• Date Started: Oct 10, 2008
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Breakdown and October Goals

13 Responses to “Breakdown and October Goals”

1. Ima saver Says:
   October 10th, 2008 at 07:51 am
   Welcome, glad you have joined us!

2. mom-sense Says:
   October 10th, 2008 at 08:11 am
   
   I didn't see a student loan payment. Are these deferred because you are in school? Are you making any interest payments on those while in deferment?
   
   I don't see expenses for clothing and entertainment or kids activities. I know that my five take a huge amount out of our budget.
   
   I didn't see child support payments that your DH might be responsible for.
   
   With your remaining money, you could do away with some of the smaller credit card balances freeing up more money.
   
   Do you contribute to your 401K? DH's 401k?
   
   I needed to realize that it took me awhile to accumulate our debt, and will take awhile to get rid of it. I am not the patient kind. I do contribute to college and retirement and usually pay 1.5 x the minimum on my cards.
   
   

3. kdmoffett25 Says:
   October 10th, 2008 at 08:36 am
   I paid off two of the loans when we sold our house because it was combined into an Equity Line of Credit that was paid off then. I do occasionally make payments to the account, but it is a low interest account and they are deferred until I am out of school. My upromise account has paid $25 towards them so far, but I am not making many payments to them because I will focus on them once I get some credit cards paid down. Also when I get out of school, they will roll them into one low interest loan and with the Triple Pay Program, I will get 3.5% of my loan reduced. If you make 12 months of automatic payments, they reduce the loan by 1%, then 24 months they reduce another 1%, and at 36 months of automatic payments, they reduce another 1.5%. That will help, but I plan on making extra payments to get it down further quicker.
   
   The $250 misc. expenses are for entertainment and clothing expenses, as well as the extra $500 a month you could say. We are trying to be tighter, but it is not always working out here lately with the cost of everything going up. Right now, I am only paying minimum plus a little extra on some until I get past Christmas. Once January hits, I will be on them hard and heavy.
   
   My husband’s child support comes directly from his check, so I don’t include that into the budget since we never see it. That truly totals $750 a month, but if I don’t see, I don’t count it.
   
   I contribute to my 401k, only 1% as of now. I am increasing that next week once I pay off my final loan. I don’t have a true 401k in the sense that my company does not match anything I put into it. My goals are to increase again in March when we get out 2-4% raise. I hope to have 3% by April going to 401k and increase yearly until I reach 10%. My husband’s company has an awesome 401k, but he can’t contribute until November. They match his, plus give him an extra 5%-10% due to years in service, so right now, they put 5% into his 401k and he paying back loans on his 401k that is $60 every two weeks. I only have $2600 in my 401k and he has $7600. He had more, but we needed money for the down payment on our home, so he had to take a hardship at the end of April, hence the reason he can’t contribute until November. On a good note, we moved into our home with $30,000 equity from day one and got a great rate at 5.875% on a VA Loan since he was in the military.
   
   Just like you, I am impatient. I want it all gone now, but I know I can have it gone in 3 years completely. I love watching our credit scores go up with the reduction as well.
   

4. Michelle Says:
   October 10th, 2008 at 05:46 pm
   Have you read Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover? It would help you,I think. He would advise you to pay off the smallest card first and work your way through the debt. You seem to be spending a lot on your hubby's truck and gas -- is the truck essential to his work? And $700 sounds high for a family of four, for groceries, but sometimes I know people factor in a lot of other household products in their grocery category. It sounds like you are off to a great start and you and your husband make good salaries, so good luck!!

5. debtfreeme Says:
   October 10th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
   am I to understand you are a kristina moffett? With slight spelling differences we have the same name. Welcome to the board! Best of luck to you and the family.
   
   

6. monkeymama Says:
   October 11th, 2008 at 06:09 am
   I thought that name looked really familiar. Thanks for pointing out why - LOL.
   
   Welcome!
   
   

7. cptacek Says:
   October 11th, 2008 at 09:59 am
   Cell Phone $ 151.00
   Pest Control $ 35.00
   Phone & Alarm $ 180.00
   Satellite $ 95.00
   Looks like you could work on these.
   
   Is it necessary to have an alarm?
   
   Can you check around for a different home phone provider? Does this include long distance? If it does, why don't you use the cell phones more and not pay for long distance charge?
   
   How many phones do you have on the cell phone plan? Can you get rid of anything in that plan? Can you change your plan? Can you look for a different provider that fits your calling trends better? Does your 13 year old use the phone/text messaging WAY too much? If so, can he/she pay for it instead of you...might make him/her more in tune to what it costs.
   
   Do you have a lot of pests in your house, or could you spread out the treatments to once every 2 months or once every 6 months, or forgo it all together? Could you do it yourself?
   
   Do you have HBO, Cinemax, movie channels, etc? Can you drop anything? Can you switch providers?
   
   Usually, I'm a proponent of "pay the higher interest rate CC first". But, you have 13 credit cards. What a nightmare to keep track of! If you make some of the changes we've suggested, if it works for you, I would send that saved money directly to the lowest balance and start knocking off cards. At least until you get up to credit card 7 (starting with 13 and working up).
   
   And snowball it! Hope you know what I mean. Scrape together $138.54 and pay off CC13. Then, make sure you send at least $25 to CC12 ($10 from CC13 and $15 from CC12) every month, just like a bill, until you can scrape together $250 to pay off CC12. Then, send $37 plus any extra to CC11.
   
   If you stop using your CCs and snow ball this, it won't take long to knock these out!

8. kdmoffett25 Says:
   October 14th, 2008 at 05:20 am
   Thanks for the comment Michelle. Yes, our grocery bill is about $700, but that is for everything that we buy at the store, including extra purchases. Actually, we didn't go to the grocery store 2 weeks ago when we got paid and just went for this pay period, so we only spent $277 on groceries for this month. And I do stockpile everything because it is too far to go to the grocery store every other day.

9. kdmoffett25 Says:
   October 14th, 2008 at 05:44 am
   Cptacek,
   
   Our cell phone is usually $120 a month, less the $45 my husband’s company pays on our bill, which of course I forgot to include. So technically, it is $75 a month for 3 phones. My daughter has to have one because she is by herself a lot when she gets on the bus and since we live so far out and the bus stop is so far from the house, I want constant contact. We have construction in our neighborhood and there is another incident that the school and sheriff’s department is monitoring. There is a guy driving around asking the middle school girls what time they get home and just the ones that are alone. So it is a necessity for her to have one. I have unlimited texting on the phone and we never go over in minutes. We can’t stop because of the contract, but all phones are necessary for us. I have a job that I have to be in 24 hour reach as does my husband. Plus, I get a discount with my company on our phones. I talk to people where there are no minute usage, but my husband is the one that has to use the minutes with his work, which is why they pay $45 of the bill, even though I am sure they go over that at times, but we still have minutes to spare with Rollover, etc.
   
   Pest control is a necessity in our area. And $35 is a great deal. Most in our area charge $50 or more a month, but we have been with this company for 12 years. Our termite renewal is only $95, where most companies in our area charge $150 yearly, so we get a break there.
   
   The phone includes the basic phone, internet, and the alarm. That bill will drop in 1.5 years when we pay of the alarm, down to $100 a month. It is the only phone and dsl provider in the area. The alarm monitoring rate is the best rate at $21.00 a month, but it is the purchase that is hurting us. However, I feel it is a necessity. Again, our house sits off the road and behind trees. My children are home alone a lot and you know I haven’t seen my house on weekends until this weekend. We travel a lot with softball, but don’t stay in hotels unless there is no family nearby. We have gone to MO and played, but had no hotel or food costs (thanks mom-in-law) and most tournaments the past two months have been in MS and we stayed with my mom and had no hotel or food bill there as well (thanks mom).
   
   Thanks for the suggestions on the credit cards as well. I keep going back and forth on how to tackle it. I say higher interest rates first, but then I want to get rid of the little ones. I think I am going to attack the little ones first, which is some of the higher rate ones as well. However, the CC1 is top of my list, even though it is the highest balance of $1455 because I have 0% interest on that until May 2009. I have never paid interest on this account and don’t plan on starting now, but by my calculations, I can have all credit cards paid off by September 2009 and then start hacking away at my car notes and school loans.
   
   Someone asked above regarding my husband’s truck. It is a necessity as well because he works between Memphis (2 locations) and Hot Springs and has to haul parts in his truck. The bed is usually full. Not to mention, I drive a little Ford Focus (great on gas, don’t miss my Explorer at all!!!) that can’t hold our daughter’s bat bag, the cooler to avoid concession costs, and our luggage if out of town. Eventually, my husband wants to buy a used second car that is great on gas, but I nixed that idea until we are out of debt.
   
   I know I could put more of our salary to our debt, but we still have things to do to the house. We have two dogs and need a fence ($850 max), but I plan on using my tax refund for that or as my husband suggested, buying one piece at a time since they are only $45 each and by Spring we would have our fence or close to it. We need 11 sections at $45 each, 15 posts at $15 each, 1 gate at $60 and then the hardware which I estimate around $65.
   

10. kdmoffett25 Says:
    October 14th, 2008 at 05:48 am
    I forgot to address the satellite. We do have Starz, but that is it. We don't rent movies and my husband has to have certain channels. I really only watch local TV on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, but he is not willing to sacrafice his satellite. Trust me, I tried. Cable in our area is by one certain company and they are not my favorite. They hook you in and raise the rates. My satellite bill is actually less now than my cable bill was 5 years ago when we got the satellite. And half the time, it was out... go figure. Memphis has alot of monopolies even though they won't admit it. I wish I was 200 yards further into Tipton Co and could get away with the utility company.
    

11. MorningShowHeather Says:
    October 14th, 2008 at 09:17 am
    Hi! I work for a nationally syndicated morning show and we are looking for families that are in debt to appear on our show and speak to some great experts this Thursday. If you are interested, can you please e-mail me at morningshowheather@hotmail.com. Be sure to include the best contact number to reach you!

12. HELPmeFind Says:
    October 15th, 2008 at 06:32 am
    Where in the world do you have 40 light bulbs. Turn a light off once and a while.
    Don't change the bulb until the old one burns out. That would just be a waste.
    
    Also, don't let the savings thing get to you.
    If I had money in savings, it was a miracle. You just have to take out a small amount. Don't do $100 a week, since you need it to pay bills. Take about $25 a month. If you can do more after a couple of months, make it $50.
    Pushing yourself to do too much too soon causes burn out!

13. kdmoffett25 Says:
    October 15th, 2008 at 07:24 am
    We don't have them all on at once, but the ones that the builder put in are all burning out fast (and we have only been there for 5 months... he put some real doozies in there). I am saving the old ones that weren't burned out until we replace them all. However, I have changed them in the ones that the kids tend to leave on and I follow turning off. The kids are learning quickly what happens when you don't close doors or turn off lights. Alissa, the older one, is best. She is like me and can sit in the dark and not have a light on. Hunter, the 8 yr old, has been grounded twice now for lights and doors that we caught him on. He is learning. One day the first offense and add a day for each offense. He also has a habit of turning the fans off, but now that is in the grounding part too. It is the only way to get through to him is to take away his freedom. By doing this, our utility bill (without the new lights) was $200 less the next month.
    
    On the savings part, it has been $100 a pay period (every two weeks) for almost 2 years (yea I should have at least $4800 in there, but we don't). I have readjusted my budget to allow for more setbacks and am getting used to it. I posted my goals for attacking the credit cards in a new post earlier and it is very manageable.
    
    Thanks for looking and for the suggestions. If I still struggle with staying afloat, I will definately cut back on putting into savings, but for now, I am going to let it ride for another pay period or two.

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