Glad to join in. We have been following DR principles since August. I was more eager than my husband (who makes significantly less $$ but brought in a lot more debt to the marriage). After a few months & us having a goal, he is now completely on board. We have A LOT of debt, that's the bad news; the good news is that we have a nice income so we will be able to easily move through the debt & watch our balances shrink. Here is where we are right now:
Oh & we have two littles, ages 1 & 2.
Emergency fund: $3000
Personal loan: $3500
Credit card #1: $3500
Credit Card #2: 3500
Vehicle loan: $2700
Our first goal is to pay these off by March with our debt snowball & our tax refund. I had to take leave without pay for the first three months last year (after complicated pregnancy & NICU stay) so I was too afraid to adjust my taxes & am looking at a large refund. I have already adjusted them starting in Jan, hoping to not get such a big refund after this year.
Once these four "small" ones are paid off, we will attack a very large one that my husband owes his dad. Actually it is a HELOC in his dad's name & I HATE owing that. DR says to pay back family & IRS ASAP. I'm pretty sure we can make more progress by cleaning up the small ones first but after that, I will not stop until his dad is paid back. I may even transfer the debt to my name via personal loan from my bank when the balance gets down to where they will lend me the $$.
There is more debt but that will take at least two years so that is all we are focused on right now. After the HELOC gets paid, my husband owes the IRS & his vehicle, both will nearly be paid off but we will continue working the snowball on those two (IRS before car).
Of course, then it's the house. I hope that within 6 years, we can be debt free, including the house....not sure if we will but that is our goal.
Whew, I said it all. It's hard to admit but as I said, we are working together & we have a common goal & a nice income so hopefully our plans will work out for us.
I look forward to this journey with you all.