Bon Jovi Said it Best. Halfway There...Living on a Prayer. Killing Debt! Dave Ramsey Baby Steps are the Trick/Tip/Secret/Magic/Strategy

Oh, they're halfway there
Oh, living on a prayer
Take my hand
And we'll make it I swear
Oh, living on a prayer.

This is my July update on our debt payoff.  It has been exactly 24 months since we started our path to debt freedom and we are now HALFWAY THERE!  We started with exactly $100,332 of total debt (including the mortgage).  As of today, we have paid off $50,230.  Only $50,102 left to go.  About 24 more months from now and I will be 100% free from all worldly debts, never to go there again.  At the time we started (August 2008), I figured it would be possible to pay off everything in about six years.  I was thrilled with that calculation because we still had about 14 years left of the mortgage.  After tightening some belts and re-crunching numbers, I came up with a four year (48 month) plan to total freedom.  So far, so good.  I must stay focused to continue at this pace.  While I never want to wish time away, I can't wait for that day to come.  As I told my wife that day in August 2008, take my hand and we'll make it I swear........

My TMMO Forum Link to Keep you Motivated. Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover Baby Steps: Best, Most Effective Debt Free Plan

Dave Ramsey's website is a great source of advice and information to keep you motivated and on track to paying off debt.  I frequently read the forums because I like to see how others are doing.
  Click HERE to check out the TMMO forum. 
Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover Baby Steps Plan: I am making great headway on eliminating my debt and owe a ton of my success to following Dave's plan (although not exactly as written).  My next post will probably be a July update on my progress.

Keeping Up With the Joneses. Turtle Power!

Random Ramblings from a debt eliminator (me).
Am I the only one without a 46" LCD TV?
Am I the only one who doesn't have a DVR?

Am I the only one who doesn't own a riding lawn mower?
Am I the only one who doesn't have power windows & locks on my truck?

Am I the only one still with cable TV (no dish).

Am I the only one who doesn't have an iPhone/Blackberry cell phone?

Am I the only one who doesn't turn on the A/C when it hits 80 degrees?

Am I the only one who walks through the house continuously shutting off lights?

Am I the only one who washes the car in the driveway?

Am I the only one who gets coffee from the kitchen? (what's a Starbucks?)

Am I the only one who keeps the house a little bit chilly in the winter?

Am I the only one who brown bags it for lunch?

I KNOW MY NEIGHBORS DON'T!!!

Emergency Fund Wisdom from a Wise Reader.

This post is from a loyal reader (anonymous) who commented on my emergency fund post.  This one's for you (whoever you are).

Anonymous said... Good post! Have you noticed how the financial experts disagree as to how much of an EF you should have? I've seen most recommendations ranging from 3 months, to a full year.Some "experts" have even bumped up their recommendations considering the fact that, when laid off, the average American takes something like 9 months to find another job lately. ("in this economy" - are you sick & tired of hearing that phrase lately, or what?) We've got 9 months of "required expenses" in our EF. I've got ours broken down into "required expenses/bills" and "optional expenses," realizing, like you, that we can eliminate certain expenses if we need to. In the "optional" column, we have one cell phone bill, $200 of the grocery bill (family of 5), the extra mortgage payment we make each month, IRA contributions, and $400 of other items (but not church giving - that stays in the required column!). Placing the IRA funding in the optional column bugs me. I would never want to stop contributing the full amount to our IRAs, but realize that, if faced with a true emergency, we might cut back on that and revisit our retirement plans when/if emergency is over. What are your thoughts on retirement contributions? Make them "required" or keep them "optional"?

We have, however, decided to take $3,200 from the EF to pay off the car this month, since there are only 9 months left on our car payment. Why keep the car payment when we've already got the money sitting in the EF that's been designated for the car payment should we find ourselves in an emergency? ;) We've decided several times before that we were going to pay it off earlier, but each time we said "OK, pay off the car with the next car payment," we had a true "mini-emergency" come up before the next car payment (like a $1,000 plumbing bill!). So I started to think we were jinxing ourselves every time we said "hey, let's pay off the car this month!" I know, that's silly...but still.... Well, now that we are down to the 9 month mark on the car payment, we have no excuse!

Now - on to the mortgage, which is now below $58K and at least two-thirds of each payment we make is now applied to principal (not interest!) - woohoo! We get to watch that mortgage balance drop like our 401K/IRAs did in 2008! hehe - bad joke, but sometimes you have no other choice than to find the humor in the situation ;) that year sucked, eh?

I love reading your stuff - will try not to stay gone for so long again ;)

Thanks Anonymous!  I hope you have a blog of your own because you have some great stuff to say.

The Committed One.

There's No Oil Spill at the Campground. Camping 101.

My family loves to go camping.  We have a 24ft self-contained camper that is just big enough for our family of four.  Camping allows you to leave everything behind (stress, bills, daily routines) and unwind.  To me, there is nothing more relaxing and stress free than spending a weekend in nature's wonderland.  My camping days are basically broken down into three categories: coffee, food, & beer.  I always wake up early while camping and really, really enjoy that first cup of coffee.  I sit outside on my lawnchair and listen to the most peaceful sounds of singing birds.  Once my wife and other camping buddies wake up, my focus becomes all about breakfast.  I am normally a cereal guy, but while camping I turn into a Paul Bunyan breakfast kind of guy.  Massive amounts of food for breakfast.  Bring on the pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns, & toast.  One of the best things in life is the smell of breakfast cooking at a campground.  It is also kind of fun to watch the other campers next to you cooking their breakfast just to see if they're out-doing you.  Once breakfast is over, it is time to do some more relaxing.  We will sit around for a while and plan out the day.  Usually we come up with some sort of entertainment for the kids to break up the day to avoid boredom.  Sometimes we plan putt putt golf or go cart racing, but it may just be a pick-up touch football game or volley ball.  Part of camping fun is having our group start a game and then have a bunch of other campers wander over and get involved.  Once the entertainment is done, it is time for some more relaxing.  Usually we do small lunches (a sandwich) because we were so stuffed from breakfast and anticipate a kick-butt dinner.  Beer time while camping is anytime after noon (Bloody Mary's start at breakfast for some people).  The girls usually mix up some sort of fruity cocktails but I pretty much stick with beer.  Dinner may include any of the following: steak, chops, burgers, dogs, brats, chicken, kabobs, etc.  While camping, dinner is an event.  It can't just be a quickie thing, everyone gets involved with some sort of cooking task.  From start cooking time to clean up time, it is a couple hour process.  I love fires.  I love building it, starting it, and watching it.  Fire puts me in a totally relaxed trance (or maybe it is all the beer).  Sitting around the camp fire with family and friends is really what camping is all about.  No worries.  Of course, everything I have written so far is the ideal camping day for me, but what would camping be without RAIN!  Yea, it usually rains quite a bit when we camp.  We drained Lake Delton (Wisconsin Dells) a few years ago.  I am notorious for being the rain god of camping.  Campgrounds should pay me to stay away.  Rain at first glance really stinks while camping, but in reality it creates the most memories.  Nobody remembers the perfect weather days, but we will talk about walking in ankle high water around our camper for years to come.  Wicked storms while camping turn into fun times (several years later, of course).  Attitude is everything while camping.  Enjoy whatever is thrown your way.  You'll be dirty, wet, & smelly, but so is everyone else....embrace it.

Where's My Holiday State Tax Bailout Refund?

Holidays are my weakness.  The Memorial Day holiday came and went leaving me with a little less spending money.  It is WAY to easy to spend money on these long weekends.  I just get so far away from my normal day-to-day process that I seem
to spend money everywhere.  Between the graduation gifts, alcoholic drinks, camping fees, and kick butt food for the grill, the cash disappears pretty quickly.  I guess I need to budget in a "holiday fund".  As I came out of the three day weekend, I felt  fat, hungover, and broke.  I did have a lot of fun, however!  When it all comes down to it, holidays are meant to get together with family & good friends -have fun & create some memories.  I guess you can't put a price on memories.  Lets see, if I save two dollars a day until the Fourth of July, my holiday fund will have $64............