The Official 2019 Debt Smackdown
Welcome to the Official* 2019 Debt Smackdown!
Happy new year everyone!
I know a few of use have been chomping at the bit to get going with 2019's debt - so with out further ado, I present this years spreadsheet! First of all, quick thanks to everyone on here who supported this last year, and helped make sure the Google Sheet remained in tip top shape.
So what's this about? If you are holding onto some debt as you enter 2019 - and would like to get rid of it - this challenge is for you.
To the participants from last year, welcome back! For some of us, our total debts are too large to smack down completely in one calendar year, so if you're here from last year, congratulations on your progress and let's keep on doing this! In 2018, we collectively paid down over $1,500,000 in debt! An increase of OVER $600,000 than in 2017!
For all new participants, we are happy to have you join in this year! New blood is always welcome. Let's all motivate each other to pay off those debts and continue moving forward to financial freedom.
Per last year, this is a shared one between the two forums/communities. Hopefully, that won't bring any problems! (Link to the Forum post [soon])
How it works:
1. List the amount of total debt that you owe.
This step is to give you an awareness of your current debt situation. Feel free to share, this forum is a safe and nonjudgmental place. You can also decide to keep this information private, you don't have to post your total here if you are not comfortable doing so.
2. Post in this thread the total amount of debt you would like to pay off during the 2019 calendar year. (This part is required.)
Feel free to break down the amounts by credit card/type of debt. Also, if you have a specific plan or some ideas on how you plan to pay down the debt, you can post that too. Maybe your plan will spark some ideas for others on how to tackle their own debts!
3. Check in monthly in this thread and report on how your debt smackdown is going. (This part is required.)
4. Post monthly on the 2019 Google Sheet to track your progress. (This part is required.)
Claim a line on the spreadsheet, and post your total debt to be paid off, and the monthly amount that you send off towards it. Some people track their total payments and don't account for interest, some people account for principal only. The method you choose is up to you!
If you come across this challenge later in the year, no worries, you can still jump right in. Just put zeroes in the months where you had not joined the challenge yet, and start in the month you join in.
Last year, we collectively paid off $1,500,000. Let's smash that number again in 2019!
Please let me know any issues with the sheet - sometimes things are a bit wonky when making new ones!
*Official in the sense that there's a spreadsheet. Not official in the sense that it's made by YNAB. I'm just following naming conventions here :)
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Thank you! I'm super excited and so grateful.
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Line 292.
Better late than never, right? Granted this will likely rollover to the 2020 Debt Smackdown, but I admit it's nice to have a place to be accountable.
As of this minute my total debt amounts to $100,185.35 🤯
This includes:
Student Loans $72,429
Car Loan $19,089
Credit Cards $8,667.35
The goal at the moment is to pay off $2,124 which is the cost of the vacation we just booked for March (yay!) and then chip away at the rest by continuing to make minimum payments on the cards and car. The student loan factor, I have absolutely no idea. Advice is appreciated. 🤦♀️
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PeculiarBella Congratulations on getting started.
Advice:
Save a small emergency fund to help avoid needing to use credit cards in the future.
Focus on one debt at a time while making only minimum payments on the others.
Use Undebt.it to help decide a strategy (Snowball or Avalance) and choose what debt to focus on.
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PeculiarBella said:
the cost of the vacation we just booked for March (yay!)Perfect, this feeds into the "no new debt" approach. Now just make sure you start a by date category goal for any of the spending money you need. There is nothing more awesome that going on a vacation with money you have and not coming home to scary credit card bills. Also helps keep the "heck, I'm on vacation" spending in check.
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July check-in: $579.73 in regular auto and student loan payments, plus a little extra on student loans. We are just over 40% of our goal, which isn't as far as we'd hoped to be by now, but husband just got a raise. I'm still working on getting a job, but I have something in the works that will hopefully work out. If so, we will finally be able to put the smackdown on these loans.
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July and August
So, got a side gig and work gave me a bonus of sorts and didn't go to any of my trips I had planned to. I feel good and shite, but, it is the bed I made, so I accept it.
July just balanced my loc payment to $200 like I've been doing this year. But August I put an extra $100 to have paid $300. I'm pretty excited, it's the most I've put to the account.
I have added $500 to my future debt and now have $1783 set aside. I also got the 1 yr balance transfer letter come in, so I'm going to be doing that and will start having a year of debt reduction to pay off for this expense I've been saving for.
Overall, I'm pretty please. I also bought myself some treats - much needed boots and a bracelet because sometimes it's ok to give yourself a treat. Even some books :)
Of course everyday I think how can I increase my income.
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Jumping in late to the game, but... better late than never, right?! Slowly, slowly. Expect to be able to make a big difference when I receive some expected funds, but until then I will do what I can. And will work harder at NO NEW DEBT!
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The DownUnder CFingYogi No new debt is half the battle! ;) We're happy you're joining the challenge and good luck tackling the old debt!
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The DownUnder CFingYogi I remember how great it felt the first month we had no new debt! Now I couldn't even imagine charging something that I don't already have the money set aside for. It's a mindset that once instilled will do you wonders. Congrats and welcome aboard!!
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Whiskey Mama I completely agree with you. I was just chatting with a friend about that. That switch. She always goes on about how everyone is in debt, so it's ok. I told her about YNAB and how I learned through using it, very rarely do I actually need to get into debt, especially, once I learned how to manage money. Plus, if I do go into debt, its with a plan and strategies to make sure I pay no interest, and a very good reason to do it.
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The DownUnder CFingYogi Yay for expected funds arriving! CC x2 gone. Never to be repeated. Overdraft gone. Never to be repeated. And, even $140.99 towards that damn Loan. Thrilled. Beyond thrilled... YAAAAAAS. I've got this :) Go me.
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The DownUnder CFingYogi
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The DownUnder CFingYogi
Celebrating with you. I felt that surge of accomplishment I experienced when I smacked down my overdraft for what I knew was the final time. Hooray you!
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$1,556,050 paid off to date.
OMG! You debt smackers are doing such an amazing job.
At time of writing this post, you have smacked down a whopping $1,556,050.84 (US$) and you are doing that with less than 33% of the original participants checking in.
You are one hard-core group of determined people, and I applaud you all!
Go. Go. Go. Go. Go.
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HappyDance That's AWESOME!!!!!!
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farfromtheusual
Isn't it? I'm seriously impressed that the merry band of YNAB 2019 debt smackers has done so well. I mean, $1.5 million is a brag-worthy number.
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HappyDance It's way beyond a brag worthy number! That's also with only a fraction of us keeping up with it (and with some of us going backwards more often than we go forwards...). That's amazing!!
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HappyDance It definitely is amazing and brag-worthy! Thanks for sharing this milestone. I couldn't resist sharing with our team, and they're blown away. Bravo all!
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Nicole
I'm enjoying being an enthusiastic cheering spectator. I finished off my own debt smackdown in the 2016 community challenge, and it felt so incredibly awesome, that I just stand here at the finish line encouraging others to keep going.
Sometimes I think that cheering others on helps to keep me focused on my own goals of staying out of debt.
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HappyDance Wow - thanks for pointing this out!! This challenge has really helped keep me focused on our debt smacking journey!!
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HappyDance I just noticed this today!! YAY US!
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July update: I accidentally paid Marcus Goldman twice (forgot I'd set up autopay)! I could have coasted and skipped the August payment, but I, since I had it, I paid it!
August check-in: I dug into the budget and found $300 more a month to throw at debt every month. My husband started getting a $400 auto allowance, so, for now, we're also putting that toward debt. With the extra $700, I should be able to make my goal for this year!
I'm $2.12 short of my $2700 goal for the month because I hit "quick pay" on the Navient site instead of setting the amounts manually. I can live with the difference!-
Pay Me To Draw That's awesome, way to go!
I accidentally paid one of the debts twice last month, too, and was rather irritated with myself because I could have used that money elsewhere. But it did bring the balance down to less than 5k, which is nice to look at, too LOL -
farfromtheusual I love when I get 'down to less than (the next round number)' - it's so motivating!
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WairereRose YES! SO gratifying!!
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Way behind on replies and checking in. Glad to see everyone is plugging along!
Summer has been a big old money suck for us so I don't feel like we've really made any progress - summer activities, back to school, marching band, upcoming oral surgery appts that we have to pay for.... so much money. I did transfer our largest balance to a 0% offer so that will help make the money go a little farther! It feels like we've done nothing but keep up with interest the last couple of months so that should help.
Redid our undebtit plan to start fresh in September with the transfer and what we can snowball comfortably while still paying for band and with the holidays coming. I had hoped that our smallest CC would be paid off by the end of the year but that probably won't happen since we lost so much momentum this summer but it should be under $5000 by then, maybe under $4000 if I can really get disciplined and we don't have any surprises pop up that aren't already accounted for.
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July check in - a little late. I'm still plugging away and am close to finally making some progress on my debt repayment. Although it is going slowly, it is forward movement and I will take it! I will be able to enter something other than 0 in August which will feel SOOOOOO good! I am looking forward to see where we all land at the end of the year! Remember, small steps make big ones with time. Cheers
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August Update: Paid $1340 towards my credit card debt and $100 towards my car loan.
I was able to transfer all my credit card balances to one card with 0% apr for 12 months. Now I can put all my attention on that one card without feeling stressed trying to manage different dates and websites.
September is going to be a bit tight - have car maintenance and insurance coming up but going to do the best I can. Can't believe it's almost September already!
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I just started re-using YNAB as I have never been able to really get into the hang of things (I think this is try 5??). Hopefully this time it works. Still slowly paying down my student loans, but thankfully my loan to my parents will be paid off by the end of the month since its a 3 pay month for me. I just bought a house after renting my whole adult life, so its been a big change, but I had enough savings to cover all the purchase costs and work that needs to be done right away. I am still 6 years away from having all my student loans paid off, but I am paying my mortgage of weekly and hopefully once my student loans are gone, I can start paying it off more aggressively. I want to be debt free by 50 and retired by 61... still got a number of years to go, but looking forward to it. I am trying to decide if I should get a second job for a few hours a week so that I can pay my debt down quicker. Decisions...decisions
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Ivory Wildebeest you can do it. What have you had struggles with in YNAB?
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MXMOM Putting the time in doing it. Plus last time, my phone was capable with the app, but my new phone is. I am going to try and stick with it. I am usually a pen and paper girl....
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Ivory Wildebeest getting the budget set up with target goals and scheduled transactions really helps the monthly budget process go fast. For speeding up entering transactions, I have set up a shortcut (iPhone) to take me directly to the transaction entry for my most common account used right from the home screen of my phone. Saves me having to launch the app etc. myself. Every little bit helps.
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Welcome back, Ivory Wildebeest ! You can do this. 😄 Congratulations on the house, by the way!
To keep going with your budget, check out this Five Minute Fix blog post on a budget routine. My colleague Jen (who has been using YNAB for over 10 years now) shared her budgeting workflow and walks through what she does every day (in less than five minutes) as well as her weekly and monthly routine.
Having a plan can help you keep going. Let us know if we can do anything to help you along the way!
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Down to my last credit card and student loans. Paid $567 this month on the $2220 balance and may be able to throw a bit more at it before the end of the month. Just paying the minimum $190 on the student loans for now. I'm starting to feel like the end is in sight!
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Kim Laskey It is! There is light at the end of the tunnel. 😄
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Checking in with final numbers for August.....
Starting balance Ending balance
$64,793.27 1st Mortgage $64,283.40 (-509.87)
$13,939.45 2nd Mortgage $13,732.53 (-206.92)
$ 7,600.88 Car $ 7,212.80 (-388.08)
$86,333.60 $85,228.73
Total debt paid down in August $1,104.87, total for 2019 $18,503.12 (70.76% of goal).
OOFTA - this month is tough! We have 3 weddings in the next 6 weeks and 3 of our 6 grand kids have August birthdays. Plus we've been doing all sorts of summer fun stuff so our debt pay off has slowed a bit. Hubby's busy time at work will be starting soon, so we'll have some bigger checks to work with. Still hoping to have my car paid off this year and we're tracking just slightly ahead of plan :)
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Whiskey Mama way to go. Quick question about weddings. What is the gift protocol now? I haven't been to a wedding in a while but I expect we will be soon entering a flurry of them.
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Whiskey Mama Your summer sounds like a busy one. So many events in a short period! And slaying debt at the same time. Nice job!
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MXMOM The amount to gift basically comes down to what you can personally afford and your relationship with the couple. It also seems to be different depending on where you live. My daughters married in the Chicago burbs and it's customary among our family/friends to gift cash at weddings (gifts for the shower). Their gifts ranged from $50 per couple to $1,000 per couple. When budgeting for your flurry of weddings, keep in mind the extra expenses such as shower gifts, time off work, hotel stays, travel costs, and attire. As for us, we gift $200 as a minimum and more depending on relationship.
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Well, very late July check in here. I paid only the minimums in July and ended up adding more debt due to several factors. With all that went wrong in June, I thought I got away with only adding about $800 in debt. But then when working on July's budget, I realized it was much worse because normally I would have $1500-$2000 already in the budget for the next month, and I had...nothing. So that sucked big time. Then, July (and so far August) was painfully slow at work. I am a self-employed massage therapist, so when all the clients are at the lake and on vacation, etc, I have very little income. Also have 3 separate clients whose insurance companies are dragging their feet on payments so that is not helping matters any. Putting in lots of hours to potentially not get paid was definitely not in the plan.
I have been working on my add-on business of handmade jewelry to try and bring in some extra income, I have made some sales but it hasn't been as much as I would like. I am debating setting up an online shop but I don't know that I am ready to take on that headache!
I will keep plugging away, and eventually I should be able to get back to where I want to be- no debt!
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Quinn Oh no! It sounds like you've had a challenging couple of months. I hope the insurance companies send the payments through soon. Keep going, and plugging away. You will reach that goal!
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Nicole it has not been fun for sure! I am very grateful though that I have been using YNAB or else things would be much worse. At least I have had money set aside for many expenses, I know where I stand financially, and even though I can't crawl out of the pit right now I know it is not hopeless. Thanks!
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Does anyone else anxiously await their paychecks so they can make debt payments? Like I've gotten the hang of keeping within my budget (for the most part) but I almost feel like my brain is always counting down towards my checks because I'm so excited to be able to throw extra money towards my credit card debts 😅
Mid-August check in and I'm down $83 on the bulky balance transfer card debt. I'm currently counting down the days until my paycheck this Friday because I think I'm going to be able to pay off my two other credit cards completely, and with any luck throw some towards savings. Then in September I pay off my phone and I'll finally be able to make larger payments towards my bulk debt! 💃
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SiruhTheSantas I hate to have to tell you this, but you are showing classic signs of a YNAB junkie hooked on the debt smackdown challenge. If it's any consolation, you're in good company...
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SiruhTheSantas Often. 😎 And if there aren't new dollars to give jobs... there are always other tweaks to make. Welcome to the club!
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Nicole
Yup - "I think I can shave $5 off this category and that category's monthly goal, we haven't used the full amount in a while. And this category I will move from monthly goal to target goal."
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SiruhTheSantas omg, that is completely me. I call it my de-stress time and it is very ritualistic. I first go onto YNAB and my bank accounts, plug any missing expenses, then I fill my categories. The Everyday spending I quickly go over, but I spend time on my future and saving categories. Then I come here update the spreadsheets and then undebit. This can sometimes take hours and time flies. It's my zen time 😄
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August update:
Moved $10k of 2nd mortgage to zero interest credit cards. went on vacation in early august and this month had to pay that balance off (so increased cc balance about 4k and then repaid it so net neutral and no progress this month except for $500)
YTD debt reduction is $17k (Jan - April) + 22k (July) + $500 (August) = = $39, 500 debt paydown
Up NEXT:
- continue to focus on the transferred balance of the 2nd Mortgage balance of $10k - pay an extra $400 per month towards principal
- September: I anticipate about a 10k bonus and this will go in savings for property taxes
- October: spouse will be receiving about $30k bonus and we plan to completely pay off all credit cards which now includes that 2nd mortgage balance ($11k) and our remaining car loan of ($19K).
- November: start focusing on increasing savings and increase 401k contributions and kids' 529
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Maroon Viper
September status so far: increased cc debt and have a balance of additional $4k. so total cc debt including the balance transfers is $14k. Tomorrow, I will be receiving a bonus of roughly $15k. By Wednesday, I will have paid off the $4k outside the BT amounts. And then by Friday, i will likely have paid off the BT amounts too. I am somewhat reluctant to do so since they are at 0% until June and November of 2020.
YTD debt reduction is $17k (Jan - April) + $22k (July) + $500 (August) +$4K (September) [and possibly $14k if pay BT amounts] = $43,500 debt pay down (possibly $53,500)
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Maroon Viper
Current Debt:
- - $4k: credit card debt at 18% interest
- -$10k credit card debt from Balance transfers and at 0% interest
- -$19k car loan at 2.75% interest
GOAL: By November 2019, will be debt free other than mortgage balances
remainder is mortgage balances
- After all above debt balances paid, will snowball and focus on one of the mortgage balances...target to pay off entire mortgage in 60 months. Target Completion Date is 11/2024
- After MP mortgage paid, focus on K mortgage balance with snowball and target completion in 48 months. Target Completion Date is 11/2028
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Maroon Viper
Just scheduled cc payments totaling $11,203 - really seeing some progress beyond my original plan
YTD debt reduction is $17k (Jan - April) + $22k (July) + $500 (August) +$11K (September) = $50,500 debt pay down
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August Check In - Still chipping away as normal. $2852 paid off this month. The happy news is I got the Visa down to under $10,000 finally! It's now $9,015. Yay!
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Grey Tux Congratulations! Hitting those milestones makes the progress easier to see - that balance will be gone before you know it! :)
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Faness Thanks! I'm really trying to work on my Patience though... I just want everything to happen Faster!! LOL!
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Grey Tux Congrats! I remember when I hit under $10,000 on my consolidation loan last year. Such a great feeling!
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Pixel spender Thanks! Now on to the next milestone!!
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Paid $1,022 in August towards my remaining debt. More than last month but still not enough to keep on track to finish this year.
Got some estimates for my delivery and it looks like we may have to max out our OOP this year and next year. :/ So $12,000 possible in medical bills. Bummer.
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Check check check......Another payment down!
I'm super proud of myself for affording to pay tuition and pay debt down all at once. It's making me crazy because I can't afford to do more school at a time than I am, which is DRAGGING on my degree, but I'll be outta debt next year which will make everything that much easier to budget when my $460 goes towards tuition rather than debt.
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Pixel spender It might feel like dragging now, but when you graduate without any student loan debt you'll owe yourself a Huge pat on the back!
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Faness SO TRUE! I sometimes lose sight of that. Thank you kindly for reminding me. Not only will I be graduating without a student loan, but I'll be completely out of debt! I have to remember to pat myself on the back for that feat.
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Pixel spender Absolutely! That is an incredible feat! I hope you'll share when the day comes - we'll owe you a hoorah here! :)
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It's almost the end of August. I'm not sure I checked in in July. Our godkids' parents magically produced a new date for them to return (with no contributions on their part) necessitating last minute flights across country three weeks earlier than expected. My budget has sad.
We added $1800 in debt in July thanks to the flights. Haven't paid down March and have NOTHING in emergency funds because it was all allocated to keep from using the cards in July (PRO TIP: Don't do that!). The stress is unfathomable. Hubby had a not-bad month in July, but after 4 HORRENDOUS months in a row, it seemed very MEH.
The budget is up-to-date and we are still kicking. ON track for June 2021 to be debt free according to Undebt.It, so that's something, right? :(
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Slate Blue Vacuum As long as you're still trying, sad is curable! It sounds like things are moving in the right direction so hang in there!
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Slate Blue Vacuum The fact that you're still on track for June 2021 to be debt free with all that happening is AWESOME! Go you!
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Hi Everyone,
I've been missing in action this whole year despite the best of intentions. Well, it's taken me this long to get my act together but I am ready to go. I've readjusted my goal for this year to a very small but manageable number. My commitment is to get that done and stay on track. First payment will be next month. Baby steps. The rest of you are so inspiring, keep up the great work.
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auntdar welcome back auntdar! You've got this.
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auntdar The important thing is you are here now. The hardest step, I found, was feeling like I got it all together and showed up for myself. It's not about how you've fallen off, but how you get back up! :) As WairereRose said, "You've got this."
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auntdar Me too! Had no idea this forum was here! Late to the party, but here nonetheless!
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So today I realized that, with careful budgeting and just a regular/decent month next month, I can eliminate a car note (paid off on normal schedule), a student loan (throwing an extra $500 at it in September), and 2 tiny credit card balances--Home Depot and Lowe's on 0 interest from a project so we've been slow-paying them-by the end of October. It would really be AHMAZING for mental progress so I'm going to bring this up at next week's money meeting!
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Slate Blue Vacuum
That sounds like a very motivating month ahead. Go you!
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Slate Blue Vacuum Crossing off 4 items on a debt payoff list is Huge. Crossing off 4 items on a debt payoff list in a single month? Gigantic! I'm keeping my fingers crossed your next month goes well! :)
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Slate Blue Vacuum
Yay! Then think of what you can use the money you were previously using for the car note! Maybe: 1. pay other debt, 2. shore up true expense categories, 3. start saving for your next car, and/or 4. something else totally exciting even if possibly mundane.
When we finished off our biggest car 3-4 years ago, we used the money to add to our savings, and then when we purchased our last car last fall, we had over 50% of the purchase price as a down payment.
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Technicolor Cheetah That's the goal! We have so much debt, we just have to pray neither car dies for at least 3 years!! The goal was to buckle down and pay off a huge heap and life keeps throwing curve balls. Our belt tightening should eventually pay off though, we just have to keep swimming, floating, whatever lol.
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I'm new to the forum. I read the info at the top but the Google spreadsheet looks intimidating. Can someone/anyone give me a run down of what info I need to add where? Want to join in before year end if possible and get started before 2020 :)
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just_zoshin
CC and loan debt: $37,945.43Navient Student loan debt: $7979.97 (I am presently not including my federal loans( $53,207.25) as I can't do more than their minimum. Once the credit cards and personal loans are handled, I will start rolling those funds to the federal loans in earnest. However, if I were... $99,132.65).
Since I'm joining so late, my goal for the remainder of the year is to pay off my next lowest card which is currently $1,779.85
I claimed line #294!
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just_zoshin
No such thing as being late. You are right on time to finish of the year with some psychological wins.
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just_zoshin Welcome to the challenge! It's never too late to start. 😄
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Nicole Thanks! I'm excited!
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just_zoshin Did you get the spreadsheet figured out? I see you've claimed a line, so just enter what you pay each month (you get to decide if you include the total payment or the non-interest portion only), and it will calculate the percentage of your goal and the total that you've paid off for you.
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WairereRose I think I have. I'm aiming to pay the interest on cards going forward so it will be awesome to watch it decrease over the next few months!
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Just added all my debt into Undebt.It.... based on my current debt payments, I will have everything paid off sometime after the year 2102 and only because I think the lines tap out at 999. 🤦♀️ As Thumbelina once said: "It's impossible."
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PeculiarBella It's not impossible! Don't give up. Your budget can help you get there, as you make spending decisions each day. If those numbers seem a little overwhelming, give this option for making a debt plan a try.
If you have a chance, don't forget to update your journal. 🙂 Checking in, talking through the possibilites and receiving support & encouragement can help. We're here to cheer you on! -
PeculiarBella Remember that your current debt repayments don't have to be your ongoing debt repayments. As you change the way you think about money (it will happen when you hang around YNAB long enough) you will discover that your priorities change, that there are other ways to increase income/reduce expenses and that you can start to have some small wins. The important thing is to keep going forward, no matter how slowly, because as you do, you will gradually pick up your pace - and that is when the magic happens.
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PeculiarBella
Maybe you'll be able to get a better paying job or raises in the future without lifestyle creep, so you're able to pay a little more in the years to come. Everyone has to start somewhere!
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PeculiarBella interesting, you should email the developer about the 999 line limit. He may change it. How much debt do you have? Because even with making the minimum payments, I don't think it should take 83 years (is that the right calculation) to pay it off. I know the credit card statement will usually tell you how long it will take to pay off if you only pay the minimum.
Are all the debts at super high interest rates? If they are, you may benefit from some debt consolidation on a lower rate. It only moves the amount from one place to another but in the long run it helps. I think undebt.it has a consolidation simulator (although it may just be in the paid version). If so, it may be worth it to pay the tiny amount for the software if only to help with managing the consolidation angle.
What is nice with the debt snowball is that when you sell something on craigslist and throw the amount at the debt, after a few of those, the months to payoff will decrease slowly bringing the finish line closer. Also, if you have a bunch of debts, this way you can see as each one is knocked off so after a while you can look at your progress even though it will sometimes feel like you are not making any progress at all.
And not to be a Debbie Downer but the mountain is the same whether you acknowledge it or not. So you have to think what would happen if you didn't intentionally attack the debt by managing your spending.
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MXMOM You're welcome to check out my journal entry to get a better understanding of our current situation. The majority of that is student loan debt and yes based on current payments. Admittedly, I was being a bit facetious and I know that over time we'll earn more money and have more room in our budget to add more to our debt payments, but as of right this moment, that's where we stand. We make just enough to cover our bills and immediate expenses and save money for maternity leave (we're due in October).
I've come to learn that this process has to be viewed as a marathon of the most intense degree. My husband is going back to school (more debt), the old adage of you have to spend money to make money is clearly alive and well in our household. So for now, we make our minimum payments, not go into debt for frivolous things, and keep moving forward. Right? Right.
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PeculiarBella I will catch up there. (BTW, love that you used facetious in a sentence. )
Baby on the way - pile up that money. Debt be damned!
BTW, there was a time we were right where you are. We ended up consolidating our debt into our mortgage and then racked up another $30K in debt. So we made a lot of hard decisions, some of which we should have made long ago. And we just keep on pushing forward. I kick myself when I realize that we bought our first house 25 years ago and we currently still owe more on our mortgage than the house cost. Granted, the house has gone up in value but every month I curse that $1800 mortgage payment.
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PeculiarBella turns out I did read (and comment) on your journal. Sorry for not remembering.
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