Finance

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helenamonks
helenamonks Posts: 176
in Chit-Chat
This is actually a bit off from what the normal topics are on here, but it is sort of related. A lot of my stress comes from my finances. As it is right now, I work 2 jobs and my husband works one, but we have ALOT of loans out. If I could pay off some of these small loans off, it would put us with a GREAT comfort of living, but my notes are a bit higher than what I'd like. Anyone have any ideas on paying these off without sinking everymonth AND not destroying my credit?

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  • AutismMom
    AutismMom Posts: 127 Member
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    If your working 2 why cant your husband? I work 2 jobs. The key to reducing your debt is living within your means. You need to create a budget and stick 2 it. One of the best things you can do to reduce anxiety is create a small emergency fund to keep in your checking account. Start at $1000. When you get that done start with your high interest debts. When you start making regular positive reductions to your debt check out your credit score if your in the 650+ range then go to your bank for a consolidation. If your willing to send me a list of your income, debt, payments and monthly bills I could further.
  • jensyth
    jensyth Posts: 21 Member
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    While I am somewhat financially stable, I also wanted to get a handle on our spending and see if we could be putting our money to better use. What I've found to be extremely useful is Quicken which I got for $20 after coupon from Costco! There is also a free online system called Mint.com that I have been told does essentially the same thing. You hook in all your accounts (bank, credit card, etc) and you can start tracking your spending by account, category, etc.

    The reason I think this helps me is the same reason that I think the MFP tracker helps from a diet/exercise perspective. Sometimes all you need is visibility to fix the problem. For instance, seeing that I was spending almost $50 a month at starbucks has helped me cut down on my coffee habit. It just flies by when you spend $2 here, $3 there, but when you can see it all collected and itemized automatically, it makes me more aware and think before I just start spending money frivolously because it's 'just' 2 bucks, etc.

    Anyways, once you can start itemizing your spending, you can start really analyzing where you are spending more money than you REALLY need to, and you can use that to start paying off the higher interest loans, the variable loans, etc.

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