Lulu's Fifth
Hello! Do I have anything really interesting to say? Not really. However, I want to write something because I don't want my dear readers to get bored and give up on this story. So I'll let you in on some finance stuff.
In case you're wondering why we'll be here for at least another year, it's because we want to get out of debt while we still have reliable income. I'm going to give you numbers so you can see what we're up against here:
School loan (mine) = $19,000 That's the pay-off; I've spent the last seven years paying the interest. Kevin, who is now two classes shy of a degree, has no school loan because his parents paid for his schooling.
Land = $5,100 That's right--just $5,100 separates us from what is still, technically, owned by the bank and what's truly ours, in the capitalist sense of the word.
Credit cards = about $2,000. We've been paying these down rapidly. Two years ago, that figure stood at less than $500, but then I switched careers, and chose a commission-only career, and we racked up debt because I made no money. I also had to cash out one of my two 401K's to pay the mortgage--something that I know better than to do--and we were penalized for it. Bummer.
Personal loans = $16,000!! That was a shocker. We owe Kevin's parents more than half of that, because they loaned us money to help get the land and "consolidate" our credit card debts, and we haven't made any payments to them in nearly 3 years. They're charging us interest, too, though it's a fraction of what those lousy credit card companies charge. The rest goes to my dad, who had to help us with the mortgage during our beans and rice year (before I got my job here at Major McPublisher).
So that's just over $43,000 worth of debt. How does that happen? That seems outrageous when you look at what we don't have--we don't have car payments (and the only reason we have a fancy car is because my parents-in-law gave us a fancy car), we don't have furniture or big-time electronics (our tv is missing buttons and is losing its vertical hold), we don't have expensive clothes, we don't take lavish vacations (we've only taken 2 vacations in over 5 years--both to places where we could stay for free), we don't go out a lot.
I had to take out loans to go to school, and I worked every quarter except one. There is no way that I could've saved the money for college while working one of those just-above-minimum wage jobs so prevalent among twenty-somethings while trying to make rent. Believe me, I've always worked, and I've never lived lavishly.
Kevin and I don't keep a budget because there isn't that much extra money to spend. Once we pay the mortgage ($1,260 a month!), the bills, gas, daycare--there just isn't a lot left. We both treat ourselves to certain things--I spend too much on quilt fabric and Kevin eats out almost everyday and spends money on sodas from gas stations--and cutting back on those things will save some money but not enough to pay things off quickly enough. Still, those little luxuries are the first to go. I've already cut up my credit cards (goodbye online quilt stores!) and Kevin is chopping his up tonight if he hasn't already.
The good news is that we have some savings which we've decided to spend and a big payoff coming from our lucrative part-time decorating/building gig (which is ongoing, we hope and pray) and will be able to pay off the land and our credit cards, and put a small down payment on our house, within the next few months. That leaves us with $16,000 in personal loans, the $19,000 in school loans, and an inevitable truck payment because Kev's truck has seen better days--like the early nineties when it was built.
The school loan doesn't bother me so much since it's pretty much all principal now and I don't mind hauling it around. Which means that we have to pay off $16,000 and maybe $10,000-15,000 worth of good truck before we go anywhere. I will not reveal my salary, but that's in the neighborhood of what I make in a year so it will be interesting to see just how we're going to manage to pay it off.
Then, after that, we have to save enough to put in a pond with some sort of pump for garden water and firehoses, put in a well, and build a rudimentary but livable structure at Hot Waffles. So we're going to attempt to pay off/save about $50,000 in a year! Holy guacamole, it's worse than I thought! But I do love a challenge.
Tune in next time!
In case you're wondering why we'll be here for at least another year, it's because we want to get out of debt while we still have reliable income. I'm going to give you numbers so you can see what we're up against here:
School loan (mine) = $19,000 That's the pay-off; I've spent the last seven years paying the interest. Kevin, who is now two classes shy of a degree, has no school loan because his parents paid for his schooling.
Land = $5,100 That's right--just $5,100 separates us from what is still, technically, owned by the bank and what's truly ours, in the capitalist sense of the word.
Credit cards = about $2,000. We've been paying these down rapidly. Two years ago, that figure stood at less than $500, but then I switched careers, and chose a commission-only career, and we racked up debt because I made no money. I also had to cash out one of my two 401K's to pay the mortgage--something that I know better than to do--and we were penalized for it. Bummer.
Personal loans = $16,000!! That was a shocker. We owe Kevin's parents more than half of that, because they loaned us money to help get the land and "consolidate" our credit card debts, and we haven't made any payments to them in nearly 3 years. They're charging us interest, too, though it's a fraction of what those lousy credit card companies charge. The rest goes to my dad, who had to help us with the mortgage during our beans and rice year (before I got my job here at Major McPublisher).
So that's just over $43,000 worth of debt. How does that happen? That seems outrageous when you look at what we don't have--we don't have car payments (and the only reason we have a fancy car is because my parents-in-law gave us a fancy car), we don't have furniture or big-time electronics (our tv is missing buttons and is losing its vertical hold), we don't have expensive clothes, we don't take lavish vacations (we've only taken 2 vacations in over 5 years--both to places where we could stay for free), we don't go out a lot.
I had to take out loans to go to school, and I worked every quarter except one. There is no way that I could've saved the money for college while working one of those just-above-minimum wage jobs so prevalent among twenty-somethings while trying to make rent. Believe me, I've always worked, and I've never lived lavishly.
Kevin and I don't keep a budget because there isn't that much extra money to spend. Once we pay the mortgage ($1,260 a month!), the bills, gas, daycare--there just isn't a lot left. We both treat ourselves to certain things--I spend too much on quilt fabric and Kevin eats out almost everyday and spends money on sodas from gas stations--and cutting back on those things will save some money but not enough to pay things off quickly enough. Still, those little luxuries are the first to go. I've already cut up my credit cards (goodbye online quilt stores!) and Kevin is chopping his up tonight if he hasn't already.
The good news is that we have some savings which we've decided to spend and a big payoff coming from our lucrative part-time decorating/building gig (which is ongoing, we hope and pray) and will be able to pay off the land and our credit cards, and put a small down payment on our house, within the next few months. That leaves us with $16,000 in personal loans, the $19,000 in school loans, and an inevitable truck payment because Kev's truck has seen better days--like the early nineties when it was built.
The school loan doesn't bother me so much since it's pretty much all principal now and I don't mind hauling it around. Which means that we have to pay off $16,000 and maybe $10,000-15,000 worth of good truck before we go anywhere. I will not reveal my salary, but that's in the neighborhood of what I make in a year so it will be interesting to see just how we're going to manage to pay it off.
Then, after that, we have to save enough to put in a pond with some sort of pump for garden water and firehoses, put in a well, and build a rudimentary but livable structure at Hot Waffles. So we're going to attempt to pay off/save about $50,000 in a year! Holy guacamole, it's worse than I thought! But I do love a challenge.
Tune in next time!
posted by lulu | 10:30 AM
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