Need Advice..

[FoolFromAZ]

Good job on paying down your CC debt so quickly. In March you had $55K according to an older post, so that means you have paid down $5K per month, while incurring a temporary job loss. I think that is great. At your current income, if you forgo 401k contributions for 12 months or so you could be completely CC debt free (faster if you cut your bills a bit). So it is really up to you, whether you are comfortable with debt or not. Personally I would not be comfortable with that level of CC debt and would stop the 401k contributions to get it eliminated. Your wife found a job quickly but if she had not you would have had to cut a lot of expenses quickly with no EF. So if it were me I would stick to the plan, pay down the CCs, then start funding EF and 401k/Roth in tandem.

we got tax refund ($6800) and stimilus package ($1500) which helped us.

as long as we could keep the cc intrest rate around 5%, we would not worry much. nearly 75% of cc debt is under my name (8.5K at 5% apr for the life of the loan and apr for remaining debt is variable but currently under 5%). DW is still getting 0% apr introductory offers from banks.

thats why we would like to put 50% of whatever we get after expenses to (401k/roth/ef). we did not invest in roth last year as we were worried about cc debt and intrest rate of some of the cards were over 10%.

Once again, Thanks everyone for the advice. I wish I knew about this site few yrs again. i have cut down lot of my expenses and paying down my debt faster after started reading this website. I wud def recommand this site to my friends..

[anonymous_saver]

You could always get rid of the Dish temporarily, and definitely the housecleaning. Then instead of watching dish every night, watch some other TV show, and clean for an hour, it would be good for you in MANY ways.

Like others stated, good job on getting started on this, but you need to make more lifestyle changes in order to really make a big difference in your life.

[maat55]

maat makes a very good point. There are a bunch of things you could cut out temporarily. That doesn't mean you can't reintroduce them later.

The only one on the list that I probably wouldn't cut is the security system as I think that one is too important to do without. Also, your home insurance probably gives you a discount for having it, so cutting it out could raise your premium.

The reason I suggest that the OP get rid of the security is based on that if the equipment installed has it's own siren alert, this will run off any intruders. Having the monitored service is only useful for when you are gone. I have a system at my shop and got rid of the monthly monitoring fee because I found it worthless.

[disneysteve]

The reason I suggest that the OP get rid of the security is based on that if the equipment installed has it's own siren alert, this will run off any intruders. Having the monitored service is only useful for when you are gone. I have a system at my shop and got rid of the monthly monitoring fee because I found it worthless.

Our burglar alarm is also connected to our smoke alarms, so if a fire sets off the alarms, the monitoring company will call the fire department if we are not at home. Otherwise, the alarm would sound but if nobody is around to hear it, it won't do much good.

[jIM_Ohio]

Our burglar alarm is also connected to our smoke alarms, so if a fire sets off the alarms, the monitoring company will call the fire department if we are not at home. Otherwise, the alarm would sound but if nobody is around to hear it, it won't do much good.

We were told when we purchased an alarm, that the most common use of house alarms is fire and carbon monoxide, not burglary/break in.

[maat55]

Our burglar alarm is also connected to our smoke alarms, so if a fire sets off the alarms, the monitoring company will call the fire department if we are not at home. Otherwise, the alarm would sound but if nobody is around to hear it, it won't do much good.

We have numerous fire alarms throughout our home and I test them regularly. In most cases, I've found that even if the alarm company calls the fire department, your home will be a total loss. I don't consider security alarms a huge necessity while trying to payoff debt. This is very debatable I agree, but I'm on the side of it's a luxury.

[disneysteve]

This is very debatable I agree, but I'm on the side of it's a luxury.

Oh, I never said it wasn't a luxury. It just isn't one I would cut unless absolutely necessary. And I don't think the situation here is nearly that serious to require cutting something like this, especially at only $35/month. If someone came on and posted that they were on the verge of losing their home or teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, that would be a different conversation.

[aida2003]

we got tax refund ($6800) and stimilus package ($1500) which helped us.

Why did you get such a huge tax refund? Is it from Fed and State combined? Do you receive so much back every year or was 2007 somewhat unusual? If your tax refunds are big every year you both should revisit your W-4 and your State exemptions. Why to give FREE loan to the gov't if you can use against your debts.

[FoolFromAZ]

Why did you get such a huge tax refund? Is it from Fed and State combined? Do you receive so much back every year or was 2007 somewhat unusual? If your tax refunds are big every year you both should revisit your W-4 and your State exemptions. Why to give FREE loan to the gov't if you can use against your debts.

Yes they deducted lot in our gross income last year. Anyway we have corrected our W4 this time.