I am adding my debt to the sidebar. Its ugly. But hopefully I can only go up from here.
Some details about my expenses that I posted the other day.
I live in an area that is considered "rural." We are about 15-20 minutes from a big town. There are no options for electric and water. The electricity is for a 2400 sq foot house, a barn, and a shop.
I am trying to be better about leaving any lights on that aren't necessary. In the spring and fall, it will be a lot less. But $295 is about average for summer and winter. And there are only a few for tv or internet. We do not have a land line. I agree that our cell phones are high. We are currently both paying for new phones we got a couple of years ago. That is about $50.00 of the bill. If we changed providers, we would have to pay the remaining of what is owed on the phones. The Dish bill is lower that it has been in years. I am on a 2 year contract. I would have a cancellation fee if we cancelled. And in order to use Sling or some streaming service, I would have to increase our internet speeds. The internet is very limited in our area due to our location. So it is expensive and slow. So, if we did the change, it would save us about $29/ month. Not sure if it is worth the cancellation fees and debt it would cause. And yes, we could cancel Netflix. Maybe its an option. Right now we use our tv for entertainment a lot.
Putting some applications in today for part time jobs. Hopefully something will pan out.
Rose.
CC1 (ME) - $1620.62
CC2 (ME) - $2333.18
CC3 (ME) - $5850.00
CC4 (DH) - $5000.00
CC5 (DH) - $3678.03
FURNITURE - $900*
AUTO CARD - $3809.72
CARE CREDIT - $809.70
CAR LOAN - $11735.27
JEEP LOAN - $3132.73
TAX LOAN - $10003.74
PERSONAL LOAN - $11000
IRS - $2800*
MORTGAGE - $125794.59
________________________
TOTAL W/ MTG = $188,467.58
TOTAL W/O MTG = $62,672.99
TOTAL W/O MTG & CARS = $47,804.99
The Numbers.
February 22nd, 2019 at 05:53 pm
February 23rd, 2019 at 12:30 pm 1550925020
Hang on in there
February 24th, 2019 at 08:05 pm 1551038744
I'm not sure what your cancellation fee would be for Dish, but if it isn't exorbitant it might be worth it and then you could stay with cheaper Netflix.
How are you working on your credit cards? Are you paying more on the one with the biggest interest rate to get it paid down the most while still paying what you can on the others? Or paying more one the one with the lowest balance to get it paid off sooner?
I get that you are limited as far as power and water choices. Are there some ways you can cut back in electricity besides turning off the lights you aren't using, which is always being a good steward of resources. Can you keep your home temperature either lower in the winter and a little higher in the summer? I don't know about your stove, but I have an electric one. I plan meals and if I use the oven, I try to have more than one thing in the oven so I'm not heating up the hot box just for one item.
February 25th, 2019 at 10:30 pm 1551133853
February 25th, 2019 at 10:35 pm 1551134154
Any room for improvement regarding interest rates?
It's great that you are close to the end on that Jeep loan, but meanwhile, aren't you adding more debt each month? $150 per month for groceries, gas, and medical co-pays is not much. If the second job does not work out, I'd consider doing a refi on the Jeep to lower the payments. Getting to a place that income covers expenses would be my priority.