The Debt Offensive

I think I'm gonna cry.

2008-10-05T18:24:00.000-07:00

We sat down to budget this month's income today and I feel completely deflated.

Dusting this blog off

2008-10-05T07:58:00.000-07:00

Hello, Seriousgirl (SG) here. It's been a long time since Seriousboy (SB) posted but not much has happened since. There has been no significant debt reduction (or waist reduction for that matter). HOWEVER, we've decided to tackle this debt head-on. We'll be outlining our plan soon, but for now take a look over to the right where you'll be able to keep track of our progress.

Bottom Line: I don't make NEARLY enough to cover us

2008-05-10T19:18:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I'm almost on top of the heap of financial info here and I'm surveying the land. You can see my Networth thingy to the right, and we're not in such hot shape.

Almost the entire negative sum is taken up by student loan debt. Some higher-interest CC and car payment is in there, but our student loans total $110k - and I've been out of school now for 10 years, my wife for nearly 4.

I'd like to pay all this bad debt off in 5 years. To do this, I'll need to make A LOT MORE MONEY. We don't have a lot of trimming that can be done off our budget--we're pretty lean there. As it is, with her student loans still in deferment, we're short on our bills by $700 a month. Adding her loan payment in there makes us a little over $900 short starting in July. If I want to be debt-free (except our mortgage) in 5 years, I'll need another $2400 after taxes every single month for 5 years.

Can it be done? Yes?

Gettin' it together...

2008-04-14T19:30:00.000-07:00

Actually got up a half-hour earlier today and went for a 30-minute walk. Wait. Did I mention that in addition to 'getting it together' financially, I'm also hoping to lose 50 pounds or so? Well, I am.

I'm still getting my stuff together, hoping to post debt info on Wednesday night.

Here goes...

2008-04-12T20:22:00.000-07:00

Alright, I'm jumping in to "blog away my debt". I don't know where to start exactly, but since it is late right now, I'll be brief. I'll fill in the details later.

For right now: I am married, and together my wife and I have a "moderate" amount of credit card debt (less than $10,000), a car payment, a mortgage, and a large, ominous black cloud of student loan debt (combined, approximately $100,000). All told, that debt adds up to approximately $215,000. I work full-time making a little over $40k, my wife stays at home with our toddler son and soon-to-be baby girl.

My goals at the start of this process are to:

1. Create a budget and stick to it

2. Start saving money for emergencies, etc.

3. Eliminate our credit card debt

4. Pay off our car

5. Pay off our student loans

Ok, time to start getting serious about this stuff... tomorrow, I'll detail our debts.