My 1998 Subaru died (she was all paid for I wanted to ride her longer than 10 years though). May she rest in peace,she had almost 200,000. Her last days consisted of a some break downs, and constant tests only to find out that she had engine problems, needed a new power steering pump, a cracked wheel bearing and needed a hub replacement. The engine problems alone would have set me back more than the car was worth. So I got a new car (new to me). And he is a beauty. Probably not the best financial decision, some would argue that I should have gotten something to just past the time but I chose not to and honestly I am prepared to pay for it, I love my car. I am 24 soon to be 25, I try my best not to spend my money recklessly (no constant shoe shopping, or fancy things all of that can come later). I am still paying off credit card debt from college (not from junk but actually textbooks $500 a semester for 4 years, my father and stepmother were supposed to pay it and never did, typical). I worked in college to help myself pay for college, my parents income was too high to get any "free money" and the school wouldn't my first two years even let me loan it 100% plus my parents did not give me a dime. My work money paid for meals and housing. But now, I am a homeowner who pays all my bills on time, I try my best to snowflake any extra cash and I am in the process of picking up a part time job so I can really tackle my credit cards and eventually the car. But oh well, I feel like when I post I am trying to prove myself, to myself. Who knows.
Here is Ivan!!!!! 
Debt reduction plan: I plan to apply an extra $650.00 a month to debt repayment for the next 9 months. If I get a part time I can do this without eating strictly Ramen noodles and maybe even increase the amount. This amount includes minimum payments. I should be done with all credit cards by January 2009. OHHHHH and I have begun to had $50 a month to my emergency fund. I hope to increase to $100 once I get a check with my changed federal and state withholdings.
THANKS FOR READING MY BLOG
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
A Quickie Update!!
Posted by Its No Joke, I'm So Broke at 4:18 PM
Labels: debt reduction, debt repayment, new car
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3 Comments:
I know you're very eager to get out of debt, just curious in how you're going about doing it. One thing I have discovered is how good it is to have an emergency fund. Let's face it, it will rain eventually, and you need an umbrella. Your old car died and you got a 'new' one now. That smells like an emergency. I noticed you didn't include any numbers on this car either.
Your parents didn't pay for college for you and their income was high, sounds like my situation. I hate student loans but credit cards are worse as I have found out later. I'm still paying for stuff from college years later. While my scholarships and grants only picked up part of my costs, I've still got student loans to deal with. My wife also has plenty of student loan debt to tackle too. It happens but now it's time to face the music.
My only issue with your debt reduction plans is you're focusing on just the debt. Your emergency fund only being funded $50-100 a month could be a problem. Over a 9 month period, what if you have to use it before then? I know it sucks to think putting $700 in the EF won't lower your debt, but having a small 1k EF is better than having like $200 bucks looking at an $800 unforeseen expense. It's up to you how you want to do it and only you can make the best choice for your situation. Take it from me, build the EF then tackle debt. I enjoy reading your blog and you're welcome.
Hey Jim, I surely understand what you are saying. I have had nearly sufficient emergency funds before but they get depleted so quickly (repeated emergencies for a period of time) however, I forgot to add that I plan to use my economic stimulus check as the base for my emergency fund ($600, projected May 2) so my $100 a month will add to that. If I get one of the two part time jobs I am interviewing for tomorrow then that money will also go to help boost the emergency fund. I know most people say emergency fund now debt later, I will like to tackle both at once. And about the old car, the emergency funds that I had would not have been enough to repair it, over a thousand bucks. I know I leave a lot out on this blog, as far as the numbers go, I guess you can say I am still shy about that and I also do not post enough. I will try my best in the future to give some more detailed information.
Thanks,
ItsNoJoke
No one commented on "Ivan"? Ok, I will. You were right. Probably a bad move. Ok, definitely a bad move. Who are you trying to impress with that car? IMO, you should've gotten something to get you by for a year or two until you had the EF built up and the debt eliminated. It had to be said, but you knew that already. Still, congratulations and good luck kicking the debt to the curb!
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