I live, write, and garden in the PNW with my husband of 27 years, disabled daughter, college-aged son, and my 84-year-old mother. We have paid off $250,000.00 worth of debt (if you include the interest) in the last fifteen years and as of 6/12/2020 are 100% DEBT FREE!!!!Blogging is new to me, but journaling sure isn't, so bear with me as I figure out the odds and ends of the system. I found this site about a week ago and completely fell in love with it. I have been in denial of our debt situation for a long time but for the past two weeks I have been searching around for good websites to help us get a handle on things and this one has been simply wonderful.
So, massive debt. We sure have it. It is hard to believe that only seven years ago we were debt free, bought a house paying in cash. We owned both of our cars (still do) outright. But that was before my last pregnancy that turned high risk at week 32 and required more hospitalization than the insurance company wanted to pay for and incurring a $30,000 unsecured debt.
Still, we managed to get along pretty well, but starting in 2002, I have had 3 major surgeries in 3 consecutive years, all with benign (hence the lucky), but too large to leave alone tumors that might endanger other organs and after losing both the appendix and gall bladder, I was glad to get rid of the last one without losing something else. This last year has been tumor free and we hope it stays that way.
Needless to say, our insurance wasn't too forthcoming and we ended up with a massive debt of $150,000 for hospital bills. My parents let us put a 30 year mortgage on their big house, so we pay $935 plus $65 extra each month on that. Fortunately they will leave us the house in their will so they do not mind doing this for us. I'm sure we would have declared bankruptcy without them and I did not want to have to do that.
Beyond that we still have $37,800 left on our own 15 year mortgage we took out to cover expenses while I was sick, so we pay $375 a month on that, plus $25 extra. We had gotten our unsecured debt down to $25,000, but it is at $31,000 now, due to orthodontist work to correct our daughter's messed up bite, and being overextended beyond our budget and DH's pay.
So good news, our insurance changed at the beginning of January and now covers orthodontist and vision and more dental than it did before, but it also is taking out more than double what it took out of DH's paycheck before. Fortunately he got a raise at the same time which leaves us with $50 extra a month than he was bringing home before (again lucky).
We have finally as of the start of this year, stopped using credit completely. I have been slowly cutting stuff out. My son has lost interest in tae kwon do so we took him out of that, freeing up $65 a month. My daughter still has a year on her contract and is still motivated to go so for now she stays in. Both kids have been taking dance lessons, which are paid up through June. It breaks for the summer and then they will not be taking them next year, which together frees up $85 a month. Between those they just about cover our gas for the month which is running $2.79 a gallon here.
After a propane bill in January of $272 we turned off the furnance and switched to using our woodstove full time. We had free wood from family from fallen trees on their properties that had been sitting in our carport for 3 years and was nice and dry. The stove gets hot enough that I can warm up a pot of soup or chili or other meals in a can, can warm up canned veggies or boil eggs or water for tea, so we do that some to save on using the oven (which is electric, not propane). Once our pantry stock runs out I will be making chili and soup instead of opening cans.
When I do cook, I make everything from scratch now. We have maybe a six month stock of canned goods in the pantry, but when its gone, its gone. I bake a loaf of bread pretty much daily, but I had already been doing that because my DH is allergic to high fructose corn syrup and that is in almost all bread these days.
So, we are definitely trying now. Ready to face this debt situation head on. It is scary to not be hiding my head in the sand, and I think DH still wants to a bit, but he has agreed with me that we have to take some measures now and more as we find places to cut.
I am hoping to save on the grocery budget as we have a lot of meat in the freezer so really all we need are fresh vegetables, fruit, milk, and eggs on a weekly basis. I am hoping that we have eliminated the propane bill. Our electric is coming down with the longer days, though we don't see it as we are on budget pay year round.
There are other steps I plan to take in the next few weeks, but just getting to this point has been kind of freeing. Or at least as freeing as it can be with a slightly over $200,000 total debt load. It's just a little, but baby steps still take you forward and I'd rather be going forward than backwards.
Wow, I wrote a novel. Well, they won't be this long in future.
Robin
Debt on Overload
April 9th, 2006 at 09:52 pm
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Robin
April 9th, 2006 at 11:53 pm 1144626790
Hangeth thou in there!! We're pulling for you.
April 10th, 2006 at 12:17 am 1144628260
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April 10th, 2006 at 04:52 am 1144644729
Well, you pretty much can't be any more North without being in Canada and you can't get too much further West without falling into the bay, and also we are in the shadow of Mt. Baker.
Robin
April 10th, 2006 at 05:26 am 1144646814
Take it one little step at a time in the correct direction and you'll get to where you want to go. Look forward to reading your journey in the months to come.
April 10th, 2006 at 10:07 pm 1144706825
It appears that you are already on your way to being debt free. It requires sacrifice and hard work but is possible. There is some great info on the web site for saving money. I have used many of the ideas in order to save money. You are facing your dbt head on and not hiding or denying it. Way to go. Persevere and you will be debt free again. It is at times tough but if you keep hittiing it you will reach the goal we all seek here. No debt and financial security is the goal! Good luck and God Bless! You can and will make it!
April 11th, 2006 at 06:43 pm 1144780989
Welcome aboard! I know everyone here is behind you and will support you and your family with what you need.
One idea, i work in emergency preparedness, is there anyway you can save those canned good for a time when you might not have the money or some kind of event or catastrophe in your local area that makes it difficult to get to stores or to shop? maybe not 6 months worth but definitely 1 month of common food your family and eat and would eat in the event of an emergency? just a thought, I want to help families be better prepared in the event of an emergency: katrina comes to mind as the most recent but it could be a job loss, a family illness, or other event that that food would come in handy as well.
welcome,
K-
April 11th, 2006 at 11:35 pm 1144798533
I have an emergency stock pile of one month's food and water beyond the six months of other foods. We live under a semi-active volcano (well, its a steamer, but they are always saying it could go anytime) and also we are often snowed in during the winter, the river floods in the fall and we can be stuck because of that, too. So I will always keep some items on hand. Even in the summer we can get storms that down trees and block us in until they are dealt with. Thanks for the welcome.
Robin
April 12th, 2006 at 08:46 pm 1144874780
April 14th, 2006 at 08:58 pm 1145048330
Good Luck