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Reply With Quotepaid off the medical on the credit card - so that balance is zero again
just the truck and mortgage left now.
On to Baby 1 - getting the emergency fund back in order
Unsure how/if Christmas gifts are going to happen this year
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Dave Ramsey support thread - November 2011 We are here to support each other now while we live like no one else, so that in the future we can live like no one else.
The Baby Steps:
Pre-Step 1: Get current on your debts and do a budget
Before you begin the baby steps, you must be current on your bills and, if you aren't doing one already, begin doing a monthly budget.
Baby Step 1: Save $1000 cash in the bank
Start your emergency fund. If your income is less than $20,000, make that $500.
Baby Step 2: Get out of debt
With Gazelle intensity and using the debt snowball, pay off all your debts.
Baby Step 3: Finish the emergency fund
With the money you were paying towards debt, now with no debts, you can save 3-6 months of expenses into a fully funded emergency fund.
Baby Step 4: Save for retirement
Saving 15% of your income didn't seem possible before, But with no payments, you'll be ready for retirement and not have to take a job as a Wal-Mart greeter.
Baby Step 5: Save for College
Instead of taking out student loans, your kids will be eternally grateful you thought ahead and had a plan for their higher education.
Baby Step 6: Pay off the house
Baby Step 7: Build Wealth and Give It Away
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Expanded Baby Steps:
0.1 Commit to NEVER borrow $$$ EVER for ANYTHING other than possibly a house
0.2 Talk with spouse and get him/her on the same page as you concerning finances
0.3 Do a written budget
0.4 Temporarily stop all retirement contributions
0.5 Get current on the basics (You MUST have Food, Utilities, Shelter, Basic Transportation)
0.6 Amputate "toys" (bikes, boats, ATV's etc) if they will keep you from completing the snowball within 12 months
0.7 Cut lifestyle (Cut CATV, Cellphone, Regular phone "extras", Internet, Eating out, etc) and/or take a second job if $1000 EF will take more than 30-90 days. (depending on income)
0.8 Get current on ALL bills.
1.0 Save $1000 in Baby Emergency Fund (EF)
1.1 Chop up CC's. (You have an EF now, no NEED to keep those CC's!!!)
1.2 Get Health Insurance NOW (chances of getting sick w/major medical bills are larger than that of death), especially if you have children.
1.3 Get Life Insurance NOW if you have debt/your family couldn't make it financially if you died. Especially important if you have children! Social Insecurity only provides a small amount of coverage if you have dependents.
1.4 Amputate cars that you can't pay off within 24 months (you have an EF to fix "bondo buggy" if something should happen)
1.5 Consider raising insurance deductables to $500 or $1000 and dropping full coverage on paid for "bondo buggy" (you have an EF ya know)
1.6 Draw up a will.
1.7 Get Long-Term Disability Insurance.
2.0 Do debt snowball, paying all your debts from lowest BALANCE to highest.
2.1 You can take your first vacation since finding Dave if you can pay cash for it. (no using the EF!!!)
3.0 Save 3-6 months EXPENSES in EF (FFEF)
3.1 Start replacement car fund.
3.2 Save up 20% for home purchase OR pay down existing mortgage to the point you can drop PMI.
3.3 Start furniture or other non-essential stuff replacement fund.
3.4 Move up in car if you still feel the need to (must pay cash for it!, you can only buy NEW if you have a net worth over a million dollars)
4.0 Start contributing 15% of your paycheck to retirement.
5.0 Save for kids college fund.
6.0 Pay off the house early.
7.0 Live like no one else since you have lived like no one else! Give, Build Wealth and Have Fun!
Here's a link to some of dave's budgeting forms - check them out if you need a place to start with creating a written "zero based" budget.
http://beta.daveramsey.com/tools/budgetForms
"What can you do when you have no payments? Anything you want!" - Dave Ramsey
Re: Dave Ramsey support thread - November 2011 paid off the medical on the credit card - so that balance is zero again
just the truck and mortgage left now.
On to Baby 1 - getting the emergency fund back in order
Unsure how/if Christmas gifts are going to happen this year
Re: Dave Ramsey support thread - November 2011 Great job on getting that medical paid!!!!!Originally Posted by cody82414
paid off the medical on the credit card - so that balance is zero again
just the truck and mortgage left now.
On to Baby 1 - getting the emergency fund back in order
Unsure how/if Christmas gifts are going to happen this year
Christmas gifts - how does your family do that - do you buy for everyone or do you draw names and buy for 1 person? Course I know you have kids.
Do they have grandparents that buy them alot? I'm not sure why my dd spends so much on her kids when they get so much from 3 sets of grandparents.
Could you buy one thing for each child and then make them their favorite goodies?
That's the way to do it!!Still hereand still plugging away at BS2.
I'm still stuck on prestep 1) I've already calculated it into November's budget. I am expecting another payment on my last accident with the raquetball court from Aflac - should be at least $35 and I'm hoping more since the followup Dr told me what was really wrong with my shoulder. No Thanks to the stupid ER and now I have that bill -
Re: Dave Ramsey support thread - November 2011
Keep at it everyone. They call them baby steps for a reason. You gotta take it one day at a time and one baby step at a time.
I'd love to be posting updates alone with you but I can't get DH on the same page with me right now. Our only debts are the truck (1yrish left on that loan but it's no interest financing) and the mortgage. Our mini emergency fund is there and currently DH has more money in savings but I won't call that an emergency fund since he isn't likely to leave it there for emergencies.
We did not cut up our credit cards but they are paid in full at the end of every month. We only use one and it is for online purchases and some of our monthly bills get put on there to rack up reward points. But we have NEVER carried a balance so I'm not worried about getting into that trap.
DH wants to refinance our home loan to a no fee mortgage. There are no closing costs, lower interest rate and we would be reducing the length of the loan. Our payment would go up but only a couple hundred a month which we can handle and it would reduce the length of the loan by about 6 years.
Re: Dave Ramsey support thread - November 2011 Same here! Things are looking up for us!!God is doing great things over this way!
I am hoping that you all are doing just as well
Re: Dave Ramsey support thread - November 2011 I'm glad things are going well Cody and Dengineer!!!! We have had a few hiccups this month but God provides and we are still plugging away.
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