After two years of talking about and half-assing our 'Total Money Makeover' plan, Jon and I have officially put a pin-sized dent in our [okay, mostly MY] ocean-sized debt. HOORAY! We did not have the recommended plastic surgery party, but 1.5 years ago we actually froze our plastic in a block of ice in our freezer.
This month we will pay off the remaining $2,700 of Jon's student loan. Yes, Jon only had one student loan. Lucky guy! We are lucky to be able to pay it off in one month.
Our next debt is my single credit card I had all throughout college. I didn't go out to eat or buy clothes on it- I worked 40 hours a week while in college to do that!- I only put co pays and prescriptions on it. Somehow that became a large amount in 8 years of college. We hope to have it paid off in two more months. Therefore, 2 of our 4 debts will be paid off within a 3-4 month period! How awesome is that?!
Our next debt is with EdFinancial. This is my personal student loan debt. It's been hovering over me like a black cloud since 2001. Luckily my loans are back in deferment while I'm getting masters #2 at Lipscomb (and received enough grants to cover nearly my whole tuition!). So while the feds are paying my interest while I'm in school, we should be able to clear this one up in 2-3 years IF we are aggressive and skimp by in the meantime.
I am very excited to be tackling this mess!!! Our goal is to be 30 and debt free except for the house. Once we get to this point we can both get new cars (we both still drive the trucks we got when we were 16!! Nothing wrong with a paid off vehicle, right?) we can pay cash for two new-to-us cars. We can build up a large emergency fund, and pay off our house f-a-s-t!
I am a little sad about the things that we have to give up:
*Vacations. Okay, so really the only vacation we've ever taken together is our honeymoon. We will be spending a weekend in Chicago for one of Jon's fraternity brother's wedding this August, and possibly spending a few days at the beach with the Hensley's in July (The Hensley's are also debt-snowballing it!). Other than that... our vacations will be camping. Lucky for us we are not really resort kinda people... and LOVE sleeping in the woods and seeing things that you could never see from a lounge chair!
*Eating out. This a tough one because I feel so busy with work I went from cooking dinner every night to not being able to remember the last time I honestly cooked a meal. Plus I'm a sushi addict.
*Decorating the house. We've been homeowners for a year now. We still have a room that is not unpacked, and there is not one stinking room that is decorated. I have hung a mirror on the wall in the guest bedroom but that's it! Not one picture on the wall. I'll have to hold off on this for just a little bit longer.
*Free time. What free time we do have is usually filled with grocery shopping, my weekend classes, or cleaning. I also nanny at night. I'm going to have to pick up even more night nannying jobs to supplement our income.
*It pains me to say it.... but football tickets. UT Football tickets. Our religion. It's possible that we never took vacations because our 'vacation money' went to football tickets. Our friends we sit with may not be renewing theirs either. Misty informed me that with donation it would come to $300 PER GAME. Plus we live out of town, so gas + boarding our dogs + food + beer money comes to easily another $250. I'm shedding a tear right now, but we really need to give it up.
*Postponing our master bathroom. It really looks like a shit hole, but no one sees it but us. It can stay that way for a few more months.
*Postponing our privacy fence for a few more months. The chain-link one will do for now.
In the meantime, I'm praying that Murphy stays away. After we decided to take everything out of our savings except for the recommended $1000 emergency fund, we were driving to get Jon's truck out of the auto shop. All of a sudden the crack in my windshield that has been there for TEN years and was only an inch long spreads before Jon's eyes. It's now a foot long. I hope my windshield doesn't fall in on my face. Please pray Murphy stays away and our roof that needs replacement doesn't start leaking and that our two old trucks don't spontaneously combust. Oh, and that Roxanne's knee doesn't fall apart since we know she will need a knee replacement sometime in the future.
Now that I have aired our dirty money laundry, I feel much better. It's always better to tell people what you are doing so that they can support you along the way. It's fun now that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel!
If you would like to start your own Total Money Makeover you can catch Dave Ramsey on the Fox Business Network or on his daily radio show. Or grab a copy of one of his books. You can trust him- he's a UT grad :)
This month we will pay off the remaining $2,700 of Jon's student loan. Yes, Jon only had one student loan. Lucky guy! We are lucky to be able to pay it off in one month.
Our next debt is my single credit card I had all throughout college. I didn't go out to eat or buy clothes on it- I worked 40 hours a week while in college to do that!- I only put co pays and prescriptions on it. Somehow that became a large amount in 8 years of college. We hope to have it paid off in two more months. Therefore, 2 of our 4 debts will be paid off within a 3-4 month period! How awesome is that?!
Our next debt is with EdFinancial. This is my personal student loan debt. It's been hovering over me like a black cloud since 2001. Luckily my loans are back in deferment while I'm getting masters #2 at Lipscomb (and received enough grants to cover nearly my whole tuition!). So while the feds are paying my interest while I'm in school, we should be able to clear this one up in 2-3 years IF we are aggressive and skimp by in the meantime.
I am very excited to be tackling this mess!!! Our goal is to be 30 and debt free except for the house. Once we get to this point we can both get new cars (we both still drive the trucks we got when we were 16!! Nothing wrong with a paid off vehicle, right?) we can pay cash for two new-to-us cars. We can build up a large emergency fund, and pay off our house f-a-s-t!
I am a little sad about the things that we have to give up:
*Vacations. Okay, so really the only vacation we've ever taken together is our honeymoon. We will be spending a weekend in Chicago for one of Jon's fraternity brother's wedding this August, and possibly spending a few days at the beach with the Hensley's in July (The Hensley's are also debt-snowballing it!). Other than that... our vacations will be camping. Lucky for us we are not really resort kinda people... and LOVE sleeping in the woods and seeing things that you could never see from a lounge chair!
*Eating out. This a tough one because I feel so busy with work I went from cooking dinner every night to not being able to remember the last time I honestly cooked a meal. Plus I'm a sushi addict.
*Decorating the house. We've been homeowners for a year now. We still have a room that is not unpacked, and there is not one stinking room that is decorated. I have hung a mirror on the wall in the guest bedroom but that's it! Not one picture on the wall. I'll have to hold off on this for just a little bit longer.
*Free time. What free time we do have is usually filled with grocery shopping, my weekend classes, or cleaning. I also nanny at night. I'm going to have to pick up even more night nannying jobs to supplement our income.
*It pains me to say it.... but football tickets. UT Football tickets. Our religion. It's possible that we never took vacations because our 'vacation money' went to football tickets. Our friends we sit with may not be renewing theirs either. Misty informed me that with donation it would come to $300 PER GAME. Plus we live out of town, so gas + boarding our dogs + food + beer money comes to easily another $250. I'm shedding a tear right now, but we really need to give it up.
*Postponing our master bathroom. It really looks like a shit hole, but no one sees it but us. It can stay that way for a few more months.
*Postponing our privacy fence for a few more months. The chain-link one will do for now.
In the meantime, I'm praying that Murphy stays away. After we decided to take everything out of our savings except for the recommended $1000 emergency fund, we were driving to get Jon's truck out of the auto shop. All of a sudden the crack in my windshield that has been there for TEN years and was only an inch long spreads before Jon's eyes. It's now a foot long. I hope my windshield doesn't fall in on my face. Please pray Murphy stays away and our roof that needs replacement doesn't start leaking and that our two old trucks don't spontaneously combust. Oh, and that Roxanne's knee doesn't fall apart since we know she will need a knee replacement sometime in the future.
Now that I have aired our dirty money laundry, I feel much better. It's always better to tell people what you are doing so that they can support you along the way. It's fun now that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel!
If you would like to start your own Total Money Makeover you can catch Dave Ramsey on the Fox Business Network or on his daily radio show. Or grab a copy of one of his books. You can trust him- he's a UT grad :)
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