The Beginning
Oct 5, 2012
So we decided with interest rates at an all time low we would refinance our home. While, by the time we finished filling out all the paper work we were floored on how much debt we had. The grand total $248,885. Holy cow we owed a ton of money on our income. Of course, we could justify the total, we have our home loan in there and student loans. We need a house and we needed our education to get good jobs. Yeah right.
We should go back a little, while maybe a lot like 14 years. At the time Minnie was a stay at home mom doing a little day care during the day and Mickey was working for the Federal Government. Life was good, yes we lived tight but we were doing ok. We had 6 kids ages 18-2. We didn't do a lot of extra stuff but we did ok.
So we decided with interest rates at an all time low we would refinance our home. While, by the time we finished filling out all the paper work we were floored on how much debt we had. The grand total $248,885. Holy cow we owed a ton of money on our income. Of course, we could justify the total, we have our home loan in there and student loans. We need a house and we needed our education to get good jobs. Yeah right.
We should go back a little, while maybe a lot like 14 years. At the time Minnie was a stay at home mom doing a little day care during the day and Mickey was working for the Federal Government. Life was good, yes we lived tight but we were doing ok. We had 6 kids ages 18-2. We didn't do a lot of extra stuff but we did ok.
The Journey Begins
The hardest thing ever was sitting down with Mickey and showing him exactly where we were. While Minnie thought he should already be aware, he wasn't. The best thing that happened was sitting down showing Mickey where they were. The castle was crumbling and needed help. All credit cards were maxed and there was no savings. How did we get here? But, without both of being aware of our financial status we couldn't change anything.
We didn't get here over night and we are not about to get out of our debt over night either. UGH
We didn't get here over night and we are not about to get out of our debt over night either. UGH
Baby Steps
The first step is to write down everything we owe, that was tough. Now we need to stop spending. That really does sound easy but so hard to do. The week we decide not to spend money unless we absolutely have to our washer broke. Do we buy a new one or a used one?
Cutting Cost
The first thing we did was to shut off our cable. We now have Netflix that cost us 8.99 a month and Sirus Radio that cost 18 a month. That way we can still watch some TV and Mickey can still listen to the games of his choice without paying a ton for cable.
We couldn't get rid of our internet because our son had an online class and we also used the internet for watching movies through Hulu.
Savings _________
Cancel the insurance on Mickey cell phone. A friend had the same phone and dropped it and the company we both used would not cover the phone.
Savings $10
Insurance
Shop around,
We couldn't get rid of our internet because our son had an online class and we also used the internet for watching movies through Hulu.
Savings _________
Cancel the insurance on Mickey cell phone. A friend had the same phone and dropped it and the company we both used would not cover the phone.
Savings $10
Insurance
Shop around,