View Full Version : The balance between paying down debt and savings
I have credit card debt I’m working on paying down. But I also need to build savings. The balance between the two is the thorny issue.
I’m putting 10% in my 401K. $4K in a savings account.
Given the ongoing situation at work I’ve detailed elsewhere, I feel the need to have more in savings than I currently do. I would also like to replace my car within the next year, but I can probably just push that out some.
The big bugaboo for my budget is fast food. Coffee at McD in the am. Although I do use the app so it’s only $0.99.
I don’t have any streaming services. I have digital subscriptions to the Economist and NYT, plus Apple Music, that only come out to about $40/month. I read, I don’t watch TV. It’s winter now so except for the occasional WI mine diving, I won’t be diving until April or May. I can hunker down in the winter and really save. I want to get the credit card debt GONE. I really need to sit down with the numbers.
I did not serious with savings until I kept a one year record book of all expenditures down to the penny. Fast food is bad for your health so there's that reason to skip too. Not sure why but I get email offers for various digital pubs like NYT or WaPo that are $4 a month - just have to cancel before they charge full price.
I have the $4/month for NYT. Economist is $20/month and Apple Music is $12/month.
A tip for the NYT (and possibly the economist). Cancel it when it’s time to renew. I wud that with WAPO and they immediately offered a significantly discounted price.
A tip for the NYT (and possibly the economist). Cancel it when it’s time to renew. I wud that with WAPO and they immediately offered a significantly discounted price.
Thanks
sweetana3
10-13-23, 6:43pm
I am going to throw out something different but only for this situation due to job issue. Put everything into savings right now (pay minimum on CCs) until there is more stability in your current job or you get a new one. Reason: You can always pay minimum on CC debt but if you have any emergency need for funds, it will be immediate and necessary.
Would be great to not have CC debt but your emergency need could come fast and be for necessary living expenses. Maybe reevaluate every 3 months.
Could you pick up extra work teaching beginning divers?
Could you pick up extra work teaching beginning divers?
I’m not a dive instructor. You have to be trained and have the certification to do that, as well as the insurance for it. Apparently a lot of instructors are giving it up due to the insurance costs.
I’m not a dive instructor. You have to be trained and have the certification to do that, as well as the insurance for it. Apparently a lot of instructors are giving it up due to the insurance costs.
That is too bad, but I can see why.
rosarugosa
10-14-23, 6:07am
Would you consider a part-time side job? Maye something just temporary for the holidays?
Would you consider a part-time side job? Maye something just temporary for the holidays?
Physically impossible with my knees. I was diagnosed with severe osteoarthritis in both knees a couple of months ago. I can’t stand for a 90 min church service so I sit in choir (no one else does), so there’s no way I’d be able to do a retail job.
And I have to admit, it wouldn’t be good for my mental health to go from stressful full time job to a retail job. I need downtime.
To be honest, I make good money. I just need to buckle down and be more disciplined about things.
catherine
10-14-23, 8:06am
If you go strictly by the Dave Ramsey playbook, you would have only $1000 in savings, stop paying on your retirement and knock off the debt by every means possible, and then go back to saving.
I am having the same conundrum because we are finally making an official transfer of our house to our son who is buying it. I also have debt and so I have been grappling with the same question. I will absolutely kill me to use one penny of the house money to pay off debt because I need that little bit of money for our retirement, but when I look at the interest rates going out to the debt vs the interest rates that would come in with invested money, to me it makes no sense to continue paying off the debt over time when I can just eliminate it. But I tell you, it breaks my heart to have to do it.
Catherine, I’m 54 and have retirement savings in a IRA that was a rollover 401K from a job years ago. I lost some years saving for retirement due to Covid unemployment, having a job without a 401K, and having to wait to be eligible for current job’s 401K.
I just put $1K on cc yesterday as thr middle of the month paycheck doesn’t have much allocated from it.
catherine
10-14-23, 8:20am
Catherine, I’m 54 and have retirement savings in a IRA that was a rollover 401K from a job years ago. I lost some years saving for retirement due to Covid unemployment, having a job without a 401K, and having to wait to be eligible for current job’s 401K.
I just put $1K on cc yesterday as thr middle of the month paycheck doesn’t have much allocated from it.
You mean you put 1k towards a credit card?
I have a relative who gets The Economist online free from the public library. I'm not exactly sure how that works but suppose it's much like checking out their digital books.
I don't have any brilliant ideas on the rest, but most financial advisers I'm followed recommend maxing out a 401k if the employer offers matching funds, which is basically free money. I might be in the pay off credit cards first crowd just because debt makes my uncomfortable, but it is a balance.
iris lilies
10-14-23, 8:38am
If you go strictly by the Dave Ramsey playbook, you would have only $1000 in savings, stop paying on your retirement and knock off the debt by every means possible, and then go back to saving.
I am having the same conundrum because we are finally making an official transfer of our house to our son who is buying it. I also have debt and so I have been grappling with the same question. I will absolutely kill me to use one penny of the house money to pay off debt because I need that little bit of money for our retirement, but when I look at the interest rates going out to the debt vs the interest rates that would come in with invested money, to me it makes no sense to continue paying off the debt over time when I can just eliminate it. But I tell you, it breaks my heart to have to do it.
Aren’t we strange in our attitudes about money? Because I feel strangulated at the idea of debt and would rather have an asset balance sheet of $0 with 0 debt than debt plus some assets. I celebrate the folks on Mr Money mustache who get to $0 asset status with no consumer debt in their financial journey, I consider that the first critical milestone in financial health. The next one is assets of $100,000.
But of course this does not address the interest rate you are paying catherine and if it is low enough, it might well be a good financial move to keep the debt and continue to pay it down. It isn’t always smart to pay off debt, though I guess you did say your interest rate is high enough that you should pay it off.
happystuff
10-14-23, 9:30am
My strategy would depend on how much debt there actually is.
I kind of agree with sweetana3 about the building the savings - especially considering your other job posts. The good thing about that is, if you put more towards saving and the job situation becomes more secure, you can then pull the money out of savings to pay off the debt.
I have a relative who gets The Economist online free from the public library. I'm not exactly sure how that works but suppose it's much like checking out their digital books.
I don't have any brilliant ideas on the rest, but most financial advisers I'm followed recommend maxing out a 401k if the employer offers matching funds, which is basically free money. I might be in the pay off credit cards first crowd just because debt makes my uncomfortable, but it is a balance.
My library stopped offering it earlier this year because the Economist changed some rules about loaning their digital editions. I’m finding that it had invaluable information that affects my work so I’m keeping it.
You mean you put 1k towards a credit card?
Yes.
I’m going into my off season for diving. There’s occasional WI mine (cave) diving, but maybe once a month at most. I cancelled my MX trip so there’s no winter trip this year. I should be able to hunker down and either throw cash in my savings or at the cc. I’m still mulling over all the responses, thank you.
iris lilies
10-14-23, 10:27am
Yes.
I’m going into my off season for diving. There’s occasional WI mine (cave) diving, but maybe once a month at most. I cancelled my MX trip so there’s no winter trip this year. I should be able to hunker down and either throw cash in my savings or at the cc. I’m still mulling over all the responses, thank you.
You are a dozen-ish years away from retirement, although, of course, you don’t have to retire at your Social Security full retirement age. But I think you should be looking towards a program of putting on your charge card only that what you can pay off at the end of the month. By retirement, plan to live on no credit..
My strategy would depend on how much debt there actually is.
I kind of agree with sweetana3 about the building the savings - especially considering your other job posts. The good thing about that is, if you put more towards saving and the job situation becomes more secure, you can then pull the money out of savings to pay off the debt.
Ooh, that's smart!
Tradd, when we were at our financial low, we sold our paid off house and bought a foreclosure for cash and then cash flowed the improvements--which were significant since the people had ripped out the kitchen, etc,. We used money from selling the first house to get out of debt.
Until we took out a mortgage so we could come out here to help my parents, we were debt free for 13 years. We went to a Dave Ramsey class- my husband kicking and screaming, as he was out of work and embarrassed--and honestly, it helped so much. We did what he said and we turned things around.
Now we are thinking of unloading this house to get out of the mortgage and getting something smaller and lesser. I don't like giving up things like acreage, but we are getting older and it is harder to work. We both have the kind of arthritis you have and so getting extra jobs is out of the question.
My personal take would be if you have the 1000 in emergency funds, throw everything at the debt. Or if you can't do that because of potential job instability, throw half in the debt. I would suspend the 401k--I know, unpopular opinion but it was what Dave said to do, and I would do it, do anything to get out of cc debt. Then you can have your life back, and start maxing out for retirement.
You are a dozen-ish years away from retirement, although, of course, you don’t have to retire at your Social Security full retirement age. But I think you should be looking towards a program of putting on your charge card only that what you can pay off at the end of the month. By retirement, plan to live on no credit..
Charge card? Geez, who calls them that anymore? I’ve not heard that in ages. LOL
I’m planning to retire at 70. I get more social security that way. My retirement age for full ss is 68. With a desk job, I’m going to go as long as I can. Remember, it’s just me. I don’t have a spouse/partner to count on. That’s why I’m throwing so much in 401K right now. I also got hit with taxes big time last year since I had no 401K contributions to lessen my gross income. I think I had to pay something like $2Kish. I don’t want to go hit with that again. I have no mortgage interest deduction since I rent. I’m fortunate my rent is only $1K a month. At least $300 below market level.
Tradd, when we were at our financial low, we sold our paid off house and bought a foreclosure for cash and then cash flowed the improvements--which were significant since the people had ripped out the kitchen, etc,. We used money from selling the first house to get out of debt.
Until we took out a mortgage so we could come out here to help my parents, we were debt free for 13 years. We went to a Dave Ramsey class- my husband kicking and screaming, as he was out of work and embarrassed--and honestly, it helped so much. We did what he said and we turned things around.
Now we are thinking of unloading this house to get out of the mortgage and getting something smaller and lesser. I don't like giving up things like acreage, but we are getting older and it is harder to work. We both have the kind of arthritis you have and so getting extra jobs is out of the question.
My personal take would be if you have the 1000 in emergency funds, throw everything at the debt. Or if you can't do that because of potential job instability, throw half in the debt. I would suspend the 401k--I know, unpopular opinion but it was what Dave said to do, and I would do it, do anything to get out of cc debt. Then you can have your life back, and start maxing out for retirement.
I’m leaning towards throwing everything at the cc for now, at least. There’s little chance of the company going under, and I think I’m going to just buckle down and stay here for a while due to what I make. I expect I’d take a bit of a pay cut to go elsewhere.
Thanks, all!
iris lilies
10-14-23, 10:57am
Charge card? Geez, who calls them that anymore? I’ve not heard that in ages. LOL
I’m planning to retire at 70. I get more social security that way. My retirement age for full ss is 68. With a desk job, I’m going to go as long as I can. Remember, it’s just me. I don’t have a spouse/partner to count on. That’s why I’m throwing so much in 401K right now. I also got hit with taxes big time last year since I had no 401K contributions to lessen my gross income. I think I had to pay something like $2Kish. I don’t want to go hit with that again. I have no mortgage interest deduction since I rent. I’m fortunate my rent is only $1K a month. At least $300 below market level.
credit card/ charge card, same thing.
iris lilies
10-14-23, 11:03am
Tybee, I’m surprised you were thinking about giving up acreage, but I have to say, that’s a smart move. Farmettes are popular and are expensive.
We find we can putter around our one acre in town perfectly well. Of course we don’t have large animals. Is that what you want to do on your acreage, have animals?
Tybee, I’m surprised you were thinking about giving up acreage, but I have to say, that’s a smart move. Farmettes are popular and are expensive.
We find we can putter around our one acre in town perfectly well. Of course we don’t have large animals. Is that what you want to do on your acreage, have animals?
Yes, which is another reason to sell this place, which is not well suited for horses and is forest and wetlands, and 10 acres of it is completely unusable wetlands. We weren't even buying that part, it was Covid time, and he threw it in because he realized he didn't want to pay taxes on it and that's where the well was. It's a nice buffer between us and the lake but there is no way to access the lake.
I'd like 2-5 acres with a stable, without a forest. We both realized after coming here we despise living in the middle of a forest. It's creepy and filled with ticks. Although I love the privacy with the forest as a buffer, you can't see any neighbors. I like that.
frugal-one
10-14-23, 2:25pm
I hear people saying they are going to work until age 70 because they will get a few hundred dollars a month more and I cringe. Will you be physically able to do what you want at age 70? Is a few hundred dollars a month more worth it to give up your freedom? Like IR, my philosophy has always been to be frugal and retire ASAP. Also, like IL, we can buy or get whatever we want because of previous frugality. Lately I have been spending money hand over fist. I have to remind myself not to worry about cost but get what best meets the need or desire. Think I freaked DH when I told him to buy a more expensive item lately. But by being frugal and only using the credit card when we were sure we could pay the balance in full each month have we arrived at this juncture. IMO that is the key to success as well as living way below your means. YLMV. So, in saying all this, I agree getting out of credit card debt is the best option.
I’m single. No kids, no partner. I think I would be bored out of my mind at home.
Aside from my bad knees, I’m in pretty good health. I’m carrying extra weight, but my m working on getting some of it off. I don’t smoke and I hardly drink at all. I hope to move to working some or mostly from home as I get older.
I hear people saying they are going to work until age 70 because they will get a few hundred dollars a month more and I cringe. Will you be physically able to do what you want at age 70? Is a few hundred dollars a month more worth it to give up your freedom? Like IR, my philosophy has always been to be frugal and retire ASAP. Also, like IL, we can buy or get whatever we want because of previous frugality. Lately I have been spending money hand over fist. I have to remind myself not to worry about cost but get what best meets the need or desire. Think I freaked DH when I told him to buy a more expensive item lately. But by being frugal and only using the credit card when we were sure we could pay the balance in full each month have we arrived at this juncture. IMO that is the key to success as well as living way below your means. YLMV
Agree wholeheartedly!
I have to question all the plans and media advice to work until one is 70. I am fast approaching that age and it is frustrating how each year brings on new physical limitations. In our mid 50s we were in Tradd's situation wondering how to pay off debt and save at the same time. We got very lucky with being able to sell a house at the right time and with the proceeds paying off all debt and buying this house for cash. My advice would be to go half and half towards debt and saving.
catherine
10-14-23, 6:14pm
I hear people saying they are going to work until age 70 because they will get a few hundred dollars a month more and I cringe. Will you be physically able to do what you want at age 70? Is a few hundred dollars a month more worth it to give up your freedom? Like IR, my philosophy has always been to be frugal and retire ASAP. Also, like IL, we can buy or get whatever we want because of previous frugality. Lately I have been spending money hand over fist. I have to remind myself not to worry about cost but get what best meets the need or desire. Think I freaked DH when I told him to buy a more expensive item lately. But by being frugal and only using the credit card when we were sure we could pay the balance in full each month have we arrived at this juncture. IMO that is the key to success as well as living way below your means. YLMV. So, in saying all this, I agree getting out of credit card debt is the best option.
There's nothing wrong with aiming for not retiring until 70 to maximize SS benefits. I think Tradd has good reasons for her decisions. Of course you can't predict what your health is like. That's true for any age. I guess it depends on your attitude towards work.
catherine
10-14-23, 6:23pm
Aren’t we strange in our attitudes about money? Because I feel strangulated at the idea of debt and would rather have an asset balance sheet of $0 with 0 debt than debt plus some assets. I celebrate the folks on Mr Money mustache who get to $0 asset status with no consumer debt in their financial journey, I consider that the first critical milestone in financial health. The next one is assets of $100,000.
But of course this does not address the interest rate you are paying catherine and if it is low enough, it might well be a good financial move to keep the debt and continue to pay it down. It isn’t always smart to pay off debt, though I guess you did say your interest rate is high enough that you should pay it off.
I agree with what you are saying, and in terms of general principles, I agree that it's way better to have no debt and no money than some money and a lot of debt. I think my emotional reaction is because a) it represents a personal failure in terms of my goal to have no debt at this point, use the proceeds of the NJ house to pay off the VT house and have absolutely no debt. The fact that I have to take care of this G@% D%*& F*%!ing debt is so maddening and disheartening; and b) the proceeds of the house is what we have to show for 35 hears of life raising our family. It does not deserve to be the penance for our financial sins.
Tybee, you mentioned you went to FPU with your husband. I'm thinking that I should also try to drag DH to a class, or at least not do a thing with the money until we're on the same page. He seems to think it would be just fine to die and leave our kids to clean up our mess, which would probably mean, they'd have to sell the VT house to do it, and that scenario will take place over my dead body.
He was very against going and then when he went, he really loved it and got thoroughly into it. Your husband might do the same.
rosarugosa
10-15-23, 6:15am
I have one thought to add on the credit card situation. If you feel that you currently have a handle on cc spending, then it would be worthwhile to get a second cc and use that for all current purchases that you are paying off at the end of each month. If you only use one card, the one with the debt, then you are tacking some interest onto even current purchases being paid off promptly, because they charge the interest on the entire balance. If you are someone for whom a new card would be a green flag to go out and charge up to the new credit limit, then this would obviously not be a good strategy. There are also some cards that will pay you an initial sign-on bonus, such as Wells Fargo, $200 after an initial spending requirement. They also pay double points on all purchases that can be redeemed for cash. You might already have more than one cc, but just a thought if you don't.
You also might want to look at your current tax withholding. If you are someone who likes to have a lot withheld in order to get a big tax refund check, it is smarter to decrease the withholding to get closer to the break-even point, since you could be putting that extra money on debt and savings throughout the year.
I ended up cancelling the Economist. I've still got the NYT as that's only $4/month. I forgot I had a $20/month unlimited subscription to a local car wash. Cancelled that, too. I cancelled Weight Watchers. That was $20/month and was going to increase. I've got a much better idea of what to eat after doing it since January. So that's gone, too. I'm keeping Apple Music ($11/month).
rosa, I have the Apple Card and that's what I use for current purchases I pay off immediately. The cash back goes to Apple Cash (think electronic debit card) that I use a lot. I use the cash back for treats of McD coffee (which turns out to be $0.99 with the app). I also use Apple Cash for my "fun money." I'll put about $50 per paycheck on Apple Cash.
Ended up throwing another $500 on the credit card with the balance. Would have done more but I've got an orthopedist appt next week for cortisone shots in both knees. That will be several hundred. I'll pay cash (via debit card). It's finally cooled (last 10 days or so) that I was able to turn off the ac (I have massive hot flashes so run it constantly).
My tax withholding is fine - I don't want a big refund. I just don't want to end up having to pay more every April. That has happened the last two years with making more (I'm making $20K more than I did in March 2021 when I got current job) and not having 401K contributions to reduce my gross income.
Car: I have a 2018 Ford Escape (bought new in Jan 2019) with 113K miles on it. Paid off for months. Sticker was $25K, dealership had it for $18K. I got it for $17K as I was a repeat customer at that dealership. I really want another car - I want Apple CarPlay which my base model Escape cannot do. Ford is getting rid of the Escape (among other models) to concentrate more on EV. So the replacement will likely be a Subaru Crosstrek or Outback (many diving friends have them and I see how well they work for hauling all the gear with better MPG than the 26 mpg the Escape gets), but the cost of new vehicles or even slightly used has me in shock compared with what I paid for the Escape. I hope to keep the Escape running for another 2-3 years, but it depends on how much I'm driving. Part of the reason I want to save as well as paying off debt is in case I need to replace the Escape sooner than planned. I"m also keeping my eyes out for cars that might be similar to the Crosstrek, but less expensive.
Reduced cell phone bill by $10. Going to stop by the Xfinity store to see what I can do to reduce my internet.
Tradd, you are inspiring me to looking into canceling some subscriptions I have gotten suckered into.
Tradd, you are inspiring me to looking into canceling some subscriptions I have gotten suckered into.
Good! I’m glad I posted as it made me look at what I had. Apple Music is staying. I can download music to my iPhone which means I don’t eat up mobile data from streaming music while I drive. That alone is worth it. I might even cancel the NYT. I’m a huge radio listener and get much of my news that way anyway.
iris lilies
10-16-23, 11:11am
I’m dropping masterpiece PBS today as I think I’ve run through most of us to see there. Reproductions are great, but so many of them are detective shows and I’m just not interested in those. And I can get so many good Britishers via Netflix or prime.
Wow, you are really going!
iris lilies
10-16-23, 5:48pm
NYT is gone too.
my public library supports reading in New York times website, or their ap. You get a choice.
You get a three day pass to read the New York Times. Then it expires. Then you have to renew for another 3 day pass.
my public library supports reading in New York times website. You get a three day pass to read the New York Times. And it expired. Then you have to renew a three day pass.
I just was going to suggest the same. Our library has the NY Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Marin Independent, the San Francisco Chronicle and numerous magazines. They don't carry WaPo though so I will keep subscribing to that.
my public library supports reading in New York times website, or their ap. You get a choice.
You get a three day pass to read the New York Times. Then it expires. Then you have to renew for another 3 day pass.
Oh! I will check that out then, thanks!
I also found the leading candidate for my next car. Toyota Corolla Cross hybrid. The base model has AWD and Apple CarPlay and costs the same as a Crosstrek. I looked at a Cross on the lot tonight. Very nice. Amazing amount of cargo room. Definitely not ready to buy now, but helps to have a decision pretty much made.
iris lilies
10-20-23, 9:45am
Oh! I will check that out then, thanks!
I also found the leading candidate for my next car. Toyota Corolla Cross hybrid. The base model has AWD and Apple CarPlay and costs the same as a Crosstrek. I looked at a Cross on the lot tonight. Very nice. Amazing amount of cargo room. Definitely not ready to buy now, but helps to have a decision pretty much made.
The downside to this NY Times subscription thru the public library is that I now get 2+ emails from NYT every day. I suppose I can opt out of them. ? But still, a pain.
Every time my WaPo subscription is about to run out, I cancel it as well and they bring me back in at the $34 (or so) rate. I've done this for the past three years and its worked so far.
catherine
10-25-23, 11:21am
Every time my WaPo subscription is about to run out, I cancel it as well and they bring me back in at the $34 (or so) rate. I've done this for the past three years and its worked so far.
I just got a huge discount on my WSJ subscription when I tried to cancel online.
So I’ve been digging into my local library’s website for digital content services that I might be able to get The Economist. Nothing that I could find, so I just emailed the library to ask. There’s an app called PressReader that I can get The NYT through, but it’s the actual digital newspaper, not stories on an app. I miss the NYT app.
I’m giving Apple News+ a try. $13/month. No Economist or NYT (you get a few articles of each), but I do get the Wall Street Journal and the Times of London. So alternative sources that may work. Tons of magazines and other newspapers, too. Very easy to cancel if I don’t like it.
It’s a news aggregator. Tons of different publications.
What my library said via email about the Economist when I asked.
“Libby lost The Economist to a competing product called PressReader. We have that service too. Unfortunately, PressReader didn't add the magazine to the package we are already paying for. We would have had to pay for The Economist separately, and they asked an exorbitant amount. We decided not to add it at that price. Sorry.
“It's frustrating, but the options for library access to online content are very limited. Providers can charge crazy rates, and libraries have to suck it up and pay it, or say no because there's nowhere else to go.”
NOTE: university libraries have the Economist, but if you are not a student, with a university email, you’re out of luck.
Tradd, you are inspiring me to looking into canceling some subscriptions I have gotten suckered into.
@Tybee
Did you find any subscriptions to cancel?
Hi--I did, thank you, a streaming subscription for Paramount, I think it was? Still need to do something about a weight loss program that is 59 dollars a month--either use it every day or drop it.
Acquired a new one, for the concierge doctor, so I have to cut back somewhere else.
My favorite YT frugal channel is Frugal Queen in France. I remember her blog from years ago. Anyway, I found she had a video on my question.
https://youtu.be/gSWHb2PHbkM
That house is so aspirational! I love that question, "How does this debt make me feel?"
That is how I feel about my mortgage.
I am definitely the anxious type she describes that cannot split my energy.
Hi--I did, thank you, a streaming subscription for Paramount, I think it was? Still need to do something about a weight loss program that is 59 dollars a month--either use it every day or drop it.
Acquired a new one, for the concierge doctor, so I have to cut back somewhere else.
Is the weight loss program Noom?
No, I tried that one and it did not work for me. Also Weight Watchers. Or I did not work for them, maybe. Made me obsessed with thinking about food and I gained on both.
catherine
10-30-23, 8:18am
That house is so aspirational! I love that question, "How does this debt make me feel?"
That is how I feel about my mortgage.
I am definitely the anxious type she describes that cannot split my energy.
I agree! I watched the whole thing, minus the parts about children and pensions. I agree with Tybee, the question "how does debt make me feel" is key.
My issue is that the way it makes me feel and the way it makes DH feel are totally different. To try to get him to understand the impact debt is having on our quality of life (particularly mine, because I'm the one working to service it), I went onto Ramsey's free "EverydayDollar" site, where you can construct your budget in a very user-friendly way. I input the money we will be getting in in November, and I prefilled the fixed expenses for him, and I asked him to simply go in and fill in the discretionary expenses, matching the expenditures against the income.
Well, he came in whining that he in't understand it. "Why are things so hard?? What's wrong with paper and pencil??" I told him, of course paper and pencil are fine, but that means you have to constantly adjust manually which is a major pain. "I think we should do this together." he whined.
I specifically wanted him to take the first pass so that he couldn't "blame" me for restricting our spending. So HE could see that the incoming and outgoing aren't lining up. Especially as I am into my 70s, I'm darn lucky that I am still working, even though my income was down 40% this year.
I really want to channel Dave Ramsey right now, when he so cleverly dresses down clueless people. I want to tell DH to put on his big boy pants and grow up.
Anyway, mini-vent over--Tradd, thanks for that video. I'm going to check out other ones, and I'm going to ask DH to watch it. He might feel less threatened by this nice British woman than he would by a no-holds-barred Dave Ramsey.
Frugal Queen wrote that in her early days The Tightwad Gazette and Dave Ramsey were big influences.
iris lilies
10-30-23, 10:54am
Hi--I did, thank you, a streaming subscription for Paramount, I think it was? Still need to do something about a weight loss program that is 59 dollars a month--either use it every day or drop it.
Acquired a new one, for the concierge doctor, so I have to cut back somewhere else.
oooo! Keep us informed and how much you like your new doctor. I called mine “a direct care physician “because that’s how she advertises her services. I pay a little less than $1000 a year. She expanded her practice and it covers a few towns now. The last few times I’ve been to the doctor office I see the nurse practitioner, but that’s fine with me, I’m not a very sophisticated user of healthcare services.
The last time I talked to her via email she said she was booked about a week out. That’s not very much in my mind. I can always get into see a nurse practitioner within a day or two.
iris lilies
10-30-23, 11:12am
@Tybee
Did you find any subscriptions to cancel?
have you heard of that commercial service that will cancel subscriptions for you? It’s advertised on Podcasts. Whenever I hear them, I think good Lord, do people have so many subscriptions you can’t track them?
I just canceled a streaming subscription to STARZ yesterday. I had signed up for it two days prior. There’s nothing in that channel that’s worth, watching other than the one production I signed up for.
I have two permanent streaming subscriptions, Prime and Netflix. Those are huge and provide tons of content. Those, plus an occasional dip into HBO Max or one of the British subscriptions works for me.
As for text subscriptions, I subscribe to National Review and I think I’m going to start up a subscription to the Free Press.
at the moment I have a subscription to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that is free and will kick in a cost in about a month, but I’m not sure I’m gonna go with it. Still, I will say this for the STL PD: they apparently are not covering national news much at all and I think that’s where they should be, concentrating on regional news.
we also subscribe to our town’s weekly newspaper.
have you heard of that commercial service that will cancel subscriptions for you? It’s advertised on Podcasts. Whenever I hear them, I think good Lord, do people have so many subscriptions you can’t track them?
I just canceled a streaming subscription to STARZ yesterday. I had signed up for it two days prior. There’s nothing in that channel that’s worth, watching other than the one production I signed up for.
I have two permanent streaming subscriptions, Prime and Netflix. Those are huge and provide tons of content. Those, plus an occasional dip into HBO Max or one of the British subscriptions works for me.
As for text subscriptions, I subscribe to National Review and I think I’m going to start up a subscription to the Free Press.
at the moment I have a subscription to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that is free and will kick in a cost in about a month, but I’m not sure I’m gonna go with it. Still, I will say this for the STL PD: they apparently are not covering national news much at all and I think that’s where they should be, concentrating on regional news.
we also subscribe to our town’s weekly newspaper.
IL, if you were in a financial tight spot, would you be willing to get rid of all or most of the subscriptions to free up money? I was talking to a few friends at church yesterday about this. One guy said he would love to just slash this stuff, but the whining of the wife and kids would be relentless.
I cancelled Apple News+. It was really nice, but I think I’ll just go back to getting my local news from the radio and everything else from BBC Radio or their website.
iris lilies
10-30-23, 2:13pm
IL, if you were in a financial tight spot, would you be willing to get rid of all or most of the subscriptions to free up money? I was talking to a few friends at church yesterday about this. One guy said he would love to just slash this stuff, but the whining of the wife and kids would be relentless.
Of course. I didn’t START any of these subscriptions, with the exception of the local newspaper, until I had a couple million in the bank.
I can be black belt frugal when necessary.
I laugh about our cable-less life for decades. We never wired our former house for cable TV service because we did not use it, but I always worried about that for selling it. But by the time we sold it, cable tv service was outdated, there was no need for it.
we do have cable TV service in Hermann though, because the surrounding hills block any broadcast waves coming in. I do not watch it, but DH does.
oooo! Keep us informed and how much you like your new doctor. I called mine “a direct care physician “because that’s how she advertises her services. I pay a little less than $1000 a year. She expanded her practice and it covers a few towns now. The last few times I’ve been to the doctor office I see the nurse practitioner, but that’s fine with me, I’m not a very sophisticated user of healthcare services.
The last time I talked to her via email she said she was booked about a week out. That’s not very much in my mind. I can always get into see a nurse practitioner within a day or two.
Will do. Mine is what you called yours--she is also a "direct primary care physician." She does some procedures free such as knee injections. It is a hundred dollars a month. I have to call and make an appointment to discuss the results of all these tests I've had this year.
catherine
10-31-23, 8:13am
My issue is that the way it makes me feel and the way it makes DH feel are totally different. To try to get him to understand the impact debt is having on our quality of life (particularly mine, because I'm the one working to service it), I went onto Ramsey's free "EverydayDollar" site, where you can construct your budget in a very user-friendly way. I input the money we will be getting in in November, and I prefilled the fixed expenses for him, and I asked him to simply go in and fill in the discretionary expenses, matching the expenditures against the income.
Well, he came in whining that he in't understand it. "Why are things so hard?? What's wrong with paper and pencil??" I told him, of course paper and pencil are fine, but that means you have to constantly adjust manually which is a major pain. "I think we should do this together." he whined.
Not to continue the hijack of Tradd's thread, but to folow-up on this earlier post, DH and I had a 2 hour budget meeting last night!! And we didn't have any fights. We did use the EveryDollar Dave Ramsey free budget program, because it's a lot more user-friendly than my YNAB program. We went through every category discussing it, and his takeaway was exactly what I hoped for--that we are spending beyond our means.
I thanked him and hugged him and while I know there will be a fairly steep learning curve if we manage to continue collaborating on this, it's all good! We'll have a much better chance of digging ourselves out of the hole and working towards a reasonable retirement, financially-speaking.
And actually this does tie back to the OP because today I am going to work on getting rid of some subscriptions.
oh thank you for the report--just this morning I have been working on November in the Everydollar app and was thinking I would ask my husband to help me with my budgeting--I am just budgeting my money on there, not his income and not what he pays for4--but maybe he will get an idea of just how far money does not go these days--like I am paying 24% of my income on medical stuff.
I like the feature that gives you those percentages of what categories you are spending in.
Not to continue the hijack of Tradd's thread, but to folow-up on this earlier post, DH and I had a 2 hour budget meeting last night!! And we didn't have any fights. We did use the EveryDollar Dave Ramsey free budget program, because it's a lot more user-friendly than my YNAB program. We went through every category discussing it, and his takeaway was exactly what I hoped for--that we are spending beyond our means.
I thanked him and hugged him and while I know there will be a fairly steep learning curve if we manage to continue collaborating on this, it's all good! We'll have a much better chance of digging ourselves out of the hole and working towards a reasonable retirement, financially-speaking.
And actually this does tie back to the OP because today I am going to work on getting rid of some subscriptions.
I would NOT consider your posts a hijack of my thread! It’s good to hear from people in similar situations.
Frugal Queen has another video on budgeting while you’re paying down debt. I write everything out yesterday, including things like car/renters insurance that aren’t paid monthly. I was sort of astonished at just how few things I have to pay. I did NOT include diving as that comes out of what is left over and for the next six months, the only diving expense would be gas to get there and air fills. Maybe once a month.
Payday today. Threw about another $1K at the debt. The amount is very low 5 figures.
I forgot to add:
Christmas is taken care of. $30 spent on a gift for my teenaged goddaughter. I’ll throw in a nice blank journal from my stash (she writes a lot). Christmas cards/stamps already done. They were budgeted for months ago. I am spending T’giving and a Christmas with goddaughter’s extended family. I will spend maybe $25 for each holiday on food I bring with me.
Wow, that's great planning Tradd. And congratulations so much on another 1k at the debt!!!!
Wow, that's great planning Tradd. And congratulations so much on another 1k at the debt!!!!
Thank you! I want it done! I’ve sort of come down on the side of throwing as much as I can at the debt and not adding more to savings for the time being.
I decided WTH not to type this out.
This is my monthly bare bones budget:
$1000 rent
$50 electric (budget plan)
$50 house gas (budget plan)
$250 car gas
$300 groceries/household
$50 hair cut/brow wax
$97 internet
$55 mobile phone
$100 church donation
$130 massage (for sciatica)
$12 Apple Music
Annual
$1000 car insurance
$150 renters insurance
$200 diving insurance
$151 car registration
$300 gifts/Christmas
$50 oil change (every 5K miles)
My 2018 Escape is paid off. Internet is kind of high. Need to get into the Xfinity store to see what I can do about reducing cost. My complex only allows Xfinity for broadband internet. Mobile is the base cost for Xfinity Mobile as I only have one line (it’s just me). Anything for car (such as tires) is cash flowed. Same with diving. All the pricey diving stuff I’ve done the last couple of years has been paid for with cash.
$800/month into 401K.
catherine
10-31-23, 1:26pm
So inspiring to see simple living in practice! I think you are doing great, Tradd! I can't see how you can do much reducing your basic expenses, and you're knocking off your debt really well, with enough money to save into your 401k and fund your diving passion!
So inspiring to see simple living in practice! I think you are doing great, Tradd! I can't see how you can do much reducing your basic expenses, and you're knocking off your debt really well, with enough money to save into your 401k and fund your diving passion!
Forgot the $12/month Apple Music!
That's a great budget, Tradd. You are not wasting money, that is for sure! I am super impressed with your rent since I have an idea about where you are and what things cost from my years in the area.
That's a great budget, Tradd. You are not wasting money, that is for sure! I am super impressed with your rent since I have an idea about where you are and what things cost from my years in the area.
I’ve been in the same place 15 years. It started at $800 in 2008 and just went to $1K last month. Landlord said it will stay at $1K for at least two years.
iris lilies
10-31-23, 7:23pm
I’ve been in the same place 15 years. It started at $800 in 2008 and just went to $1K last month. Landlord said it will stay at $1K for at least two years.
You provide the landlord with a stable, clean tenant who is not hard on the place. That is worth something to him.
You provide the landlord with a stable, clean tenant who is not hard on the place. That is worth something to him.
Yep!
happystuff
11-1-23, 9:05am
Looks good, Tradd. Great to see you adding to both 401k and paying down the debt.
I’ll up 401K contribution once debt is paid off. I really should have it done sometime by the middle of next year. No trips for me, aside from going to FL at Christmas next year.
You provide the landlord with a stable, clean tenant who is not hard on the place. That is worth something to him.
That is worth gold to landlords. Similarly my DS has been able to maintain a rent way below inflated Burlington housing prices for the same reason--his landlord over the years has either not raised his rent or just raised it nominally. He pays 975 for a cute one-bedroom just steps from Church Street, the heart of downtown..
I agree! I watched the whole thing, minus the parts about children and pensions. I agree with Tybee, the question "how does debt make me feel" is key.
My issue is that the way it makes me feel and the way it makes DH feel are totally different. To try to get him to understand the impact debt is having on our quality of life (particularly mine, because I'm the one working to service it), I went onto Ramsey's free "EverydayDollar" site, where you can construct your budget in a very user-friendly way. I input the money we will be getting in in November, and I prefilled the fixed expenses for him, and I asked him to simply go in and fill in the discretionary expenses, matching the expenditures against the income.
Well, he came in whining that he in't understand it. "Why are things so hard?? What's wrong with paper and pencil??" I told him, of course paper and pencil are fine, but that means you have to constantly adjust manually which is a major pain. "I think we should do this together." he whined.
I specifically wanted him to take the first pass so that he couldn't "blame" me for restricting our spending. So HE could see that the incoming and outgoing aren't lining up. Especially as I am into my 70s, I'm darn lucky that I am still working, even though my income was down 40% this year.
I really want to channel Dave Ramsey right now, when he so cleverly dresses down clueless people. I want to tell DH to put on his big boy pants and grow up.
Anyway, mini-vent over--Tradd, thanks for that video. I'm going to check out other ones, and I'm going to ask DH to watch it. He might feel less threatened by this nice British woman than he would by a no-holds-barred Dave Ramsey.
Did you ask DH to watch Frugal Queen’s video yet?
Decided to take my emergency fund down to $1K. Threw $800 additional at debt. When I started this thread, I thought I had $4L in savings as I was going off top of my head. It was really $2800.. I needed to get new tires for the Escape, so that was $1K right there. Down to $1800.
Did you ask DH to watch Frugal Queen’s video yet?
Not yet--we've been busy, but I will mention it today. I don't want to overwhelm him with financial stuff all at once--I might turn him off!
But, guess what? Inspired by your thread, over the last two days I have reduced my subscriptions and unneeded auto-pays by $162.49 per month! I still have one or two things I have to get rid of, so in all I'll save $200+. It's amazing how these small "hidden" expenses creep up!
Wow, that is wonderful, Catherine, and thank you Tradd for the inspiration!!
Catherine, that’s great to hear! Glad to have provided some inspiration!
Right now it appears I’m going to be saving more money by not diving at all until the spring. This is not by choice. There were apparently some divers who stirred up the bottom bad at the WI mine where I’ve cave dived in the past. So as a result, instructor is probably going to be restricting diving to classes only. After only diving there once all last winter I was hoping to get out there some this year, but oh, well.
happystuff
11-2-23, 9:10am
That's a nice savings, catherine! No subscriptions here, so nothing to cancel/save on. Oh, well.
San Onofre Guy
11-4-23, 8:56pm
Tradd, I applaud you on your get out of debt push. You have made great progress. Don’t feel bad about not having a mortgage deduction, most people don’t due to the high personal exemption. Also the mortgage write off doesn’t make sense. Think about it, why spend $1 of interest to save twenty-five or thirty cents in taxes? Also a five year old car with 113,000 miles has a lot of life remaining. I know that you want Apple Play…buy a speaker for your phone. When you get an emergency fund set up, start putting $300 per month into a car fund for when you buy a newer car. Newer cars are very expensive versus maintenance on an older car. My two cents
Tradd, I applaud you on your get out of debt push. You have made great progress. Don’t feel bad about not having a mortgage deduction, most people don’t due to the high personal exemption. Also the mortgage write off doesn’t make sense. Think about it, why spend $1 of interest to save twenty-five or thirty cents in taxes? Also a five year old car with 113,000 miles has a lot of life remaining. I know that you want Apple Play…buy a speaker for your phone. When you get an emergency fund set up, start putting $300 per month into a car fund for when you buy a newer car. Newer cars are very expensive versus maintenance on an older car. My two cents
My phone bluetooths into car stereo so I can play my music that way. Or plug it in via USB. I can so phone calls the same way.
Someone had suggested a half and half approach to laying down my debt. I’m going to give that a try. The 30th paycheck is when I pay on cc with balance. I’ll throw extra on payment. My extra from the 15th pay will go into savings.
Debt pay down is seeing results already: credit score went up a bit. I got a credit alert through Experian (I have an account where I recently froze my credit) that one account had a reduced balance. Plus my Apple Card limit was automatically increased by about $3K.
iris lilies
11-19-23, 6:53pm
Enh…the credit score thing—last month my credit score dropped from Exceptional to Very Good, all because I put a large charitable donation on it, to be paid within a month. I never carry a balance and have not for decades. This amount didnt even put me anywhere near my credit limit.
Bottom line: the ratings are stupid.
I was reading, I think in Motley Fool, how people should have a few credit cards just to maintain a credit score. I bought my first house late in life, with no other debt, an only a debit card. I was asked for records from bills like phone, rent, and power showing I paid my bills on time. It seemed like enough to qualify for a loan on my first home mortgage. I've never really thought much about a credit score, but it seems important that you pay off debt payments on time regardless of whether you just forgot, or it's unaffordable.
I have NO late payments at all.
I've never really thought much about a credit score, but it seems important that you pay off debt payments on time regardless of whether you just forgot, or it's unaffordable.
Otherwise one would appear to be a bad credit risk which, oddly enough, is reflected in their credit score.
catherine
11-20-23, 9:19am
Credit scores are artificial measurements of that do not measure your true "credit-worthiness." A credit score is a metric that the credit-card companies use to see how likely they are to be able to make money off of you. Your score is high if you use credit all the time, but only use 1/3 of your available credit.It's higher if you have had a credit card for a long time, or if you have a lot of credit cards, which raises your available credit.
To quote IL: ratings are stupid.
The Every Dollar experiment was a dumpster fire. I budget per paycheck. I always have. Budgeting for the month with money I don’t have yet just doesn’t work for my brain. As you saw, my expenses are not complicated. So what I do is pay bills, including minimum payment for credit card, then see what I need for any diving or extra activities (including things I need to save up for), and what I want to put into savings or extra against debt. I don’t use cash for anything so I can easily look at checking account or Apple Card (I use this for gas and things like that and pay balance immediately) to see what I’ve spent.
That is funny that it was a dumpster fire! I have been behind but working on this month's Everydollar budget. I do use a lot of cash, put money in envelopes. But then I also put stuff on a credit card when shopping online, which makes budgeting more complicated, since I don't connect accounts to a budgeting app, I do it all manually.
This month, I swear, I will get it right, budgeting!
Yesterdy DH and I worked out what our social security payments are going for as the amounts are changing, and he is going on Medicare so has more being taken out. And I've had new health stuff I am taking out outside of Medicare, so we needed to straighten these out.
happystuff
12-1-23, 8:17am
That is funny that it was a dumpster fire! I have been behind but working on this month's Everydollar budget. I do use a lot of cash, put money in envelopes. But then I also put stuff on a credit card when shopping online, which makes budgeting more complicated, since I don't connect accounts to a budgeting app, I do it all manually.
I also do my finances and tracking bills manually. While not necessarily budget related, I keep track of every credit card purchase (don't use a debit card) by writing it in my check registry. This way I know that when the bill comes in I will have the money to pay it off every month and it also makes it easy to verify my credit card bill (no added/incorrect charges). Some folks think it is a lot more unnecessary work, but I don't mind as I am pretty sure of my exact charges and account balances. Just a thought.
iris lilies
12-1-23, 8:43am
The Every Dollar experiment was a dumpster fire. I budget per paycheck. I always have. Budgeting for the month with money I don’t have yet just doesn’t work for my brain. As you saw, my expenses are not complicated. So what I do is pay bills, including minimum payment for credit card, then see what I need for any diving or extra activities (including things I need to save up for), and what I want to put into savings or extra against debt. I don’t use cash for anything so I can easily look at checking account or Apple Card (I use this for gas and things like that and pay balance immediately) to see what I’ve spent.
I use my credit card for most everything too, 99% of spending. The record keeping aspect has come in handy, not only for purchases, but to track my whereabouts on a certain day if my calendar does not reflect that.
I definitely spend more if I use the credit card, so I have gone more to cash. I think some people have that tendency, but if I did not, it would be great to put it all on a credit card.
Reallly wondering if we’re going to get a bonus this year. Last year was the first one I got one. It just shows up in your bank account around 12/20ish or so. It was equivalent of a regular paycheck. I didn’t get one in 2021 as you need to be here a full year before you’re eligible and I’d only been here 9 months. It seems that if business hasn’t been good enough to give you the whole thing, they don’t give you anything. That’s just crappy thinking. Heck, I’d not turn down an extra couple hundred.
If we do get a bonus, it’s all going on debt.
We did get the bonus! Equal to one paycheck and just about all of it thrown on credit card.
iris lilies
12-19-23, 1:30pm
Good show, Tradd!
iris lilies
12-19-23, 1:32pm
I was reading, I think in Motley Fool, how people should have a few credit cards just to maintain a credit score. I bought my first house late in life, with no other debt, an only a debit card. I was asked for records from bills like phone, rent, and power showing I paid my bills on time. It seemed like enough to qualify for a loan on my first home mortgage. I've never really thought much about a credit score, but it seems important that you pay off debt payments on time regardless of whether you just forgot, or it's unaffordable.
I remember getting a credit card for, mainly, building a measurable credit record in order to buy a house. I bought my first house in 1983.
I remember getting a credit card for, mainly, building a measurable credit record in order to buy a house. I bought my first house in 1983.
We bought our first house in 1979 without benefit of any established credit at all, although we did have the benefit of one of those wonderfully guaranteed VA loans which we were able to acquire at a 10% rate and no down payment. Surprisingly enough, that ended up being a negative on our future credit, and deservedly so. :|(
ApatheticNoMore
12-19-23, 5:32pm
I was reading, I think in Motley Fool, how people should have a few credit cards just to maintain a credit score. I bought my first house late in life, with no other debt, an only a debit card. I was asked for records from bills like phone, rent, and power showing I paid my bills on time. It seemed like enough to qualify for a loan on my first home mortgage. I've never really thought much about a credit score, but it seems important that you pay off debt payments on time regardless of whether you just forgot, or it's unaffordable.
the credit score will influence the interest rate you get on the mortgage. But credit cards while they help are really not *ENOUGH* for that, if that's the goal. They like big long term debt for showing creditworthiness, and credit cards aren't that (and shouldn't be), so they want something like car loans or student loans or similar to really get the best credit score. Not that I have that.
I alternate between throwing more at CC and paying CC minimum and putting a lot in savings.
I’vw spent extra for grocery delivery the last couple of weeks since I’ve been staying home (aside form work) due to recovering from covid and the aftermath.Bit aside from a few ebooks, I’ve been spending less for McD, which is good. I likely won’t be diving at the WI mine the rest of the winter due to getting over being sick. I do have a weekend up in WI at the beginning of March for a shipwreck thing for the organization I’m on the board of. That’s $220 in hotel costs, as well as gas (3 hour drive), and food, but it will be good to see friends I’ve not seen for months and my one treat for the winter.
One of the Dave Ramsey show co-hosts has a new book out, Breaking Free from Broke. I had a bunch of Kindle Rewards points so it was only $4. Couple chapters in and it’s good so far.
iris lilies
1-29-24, 1:26pm
One of the Dave Ramsey show co-hosts has a new book out, Breaking Free from Broke. I had a bunch of Kindle Rewards points so it was only $4. Couple chapters in and it’s good so far.
I’ve been listening to a lot of Dave Ramsey in the past few weeks and he councils everyone to pay off your credit cards fast. Then start saving again. He doesn’t counsel that “balanced” approach..
But then, the assumption underlying that is that you, the generic you, won’t go into debt again.
edited: I like Dave and did not mean to call him Damn. I enjoy his program and his daddy lectures.
I’ve been listening to a lot of damn Dave Ramsey in the past few weeks and he councils everyone to pay off your credit cards fast. Then start saving again. He doesn’t cancel that “balanced” approach..
But then, the assumption underlying that is that you, the generic you, won’t go into debt again.
He definitely takes a radical approach for this culture that lives by credit cards. He won't take credit cards on the website for his books. He teaches people how to rent cars with debit cards and how to buy houses with no credit score. I do admire him for that radical approach--it's not for everyone, but it has helped a lot of people
I’ve been listening to a lot of damn Dave Ramsey in the past few weeks and he councils everyone to pay off your credit cards fast. Then start saving again. He doesn’t cancel that “balanced” approach..
But then, the assumption underlying that is that you, the generic you, won’t go into debt again.
Yes, I know. I pulled $1K from savings today and threw that on the cc.
Yes, I know. I pulled $1K from savings today and threw that on the cc.
That's awesome!
Wanted my McD this morning ($4) so I hit my change jar this morning.
iris lilies
1-30-24, 11:55am
Wanted my McD this morning ($4) so I hit my change jar this morning.
Good job Tradd. We are cheering you on to eliminate this debt!
rosarugosa
1-30-24, 12:28pm
Keep up the good work, Tradd!
catherine
1-30-24, 12:29pm
You're doing great!!
Payday is tomorrow. Another $1K on cc.
Good job Tradd. We are cheering you on to eliminate this debt!
Thank you!
Went over budget again just now at lunch. I could throw $2800 a month at it. Big expenses I have coming up:
Car insurance - due early April. Should be $600ish, but rates have been going up so who knows what it will be.
License plate tags -$155, due late May
New oxygen sensors for my diving rebreather (need to be replaced every 12 months, old set expired in the fall) - $240ish. I sourced them at a well-known online dive gear retailer and they’re the cheapest at $79/each. Other places go as high as $109 each. I need three. I need these by late April as local diving season starts in early May.
I can cash flow all of these expenses.
Some BS going down at work - don’t need to get into details - so I’m going back to paying a bit more than minimum payment and stashing everything else in savings. GRRR. I think even DR would say to do that in this situation. And yes, I’m looking again. Plenty of management positions, but I don’t have the experience or temperament for those.
happystuff
1-31-24, 9:20am
Sorry work is being such a pita, tradd. Good luck with the job search. And congrats on the savings/cc payments!
I’ve been listening to DR podcasts a ton at work lately. Besides the massive cat payments that are weighing people down, it seems like people are having kids who just can’t afford them.
I’ve been listening to DR podcasts a ton at work lately. Besides the massive cat payments that are weighing people down, it seems like people are having kids who just can’t afford them.
Kids are expensive, that's for sure. "In the old days" (I don't know how I feel about being one of those people who always reference "the old days") kids were cheaper. You washed diapers for instance Nowadays, disposable diapers are a given, even for people who care about the planet and landfills... and they are really expensive. Most partners are working, so day care is HUGE. my son paid $2000/mo for his two kids--now one is in public school, so that's a grand in his pocket. People spend a huge amount on kid accoutrements like state-of-the-art carseats, which are now required until the kids are like 7 years old, playpens, strollers etc. Plus the daycares insist you bring 7 different snacks every day, which typically are organic berries and other specialty baby foods, many of which get tossed at the end of the day because Baby isn't feeling it
I couldn't afford kids but had them anyway. If it hadn't been for MIL who bailed us out more than once, I don't know what would have happened to us. It wasn't until I lucked into my market research career and DH lucked into his TV/video production business that we finally were able to stand on our own two feet. And even then, we had club fees and cheap crappy cars for the kids to drive, and college tuition, and family vacations, etc etc. We made it through of course, and I would never have done it differently, but it taught me a lot about myself. I am grateful that I wound up with 4 well-adjusted, creative, productive kids. Again, I feel I lucked out. My final task as a parent is to try to guide them to "do as I say, not as I did" in terms of financial literacy.
I’ve been doing a bit of research into side hustles. Things like Instacart aren’t an option due to my knees with severe osteoarthritis. I don’t alway grocery shop for myself due to my knees! If I didn’t have the knee issue, I think I’d do it. For a year during Covid, I grocery shopped for a senior friend from church. I enjoyed it. Uber/Lyft are not something I feel comfortable doing as woman, plus my car is always full of dive gear anyway and is beat up from diving. There are no remote options for my industry I can find for off hours. I often have work for current job to be done on weekends, anyway.
I love McD sausage muffins. English muffin, sausage patty, cheese. NO EGG! :) I decided to try making them at home. Muffin was $0.43, sausage patty, $0.44. Bag of 18 oatties from Aldi and they are very good. I’ve had the cheese for a while so I don’t remember how much I paid. So for about $1 I had a very yummy treat at home. McD js $2.19 or 2/$2.59.
I don’t have a toaster so I toasted muffin in a skillet. I nuked sausage. Once assembled, I nuked the whole thing for about 20 seconds to melt the cheese.
Tradd, my husband did something similar. He used to get quick fix breakfast bowls to microwave. After studying them he found they had a lot of salt and unnecessary ingredients. So now he cooks up either lean turkey or homemade bean burgers and keeps some in the refrigerator. Some burger, one egg and a slice of good cheese popped in the microwave for 90 seconds makes a great protein salt managed breakfast. I make my own granola and control the content and sugars.
Both of these keep costs way down and even help the environment with the reduction of packaging.
Portuguese John Here
2-11-24, 6:53am
Since we're talking about children's, I'll talk a little about it too, it's been on my mind the past week. I'm in conflict on this subject.
I wish I had a kid on one part, because part of adulthood for me is taking responsibility for someone else. I don't have a partner, though, and probably won't have because I'm not in the circles. That's part of the conflict, managing expectations, I can't be living with a weight in my mind, neither can have a fixation, otherwise, I can be exploited by the wrong bunch later on. Although, I'm not happy living a life self-centered, focusing on my bliss, like I'm doing now.
There's a lot of people who could and choose not to have children's, because they want to enjoy life, and focus on themselves, that's an ongoing practice nowadays, people don't want something if you can't give them something. There's those who'd like to have, but can't afford them, and those who can't have them. I'll now talk about a bigger problem among the young generation people ain't talking about.
Pornography, in young guys, is setting the standard they seek in woman. This is completely destroying relationships. They have a partner but don't have intercourse with her, instead, they resort to pornography, the partner is there only from the social stigma and the fear of being alone. There are others, that don't have a partner because they can't feel the attraction, so they are alone. Children's can be a problem in the near future, I think it's a problem as we speak, it'll be not a problem of having the money, but what we seek in a partner.
I’ve not had a massage since early December since I was sick last month, but it helps my sciatica a ton. The affected hip has been hurting badly so back MT on Wednesday. $120 but it feels so good.
rosarugosa
2-12-24, 6:21am
Since we're talking about children's, I'll talk a little about it too, it's been on my mind the past week. I'm in conflict on this subject.
I wish I had a kid on one part, because part of adulthood for me is taking responsibility for someone else. I don't have a partner, though, and probably won't have because I'm not in the circles. That's part of the conflict, managing expectations, I can't be living with a weight in my mind, neither can have a fixation, otherwise, I can be exploited by the wrong bunch later on. Although, I'm not happy living a life self-centered, focusing on my bliss, like I'm doing now.
There's a lot of people who could and choose not to have children's, because they want to enjoy life, and focus on themselves, that's an ongoing practice nowadays, people don't want something if you can't give them something. There's those who'd like to have, but can't afford them, and those who can't have them. I'll now talk about a bigger problem among the young generation people ain't talking about.
Pornography, in young guys, is setting the standard they seek in woman. This is completely destroying relationships. They have a partner but don't have intercourse with her, instead, they resort to pornography, the partner is there only from the social stigma and the fear of being alone. There are others, that don't have a partner because they can't feel the attraction, so they are alone. Children's can be a problem in the near future, I think it's a problem as we speak, it'll be not a problem of having the money, but what we seek in a partner.
We have a single friend, and DH says the friend spends much of his time watching porn. DH thinks this is a big reason why he doesn't have a partner; unrealistic ideas about women and not a good sense of how to interact with a real one.
Portuguese John Here
2-12-24, 6:54am
We have a single friend, and DH says the friend spends much of his time watching porn. DH thinks this is a big reason why he doesn't have a partner; unrealistic ideas about women and not a good sense of how to interact with a real one.
And if you combine a bad relationship with a mother, you'll have the ingredients for a man to see a woman as an instrument, and therefore, can't properly talk with them, and if they actually manage to do it, it's all with a single objective in mind. Those who manage to actually talk and get what they want, will discard the person afterward, which leads woman to be cautious, other's to simply exploit it, to get money and leave. This later fact, will make those who can't get them, justify their choice of not even trying. Pornography is much more destructive than many think it is. Combining this with a world where people are more self-centered than ever, you get a lot of people without relationships, and that, to me, will be a big problem in the near future. Japan, Italy and Portugal, are the ones with the bigger problem statistics say.
I still have to get into the Xfinity store to see about what I can do to reduce my home internet costs.
PJ I think sometimes its just as simple that many young men today are afraid of women for various reasons. Much easier to view porn than do the scary stuff like getting to know someone and go from there.
Yesterday was payday and I threw a nice chunk into savings.
Yesterday was payday and I threw a nice chunk into savings.
Way to go!
happystuff
2-16-24, 5:03pm
Very nice, Tradd!
I spent yesterday on the phone with my auto insurance carrier to see if we could bundle homeowners insurance with them. Long story short - YES!! Will be saving almost $250/year on that as well as a bonus reduction on the auto insurance for bundling - about another $150!!
I’ve been hanging my laundry to dry. We’ll see if that makes any impact on the electric bill. I have an electric dryer. I do a couple of loads of clothes a week, plus maybe a couple more for towels/bedding, depending on the given week.
I will NOT give up using the dishwasher. I despise doing dishes. Always have. Using the DW keeps me eating at home, so o consider it necessary to bring frugal. LOL.
Reducing my long hot baths to an hour (instead of the current two hours- I’m not kidding!) would also help with the gas bill. My heat continues to be set at 60. But the weather is going to be in the mid to high 50s for at least the next week (except for a day or two), so I might just turn it off.
My car’s ac broke last spring. Shop confirmed it was totally out of refrigerant last fall when in the shop for something else. They couldn’t fit it as it takes a newer kind of refrigerant/machine they don’t have. I hate being hot but I think I’m going to go another summer without ac in the car. Most of my commute is at least 45 mph so I just roll down the windows for the breeze, go faster when I can, and keep cold water to drink on me. I’m just cheap and can’t be bothered to spend the money on the repair now!
iris lilies
2-19-24, 2:22pm
Oh thats funny, I would much rather do dishes than hang laundry.
there are times when I drape household laundry on our deck because it dries so quickly up here on a hill with wind blowing. But, not often.
I have never used the dishwasher in my condo.
Oh thats funny, I would much rather do dishes than hang laundry.
there are times when I drape household laundry on our deck because it dries so quickly up here on a hill with wind blowing. But, not often.
I have never used the dishwasher in my condo.
I have a drying rack in the corner of the kitchen.
I’ve been hanging my laundry to dry. We’ll see if that makes any impact on the electric bill. I have an electric dryer. I do a couple of loads of clothes a week, plus maybe a couple more for towels/bedding, depending on the given week.
I will NOT give up using the dishwasher. I despise doing dishes. Always have. Using the DW keeps me eating at home, so o consider it necessary to bring frugal. LOL.
Reducing my long hot baths to an hour (instead of the current two hours- I’m not kidding!) would also help with the gas bill. My heat continues to be set at 60. But the weather is going to be in the mid to high 50s for at least the next week (except for a day or two), so I might just turn it off.
My car’s ac broke last spring. Shop confirmed it was totally out of refrigerant last fall when in the shop for something else. They couldn’t fit it as it takes a newer kind of refrigerant/machine they don’t have. I hate being hot but I think I’m going to go another summer without ac in the car. Most of my commute is at least 45 mph so I just roll down the windows for the breeze, go faster when I can, and keep cold water to drink on me. I’m just cheap and can’t be bothered to spend the money on the repair now!
You are a gazelle intense frugal zealot, Tradd!! No wonder your debt and savings goals are al going in the right direction!!
We finally have proceeds from the NJ house, and I thought that would alleviate a little anxiety but it's almost increasing it. It's not a lot of money, if you think about what a normal person needs for retirement. When I look at our expenses I panic. As I've said before, you guys should have kicked me out of this group!! I don't belong!
But my plan is to contribute the max to my Roth IRA. I'm going to put a good chunk in a HYSA as an emergency fund, and I'm going to pay down about one third of the debt. I am petrified to do more. I've said to myself: just pay off all the debt and then pay yourself back with the same amount that you would have paid to the minimum monthly payments. At least the "loan" to myself would be 0%. But I'm terrified that I wouldn't pay it back into savings. I did pay off about $15,000 in debt so far, so at least that's something. I'm definitely doing this in a "peel the bandaid off slowly" mode.
On a good note, 2024 has been much better from a business perspective so far. My income will be exceeding my outgo for at least a couple of months! I should be good through April at least.
Tradd, thanks for the inspiration!
Catherine, good news! Thanks for the update!
Catherine, good news! Thanks for the update!
Oh, I forgot to mention: DH is seriously considering starting a business giving weekend boat tours on the lake! We already have the boat.. they will be small party tours--2 hours long. Everyone he's mentioned it to tell him (and I agree) he is PERFECT for this. He loves people, he loves performing, he has already learned a lot about this history of the lake and the neighborhoods around it, and he LOVES being on a boat! There is some investment, but nothing that I'm not completely confident that we will recoup. So that should help with savings/debt!
Oh, I forgot to mention: DH is seriously considering starting a business giving weekend boat tours on the lake! We already have the boat.. they will be small party tours--2 hours long. Everyone he's mentioned it to tell him (and I agree) he is PERFECT for this. He loves people, he loves performing, he has already learned a lot about this history of the lake and the neighborhoods around it, and he LOVES being on a boat! There is some investment, but nothing that I'm not completely confident that we will recoup. So that should help with savings/debt!
Better check on the insurance! That’s a big one. I know this from a friend that owns a dive charter boat.
Better check on the insurance! That’s a big one. I know this from a friend that owns a dive charter boat.
Yes, we haven't checked the insurance yet, but we definitely plan do that! I wonder if the insurance for dive charters is different than just taking passengers around the lake in terms of liability? If the insurance is ridiculous we will not go forward with the idea.
Yes, we haven't checked the insurance yet, but we definitely plan do that! I wonder if the insurance for dive charters is different than just taking passengers around the lake in terms of liability? If the insurance is ridiculous we will not go forward with the idea.
It's a super cool idea and sounds perfect for him!
Meant to say if you do it, you should investigate doing funeral boat cruises--we looked into them. Some of them here in Maine, you didn't even go with them, you just gave them the ashes and they took them. But you could do music, catering, make it nice for people. We thought about doing it but my brother wanted to throw the ashes on the beach by his house instead.
Meant to say if you do it, you should investigate doing funeral boat cruises--we looked into them. Some of them here in Maine, you didn't even go with them, you just gave them the ashes and they took them. But you could do music, catering, make it nice for people. We thought about doing it but my brother wanted to throw the ashes on the beach by his house instead.
Thanks, Tybee! Very interesting application! I'm just afraid DH would cry louder than the guests! They might get offended :). He cries at the drop of a hat. Seriously, we've already thought of historical tours, bird-watching, Broadway musical tours, birthday party tours... so funeral tours are something to think about. I remember when we dispersed my mother's ashes into the Long Island Sound we were told it was against the law, but they probably meant against the law to disperse them at that particular place, off a pier near a hotel. We wound up just hiding behind the pier on rocks and throwing them into Sound with no one watching except me and my brothers.
I read something about going three miles out into open water for it to be legal. I think the funeral charters were doing that. I think everybody does what you did--I know that's what my family did, too.
I think your DH has a big heart, and that would be very welcome to people under those circumstances.
Yes, we haven't checked the insurance yet, but we definitely plan do that! I wonder if the insurance for dive charters is different than just taking passengers around the lake in terms of liability? If the insurance is ridiculous we will not go forward with the idea.
Yes, I am sure there are differences, but insurance as a whole has gone up massively, so I just wanted to make sure you checked it out.
Catherine, if you don't mind me asking, I'm curious what are your big "outgo's" now? I thought the jersey house was basically the last big outgo you had besides whatever you're paying for your Vermont house. I was so happy to hear that Jersey house had ended with success, but I'm surprised, and somewhat saddened, to hear that that didn't end your financial worries. You've been working so hard for so long that it would make me really happy to hear that you could finally rest and enjoy at least a semi retirement with your DH. And apologies if you've already talked about this and I just wasn't paying attention...
Catherine, if you don't mind me asking, I'm curious what are your big "outgo's" now? I thought the jersey house was basically the last big outgo you had besides whatever you're paying for your Vermont house. I was so happy to hear that Jersey house had ended with success, but I'm surprised, and somewhat saddened, to hear that that didn't end your financial worries. You've been working so hard for so long that it would make me really happy to hear that you could finally rest and enjoy at least a semi retirement with your DH. And apologies if you've already talked about this and I just wasn't paying attention...
Jp1.. thanks for your concern, and I don't mind answering at all.
The house wasn't really holding me back because my son paid for everything when we moved out and he rented it from us. It was only holding us back in that it was an asset that wasn't liquid--so we had nothing for emergencies, large outlays, etc.
As you know, I have had an ambivalent relationship with money and have made some really STUPID mistakes and large errors in judgement as well as dumb bad luck (most notably the 2008 housing bust, when my grand plan to take out a jumbo mortgage on my MIL's house so that we could pay cash for the foreclosure next door for her to spend her last years in exploded in my face. All told, that period between 2007 and 2010 cost me probably 500k.). There are 2-3 other main reasons that I'm not retirement-ready, but they come down to my relationship with money vs the other people in my life.. 'nuf said.
So now, I have proceeds in the bank. That's good. But here are the big outgo's as you put it--:
Rough numbers...
Normal stuff:
Mortgage, utilities, cable/internet: 2000.
Basic food, clothing, home expenses: 1000
Insurance (life, health, auto) 800
Transportation: 400
As you can see, if this were all I had, which is all I need, basically, I'd be fine on SS alone, and just use the proceeds of the house as emergency funds. BUT here are the other biggies:
Boat 900 (loan, docking, gas, etc.)
Debt minimums: 1500
DH "sin tax" (smoking various things). 1200
Everything else: Entertainment, gifts, major repairs in car and house: 1000-1500.
I can manage all this with my average past income--although last year was a very bad year from both an income AND an outgo perspective.
I know this looks appalling to most of you, especially given I have very little saved for retirement. I can't and won't justify anything. As the Queen said, "Never complain, never explain." I know what's stupid and what's not and this is where I am. There are no victims, only volunteers. I am lucky to have a job where I can make $150/hour sitting in my pajamas. I'm just hoping that part of my luck doesn't expire until I do.
I am, at this late stage trying yet another financial rehab... I've joined a program that I find to be very helpful in helping me face all my realities and deal with them appropriately.
Catherine, all I’ll say is your budget looks a lot different than my pared down one. But it’s also just me, so groceries and such will cost you more.
Catherine, all I’ll say is your budget looks a lot different than my pared down one. But it’s also just me, so groceries and such will cost you more.
If I were single, my budget and expenditures would be significantly different, that's true.
I like the way you have divided this into the two realms--sort of the basic needs first, then the other. I need to do this as we talk about getting rid of this house and/or moving. I think our basics line up with yours.
With respect to the second realm of spending, what if you went to a financial planner and laid out the whole picture, with the two realms of spending, debt, assets, etc. now that you have the money from the house. Talk about what you can realistically earn and how long you want to work. Maybe all the debt could be rolled into one debt at lower interest rate? I think you need a bigger picture overview and someone looking at the situation with fresh eyes? Maybe? Like is the boat debt included in the 900 or is part of the minimum 1500 payments--questions like that, that put it all into one bottom line?
Well I’ve got some interesting work news!
Import manager at my company just resigned. I was offered the position but turned it down. I don’t have the patience to deal with half the import staff (absolutely dumb asses!) and I’d rather stick a fork in my eye than deal with all the accounting issues. But I’m getting another $10K bump and I’m also negotiating for a few more vacation days. I wouldn’t be eligible for another week for another two years. Raise goes into effect 3/1, so I get it on March 15th pay.
Well I’ve got some interesting work news!
Import manager at my company just resigned. I was offered the position but turned it down. I don’t have the patience to deal with half the import staff (absolutely dumb asses!) and I’d rather stick a fork in my eye than deal with all the accounting issues. But I’m getting another $10K bump and I’m also negotiating for a few more vacation days. I wouldn’t be eligible for another week for another two years. Raise goes into effect 3/1, so I get it on March 15th pay.
Congratulations!! That is awesome!
Congratulations!! That is awesome!
Thank you! This will put me at $95K, $30K more than when I was laid off due to Covid in March 2020.
I like the way you have divided this into the two realms--sort of the basic needs first, then the other. I need to do this as we talk about getting rid of this house and/or moving. I think our basics line up with yours.
With respect to the second realm of spending, what if you went to a financial planner and laid out the whole picture, with the two realms of spending, debt, assets, etc. now that you have the money from the house. Talk about what you can realistically earn and how long you want to work. Maybe all the debt could be rolled into one debt at lower interest rate? I think you need a bigger picture overview and someone looking at the situation with fresh eyes? Maybe? Like is the boat debt included in the 900 or is part of the minimum 1500 payments--questions like that, that put it all into one bottom line?
I think the financial planner is a great idea... I'm hoping my new program will serve as my personal financial planner. the program has "office hours" as well as weekly Zoom calls where people can submit a question or situation to get feedback on from a financial coach. I'm still evaluating the credentials of these finance experts and then I'll decide if I need advice from a different level of expertise.
I've thought of debt consolidation, and that is a last resort. I could probably tap the equity of my house for that, but I do NOT want to risk the roof over my head to fix my debt problem. I'd rather default on the debt and have them come after me. At that point, I'd have my lawyer son negotiate with creditors on my behalf. But I'm not ready for that step yet!
At this point, according to my Debt Snowball calculator, I can be done with the debt in 26 months, and then save money while paying down the mortgage--since my mortgage is only 3.5, I'd rather save money that will yield higher interest rate. That ALL assumes I'll be in good enough health AND people will still want me to work for them. I just may be the Joe Biden of market research! As the Stoics always say, "Amor Fati" (Love your fate)
Owners were shocked I refused the promotion. I told them exactly why - no temperament for it and the accounting issues would make me stick a fork in my eye.
happystuff
2-20-24, 2:17pm
Congrats, Tradd!! That's wonderful!
Congrats, Tradd!! That's wonderful!
Just figured it out. Extra $800/month before taxes.
I was asked to be a manager once and refused it. Actually told them to put the demand in writing just in case I did a horrible job. No way could I deal with being yelled at from the top and the bottom at the same time. It truly takes a saint at some manager jobs.
I was asked to be a manager once and refused it. Actually told them to put the demand in writing just in case I did a horrible job. No way could I deal with being yelled at from the top and the bottom at the same time. It truly takes a saint at some manager jobs.
I remember my boss admitting to me once, "I like managing, I just don't like the people."
iris lilies
2-20-24, 6:03pm
Yes, we haven't checked the insurance yet, but we definitely plan do that! I wonder if the insurance for dive charters is different than just taking passengers around the lake in terms of liability? If the insurance is ridiculous we will not go forward with the idea.
Water. People. Boat.
Insurance is gonna be big.
Did I mention dumb humans on a boat?
iris lilies
2-20-24, 6:06pm
Catherine, if you don't mind me asking, I'm curious what are your big "outgo's" now? I thought the jersey house was basically the last big outgo you had besides whatever you're paying for your Vermont house. I was so happy to hear that Jersey house had ended with success, but I'm surprised, and somewhat saddened, to hear that that didn't end your financial worries. You've been working so hard for so long that it would make me really happy to hear that you could finally rest and enjoy at least a semi retirement with your DH. And apologies if you've already talked about this and I just wasn't paying attention...
+++
I remember my boss admitting to me once, "I like managing, I just don't like the people."
Haha. Yep!
iris lilies
2-20-24, 7:11pm
Wow Tradd! Score!
here’s how it went down:
Tradd’s Management: “we would like you to do this “
Tradd says: “nope “
Tradd’s Management: “ok then here’s $10,000 “
I love this!
Wow Tradd! Score!
here’s how it went down:
Tradd’s Management: “we would like you to do this “
Tradd says: “nope “
Tradd’s Management: “ok then here’s $10,000 “
I love this!
Pretty much! I love that!
iris lilies
2-20-24, 7:24pm
Pretty much! I love that!
OK now knock out that debt girlfriend, and become debt-free forever
OK now knock out that debt girlfriend, and become debt-free forever
Hell, yes!
Well I’ve got some interesting work news!
Import manager at my company just resigned. I was offered the position but turned it down. I don’t have the patience to deal with half the import staff (absolutely dumb asses!) and I’d rather stick a fork in my eye than deal with all the accounting issues. But I’m getting another $10K bump and I’m also negotiating for a few more vacation days. I wouldn’t be eligible for another week for another two years. Raise goes into effect 3/1, so I get it on March 15th pay.
Congratulations! That's awesome news!
I totally understand why you don't want that job. When I left the mega corp five years ago I didn't meet my new (current) boss in person until after I'd been hired and went to Chicago for my first week in the early summer of 2019. At dinner after the first day at the office he was stunned to learn that I'm 12 years older than him and expressed concern that I might want his job. I had to reassure him that I absolutely DID NOT want his job. He has to manage up to senior management. I, at the time, didn't have to manage anything beyond selling insurance policies. And frankly, underwriting policies and selling them to the brokers is the fun part of my job. Over the next several years I apparently did such a good job at convincing him I didn't want his job that when he wanted to promote me to product manager a year and a half ago (he'd just gotten promoted to managing director) he was actually concerned that I would say "no, I just want to keep being an underwriter." And I lived up to his expectation because when he offered me the product manager job I didn't immediately say yes, but instead asked "what would that actually entail?" Ultimately I took the promotion because he convinced me that a sizable part of the job would still be underwriting, which is in fact the case and I'm fine with managing people. Yes, I do have direct reports now, as well as product management responsibilities, but my day to day life is still mostly the fun bit.
One of the interesting twists that came out of that first dinner conversation with boss is that that night I told him he could have me for eleven years if he wanted me because I planned to retire at some point between 62-63 years old and I really didn't want to go start over somewhere else. Today he still has another 6-7 years of my life, so I'm hoping that I get to spend that time working for him at current employer. With that in mind I've already started focusing on making sure that there are others on our team that are trained up to take over my product management role when I leave. It seems like just yesterday that I was graduating from college and eager to start my first job, but now here I am, planning to make sure that someone can take over my mid-level management job after I'm gone.
Jp1.. thanks for your concern, and I don't mind answering at all.
The house wasn't really holding me back because my son paid for everything when we moved out and he rented it from us. It was only holding us back in that it was an asset that wasn't liquid--so we had nothing for emergencies, large outlays, etc.
As you know, I have had an ambivalent relationship with money and have made some really STUPID mistakes and large errors in judgement as well as dumb bad luck (most notably the 2008 housing bust, when my grand plan to take out a jumbo mortgage on my MIL's house so that we could pay cash for the foreclosure next door for her to spend her last years in exploded in my face. All told, that period between 2007 and 2010 cost me probably 500k.). There are 2-3 other main reasons that I'm not retirement-ready, but they come down to my relationship with money vs the other people in my life.. 'nuf said.
So now, I have proceeds in the bank. That's good. But here are the big outgo's as you put it--:
Rough numbers...
Normal stuff:
Mortgage, utilities, cable/internet: 2000.
Basic food, clothing, home expenses: 1000
Insurance (life, health, auto) 800
Transportation: 400
As you can see, if this were all I had, which is all I need, basically, I'd be fine on SS alone, and just use the proceeds of the house as emergency funds. BUT here are the other biggies:
Boat 900 (loan, docking, gas, etc.)
Debt minimums: 1500
DH "sin tax" (smoking various things). 1200
Everything else: Entertainment, gifts, major repairs in car and house: 1000-1500.
I can manage all this with my average past income--although last year was a very bad year from both an income AND an outgo perspective.
I know this looks appalling to most of you, especially given I have very little saved for retirement. I can't and won't justify anything. As the Queen said, "Never complain, never explain." I know what's stupid and what's not and this is where I am. There are no victims, only volunteers. I am lucky to have a job where I can make $150/hour sitting in my pajamas. I'm just hoping that part of my luck doesn't expire until I do.
I am, at this late stage trying yet another financial rehab... I've joined a program that I find to be very helpful in helping me face all my realities and deal with them appropriately.
Thank you for being so candid and up front. Obviously your situation isn't ideal (as I'm sure you're very well aware) but you're a healthy person and your job is such that you can keep working in your PJ's for the forseeable future. And you seem to like what you do. It's not like you're a walmart greeter earning minimum wage who struggles to get out of bed every day to go face unhappy customers and sore knees etc.
As for 2008, SO and I were also kind of a loser on the flipside of your coin. We moved from Jersey City to San Francisco in the fall of 2008/spring of 2009. San Francisco's real estate market is always a whipsaw so spring 2009 would've been a PERFECT time to buy. I was very aware of that at the time but we just didn't have the cash to make a down payment happen. So we didn't. I don't think SO thought much about it but it bothered me for years until we bought our current townhouse.
Congratulations! That's awesome news!
I totally understand why you don't want that job. When I left the mega corp five years ago I didn't meet my new (current) boss in person until after I'd been hired and went to Chicago for my first week in the early summer of 2019. At dinner after the first day at the office he was stunned to learn that I'm 12 years older than him and expressed concern that I might want his job. I had to reassure him that I absolutely DID NOT want his job. He has to manage up to senior management. I, at the time, didn't have to manage anything beyond selling insurance policies. And frankly, underwriting policies and selling them to the brokers is the fun part of my job. Over the next several years I apparently did such a good job at convincing him I didn't want his job that when he wanted to promote me to product manager a year and a half ago (he'd just gotten promoted to managing director) he was actually concerned that I would say "no, I just want to keep being an underwriter." And I lived up to his expectation because when he offered me the product manager job I didn't immediately say yes, but instead asked "what would that actually entail?" Ultimately I took the promotion because he convinced me that a sizable part of the job would still be underwriting, which is in fact the case and I'm fine with managing people. Yes, I do have direct reports now, as well as product management responsibilities, but my day to day life is still mostly the fun bit.
One of the interesting twists that came out of that first dinner conversation with boss is that that night I told him he could have me for eleven years if he wanted me because I planned to retire at some point between 62-63 years old and I really didn't want to go start over somewhere else. Today he still has another 6-7 years of my life, so I'm hoping that I get to spend that time working for him at current employer. With that in mind I've already started focusing on making sure that there are others on our team that are trained up to take over my product management role when I leave. It seems like just yesterday that I was graduating from college and eager to start my first job, but now here I am, planning to make sure that someone can take over my mid-level management job after I'm gone.
Neat story!
Another reason I don’t want the manager job is that it has nothing to do with being a customs broker. It’s all on the transportation side. Plus I get a ton of hands on with my job, which I mostly enjoy.
I think once the debt is paid off and I have a good emergency fund, I’m going to open a Roth IRA. Work offers a Roth option as well as regular 401K so I’ll have to look at that.
rosarugosa
2-21-24, 10:57am
That's great news, Tradd. Congratulations! The raise should give you a nice boost in paying off your debt!
Just pulled $1K out of savings and threw it on cc. I didn’t want to empty savings down to $1K again, but wanted to do something.
Just pulled $1K out of savings and threw it on cc. I didn’t want to empty savings down to $1K again, but wanted to do something.
Awesome, you are tackling that debt!
Congratulations! That's awesome news!
I totally understand why you don't want that job. When I left the mega corp five years ago I didn't meet my new (current) boss in person until after I'd been hired and went to Chicago for my first week in the early summer of 2019. At dinner after the first day at the office he was stunned to learn that I'm 12 years older than him and expressed concern that I might want his job. I had to reassure him that I absolutely DID NOT want his job. He has to manage up to senior management. I, at the time, didn't have to manage anything beyond selling insurance policies. And frankly, underwriting policies and selling them to the brokers is the fun part of my job. Over the next several years I apparently did such a good job at convincing him I didn't want his job that when he wanted to promote me to product manager a year and a half ago (he'd just gotten promoted to managing director) he was actually concerned that I would say "no, I just want to keep being an underwriter." And I lived up to his expectation because when he offered me the product manager job I didn't immediately say yes, but instead asked "what would that actually entail?" Ultimately I took the promotion because he convinced me that a sizable part of the job would still be underwriting, which is in fact the case and I'm fine with managing people. Yes, I do have direct reports now, as well as product management responsibilities, but my day to day life is still mostly the fun bit.
One of the interesting twists that came out of that first dinner conversation with boss is that that night I told him he could have me for eleven years if he wanted me because I planned to retire at some point between 62-63 years old and I really didn't want to go start over somewhere else. Today he still has another 6-7 years of my life, so I'm hoping that I get to spend that time working for him at current employer. With that in mind I've already started focusing on making sure that there are others on our team that are trained up to take over my product management role when I leave. It seems like just yesterday that I was graduating from college and eager to start my first job, but now here I am, planning to make sure that someone can take over my mid-level management job after I'm gone.
Just watching one of Kirsten Dirksen's videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpzuYHdEgvc and had a weird job related "yeah, I totally understand..." moment. About 8 minutes in he was explaining that he was trying to get a loan because he'd been given a free teardown shotgun shack but needed to find land for it, move it, renovate it, etc, so he was calling around to lots of banks and everyone basically was like "whatever. no." And then he found one guy who said "if you can find and buy land for it, get it there, plant it on a new foundation and then ask for a loan to renovate it and make it worthwhile, I can make that work and loan you money."
So much of my job as a technology errors & omissions liability underwriter is figuring out how to say yes for writing insurance for a potential insured that has a quirky unusual exposure. Most of them are probably fine, but I can't just randomly toss policies out there. If a loss occurs I have to be able to explain why I thought they were a good risk. Being able to make that explanation for a weird company means being able to write an account that most other underwriters said no to. (and also means better premium since most other underwriters channeled their inner Nancy Reagan and just said no...)
As I think more about this I"m realizing that when the more junior members of our team call me to discuss accounts one of two things happen. Either I agree with them that it's a crap account that we need to stay far away from or I disagree and then spend the rest of the call talking with them to figure out how to justify the account so that we can win the deal and hopefully give that junior underwriter another example of an account we wrote that they can use to justify future accounts.
I think I may be able to get the cc debt to four figures next payday.
iris lilies
2-22-24, 2:04pm
Jp, it is interesting to hear about your work.
@jp1
Have you heard about the shutdown of the systems at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. Everything was shut down for at least two weeks.
https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2024/02/14/lurie-childrens-hospital-cyberattack-outage-network
Jp, it is interesting to hear about your work.
Thanks. I don't often talk about work online. Both because I am ever mindful about saying anything inappropriate or negative, but also because I realize that commercial insurance is not an especially interesting topic to non-insurance people. SO occasionally reminds me about that second point when our good friend B, who I met through work, and I get into a shoptalk conversation when the three of us are hanging out.
Thanks. I don't often talk about work online. Both because I am ever mindful about saying anything inappropriate or negative, but also because I realize that commercial insurance is not an especially interesting topic to non-insurance people. SO occasionally reminds me about that second point when our good friend B, who I met through work, and I get into a shoptalk conversation when the three of us are hanging out.
I find it very interesting as well.
@jp1
Have you heard about the shutdown of the systems at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. Everything was shut down for at least two weeks.
https://www.axios.com/local/chicago/2024/02/14/lurie-childrens-hospital-cyberattack-outage-network
I saw the headline the other day but hadn't really paid attention. I don't know if we've ever seen the submission but I get cc'd when our claims team opens claims on all our insureds so I assume we're not their insurer since this hasn't crossed my desk from a claims perspective. From the somewhat cryptic wording in the article my guess would be that in this case they are actually acting as a tech provider. Most likely they paid someone to develop a proprietary electronic health record system (fairly common in the healthcare world) which they now sell to other healthcare providers. If that system gets hacked, or otherwise stops working, they are going to get sued for failing to provide the service to the medical professionals they've sold it to since they have likely contractually agreed to some sort of guaranteed service uptime level. In this case the purchasers of the tech are probably small pediatrician practices that use them as the primary hospital for their patients when a hospital is needed.
rosarugosa
2-23-24, 4:45am
I found it interesting as well, JP. I worked for a megacorp insurer for most of my working career. I started in claims, and finished up in HR, so I never had more than a fuzzy idea of what the underwriters did.
I ended up pulling more out of savings and it’s back down to $1K. I threw it all at cc. Just barely into 5 figures. Will become 4 figures in on payday. :D
iris lilies
2-23-24, 2:20pm
I never have a balance of more than 30 days on my credit card. I put big amounts on my credit card. It’s interesting and amusing to watch my credit score bounce up and down when big amounts go on it.. Like I care… because I don’t.
But this month because I put The landscapers’ fee on my credit card I got a notice that my credit score had plunged again.oh well, and I’m glad I’m not using the credit score for anything.
Iris, same boat here. I have put up to $18,000 on a cc and paid off. I would have given them a check or even cash but they wanted the CC. I was not even picking it up right away so the check would have lots of time to clear. Some merchants are very strange. We put everything! on our Amazon CC card to get points. We are pretty much always over 810 or more on score but as you said, it does not matter.
I know, it’s funny watching my credit score inch up a wee few points with each big chunk paid off.
We put just about everything on credit cards and pay off the balances each month. Haven't paid a penny of CC interest in the past 25 years. Both our credit scores fluctuate between about 830 to 835, I believe that small shift depends upon how much we've spent that month.
iris lilies
2-23-24, 6:08pm
I don’t get as high as 800 as I have previously complained about.
But I watch my category go from the highest “excellent” to “very good” to once in a while “good.”
That rating system is deranged.:)
rosarugosa
2-24-24, 4:50am
We're in the same boat as Alan, and with the kitchen project, we will be building up some nice reward points. I belong to Credit Karma, and it's amusing to get their encouraging little notes along the lines of "Way to go, Rosa! You've paid off your big Visa balance," because I pay off all my balances every month. They also sometimes send me emails with helpful advice on paying off our loan. It's a deliberately held, zero-interest loan from our furnace installation of 2018, and of course we're in no hurry to pay it off.
happystuff
2-24-24, 8:42am
I pay off our cc every month as well. Cash back, which I never seem to get around collecting, so there is a significant amount there. Need to do something with it... eventually.
ApatheticNoMore
2-24-24, 2:22pm
I generally pay it off every month but after years of doing that I paid late last month (I think I got real confused about when bills were due because it was one of those 3 paychecks a month months, not the typical 2 paychecks).
I don’t get as high as 800 as I have previously complained about.
But I watch my category go from the highest “excellent” to “very good” to once in a while “good.”
That rating system is deranged.
I don't get as high as 800, but for that you need REAL DEBT, like to have ever had a car loan, a mortgage, maybe student loans (I think my partners score is higher for that, for student loans he is still paying a couple decades after going to school for a grad degree he doesn't use). And nope, I rent and paid cash for cars. I think if fluctuates some for opening up new credit cards/store cards or closing them and I'm not going to worry about that.
I generally pay it off every month but after years of doing that I paid late last month (I think I got real confused about when bills were due because it was one of those 3 paychecks a month months, not the typical 2 paychecks).
I don't get as high as 800, but for that you need REAL DEBT, like to have ever had a car loan, a mortgage, maybe student loans (I think my partners score is higher for that, a couple decades after going to school for a grad degree he doesn't use). And nope, I rent and paid cash for cars. I think if fluctuates some for opening up new credit cards/store cards or closing them and I'm not going to worry about that.
When I've pulled my free credit reports, it always says to increase my score, I should get a mortgage. That ain't likely to happen!
happystuff
2-24-24, 4:50pm
When I've pulled my free credit reports, it always says to increase my score, I should get a mortgage. That ain't likely to happen!
Sometimes some things just don't make sense to me and this is one of those things. I don't understand going into debt to increase a credit score.
1993 was the last time we had a "real" mortgage. We had a short term loan in 1999 to cover some time on a new house but that is all. Cannot remember financing anything since then. I guess our rating is high due to large CC limits and regular use and payment. But this required several decades of spending much less than earnings and appropriate use of balance. Much harder today.
I’m still plugging along. I needed new tires ($1K) so I had to rebuild emergency fund from scratch (everything else had been thrown on cc). I added another $1K on top, so $2K in it now. Today was my first regular paycheck with the raise (previous check was retro) so now I know what I’ll be getting each check, I’ll be able to rework my budget.
I had changed Apple One to the premier plan, which is $38/month, includes Apple News+ and Fitness+. Wasn’t using them as much as I thought, so I dropped it down to the individual plan, which gets me Apple Music and my iCloud storage (plus a few other things) for $20/month. I still have the Economist ($21/month).
Cancelled MS 365 renewal for June ($70/yr). The only reason I had it was to have MS Word for my volunteer copy editing with the WI Historical Society. We’ve hit upon me editing a PDF on my iPad with stylus and me marking it up in red. Works much better for all of us and I don’t have to worry about messing up the formatting with any edits and they don’t have to fix formatting. I installed LibreOffice on my Windows laptop, plus I have Apple Pages to use on iPad. There’s always Google Docs, too.
I reupped Weight Watchers ($10/month) as it really helps. I’d really gotten off the wagon when I had the plague in January.
My car insurance (State Farm) was $682 when I renewed a few weeks ago. It’s definitely gone up, but I’ve been with SF since 1991 and I see no reason to change. Every single person I know who changes just for price, ends up in a bad place when they have a claim. I had no issues with my accident December 2022, damage fixed in March 2023. My deductible is $250. Raising it would drop my cost some, but it doesn’t bother me enough to look into it. I can afford the increase. I think insurance was $625 when I renewed in October.
Told landlord I wanted to stay another year (lease renews in early Sept). Might as well just tell him now since I’m not moving!
I’ve gone back to doing just about all my grocery shopping at Aldi and it really keeps costs down.
I did renew Amazon Prime. I can afford it.
iris lilies
4-13-24, 7:03pm
When I've pulled my free credit reports, it always says to increase my score, I should get a mortgage. That ain't likely to happen!
Both Dave Ramsey and Ramit Sethi scold their callers about worrying about a credit rating. In their worlds people do not buy things on credit. But isnt a credit rating used for things other than getting credit? For instance auto insurance rates? Or ?
otherwise, Yes, I agree with Ramsey and Sethi.
Both Dave Ramsey and Ramit Sethi scold their calkers about worrying about a credit rating. In their worlds people do not buy things on credit. But isnt a credit rating used for things other than getting credit? For instance auto insurance rates? Or ?
otherwise, Yes, I agree with Ramsey and Sethi.
What’s interesting is I’ve heard people hosting Dave’s show - the ones besides him - who mention things about not trashing your credit rating with bankruptcy, turning a car back to lender, etc., as it will trash your credit. Makes no sense when they talk about not having debt unless you consider car insurance and such.
ApatheticNoMore
4-14-24, 1:25am
Both Dave Ramsey and Ramit Sethi scold their calkers about worrying about a credit rating. In their worlds people do not buy things on credit. But isnt a credit rating used for things other than getting credit? For instance auto insurance rates? Or ?
It is used by landlords to approve a tenant, and that's completely legal AFAIK. Credit rating can be used for auto insurance in most state except the practice is banned here in California and also in Hawaii, Massachusetts and Michigan. Use of credit rating in employment also depends on state. It is heavily regulated here, it can only be used for certain jobs. I've certainly worked jobs where it would be fine to run a credit check, but it's definitely not every job. But even though most jobs don't run them, I can't imagine any job caring about whether you got the tippy top credit score though ridiculous hacks, rather than just do you tend to pay your bills on time most of the time. And if they do you probably don't want to work for them anyway.
rosarugosa
4-14-24, 6:16am
I have a FB friend (whose life is the epitome of a dumpster fire), who is having a very difficult time finding housing due at least in part to poor credit. My team at my corporate job handled background check review/hiring decisions. We definitely considered credit, but not credit scores. We didn't even pull credit scores. We looked at unpaid bills, liens, collection items, etc. So there is something to be said for maintaining a decent credit history even if one doesn't plan to be seeking a loan or financing.
I'm curious how many people going to Ramsey and Sethi for advice would ever be able to buy a house with cash. I assume that the number would be approximately 0%. For the other 100%, if they ever want to buy a house credit scores matter.
iris lilies
4-17-24, 6:36pm
I'm curious how many people going to Ramsey and Sethi for advice would ever be able to buy a house with cash. I assume that the number would be approximately 0%. For the other 100%, if they ever want to buy a house credit scores matter.
For many/most of the clients who talk to Ramit and Dave Ramsey they already own a house, so that’s where some of the pushback about ignoring credit comes from.
buying a house with cash is not all that impossible in flyover country. I realize your life is constrained by California prices.
and here’s an additional fact: —it’s not all that impossible to own a house and also have a vacation property in flyover country, all that paid for.
when you pay interest on anything, you’re losing so much of the value, so might as well pay cash, put your money in the bank, and save cash for the next big purchase, including cars and houses.
I'm curious how many people going to Ramsey and Sethi for advice would ever be able to buy a house with cash. I assume that the number would be approximately 0%. For the other 100%, if they ever want to buy a house credit scores matter.
Ramsey's position on buying a house is not to pay for it in cash, but to be sure to get a mortgage with no more than a 15-year term, For the reasons IL states (interest) as well as the top-loaded amortization schedules, I definitely agree with that. I have a 15-year mortgage.
And, as to the credit score question, Ramsey advises people to go to the banks and underwriters who take a more personal approach to underwriting. He claims they do still exist.
iris lilies
4-17-24, 7:22pm
Ramsey's position on buying a house is not to pay for it in cash, but to be sure to get a mortgage with no more than a 15-year term, For the reasons IL states (interest) as well as the top-loaded amortization schedules, I definitely agree with that. I have a 15-year mortgage.
And, as to the credit score question, Ramsey advises people to go to the banks and underwriters who take a more personal approach to underwriting. He claims they do still exist.
oh, right! The 15-year mortgage, that’s right, that’s a good tool.
I suppose, Iris, that my view is skewed away from flyover country. Just got back from a work team away day. A couple of team members have bought houses recently so real estate was one of the big non work conversation topics that kept coming up. We’re scattered in LA, SF Bay Area, NYC/NJ, Boston, Hartford, Atlanta, Tampa, Dallas and Chicago. With the exception of Chicago housing seems pretty pricy in all of those places. Tampa and Dallas seemed to have at least some cheaper housing available too depending on what area one was willing to live in but the others sounded comparable to where we live in terms of average middle of the road housing.
iris lilies
4-18-24, 9:40am
I suppose, Iris, that my view is skewed away from flyover country. Just got back from a work team away day. A couple of team members have bought houses recently so real estate was one of the big non work conversation topics that kept coming up. We’re scattered in LA, SF Bay Area, NYC/NJ, Boston, Hartford, Atlanta, Tampa, Dallas and Chicago. With the exception of Chicago housing seems pretty pricy in all of those places. Tampa and Dallas seemed to have at least some cheaper housing available too depending on what area one was willing to live in but the others sounded comparable to where we live in terms of average middle of the road housing.
We think Chicago is expensive! I always thought Dallas was flyover-country cheap, tho.
My impression of Dallas is that cheap is available depending on how far
Out one is willing to go and whether one wants a lot of land or not. A few years ago My boss paid roughly the same price per square foot for a condo there as his former place in Chicago is worth. But he’s in a mediocre condo in the current super hip neighborhood in the city center. Nicer places near him are considerably more expensive. Another coworker there has a bigger cheaper older house way out north
What is way out north? North Shore? Or on the border with Evanston (first suburb north of Chicago)?
No. Way out north of Dallas. I think coworker is all the way up near McKinney.
No. Way out north of Dallas. I think coworker is all the way up near McKinney.
Sorry, misread.
Sorry, misread.
Rereading my post I can see that it wasn’t really that clear that boss had moved from Chicago to Dallas.
And for what it’s worth I know that you wouldn’t like Dallas weather and I have no idea about diving there but boss likes Dallas way more than he liked Chicago. He doesn’t have any ties to either city but he finds Dallas to be more fun just because he thinks the people are way more interesting.
And for what it’s worth I know that you wouldn’t like Dallas weather and I have no idea about diving there but boss likes Dallas way more than he liked Chicago. He doesn’t have any ties to either city but he finds Dallas to be more fun just because he thinks the people are way more interesting.
He lived in Chicago itself or the suburbs? I’m a suburbanite. I know plenty of interesting people, and I spend a lot of time with interesting people up in Madison, WI. I’m a Great Lakes native and I’ll die here. Texas doesn’t have Great Lakes shipwrecks.
He lived in Chicago itself or the suburbs? I’m a suburbanite. I know plenty of interesting people, and I spend a lot of time with interesting people up in Madison, WI. I’m a Great Lakes native and I’ll die here. Texas doesn’t have Great Lakes shipwrecks.
I’m Chicago itself. He bought when he was mid 30’s he was there for work which involves a fair amount of ‘entertaining’ insurance brokers which means taking them out for drinks or dinner so being in the city made sense. The thing he loves about Dallas is that he can randomly start a conversation with someone at Costco that is buying a random prepper thing and learn why whatever it is will make that person self sufficient when the zombie apocalypse happens. That kind of bizarre conversation just didn’t happen in inner city Chicago.
Fell off the wagon a bit - needed some clothes and a few household things. But back on wagon. Reduced Apple One from premium plan $37.95/month to individual at $20/month. That gets me Apple Music, good iCloud storage, and Apple TV, which I really don’t use. I miss Apple News + from premium plan but I’ll live. Cancelled Economist at $22/month. I’ll reup that when I’m debt free. Kicked the McD habit. I either bring bagels from home or egg bites i made at home.
Diving season starts Saturday. That’s $30/day for diving, plus car gas/tolls. I’ve got full scuba tanks for now, so no fills needed for a few weeks. I’m staying local (IL or WI) for diving this year, aside from FL cave diving at Christmas.
I’m shopping more at Aldi. Looked into Walmart for pickup (the store is too big for walking with my bad knees). Prices are supposedly the same as for in person shopping and apparently no additional cost for pickup. I think I will try it for my next shopping trip.
Middle of April I finally got a regular paycheck with my raise. Very nice! :D Hunkering down except for diving.
happystuff
5-13-24, 9:47am
Nice that the raise kicked in, tradd! Union negotiations are underway right now and that will determine whether I get a raise or not. Fingers-crossed. But with retirement on the horizon, we are also trying to hunker down and stash as much as possible into savings. The hope is to be able to easily downsize/move. We'll see. lol
Good luck and fingers crossed!
happystuff
5-14-24, 11:15am
Thanks. It's all very nerve-wracking as we are still living in our first home and I'm not looking forward to going through selling and buying again.
Paid off $2300 on credit card today. Woot!
iris lilies
5-15-24, 12:44pm
Paid off $2300 on credit card today. Woot!
This is huge!
This is huge!
The middle of the month paycheck has few things coming out of it so I can throw more at debt, plus I pulled some out of savings.
This is huge!
I agree! You're doing great, Tradd!
It was great seeing the greatly reduced balance amount in bank app this morning.
happystuff
5-16-24, 11:48am
That is wonderful, Tradd! Congrats!
Found several hundred in cash at home I’d forgotten about. Deposited it to checking account at ATM and threw that at cc.
I’ve also discovered this - bank allows up to 3 payments per day on cc. If I skip McD in the am, I round that up to $5 (I get 99 cent coffee via the app) and throw that on cc. Adds up quick!
happystuff
5-18-24, 9:07am
Found several hundred in cash at home I’d forgotten about. Deposited it to checking account at ATM and threw that at cc.
I’ve also discovered this - bank allows up to 3 payments per day on cc. If I skip McD in the am, I round that up to $5 (I get 99 cent coffee via the app) and throw that on cc. Adds up quick!
I've always been amazed at the little ways of saving that add up so quickly! You have been doing so well!!! Congrats again.
I was supposed to do my first dives since late September today, but I had a rebreather O2 sensor issue and so had to cancel. Just found out the mfg had a bad bunch. The shop I bought them from is out of stock and I might have to buy one elsewhere to be able to dive.
Another $900 onto cc this payday yesterday. I’m down into the next thousand. I’ll get into numbers now. $7975 left. I have some medical appointments coming up for knees and something else and I have a high deductible plan, so I’m going to have to shell out hundreds from my pocket. We’ll see what it comes out to.
I’m seriously beginning to think of selling my diving rebreather. It would take care of about 3/4 of my debt left. Issue is my knees. I bought it for wreck diving. But I can’t get it up the ladder. There’s one boat on the Great Lakes with a diver lift, but that’s not local to me. It’s in MI. I dived off it once last year. That was awesome.
Selling it would clear at least 3/4 of my remaining debt. I’d get at least $5K for it. Not sure if I want to do it, but I’ll take more time. I chatted with diving instructor about it and she said to think more about it. If I make the decision to sell, it would probably easily sell to one of her students.
ToomuchStuff
6-3-24, 2:05pm
Wondering how you figure out if you met your deductible. We are pretty sure I met mine, but I just received a bill from one company.
Charged up around $5K for work, between some licenses, new chairs for the dining room ($2500), commercial tv that will be here Wednesday, Turbotaps (they have made a difference), and some other stuff, figuring I expect to pay if off slower then maybe I can (trying to watch the account until I feel more comfortable after Tim screwed everything up).
My deductible is about $6K. I can see it in BCBS’ app.
I might have a buyer for rebreather already. Someone I know who had been asking the instructor about rebreathers very recently. Buyer just has to look at finances and see if she can swing it. Also travels a lot for work now and not sure she’d be able to dive enough.
iris lilies
6-4-24, 6:24pm
I might have a buyer for rebreather already. Someone I know who had been asking the instructor about rebreathers very recently. Buyer just has to look at finances and see if she can swing it. Also travels a lot for work now and not sure she’d be able to dive enough.
What is a rebreather?
Diving apparatus that allows you to stay down longer and make breathing gas stay longer. Essentially the same technology that is used by astronauts on space walks.
Sold 2 of the 4 O2 tanks for rebreather. That’s $200 that will immediately go on cc. Sold to a friend and she’s getting them this weekend. The other 2 will go with rebreather.
You are doing so well, Tradd! Paying down the cc, decluttering - wonderful!
You are doing so well, Tradd! Paying down the cc, decluttering - wonderful!
And with the rebreather and related stuff gone, much less clutter in my living room!
I have to be honest, I just done feel like diving right now. Might be menopause related issues. I wake up a lot at night and I’m lucky if I get 7 hours of sleep a night, usually 6 or a bit more. I have a doc appt with gyno later in the month so I’m going to ask for hormone replacement therapy. I’ve never taken anything for the hot flashes and such.
It costs $30/day for dive site entry, plus gas (90 min drive each way), tolls, and tank fills. Plus I’d often go out to lunch with dive buddies after. So probably roughly $100 for each diving day, which would be at least one weekend day, maybe both! So I’m going to not dive the rest of the month and see what my doc says. I actually like being at church and more active, not missing choir. In previous years, I was often gone from May through October.
So I will add the money from not diving to debt payoff. Can’t wait to start really trashing cash away for emergency fund after I’m done. So close I can taste it! LOL
It’s turns out I don’t hate EveryDollar. It’s the FREE version I hate. I had bought a copy of Breaking Free from Broke earlier this year. There’s a link in the back for three months of the ED paid/premium version. So I set it up yesterday and connected my bank (checking, savings, cc all at this bank). You then go into transactions and assign each one to a category. So much simpler! I’ve never done this with budgeting/personal finance software before. Now I see why people like it!
The paid version gives you per paycheck budgeting which is how I’ve always budgeted so big plus.
CC balance is down to $6K. Turns out my credit score has jumped to 803 from 740. Excellent. Chase also bumped my credit limit up by $5K.
Still waiting on diving rebreather to sell. The gal who was interested can’t swing the cost right now, so my instructor is going to spread word around. Typed up a list of all the specifics and extras that will be included, took photos and sent to instructor today. Hope it sells quickly.
iris lilies
6-19-24, 9:23pm
It’s turns out I don’t hate EveryDollar. It’s the FREE version I hate. I had bought a copy of Breaking Free from Broke earlier this year. There’s a link in the back for three months of the ED paid/premium version. So I set it up yesterday and connected my bank (checking, savings, cc all at this bank). You then go into transactions and assign each one to a category. So much simpler! I’ve never done this with budgeting/personal finance software before. Now I see why people like it!
The paid version gives you per paycheck budgeting which is how I’ve always budgeted so big plus.
I listened to a couple Dave Ramsey shows today so hear about the Every Dollar program. I like the concept that every dollar is assigned a “job”. I just like that concept. I don’t know realistically how it differs from a budget, but the concept is empowering whereas, to me, a budget seems more like I am not in control. A budget seems like a spreadsheet divorced from my control.
Giving each incoming dollar a “job “is a great concept by Dave Ramsey.
My husband and I have lived debt free (except a car payment every few years) for about 10 years now and it's wonderful. We never really had any credit card debt but paying off the mortgage on the house about 15 years early was a great feeling and removed so much pressure and anxiety from our lives. We always paid extra against the principle (for house and cars) to get it paid off more quicker. We pay bills as soon as we get them and neither of us are really spenders.
Looks like I have a buyer for diving rebreather. $5K! I’ll meet the gal in a couple of weeks so she can try it on her back on land and see how it fits her. My diving instructor put us in contact.
I listened to a couple Dave Ramsey shows today so hear about the Every Dollar program. I like the concept that every dollar is assigned a “job”. I just like that concept. I don’t know realistically how it differs from a budget, but the concept is empowering whereas, to me, a budget seems more like I am not in control. A budget seems like a spreadsheet divorced from my control.
Giving each incoming dollar a “job “is a great concept by Dave Ramsey.
It’s still a budget. Just a zero based budget.
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