Financial fitness group Part 1

VeganInTraining

Hello Everyone!

As promised, I am beginning a financial fitness support group. I would like to start by saying that I am NOT a financial expert. Anything I post is merely my own experience or a suggestion I read (more than likely from “Total Money Makeover” by Dave Ramsey) or heard (probably on daveramsey.com) Notice a theme?

So, here on this forum, I was thinking that we can all be an encouragement to each other. If you are comfortable with it, post your total debt and the priority with which you will be paying it off. If not, then try and at least put up your goals for the week or month. I know that when I say out loud to another human being “I’m going to put $600 extra toward debt this month.” I am much more likely to stick with it.

I am using Dave Ramsey’s “baby steps” to financial freedom. Step number 1 is to have a $1000 dollar emergency fund. If you do not have $1000 in savings I HIGHLY recommend that become your first priority. THIS SHOULD BE YOUR GOAL FOR THE MONTH IF YOU DO NOT ALREADY HAVE IT! 1000 is enough to take care of basic emergencies and will keep you from using your credit cards if something should happen. Any time that an emergency happens (no, having a break up and wanting to go on a shopping spree is NOT an emergency!) you go back to step one and refurnish your fund. Having this fund was a life saver when I went to resign my lease and my landlord informed me she is going to sell my house rather than resign my lease. I was able to find a new place without using a credit card for anything and then got my savings back to 1000 before continuing with step 2 which is the debt snowball.

I am currently on the debt snowball meaning I am putting all of my “extra” cash toward my smallest debt. I have a budget, I only spend the cash that I budgeted for the month and all the rest goes toward debt. If you don’t tell your money where to go it will just disappear. I make sure I budget 20 a week for my husband and I to go out to dinner when we need to get out of the house. After I pay off my cheapest credit card, the minimum from that card as well as my “extra” money goes to my next smallest card.

If anyone is on any of the further steps I will let them tell you about it! 

If you are like me, you have spent countless hours googling “how to save money,” “how to spend less on groceries,” and a million other tips for saving money. This is a good place to share what you have found and your own experience.

OK, enough from me, let’s hear from you! Who are you? What made you join this group? How old are you? What’s your favorite money saving tip? And any other information you feel like sharing 

(I will be back on later to post all the information I asked for on here, my money saving tip is that I don’t have internet at home so I need to use it at work on my breaks)

Pickedlast4gym

Use it up, wear it out, make it due, do without!!!! Since my free fall during the recession and my husbands unemployment for 96 weeks.....i have learned a lot.

1. Read the flyers and know your prices before you buy anything.
2. Use coupons
3. Say no.
4. Use cash.

I pay cash for almostnwll purchases, the debit card is just to easy to lose track of. Howwver, when you have the cash in your pocket you need to dole out, you think more.

I also bring my lunch every day. Although I am self employed, the extra 75 per week I save on feeding myself goes into mynpockets and adds up.

Jill_newimprovedversion

It's ironic to see this post, as I was *just* musing yesterday that there ought to be some type of tool like MFP
to log my "mindless" or "emotional" spending like I've learned accountability when it comes to what goes into my mouth/body....

Then this thought popped in my mind: they have one.....it's called a BUDGET

I think this is a good idea, but I would NOT be comfortable sharing my current $ information on a public forum-
since there is no such thing as a *CLOSED GROUP*

I will share one thing though-

I am a recovering credit card addict- and I bit off more than I can chew- and learned my *lesson* the HARD way-
and will NEVER have another credit card.
For those who have them and use them responsibly, they are a tool.
The BEST scenario- IF you use them- is to pay them off at the end of each month.

My hubby uses them for gas, etc. but writes the am't of the purchase in the checkbook register- and deducts it immediately.
When the statement comes in, he writes a check for the FULL AM'T and carries ZERO balance, ZERO finance charges.

It would be nice to think I could be that disciplined, but for me, it isn't much different than an alcoholic who *thinks* she can drink and stop at just a little *THIS TIME*- Nope, better for me to NEVER touch that plastic again.

MamaDee2

Dave Ramsey is an amazing/brillant man!!
I use coupons. I am not extreme so I don' t have a stock pile of stuff but use for what I currently need.

PJilly

I love this idea!

I'm not sure how much financial info I'm comfortable sharing, but I do like the idea of being accountable to a group of people. Count me in. Thanks for starting this!

VeganInTraining

Hey Again everyone,
I said I'd come back to post my stuff so here we go. I'm 27 years old and started this group because I need some people who are in the same boat as myself to help keep me accountable. My household has about 20,000 total in debt. WHEW typed out that looks like so much! That's about 8,000 in credit, 15,000 car and 2,000 school and that is the order in which I intend to pay it off in that order. our biggest goal is to be credit card debt free in 9 month. We are trying to have a baby and, though I'm not pregnant now, want to make sure that we don't have a ton of credit card debt when I have the a child whenever it is that God decides to bless us.

My biggest set back when I started trying to pay down debt was that I'd get paid and get excited about paying off debt, pay a lot on my cards and then not have money to live on so I'd spend money on my cards. This year hubby and I comitted to not spending any money on credit and we stuck to it, even while planning our wedding and honeymoon

My goal for this month? Pay off my two lowest cards which will leave me with just one card left. That means putting about 600 extra toward debt. My hubby had to take a few extra days off last month so his paychecks will be less, but we're going to make it happen! We also are doing a "no spend month." (see link for more information) http://smallnotebook.org/2008/07/01/july-is-no-spend-month-whats-it-about/

MandaLee8908

Bumping for later...will post when I have more time :-) Thanks again for this group, Emily!

luvJOJO

bump, I will also post when I have more time! Thanks, this is really a great idea!

Learning2LuvLindsay

Bump for later...

ket_the_jet

I am young and single so I don't have much in terms of debt [just a car payment and month-to-month payments on whatever I put on credit]. But I will say that working in the banking industry while I was in college was huge.

Firstly, I graduated college without debt. I worked my *kitten* off and while my social life and grade point average may have suffered a little bit, I am one of the few people I know who graduated college without a Sallie Mae loan [or "daddy" paying for it].

I know they are villains right now, but working for Bank of America taught me quite a bit about money management in general. I spent some time working in collections so I also saw what happens when people bite off more than they can chew or when something tragic or unforeseen comes up.

Finally, working at Bank of America allowed me to get the employee rate on a credit card--which I still have to this day. You tell me any other way that a 19 year old kid could get a 2% interest rate and I'll tell you that you're a liar. Having the card and a moderate, controllable credit line allowed me to make the major purchases of post-college life as needed.

One other thing that has been good, particularly in clothes purchases, is asking when the next sale may be. Often times, just asking can get me a 20% discount--or more--on some items. It never hurts to ask and the worst you could hear is "no."
-wtk

queen3510

bump

mike_hill

I have been doing a lot of research into the Total Money Makeover in the past few months. My wife and I started the Financial Peace University home study course a couple weeks ago. We have our "Cash Flow Plan" in place and our envelope system primed for the month. Losing pounds and gaining $$$ is a great combo

Wishing everyone success in getting out of Debt and into health!

VeganInTraining

good luck mike! We definitely have a "cash flow plan" in place as well


I don't know if anyone is really going to be following this or posting updates and successes. I think I mentioned that we are doing a "no spend month" this month. It's been 2 days and it's already getting hard! Friday the guys at work are organizing at bbq and everyone is supposed to pay 5 dollars to contribute. Rather than partaking in all the delicious things they will be buying I'm going to bring in my own piece of chicken and have them grill it for me....the upside is, it will probably be more nutricious than what they are making as well so that's a good thing!

VeganInTraining

Firstly, I graduated college without debt. I worked my *kitten* off and while my social life and grade point average may have suffered a little bit, I am one of the few people I know who graduated college without a Sallie Mae loan [or "daddy" paying for it].

Thats awesome! Way to go!

kapeluza

I am joining this!

PJilly

Thanks for the link to the Dave Ramsey website. I've perused it a bit and will go back later and come up with my plan for implementing his suggestions. I'll be back!

VeganInTraining

So introduce yourself Kap...what brought ya here?

kapeluza

I just finished paying off all my credit card debt (about 3k) last month. I have school loans left still which currently sit at 7k. So total I would say I have to pay off 8k. I don't have a car loan/payments.
My husband and I have a good amount saved in the bank but we are looking to buy a house so I'm really trying to save as much as possible. I need to cut down on spending a lot. If I could budget better I would be able to save 2,000 or more a month but I go overboard on eating out. I do coupon and sometimes I buy personal hygiene items at .50 with coupons like mouth wash. Last month I bought 5 tubes of toothpaste for 1 dollar and 6 boxes of kleenex for 2 bucks. It sounds like I am just bulking up on these items but they get used. They don't just sit in my closet collecting dust. So, I am doing ok there.

So, basically I just need to cut back on spending and budget better!

tmacs

Bump

I'm in! I become a stay at home mom next week and things will need to change!

luvJOJO

I am a 31 year old single mom. I have ALWAYS obsessed over my credit and tried to pay everything on time in order to have good credit. I currently have about $5k credit card debt and just had to buy a new car because mine died so I owe around $15,500 on that.

It's hard for me to save a lot right now because it's just me paying the bills by myself but I'm sure I could save more than what I do which is little to nothing right now. I just got into the 401k at work for retirement. I started contributing 2% and it increases 1% every year until I reach a 10% contribution. I would love to start a college fund for my son and put some emergency money aside as well.

Other than the credit card and car, that's about all I have debt wise. I do have a few medical bills. I pull my credit every year to check for inconsistencies and actually just recently got really upset when I saw a collection on my credit report for a $200 medical bill that I PAID. I contacted the hospital and they said they send anything over that isn't paid after 4 months. I do remember the company contacting me but I actually thought I was speaking to the hospital and not a collection agent. I do remember them asking me to pay $50 a month instead of $20 but I told them $20 a month was all I could pay. I thought that was reasonable for a $200 bill. I continued paying $20 a month (to the hospital, not the collection company because I really had no idea it was in their hands) until it was paid and the company still reported it to all three credit agencies. It shows as paid but dropped my credit score from about 740 to the low 600's. I was sick over this because I have worked so hard to stay on top of my credit. I contacted the hospital and they contacted the collection agent and ask them to remove it but they wouldn't. They said that I wouldn't agree to their terms which were $50 so they weren't going to remove it. Does anyone know if there is anything else I can do? I would like to buy a house in the near future and that is the only negative thing on my credit report right now.

PanteraGirl

Bump!!!! I'm in the middle of renovating my house, trying to pay off debt.....and also trying for a baby......Need lots of money!!!! LOL

Bahet

I am a financial advisor and would be glad to give any advice. Everyone already knows the big tips like "Don't charge something you can't afford to pay cash for" or "Know the difference between wants and needs" or even "cook at home instead of eating out." Those are all wonderful tips. I also like to focus on little things and things people don't think of like shop around for insurance and don't have comprehensive on an older car. Turn your thermostat 1 degree hotter in summer and cooler in winter and you could save up to 20% of your heating/cooling costs. Also, one of my favorites is every penny counts. Things add up fast. I have clients who say "Well you showed me how to save $5/day but that's nothing when I'm $5000 in debt." True, $5/day is a drop in the bucket. But in a month that's $150. In a year it's $1825. In 10 years it's over $18,000. The problem is people are often unable or unwilling to think that far into the future. We're a society of instant gratification. If the debt can't be erased immediately then why does it matter if I buy another new pair of shoes? If the scale didn't move enough this week then why does it matter if I have this pizza? Think back 10 years (assuming you were old enough to have a real job 10 years ago). Do you think you could have saved $5/day starting 10 years ago? What about $2/day? If you had saved even $2/day 10 years ago you'd have $7300 today and that's if you stuck it in a mattress and didn't earn any interest at all.

VeganInTraining

Thanks for the input Bahet. I can not wait to get from debt reduction to saving!

Hinezie, that really sucks about your credit! Collection agencies are the devil LOL Hang in there lady it sounds like you are making some good steps!

Pantera, save save save! Glad to hear you got your credit card paid off!

Tmacs: LUCKY! I want to be a stay at home mom! guess I gotta get to being a mom first lol

Kap: I would really check out Dave ramsey's financial peace university work book. It has a lot about budgeting and stuff. I am really glad that hubby and I decided to to this no spending month because i think it will really make me more mindful of using the debit card. Just by even talking about doing it I realized that we have at least $100 extra that I should be spending

Everyone else: Good luck and welcome aboard! Does anyone have any goals for the month?

jbdowns35

I want in!!! I'm always trying to find ways to better my financial situation. I just today (coincidently) downnloaded an excel budget program to help me track my spending & keep on top of all of my expenses. I am 35 & paid off my house 5 years ago, 2 years ago, I paid off all my credit card debt and am currently close to paying off my truck one year early. I keep an "anti-credit card" account & I also have additional savings that I use to accumulate money for christmas, taxes, house & vehicle maintenance so as to be prepared for those unexpected costs when it comes time for car repairs and renovations.

Unfortunately this month I had to charge about $3000 in dental bills and I am planning a destination wedding next spring. My plan is to keep that under $4000. So at this point, I need to decide how to pay for those things without getting off track on my plans to pay off the truck in November, and my plans to save for a down payment on a new (used) car next summer. Any advise is appreciated.

I already do all those little things to save money, coupons, shop around, visit flea markets, repurpose old things, grow a garden. But there is always unplanned things that come up, birthday parties, gifts I have to buy, friends selling fundraisers, etc. Up to this point, I was comfortable with what I budgeted for my bills, expenses & savings & just get by on what's left for spending. I want to get a lot more detailed with tracking my gas & grocery & extra spending cash because I know there is more room for savings!! I've become obsessed with saving & after going for a couple of years with no credit card debt, I am freaking out that I am carrying a balance again!!! It's only $3000 now, but will soon grow when I book my wedding trip!! That is why I downloaded the excel budget plan I mentioned. Ok, yeah, it did cost me $15, but I definately plan to put it to good use. Anyone interested in it, there is a free demo you can check it out before you buy.

http://www.simpleplanning.net/Financial Calculators/BudgetPlanner.html?gclid=CICujbOnz6sCFYK-zAodCCN0Tw

VeganInTraining

jbdown: Welcome! I totally feel you with being obcessed with savings. My word of advice is "don't use your card." If you have savings is it earning more interest than you are paying on your card? If you have $4000 in savings at 2% then it makes no since to put 4,000 on a card at 11+/-....Granted I don't know what interest you have on your card or savings account but for my percentages it simply wouldn't make since for me to use my card for something when I have money in savings.....that being said, (I am only speaking for myself, so do whatever you want) I don't use my savings unless it is an emergency. I keep 1000 in savings and until I am out of credit card debt I always keep it at 1000 just for emergencies. For us this meant honeymooning in DC rather than Puerto Rico and it meant having our wedding on the beach here in NJ rather than flying out to CA with the family. With wedding planning it came down to what is more important to me: being prepared for a family by getting debt paid off or having an awesome honeymoon? FOR ME it was getting things paid off. For you having the destination wedding may be more important but do ask yourself the question. BTW, I think it's fantastic that you're not planning on going overboard. I was appauled to find out that 10,000 is considered a "budget" wedding

Bahet

@ hinezie -- Contact the credit agencies directly and submit a copy of the paid debt along with a letter stating what you said here. Then report the debt collection agency for breach of fair debt collection practices. They cannot dictate the terms at which you repay. The fact that you pay it off whether it's an amount they like or not, is what matters.

Bahet

Credit cards aren't the problem. Buying things on credit that you can't pay off every month is the problem. I buy EVERYTHING on my Discover card. It's like getting an automatic 2-5% discount (part of that whole $5/day thing ) BUT I pay the card off every month. So my money stays in the bank earning interest for an extra month on top of everything else. If you can't pay it off and have a high interest rate, call them and ask them to lower it. If you have good credit and a good history with them they will probably oblige. They'd rather lower your interest rate than lose you as a customer.

Jb, check into renting a wedding dress. My sister did that when she got married 10 years ago. She got a Vera Wang that would have cost more than some brand new cars for $200. You might also be able to borrow a dress from a friend. Don't pay too much mind to flower decorations either. When we got married we didn't get any flowers for the church. The wedding before us did and they were still there when it was time for our wedding. If you are going to invest in something make sure the food is good. People still talk about how good the cake and food was at our wedding 18 years ago but even I can't tell you if there were flowers on every table. We also did it buffet style which saved a lot of money.

jbdowns35

EmilyRanae22: I'm with ya on the not using the card thing. I do use my card because of the points my (soon to be) husband gets for Cabellas Merchandise. Over the years he has earned over $1200 worth of expensive hunting gear. BUT I always pay it off & we don't carry a balance. I charged the dental bills & actually haven't received the bill yet. I have almost enough to pay it off, but it will interfere with my plan to pay off the truck & other financial plans I have made. I guess my original plans need to change & I haven't decided what my plan of attack is yet!!! My boyfriend is working alot of overtime so we have some extra cash coming in & I'm hopeful we will bet back on track with saving instead of paying debt.

As for the wedding thing, I know people that spend $30,000 and up on a wedding. That is too much if you are just starting a family. In my case, I did the family thing first, we've been together 12 years, we both have kids from previous relationships & they are older now. We put off getting married for a long time, our kids, house, life, etc took priority but now it's time for us finally & I'm not interested in breaking the bank to get married. We are just going to run off together & do it. Ideally we would like to spend $3000 on an all-inclusive resort, but I understand it may go up to as much as $4000, but that is my limit. Some of the resorts offer complimentary wedding ceremonies. The alternative is a quick justice of the peace before we go off on a honeymoon. I'm buying a cheap dress too!!! Just want a simple white sundress & I'm going barefoot!!

jbdowns35

My goal by the end of this weeked is to re-evaluate my budget, determine how I am going to move forward on paying debt & continuing to save, develop a plan to stick to it!!!

luvJOJO

@ hinezie -- Contact the credit agencies directly and submit a copy of the paid debt along with a letter stating what you said here. Then report the debt collection agency for breach of fair debt collection practices. They cannot dictate the terms at which you repay. The fact that you pay it off whether it's an amount they like or not, is what matters.

Thank you so much!!! I am definitely going to take your advise and do what you said.

VeganInTraining

My goal by the end of this weeked is to re-evaluate my budget, determine how I am going to move forward on paying debt & continuing to save, develop a plan to stick to it!!!

Sounds like a good goal. It sounds like you are not "carrying a balance" on your credit card so if you know you're going to pay it off I wouldn't let it stress you out. But i know how putting things on cards can cause anxiety. I wish I could use cards for the benefits but i'm no good at it so I just stick to cash