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Home > Picked up a copy of TMMO today

Picked up a copy of TMMO today

July 30th, 2009 at 02:03 am

Sometimes I'm sure this whole thing feels like a big train wreck getting worse and worse. There really is only one direction if we keep going this way.

The biggest difference I've discovered over last year is... I didn't realize how much bigger a problem this is. We curbed a lot of our frivolous spending... stopped buying new cars & started budgeting more carefully. But we were never prepared for the emergencies or necessities that came up this year.

The end result? $38K in credit card debt alone thanks to repairs needed to be done on the rental, the windows being replaced in this house (and that was only the ones that NEEDED replaced - we still have 11 more windows to go), and yeah... 90% of the debt is due to that.

DH's car is starting to have issues. Its 6 y/o and needing a new clutch, brakes, struts, etc. I think last time we totaled the repairs it'd be $3-$4K.

That's when DH was wondering if we could get a new car.

This is where I'm thankful that although I'm not 100% where I want to be... we're closer. (And I mean this by, we make the right decision in the end... although I wish we wouldn't have even considered the bad decision to begin with)

I was approved for a loan for 36 months at 3.99%. We figured that with our trade, we wouldn't want to finance more than $19K.

Almost like a sign from God, the vehicle we wanted was just not available & the vehicles that were available had so many cons we never signed a deal.

That allowed DH & I more and more time to deliberate over the decision and looking at our cash flow.

I realized that although we were only budgeting $400/mo on food for a family of 6, we were really NEEDING at least $600/mo. Ideally, $700.

The truck he'd want would also get worse gas mileage. So that would add another $100/mo.

Yesterday I basically went up to DH and said, "If we get the car, I'm concerned that we won't be able to enjoy our life. We won't be able to buy the amount of food we want, won't be able to drive the vehicle anywhere, nor be able to do anything. I'd rather just give you the $3-$4K to keep the vehicle because I know keeping the car leaves us better off."

So we didn't get the truck. Instead that $700 we were GOING to spend on financing/gas on a new vehicle will go to increasing our food budget, providing a $200/mo allowance for unexpected things that we need & allow for a few things we want, and the rest to help pay off our debt more aggressively.

My biggest challenge is simply staying motivated. My second biggest challenge is my accounting background and reliance on financial gurus that debt can sometimes make sense - has also had me rationalizing my behavior.

So I started reading David Ramsey's stuff on his website. It was motivating to say the least.

So I picked up the book today. I haven't read it yet. I saw the price of the book ($22) and walked away wondering if it would end up like my Jean Chatzky, Suze Orman, and David Bach books... read once and sitting on a shelf, my life not much different because I've never changed my behavior. Actually, out of those books the book I think I'd be MUCH better off having never read was David Bach - his books are what made me want to own a home & rent one out. I'd probably never had the idea without reading Automatic Millionaire... although the automatic bill payment was probably the most beneficial thing I got out of it & now have around $23K in retirement accounts.

I picked up the milk, cereal, and cheese that I had to get as well - totaling up the cost in my head if I got the book w/the groceries. $35, that didn't seem so bad. So I bought it.

If in the end, I can stay motivated and this can actually help change our behavior - then $22 is well worth it. It's already helped me come up with a game plan to pay off 3 credit cards in the next 6 months just from the website... I figured maybe it would be worth a shot.

I've already reached baby step 1... I have $1000 in an EF.

Next month I'll pay off the AMEX.

By October I'll pay off my CC.

February I'll pay off my other CC (I just did a balance transfer from DH's card to mine for a lower interest rate on some of the balance).

And by February 2011, hopefully we'll be 100% CC free.

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