Joe and I have been together for two years now. In the beginning of our relationship we spent our extra money somewhat frivolously. We weren't out of control and racking up even more debt but we'd go out to dinner often, we'd buy little trinkets from artsy fartsy shops or go crazy at a thrift store just because "it's so cheap!" or "OMG I loved this when I was a kid!". Personally, I'd spend a lot on clothes from thrift stores that I would never wear, simply because I could finally fit into them after a huge weight loss. I ended up donating a lot of the clothes back or shoved into the closet with intentions of selling on eBay "one day'.
Until these last few weeks I've been pretty unfamiliar with loan lingo and finances in general, I just knew that I was making my payments on time and my credit was very good. My mother taught my that credit cards were bad, but you should occasionally make a large purchase and make payments, or make small purchases and pay them back right away to establish credit. I've done that and I seem to be doing all right, but there's ALWAYS room for improvement. I want to be "smart with money" and not just a smart shopper or a little frugal. With the reading I've been doing lately I truly feel that there is hope for Joe and his loan situation.
We plan to tackle his student loans hard. Like with a meat tenderizer and then dispose of the bodies in a bathtub #BreakingBad style hard. Joe has set a goal and I'll be damned if we don't put everything we can into this to either be Balance: 0.00 by his DFD (Debt Free Day) or very, very close.
After the reading we've done, I think the Avalanche Method will serve us best for his loans. We plan to kill off his smallest loan that just happens to have high interest first, and after that, tackle all of his highest interest loans first. We'll trickle down with the money left after each loan is paid off until they're all gone forever.
While we were chatting one day we both had the idea that we can make this kind of a game. We love trying out all sorts of games, so what's another one to play? We're making a game plan and starting with smaller changes that we can do IMMEDIATELY. For instance, Joe is taking his lunch every day and in the event that he forgets it, we have cheap ass emergency Cup O' Noodles that he keeps at his desk. Theoretically there should never be a reason he needs to go buy lunch at work. For breakfasts he's a light eater and we got some Nutrigrain boxes on sale. We're considering checking out the benefits of a Costco membership Sunday. I also will be getting the mats [ingredients] for a week or so worth of sausage & egg burritos that can be frozen and grabbed on the go.
We also switched out our apartment's light bulbs to energy efficient ones. This is something we've talked about doing and have even had the bulbs but just never got around to it.
We're selling a few things to kick start our extra money pool that will be pipelined into loans. His parents have been so generous - they are allowing us to sell some of their old exercise equipment and keep the money. We're very blessed when it comes to our friends and family. We are also preparing to offer up our extra room to rent out, which should save us about $400 a month!
Anyone who has ever played a game with me knows I can be quite competitive. This is a game I know we can win and that makes very exciting. We WILL be #debtfree.
We plan to tackle his student loans hard. Like with a meat tenderizer and then dispose of the bodies in a bathtub #BreakingBad style hard. Joe has set a goal and I'll be damned if we don't put everything we can into this to either be Balance: 0.00 by his DFD (Debt Free Day) or very, very close.
After the reading we've done, I think the Avalanche Method will serve us best for his loans. We plan to kill off his smallest loan that just happens to have high interest first, and after that, tackle all of his highest interest loans first. We'll trickle down with the money left after each loan is paid off until they're all gone forever.
While we were chatting one day we both had the idea that we can make this kind of a game. We love trying out all sorts of games, so what's another one to play? We're making a game plan and starting with smaller changes that we can do IMMEDIATELY. For instance, Joe is taking his lunch every day and in the event that he forgets it, we have cheap ass emergency Cup O' Noodles that he keeps at his desk. Theoretically there should never be a reason he needs to go buy lunch at work. For breakfasts he's a light eater and we got some Nutrigrain boxes on sale. We're considering checking out the benefits of a Costco membership Sunday. I also will be getting the mats [ingredients] for a week or so worth of sausage & egg burritos that can be frozen and grabbed on the go.
We also switched out our apartment's light bulbs to energy efficient ones. This is something we've talked about doing and have even had the bulbs but just never got around to it.
We're selling a few things to kick start our extra money pool that will be pipelined into loans. His parents have been so generous - they are allowing us to sell some of their old exercise equipment and keep the money. We're very blessed when it comes to our friends and family. We are also preparing to offer up our extra room to rent out, which should save us about $400 a month!
Anyone who has ever played a game with me knows I can be quite competitive. This is a game I know we can win and that makes very exciting. We WILL be #debtfree.
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