Debt Dumpers 2021

[trenty]

I'm just sitting over here reading everyone's posts and thinking about what my goals are. I'm not sure I'm ready to post them just yet. I made some in last year's thread, and I completely failed on all aspects. I believe it's because I made them too grand and not what I thought I could really do in reality. So that's what I'm trying to figure out.

I see people in here trying to pay x amount of dollars into their vacation fund or home renovation fund or onto their car or school loans. And I'm like heck I don't even make that much. That's why part of me doesn't want to post in this thread.

With no more than I make, I'm kind of embarassed to post what I think I can pay. But I will do it eventually. Just need time to figure out what is feasible.

Don't be embarrased. Start small. For example your first goal could be to set a budget and stick to it. There are many budget apps out there that make budgeting soooo easy. (I use Everydollar).) Once that goal is in motion, move on to your next goal. That could be to pay off your smallest debt. What you focus on is what you will accomplish. My advice would be to not focus on vacation funding or unnecessary home improvements at first.

 

[dreamer17555]

Joining for the first time. This year I finally got serious about paying down the debt. I have paid down $8,500 this past year. More to go in 2021.

2021 Financial Goals:

• Pay off all credit card debt (current amount $5,900, interest free for next 16 months)
• Pay off small parent plus loan (current amount $2,500)
• Increase emergency fund by $2,000
• Pay off a few old debts of $600

Basically trying to drop $9,000 worth of debt in a year and add $2,000 to savings.

Well...yeah the end of 2020 just fully kicked me in the teeth with multiple appliances breaking this week... I honestly cannot believe it. So debt went up... a lot. Sigh. But it's okay and interest free (thank goodness) for 12 months.

so new goals-

• Pay off all credit card debt (current amount $7,250, interest free for next 12-16 months)
• Pay off small parent plus loan (current amount $2,500)
• Increase emergency fund by $2,000
• Pay off a few old debts of $600

Basically trying to drop $10,350 worth of debt in a year and add $2,000 to savings. Sigh. Telling myself these things happen and at least I will have new appliances but still- total kick in the teeth.

 

[imbatman]

Budget a few days at the beach in off season.

I love this! Brain breaks are always a good thing.

I made some in last year's thread, and I completely failed on all aspects.

Welcome, welcome, WELCOME! Again. Please see my posts in 2019 and 2020 threads to show you my multiple facepalm moments.

That's why part of me doesn't want to post in this thread.

I felt that way for a long time, too. But, as I creep closer to being debt free, I see that option for me soon! I used it to motivate my spending.

Personally, I find the Dave Ramsey baby steps extremely helpful.

@WDW_fan_in_TX I think you'll find that lots of us use a modified version of DR. I loved the snowball and hated the rest.

It definitely is doable; please don't give up. You will end up feeling so proud of getting your finances (large or small) in better control.

Oh, I can't tell you how AWESOME it feels to see the end in sight!

Try using the SMART Goal method.

Hey! It's @comicguy ! I just looked this up and I love how they incorporate emotions into this. My DH and I are massive emotional overspenders. It took learning to see that and be okay with saying "no" to some purchases.

and on the rare occasion that someone negative pops up being less than kind to a poster they are very quickly, but politely, put back in their box.

I know a name or two...

multiple appliances breaking this week...

Oh my word: June of this year, in a three day span: four new tires needed to be replaced, car battery died on the day after that, and then our stove/oven broke the next day. I hear you, @dreamer17555

 

[nycdisneygal]

Great thread! Another reason I love disboards/all of you!

2021 Financial Goals:
-Try to pay down most of my school loans. About 70K left. Thinking of looking to see if I can add 35K before the no - interest under CARES expires.
-Try to add 30-50K for the girls' college funds. Older one is already in high school. I have a feeling we will not travel for a 2nd year in a row so this may be possible. I want to have most of it in for older DD when she starts (though the way she is she may never go anywhere)
-Try to max out retirement
-Don't buy things I don't need/ order out less. So that I can then do the above.
-A PP mentioned saving for retirement home-- I think I should do that. FLORIDA!!! Course thats when I am 65 so about 20 years to go.
-This year rather than the kids related charities I gave to I have been helping those working on causes that are important to me on crowd funding. And helping with things in my town/food banks.
-Maybe need a new car. My subaru is a lease that we will likely buy in 2022 but my DH is driving a car that turns 20 yrs. And its not good in snow. I want him to get a subaru and he wants to get something pricey. I keep asking him if he has a trust fund I didnt know about (he grew up in the projects so the answer is no). Maybe at end of 2021 we can get a 2021 Subaru that they need to clear out.

2021 Personal/Home Goals:

-Drive on the highway - I only got my license last year when we left NYC
-Exercise and lose weight - I bought myself a nordictrack for black friday. I got the iFit so this is my way to travel --- the workouts are in different places all over the world. Its hard after a long day at work but I got to do it!
-Reading more. Now at least I do a lot of audiobooks when I drive to work but want to actually read more!
-Try to figure out how to deal with my difficult / lazy teen. I really want to find a nice volunteer opportunity. I loved doing that as a teen. But she wants to do nothing all day
-We have something leaking in the house and can't figure it out. Since DH is in charge of communicating to contractor it hasnt been fixed yet. Other than that I hope for no home renos. We already added a stone patio

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I'm just sitting over here reading everyone's posts and thinking about what my goals are. I'm not sure I'm ready to post them just yet. I made some in last year's thread, and I completely failed on all aspects. I believe it's because I made them too grand and not what I thought I could really do in reality. So that's what I'm trying to figure out.

I see people in here trying to pay x amount of dollars into their vacation fund or home renovation fund or onto their car or school loans. And I'm like heck I don't even make that much. That's why part of me doesn't want to post in this thread.

With no more than I make, I'm kind of embarassed to post what I think I can pay. But I will do it eventually. Just need time to figure out what is feasible.

Ok, so I didn't have time to elaborate (and boy can I go on and on! ) but now I can better explain DR's Baby Steps. Buckle up and keep your hands inside the ride.

First, try to cut back spending, apply any holiday cash gifts or use the upcoming stimulus to get a mini emergency fund started. DR recommends $1000 which I agree with as a good start so you can move onto debt paydown before you have a chance to give up. Will this cover everything that might happen? No, of course not. It will however cover the many of things that come up that might temp you to charge to your credit card. Unexpected vet visit, flat tire that can't be repaired, kitchen faucet leaks and can't be repaired, cavity needs filling. You get the gist of it. It is not for when you've had a long week at work and don't feel like cooking, you're craving pizza and have a severe case of the fuggits. You can still have a pizza, just budget for it and know that the more times you treat yourself to take out, the longer it will take to paydown debt.
Keep this $1000 somewhat easy to reach, but not too easy. I still have it in the savings account that is linked to our checking account at our local bank. No ATM is attached to the savings account but if needed, I could transfer it. You know yourself well enough to know how hard you need to make it for you to not tap into it willy nilly.

Then list all of your debts from smallest to largest. List the balance and minimum payment for each and start with the smallest. For us it was our Sears bill that was $250 with a $25 min payment. Whatever it is, attack the crap out of it with all your might while paying the minimum payments on all others. That part is important so that all your bills stay current and none are overdue. This first little bill will be relatively easy to conquer. Once it's paid off, you celebrate with a Woo Hoo!, pat yourself on the back and move on to the next. Take the min payment you were paying on debt #1 (in my case the $25 to Sears) and instead of me paying Sears that week, I paid it toward debt #2, our Amazon card. This min payment was $75/month. Usually, for me to keep close track of it all, I had to make mulitple payments per month to the bill I was attacking so that the weekly list of bills for each paycheck was still the same, I just substitute the new names. Where it used to list Sears, (2nd paycheck of the month) I delete and enter Amazon and pay that week PLUS the other week I would have normally paid the Amazon bill. If you can manage to do this in one monthly payment that's great but for me each paycheck had a list of bills attached and I had to stick with that list. Attacking a bill, for me, very often meant making payments each week in varying amounts based on what bill it used to pay. I hope this part makes sense. For this reason, it is much easier to snowball if you pay bills online.

When bill # 2 is done, celebrate, and move on to #3, attack it with all you can. You attack #3 with minimum payments from bills #1, #2 & #3. Now this bill is bigger than the first two but you're paying much more than the minimum by this point, so it doesn't FEEL that big.
You keep going and each time you pay off a bill, your min monthly payments being applied to that one bill you're attacking keeps increasing like a snowball rolling down a hill. By the time I got to my last credit card, our snowball was like $1500 per month which was all money that was once going to bills, but no longer existed. Such a great feeling. By the time you get to your last bill, it's is a biggie, like climbing a mountain, your snowballs are huge and each month is taking big chomps out of it, so it's relatively not so hard to climb. For us that last one was dh's truck loan which we paid off a year early by being able to put all of the snowball on it each month, in addition to its regular monthly payment. The truck payment was like $500/month so when that was gone our snowball was up to $2000/month. At one point, it was all going toward different bills and now we get to keep it. Really, I wish I started doing this years sooner. Before that we were lucky to have anything in savings. I would have never imagined having thousands in savings. Ever.

So you stop and think, maybe I should choose the highest interest debt first? Well, you can but if it's a biggie and you're taking tiny nibbles off of it early on, you don't see much progress and give up easily. As DR says, if we were really wanting to do the math, we wouldn't have gotten into debt in the first place. We wouldn't have been spending money we don't have. So keep in mind the snowball method, like debt accumulation, is around 90% psychological, 10% math. Attacking the little one first gets you a quick win, you see SOMETHING with a $0 balance and it's a huge motivator and confidence-builder. Huuuuge. I would often log in just to look at it display $0. Snap a pic and send it to dh, with a "Look Baby, we did it! Yay!"

Speaking of spouses, this whole thing is much easier to accomplish if your spouse/SO is onboard and helping, regardless of "who started it". If you want to end it, it has to be a joint venture. It's really hard if he/she is undermining your progress, closet spending, etc. It's like trying to eat healthy and snack on nuts, apple slices and baby carrots while dh stocks our cabinets & fridge with cookies, chips and Kozy Shack pudding. If that happens, at some point you have a quiet sit down chat and discuss how DOABLE it now is and how important it is to you. Also knowing that it won't last forever is a great feeling. At some point yes you WILL be able to put all of that snowball into a savings account. Dh and I have done it for years. Then new goals pop up and the snowball attacks again.

If you look at all of it and it's overwhelming, try to just focus on that one bill you're attacking. Also at some point, I had to throttle back on our snowball. I was sending all the payments in such as Sears and Amazon at the appropriate times that I would have been paying those bills but did not have enough to pay all the other bills and still have enough to live on. Then it hit me like a brick. Duh, because we were overspending before! So some components of our snowball just had to be crossed off the list but not actually applied to the next bill and instead just let it go. That was truly frustrating but once I realized why it was happening, it made more sense. The most important part of keeping it successful was not merely having a huge snowball but living within our means and having the snowball as leftover money that could be applied toward debt. One can't have such a huge snowball that it's stealing from what you need to buy food, pay electric, etc.

That is the best part in that the snowball method teaches you to pay it down by living below your means. Once it becomes a habit, it's easy to keep following it. Unlike pulling equity out of our house to pay off bills, where we really didn't learn to live within our means. We never learned our lessson and continued to make the same mistakes again. The quick fix never works.

Good luck and if you have any questions, don't be afraid to speak up.

 

[MissBritt]

Man, it's been nearly a decade since I've been here.

My goal is to pay off that last little bit of consumer debt (technically his, but ours) in the first 6 months, and put increased funds to savings and IRA last 6 months. I have precise numbers in mind, just being mysterious.

 

[trenty]

Ok, so I didn't have time to elaborate (and boy can I go on and on! ) but now I can better explain DR's Baby Steps. Buckle up and keep your hands inside the ride.

First, try to cut back spending, apply any holiday cash gifts or use the upcoming stimulus to get a mini emergency fund started. DR recommends $1000 which I agree with as a good start so you can move onto debt paydown before you have a chance to give up. Will this cover everything that might happen? No, of course not. It will however cover the many of things that come up that might temp you to charge to your credit card. Unexpected vet visit, flat tire that can't be repaired, kitchen faucet leaks and can't be repaired, cavity needs filling. You get the gist of it. It is not for when you've had a long week at work and don't feel like cooking, you're craving pizza and have a severe case of the fuggits. You can still have a pizza, just budget for it and know that the more times you treat yourself to take out, the longer it will take to paydown debt.
Keep this $1000 somewhat easy to reach, but not too easy. I still have it in the savings account that is linked to our checking account at our local bank. No ATM is attached to the savings account but if needed, I could transfer it. You know yourself well enough to know how hard you need to make it for you to not tap into it willy nilly.

Then list all of your debts from smallest to largest. List the balance and minimum payment for each and start with the smallest. For us it was our Sears bill that was $250 with a $25 min payment. Whatever it is, attack the crap out of it with all your might while paying the minimum payments on all others. That part is important so that all your bills stay current and none are overdue. This first little bill will be relatively easy to conquer. Once it's paid off, you celebrate with a Woo Hoo!, pat yourself on the back and move on to the next. Take the min payment you were paying on debt #1 (in my case the $25 to Sears) and instead of me paying Sears that week, I paid it toward debt #2, our Amazon card. This min payment was $75/month. Usually, for me to keep close track of it all, I had to make mulitple payments per month to the bill I was attacking so that the weekly list of bills for each paycheck was still the same, I just substitute the new names. Where it used to list Sears, (2nd paycheck of the month) I delete and enter Amazon and pay that week PLUS the other week I would have normally paid the Amazon bill. If you can manage to do this in one monthly payment that's great but for me each paycheck had a list of bills attached and I had to stick with that list. Attacking a bill, for me, very often meant making payments each week in varying amounts based on what bill it used to pay. I hope this part makes sense. For this reason, it is much easier to snowball if you pay bills online.

When bill # 2 is done, celebrate, and move on to #3, attack it with all you can. You attack #3 with minimum payments from bills #1, #2 & #3. Now this bill is bigger than the first two but you're paying much more than the minimum by this point, so it doesn't FEEL that big.
You keep going and each time you pay off a bill, your min monthly payments being applied to that one bill you're attacking keeps increasing like a snowball rolling down a hill. By the time I got to my last credit card, our snowball was like $1500 per month which was all money that was once going to bills, but no longer existed. Such a great feeling. By the time you get to your last bill, it's is a biggie, like climbing a mountain, your snowballs are huge and each month is taking big chomps out of it, so it's relatively not so hard to climb. For us that last one was dh's truck loan which we paid off a year early by being able to put all of the snowball on it each month, in addition to its regular monthly payment. The truck payment was like $500/month so when that was gone our snowball was up to $2000/month. At one point, it was all going toward different bills and now we get to keep it. Really, I wish I started doing this years sooner. Before that we were lucky to have anything in savings. I would have never imagined having thousands in savings. Ever.

So you stop and think, maybe I should choose the highest interest debt first? Well, you can but if it's a biggie and you're taking tiny nibbles off of it early on, you don't see much progress and give up easily. As DR says, if we were really wanting to do the math, we wouldn't have gotten into debt in the first place. We wouldn't have been spending money we don't have. So keep in mind the snowball method, like debt accumulation, is around 90% psychological, 10% math. Attacking the little one first gets you a quick win, you see SOMETHING with a $0 balance and it's a huge motivator and confidence-builder. Huuuuge. I would often log in just to look at it display $0. Snap a pic and send it to dh, with a "Look Baby, we did it! Yay!"

Speaking of spouses, this whole thing is much easier to accomplish if your spouse/SO is onboard and helping, regardless of "who started it". If you want to end it, it has to be a joint venture. It's really hard if he/she is undermining your progress, closet spending, etc. It's like trying to eat healthy and snack on nuts, apple slices and baby carrots while dh stocks our cabinets & fridge with cookies, chips and Kozy Shack pudding. If that happens, at some point you have a quiet sit down chat and discuss how DOABLE it now is and how important it is to you. Also knowing that it won't last forever is a great feeling. At some point yes you WILL be able to put all of that snowball into a savings account. Dh and I have done it for years. Then new goals pop up and the snowball attacks again.

If you look at all of it and it's overwhelming, try to just focus on that one bill you're attacking. Also at some point, I had to throttle back on our snowball. I was sending all the payments in such as Sears and Amazon at the appropriate times that I would have been paying those bills but did not have enough to pay all the other bills and still have enough to live on. Then it hit me like a brick. Duh, because we were overspending before! So some components of our snowball just had to be crossed off the list but not actually applied to the next bill and instead just let it go. That was truly frustrating but once I realized why it was happening, it made more sense. The most important part of keeping it successful was not merely having a huge snowball but living within our means and having the snowball as leftover money that could be applied toward debt. One can't have such a huge snowball that it's stealing from what you need to buy food, pay electric, etc.

That is the best part in that the snowball method teaches you to pay it down by living below your means. Once it becomes a habit, it's easy to keep following it. Unlike pulling equity out of our house to pay off bills, where we really didn't learn to live within our means. We never learned our lessson and continued to make the same mistakes again. The quick fix never works.

Good luck and if you have any questions, don't be afraid to speak up.

@WDW_fan_in_TX - This method works. We used it and got rid of all our debt (and it was a lot). I just want to add that using a budget app is essential. You have to know where your money is going so you know how much you have to put towards the debt you are working on in your snowball. And at the end of the month, if you don't spend all the money in any category - that can go towards the snowball. So if you budget $800 for groceries and spend $780 - there's $20 more for debt. On the other hand if you budget $800 for groceries and spend $850 - at least you know you have to "find" that $50 from another category or categories or pay less towards the snowball.

We started by reading his book. As others have said here, I don't follow all his teachings exactly, but for getting out of debt, if you budget and follow his snowball method exactly, you will get out of debt quicker than you think.

 

[piccolopat]

I'm just sitting over here reading everyone's posts and thinking about what my goals are. I'm not sure I'm ready to post them just yet. I made some in last year's thread, and I completely failed on all aspects. I believe it's because I made them too grand and not what I thought I could really do in reality. So that's what I'm trying to figure out.

I see people in here trying to pay x amount of dollars into their vacation fund or home renovation fund or onto their car or school loans. And I'm like heck I don't even make that much. That's why part of me doesn't want to post in this thread.

With no more than I make, I'm kind of embarassed to post what I think I can pay. But I will do it eventually. Just need time to figure out what is feasible.

Paying down debt can be done as quickly or as slowly as your resources allow. Start by keeping track of every dollar in and out for a month or so. Once you have a handle on that you can start to identify things that you are spending on unnecessarily. Set goals you think you can achieve and make a plan for achieving those goals. It's amazing how the little things add up to a lot. Understand that it took time to build up debt and it will take time to eliminate it. Look at it the same as losing weight. You want to build new habits that will serve you well in the future. Sometimes that means cutting out entire categories of things, other times it means allowing yourself the occasional treat. Having a goal is not the same as making a plan. I can say I want to lose 20 pounds in 6 months, but if I don't make a plan detailing the changes I will make to get there, I'll be in the same situation in 6 months wondering what went wrong. Over time if you are consistent you will see results. Many columns suggest paying down debt with the highest interest first while others say get rid of the smallest and then work your way up. It all depends on what works for you. While the former may make more sense money wise, sometimes getting rid of several small debts is a great incentive to keep working the other debts down until they are gone. You can learn a lot from this board. Good luck!

 

[DLgal]

I increased my Roth IRA contributions to the maximum allowed, from just $100/month. I should have done this last year but never got around to it.

I'm already debating what to do with whatever stimulus check we end up getting. Part of me wants to just keep it in the checking account as a cushion. I've also been thinking of paying off all my credit cards the day the statement is posted, rather than the "due date." However, since I project ahead for these payments now, it would basically mean I need an additional $3000-4000 in my account NOW so that when the statements post, I can pay them immediately rather than 2-3 weeks in the future as I do now.

How do you all handle credit card payments? Do you pay on the due date or right away once you get the statement?

 

[BrerRabbit66]

Oh, the DIS....it is my regular guilty pleasure to read the boards but I'm horrible about actually signing in and posting.

2021 Financial Goals:

• Fund my Roth IRA - 7k will be added January 5th.
• Max contribution to my Simple IRA - this has already been adjusted thru payroll - $16,500 pre tax
• Pay off 6k of medical debt - currently on a 0% card will be paid by October; choosing not to use my HSA funds for this...rather leave HSA invested and utilize the banks money for a little longer.
• Continue to use my Amex and / or my Chase CSP card to pay for everyday purchases and pay off monthly - build up points to pay for airline / hotel expenses when we can finally travel again.
• Remain debt free

2021 Personal Goals:

• Sign in, get involved, post more and actually just be better at supporting others here on the boards!!
• Lose 35lbs - this is a challenge with my Hashimoto's but I have a plan and I've lost 10lbs already so I just have to commit to it.
• Declutter!!! So much paper to shred, furniture to donate and just stuff that we don't need.
• Survive Tax Season 2021 - ugh! 2020 almost did me in as so many of my clients were furloughed or took early retirement....lots of counseling and just hoping 2021 turns things around for everybody!

 

[BrerRabbit66]

I increased my Roth IRA contributions to the maximum allowed, from just $100/month. I should have done this last year but never got around to it.

I'm already debating what to do with whatever stimulus check we end up getting. Part of me wants to just keep it in the checking account as a cushion. I've also been thinking of paying off all my credit cards the day the statement is posted, rather than the "due date." However, since I project ahead for these payments now, it would basically mean I need an additional $3000-4000 in my account NOW so that when the statements post, I can pay them immediately rather than 2-3 weeks in the future as I do now.

How do you all handle credit card payments? Do you pay on the due date or right away once you get the statement?

A little of both for me. I usually pay my Amex about a week before its due, mainly because we use it for everything just to get points. Its usually pretty hefty each month but there is never a concern for paying interest on this card. As for other cards that have an interest rate, I pay those as soon as they post so as not to overlook something...really don't want to ever pay interest again.

 

[afan]

How do you all handle credit card payments? Do you pay on the due date or right away once you get the statement?

I pay mine weekly but that's also because I get paid weekly. So I know which the mortgage will come out of (hoping for not much longer) and then I just pay what's there betwren the ccs and bills each week after I move money to savings. Anything left goes to my car fund.

As for the mortgage, the hope is it'll be gone because I'm planning to sell it. I've been renting it out since I moved back to Seattle 8 years ago and while it's cash positive it's a stress. The markets finally rebounded well around charlotte at my low price point so now I'm trying to get estimates on getting the work that needs to be done. Also stressful as a lot aren't getting back to me but short term stress is better than long term. And it needs the stuff done as it's a swing of 30 to 40k between leaving it as is and doing it so it's worth draining savings in the short term. Plus if I kept it as a rental it'd take forever to be back cash positive.

 

[jackers]

@DLgal , I actually pay off my credit card every week, so I don’t much pay attention to the statement or due date.

I try and treat it as a debit card, meaning I don’t put anything on it unless I have the money to pay it off. I just use it for the rewards. I know others use it differently when there are 0% deals and such to finance large purchases but we don’t. (edit: should say we’ve been fortunate enough not to have to do that.)

 

[trenty]

@DLgal , I actually pay off my credit card every week, so I don’t much pay attention to the statement or due date.

I try and treat it as a debit card, meaning I don’t put anything on it unless I have the money to pay it off. I just use it for the rewards. I know others use it differently when there are 0% deals and such to finance large purchases but we don’t. (edit: should say we’ve been fortunate enough not to have to do that.)

Same here - I treat my CCs as debits and pay them as the charges posts (several times a week). I don't even know the interest rates on my cards as I never plan to carry a balance.

Now - if you are getting out of debt, this is not possible. But once you are out of debt, if you plan to continue using the cards, don't carry a balance. Even it I get a 0% promo I wouldn't use it.

 

[bakerworld]

We're about $50K in debt.
We could stop going on vacation = not gonna happen.
We could start saying NO to the 'kids' about College loans, marriage and grandkid expenses = yeah, not gonna happen.
We both contribute 26% of our gross into employer retirement investment accounts, and we're definitely not gonna stop that, but the downside of a large retirement fund is feeling like we don't have to say No to the kids because we have that floating out in the future. Still it's irritating to be in debt and organize a budget plan that is blown away by kids expenses. Hopefully we've entered a hiatus of marriages, house down payment gifts and baby unpaid leaves.

 

[imbatman]

Man, it's been nearly a decade since I've been here.

My goal is to pay off that last little bit of consumer debt (technically his, but ours) in the first 6 months, and put increased funds to savings and IRA last 6 months. I have precise numbers in mind, just being mysterious.

I'm also mysterious because I'm Batman. I actually have another log on that I posted for a long time with. I was so embarrassed about my debt, but wanted to remain anonymous. So, here I am.

How do you all handle credit card payments? Do you pay on the due date or right away once you get the statement?

I think it's okay however you do it, as long as it's paid by the due date.

Sign in, get involved, post more and actually just be better at supporting others here on the boards!!

Scheduled my final payment for CC #2 for Thursday! Heading into 2021 with one CC left to pay off!

 

[imbatman]

Squeee! I get to post an update!

Financial

• CC 1 - $2198.01 (balance 12/9/20 - one more payment to come out in December). All done! Had two scheduled payments and a work bonus!
• CC 2 - $6567.84 (balance 12/9/20 and 0%). This is scheduled for an August pay off. This is the one I want to knock out by May. If the stimulus passes, I'll have this done by the end of February.
• Start deposits back into Roth no later than June. This will start in January because I just received a raise! $40/week
• Savings to stay above $1000 at all times. Work to be at $3000 by the end of the year (minimum).
• Start a vacation fund for 2023 WDW trip ONLY after the credit cards are paid off
• Addition: save $2000 for a Christmas trip to the coast. This was decided yesterday after a rather interesting Christmas.

Personal

• Finish the second book manuscript 2/3 of the way done. Keeping my nose to the grindstone with a January 15th deadline.
• Second bathroom painting update with leftover paint and create "frames" for the mirror Delayed for now because the pictures I ordered to decorate have been "in transit" with the postal service since December 2nd and the Etsy seller isn't responding to my emails...
• Replace flooring in living room and hallway (already purchased and delayed by surgeries)
• Learn to be okay with my scars - give myself more grace
• Continue to purge unused household items If only the thrift stores would start accepting donations here...I have an entire carload
• Addition: learn to be professional with a coworker who is terrible to me. This one...hurts. It's hard to rise above the pettiness day after day. But I can take the high road.

 

[Shanna-like-Banana]

I am going to be honest, my financial goals are going to be very very simple but functional to me.

I am just going to try to be more prepared for small things that seem to somehow be a time vacuum.
For example- my grocery store has had Hallmark greeting card coupons BOGO hanging in the card section.

I purchased 10 general Happy Birthday Cards (totaled about $13) and stuffed them all with $20 each. Now when my kids need to give a gift, they are all already set up in the drawer, just grab one, sign it and seal it. No more stopping at the store to find a card, debating between picking out a gift/giftcard/cash, how much to spend, no more over spending, etc. Everything is preset.

Like I said, I'm aiming to simplify.

 

[imbatman]

I purchased 10 general Happy Birthday Cards (totaled about $13) and stuffed them all with $20 each. Now when my kids need to give a gift, they are all already set up in the drawer, just grab one, sign it and seal it. No more stopping at the store to find a card, debating between picking out a gift/giftcard/cash, how much to spend, no more over spending, etc. Everything is preset.

This. Is. Brilliant!!! **am stealing**

 

[afan]

I am going to be honest, my financial goals are going to be very very simple but functional to me.

I am just going to try to be more prepared for small things that seem to somehow be a time vacuum.
For example- my grocery store has had Hallmark greeting card coupons BOGO hanging in the card section.

I purchased 10 general Happy Birthday Cards (totaled about $13) and stuffed them all with $20 each. Now when my kids need to give a gift, they are all already set up in the drawer, just grab one, sign it and seal it. No more stopping at the store to find a card, debating between picking out a gift/giftcard/cash, how much to spend, no more over spending, etc. Everything is preset.

Like I said, I'm aiming to simplify.

Great idea! The dollar tree's around me all jave hallmark cards now. Some are 50 cents and some are a dollar. They have a decent selection and is where I get most cards.