Plan of Attack Help...

**Mojjo** · 09-29-2009, 09:33 PM

Ok...DELL should be first...then if dad is really big on not paying him back, put everything else in order from lowest amount to greatest. Start with paying the lowest amounts off first. But remember...take the payment to DELL, after it's paid off, and ADD IT TO THE OTHER PAYMENTS. That is snowballing and that's what will get you out of trouble the fastest.

Also, is there any chance of overtime or more hours?

**Greebo** · 09-29-2009, 10:18 PM

I tried to write out a plan myself, but according to it I would get everything paid off by January and that's not including the Dell Laptop. And with also no spending money what so ever. Am I an idiot or does that seem like a long time?

3 months from now is not a long time.

45 years of having no money, being in debt, being out of control, and having no future. THAT'S a long time.

Would you rather be uncomfortable for 3 months or in a constant state of perpetual chaos and uncertainty for 45 years until you retire broke, starving and dependent upon government programs for your food?

Do yourself a favor - get a copy of the Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, and read it. Study it. Take up the next 3 months of having no life by reading that book every day and committing the stories and the lessons to memory.

**Kerjack** · 09-30-2009, 08:17 AM

Ok so I will try and pay the Dell one off sooner. I have to pay the rent one off first. It's $375 so I may have it mostly paid off on my next paycheck. I'm aware of the concept of snowballing, but I may have to look into it again just to refresh my memory. As for more hours I can certainly pick up more. On Monday I worked 9-9pm for the extra hours. I have today and tomorrow off but when I get back on Friday I'll see about picking up some more hours.

Greebo - Ok. I know you are trying to help and you did give me a warning about being honest but really you are just frustrating me. I obviously know what the possibilities are if I don't start cracking down, if I didn't would I be asking for help? I asked a simple question. I have a copy of the TMM and have read it start to finish. I can pull it back out and read it again.

**Greebo** · 09-30-2009, 08:51 AM

Originally Posted by Kerjack

Ok so I will try and pay the Dell one off sooner. I have to pay the rent one off first. It's $375 so I may have it mostly paid off on my next paycheck. I'm aware of the concept of snowballing, but I may have to look into it again just to refresh my memory. As for more hours I can certainly pick up more. On Monday I worked 9-9pm for the extra hours. I have today and tomorrow off but when I get back on Friday I'll see about picking up some more hours.

Good plan!

Greebo - Ok. I know you are trying to help and you did give me a warning about being honest but really you are just frustrating me.

Feel free to be angry at me. I'm not trying to make you like me, I'm trying to make you see the reality your past behaviors, if repeated, will lead you to.

It is my absolute intention to make you understand in your gut just what you will face if you don't pay the price now to get control of your finances, and that is 45 more years of get up, go to work, slave for someone else, come home, spend on impulse and spend the rest of your time worrying about money.

FORTY - FIVE - YEARS. That's 11 times as long as high school.

I obviously know what the possibilities are if I don't start cracking down, if I didn't would I be asking for help?

I disagree.

If you knew what the possibility was - I mean really knew it - knew it in the core of your gut - you wouldn't be asking if 3 months seemed like a long time. You may know it intellectually, but you're still letting your emotional reactions get the better of you when you start thinking, "Wow 3 months is a long time!" That kind of emotional thinking is fertilizer for rationalizations why you won't do what you know intellectually that you should do.

So please - be angry with me if you like. If it takes you getting pissed off at me to get you to focus your will and get control of your life (and yes, I do think being out of control with money is being out of control with your life), so be it. If you get so mad at me you decide, "That jerk! He doesn't think I'm really serious. I'll PROVE it to him!", and pay off your debts in 2 months and in 3 years have your own place and are halfway to having 20% down for a house and have gotten promoted 3 times, well if the price for that is you being ticked off at me for being a jerk, I'll pay that price.

I asked a simple question. I have a copy of the TMM and have read it start to finish. I can pull it back out and read it again.

Good plan!

**itlw8** · 09-30-2009, 02:04 PM

YOU CAN DO THIS

I agree you do not need your partner to act like your dad when it comes to money stick to this and you will soon be debt free.

Then start socking that money into savings.....

do what I wish I had done in my 20's start saving for retirement if for a period of time in your 30s you have to stop saving for retirement when kids are little the money you saved in your 20's is still compounding interest.

now living at home

that is not really a bad thing if you are doing your share of the work and they have no problem charging you only 80 fine.

you pay off those debts. then get into a habit of saving what you would pay for rent, food, and utilities in an apt so you get into the habit of paying bills on time.. Then you can show your dh you have mastered being an adult.

You can do it.... need help Greebo is always available for a lecture...LOL yeah I am teasing him but they really do help.

**kita** · 09-30-2009, 11:48 PM

Honestly, three months is not a long time. Most people have families and apartments so getting out of debt, even the four thousand you have, might take them a year or more. And the sad thing is...the longer it takes the greater the likelihood that something drastic will happen to slow it even more. (ie, there is a chance you might lose your job in the next four months; the chance over the next two years is higher)
You don't make a lot, but paying only $80 a month in rent is insane (in a good way). You don't seem to have kids. Buckle down and make a plan, for the next three months, three years and three decades. If you have a concrete plan, you can go very far in those three decades.

**Preston** · 10-02-2009, 12:03 AM

write a realistic plan.. You know that you can't take every penny you earn and apply it to debt, but look at what you need to get by, take that cash out of paycheck... and unload the rest of the check on your bills.