I would like to start with sharing a couple of HUGE monthly debts that we have had over the last few years.
In 2004, we bought a brand new SUV. We paid nothing down and had a $798 a month payment, for 6 years. We tried to justify the payment by saying we always had old vehicles that would break down and we were having spend a lot of money to get them fixed and blah, blah blah! In my thought process now, there is never a good reason to buy a brand new car, unless it's been through hail damage and you can get it for a heck of a deal---and pay cash for it!
In October of 2009, we made the decision to move back south from the very cold north. At that time we owned a home up north and moved before we had sold it. The economy was still slow, but we thought that after the first of the year, in 2010, things would pick up and our home would sell and everything would be fine.
We were so wrong, our home did not sell and everything was not fine. We had a $1650 mortgage to pay up north and rent to pay down south. Months past, and still nothing! Finally, after being on the market for a year and a half it sold--Praise God!
Matter of fact, the day we closed on our home was the same day that we sent our last payment off on our SUV. We were doing happy dances in our home--even our children were excited!
We like Dave Ramsey's "Snowball effect", so the freed up monies will go toward our other debt. We will also be starting an emergency fund.
This post is linked to:
Life as Mom
Wow, that was some good debt reductions! Congrats on the sale of the house and the full ownership of the SUV :) Feels good, huh?
ReplyDeleteIt must be wonderful to be free of those big monthly payments.
ReplyDeleteI bought my car new and took 5 years to pay it of (at $380/month). I have taken very good care of it, kept up the oil changes and maintenance etc. I have been driving it payment-free for 6 years. My mechanic estimates that I can get a few more years out of it. Even if it quits tomorrow, I feel like I got my money's worth over the 11 years I have had it already. I worry about buying a used car that may not have been well taken care of.
Good luck meeting your goals! $798 a month - ouch!! You must feel so free not having to write that check every month!
ReplyDeleteI'd encourage you to check out my savings challenge, The Saved Quarter Challenge, for encouragement and accountability toward meeting your savings goal. I saved a quarter of our income last year for an emergency fund and am doing it again this year, hoping to get through college debt-free. I'm inviting other blogs to join me and share their savings (and debt payment) journeys.
http://thesavedquarter.com/2011/01/set-goal-saved-quarter-challenge/
Great job getting your vehicle paid off. I am sure it feels wonderful. We too are following the Dave Ramsy Plan. I wish you the best of luck!
ReplyDeleteAwesome job! We are working on getting our of our own debt, as well. Gotta love Dave Ramsey's plan, he knows what he is talking about. We are working on building up a Family Emergency Fund and getting out of debt.
ReplyDeleteYou can visit me at CentsableStewardship.com.