves back, but it was still a debt. When I started the blog, I was really coming to terms with our situation.  We were at 76k debt, and the idea that it was probably closer to $83-84k was more than I think I could handle.  So I rationalized it.

So when we paid it off in 2012, and in turn dipped into that well again (discussed here and here)....I counted it.  It consolidated all of the credit card debt (which included a Lending Club loan that was the first step in consolidating Credit Card debt and working on the amount going to interest), which certainly was REAL.  I don't regret doing this loan.  It has allowed us to really make some headway on things that we would not have been able to do otherwise. I do regret that we have used the retirement account over the years for things other than retirement. 

A year ago, we were already waist deep in the idea we were moving (it was about 3 weeks later that we received the offer).  By October 2014, we modified the terms of the loan to extend it to a 5 year loan instead of a 4 year loan as originally done.  We were realizing that the pay cut we were facing coupled with the current repayment structure would not work.  By redoing this, our repayment went from $380/pay check to $221/pay check.  Had we not done this, G-man's pay check would have covered our mortgage, a car payment, with about $100 left over.  Even with the change, we still had a $300/mon cut from his pay (just the office...this has nothing to do with a second job).  As much as it hurt my heart to realize that we needed to extend this loan because of cash flow (we would be about 9 months away from completion now), it was necessary. 

Today's total....ARGH!!  Do you see how close it is to being under 10k?  Because this is an auto-debit, it isn't as easy to just add a few dollars here or there.  In hindsight, when I figured out that the total was going to be THIS CLOSE to being under 10k, we should have made a one time $55 payment along the way (it is possible, just not as easy).  We would have been closer to $6500 left right now if we didn't make the modification.

Moving forward, this loan is in hot debate for a few other ideas we have.  That is an entirely different subject and not one to discuss today.  Right now, we are just doing what we have been doing....but it could change in the coming months.  (And in case any one is interested...the actual account has $127k in it, but I would have to have G-man look up how much is available to us for non-retirement stuff....not that we are doing that right now).

Student Loan

Day one of blog: Was split into 2 loans (Older loan from undergrad that was co-signed with my dad and was about $1,691.81, and consolidated loan from part of my undergrad years and graduate school which was $30,300 in 2003 and we did interest only payments or deferment for years)
2014:  $23,284.59
2015:  $21,311.57


Of all the loans here....this one was the most frustrating to find numbers for!!!  The website only keeps one year of statements.  I have a notebook that I keep information on, but I usually don't put the "year"....but I can tell you that in February of 2011(??), the older loan had $188.91 left, and the consolidated loan was at $28,791.39.  OMG....I am shooting my past self....

Way before this blog....there was even more student loans.  I paid for my undergrad degree on my own, so I started paying student loans in late 1996 (6 months after my graduation).  I had a $10,000 loan that was already paid off before I even started this blog.  

If I had it ALL to do again, I would have put mega money toward my loans before I had kids.  I would have liked to have had my undergrad paid off before I had to start paying my grad loans.  

OK, moving forward....

I feel like this loan is the ugly step-child of our debt.  It gets very little attention.  We pay $229 (roughly $171 goes to principal and the rest to interest) a month, and that is all we do.  I have talked about how keeping this loan for so long has been so stupid on our part.  I just didn't understand the power of interest, and by the time I did understand it, all sorts of other damage had been done.  So this poor debt is on the bottom of the pile.

I really hope that in my next job, I get closer to the earning power that a Master's Degree should afford me.  I certainly don't have it now; while my job has allowed me to do other things...upward mobility and higher salary were not part of that.

We are still a ways away from the next milestone for this one.  Le Sigh.  Poor student loan....no love here.  I promise you....one day you will get some attention!!

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Hope to see you tomorrow for the cars and the medical stuff!!!

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). 

Just for Prosperity

Since I update our sidebar totals, if I don't note the starting amounts, I will never figure it out later.

On 1/1/13, our numbers stand at:

• Retirement Loan  - $31,603.91
• Student Loan - $26,314.80
• Car Loan - $10,320.08
• CC - $4,877.75
• Medical/Dental - $2,965.61

• Grand total - $77,245.15

Here is the kicker with this stuff....the Retirement Loan, Student Loan, and Car all have fixed minimums.  None of them are going to go back up since they aren't "revolving".  Just the minimum payments for the year equal $15,388 (give or take a few dollars for the miscellaneous cents we pay).  Doing nothing else but paying the minimum pays off 22% of those loans this year.  Doing nothing but what we are already doing....those 3 loans will be reduced to $52,850 from $68,238.

The remainder...that is the problem.  The medical/dental will go up.  As long as we continue on the payment plan we are on, it only satisfies the company that we are paying SOMETHING.  Each month, the amount we are charged is more than what we pay.  So that impacts the bottom line.

The CC....as long as we don't use the card, it will go down.  Any "extra" we have toward debt repayment will go toward the CC.  But again, the medical will go up by roughly the same amount we are paying.  In the end, I don't see the CC and Medical numbers really "moving" over the coming year.  They will probably end up swapped.

My as long as we can handle any emergencies (using EF, overtime money, side hustle money)....our grand total number a year from now will be about $62,000. 

Let's see how it goes.

I am not setting any real goals this year financially.  I do understand goals...but for me, the disappointment of not making a goal is way harder on me than the excitement of reaching a goal.  I just end up not feeling good about anything.  So I am not doing it this year.  I will say that I am hoping that we will just be able to maintain what we are doing.  Tax hikes, gas prices (we spend over $600 a month in gas....)...those will drastically impact our bottom line.

We have a few home maintenance projects that we need to complete.  We would love to do some IMPROVEMENTS, but I don't see that in the cards at this junction.  The few dollars we may be able to save toward the improvements won't be enough to actually complete any part, so it will just be a continuing saving effort.

I wish I could have the enthusiasm that we are going to beat debt this year!  That we are going to hit it hard and intense!  We are going to have a great year!!!  But I have done that already....hasn't happened.  2013 is going to be the year of.....let's just get by the best we can.

How do you define Progress?

***ETA:  I wrote this post last night, and scheduled it to go live today.  Almost no one actually GOT the point of the post.  Everyone is still on the "should we buy tickets" bandwagon....which for the record, I never asked if I should or shouldn't.  

In my GBU yesterday, I mentioned that we were "thinking" about getting concert tickets.  Our last concert was almost 10 years...oops....8 years ago (the kids were ALMOST 2).  Are they pricey?  Yep.  We were thinking about it; no decision made.  We have had 2 big date nights in the past year....and this would be the next one (not counting the wedding we have in May).

Is it the BEST use of money?  Depends on your definition of BEST.  No, it isn't going to debt.  But if you define BEST as "the ability for a couple to have a night out, see a show we both would enjoy, and have a night off from the stress of our life,"  then yes.  We have also considered only having G-man go (as he wants to go more than I do, even though I do want to go).  Then we would only have 1 ticket and parking.  No sitter or anything.

Consuelo made a comment regarding our numbers and our "lack of progress" in the past few months.

I am not going to deny that numbers are ugly.  I never have.  We were making progress, and last year really wrenched that.  No denying that.  But to say "lack of progress" in the past few few months isn't accurate.  I haven't updated our sidebar in the past few days because I know it is all about to change, and decided to wait until the big change to do the update.  But the comment really upset me, so I looked a few things up....a few things that may not be as apparent to you all because I don't share EVERY detail.

Since January 1....

• We have increased our EF by $324.    Prior to my root canal, we had just under $1,300 in there.  We withdrew some to float that money to get a discount.  When our FSA reimburses us, it will go back to the EF, and we will have the $1300 again, and are working toward
• We have saved over $500 towards the kids' camp for the summer, which acts as day care for us while we work.
• We have saved $550 in overtime pay.  Part of this is paying for G-man's speeding ticket and fishing license.  The rest is going toward our weekend trip to Sesame Place for Autism Day (entrance to the park is free, other than a $25 parking fee which goes to charity.  We have a gov't discount for the hotel).
• We have saved enough so far to pay for our water bill, which will come in May.  And we are on track to have the money saved for our personal property taxes in July.
• We paid off our retirement loan (whose numbers were never added into any of the tallies, but at the start of the blog....we had about $7100 left), a few year early.
• We established a "cat fund" that currently has enough for all three cats' check-ups, and have been working on saving per month for food and litter.

Based on the numbers on January 1, as reported in my Financial Goals for 2012:

• The student loan has decreased $456.
• The car has decreased $642.
• Medical has increased $50, but as long as Bossy has medical needs, this bill will always be in flux.  Considering I had a $700 root canal, and the overall bill has only gone up $50, I am happy.

This just leaves the CC bills.  Taking the mattress out of the equation, which we had planned to take a little extra out of the next retirement loan to cover....the CC has gone down about $400.  Now, what this means is that we have basically paid off everything we have charged in the past 3 months, and a little more.  This was considerably more, but as I said, we back slid a little on this in the past month.  Included in this have been a few gifts (baby shower, bridal shower, birthday parties).  Some has been eating out when we have been lazy about cooking.  But NONE of it has been shopping for the sake of shopping.  There has been no clothes, music, home decor (as tempting as it has been!!).

Once we take out the loan, I will update all the numbers.  At that point, all of the debt will be at an interest rate of 3.375% or less.  I know that not everyone will agree with the retirement loan for this purpose.  It is taking money from our future.  But in no more than 4 years, it will be paid off, and we will be just about debt free other than the mortgage (right now we are at 5 years to be debt free....but I think we may be able to shave at least some of that off).

I know this is a long post.  So if you made it this far....good for you!!!  But we HAVE made progress.  It isn't gazelle intense....never has been.  But it IS progress.

So to Consuelo....thank you for reading and spurring me to investigate this further.  I am sorry you don't feel like we are making progress, but in the end, we only have to account to ourselves.

Beating away the financial blahs

I already know where and why these feelings are creeping in.  But there are here....so now I have to deal with them.  It is a combination of my meds being a little off, plus having a night out and spending money, and.....I am leaving for a few days to visit a friend.

I never claimed to be Gazelle intense.  And while I love to read about others who are....it does frustrate me that we can't/won't do that.  I just hate to adjust our current totals and have to adjust them UP.

I am frustrated that no matter what I do, the "master" plan doesn't work.  There is ALWAYS a repair that ends up being way higher than what we have set aside.  The cars...I question if we should have gotten rid of them awhile ago.  The order of doing things seems to be in a constant state of change.

This year has been rough.  But honestly...every year is rough.  2007 was the death of our twins, along with a huge oil leak.  2008 was my miscarriage and having to replace the roof.  2009 was the death of my father-in-law, car issues, and a myriad of other things.  2010...who knows.  And now....2011....marriage issues, the pool, car issues.....now having to fix Bossy's room.....

Apparently....I just suck at this getting out of debt thing.  G-man made a comment the other night that really upset me....."debt is just a way of life."  That spoke VOLUMES to me.  While he wants to be out of debt, and is participating more in the discussions....he isn't getting it yet that this noose around our neck is just weighing down our LIFE.

Now that our medical waiver is gone...my student loan is going up....we are unable to lower our interest rates without either opening another credit card, or maybe a new Lending Club loan....it is time to revisit the budget AGAIN...and figure this out. 

I know I am not getting a raise at work (state budget cuts).  I know that G-man is willing to work more overtime, when it is available....but if it isn't available....there isn't much we can do.  I know that we are saving for Christmas, car stuff, irregular expenses.....and we are doing the best we can.

I am just frustrated that others are pulling way ahead, and we are treading water.

So my two small things for the day to make me financially feel better are 1) continue to pack up yard sale leftovers to sell at consignment (we did a trial run on Friday, and we will probably get about what we were asking at the yard sale), and 2)  I bought some bulk coupons for shampoo, which with sales...will come out to about $1 a bottle. 

Pity party over.

Today is the Day!!

I will kiss Student Loan #2 goodbye!

This loan is particularly "special."  This is the last loan from my Bachelor's Degree (how pathetic am I.....).  But more importantly, it is the last loan that was co-signed by my parents from college.  Technically speaking, the loan is in my father's name, but I am the co-borrower.

My parents have never paid anything on this loan.  It was in deferment until I graduated (in 1996.....again.....how pathetic).  I started paying it back 6 months or so after I graduated.  The amount has never changed.  It has always been $58.98 per month.  The problem with that amount was that as a youth....I didn't realize the POWER of interest!!!!  I just kept paying my $60 a month.  I had other student loans at the time, and I was paying those as well.  But my income didn't really support paying DOWN debt, nor did I really understand the slippery slope I was on.

By the time I realized how important it was to get rid of debt, other debts became more important.  So I continued to pay the minimum on this loan.  I have now paid more in interest on the loan than the original principal balance.  So yes, my bloggy peeps......this loan cost me DOUBLE it's original value.

So this afternoon, after I get home from work....I will call the dear sweet people at the loan company and kick this loan to the curb.

Goodbye loan....wish I could say I was nice knowing ya....but I can't.  You have cost me over $5,000 in interest.  UGH.  Good riddens!!!!!!

UPDATE:  IT IS GONE!!!!!!  SO LONG SUCKA!

Resolution is a nice thing

After my hissy fit on Monday, I decided that I needed to do some serious rebounding.  I like to think I can do it all, but once in a while....I can't.  Sorry.  Despite popular belief, I am human, not SUPER human.  I needed to resolve several problems.

PROBLEM:  I am needing a serious jolt of positive juju. 
RESOLUTION: 

1)  I have $100 Spa card, and I will use it for either a facial or Reiki session (which is what I am leaning toward).
2)  I desperately need my hair cut, so my $50 from Christmas will go to that.
3)  A local fitness center is doing $10/mon special, so this weekend I am checking that out.
4)  When G-man goes "home" in a few weeks, I am cleaning out my closet of all the stuff that I don't love, doesn't fit, etc.  I need to surround myself with things that make me feel good.

PROBLEM:  I am unappreciated and G-man takes me for granted.
RESOLUTION:  I told him that I done having this same argument.  There was not a true resolution, but I told him that I need to take some time for myself.....I am worth it.

PROBLEM:  Next debt snowball steps.
RESOLUTION:  We finally decided that once his car is paid off, the money we have been putting toward that car payment will continue to be saved for a new to me car, and once my student loan payment increases in October, the remainder of what is left will continue to go towards a new car (so not folding into the debt snowball). My car is going into the shop AGAIN tomorrow due to the belt issue.  I am hoping this isn't an expensive repair.  But it is looking like my car may start to nickel and dime us.

Additionally, the next debt on the chopping block will be his credit card.  We need to figure out if it is worth trying to do another Lending Club loan, just to get the lower interest rate....since they take some off the top, the savings might not be worth it....vs just paying extra on it per month.   It is somewhat frustrating that this is a larger debt and we won't be able to see huge progress, but it is what it is.

PROBLEM:  Loose ends from the mortgage refi
RESOLUTION:  Talked to Mortgage Guy, and

1)  The taxes were NOT double paid.  The new title company held on to the payment, and now that our taxes have posted, that check will be released to US, not the city.
2)  The extra checks we got from the attorney are ok to cash (which will probably pay for my car repair tomorrow)
3)  Still waiting on the escrow check from old company, but that should be coming soon. 

Once we have all this money, we will be able to make some nice big payments!!!


That is about it for now.....a few things have been settled, and it calms my brain.  Now, if I can only get my house cleaned again.....I will be back in business!

Sometimes The Obvious Answer is well....OBVIOUS

I consider myself an intelligent woman.  Granted, I have made stupid choices....but as a whole, at least 22 of the 24 crayons in the box are sharp.

When I have worked out my budgets, it is based on the typical month pay (give or take).  For example, if they cut hours at G-man's part time job, his weekly paycheck will be a little lower.  But it usually balances out in the end.  His main job paycheck is fairly static (I am curious to see what that number will be with tax differences, medical insurance, and FSA differences).  The biggest wild card in all of this is OVERTIME.

(NOTE:  We agreed that OT is NOT a side hustle)

In the past, overtime pretty much got sucked up into life.  Mostly, when we went over in a budget category.....food being the number one culprit.  How stupid we are.....

Now, as soon as there is overtime on a paycheck, it gets moved out of the main account immediately.  It isn't budgeted money.  No more getting sucked into the darkness of the great abyss.  It will get held until all of the budgeted expenses are paid, and then that EXTRA money will go where it belongs....as an EXTRA payment to something.

G-man had to get up at 2:30am.....yes, you read that right, 2:30am....to be at work for 4:00am this morning.  He will be earning OT all day (and without going into detail about his job, this is the stuff he LOVES to do), and he will work his regular shift tonight.  Today will be about 10-11 hrs of OT (unless they are able to finish early).  At time and a half, that is about 15-16 hrs of regular time......2 days worth......or about 20% extra.

That EXTRA money....because that is what it is.....will make an EXTRA payment somewhere.

(I am being vague about the somewhere because of the new mortgage refi.  Depending on when it closes, and we get the escrow money back from the current loan, we will have to see where we are at on the snowball.  The current plan is that the month off from our mortgage and the escrow will pay off CC1 and Student Loan 2, and part of Christmas nonsense.  If OT hits before the mortgage closes, then OT will be used for the above stuff, and the mortgage stuff finishes off the above, and the remainder goes to the next debt victim).

I probably make things harder with all my little piles.  But it works for me.  I need to visually see it all broken out.  So for now....the piles stay.  His OT today will probably be in his paycheck on Jan 24, so we have a few weeks before we will see it.  But I am looking forward to it!!!

A small sense of relief

I am weird.   I know it.  I just try and embrace the weirdness.  G-man is so laid back that he just lets me be weird.

I NEEDED to work on finances last night.  Like, I was having anxiety issues because I HADN'T done it in about a week.  I booted him off the computer, and went and checked all of our accounts.  I have a notebook where I write all the bills, the minimum payment and due date, and current balances.  I check it off as I pay it.  Not high tech, but sometimes the act of writing something, vs typing it is more powerful for me.

So I balanced the checkbook.  Paid some bills on line, and one over the phone.  Wrote out a bunch of medical bills.  Paid the water bill (I am still upset that it was $349.)  And a HUGE sense of calm came over me.

My finances were taken care of for the moment.  I am not clueless...I know our budget is busted, and that we owe 68k.  I know that we blew it for our goal of paying off my student loan (although I am seriously thinking of using my bonus money).  I know that I had a "secret" goal of paying off $10,000 by December 31 that won't happen.

But for the moment....the utilities were paid.  My bill binder was empty.  My checkbook was balanced (granted, I had to transfer $300 from our savings account to cover a few things).  And I was happy again.

Planning the next move

My current snowball is rolling on down the hill, and should be paid off by the end of the year.  This is the last of my student loans that I have with my Dad, and I just want them gone!

So, which debt is next?  Looking at the Credit Card debt, each balance is around the same (give or take).  The interest rates widely vary though.  The car?  Our retirement loan?  Student loan?

Using the Dave method, it would be the next smallest balance.....which would be the retirement loan.  Interest-based.....that would make it CC2.   I have an idea of what I want to do, but I am curious to see if you come up with the same idea, or maybe something I haven't thought of yet.  Let's do a pro/Con list for each.

Car

Pro:  Once paid off, it frees up $358/mo towards other debt or saving for a "new" car for me (mine is 11 yrs old with 144k miles, and while I plan to drive it 'til it dies, at some point it will need to be replaced).

Con:  It is scheduled to be paid off in Dec 2011/Jan 2012 just making the regular payments.  Interest rate is only 5.74%, so we aren't saving a ton there.

Retirement Loan

Pro:  Frees up $210 a month.  Money goes towards retirement, so it can continue to earn interest.  Can either put this money into debt snowball, or re-instate retirement contribution.

Con:  Money was pre-tax, so it isn't really freeing up $210.  

CC2

 

Pro:  This has the highest interest rate (11.99%) of all our loans, therefore we stand to pay the most in interest here.  Paying it off saves on the "wasted" money to the CC company.

Con:  Dunno.

CC4

Pro:  Because about half of the balance is at a low (5.99%) interest rate, and the other half is 0% until next Novemeber, most of the payment is going directly to principal.

Con:  Since the rates are so low, the principal really won't gain that much interest if I continue to pay the minimum.

Student Loan #1

Pro:  This represents about 45% of the balance of our debt.  

Con:  This is the lowest interest rate debt.  Right now it is in interest only payments (until next October), so concentrating efforts here may not do much to reduce the overall debt in the next year.

Lending Club

Pro:  A quicker pay down would show investors that we are a "good" risk, and would increase our chances of getting a future loan, if we needed it. (but we plan to NOT need it, unless it is consolidating debt at a great rate with a quick payoff)

Con:  Dunno.


So there we are......what do you think I should do?

A few updates

Credit Cards:

Did you notice some minor changes to our CC totals???  We completed a balance transfer offer that took $5,000 from CC1 (at 19.24%) and put it on CC4 (at 5.99% for 12 months, and 9.24% after). We decided against trying to open a new card and get 0% for a few months.  Ultimately, we were concerned about dinging our credit.  We are thinking about applying for a peer to peer lending to pay off CC1 and CC3, and trying to get the best rate possible....so dings won't help our cause there.

The totals will be updated later this week after I pay the bills for the week.

Snowball #1 - Hospital:

Part of G-man's and my big talk the other day was this bill.  I budgeted to have it paid by the end of August (the kids' birthday).  This is the last of the bills related to their birth, and Bossy's subsequent surgeries and hospital stays.  We have been paying this bill for 8 years.  Yes, EIGHT years, and I need it gone.  So, in a bold move....we decided to pay it off in July.  Taking the $410 that I budgeted, plus $200 from our savings account, and $200 from our "extra" emergency fund (Dave Ramsey says to have $1000....we have almost $1450, so we will still be above the $1000).  Throw in an extra $5, and it is GONE.  Emotionally, this is a huge victory for us.

The next bill we will snowball is Student Loan 2, which should be gone in about 3 months.  This bill is the last of my student loans that are in both my and my father's name.  I was 17 when I went to college, so legally all the bills were listed as me as the co-borrower, even though my parents didn't pay the bill.  My dad did a lousy job on my loans, and because of the way he did the loans, I was unable to consolidate them or do anything, with them.  One loan had an interest rate of over 10%!  So this bill just needs to go....c'mon, I graduated in 1996!!  The Student Loan 1 is my Master's Degree.

There after, we decided to veer from Dave and go in interest order.  Currently that would be CC1, CC3, CC2, CC4, Car, Student Loan 1  We decided to leave the Dentist out of it.  If we do a peer lending, this is subject to change a bit.

July Challenge - No eating out

Today is the 11th, and except for a minor slip up on G-man where he bought a soda (he forgot about the challenge), we have not had any take out, coffee, water, soda, or fast food.  Grocery budget is still doing ok and meal planning is really helping.  I will be heading to the store later to restock for the week.

Blogging Realizations:

When I added the progress bars, I realized that when I update totals, I just write over the previous total.  I keep forgetting to make note of the starting balance!  While I have the balance of our debt when I started this blog (my blog-anniversary is just a few weeks away!), I have lost track of a few things.  Like the hospital bill....I couldn't tell you what the balance was a year ago, or even when we started snowballing it. I could probably figure it out, but that would be more work than it is worth.  So now, I will make an effort to note the starting balance of the snowball.

User Error!

Well poop.  When I set up my bills to be paid while on vacation, I accidentally hit the wrong student loan account!  So the payment that was due on June 25 is now late.  Instead, I paid extra on the other loan.

Not a HUGE deal.  No late fee yet (it will be paid tomorrow, as the first business day I can get to).  I caught it as soon as I could (today).

My fault.  OOPS.  I guess that extra $82 I paid will have to come out of the debt repayment "extras" but what is done is done.

The account that got the extra is the next account to get snowballed anyway, after the Hospital bill is paid off.  OH WELL!

A few updates

Car - We spent $100.99 fixing the wheel studs on G-man's car.  We used cash from the sale of stuff (you know, that money was supposed to go to the retirement loan, but that blew up in our face).  At least we didn't go into debt for this.  I e-mailed my friend whose hubby works for the car company to see if he had any ideas on what to do about this.

Taxes - I am still missing one W-2 (GRRRR).  But I am going to plug in all the numbers I have and add it in later.  I am curious where we will be.  The original plan was to put a refund toward the retirement loan, but I am rethinking it.  I might put it on Student Loan #2, and hopefully wipe that out shortly.  That will free up $60 a month, and combined with the $60 we will save  from getting rid of the land line phone, it will balance out the hike in the oil bill.

Decrease in electric bill - decided that extra $50 per month will go first toward the student loan, then toward Hospital #1.  Putting an extra $50 toward Hospital #1 will help chip that one away.

Murphy, go away!!!!

Well, no need to figure out where the extra money from overtime and extra pay check will go. G-man took care of that this morning…

When he got into a car accident. With the kids and one cat in the car. Everyone is ok. But…

Now we will have an insurance claim which means a deductible. From what he said, it is too much damage to the other car for us to pay for it privately. I am sure there will be a rate increase in our insurance too. I had a minor accident last year (or was it 2 yrs ago?)

I could vent off about non-debt related items, but that is another blog all together. I was already thinking that I might be able to pay off a few things under medical and just make them go away. Or maybe pay off one student loan.

I am annoyed now.

I need some time to lay it all out. Too many changes! Need to fire the FA. Need to get a grip.

Student loans that just won't go away

I was 17 when I went to college. Because I was underage, my student loans were done with my father as the Borrower. He did all sorts of funky things, and I have been the one who paid for it....literally.

Upon graduation from my undergraduate degree, I was handed all sorts of papers and coupon books and was told the loans were my responsibility. Thanks! While I agree that I should be responsible for at least some of my loans, the way this went down stunk.

And what really stunk was that most of these loans had an incredibly high interest rate attached to them and there wasn't anything I could do. They couldn't be consolidated or negotiated. Nada.

I currently have $1,691.81 left of the loans that I couldn't do anything with. It has a variable rate that is currently 4.75%, but it has been as high as 10%!!! I looked at the statement today...

Original Principal amount - $5,831.57

Interest paid to date - $5,281.66
Total Principal paid to date - $4,275.00
Fees - $11.80

Aggregate Amount - $9,568.46


That means that 55% of what I have paid since I graduated in 1996 (this loan was disbursed 11/23/94) has been interest and fees. I have had this loan for 15 yrs!!!! A stupid, lousy $5800 loan.

Per the estimate, it should be paid off 05/16, which seems off to me. There is no way I am going to take another 5.5 yrs to pay off $1,700. Not a chance. This sucker needs to go away!!!