Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Finance Challenge Day 4

Toni's challenge today was to build a debt snowball. Dave Ramsey's technique which she employs, goes by order of smallest debt first because the sense of accomplishment as the debts disappear and your snowball grows keeps you motivated. Which I think is awesome for those that lose steam, but I was already going at gazelle intensity and wanted to save the most on interest that I could, so we tended to tackle the debt with the highest interest first.
We've only got our mortgage, BUT, you're in luck, I actually saved one of our spreadsheets from our debt snowball. It didn't end up working out quite this way, but you get the idea!
Date Total Debt Visa (9.00%) Hyundai (5.14%) Toyota (6.97%)
Interest


Balance Payment Balance Payment Balance Payment

September 2008 $22,644.44 $1,909.60 $755.99 $2,476.84 $246.00 $18,258.00 $438.01
$119.97
October 2008 $21,324.41 $1,162.14 $755.99 $2,240.26 $246.00 $17,922.00 $438.01
$115.24
November 2008 $19,999.65 $409.26 $409.26 $2,002.97 $592.73 $17,587.42 $438.01
$104.13
December 2008 $18,663.78

$1,416.20 $1,001.99 $17,247.58 $438.01
$101.24
January 2009 $17,325.03

$416.01 $416.01 $16,909.01 $1,023.99
$93.97
February 2009 $15,978.99



$15,978.99 $1,440.00
$77.68
March 2009 $14,616.67



$14,616.67 $1,440.00
$77.95
April 2009 $13,254.62



$13,254.62 $1,440.00
$67.63
May 2009 $11,882.26



$11,882.26 $1,440.00
$61.77
June 2009 $10,504.03



$10,504.03 $1,440.00
$51.89
July 2009 $9,115.92



$9,115.92 $1,440.00
$45.41
August 2009 $7,721.32



$7,721.32 $1,440.00
$37.16
September 2009 $6,318.48



$6,318.48 $1,440.00
$27.93
October 2009 $4,906.41



$4,906.41 $1,440.00
$20.51
November 2009 $3,486.91



$3,486.91 $1,440.00
$11.72
December 2009 $2,058.63



$2,058.63 $1,440.00
$3.66
January 2010 $622.29



$622.29 $622.29
$0.00

4 comments:

  1. I wish I had more of your organizational skills and enthusiasm! I should totally keep track better about 'all things important'. I'm doing the envelope system but 'forget' to full it every time I get paid. While I don't spend over I'd love to have that money 'to look at' in the envelopes. But's it's a good feeling not to have to pay gazillion bills every time I get paid, we still have one CC we're paying off. Few more months ... I also can't believe your grocery budget is that little!!! I have $200/wk allowance and I feel even with that I have to be super careful! How do you do it??

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  2. Hanna, I try to meal plan, not use a lot of meat and use frozen organic produce. But, I also spend about $100/mo at Costco on top of my weekly grocery money.
    I'm glad the envelope system is rewarding for you :D

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  3. I think I do a pretty decent job about meal planning. We can't go w/o meat. Zach needs that. How do you account for Damon's lunch? I think I spend about $6/day for Zach's. I should do more frozen produce. I'd love to cut the food budget, at least to $150/wk. ..Even with your Costco spending I still think you're doing an awesome job with keeping the cost down.

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  4. Yeah, Damon can't handle no meat either. I just typically use less than a recipe calls for and add more veggies/beans. As for his lunch, he is in the field all day and so packing a lunch isn't particularly feasible, especially in the summer here. We've tried a couple times and end up giving up. So he has $130mo to spend on lunch. So if you add all that up, we spend approx $600mo (or $140/wk)on groceries/damon's lunch/toiletries.

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