http://www.payoff125k.com The long quest to live a debt-free life. Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:09:17 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Since we're working hard to get out of debt, I'm doing what I can to take on some extra work. I'm a computer geek, so most of what I do is computer related. I'm currently trying to get some work on <a href="http://www.odesk.com">oDesk</a>, which is a site for consultants looking ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/06/30/what-do-you-do-to-make-some-extra-cash/ Updating our debt stats. Not the best month for credit card debt -- there were a few accounts that I thought were enrolled in autopay, but apparently weren't, so they didn't get paid on time. SIGH! Since I never make payments late, I'm going to try talking to the banks ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/06/29/debt-update-still-going-down-but-bad-month/ It seems like everyone is blaming Bush+co for the gas prices. I just don't get it -- the gas prices aren't set by the government here, so why would it be their fault when it goes up? I also don't understand why the majority of people think that we should ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/06/23/why-does-everyone-think-the-government-is-at-fault-for-gas-prices/ I no longer see any need for a recipe book. If I am interested in cooking something I've never made before, my first instinct is to hit up foodtv.com and search for ' Alton Brown'; if that fails, I go on to Google. I've never failed to find a multitude of ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/06/22/why-would-you-buy-a-recipe-book-anymore/ We get a boatload of magazines, and haven't ever paid more than $1/year for any of them. A little bit on Internet-fu can really help you out here! Some advice: If you are interested in a particular title, always do a google search for something like " free". If it is a ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/06/20/saving-money-on-your-magazines/ One of our larger monthly expenses that isn't a total necessity is our family cell phone plan. I keep asking myself why I really need this, versus just having a home phone with voicemail. So, reasons to get rid of the cell phone: Save some green! When I'm away from home or the ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/06/19/why-do-we-need-cell-phones/ My wife and I walked into the grocery store the other day. Out of habit, we picked up the coupon book they provide right inside the door. As we walked through the store, she looked through the coupon book, and told me about the good deals. At the end of ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/06/17/coupons-are-dangerous/ So, another Ramsey-ism -- if you're in debt, sell everything until you're not in debt! I've been doing quite a bit of this -- finding extra stuff around the house that we no longer need, and putting it up on Craigslist and eBay. However, one of his big recommendations always seems ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/06/16/sell-your-way-out-of-debt/ A couple weeks ago, JoeTaxpayer discussed the need for an emergency plan. I found his post very interesting -- basically, no matter what happens, if your choice is between a 401k with match or an emergency fund in the bank, your 401k is probably the better bet. You can always ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/06/13/emergency-fund-or-not/ So, in my last post, JoeTaxpayer mentioned that it's worth considering taking a loan against your 401k to pay off high-interest rate debt. I took a quick look at that, and it really does look like an appealing option - I could drop ~$10k of my debt down to 6% ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/06/12/is-it-stupid-to-take-out-a-consolidation-loan/ Right now, our payments for our debt is exceeding our income, so we've stopped 401k contributions to help make the difference up. However, in a few months, we should be at the point where we can actually afford to make payments within our income. I've been debating if it would ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/06/11/should-i-be-putting-money-in-my-401k-while-paying-debt/ I keep hearing people talk about Compact Flourescent Lamps, and how they are so much more energy efficient than standard bulbs. Let's do some math and find out.. [ad#rect-336x280-img] If you are replacing a standard 150w bulb, the CFL replacement will use around 42 watts. According to my last energy bill, I'm ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/06/10/how-to-save-money-on-your-energy-bills/ At work, we have the opportunity of enrolling in a Health Savings Account this year. It looks like a great option, except for one thing -- I'm on a single name-brand prescription drug. Just for that drug, I would end up spending more than the difference in premiums. However, the ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/06/09/health-savings-accounts/ CNN recently posted an article discussing the downside of credit card rewards. Personally, I have stopped using credit cards until we are out of debt -- if we're not spending on something that allows us to go further into debt, well, it's a lot harder to go further into debt. ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/06/08/are-reward-based-credit-cards-worth-it/ If you've been watching the news lately, you've heard the stories about car makers having issues selling their large vehicles. One of the most recent stories is GM closing plants making SUV's and trucks: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/04/business/04motors.html In some ways, I see this as both a positive and a negative.. we Americans do tend ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/06/07/are-large-vehicles-doomed-because-of-our-gas-prices/ For all of you that have attended Dave Ramsey's Finance Peace University classes, I'm sure that you remember his list of so-called "myths" about debt. Read more for some that made me giggle.. [ad#leaderboard] Myth: If you pay off your credit card each month, you get the free use of someone else’s ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/06/06/dave-ramseys-myths-about-debt/ We're still going through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University program. Last night, we had the "Credit Sharks in Suits" lesson. On the plus side, this is one of the few lessons that I agreed with him on most things. However, there was one big place where I disagreed -- his ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/06/05/dave-ramsey-fico-score-i-love-debt-score/ We purchased a new Chevy last year, when they were blowing them out. As we are approaching the one-year mark, we got an e-mail saying that our OnStar is going to expire: As your renewal date of 07/02/08 approaches, we want to remind you that your Safe & Sound Plan will ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/06/04/what-about-onstar/ Around 6 months ago, all of the nifty promotions we were getting on our cable finally expired, and the price skyrocketed. Before the price shot up, we had premium cable service with all the movie channels, 8mb internet, etc, for a grand total of $80/mo. Wasn't a bad deal at ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/06/03/how-to-save-20mo-on-your-cable/ The Consumerist has an article which discussions the most annoying airline fees. It's amazed me how many fees they have tacked on over the last year alone. The most annoying ones for me out of the list: Checked Baggage -- they now charge for the *FIRST* bag, not just the second ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/06/02/why-do-airlines-rip-us-off-so-much/ A couple days ago, I ran across an an interesting post on digg, with a cartoon (see 'Read More') which discusses how after some banks foreclose on your home, they are unable to sell your home, and you can live there for free. I'm fortunate enough to not be in ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/06/01/live-in-your-foreclosed-upon-house-for-free/ So I've talked to two different companies about a Debt Management Plan now. Both companies went over our budget in detail, and did not really find much that needed to change - that's good news, at least! Interestingly, the first proposal from both companies would actually result in our total ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/05/31/dmp-worth-it/ We are current going through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University program. In one of the lessons, Dave says that you are just as protected with a debit card as you are with a credit card. I take issue with this for multiple reasons. To start with, here is a link to ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/05/30/more-on-debit-card-protection/ So, it's been a little over a week since we started this site, and I went through and updated all of our balances.. since my original post, we've paid most of the monthly bills, and the new balances are below. We've paid of over $3,000 in total debt this month! http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/05/29/current-debt/ I often use the calculators at JavaCalc for any financial calculation needs. Things I like about this site: * It's free * I haven't found any calculation errors with any of the calculators I've used * You don't transmit any data to the site -- the calculators are Java applets that run locally ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/05/29/great-site-for-financial-calculators/ As part of our plan to get out of debt, my wife and I have stopped using credit cards. However, being a modern, internet-savvy consumer, most of my purchases are made online, and some of them are not from the safest sellers in the world. I have had four cases ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/05/28/internet-shopping-without-credit-cards/ Friends of ours keep saying how they are switching from their traditional car insurance (companies such as Farmer's, State Farm, etc) to the online insurance companies like Geico. Whenever I hear this, I cringe. Many years ago, before we were married, my wife and I were in a very serious ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/05/27/auto-insurance-is-cheaper-really-better/ Lately, I've been hearing a lot about Prosper, which is a person-to-person finance site. Basically, people ask for a loan, and any number of people can offer a portion of the loan. If enough people are interested to fully fund the loan, the borrower will receive the loan. As a borrower, ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/05/26/social-lending-friend-or-foe/ Right now, we are at the point where our monthly expenses plus debt payments are more than the money we are bringing in every month from our regular jobs. Since we've started tracking this a few months ago, we've always been able to bring in enough additional income to make ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/05/26/regular-payments-vs-dmp-vs-settlement-vs-bankruptcy/ Over at Bible Money Matters, there is a description of Dave Ramsey's program to "Drive free cars". Basically, his theory is that if you save enough money in a mutual fund at a 12% return, you can eventually have your cars be completely free. Seems like an interesting concept, but ... http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/05/25/dave-ramseys-plan-to-drive-free-cars/ Welcome to my nightmare. My nightmare is the amount of debt that I'm currently trying to pay off. I've decided to share my story and progress with you; there's really not much here yet, but if you want some background info, please check out the About page. http://www.payoff125k.com/2008/05/21/welcome-to-my-nightmare/