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Get Out Of Debt – One-Page Summary Of Our Process
It’s been a minutes since I last wrote about debt reduction – so I thought I would write out a simple, one-page summary of the steps that my wife and I have taken to eliminate our debt.
1. We established a small emergency fund. We started with $1000 in cash – and our fund fluctuated between $800 and $2000 during our debt reduction process.
2. We created a (and followed) a zero-based budget. We “spent” our paychecks, on paper, at the beginning of each month, so that we would know where our money was going to go.
3. We listed our creditors and associated debts, by amount, smallest to largest. (Another option, used by many, is to list debts by interest rates, largest to smallest. Whatever works, works. We liked the idea of paying off smaller debts first, to see some progress, and this worked for us.)
A Day Organizing Documents
2015 has been an incredibly busy year around the old NCN household. Honestly, I’ve slacked off a bit with my bookkeeping and document organization – so I took a few hours today to clean things up and get things tidy. I am now much better prepared for next year.
First, I sorted, organized, paid, and filed this year’s remaining bills. I am finished with 2015 – and ready for 2016.
Second, I sorted and organized our tax documents for 2015. Many more will arrive over the next month – so I wanted to be ready. Receipts and other tax-related items are nice and neat, and we should be ready to file our taxes in February.
Third, I took an hour or so to organize other business-related documents. My house serves as my main office – for both my regular job and my online ventures – so its important that things be neat and organized.
How I Find Free, Inexpensive, And Cheap Tools
Tools for DIY projects can get expensive. Over the years, I’ve managed to accumulate a pretty decent set of hand tools and power tools – most at discount prices, and some for free. Here’s how –
I shop the discounted / returned items section at “big box” stores. I purchased a gasoline-powered pressure washer for 50% off retail a few years ago. The original buyer couldn’t figure out how to connect the soap dispensing feature – so they returned it to the store. I bought it, fixed the soap dispenser, and it still works great!
I shop at pawn shops. We have several pawn shops in our area – and most have a big bin, loaded with very inexpensive hand tools, drill bits, etc.
Paying Off Our Mortgage – Update With Chart September 2015
It’s time for a new chart! We are working to pay off our fixed-rate, conventional, fifteen-year mortgage. Our goal is to pay it off in less than 10 years.
I use a simple pie-chart to track our progress – and post our updates here at No Credit Needed.
Having a visualization keeps us motivated!
Here’s a chart with details for our current progress –
The percentages above represent the amount of our mortgage we have paid – 32.83% – and the amount we still owe – 67.17%.
Each month, we make our scheduled mortgage payment, plus an additional principal-only payment.
Some months, we make more than one principal-only payment!
This chart doesn’t represent our entire equity – It represents that amount we still owe on our mortgage.
We have reduced the length of our 15-year mortgage by 8 months!
Check back often to see how we are doing! Blessings.
A Simple DIY Way To Make Mulch
Like many folks, we have shrubbery beds surrounding our home. Today, I had a few extra hours after work, so I grabbed my favorite pruning shears and began the process of pruning our shrubs.
We have five major shrubbery beds – one for each side of the house and one that encircles a stand of oaks. Over the years, I’ve used various material for mulching the beds – pines straw, fallen leaves, and bagged cypress mulch.
Over time, whatever mulch is used will compact, disintegrate, and discolor. So, instead of going out an purchasing some sort of mulch (or raking the neighbor’s yard for pine straw) – I decided to try something a little different.
Paying Off Our Mortgage – Update With Chart May 2015
Whew! We have had a busy few months – but I’m back with an update on our progress to payoff our mortgage. For those new to the site –
We have a fixed, conventional, fifteen-year mortgage. Our goal is to pay it off in less than 10 years. Our progress for the first five years was decent – and we managed to reduce the length of our mortgage by 7 months!
I use a simple pie-chart to track our progress – and post our updates here at No Credit Needed.
Having a visualization keeps us motivated!
Here’s a chart with details for our current progress –
The percentages above represent the amount of our mortgage we have paid – 30.74% – and the amount we still owe – 69.26%.
Each month, we make our scheduled mortgage payment, plus an additional principal-only payment.
Some months, we make more than one principal-only payment!
Paying Off Our Mortgage – Update With Chart March 2015
It’s time for an update on our progress to payoff our mortgage – early. Our progress chart is below, but first, a few words about our mortgage.
We have a fixed, conventional, fifteen-year mortgage. Our goal is to pay it off in less than 10 years. Our progress for the first five years was decent – and we managed to reduce the length of our mortgage by 7 months! However, that’s much slower than we initially planned. So, over the past few months, we have stepped up our game – and we are aiming to payoff the entire remaining amount over the next five years.
I use a simple pie-chart to track our progress. Having a visualization keeps us motivated and excited about the progress we are making.
Here’s a chart with details for our current progress –
The percentages above represent the amount of our mortgage we have paid – 29.66% – and the amount we still owe – 70.34%.
Paying Off Our Mortgage – Update With Chart March 2015
It’s time for an update on our progress to payoff our mortgage – early. Our progress chart is below, but first, a few words about our mortgage.
We have a fixed, conventional, fifteen-year mortgage. Our goal is to pay it off in less than 10 years. Our progress for the first five years was decent – and we managed to reduce the length of our mortgage by 7 months! However, that’s much slower than we initially planned. So, over the past few months, we have stepped up our game – and we are aiming to payoff the entire remaining amount over the next five years.
I use a simple pie-chart to track our progress. Having a visualization keeps us motivated and excited about the progress we are making.
Here’s a chart with details for our current progress –
The percentages above represent the amount of our mortgage we have paid – 29.66% – and the amount we still owe – 70.34%.
DIY Projects – Fixing Stuff Around The House
Over the past several weeks, I’ve spent my evenings and weekends working on various projects around the house:
I replaced our dishwasher. Our house is ten years old. We have lived in it for five of those years. Several months ago, our dishwasher stopped working properly. I repaired it twice – changing out its pump and replacing the drain hose – but two weeks ago – it just died. So, we purchased a newer, more energy efficient dishwasher. We love the new one! It’s much quieter and does a MUCH better job of washing the dishes. This was a bit of a budget hit – thank goodness for the emergency fund!
5 Years In Our New House – Mortgage Update!
I was reminded by my son: As of today, we have lived in our new house for 5 years. So, it’s time for a mortgage update – with handy-dandy chart!
When my wife and I financed the purchase of our new home five years ago, our goal was to pay it off in less than ten years. We have a fixed, conventional, fifteen-year mortgage.
I use a simple pie-chart to track our progress. Having a visualization keeps us motivated and excited about the progress we are making.
We purchased our home in February of 2010. Hopefully, we’ll pay it off in less than 10 years – which is our stretch goal – but as of right now, we have shaved 7 months off of the length of the loan. Our progress was slowed, just a bit, when I changed jobs, but we are back – on-track – making principal-only payments on a regular basis.
Here’s a chart with details for our current progress –
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