The smartest investment I ever made was buying the Rock Band bundle for the Wii. My family plays every day and we have Rock Band parties on the weekends with friends. That game has brought my family closer together.
Great article Nora. Thanks for taking the time to break down the expenses, interest rates and different strategies. Consumers need more step by step plans to eliminate debt.
I don't believe in paying anymore than I have to for anything so the clearance rack is always my first stop.
Hubby & I have been watching our next door neighbors put in a large in-ground pool in their back yard here in Ohio this summer. We think this is a prime example of aspirational spending. They have 3 kids, but the oldest just left for college. We wonder how much use the pool will really see during the summer (May-August). Besides the cost of the pool chemicals, there is the cost of running the filter. We wonder if they also considered the cost of hosting impromptu parties for their friends who drop by on hot days to take a swim.
They don't own a pool...the pool owns them.
I just want to clarify that as a starting point I was encouraging people to "fix" their minimum payments on the amount due this month as opposed to paying the minimum required by the credit card company. Assuming you take on no more debt, the credit card company's minimum will decline a little each month. To be sure, that's a bad way to go. But if you fix your payment on this month's minimum, continuing to pay that amount each month even when the actual required minimum is less, you'll really speed up the process.
For example, if you have $6,000 on a card charging 18% interest and requiring a minimum payment of 2% of the balance, paying the credit card company's declining minimum will take over 42 years to pay it off! But if you just fix your payment on this month's minimum ($120), you'll be out of debt in less than 8 years. Better to pay even more than $120, but at very least, stop going any further into debt and fix your payments.
I so wish we had followed these tips before my husband lost his job which led us down the path to foreclosure and then bankruptcy. But, hindsight... Anyway, the best thing we did was "Ditch the Debt". We haven't relied on credit in 3 years. In 3 years we have managed to pay down our remaining debt and not add to it. This has been huge and much easier than we anticipated.
All the lessons in the last couple of years have been hard-earned, but we've grown so much. As people and as a couple.
Oh and giving money away. I totally agree. It helps to put things in perspective. Giving is so rewarding. Our favorite charity is Corazon de Vida... they take care of the orphans in Baja California. We stopped donating while we were fighting foreclosure. But this post has me thinking it's time to start again. We've given money here and there for causes- disaster relief, cancer research... but nothing is in our budget. Time to put it back. - Stephanie Walker
Excellent post. We lost our business, then we lost our house. Now we are renting a home from a wonderful woman who is very laid back and easy going. Our rent is a full 1/2 of what our mortgage was. I'm ok with all of this, my husband feels like a failure at times, and can't wait to buy again.
The best advice I've received so far was to pick a career that I love and that makes me happy. It's cliche, but I finally figured out what that career was meant to be, and I'm now on the path.
I have to say after this story, after you tell your readers that it is OK or better yet, a good idea to just forget about your responsibility's I will never be reading this blog again. You committed to the bank, you told them you would pay the loan, that is not their fault but yours. We all make mistakes but that does not mean that we can just walk away. I am disgusted that someone would do something like this and then write about how good of an idea it was. You need to take responsibility for you your decision and not just leave the bank holding the bag on your bad choices. This does not even begin to describe the anger that I feel about this. I am someone who manages to pay his bill's and stick to the commitments that I make and what you have done just raises the cost for those of us to do take responsibility. I still cannot even believe that I am reading this...wow
Touching story. Definitely feel your frustration. And certainly don't blame you for being a "deadbeat", given the circumstances. Unless you REALLY own a home (no mortgage), your home owns you. And it sounds like you found out the hard way, that is the case. Best of luck moving forward.
The smartest investment that I ever made was our sleep number bed. It is amazing what a good night's sleep will do for your well being. It wake refreshed and ready to start the day makes one healthier and more productive.
Maggie, thank you for sharing your story. I hope it's a help to someone else also facing a hard situation.
Yes, social capital is so important for keeping us afloat. We're not all on our own and we need to rely on friends and neighbors who can help us muddle through.
I hope that someone else reading this facing similar problems will also look into help from local nonprofit housing organizations. HUD.gov has a searchable map to help find housing counselors who can provide foreclosure counseling and sometimes, renovation, rental, and other help.
And the NeighborWorks network at nw.org has a search window to find nonprofit agencies throughout the country.
Only a small fraction of the folks who need help get it. Because they don't realize help is out there.
Could you offer any research or evidence for that last sweeping claim that day care kids are better socialized and kids with a stay at home parent are experiencing a "detrimental" effect? I hear people claim this all the time, but I've yet to see any convincing data on it. And, of course, we all know socially adept kids who were raised by a stay at home parent and shy kids who were raised at dare care (and vice versa). I would think personality plays a huge role in this, most likely the major role.
I agree with the house comment. We are striving to pay off our house and should have it paid off 3 1/2 years after moving in. Hopefully we will be mortgage free for the rest of my life.
My husband and I discussed this 19 years ago. I quit my job and have enjoyed raising my children. The day we decided, I gave all my concerns to God and asked Him to
take care of us. He has. At times it was difficult, but we managed.
My resolve also was to not be a housewife, but be my children's primary teacher.
I worked with them in all aspects of their education, never relying on their teachers.
I am very thankful to God and my husband to be able to have been an at home mom and raise wonderful children.
I had Magic Jack for 2 years and unless you are somewhat technically inclined forget it. My problem with them is that I starting talking to my divorcing brother everyday for at least an hour. Then today they closed my account and kept (stole) any remaining prepaid months. Their lame excuse even though they advertise unlimited hours is that I violated the terms and agreement. When their sub-par on-line customer support could not give a specific reason I read these terms.
In short if you in THEIR EYES use too much time daily in the course of the month they will close your account and the terms are written that they can keep your money(remaining prepaid time).
SO WITHOUT ANY WARNING THEY UP AND CLOSED IT. AVOID THEM - ESPECIALLY IF YOU PLAN ON TALKING TOO MUCH. ALSO IF YOU TALK MORE THAN ABOUT AN HOUR THEIR SYSTEM WILL CUT OFF THE CALL.
Smartest financial investment? Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace course. Without it, I would likely still be paying off 30k in student loans and not substantially contributing toward my retirement. Being able say I'm debt free in my 20s with a family is an amazing return unto itself.
The smartest investment I ever made was buying the Rock Band bundle for the Wii. My family plays every day and we have Rock Band parties on the weekends with friends. That game has brought my family closer together.
Great article Nora. Thanks for taking the time to break down the expenses, interest rates and different strategies. Consumers need more step by step plans to eliminate debt.
I don't believe in paying anymore than I have to for anything so the clearance rack is always my first stop.
Hello, is it possible to buy a print of this photo by Ken S. Brown?
Hubby & I have been watching our next door neighbors put in a large in-ground pool in their back yard here in Ohio this summer. We think this is a prime example of aspirational spending. They have 3 kids, but the oldest just left for college. We wonder how much use the pool will really see during the summer (May-August). Besides the cost of the pool chemicals, there is the cost of running the filter. We wonder if they also considered the cost of hosting impromptu parties for their friends who drop by on hot days to take a swim.
They don't own a pool...the pool owns them.
I just want to clarify that as a starting point I was encouraging people to "fix" their minimum payments on the amount due this month as opposed to paying the minimum required by the credit card company. Assuming you take on no more debt, the credit card company's minimum will decline a little each month. To be sure, that's a bad way to go. But if you fix your payment on this month's minimum, continuing to pay that amount each month even when the actual required minimum is less, you'll really speed up the process.
For example, if you have $6,000 on a card charging 18% interest and requiring a minimum payment of 2% of the balance, paying the credit card company's declining minimum will take over 42 years to pay it off! But if you just fix your payment on this month's minimum ($120), you'll be out of debt in less than 8 years. Better to pay even more than $120, but at very least, stop going any further into debt and fix your payments.
I so wish we had followed these tips before my husband lost his job which led us down the path to foreclosure and then bankruptcy. But, hindsight... Anyway, the best thing we did was "Ditch the Debt". We haven't relied on credit in 3 years. In 3 years we have managed to pay down our remaining debt and not add to it. This has been huge and much easier than we anticipated.
All the lessons in the last couple of years have been hard-earned, but we've grown so much. As people and as a couple.
Oh and giving money away. I totally agree. It helps to put things in perspective. Giving is so rewarding. Our favorite charity is Corazon de Vida... they take care of the orphans in Baja California. We stopped donating while we were fighting foreclosure. But this post has me thinking it's time to start again. We've given money here and there for causes- disaster relief, cancer research... but nothing is in our budget. Time to put it back. - Stephanie Walker
Excellent post. We lost our business, then we lost our house. Now we are renting a home from a wonderful woman who is very laid back and easy going. Our rent is a full 1/2 of what our mortgage was. I'm ok with all of this, my husband feels like a failure at times, and can't wait to buy again.
The best advice I've received so far was to pick a career that I love and that makes me happy. It's cliche, but I finally figured out what that career was meant to be, and I'm now on the path.
Maggie:
Thanks for sharing your sad tale. I was happy to read the silver lining and about your upbeat approach.
Shlomo
I have to say after this story, after you tell your readers that it is OK or better yet, a good idea to just forget about your responsibility's I will never be reading this blog again. You committed to the bank, you told them you would pay the loan, that is not their fault but yours. We all make mistakes but that does not mean that we can just walk away. I am disgusted that someone would do something like this and then write about how good of an idea it was. You need to take responsibility for you your decision and not just leave the bank holding the bag on your bad choices. This does not even begin to describe the anger that I feel about this. I am someone who manages to pay his bill's and stick to the commitments that I make and what you have done just raises the cost for those of us to do take responsibility. I still cannot even believe that I am reading this...wow
Touching story. Definitely feel your frustration. And certainly don't blame you for being a "deadbeat", given the circumstances. Unless you REALLY own a home (no mortgage), your home owns you. And it sounds like you found out the hard way, that is the case. Best of luck moving forward.
Guest
When you ferment from sugar, you don't have enough methanol to worry about. Less then you get as you drink wine or beer.
Put your raise in the 401k plan.
The smartest investment that I ever made was our sleep number bed. It is amazing what a good night's sleep will do for your well being. It wake refreshed and ready to start the day makes one healthier and more productive.
Maggie, thank you for sharing your story. I hope it's a help to someone else also facing a hard situation.
Yes, social capital is so important for keeping us afloat. We're not all on our own and we need to rely on friends and neighbors who can help us muddle through.
I hope that someone else reading this facing similar problems will also look into help from local nonprofit housing organizations. HUD.gov has a searchable map to help find housing counselors who can provide foreclosure counseling and sometimes, renovation, rental, and other help.
And the NeighborWorks network at nw.org has a search window to find nonprofit agencies throughout the country.
Only a small fraction of the folks who need help get it. Because they don't realize help is out there.
I hope you and your family enjoy your new home.
The smartest investment was a laptop, so I could compute on the go. Every where I go it goes too!
I was told and it was demonstrated every day by my parents that if something is worth doing, then it's worth doing right.
Could you offer any research or evidence for that last sweeping claim that day care kids are better socialized and kids with a stay at home parent are experiencing a "detrimental" effect? I hear people claim this all the time, but I've yet to see any convincing data on it. And, of course, we all know socially adept kids who were raised by a stay at home parent and shy kids who were raised at dare care (and vice versa). I would think personality plays a huge role in this, most likely the major role.
I agree with the house comment. We are striving to pay off our house and should have it paid off 3 1/2 years after moving in. Hopefully we will be mortgage free for the rest of my life.
My husband and I discussed this 19 years ago. I quit my job and have enjoyed raising my children. The day we decided, I gave all my concerns to God and asked Him to
take care of us. He has. At times it was difficult, but we managed.
My resolve also was to not be a housewife, but be my children's primary teacher.
I worked with them in all aspects of their education, never relying on their teachers.
I am very thankful to God and my husband to be able to have been an at home mom and raise wonderful children.
Paying for our toddler education. Research shows that kids who attend pre-school do better in life than those who did not attend pre-school.
Never hit "Reply All" when you want to point out how wrong the boss is.
I had Magic Jack for 2 years and unless you are somewhat technically inclined forget it. My problem with them is that I starting talking to my divorcing brother everyday for at least an hour. Then today they closed my account and kept (stole) any remaining prepaid months. Their lame excuse even though they advertise unlimited hours is that I violated the terms and agreement. When their sub-par on-line customer support could not give a specific reason I read these terms.
In short if you in THEIR EYES use too much time daily in the course of the month they will close your account and the terms are written that they can keep your money(remaining prepaid time).
SO WITHOUT ANY WARNING THEY UP AND CLOSED IT. AVOID THEM - ESPECIALLY IF YOU PLAN ON TALKING TOO MUCH. ALSO IF YOU TALK MORE THAN ABOUT AN HOUR THEIR SYSTEM WILL CUT OFF THE CALL.
The best investment I ever made was a simple typing class in high school. I could not imagine doing what I do without that simple skill.
Smartest financial investment? Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace course. Without it, I would likely still be paying off 30k in student loans and not substantially contributing toward my retirement. Being able say I'm debt free in my 20s with a family is an amazing return unto itself.