Up-date the good and the bad

**bjl584** · 08-11-2017, 03:35 AM

Good for you for getting things straightened out.

Your income is high, so you should be able to get this paid off in a reasonable amount of time.

I'd encourage you to become an active member here and keep asking questions and posting progress updates.

Good luck to you going forward.

**snafu** · 08-11-2017, 12:08 PM

Good On You

All your fans at SA will be delighted to read your update. Best news is that you've made huge progress on your gambling addiction and have stayed away since March 25th.

A centimeter down the celebratory chart is that you told DH the true extent of the cost to family finances. ...'being obsessed with paying off debt,' is a common trait among SA participants

Since May you've paid $ 9 K, [averaging about $ 2,600 per month] towards debt. Remortgaging your house to add past debt is a numbers game fraught with potential problems.

I have a number of questions you may wish to consider...
How much time is left on the current mortgage at the current rate? Mortgage rates in Canada have recently increased and the 'talking heads' suggest they will increase again by year's end. What is included in your monthly mortgage payment? [interest, principal, municipal taxes, PMI, house insurance, HOA etc]
How much actual value is in the mortgage and how much value is 'appreciation'?

What fees and costs will be added by the financial institution? What is the best rate you can likely negotiate ? Do you understand by remortgaging, you go back to step one where the majority of payment goes to interest and only a tiny percentage of sum paid goes to principal for the initial 10 years.

That brings in the retirement issues. Will the house be mortgage free by anticipated retirement date? Do you anticipate living elsewhere as a retiree? Do you each have some type of RRSP?

The bad news is the research that confirms a very high percentage of debtors who take some version of loan consolidation get themselves back into unmanageable debt within a decade.

I wonder if I could persuade you to read 'The Essential Retirement Guide'' {Vettese}, 'The Automatic Millionaire '[Bach] likely available electronically at your library.

**sblatner** · 08-11-2017, 01:00 PM

I think Dave Ramsey does good on the debt side of things. Don't like his 12% investment returns.

I'd follow the baby steps and you will be on your road to being debt free.

**Trace** · 08-11-2017, 01:57 PM

thanks for the non judgement

Appreciate all the advice and encouragement
Our mortgage has 2.5 yrs left on term at 2.4% (was 2.2 ) variable and we can lock in anytime... We can blend our rate at no penalty and take out a new term. I would not extend our mortgage but keep on at the same time table. Thus putting the payments up but that's ok if we are eliminating a chunk of debt. Our taxes are paid separately.
Yes we do have rrsp's aprox 100 000 and are contributing monthly 550 per month. (should be more I know)
We did a 100 000 Reno to our house and added it to the mortgage 2.5 years ago so it's at 270 0000 would be much less had we not done that.
I plan on being free of all debt by retirement if it kills us. We are late forties.
I will look at down loading those books you mentioned.
Thanks again

**disneysteve** · 08-11-2017, 02:41 PM

Welcome back.

Originally posted by Trace View Post

The final number was 175 000 unsecured I confessed everything and now all debts and gambling are out in the open.

Congratulations on this! As I said back in January, there was no way to start fixing this without both of you working together, which couldn't happen when you were hiding things from him.

I'm completely gamble free since March 25th

And congratulations on this! Are you getting any professional help with this. I hope you are attending Gamblers Anonymous or some other type of program to help you remain abstinent.

One thing I'd urge you to do is avoid putting yourself in situations where the temptation exists. Going on a cruise probably wasn't a wise vacation choice given your addiction. Going forward, there shouldn't be any costly vacations happening anyway, especially if you decide to follow Dave Ramsey, but even in the future when you are debt free, trips like that should be out of consideration. If you really want a cruise, once you can afford to pay cash for one, stick with ships that don't have casinos.

my new obsession is paying off debt.

That's a beautiful thing.

I have managed to pay off about 9000 since May. I have committed to becoming debt free and gamble free no more trips purchases etc..

Are you and husband doing this together? Is he also committed to becoming debt free and curbing the purchases and travel?

I'm lucky as the interest rates are all somewhat reasonable.

In your original post, you said that several of your debts were on promotional rates. Pay close attention to that as the rates will spike up when the special period ends.

Any thoughts on Dave Ramasay?

I think his plan is very effective if you follow it fully. It is not easy. It is not fun. But if both of you are committed to cleaning up this mess that you both got into (your husband certainly isn't innocent here especially with that super expensive car he bought), Dave Ramsey's plan can help you fix it as quickly as possible.

our house is worth about 450 000

In your original post in January, you said it was worth $330,000. That's a big difference in just 7 months. One of those estimates probably isn't accurate. It doesn't really matter unless you're looking to sell. I was just curious.

**Trace** · 08-11-2017, 07:00 PM

Hi Steve

Thanks you again for not judging ..I was afraid to post again knowing I had added so much debt since my last post.
Yes my husband is completely on board with the budget.
Yes the house has really gone up that much ..we are in a bubble area 2 hours from us T.O our house would be worth 2 million..1 hour from us and from TO our house is worth 950..we were sitting in an area were it all stalled out not gaining any value over the last few years..then all of a sudden we have done a crazy increase and houses on my street are now going for 400 to 550 (the highest range) average sale houses are getting 40 000 above asking price. Crazy but I'm glad we are finally making gains on our house value.
I'm not in formal counselling with the gambling but I have joined support groups online. I really have not had the desire to gamble..the longer I'm away from it the more horrified I am at what I was doing. ..the final damage was again desperately trying to win a chunk to keep the big secret from hubby.. It was fueling things. It was a very hard few months he was floored..but we are working together to right things. He does not throw anything in my face ..but we are both struggling with the enormity of the debt and I'm trying to keep us up beat and focused. My husband has been really stressed out thinking about everything ..He worries we won't be able to pay it off fast enough.
Yes some off the low interest has expired Iwas able to roll thh lagest chunk back in to 1.99 for 10 more months. the highest right now is 11.99 and I will tackle those 1st.
Thanks again...It feels good when people affirm that it is possible to dig yourself out even when your in as deep as we are. ..I really really want to get debt free!!

**AJSimon** · 08-11-2017, 08:34 PM

Originally posted by sblatner View Post

I think Dave Ramsey does good on the debt side of things. Don't like his 12% investment returns.

I'd follow the baby steps and you will be on your road to being debt free.

I only listen to Ramsey's show, and haven't read his books, but the worst thing I can say about this investment advice is that it's vague.

**Gailete** · 08-15-2017, 05:12 AM

Disney Steve is completely correct when he says you must stay away from sources that might kick in the gambling fever. You must stay away from it always. Even if it is a charity gambling even at your kids or nieces/nephews school.

I went to a Dave Ramsey seminar as well as read some of his books. He has so good thoughts on getting out of debt. And they are simple enough that you don't need to think a lot to put them into practice. I too, do my investing in the ways different than he recommends. The important thing is get the debt down so that you can save for the years ahead.

Up-date the good and the bad