Consolidation loan...

Have you ever met an old world rich person? If you have, then you'll know what I am talking about. Old world rich people do not drive new fancy cars. No. They drive older cars. Yes they might be nice cars like a Jag, but it's not less than 10 years old. When they are out running errands, you don't see them stopping at Dunkin Donuts for a coffee, stopping at a sandwich shop for lunch. It's that they are above drinking Dunkin Donuts or eating at a local sandwich shop. No. They are just frugal with their money. They see going to places like Dunkin Donuts and such as wasteful spending. They also combine their errands together. They'll wait several days to run an errand in order to kill two birds with one stone.

It's a different mindset than what most in this country were raised on. With TV, we've been taught to spend now. Even if we don't have money. Right now they just want us to spend, spend spend. Old world rich's motto is save, save save.

Make sure you pass this on to your kids. They could live a better life if we are able to get these concepts across to them.


Jason from RI

 

That is true, if you need that. If you don't, well, not so much.
I don't need to rent a room, or a car.
Well, so far my wife hasn't kicked me out................

Yep, I mentioned that but didn't get specific, back on page three. Good info if someone isn't aware.
A lot of this still keeps us in the mindset that we need more stuff, so we have to have a credit rating to get it. I do get that some still need it for work.
I've rebuilt my credit rating, and only have one card. I don't give a rats butt about it, but only because I don't need it anymore. If I want/need something, I pay cash or don't get it.
The trap for a lot of folks is having that handy dandy card available, then using it for all kinds of things, then getting behind on payments.
That's what this thread is about, really, and Matt's on his way to being out of debt.
I like to think the kind folks on here have helped him in that.

Lots of people here and elsewhere who've been smart with their use of cards. Some haven't (I being one of them, in the past).
Like I've said, it's all in how it's used.

Wait, so continue paying $100/month to avoid the ETF?
Cancel, then it'll take a few minutes to get the bill. Send 'em $100/month for a couple months. Done.

 

Good point.

 

boettg33 , combining errands is something we do, even in our small "town". Great advice.
We live about a mile from the center of town, and we'll wait until we need to pick up a script, pick up a book from the library, run to the store, then do them all in the same run.
Going to "the big city" takes us almost 45 minutes, so a run there isn't made until we have a few stops to make.
When we first moved here, we made that trip several times a month......still stuck in the old mindset to run whenever we needed something.

 

Another un-sheeple. Love it.

This is going a tad off track, but I keep seeing ads on the tube for one of those payday loan places. Please, don't anyone get in that trap.
They make it sound so good and easy, but obviously leave out how much it hurts when trying to pay through the nose for the "privilege".

 

"how much it hurts" ... s'pose they got those big goony guys who break your legs if you miss a payment ? ... ...

 

We live 7 miles outside of town. The more we can combine trips the better. This is not just changing habits. This is about a life style change.

 

Thinking of this in a more literal sense. We need a "paying through the nose" smiley.

 

Kinda like when I started into the world of burning wood, and all the rest of it.
It's changed my lifestyle quite a bit.

 

Again Im overwhelmed by the responses that Ive gotten here thank you so much I have been helped out and reassured big time here and Im sure other folks passing through this thread can be too. As of this morning I have consolidated all of my high interest debt into one bill each month that will be paid off in two years or less. I left out two loans and two CCs that I have that are interest free and will pay them off with next years tax return assuming I dont get anymore OT between now and then. I do have some OT lined up potentially for the next two weeks Im praying hard that it doesnt fall through. With that I will pay off the two CCs as they are both small and will start to collect interest next month. With this consolidation loan I will be paying less interest and more on the principal than I am now and I will also pay off everything faster. I plugged in my stuff with the Dave Ramsey money makeover thing and it had me coming in at being debt free in 3.5 years with this if I only pay the minimum Ill be done in two! Lastly today or tomorrow we will be having a credit card burning festival Oh and thank you all again for everything lots of great advice in here Im really excited about this change and our new credit free lifestyle.

 

Good for you. Looks like you are moving in the right direction. There was a lot of good advice in this thread. I really liked the snowball effect one. One thing someone mentioned was once the credit card balance is paid off, make sure you actually close the account and not just leave it at a zero balance. I don't like the idea of a credit card account just hanging inactive.

 

Will closing a credit card account have an impact on my credit? I guess it doesn't matter cause if they are open the temptation to use them is there I'm just wondering if anyone knows.

 

Gary

 

Yes closing cards will hit your credit negatively - where you are right now that should not be a concern.
Over time the fact that your available credit and outstanding balance ratio goes down the score will slowly come back up.

Most important thing you need to concern yourself with is sticking to a budget, save a bit of an emergency fund, and pay those cards off.

 

He will give you all you need.

Congratulations on your decision.
Like I said, the hardest part is getting started. You will be amazed at how good it feels to be out of debt and finally in control of your finances.