Took a small step today toward paying off debt!

I have been paying on my debt but I made that decision to move forward and start paying extra on small bills I have. My car payment is first because its the smallest amount I owe right now. If I just pay the extra 40.00 a week  it will be paid off by the end of NOV!!! It was nice to watch that number go down today even though I already made my normal payment I jumped in and sent another 40! And I survived.

Now Dave Ramsey says to build a 1000.00 emergency fund. Sounds crazy when its hard to save money. But makes sense too because stuff happens and there is nothing more stressful than trying to figure out how to get the money to fix the car or furnace or what ever. So that will be something I am going to work on.

I got my binder all organized. It is not fancy at all. Just simple. I put my bills in there and write on them when I sent the payment and write down the owed amount in the calendar part.

I put my financial goals in there also.

Working on the non student loan debt first will make facing that student loan debt a little easier. I am still looking and learning what is the best way to tackle this debt when I am ready to tackle it.

The hardest part is seeing what I am paying in these things and thinking how stupid we are to get to this point. Because we could be saving that money instead of paying off debt that we should not of gotten into in the first place. But it is what it is and it needs to be taken care of. Still its sad. But we will live.

Just taking that next step is the hardest.

Facing the debt monster on paper.

In my quest to figure out how to pay off my debt I am facing a few challenges that I do not like or care for or really hate seeing. 

I have not done this in a long time and its way way past time since I should be doing this. WRITING DOWN ON PAPER WHAT MY DEBT IS!  And folks is a scary not pretty and its a pretty ugly site. In fact my stress level starts to go up. My heart beats faster, my breathing is slowing down I feel faint. I hate it. But its necessary and needs to be faced head on! 

Start with the small stuff first. Things like the cable is behind a month, the electric, what is left of the car payment. All pretty much easier to handle at this moment. Take a look at my income do a little math. And well its not as bad as I think. We could be watching what we spend each week. So there is a little extra to do a little with. But I have to heat my house yet so well.... Another demon I rather not talk about. A necessary evil in the winter to keep warm. Anyways still there is a small amount left. 

The plan! I have a plan in the works! But its only on paper so far. I need to crunch a few numbers yet to get this in action. The goal is to have these small debts paid up or off by December! Crazy I know its the holidays people! But hey its not enjoyable when you owe a butt load of money to Sallie mae! So why not. 

In order to face good old Sallie in the near future again I have to take care of what is lingering around right now. Facing it is the first step. Then make a plan, go over the plan and then pick a date and put the plan into action. Mark it on the calendar and have a date to which you pay that last payment. Start small and move forward. Its not easy, its scary, but it can be done. 

I figure I can come up with 40.00 extra a week to put toward a debt. I figure that I could spend that much on eating out twice, buying things I do not need at Walmart, buying a few things at the thrift store, extra gas to get somewhere, a day out doing something on the weekend. There are lots of things that 40.00 can go for so fast and easy so instead of eating out I'll put it toward my debt. We can cut back on eating out no problem. We need to stay home and work around the house anyways and get things done here. 

So 40.00 a week for the next 8 weeks if 320.00. I have 429 to pay off my car loan. I think I"ll start there and pay it off early. Goal one is decided! Wish me luck. 

Todays thoughts.

This is Bill Dog and he says hi. :) He smiles like a person. lol.

Today I was listening to one of Dave RRamsey'svideo's on youtube. There are many just plug in his name. But it stuck me today that in order to get out of debt is to make the first move and make a plan.

I have been thinking on this for a while and I thought how to get everything together in order to keep track of it. I got me a binder and put all my bills into it. And its full. That is because I also put in all the student loan papers and information I collected throughout the years. I figured out that student loan stuff needs its very own folder. Go figure.

As I build these binders, make a get out of debt plan I am starting to see how things are really. Its not pretty. In fact its ugly. But its not impossible to tackle. It will take work and lots of it.

What I need to do and have not done yet is build a savings of 1000.00. And I tell you what its not going to be easy. As I write this I am thinking of the car repair I need done on my car. uggg. But I do plan on starting that savings this week and add to it.  This is so hard for me because we do not have much money. And it seems when there is a little I can find something to spend it on. But I am going to learn how to change my spending ways.

This is so important to make these first steps toward the big goal. I am ready to face those debt demons head on. I am ready to figure out my lowest bill to pay and get working on it. Then celebrate when Its done then move onto the next one. I hope that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel at some point in the next year. My goal is 5 years. Its scary because a lot can happen in that time.

Building the binder was a step into taking responsibility for us. To have it all in one place to open up and see it. Not having enveloped piled up on the table or desk somewhere. The loan information I will look at again with new eyes I think. Because this is my biggest scariest debt demon of them all. Its what is driving me to take control here and get rid of it.

I know we all are wishing for the government to come in and save us from this debt, I know we wish that someone will just take it all away. Or that the school will close or we get into a class action suit. But the reality is that these things are not happening and that we need to take  care of this our selves. No matter how we feel about how we got there. After all no one forced me into this, they did not force me to sing the loan papers. I was talked into a lot of things and I was stupid to listen to them at the time. Time has come that we need to own this. If in the event something happens along the way to help then that will be a blessing. Until then help yourself.

Why the book list?

Just wanted to tell you why the book list off to the right. In all this crazy mess of mine I decided that I had to do something to take my mind of things if even just a little while. I love to read and have not read what I enjoyed all during when I was taking classes. I decided I would try to read one book a month or two and keep track of it. Its nice to get away in your head for a 1/2 hour or so out of the day to take your mind off of your troubles.

Looking over the full picture.

I have been kind of out of the loop for a few weeks. Not feeling well with a backache and panic attacks. I saw my dr and have been feeling better and ready to face some of my life challenges.

I need to get a handle on what my debt is over all. So I am working on a debt journal of sorts. I searched the internet for tips and idea's on how to make a personal planner. Only to find that this is a thing these days to spend a lot of money on to get organized and in control of your time and money. Well since I"m a crafter and need to use up supplies as it is I decided to save my money and take a more simple  approach to this. I got a 1.00 binder from the dollar store, a 3 hole hole punch and that is it so far. I looked up a sheet for Dave Ramseys Snow ball repayment form and printed it out.

The hard thing is being honest with yourself. Sure we can look up how to pay off debt and find loads of useful information and how to's and what not but none of it works unless you put it to use and keep up with it. And take the time to go over it to make sure its still working for you.

I wrote down all my school debt and another bill and put the amount owed, what I am paying. The reality is not pretty.  The money I am sending out for no degree for nothing I could be saving. And nothing is getting paid off fast. At least at this point in time. I need to change how I am going about this. Time is not my friend right now to be honest. But I do what I can.

In my journal I will keep track of all my debt, what I am paying and the paperwork like the bills I get in the mail. This is why the 3 hole hole punch is nice. Just punch in the holes and stick it into the binder and you are done. All this is in one place not in envelopes, in files, in a closet somewhere. I stick the binder on my shelf near my computer where its easy to find and open it up.

In there I will also have a calendar so I can visually see that I am making payments. I have all this set up on line but its nice to have a quick visual to check from time to time.

This is not a fancy set up. Just keeping track of things monthly and have a way to go back and see the progress or not so much progress. At some point something will get paid off so I can then take that money and roll it into the other debt and so on. The key is getting the first bill paid off! hahaha.

The plan is not set in stone and is flexible. Our income is not the same all year round so I will have to make adjustments.

I kid you not this is scary stuff. Its reality people. Student loans are no joke and well lets face it no one is going to pay it off for us. I know that is my case so I need to take the steps to take care of it myself so that I have a future somewhere along the way. I mean I want to take a vacation and enjoy going toward my retirement knowing I will not have this hanging over my head.

As scary as this is to do. It also is good to have it there to see weekly. There is also things being paid off. Its not much at a time but the amounts is going down so  that is encouraging at least.

Life just sucks sometimes. We are tested to just see how far we can go, how much we can handle and how we overcome this stuff.  Sometimes I would rather not be tested for a long long time and just live life and enjoy it for awhile.

As I think about this it stresses me out big time. But this student loan and debt will not take care of itself.

Just have to make up you mind to do something about it.

Has Sallie Mae change your account over to another division.

Well its happening. Sallie Mae has another division to collect on our student loans. Navient is a division of Sallie Mae from what I understand. And they are now going to be taking care of our loans. I have not clue what this means other than things will not change other than we are dealing with them instead of Sallie Mae. 

Here is a bit more information.  http://www.mainstreet.com/article/navient-sallie-maes-new-student-loan-servicer

So it is what it is. 

I am not about to let this get me down. IF nothing else I am looking for other ways to make extra money to put toward these loans, heating my house this winter and what not. I am paying off smaller debt right now and if I can hold out for another year I can roll those payments into my loans somehow.  

This is not easy by any means. It is hard. Not impossible yet. I have yet to find out how this is going to affect us. It already has in several ways. The ball has not dropped yet. I"m still waiting. 

Update from Aug to now.

August was a busy month and also one where we do not have a lot of income. Its the time where summer is winding down and I am getting ready to head back to work. Over all I have to say that we had some ups and downs over all it was not that bad budget wise.

Normally summer means we are really short on money and I have to make major adjustments in our budget in order to get by. That means something does not get paid. This year we made it to the end of summer and all the bills got paid the house payment is almost caught up to where it is showing on time not a week late and we did not starve, go naked and was able to find a little fun along the way and even managed to get 2 home improvement projects done. One was free material but I will take it and use it gladly!

Today I got my bill from the Art Institute that I owe them. I been paying a little every other week and I got my statement today.  I am rounding the bend to where I will owe less than 3000.00 on that bill starting in Oct! Trust me that 2 in front of all those numbers looks a lot better than the 3. So progress is being made. :)

Now that fall is settling in I need to check on my other student loan accounts and see where I am on one of them. What I hope is to get  the school bill paid and then use that money to work on the private loan. Then take those two amount and put it toward my Sallie Mae loans. That is the plan and that plan is far off yet to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I need to tread on some water here for awhile to get to that point.

I started on my ebay again and I am looking for items that sell high and do not take up much space. I need to get things sold and out the door in a timely manner and to make money to pay the bills all at the same time! Its a challenge trust me. But its this or get another job. And well that is not in the cards yet. It depends on what I find. I am looking because one never knows what they will find income wise.

I do have one bill that I am a tad bit worried about. It a hospital bill and I need to keep track of how much I paid on it and check in with them. I got a funny feeling about the company collecting the money and I looked it up and I did not find favorable reviews. But then again its a collection agency so who knows. But I will have to buckle down and talk to them to get a statement at least.

That is about it. I am happy to be back at work and getting my paycheck. I have other venues I am  working on to bring in an income as well. Plus this winter I hope to make crafts and things to hit a few craft shows next year to earn more money.  I am thinking of a home party thing too but nothing has got my attention yet. So we will see.

As always I am not giving up just keep looking and keeping things going as best I can.