Dave Ramsey support thread - August 2011

[frugalcountrymom]

Well we have been on step 3 for 3yrs now we sort of already started step 4 when we first started this we never stopped putting into our retirement we just sort didn't put in as much. My husband company he works for matches him so it would have been stupid to stop I think. The earlier you start the better.

In 3 yrs we were struggling to be debt free we have had to repair a lot of things on our farm that was falling apart. We put in an $8000 roof on our cottage house where my dad lives but happy to say we paid cash for it. We fixed both our cars that needed fixing pretty badly and fixed other things around our farm.

Step 6 has already been started too, we have putting at least another payment each year into our mortgage for that last 3yrs. Our $375,000 farm which we bought at the bargain price of $160,000 we only owe $55,000 now.

Emergency keep popping up so its hard to get step 3 out of the way ;/ but we are determined this yr to push forward. The roof was the main goal, we were worried about the septic but I think we found a solution to it. With the heat in Tx so high the air conditioner been pumping hard- scared we might have 2 replace that like the aircondition guy told us so I keep trying to maintain it keep it clean.

Wish us luck this yr. Anyone that did the step 3 already let us know how your doing on it.

Thanks!

Samantha

[cody82414]

welcome Samantha!

Keep plugging away :)

[jamking75]

U r alll doing great! I like to pop into these DR threads every once in awhile since I am a true believer of "the Dave".
My DH, 3 kids & I have gone thru the steps & been debt-free for awhile now. We continue to save save, save beyond our emergency funds...that is something we will always be doing (think college, retirement). We live a bit more frugally than others (couponing, not having new cars, no fancy electronics). Now that we do have the spending money, I have to restrain myself from falling into the "I-want-it-because-everyone-else-has-it-keeping up with the Joneses" syndrome! Otherwise, it is a great feeling not "owing" anyone anything.
My hope for you all is the "debt-free scream" comes soon!

[cody82414]

U r alll doing great! I like to pop into these DR threads every once in awhile since I am a true believer of "the Dave".
My DH, 3 kids & I have gone thru the steps & been debt-free for awhile now. We continue to save save, save beyond our emergency funds...that is something we will always be doing (think college, retirement). We live a bit more frugally than others (couponing, not having new cars, no fancy electronics). Now that we do have the spending money, I have to restrain myself from falling into the "I-want-it-because-everyone-else-has-it-keeping up with the Joneses" syndrome! Otherwise, it is a great feeling not "owing" anyone anything.
My hope for you all is the "debt-free scream" comes soon!

Thank you for the encouragement

[cody82414]

end of the month encouragement for anyone who needs it.

Hang in there!!

"baby steps"

[saving-n-va]

sounds like you are moving in the right direction saving!!!

Trying. . We close on the house this week, which will actually free up some money as the mortgage etc is cheaper than our rent now. Dh was switched to days and a different office, so he will be taking the train/subway. It will cost us over $300 a month for that, but its still probably cheaper than driving and sitting in traffic for 3 hrs a day for him. We are reducing our cable bill and won't have a water bill at the new place. (well/septic).

end of the month encouragement for anyone who needs it.

Hang in there!!

"baby steps"

I should say that even though we are out of order we have several steps done.
Retirement is taken care of - but with dh's new job they contribute some so we will put in whatever the matching funds are. DH will have 3 retirements to pull from when he gets retirement age. We also have fully funded our Roth IRAs for the year.
Kids college - hurray for GI Bill! Both kids are covered.
Emergency funds - done
long term emergency fund - working on saving up 3 months to start, then will increase once I get a job.
debt free - not gonna happen for quite a while with 2 homes to pay on. And an RV that we are upside down on. At least our FL home is rented and it pays for itself for the most part.

We are going to "invest" in gardenorchard plants/trees for the next few years. We will have to take down some trees at the new place (free firewood!) but will be replacing them with fruit trees. Taking out some ugly bushes and replacing them with raspberry or blueberry bushes, and build a strawberry bed somewhere. I have 2 raised bed garden kits that will be the beginning of our garden, plus we have an actual garden area in the back of the property that already has a grapevine. The soil looks horrible, so it will need some TLC. Hopefully in a few years we will be able to have enough fruit and veggies to reduce our grocery bills even more.

Thats our goals and progress for now. The next few months will be paying off dd's wedding, Christmas, and house items (all already budgeted for!).

[Spongebear]

Im heading over to Sept. This month I incurred no new debt. The vacation that we went on end of July into Aug was all cash. Well the car rental was held on the cc, but we paid cash upon returning it.