My Debt Reduction Blog » Featured http://www.mydrblog.com/blog Our road down debt reduction to elimination, and living without a budget Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:27:03 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 I have to get a new (used) car http://www.mydrblog.com/blog/2009/07/03/i-have-to-get-a-new-used-car/ http://www.mydrblog.com/blog/2009/07/03/i-have-to-get-a-new-used-car/#comments Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:06:54 +0000 Chad http://www.mydrblog.com/blog/?p=114 Due to some changes with my employer, the need to for me to get a decent, reliable vehicle has risen. For the last 6-7 years, my employer has provided a work vehicle. Which has allowed me to drive a P.O.S. for my 5 minute commute I had to work. Well, the work vehicle is going away and my job consists of a lot of driving. My personal car is basically dead and couldn’t be trusted as reliable what-so-ever. I’ve known of this need for a few months now and it’s down to crunch time. Because my job also requires carrying tools, ladders, and sometimes large items, and because winter in Wisconsin is nasty, I’ve decided I want a full size 4 wheel drive SUV. My employer now provides a $160/month gas allowance, so gas mileage isn’t terribly important to me.

I’ve been saving for a new vehicle for awhile, but that got used up when the wife totaled her van back in March. So I’m only back up to about $1,000 saved for it. Sadly, I can’t find a decent vehicle with the specs I’m looking for in that price range. I would love to get something around a 2004-2006 Chevy Tahoe or GMC Yukon, but those are going for around $15,000 used, and that is out of my price range. I’ve determined, even though I do not want car payments, that I could afford about $150/month. Which puts me in the price range about $7,500. If I get lucky, I may be able to find something around a 2000 – 2001.

Now the tricky part, I’m going to need to finance the purchase. I have plenty of time to research and do it right. I’m not going to be pressured in to 15% financing on a dealer lot. Have I mentioned just how much I hate dealers yet, and car shopping in general? So I’d like to get pre-approved for the $7,500 amount without actually committing to a vehicle. Then I could get a little negotiable. I don’t have the best credit past, and I’m certainly stretched now, so I don’t know how easy that will be.

Now I need to just figure out where the best place would be to do that. My bank? A credit union? Is there a trusty online loan source anywhere?

Update: I applied for a loan with my bank that I’ve been with for 12+ years and was quickly shot down. Damn!

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]]> http://www.mydrblog.com/blog/2009/07/03/i-have-to-get-a-new-used-car/feed/ 0 Just paid off one credit card, and damn, it feels good http://www.mydrblog.com/blog/2009/01/29/just-paid-off-one-credit-card-and-damn-it-feels-good/ http://www.mydrblog.com/blog/2009/01/29/just-paid-off-one-credit-card-and-damn-it-feels-good/#comments Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:11:27 +0000 Chad http://www.mydrblog.com/blog/?p=108 Just sent off a payment of $413.49 to Juniper which will bring the balance on that card to $0. Sadly, there are still a lot of bills to go, but it feels great to stick a fork in one of them.

That is all! Peace.

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]]> http://www.mydrblog.com/blog/2009/01/29/just-paid-off-one-credit-card-and-damn-it-feels-good/feed/ 1 Making a little extra income http://www.mydrblog.com/blog/2008/06/05/making-a-little-extra-income/ http://www.mydrblog.com/blog/2008/06/05/making-a-little-extra-income/#comments Thu, 05 Jun 2008 12:49:46 +0000 Chad http://www.mydrblog.com/blog/?p=102 Thanks to some enhancements I made with Google Ads, plus starting to put Google search in a few strategic locations, I’m actually impressed with the results. Now I’m not talking tons of cash all of a sudden rolling in. But in the past it usually took me about a year to accumulate the minimum $100 payout amount. Now I’ve hit and exceeded it a bit about 6 months. I even had one day where I made $10+ on adsense searches. I would love to see that everyday! :)

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]]> http://www.mydrblog.com/blog/2008/06/05/making-a-little-extra-income/feed/ 0 Why is it so hard to create a budget? http://www.mydrblog.com/blog/2007/10/09/why-is-it-so-hard-to-create-a-budget/ http://www.mydrblog.com/blog/2007/10/09/why-is-it-so-hard-to-create-a-budget/#comments Tue, 09 Oct 2007 11:45:46 +0000 Chad http://www.mydrblog.com/blog/2007/10/09/why-is-it-so-hard-to-create-a-budget/ I know we need one, heck, everyone should have one. But why don’t I? Is it because I’m a procrastinator? Is it because I have no idea how to create one? Is it because I still don’t have grips on all our expenses? Or is it that I’m just full of excuses and lazy?

I started this blog to help me keep focused on our goal, but I am still missing the key ingredient to this debt elimination recipe. That must change!

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]]> http://www.mydrblog.com/blog/2007/10/09/why-is-it-so-hard-to-create-a-budget/feed/ 0 The most shocking number, and what keeps me motivated http://www.mydrblog.com/blog/2007/10/01/the-most-shocking-number-and-what-keeps-me-motivated/ http://www.mydrblog.com/blog/2007/10/01/the-most-shocking-number-and-what-keeps-me-motivated/#comments Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:26:33 +0000 Chad http://www.mydrblog.com/blog/2007/10/01/the-most-shocking-number-and-what-keeps-me-motivated/ There’s a lot of reasons that cause folks to wake up and realize their in debt over their head. For us, my slap in the face was the fact we had so many different credit card bills that I couldn’t keep track of them anymore and started missing payments. I was getting hit with late fee payments and my interest rates kept going up. That was when we sought the help of a Debt Management Program.

Coming up in December, we will have been on the program for 2 years, and have paid over $20,000 of our debts off. But with the routine we’re in now, sometimes there is an urge to stray, buy something I don’t need, or spend foolishly without thinking. I started this blog as a project to keep me focused on the light at the end of the tunnel, but my main motivation is a number I see every time I enter a statement in my spreadsheet.

I built a spreadsheet that I update every time I get a statement, even though I don’t personally pay any of my statements(DMP does). On this spreadsheet, there is a line for every credit card that lists Balance Due, Minimum Due, Actual Payment, and Finance Charge. Across the bottom are the totals for each column.

And the total finance charge is what absolutely pisses me off and in this case, anger is very motivating. As of this writing, my total monthly in finance charges is just over $330. Isn’t that sick!?! Every single month I throw away over $300 while nothing goes towards my 3 kids college fund, or our retirement or anything that will ever benefit us.

So, right now that my biggest motivation to keep on track. What is your biggest motivation?

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