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Archive for February, 2013

My Current "Consumer" Debt

February 20th, 2013 at 08:53 am

I have what I consider consumer and student loan debt. My student loan debt is A LOT but I more than likely won't be able to pay it off for a while. Unfortunately I didn't take the Military loan re-payment offer so I'm stuck with it... UGH!!

So currently this is my consumer debt as of 19 Feb:

Emblem credit card - $1,647.60 - 18.99% - $36.23/mo
Car Loan - $9,036.84 - 11.5% - $213.55 (bi-weekly)
Timeshare - $7,235.38 - 17% - $132.80/mo
Wells Fargo student loan - $5,922.01 - 6% - $110.00/mo
Sallie Mae - $9,657.02 - 6% - $0 (til Nov 2013) then $190.01

This amount adds up to $492.58/mo until Nov 2013 then it's $682.59/mo when I start paying on the Sallie Mae loan.

I have a total of about $705/mo to put towards my debt repayment plan. According to an app that I have, it'll take until Sept 2017 for me to pay it off. That's 55 months which is about five (5) months shy of five (5) years.

So my goal would be to pay it off earlier. So I'll try for Sept 2016. Which for me is VERY likely because I actually stop paying alimony by Apr 2016. So that would be an extra $600/mo going directly into my debt re-payment plan.

But since I can't add future payments to the app, I can only go on what it shows me.

So Upset with Myself...

February 20th, 2013 at 04:57 am

I can't believe it...!

I made a few calls last night because I wanted to get some information about some of my debt. I wanted to know why my student loans were still more than 6% because they're currently deferred due to my military deployment (but I'm also in school as well).

They stated that I needed to submit paperwork specific to that in order to get the rate down... whatever.. at least they'll back-date it to when I joined the military full-time....

I also called the timeshare people. I wanted to know the balance and interest rate. I found out that I have to pay maintenance fees yearly which is currently $312.50. That comes out to about $24/month which I can budget for next year. It's due July 1st so it'll get paid. Good thing I have the funds for that!

But this is what I'm really upset about...

I knew that it was gonna be about $7,000 and I figured that the interest would be about 12%. Bad but I could deal with that..

The balance of the mortgage is $7,235.38 so I wasn't too far off. No big deal b/c I'm thinking I can pay that off with monthly minimums, which are $132.80, in about 10 years maximum because I'm going to pay this off last. I'm going to try to get rid of it.

But the interest rate is 17%! I can't believe it! That's horrendous! I can't believe that I signed on for that... Now that I know what the interest rate is I'm at a crossroads to either pay it off NOW or what...

I have five things that I consider consumer debt right now. My ex's Sallie Mae and Wells Fargo student loans, the car loan, the timeshare and my last credit card. After that it's just student loans.

I can have those five things paid off by August 2017 if I snowball them. But If I don't pay off the timeshare then I won't be rid of it til about 2020...

If I end up keeping it, I DO have access to the facility year round because it's a year round resort...

So now the question is AFTER I pay it off do I keep it or get rid of it because it still has maintenance fees. If I don't get a renter for that week that I have (I can't remember at this time which week it is but I believe it's in October) then there isn't a way to even recoup those fees.

To keep or not to keep? That is the question. I no longer believe there is a question of paying it off anymore. But at least I'll no longer be beholden to the monthly payment...

Good News for Me! YAY!

February 12th, 2013 at 05:46 pm

Last night I learned some good news for me personally.

When I received my leases the manager had stated that the first lease will end July 31st because all the leases in the community do. When it renews it will renew at the lower rate for the next term. So I was expecting $809 for five (5) months and then $779 for the subsequent months. It's only a $30/month difference but that's an extra $30 that I can put elsewhere. I've decided that I will be splitting it between my Wallet Fun Money and Debt repayment. The majority going towards debt repayment. (I put this in detail in my previous posting).

So imagine my surprise when I received both leases stating that my rent amount would be $779!! This amount was handwritten on both leases so I knew it couldn't have been a mistake. I'm really excited because now I can put that amount immediately towards my debt instead of waiting five (5) months to do it! YAY ME!

This could be the difference of paying off Sallie Mae in three (3) years instead of four (4) years. I'm planning to write down what I currently owe and seeing how long it'll take me to pay it all off completely. My plan is five (5) years but we'll see.

I'll do whatever I can to make it five (5) years instead of more. For some odd reason I'm thinking that I can have everything paid off in seven (7) years. I'm not sure why that number keeps popping into my head. I haven't even done any of the math yet. But we'll see!

DEBT FREE HERE I COME!!!

Expected Expenses

February 11th, 2013 at 04:02 pm

When I get back I know pretty much what my expenses are going to be but I'm not sure if they'll change...:

Ex's Student Loan 1: $110
Insurance: about $150
Netflix: 8.55
Time share: 132.80
Car Loan: 213.55
Cell w/insurance: 82.49
Food/Gas: 400
Coupon Inserts: 55
Rent: 809 (this includes water/trash/sewer/electricity/high speed internet/furniture) - upon renewal lease will decrease to $779 (technically this is more than the original place that I looked at ($705) but that didn't include water/electricity)

(I do have a credit card but I will pay that off when I get back with my savings)

The other student loans are on deferrment/forebearance:

Sallie Mae: 190.01 - forebearance til Nov 2013
Direct Loans: deferred til Sep 2013
ACS: 75.96 - deferred til July 2013

I'm not worried about the Direct or ACS loans because as long as I'm in school I can defer them. But that stupid Sallie Mae loan is what I really hate.

My net will be about $2,305.77 (according to calculations)
Bills: -$1962.82
Which equals $342.95 left until Aug which will then be $372.95 left. Then in Nov because I'll have to start paying the Sallie Mae again. Then that'll leave only $182.94.

I'll contribute the leftover as such at first:

Roth IRA: $25
DebtL 230 (and whatever else comes my way)
Wallet: 50 (fun money to do with whatever I want with)
Savings: 50

in Aug it'll change to:

Roth IRA: $25
Debt: $250
Wallet: $50
Savings: $50

in Nov it'll change to:

Roth IRA: $25
Debt: $60
Wallet: $50
Savings: $50

Now the thing is this. I can pay something down about $2,400 before Nov but I won't be paying anything off with it. So I've decided to actually start my debt repayment by paying off the Sallie Mae loan. That way I can continuously pay $250/mo to it. I know that it only has 6% interest and my car loan has 11.5% interest.

So it would seem to make sense to pay off the higher interest loan first but after Nov I would only be able to contribute $60/mo to it. But I think it makes more sense to keeping paying on the Sallie Mae and that way it'll only take me about three (3) years to pay it off

Your opinions and suggestions are appreciated if you have any.

Guess What We're Having!!!

February 10th, 2013 at 05:20 pm

My youngest (21 years old) is pregnant with a little boy and my oldest (24 years old) is pregnant with... yes you guessed it. TWINS!!! Both a boy and a girl. So by the end of this year I will have two granddaughters and two grandsons. I'm both scared and excited. I'm worried that my daughters will have extra to take care of when they are still learning to take care of themselves.

I've actually (recently) offered them a budget software. My conditions are that they must go to the website and download the 34-day free trial (www.youneedabudget.com) and if my girls with their significant other uses it then I will considered purchasing it for them as a gift so that they can get their finances together. This is software that I will be using myself.

Recently YNAB is also offering a workbook to go along with the software, and I would also purchase this for them (i'm actually going to purchase the workbook for myself as well. I starting a new life for me when I get back and I'm goin to arm myself with as much tools as possible. And I want my family to be well armed as well. I've even offered it to my ex-husband. The more finanically stable he becomes the more he won't rely on the alimony that he receives.

My plan to help out my children and myself is that when I get home to start immediately start working on ourstockpiles. I want a six (6) month stockpile for all of us but I'm thinking that it'll take about three (3) months to do this. This will allow for them to be able to get their finances in order to be able to set themselves up in a better financial situation.

I just don't want them to learn what they need to know in order to be financially stable by the time they're m age. It's frustrating if they wait to long. Hopefully the will learn quickly but I'm hoping the software will also help them. I just wish it was around when I needed it at their age.

But I'm SOOO looking forward to seeing all my grandchildren.

HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY you lovely beauties! =D

Although the babies are due in June and July, I have a feeling that my grandbabies will be all arriving in May. This means there will probably be a slight change to my 2013 goals. In fact I believe that I will change that to just 'GOALS' instead. They will include both short and long term goals but it'll be an overall instead of a yearly. I'd prefer it that way. It's not really rushed and I won't feel as if I didn't accomplish anything if I didn't complete my list by the end of the year.

But I'm definitely excited! I'm already wondering what they will look like but as long as they're healthy I don't care. I already love them! =D