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July 1st marks our 2nd year of our Total Money Make Over with Dave Ramsey. Those who read my blog knows where I stand now.... but how did this all start for us?
How we got so far in debt - in a nutshell
Two Words: Credit Cards
One Idea: Living WELL past our means
Why?: Keeping up with the Joneses
Frame of Mind: Scared Stupid
It was just too easy to live on credit cards. It wasn't even that we were charging wonderful wardrobes, stereo equipment, vacations, posh furnishings for our house, etc. Because we weren't. Don't get me wrong, we were buying things we didn't really need but the brunt of our debt was basic survival charging: Groceries, Doctor's Visits, Bills, Dining Out, Diapers, Clothes, Gasoline etc. It was insane, but we charged over $1000. a month almost EVERY MONTH! Then there's Christmas, birthdays, weddings, etc. We didn't really see any problem with it as long as we were paying the min balance due every month - we were fine! Oh crack me in the head! It was just too easy to live on credit. The stupid thing (besides the obvious) is I could justify everything. I would cut coupons and save at the grocery store - but use my charge card to pay for it. I kept track of my grocery "savings" and put that money into a vacation fund so we could go to Disney. Stick with me on the thought process.
1. So I was taking money out of our checking account and moving it into a savings account for a Disney trip.
2. I used credit cards for the groceries at like a 12.5 APR.
3. Needed to use the charge card more because the extra cash was sitting in my savings instead of paying for things I needed or at least the groceries I bought!
Worse of all ... I didn't see a problem with this.
Our other survival tactic: The Balance Transfer Check
Can't pay the bill? Transfer the balance to another card! That means we don't have to make a payment this month! I did that often. Too often! Wayyyy too often.
So when Dave Ramsey says, "I've done Stupid." I can nod my head and raise my hand because friends... "I HAVE DONE STUPID!"
When to say when ...
I've attempted several times to throw up the white flag. "We need to cut back our credit card use" "We need to pay some of this stuff down" And we tapered down successfully for a little while... until a birthday or school clothes and supply shopping or Christmas. We were paying about what we were charging and while that was better than what we had been doing - it wasn't getting us anywhere! We were skimming yet we felt triumphant.
Finding the Light called Dave
Purely accidental. I had no idea who he was - this concept or anything about him until I was on a website/message board for coupons, deal hunters and freebie deals. There was a banner ad for Dave on there with comments from the forum regarding it. The banner ad was for Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. I clicked the ad and have followed ever since!
The Cold Hard Truth
How bad is bad? The numbers paint a story. Dave's first lesson is to come to reality with the debt. Add it all up. Get a number. Find out what kind of hurdle you need to leap. Our hurdle was in access of $65k - easy! In fact, I can't find the exact number when we first started but I know it including some very high balances on credit cards that had been surfed there for safe keeping and a car payment. I had read about people committing suicide for being in debt less than that or at the very least filing bankruptcy to try to get rid of it. Embarrassment had kept me out of bankruptcy court at first - Dave has kept me out of it since. My debt. My responsibility.
Not Perfect
Last July there was a moment of weakness and her name is: Golden Sand Mazda 3 to the tone of $325 a month. It is what it is. It's proof that I'm human. It's proof that I am still capable of making bad choices. It's proof that although I have come a long way .. there's still traveling left to do. If I hadn't bought the car I would have had that much more going into the snowball and I'd be that much closer to being debt free.... but instead: I'll be stumbling through Baby Step Two a little longer. So be it. As the snowball works it's magic the car will be paid off in half the time the loan was for.
Happy Anniversary
Here we sit at our second year - a little smarter, a little more secure and a lot more happy!
What an experience!
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Television pitchman Billy Mays — who built his fame by appearing on commercials and infomercials promoting household products and gadgets — died Sunday.
Mays, 50, was found unresponsive by his wife inside his Tampa, Fla., home at 7:45 a.m. on Sunday, according to the Tampa Police Department.
Police said there were no signs of forced entry to Mays' residence and foul play is not suspected. Authorities said an autopsy should be complete by Monday afternoon.
"Although Billy lived a public life, we don't anticipate making any public statements over the next couple of days. Our family asks that you respect our privacy during these difficult times," Mays wife, Deborah, said in a statement on Sunday.
- Fox News and other sources
We here at DebtFree4ever would like to wish our heartfelt condolences to the King of the Pitchmen. --- go ahead share your thoughts with me now. ----- follow me on Twitter
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ABC News reported 10 unconventional money saving tips. So what are they (watch the video for full details)? 1. Focus on getting over the $100,000 hump. Ok, the idea here is that you will have to save $1 million over the course of your life for retirement. The first $100,000 is the hardest, so you must focus on that huge hurdle. 2. Add back in income taxes when determining costs. Make spending more painful. Say you spend $2000 for a vacation. If you think about it as having to earn $3000 to spend that $2000, you might be a little more careful with your spending. 3. Use the multiply by 25 rule to determine how much it takes to finance for life each of your spending categories. say you spent $100/year on books. If you multiply that by 25 and put the $2500 in an account, the interest on that $2500 will fund your purchases in that category for life, so you never have to worry about it again. 4. Translate dollars spent into hours worked how many hours of your life did you give up to spend what you are spending on whatever? 5. Pursue short-term money saving goals Sounds a lot like what Dave Ramsey encourages on this one 6.Don't save in pursuit of a general desire to get ahead save for specific goals 7. Pursue Goals of Intense concern to you and you alone 8. 9.Don't Pay yourself first, pay yourself last very unique, have to listen to video to hear his explanation on this one 10. They interviewed Rob Bennett who wrote a book called Passion Savings. I certainly want to check this book out. --- go ahead share your thoughts with me now. ----- follow me on Twitter
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Savings Rate At 15-year HighThe AP reporting that the savings rate is at a 15-year high. This is great news considering the last few years, the reports indicated we had a negative savings rate.
WASHINGTON - Households pushed their savings rate to the highest level in more than 15 years in May as a big boost in incomes from the government's stimulus program was devoted more to bolstering nest eggs than increased spending.
The Commerce Department said Friday that consumer spending rose 0.3 percent in May, in line with expectations. But incomes jumped 1.4 percent, the biggest gain in a year and easily outpacing the 0.3 percent increase that economists expected.
The savings rate, which was hovering near zero in early 2008, surged to 6.9 percent, the highest level since December 1993.
FCC Approves Embarq SaleWhen I read this story, I was intrigued. However, one sentence in the story took my aback. In short a small regional company in the south is buying the Sprint spin off known as Embarq. OK, all good and well, but then the Topeka Capital Journal reports that 2/3 of the new company will be owned by the shareholders of Embarq. That is something I usually don't see. Smaller companies buy larger rivals all the time, but for the purchased company to have controlling interest, that's a new wrinkle.
While the company will be based at CenturyTel's headquarters, Embarq shareholders will own two-thirds of the business. They are set to receive 1.37 CenturyTel shares for each share of Embarq stock they own.
Based on CenturyTel's Wednesday close of $31.51, that's equivalent to $43.17 worth of CenturyTel stock for each Embarq share owned.
CenturyTel shares closed up 65 cents at $32.16 in trading Thursday while Embarq shares finished up $1.06 to $44.08.
CenturyTel Chief Executive Glen Post will hold the same position in the new company, with Tom Gerke, Embarq's CEO, as executive vice chairman.
CenturyTel Inc. expects to close its acquisition of Embarq Corp. on July 1. While the ticker symbol will stay the same, the new company will be called CenturyLink. --- go ahead share your thoughts with me now. ----- follow me on Twitter
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 As much of the nation was gripped by a heat wave, we here in Topeka was no different. The temperature outside danced around 100, with Topeka's heat index, being as high as 111. These days are good days to find air conditioning and stay in doors. For me that is to go to work and enjoy the indoor temperatures there. As my house the first two days never dipped below 95 degrees, even with the fans and dehumidifier running. Finally, on Tuesday, I had enough and went to Kmart, to buy 2 more fans. One a huge powerful fan to help blow some breeze in my kitchen and dinning room areas. The other a box fan, to help suck hot air out through my bedroom window by day, and bring in cooler air at night. This simple thing dropped the inside temperature to 89 after the first night and this morning after the second night of it, the house temperature was only 86 this morning when I woke up. Much more comfortable then it has been. We still have 48 hours of this extremely early and high temperatures, but I think I will cope with it just fine. Next year, once the car and everything is paid off, I will have been able to save the $2000 to install a central air unit finally. --- go ahead share your thoughts with me now. ----- follow me on Twitter
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Tonight, ABC had the actual story, in which they interviewed me for my credit card destruction video. The story part, of the "New Normal" series that they have been airing was called, Wackiest Ways to Destroy Your Credit Card.
Kevin Surbaugh, who runs a personal finance blog that he started when he first began to dig himself out of debt, said of credit cards, "They are a trap. They charge high interest rates."
So one day he and his friend, Sean Thornton, took out a gas-powered lawnmower and showed their credit cards who's boss.
"We both had credit cards we wanted to get rid of," Surbaugh said.
At one point, he had about $20,000 in credit card and automobile debt. Today, it is roughly $4,000, which Surbaugh plans to pay off by October.
On his plans for the extra cash when his debt disappears, he said, "Build my savings base. I've learned."
And thanks to his video of the lawnmower incident, others might also be learning.
As for Surbaugh, he has one credit card, which is nearly impossible to use: He keeps it in his bank's safe-deposit box.
See the complete story and related video by clicking here. --- go ahead share your thoughts with me now. ----- follow me on Twitter |
Happiness is ....Realizing that no matter what's been happening .... WE ARE SURVIVING! It looks as if my husband's job is back to normal swing. My job is at normal swing plus a day. The overtime I worked that I thought was going to kill me -- didn't and I have two really sweet paychecks to show for it. Through the darkness - we never used a credit card. We never fell behind in payments. We never once felt as if we were strapped or stuck. With our stashed cash (extra paycheck, tax refund money etc) and overtime check we were able to:- Send an extra $2000.00 to our lowest debt in July.
- Pay Extra towards what we owed for Property Taxes due in July
- Put aside some Play Money for summer (Summer Fest and Brewer game)
- Did all of our annual outside maintenance.
For those still wondering if ENVELOPES are a good idea:So far this summer we needed - $200 for lawn repair$200 for an air conditioner replacement part and labor$45 for driveway seal coatingAll of which came from an account already funded for Household Repairs and such. The only inconvenience I had was transferring the money from my Savings acct to my checking!! Thank goodness for thinking ahead! That would have been $445 on a credit card if we hadn't planned ahead! I'm truly thankful for the lessons I am learning!
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Did you see ABC News last onight? My video, where I destroyed not only my credit cards, but also those of a friend were part of a story on ABC News about unique ways to destroy credit cards. The Youtube Credit Card RevoltSurprisingly, they didn't edit out the name of my blog from the video clip that they showed. Shared via AddThis--- go ahead share your thoughts with me now. ----- follow me on Twitter |
Wednesday night, I had a date with a beautiful woman. The first date occurred after months, and I do mean months of flirting between the two of us. After all, don't want to move to fast. Overall, I think the date went well. I had won free tickets to see Land Of The Lost, so we went to see the 7:20 showing of that movie. Before hand, we enjoyed a quick, but enjoyable meal at Chick-fil-a. Last time I was there everything was carry out, even if it was dine-in. This time, they had trays and asked if it would be dine-in or carry out. I can certainly, say I'm looking forward to our next date. She is one terrific lady. --- go ahead share your thoughts with me now. ----- follow me on Twitter |
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