Consolidation loan...

Didn't really do anything to get where we are. After the last job, I just decided not to go back to work. We learned hard financial lessons in our early years and struggled for quite a while, just like a lot of people. The lessons we learned made us very frugal, me more than the wife, but she always went along with my wishes on spending restraint. You think that you'll never get your head above water and all of a sudden, boom, you're floating. We're past the point of having big toys in our life and got rid of boats and camper and other fun things years ago after we sucked all the fun out of them, so at this point we live pretty modestly.
We rarely go anywhere, except to go for a hike or walk somewhere and don't have much of a social life, by choice. I'm the housekeeper, maintenance man, remodeler, groundskeeper and purchaser for everything in the house. I constantly look for ways to save money and cut costs. Got rid of cable, which sucked anyway, installed my own security system, dumped the landline and got rid of or found a way to get around every other unnecessary bill.
I cook huge amounts of food and freeze it in containers and buy meat in bulk when I can and divide it up into dinner portions and freeze it. I made fajitas last night and the whole meal cost about $5. I don't remember the last time we ordered a pizza The pizzas I make cost 5 to 7 bucks and we like them a lot better than the ones delivered.
When we were younger we could easily go through $200 or more in a weekend. Now, we rarely spend any money on the weekends at all.

As far as saving goes, we just try to keep money in the bank and not spend it. We get very nervous if savings dips below $5k. Every summer I do an outside project and this summer is supposed to be a covered patio and walkway, with a raised flower bed and a sliding door leading from the sunroom to the patio. We have over $15k in the bank which is way more than enough to do the job, but I'm very nervous about the state of the economy, so I'll probably just poor the patio for this summer and maybe do the door in the fall. A 10x14 concrete patio won't cost more than a $100 or so and the wife will be happy. I only spend money from savings that I feel is safe to spend and so what if I'm being overly cautious, it will get done eventually, just like everything else does.

I think the thing that made it possible for us to get where we are now is that we had only one child. We had to help him and his wife financially numerous times, but they are doing great now and make twice as much money as us. We're leaving for D.C. tomorrow to see him graduate from police academy.
Kids can be great, but they can also suck every ounce of life and every bit of money out of you.

There are a lot of variables from one family situation to another and what works for us wouldn't necessarily work for someone else and I think a lot of it has to do with age and where you are in life.

 

Pay your CC bill online once a week. Makes it a little more "real". I usually pay on mine a couple times a month to feel the pain.

 

Sheeple.

http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2015/03/12/when-ridiculousness-is-ubiquitious/

 

lucky the "refund" period ran out

 

This thread is getting me depressed when I think about all the money I wasted on women and booze!

Gary

 

It wasn't wasted Gary it was a learning and probably for the most part a forgotten experience(s)

 

Seeing the payback now I quit drinking, just trying to figure out what to do with the woman that has been hanging around for 36 years!

Gary

 

WOW!! This thread really took off big time with tons of great advice. As for right now I am still looking into the consolidation loan but the more I research it the more it looks like I wont be going down that route. Dave Ramsey is a pretty impressive guy and I have looked into his stuff before but have always backed out when the free trial period ran out. Im going to look into consolidating this stuff a little more but later this week Im going to call my bank and talk to them about getting lower interest rates on my cards. I know there is no quick fix to this but Im hoping to be rid of this stuff in the next three years or sooner depending on overtime and tax returns.

 

Haven't read the whole thing yet, but..........yeah.
Way too funny.

 

If you rely on the tax return as a windfall to pay bills, change your allowances so you and the gov't come out near even or you owe them a few hundred, calculate your taxes in January-Feb and budget for a payment is my motto - they ain't paying you interest

A three year plan sounds long right now (not knowing the specifics) to get out of unsecured debt/vehicles
Grab every OT day you can get, make your coworkers pay you extra on the side for holidays you cover

You and the wife may have to step back and realize huge car payments are putting you in the hole monthly - time to consider exchanging one for a trade in on the back lot or selling back to the stealership

 

No car payments here but we are going to look into cutting the cable and phone bills down. I take ot as it's available but sadly that doesnt come tö often for me. I like the idea of changing my tax forms so that I done get a return I agree that's a much better idea than letting them hold my money for me.

 

Again. MM is hittin' on all cylinders.
Matt, having a plan is a great first step. 3 years isn't a long time in the grand scheme of things.

 

So there is no secured car debt you've got fairly dependable vehicles to see you through 3 years, and hopefully keep them running?
the things you pay monthly - phone & cable are low hanging fruit, you need to dig deeper - unless you have a bigger shovel
Without more income(bigger shovel) everything has to be nipped back...
You mentioned high Utility bills in the summer - time to set the AC to 80F during the day and let it kick down to 74-76 evening and mornings when heat exchange is optimal.
If your kids and wife are uncomfortable tell then to go outside and work for a bit

 

Just a few thoughts. One is be careful that you don't have a fee to shutoff your cable/sat/landline before doing so. I believe ours is $175 early termination fee.

Second, Hulu and the other content providers have gotten better at providing content for younger kids. There is plenty to watch for most adults. Just one word of caution, some channels require that you login to you cable provider to watch their content. If you dump cable/sat, you'll lose that capability. Even if you are paying for the formerly known as Hulu Plus.

The egg sandwich is an outstanding example. I also see tons of people that refuse to pack a lunch. there is another $7-10/day to be had. Not all companies provide filtered water in the workplace. I often see people buy water bottles daily. Purchase a large 32 ounce water bottle such as a Nalgene. I have one and use it daily.

Like MM says, every little bit helps. For me, once I know I have $20, $30, $50 or whatever extra to pay down my lowest bill, I sent it in. Speaking of making payments. Avoid them charging you to make payments. Some companies will charge extra for electronic payments. If that is the case, send them a check.



Jason from RI

 

well, if it's any consolation, she's mad at me right now lol