Motivation and inspiration needed.

als1982 · September 2015

Okay fellow MMers, we are half way through our student loan payoff and it's been a few weeks since our last big payment and I'm needing some inspiration. We're definitely not off track, but the needle just doesn't feel like it's moving very quickly. (The stock market stall isn't helping things feel better on the net worth front either!)

This board usually helps and so does the Mr. Money Mustache forum, but they've both been fairly quiet lately.

So, how do you keep the momentum during times like this? Or do you have any suggestions on ways we can increase our payoff? (Besides cancelling the 10 day trip to Florida and the Caribbean we just booked for November - darn you with your free booze packages and good deals Norweigan Cruise Lines!)

hoffse · September 2015

Well first off, don't cancel that trip! It sounds awesome.

This is probably counterproductive, but sometimes I find it helpful to just take a mental break from finances. Vacations are a good time to do that. Most people on this board are really focused on their finances one way or another, and that can wear you down mentally when stuff doesn't seem to go as quickly as you want it to.

So my suggestion is to find something to take your mind off of it - maybe read a new book or nail down the details of your upcoming trip. Take a break from checking your accounts for a week or so to give your brain a rest. I hesitate to say this, but you might even want to take a break from these boards for a couple days just to refresh. I've started trying to do that some weekends because we're perhaps overly focused on money around here. I know the MMM boards are too -I'm a lurker over there.

You won't get to your financial goal any faster by doing that, but you might be happier. That's worth something.

als1982 · September 2015

Thanks @Hoffse, some good thoughts. I think another issue is that H and I are both working like crazy right now (long days, late nights, early mornings and weekends plus several business trips for him, most of which are last minute). And since we're salaried, it doesn't equate to more money, just more stress and less time to enjoy life, so finances have become our focus. But don't worry, no way we'll cancel the trip. We need the vacation!

formerlyGDaisy09 · September 2015

I agree! and I don't really have anything to add; breaks help, don't cancel your vacation.

MommyLiberty5013 · September 2015

hoffse said:

Well first off, don't cancel that trip! It sounds awesome.

This is probably counterproductive, but sometimes I find it helpful to just take a mental break from finances. Vacations are a good time to do that. Most people on this board are really focused on their finances one way or another, and that can wear you down mentally when stuff doesn't seem to go as quickly as you want it to.

So my suggestion is to find something to take your mind off of it - maybe read a new book or nail down the details of your upcoming trip. Take a break from checking your accounts for a week or so to give your brain a rest. I hesitate to say this, but you might even want to take a break from these boards for a couple days just to refresh. I've started trying to do that some weekends because we're perhaps overly focused on money around here. I know the MMM boards are too -I'm a lurker over there.

You won't get to your financial goal any faster by doing that, but you might be happier. That's worth something.

Bolded. To do it effectively, delete any finance apps on your phones (so you aren't tempted to sneak a look). Also, take a look at your PAST loan payments history with balances at each level and just review the progress you have made to date.

Xstatic3333 · September 2015

MommyLiberty5013 said:

hoffse said:

Well first off, don't cancel that trip! It sounds awesome.

This is probably counterproductive, but sometimes I find it helpful to just take a mental break from finances. Vacations are a good time to do that. Most people on this board are really focused on their finances one way or another, and that can wear you down mentally when stuff doesn't seem to go as quickly as you want it to.

So my suggestion is to find something to take your mind off of it - maybe read a new book or nail down the details of your upcoming trip. Take a break from checking your accounts for a week or so to give your brain a rest. I hesitate to say this, but you might even want to take a break from these boards for a couple days just to refresh. I've started trying to do that some weekends because we're perhaps overly focused on money around here. I know the MMM boards are too -I'm a lurker over there.

You won't get to your financial goal any faster by doing that, but you might be happier. That's worth something.

Bolded. To do it effectively, delete any finance apps on your phones (so you aren't tempted to sneak a look). Also, take a look at your PAST loan payments history with balances at each level and just review the progress you have made to date.

I agree with this, too. I sort of did this for the month of August. It was so frustrating that with weddings, trips, and unexpected expenses that we couldn't make any progress, so we took a break and budgeted just enough to avoid building debt. It was nice to enjoy our summer, and we both felt refreshed and excited to get back to work this month. I stil checked in here, but less, and tried to stay off the other financial blogs I read.

I also second diving in to getting excited for your cruise! Give yourself permission to enjoy it and splurge here and there. You've been working your butts off and a massage or a tropical drink or two won't set you back too far.

formerlyGDaisy09 · September 2015

Xstatic3333 said:

hoffse said:

Well first off, don't cancel that trip! It sounds awesome.

This is probably counterproductive, but sometimes I find it helpful to just take a mental break from finances. Vacations are a good time to do that. Most people on this board are really focused on their finances one way or another, and that can wear you down mentally when stuff doesn't seem to go as quickly as you want it to.

So my suggestion is to find something to take your mind off of it - maybe read a new book or nail down the details of your upcoming trip. Take a break from checking your accounts for a week or so to give your brain a rest. I hesitate to say this, but you might even want to take a break from these boards for a couple days just to refresh. I've started trying to do that some weekends because we're perhaps overly focused on money around here. I know the MMM boards are too -I'm a lurker over there.

You won't get to your financial goal any faster by doing that, but you might be happier. That's worth something.

Bolded. To do it effectively, delete any finance apps on your phones (so you aren't tempted to sneak a look). Also, take a look at your PAST loan payments history with balances at each level and just review the progress you have made to date.
I agree with this, too. I sort of did this for the month of August. It was so frustrating that with weddings, trips, and unexpected expenses that we couldn't make any progress, so we took a break and budgeted just enough to avoid building debt. It was nice to enjoy our summer, and we both felt refreshed and excited to get back to work this month. I stil checked in here, but less, and tried to stay off the other financial blogs I read. I also second diving in to getting excited for your cruise! Give yourself permission to enjoy it and splurge here and there. You've been working your butts off and a massage or a tropical drink or two won't set you back too far.

We've basically done this all summer, with 6 weddings over the summer, 4 baby showers this fall, a home renovation project in the works, and a baby coming in december it was way too unhealthy for my brain to try to also be tracking all our goals. as long as we aren't dipping into savings for anything that wasn't already earmarked I'm calling this summer and fall a success!

als1982 · September 2015

Thanks all! I'm not sure I want to disconnect but I'll try to be better about giving us some leniency. In addition to our vacation, we also just carved $800 of our of October budget for miscellaneous (H needed some new work clothes) and I'm at a loss as to what to spend my half on. Any fun suggestions?

simplyelise · September 2015

I think a break can definitely be helpful. I've been blogging a couple times a month about our debt payoff journey, so I actually did a post recently about motivation. Here is the gist...

Make Visual Representations

obvious, but helpful. we have class jars with marbles we move every time we pay off 1000
Create Sub Goals

Round numbers paid or remaining are celebrated. Usually with something very small like drinks from sonic. We're bare bones around here lol.
See the Long Term
I like to compare how much interest accrues each month to see more progress on what advanced payoff saves. It's also nice to compare two payoff scenarios: 10 year payoff vs. 20 month payoff. With a 10-year payoff of the student loan debt we had in October 2014 (54,400ish -was previously on IBR, but we wouldn't have been able to qualify after the wedding), we would have been paying over $600 a month for 10 years to pay off the loans, for a total amount paid over $72,000.
Scare Yourself
Listening to the Dave Ramsey podcast almost every day really reminds you of 1) where you don't want to go financially and 2) what situations you want to be prepared for. So many people call in saying they are underwater on their car loans, dealing with unemployment when they can't cover their debt obligations, or unprepared for their 16 year old to go to college or for their own retirement. Many people also call in with really unfortunate stories about health issues or deaths in their family and they are looking for a lifeline on how to deal with these catastrophes on top of their debt obligations. It helps me to hear these stories as a reminder that we're not getting out of debt so we can have something to brag about. We're getting out of debt so that we can plan for the future and prepare for the unplanned.
Get Excited About Things You Already Have to Buy
Getting a good deal on groceries or needed clothes so that we come in under budget and can pick up a bottle of wine or put more towards debt is something that motivates me.
Indulge in Cheap Splurges
Hit up that Dollar Tree! How many times have I made a $10+ purchase at Target because I was upset or bored? It's ridiculous. But sometimes it's hard to get over that itch to get something new, even if it's something you don't need at all. To mitigate this, I will sometimes indulge in a dollar store trip. I went in a couple months ago and bought three one dollar picture frames to decorate my office. Even though I only spent $3, I satisfied my spending urge, so it's a win.
Avoid Avoid Avoid
Avoid temptation to get off the plan and as far as you can, avoid comparison with others. Possibly need daily or by the minute reminders for this one.

Make Wish Lists
I do this on amazon or pinterest. Making wishlists of things I want in the future for our home, etc. It lets me plan and dream without spending money and it has helped me realize how much my impulse desire is not something to make purchases based off of. This is also helpful as we plan out the trips we want to take after we are debt free. Because of job responsibilities, we can't do any big trip right after the debt-free moment. So we're going to do a long weekend in Chicago and then look at doing our Oregon Trail roadtrip the next spring. We're also planning on buying season football tickets for our hometown SEC team, so thinking about tailgating plans is motivating too.

simplyelise · September 2015

As far as how you can increase your payoff, it's really up to you guys. We have really different debt-payoff approaches, which is fine! You guys make great money, so you still put more towards payoff each month than us. But yeah, aside from our one date night ($50) and individual blow month ($60 each), we just don't spend money on anything that is not a 100% necessity. But we'll be done next July, so it's not a forever lifestyle.

Maybe you could try a challenge month after the holidays to see how much you could do in one month if you cut everything to the bare bones? Just one month of severe cut-backs to get a jump payoff for the year. If you don't like it, you can go back to your current set-up.

brij2006 · September 2015

I will ditto every single one of SimplyElise's recommendations.

Get yourself focusing on portions of the ultimate goal. Why you're doing this? What the pro's are to getting out of debt.

I personally always took this time to ask myself what we should cut more of in order to get this needle moving faster? It made me reflect on some of our past and upcoming purchases and ask myself if they were a want or a need. Constantly in my mind was, "do I want this item/experience or is the freedom of no debt payments going to be more beneficial to my life?"
When we originally put our budget together to pay this off, it was going to take us about 3 years to do so. We both knew we couldn't stick to a insanely strict budget for 3 years. So we played around with things and figured out what we needed to do to cut more time off. That's partially why we sold my H's car 6 months in and bought him a beater. We were losing motivation and knew we needed to move the needle a bit more or we would take our foot off the gas. Getting rid of his car payment helped make that happen.

short+sassy · September 2015

I've been feeling down in the dumps and stalled when it comes to money also. I'm in the middle of a construction project that's going to come in around $30K. I'm usually throwing my extra income at debt, but at the moment, I am spending far more than I make.

In the end, it will be a financial win, but I never expected the temporary money shifting...balances increasing instead of decreasing...to feel so unnerving and a bit depressing.

It's not perfect, but I keep pep talking myself that all of this outlay is expected and planned for. I look at the good and remind myself of what I accomplished to get here.

Mainly, I project myself into the future. I picture myself at the start of next year. The construction has been behind me for a couple months and now I have a duplex, worth so much more than what I spent, and it is fully rented for $2,000/month with awesome tenants.

It reminds me the current pain and sweat is truly temporary and I will be back to paying down my HELOC, at an even faster pace, in the very near future.

Like the other PPs mentioned, focus on what you all have accomplished so far. Half the student loans paid is amazing! Take your current payoff rate and look at where those loan balances will be one year from now. If you fall off the wagon a bit here and there, don't berate yourself. Remind yourself of the overall positive direction you are moving in.

And enjoy that vacation! Sweet! Use that time to leave the money worries at home and enjoy a little celebration for slaying half the student loan beast.

als1982 · September 2015

Love all the different schools of thought! We keep our budget pretty bare bones (both drive beaters, brown bag breakfast and lunch, no cable, gym membership, expensive salon visits, etc. and our smart phones are required but paid for by our employers) but to keep our sanity we spend about 5-10% of our income on trips and travel. Until we get pregnant, keeping that line item is a non-negotiable. Right now, we're putting more than $3,000 a month towards the loans and about the same amount to retirement (also a non-negotiable), so I guess the problem is my patience!!

short+sassy · September 2015

als1982 said:

Love all the different schools of thought! We keep our budget pretty bare bones (both drive beaters, brown bag breakfast and lunch, no cable, gym membership, expensive salon visits, etc. and our smart phones are required but paid for by our employers) but to keep our sanity we spend about 5-10% of our income on trips and travel. Until we get pregnant, keeping that line item is a non-negotiable. Right now, we're putting more than $3,000 a month towards the loans and about the same amount to retirement (also a non-negotiable), so I guess the problem is my patience!!

I can totally relate! I fantasize what it would be like if I just won $160K, which would be enough to pay my debts and both mortgages. No more loans, yeah. Except, in reality, I would just use that phantom money to buy more real estate, lol.

hoffse · September 2015

als1982 said:

Love all the different schools of thought! We keep our budget pretty bare bones (both drive beaters, brown bag breakfast and lunch, no cable, gym membership, expensive salon visits, etc. and our smart phones are required but paid for by our employers) but to keep our sanity we spend about 5-10% of our income on trips and travel. Until we get pregnant, keeping that line item is a non-negotiable. Right now, we're putting more than $3,000 a month towards the loans and about the same amount to retirement (also a non-negotiable), so I guess the problem is my patience!!

We're in the same boat. Our non-mortgage debt payoff is right at $3200 and our retirement is right at $3000 each month. Between those and taxes, it can get depressing when things are tight, and we're in this for (at minimum) another 4 years before I'm up for partner. Our debt pay-off is scheduled for right at 7 years from now to be completely done with it.

The last 2.5 years have been exactly on track, but obviously you can't predict the future. Any number of things could happen in the next 7 years to derail us.

I have set our debt payoff on autopay so that I don't have to dwell on it as much. But when I think about it in terms of raw numbers, it gets me down in the dumps with how much we've paid and how far we have to go still.

I also have financial bench marks I want to hit with our retirement, net worth, etc. I'm turning 30 next year, so I've been having a lot of "Before I turn 30" moments recently. It's made me very impatient.

I have been trying to focus on what we have accomplished. We have a long way to go, but we have still managed to do a lot in the last couple of years. It can be hard to appreciate those accomplishments, but I think it's important to try.

I also think that it's important for people who can manage their finances to also focus on what really makes them happy. If it's travel or a moderately expensive hobby like golf or diving (sneeze: Xstatic), then that's a high priority item. I have never been convinced that paying off debt a few weeks or months earlier is worth sacrificing all of your hobbies, passions, etc. while are you in debt paydown mode. I am completely unapologetic about how much we budget for vacations with all of the debt we have. They are extremely important to us, and paying off our student loans 6 months earlier (because that's what it would amount to for us) is absolutely not worth 7 vacation-less years, especially not while we are young, healthy, and don't have the responsibilities of caring for children or our aging parents.

I am by no means the most-MM on this board, but that's ok. I think money is there to be spent, either now or in the future.

blondie42107 · September 2015

I feel similar to you. H actually said today, "Wish we could just live life and do what we want and not focus on the budget." He by no means meant being irresponsible but sometimes it would be nice to just not think about money.

cbee817 · September 2015

I have definitely felt this way recently. We kept thinking that with DD#1 out of full time day care, we would be saving a lot of $ each month. The truth is DD#2's bill is still $1,000/month (we lost our sibling discount of 10% plus the rates go up every September), DD#1's after school care is $200/month, and DH's car payment is $504/month. We're pretty much at the same place as we were last school year with 2 kids in day care full time. We still have that sewer bill to pay off ($700/month) so maybe it'll feel better in January.

The one thing I can really focus on is that DH has a great new job with a much better step salary than his other school district so in 10 years he'll be making about $25,000 more than his old district. Also my MIL might retire in May so that she could get DD#1 (and eventually DD#2) off the bus every day and we can cut the after school bill hopefully next year.

I try to look at the bigger picture more often than not, but sometimes the day to day really wears me down.

Hang in there- stay positive and be proud of all that you have accomplished so far!

Motivation and inspiration needed.

Re: Motivation and inspiration needed.

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