how do I snowball here

[rusty2832]

Well I have made some progress. I did snowball charts, breaking it down by card columns on the right and the far left with payday dates/bonus checks due and used asmom's proposal on paying the debt off. With proper discipline, I could get done it with asmom's timetable. I even switched around two cards with high balances and tried it that way to see if it would get paid off quicker.


I like the idea of putting the cards in a block of ice or a hard to reach place in the house. That was one of the reasons I had the BOA savings account as I had no debit card with it and only could withdraw in person so I would deposit my pt pay checks in there to make them harder to get at.

Per the hair trim/weave=highlight treatment, I generally get this done once or twice a year. Most of the $90 cost is going for the weave cost, with $20-25 for a trim. Right now my hair is all different colors as the highlights have grown out. The weave just blends it all in the same color. Once this is done, I probably won't get it done until next year again.

I got my hair cut last year shorter and I have been letting it grow longer and put off the trim off as long as I could. It also covers the few gray hairs that I have. It is a luxury yet I can cut back on lawn care or make the animals find their own food. Since I don't drink or smoke, having good hair does help a person have more confidence at work and other things.

I am taking your suggestions at heart, even the rough ones. It is just going to take a lot of energy to do this. Maybe if I can get back to biking again I will feel better about things and more optimistic. The Red Bud bike ride is coming up early April so only have 8 days to get in shape for that one if I do ride.

[rusty2832]

HI , I MADE SOME PROgress. I closed out one savings account. I have paid down extra on some of the unsecured debt the past two months. For the next two months I will pay just MP on all but one debt and built up my contingency/emergency fund up before I pay off any more debt.

I don't want to like my BF who has no checking account due to a bad experience with BOK years ago with fees and messed up his account something terrible; he needs a new roof badly and owes a lot of debt and just pays MP on it yet he wants a HE loan sometime the road and doesn't realize that unless he clears up his CC debt his HE loan rate will be very high rate due to his credit score. I guess I am using him to motivate me to behave.

So I want to make sure that i have a little saved up to get me through 1month and see how much I can add to it in 2-3 months before I attempt to pay down any more debt. That's the plan anyway. If I get enough built up I may pay down more in a month rather than wait.

I have been trying to follow the book How To Get Out Of Debt, Stay Out of Debt and Live Prosperously by Jerrold Mundis and have almost cut out all charging or debting as the books calls it. I had one weak moment and bought a book on line but other than that I have been good. It is a day to day thing.
-Amy

[wnlbutterfly]

I just wanted to toss in that I believe a weave is generally done on African- American hair, and that is a lot harder to work with (especially a weave), therefore it isn't in the same ballpark as being able to use a pair of clippers and trimming it in the mirror.

FYI, I used to be a Barber. I just didn't want her to get too much flack over the $90. Actually, for a weave that is pretty reasonable.

[rusty2832]

I may have done the wrong thing here by paying more down on debt and trying to save less. I retransferred some money from my ING savings account back to my main account to cover a water leak repair this coming week. I did a load of laundry the other day and noticed afterwards there was a water spot on the floor. I was glad I did just a mini load. I don't know which pipe(s) it is coming from. It stopped once the washer stopped.

I spent most of that other money to pay down debt so have no loose cash to pay for this upcoming plumbing repair so had to take some from the ING account, which is what the contingency/emergency fund is for so I won't have to charge anything.

I am glad someone understands about hair. My hairdresser calls it a weave or highlighter touchup to get rid of the gray hairs. SHe uses the foil stuff on the hair and paints stuff on the hair and rolls it up and have to sit under hot lights to cook. I plan to do my own bang trimming soon to cut on cost.

Back to the above, I was sorely tempted to debt on the credit card to pay for this plumbing leak yet I did have the money available so I am transferring that in and by the time the plumber can get to the place the money should be there to cover it.

It does feel good to have paid down a little of the debt though I feel I paid down too much yet I didn't know I was going to have another water leak around the washer. This is partly why I want to try to build up my savings for two months before I do any more extra debt payments. -Amy

[nanamom]

I understand that the hair is a necessary expense for you. I am wondering if there is a school in your area that you could have do it for less money. Usually the students are being watched pretty carefully and the "do" is as good as a salon.
I am sorry that your boyfriend is in a similiar or worse position. Perhaps you could be each others support group. I am also sorry to hear about the water leak and I hope you can control the urge to charge the expense.
As to your not wanting to use the money from the estate on debt because it wasn't your father who made the mistake, use the money! He wouldn't mind, in fact he would prefer that to you staying in debt I'm sure.

[swanson719]

Paying off debt is as much a mental change as it a financial change. You need to keep $1,000 in savings, and then pay down this debt. Don't put your credit cards in hard to reach places... that will just make them harder to get to when you decide to use them. You need to literally take a big pair of scissors and cut them all up into little pieces.

You had $32,000 worth of credit card debt when you got your inheritance from your Dad. Taking $20,000 and paying off that debt would be better than investing it. You pay more in interest on your credit cards than you make on your investments.

Do you realize that if you put $20,000 into a Roth IRA today and let it sit over the next 15 years at the same interest rate that you pay on your credit cards you would have $145,000 when you turn 67? That also means that if you carry $20,000 in credit card debt, over the next 15 years you will pay $125,000 in interest and still have all of the debt if you don't get rid of the credit cards? That $125,000 in interest from a Roth would pay off all of your credit cards, you house, and go a long ways towards keeping you secure in retirement. But it's not going to be there if you don't cut up all of your credit cards. It IS going to be in the credit card companies pockets if you don't because you WILL pay it in interest charges.

If you're making $50,000 a year right now, and retire at 67, social security will pay between $30,000 and $35,000 annually, or about $2,800 a month. That's before taxes. Take your retirement and social security, and you'll be in the same standard of living, but you'll never have an inheritance to leave. You have to get rid of these credit cards. They are killing you financially. Not put them in a difficult place. Cut them up. Pay them off. Never get one again.

[rusty2832]

I have gone downhill some. Really, a lot. After my Dad's death, my fish died in the aquarium sometime, then I dealt with all the family issues resolving with going through all the contents of the house and various buildings on the farm which wasn't easy, then my boss died in fall 2009 from an unexpected surgery. I have the same job with a different boss. I can't use any of those them for excuses.

I have let myself down and all the people here who offered their help back then.

I just about 2 weeks ago cleaned out the acquarium after it had sat 1.5 years at least with bad water and dead fish/snails in it. I guess I was maybe depressed and just didn't care.

My day job is doing furloughs at this time, 1 or 2 days a month for the past several months. What happens after July 1st is unknown. Hopefully the state budgets will get the money that they are expecting. I still have a part time job.

I have started to get back into bike riding again which I almost quit after my Dad's death.

I think things are starting to turn around slow be it, yet I have to review all the comments from back then and go from there.

In glancing over them I saw one indicate just to pick one debt and pay it off. I am considering doing that, regardless of amount or interest rate. I need to build up my contingency emergency fund.


I ran across the below article and I may try that route as an alternate way. I really don't know what to do yet I won't give up.

Debt Tsunami: The Ultimate Method To Pay Off Debt

[jIM_Ohio]

1. The good news is that you can pay off all of your debts except the mortgage and the HEL by next year.

2. Forget about doing a balance transfer or cash advance or anything like that. Your situation is complicated enough as it is.

3. You have $6200 dollars coming in, you should pay off your debts as follows:

Card 1 - 1092.92 at 22.24%;
Card 3 - (Dis) 1341.84 at 15.87%;
Card 6 (MC) - 1000.25
Water Soft Loan - 2568.81 % 16.99%
_______________________________
Total: $6003.82


With the remaining $196.18 + the minimum payments you will make between now and then you should then easily able to pay off:

Cookware loan: $676.10


4. Now you have decreased the no. of people you owe by almost half in less than 3 months. The next step is to payoff the remainder. You didn't post your minimum payments but I am guessing you have freed at least $300/month that you were paying the others. Roll the $300 over, add in what you are making from your part-time job and pay off:

Card 4 - 3653.30 at 13.99%.

You should be able to achieve this by Christmas.

Roll that amount over and payoff:

card 2 - 1654.71 at 13.99%;

This can be done April 2010. By the end of the year, you can finish off:

Card 5 - (Dis) 3773.66 at 3.9%

I chose it instead of the HEL because even though the interest rate is lower, it is tax deductible.


6 months into 2011, you can polish off the HEL and then your mortgage payment will go down because you have increased equity.

5. The others are right. You do have a spending problem and unless you deal with that, then paying off all these loans is for nothing because you are going to end up in the same place again. And 15 years until retirement is not that far away.

6. If you build up your savings, you won't need to use your CC for emergencies. $1000 is not enough but you can fix that after you reduce this debt load. And speaking of that, you have too many savings accounts. Get rid of all but one especially the BOA, it is too much hassle to try to make a transaction every month just to avoid a fee especially when you don't have to do that for other banks.

7. Using this money to pay off debt is the best thing you can do for yourself with your Dad's money right now. It's to your greatest advantage.

8. Post your income and expenses and let the others see if you can free up some more money. You will probably be able to pay off the debt even sooner. Good luck.

I could type a long post and give my steps, but of all the posts I read thus far, I agree with 99% of this post.

Emphasis on #8 as well- without more information, it will be tough to solve the problem.

[mmgarren@yahoo.com]

I think that it would be a good idea to put your credit cards in some water and put them in the freezer and live on the cash you have available. I really had a problem with credit cards and now I don't have any. For purchases you make requiring a credit card you can purchase a prepaid debit card. Another idea would be to get rid of those cards. The advice that the others gave you is excellent.

[jpg7n16]

I have gone downhill some. Really, a lot. After my Dad's death, my fish died in the aquarium sometime, then I dealt with all the family issues resolving with going through all the contents of the house and various buildings on the farm which wasn't easy, then my boss died in fall 2009 from an unexpected surgery. I have the same job with a different boss. I can't use any of those them for excuses.

Okay, either you've never properly greived over the loss of your dad - or your mind is using that experience as rationalization for why it needs to stop working so hard at changing your spending behaviors. I think a bit of both.

So 1) give yourself a chance to properly grieve for your dad. It was over 2 years ago, and you're still carrying it around like it happened yesterday. You need to deal with this for your own sake.

2) Realize that you are trying to change behaviors here.

And I love this example, so I'm going to use it again: You are doing the financial equivalent of going from couch potato to immediately running 10 miles every day. So imagine that for the past two years, you've been sitting on your couch for months, and then start shocking your body with all the running. And you can keep it up for a while, but then it's all just too much and your mind develops excuses for why you can't run "well it rained two days ago" ; "i'm just too tired" ; "it's too hot out"

Financially that's what you're doing to yourself! You go from spending as much as you want for months (sitting on the couch) to cutting all your spending, focusing in on the debt, and depriving yourself (running 10 miles a day). And you keep up with it for only so long, before your mind comes up with excuses for why you can't do it anymore "my fish died 2 years ago" ; "I'm just too sad" ; "it's getting hot out and I need new clothes"

Running 10 miles a day is a goal. And if you wanted to do it, you'd start by walking 5 minutes then 10, then jogging around the block, then 1 mile, then 2, 3, 4... and one day you'd make it to 10 because you built your way up to it.

Your "debt tsunami" thing would be a terrible idea for you long term. Cause it's just a new way to try and inspire yourself to run those 10 miles! What you really need to do is build up to it. Cause right now, you're just not able to run 10 miles yet.


As mathematically wrong as this is to say, behavior-wise you need to back off! Pay the minimums then figure out what extra amount you want to pay one day... and then only do 1/2 of that extra amount. Do that for a while (say 2 months), then add a bit more, then a bit more, till one day you're paying all that you originally wanted to. And you should absolutely snowball lowest balance to highest, because you need those rewards of paying off the card along the way.

If that still proves to be too hard for you, then start by paying the minimums on all debt with no extra. Then each month add to the extra. 1st month $20 extra towards the lowest balance, 2nd month $40 extra, and so on. Just each month always pay a bit more extra than the previous month.

Far better to be debt free in 2-3 years, (when mathematically you could be debt free in 1) rather than try too hard and quit and be back here posting in this forum year after year and making no real progress.