[mango]

We like the sound of 11/11/11 as a date to pay off all our personal debt (will still have a mortgage). It will be a stretch as we worked out a current snowball amount which has us debt free by early 2012 but hey what the heck, we're in the mood for getting rid of this debt once and for all so are throwing everything we have at it.

Have paid off two credit cards (smaller balances) and working on the third which am planning to pay off at the end of the month. That will leave the big credit card, the even bigger line of credit and the car lease (although we are planning to sell the car and pay out the lease early).

Am onto my second reading of the The Total Money Makoever and it is motivating me big time! Mr mango often does not read that kind of book but even he is looking forward to getting stuck into it. We worked out the other day that we are still paying off things like groceries and petrol from years and years ago, things long forgotton or eaten! :furious: It just makes me sick to think about it and is giving me added motivation.

I thought I would use these thread as a means to stay accountable along the way so will pop in regularly to update where we are at.

Here's to a debt free life!

 

[MrMom]

Love the idea!!!!!!!!

You know.....

I don't have a specific date for being debt free since we zap our debt when we have commissions most of the time, BUT in terms of CC debt combined with our car loan, we are at about 21K from being paid off, (then just mortgage which is down to 25K).

Soooo there is a possibility with all the stuff we are doing selling and with a decent summer of commissions that we might be able to hit 11/11/11 too at least on the CC/Carloan side of our debt!

Thanks for the post here I think I am gonna talk to my wife and mark our fridge calendar today (top of each month 11/11/11 as a reminder)...

It would be cool to see who else might be able to commit to that date and do their best on reaching a specific goal, fun thread and I mean it i am gonna talk to my wife tonight about this 11/11/11 idea...

Bill

 

[Lady_V]

That sounds like a wonderful plan... we'll be 9 days ahead of you since the last heloc payment will be 11/2/11

... but that means on 11/11/11 we will be debt free too! :cheer4:

 

[MrMom]

I am still somewhat new to the DR stuff here, but screaming I am debt free is only for those who pay off all their debt (house included) right?

If so then hopefully on 11/11/11 i can scream i am debtfree on my creditcards and car loan at least :cheer4:

Bill

 

[krbshappy71]

You can call in even if you still have the house debt.

 

[mango]

Thanks so much everyone for your support, makes this whole journey so much more doable knowing people understand what you want to achieve and what you are prepared to do to get it.

The more I think about it the more I realise that we really have to deal with our finances so very differently than we have over the past 20 years otherwise we will end up with not much show for our working life other than a house (a highly mortgaged house at that!). Since January we've started using the envelopes system and we are actually living below our means which just blows me away. Overspending and mismanaging our money has been part of our life for so long, the simple act of living within our means and actually paying down the debt gives me more joy than I could have ever imagined. Who would have thought!

Mr Mom and Lady V November is OUR month. Let's join forces and get this done. If there's anybody else out there who would like to join us you are more than welcome.

 

[mauimagic]

Definitely will be joining in here - even if we celebrate just one CC gone - the plan of course is more, but I definitely need to date to plan towards.

 

[mango]

Yeah mauimagic, glad to have you on board! Looking forward to cheering on your progess!

You know it must be karma because I was just thinking about you hoping you were ok after the tsnami warning. Were you evacuated?

 

[MrMom]

Mauimagic, i was wondering the same thing after just watching the news, are things crazy there or ???

 

[mauimagic]

We evacuated at midnight - live across the street from the ocean. We are still at my classroom up the mountain overlooking the harbor. Damage to Lahaina and the Kahana area where we live, but we do not know how much.

Highway just opened and after 80 minutes, there is still a traffic jam trying to get down the mountain. Very inconsequential wehen compared to most anywhere else - especially Japan - am sick about what is happening there.

It is a gorgeous day here - sun is shining, sky is bright blue and the temperatures will be soaring.

Think I am going to have the garage sale that I've been planning soon - send some monies to Japan relief fund - every little bit helps for sure.

 

[mango]

mauimagic, so glad to hear that you are ok. The images coming from Japan are just horrendous. Feel so sorry for those people, didn't have a chance. Really nice thought about donating your garage sale proceeds to their relief fund. You're so right every little bit does help.

 

[MrMom]

We are in!!!!!!!

talked to wife about the 11/11/11 idea, she LOVED IT!

We are officially in, our goal is to get our current credit card and car loans paid off by 11/11/11 (that will leave us with only the house left).

It will be just over 21K to make this happen but we have a 5700 tax return coming that ALL of it is being applied and well I am still working my tail off on selling and doing whatever extra I can for $ to HAMMER on this stuff so with snowball, selling, taxes, commissions as they come in from wives work, we are thinking we might just be able to pull this off by 11/11/11!

If we do this our reward will be the next chunk we get we are buying a new couch (need one oh so bad)...

Bill

 

[mango]

Great Mr Mom (and Mrs Mom!)!!! You are so in the zone, you can do this!

Have worked out that we have 243 days until we are debt free - yeah! And 8 little pays (my mid month part-time pay) and 8 big pays (both our end of month pays) to get this done. We are putting all of my part-time pay towards our snowball and some from Mr Mango's pay as well. It means cutting things to the absolute bare bones but it can and will be done!

Not sure I have much to sell. Have been a decluttering fiend over the past few months but I'm hoping once I attack the shed a few little "sell me" items will pop up.

PS great minds think alike! I was thinking I would put the challenge into my signature line too! Added motivation.

 

[khaski]

I think we may join on on the 11/11/11 quest...our initial goal was to be debt free except the house by 3/12, but it's been hard to map out anything more than a rough time line as my hubby works a 'regular' job with steady paycheck AND has his own business where work comes and goes. As it's been really busy the last bit, I think we could aim for that date too! Once we get our tax refund in the next week or two, we will have less than $9k left to go, so it should be doable (crossing fingers work stays steady for hubby in business).

One thing that has helped me immensely- we dabbled in 'snowballs' on and off for a while, but last July we got serious, wrote down all the debts, and tracking what we 'overpaid' per month into what. Being able to see hard, tangible #s of what we've done (and continue to do) has been a BIG help to stay motivated over not really knowing where we started or how much we have paid down. Seeing hard evidence it's working and how far we've come in such a short time (almost $20k paid off, not counting mortgage min. payments!) really makes me proud of us and keeps us 'gazelle'. Plus, I want to be able to write to Dave and say 'We paid of 'x' in 'y' time. Will still have the mortgage, but hoping to join you in the 'debt free except the house' on or before 11/11/11!

 

[Maine Girl]

What a cool idea!! best of luck to all of you

 

[mango]

Thanks Maine Girl for your support, really appreciate it!

Welcome khaski! Great to have you joining us! I like your idea of keeping a record of the overpaid amounts, really shows how well your snowball is going. I'm doing something similiar with a small palm card which I keep in my wallet, every month I write the total amount we owe and it's going down - yeah!

Well done on paying off $20,000, that's just fantastic and very motivational to us as we are very early on in our snowball.

Let's all scream we're debt free (except for our mortgages) on or before the 11/11/11!

 

[mango]

Pay day today and that means another payment off CC3 - yeah!

 

[MrMom]

$4740 paid tonight towards our debt, all in the effort to pay off the car and CC debt by 11/11/11 then just the house!

 

[mango]

Yeah Mr Mom, WTG!!!!

 

[petrolhead]

To top it off you should pay the bill at 11:11 on 11/11/11