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The 12/12/12 project!

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58K views 809 replies 76 participants last post by  Ponderer 
#1 ·
They say imitation is the greatest form of flattery...

so The 12/12/12 project is officially up and running!!!

As of now my goal is to have all of my consumer credit and debt paid off by 12/12/12.

For me this translates into paying off what currently stands at $13,401.85 of debt, from 2 credit cards and 2 loans.

I am hoping for some company along the way so to one and all (whatever your goal may be)....jump on in and let's do this together!!!!

:welcome:
 
#2 ·
Go ponderer! Having a goal like 11/11/11 this year has really helped me focus on paying down the debt. Didn't quite make it and am now aiming for 31 December but it finally feels so close. I can't wait to post in the Success thread !
 
#3 ·
Have been away from FV for a long time and I am ready to be back here regularly. I have missed it! The 12/12/12 project is just the motivation and accountability I need. I will set a goal of paying off the next 3 cc on the list at least by the goal date. I am just finishing FPU. I am ready to get started on this new goal!!! Look forward to the encouragement and motivation here!
 
#4 ·
Yay...hello to all!!

mango you helped me so very much with your 11/11/11 project that I must say for the record...thank you and you rock!!!

justann I am glad you are here!

I found a snowball spread sheet online and put all my data in. I am on track now to meet my goal but I think I will push myself if and when any extra money comes in.

I suspect that I will have a Christmas bonus next month (last year was $1,250 before taxes) and I also have met a 4th quarter goal that will gross me another $2000 commission before taxes. I will probably reserve some of those funds for a bit of holiday fun, but the majority will go to the snowball. December should be a really good payment!!
 
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#5 ·
Thank you ponderer!

You sound like you're starting off the 12/12/12 project with a bang, well done!

Go justann, will be cheering you on!
 
#6 ·
I have been pondering my debt total and decided that I need to add a loan that is being processed via a payroll deduction. I was fortunate enough to have assistance from my boss for a medical situation and although it is paid via payroll deduction monthly, I am opting to put it in my total. Even though the payment is automatic...it is still a payment I am making and so I need to put it in the total and give myself an honest and complete snapshot of my situation.

I am still on track for the 12/12/12 date...but the total I am starting with on the record is $23,005.20 THAT....is hard to write.
 
#8 ·
I know it sounds crazy, huh!? LOL

The way I look at it I have been putting $250 per paycheck into savings (I am paid twice monthly). Since I have $1250 in savings I am just now using those funds going forward each payday into my snowball instead. As far as the additional debt I just added to my tab, that has already been a payroll deduction of over $500 monthly since April of this year, which has not hampered my ability to do the $250 twice monthly. So in theory....this should work.

Everything but the payroll deduction loan will be paid off in October of next year. That will give me 1 1/2 months to pay the remainder of the work loan. That is currently scheduled to be paid in full in April of 13 so I will have to hit it really hard at the very end to meet my goal. I can do this...I just have to remember to put any extra money into the snowball, even when I don't want to!

If anyone wants to jump in here and tell me I am not crazy...that would be great! LOL
 
#9 ·
If we continue as we are (DH is just working part-part time, but looking for FT employment), we should get one car and two credit cards paid off by 12-12-12.

We will still have my car, 2nd mortgage and a student loan to go, but you just have to work at the pace you can.

I am praying DH does find full time work, but if he doesn't, that just means we'll get things paid off a bit slower. I won't abandon the get-out-of-debt lifestyle though! :dancing:
 
#10 ·
Getting one car and two credit cards paid off with part time employment is not too shabby at all!!! I pray your DH finds FT work too!
 
#11 ·
Thank you Ponderer and Mango for the welcome! Looking forward to visiting here often and checking in on everyone's progress. I have started writing down every purchase and I am going to work on meal planning on a regular basis. Thinking of other ways to tighten an already tight budget to meet my goal!
 
#12 ·
Sounds like meal planning is on the agenda for a few of us. That is on my mind and is something I am doing this weekend too. I will be cooking the next couple of days to try and have some things ready to go next week.

So far I am planning on doing fried rice with teriyaki chicken, creamy spaghetti casserole and I picked up a package of 50% off Johnsonville Italian brats at the store tonight, so I will come up for a plan with them too.
 
#13 ·
We are struggling to make ends meat right now & to be honest often they don't <sigh>, so we have done up a budget (have yet to get it balanced - we are short), but we are working on it. it would be so much easier for us if we had no debt - would free up about $200 a month for us. so we are in. we won't be out of debt by 12-12-12, but heck if we can lower it at all we'll still be in a better spot. great idea for the challenge. our emergency fund is currently at $106 and our starting debt amounts are.
cc#1 $46
cc#2 $265
loan $5875
 
#14 ·
Wendy...welcome! I look forward to hearing about your success and hope that I can be encouraging to you along the way. :)
 
#15 ·
I wasn't able to meet my debt-free goal by 11/11/11 but the challenge thread certainly kept re-focusing me! I second the Kudos to mango for starting that challenge and appreciate this new 12/12/12 challenge, Ponderer!!

So, here's my progress in a nutshell: I joined FV last January with the aim toward building and keeping within a budget to maximize our income and reduce our expenses. We had a coupla setbacks throughout the year but the goal-setting has really helped our family budget and decision-making!

My focus right now is to be debt-free except for the mortgage by April 2012 and that appears to be the best we'll be able to do. Fabulous, really, considering where we've come through 2011.

With that said, I'll be using this challenge thread to track meeting that goal and focus on building our 6-month FFEF by 12/12/12. That means we'll need to have $12600 banked by next December 12. If our income remains the same and we have no major setbacks, I projected our budget figures already for next year and it appears we should be able to meet the goal.

Thanks for the thread!
 
#16 ·
Good morning all!

A big welcome to Sumacaroni! It is going to be awesome for us to see you reach your debt free day early in 2012 and be able to celebrate not only that achievement with you....but to then see you building your EFF. I am really glad you joined us here. You are going to encourage me more then you know!

Ok...so today I was checking on some stuff and realized that my overall debt amount was $40 too high. That total number may look daunting but I was still really really excited when it dropped the $40. LOL

I am doing some cooking today for next week and have been working on focusing on what is in the pantry as well as doing some meal planning. I would also love to make a debt thermometer for my home office wall...does anyone have a free template or any info they could share?
 
#19 ·
Talked to my dh briefly today, and he seems to think this might be a good idea for us, too. We are debt-free, but we are having trouble getting going on the FFEF. Mostly because of everything seeming to break down at once... <roll> At least we had enough in savings that we haven't had to touch a credit card. :D We are going to talk about it some more tonight, and the "debt temp" thing is a great idea! I think we might make a poster of one, so we can color it in as we add more to our FFEF. We should easily be able to fund it by the end of next year!
 
#20 ·
Good evening all.

Sumacaroni thank you for the thermometer. That was nice of you! I actually wound up getting my sharpies and graph paper out today and made one to hang on my office wall. I guess I needed some arts and crafts time. LOL

Clarissa I actually think the not knowing is scarier then adding the numbers up. At least then you know where you truly are and can take control of your situation. Good for you!

Sara I am glad to see another here who will be working on the FFEF. I actually started crunching those numbers today to make up my goal for 2013...but I am not sure how I will do it since I cannot seem to find 13/13/13 on any calendars. LOL

I am looking forward to making my FFEF thermometer someday......that one is going to be green instead of red. That is the good stuff!
 
#21 ·
I think I am going to join you too. Here are approximate numbers for us right now:

$1900 credit card
$4700 loan
$8800 van loan
$4500 new furnace(not sure of the exact amount yet it will be installed in a few weeks and we qualify for a few rebates so will know soon)

I love the idea of the thermometer!! I think I will be making a big one on poster board for our wall too. Thanks!!
 
#22 ·
Danni welcome! Congrats on your success so far...well done!

I will hope that you get alllll kinds of rebates on that furnace deal too. :)
 
#24 ·
I'm in. I have alot of debt, so I will say half will be paid off by the end of next year.
 
#25 ·
Welcome to you!

Will you be considering your mortgage in that number or all debt other than the mortgage?

I am not going to ponder my mortgage quite yet...for now the other debt and my FFEF are all I can wrap my head around. It is all about one step at a time for me. :)
 
#26 ·
I'm on board with this!! I need to add everything up again, as most of our credit card debt has went to collection and we are now being offered some great settlement offers. $1,500 on a $15,000 debt for example. (Not that I am proud to do it, and when we borrowed the money we had every intention to repay it, but with job loss set backs what can you do?)

So that will be my project for this week. Reworking the budget, figuring out total debts and to see just how much we can pay off by 12-12-12!!

I need to be more efficient in the kitchen with cooking and meal planning so that will be next weeks goal!
 
#28 ·
I, too, am very much looking forward to switching to a FFEF green thermometer! That will be so awesome.

Frizzysky, I always get nervous when we accumulate a snowball over and above the BEF then apply it and the savings is gone again. It makes me nervous to operate with only $1000 in the bank and, like mateos, we've recently had some appliances to replace and a patio door to replace... yadda yadda yadda, it seems neverending but it always make us really think through how to most frugally handle the situations. We make do with less or do without and God continually blesses us with a way to make it through. Every time a door closes, it seems a window opens and it can only be explained through the grace of God!
 
#30 ·
I understand completely!! Our emergency fund is at about $1500.00 and I really want it higher. The amount over the $1000.00 is for taking care of things like plumbing or car stuff (that we should be doing a sinking fund, but we are just trying to work this plan the best we can). When we saw how close we were on DH's car, it we decided that an extra $200 to apply to the smaller credit card would be the way to go.
 
#29 ·
Good evening all. Getting ready to pull stuffed green peppers out of the oven for dinner tonight. I have a meeting later with the homeowner's association, I am a board member. This is actually my first meeting since elected, should be interesting.

Pretty low key day for me but all is going well. I am just anxious for my next payday, which is not until the 25th, so that I can make a big payment on my Visa card. I want this debt gone...now!!
 
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