I'm in a pickle.

MoneyMatters212 · June 2014

We have some debt, totaling $13,582.59

Loan #1: $ 753.00, no interest
Loan #2: $ 3,963.22, no interest
Loan #3: $ 9,266.00, 8% interest

I plan on snowballing our debt using Dave Ramsey's method, putting 481.00 (12%) of our income every month

We dont make much money, and I do our bills. I'm just angry we've gotten to this place, anyone else with success stories from mounting debt like this?,,

I suck

hoffse · June 2014

Depending on how much you make, that's not so bad. Are these credit cards, student loans, other?

There are plenty of people on these boards who have paid off a lot of debt. H and I have a ton of student loan debt from law school left, but I paid off a short-term loan to my parents during my first several months of practice that pretty much made me miserable. It was over $11,000, and I paid it back in just under 5 months by myself. My H was still in school, and I had literally less than $11 in my bank account when I started practice (but I managed not to charge things to my cards until I got my first paycheck). I cut out a bunch of stuff, saved very little, and counted every penny during those first 5 months, but I did it. At the end it felt great.

smerka · June 2014

When DH and I got married, he had over $50,000 in student loan and credit card debt. We paid it off in about 18 months.

Xstatic3333 · June 2014

You can do this! We paid off about $10,000 combined in consumer debt, and are now working on other goals (house, cars, retirement) while digging into our SLs. What sticks out to me about your debt is the interest rates aren't bad-8% isn't great, but some CCs are 20% or more.

Either way, don't beat yourself up. Learn from it and move forward, most of us have made non-MM mistakes in the past. If you're here, you're on the right track.

lifeonthehill · June 2014

You are not in as tough of shape as you feel you are. You got this! Realizing that there is a problem with what you are doing financially now and wanting to change it is a great first step.

H and I started 14 months ago with over $33,000 in SL debt and no money in the bank. Today we have a 9 month emergency fund and have less than $10,000 to go on our debt! Combined we make less than $40k/year but are in a situation where we can afford to put about 70% of income towards debt/savings.

You do not suck! Stick around the board and read the posts. They are incredibly inspiring. Put everything you can to your debt and it will be better than you think.

Sisugal · June 2014

Read Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey - very motivating and helpful for those with debt.
Smart Couples FInish Rih by David Bach - great for working with a partner to make a financial plan that works for you both.

What to do now - start by knowing what is coming in and what is going out --- every dollar. Track your spending, then categorize. Sit down and take a hard look at the cold hard facts and decide where you can cut or reduce your spending - then do it!

If your income is inadequate - then look for 2nd part time jobs.

Fund necessities first - put some aside for an emergency fund, add extra to your debt payments and then fundtnon essentials.

Preplan your spending - go to cash and avoid credit cards. Save first for larger items then spend.
Meal plan, take your lunch to work - stop eating out. You can get almost everything on sale, clearance or bought used. - consider borrowing or renting a seldom used item.

Stick around -

IAmSherlocked · June 2014

I know it's rough and it feels impossible, but trust me it isn't! You can totally do this. When DH and I moved in together for awhile we ended up living on just the income from my paycheck (while I was still in school, so it was an itty bitty paycheck). Long story short we ended up with about $9,000 in consumer debt before we finally woke up and fixed things. It took a little while and some dedication but we were able to get rid of that debt and you can too! All you can do is learn from the past and try not to repeat it.

If you hang around this board for awhile, these guys are pretty awesome and very helpful!

KatieCutie05 · June 2014

if 481 is 12 percent of your take home pay and you call 13k in debt a "pickle" and its such a huge amount... then i'm just going to crawl in a corner and cry.

ALOT of people have ALOT more debt then 13k with that income... you don't "suck" and thats seriously pennies. considering it seems like you make more then me and i have an extra zero on my total debt amount.

Just get on a budget and throw every extra penny at it. no your not going on vacation or buying expensive things but who cares. chances are some months you'll have a lot more then 481 to put at it and some months you'll have something come up where you might just pay the minimums. you have to know exactly what you have to work with.

Wulfgar · June 2014

Doing a quick reverse calculation, your annual take home is not bad. If this is your only debt and you focus on the smallest first you could really knock this out.

MW and I really should tackle one of our debts at a time in a snowball type effect instead we above minimums a lot of our debts so that we she sees more progress on her car loan while I see more movement on my credit card and our one home improvement signature loan. We know that we will have some more medical bills at the end of the year so pretty soon we will switch over to more savings for the medical bills.

CuriousKiddosMama · June 2014

You can get there, it just takes time and effort. If you want, post your budget on here and we can find you some more wiggle room. There may be things that if you really look at it you can cut for a while- and if by changing that you can be out of debt in 12-24 months it really may not be much of a sacrifice. I know that there are months that we can live on very little when we have to. We are out of debt now, but are looking into buying a new house and so after I get home I'm even going to be avoiding spending anything on groceries by eating out of the pantry and freezer. Milk and fresh fruit/veggies will be about the only thing I will be purchasing.

But absolutely post your budget- I'm a Dave Ramsey follower and we always have a written budget and it has helped us save a ton more than we have in the past, and we paid off our current house in about 5 years after we started budgeting so I'm a real true believer in this!

Jothecatlady · June 2014

Not in your position but that doesn't sound like too bad of a position. Make sure you keep your repayments on the interest free debt to a minimum and focus all your money on that 8% loan first then pay off the others. 12% of your income seems a bit low to me for debt repayment though. Look at your budget to see if there's any other cuts you can make so you can pay it off quicker.

ToastieSimons · June 2014

It took us 7 months to pay off 14k. We got lucky with bonuses and tax returns so the last 4k is taking longer. But you can do it!

I'm in a pickle.

Re: I'm in a pickle.

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