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!!!!Okay, so when I restarted blogging consistently in January last year we owed $67,457.32 in unsecured credit card debt. We now owe $20,228.79.
$67,457.32 Original amount owed
-20,228.79 Amount left on credit card debt
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$47,228.53 Amount paid off in 2011
We really busted tail this year to pay off that much debt and before the surgery in July I was sure we could have paid off the whole thing by the end of the year. Well, life happened of course, and medical is expensive. But we made a lot more progress than I actually thought we had.
As for the mortgage, we started the year at $22,326.63, but it now sits at 18,544.28.
$22,326.63 Beginning amount
-18,544.28 Ending amount
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$_3,782.35 Amount paid off in 2011
Then finally is the loan from my mother who originally covered over $100,000 in hospital debt for us with a 0% loan. At the beginning of the year we owed her $93,000. We now owe her $87,000.
$93,000 Starting 2011
-87,000 Amount left
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$_6,000 Amount paid off
So all told we have paid off $57,010.88 of debt this last year. Sometimes I really feel like we are getting nowhere, but to see it all added up like that, I know we are getting somewhere and the credit card debt, at least, should be paid off by summer.
We'll have around $8000 coming back to us in taxes, mostly because of our HSA, and we will get 5% of whatever DH's grandparents' house sells for, which should be around $7500, but we don't know when that will be. The buyers are negotiating at the moment and if that falls through there is another interested party waiting. All of that money is earmarked for debt payoff.
There is no rush on paying my mother back. She prefers to get $1000 a month and no more when we can manage the payments (we've skipped a few because of all the medical this year, with her blessing). That gives her a stipend to live on besides social security. If she dies before we pay it all back it is forgiven in the will and not owed to the estate.
So we are getting there. Faster than I thought, even.
$57,010.88 paid off in 2011
January 7th, 2012 at 11:43 pm
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January 8th, 2012 at 01:26 am 1325985971
MJ--It does make a difference to see the hard numbers. Makes it easier to put my head down and stick to it.
MM--Yeah, I'm hoping by early summer it'll be gone and then we'll start saving for a downpayment on a new house since we can't necessarily count on the old one to sell right away once we put it on the market.
Everyone else, thanks for the congrats. It does feel good.
January 8th, 2012 at 02:53 am 1325991235
January 8th, 2012 at 03:02 am 1325991777
January 8th, 2012 at 03:09 am 1325992183
January 8th, 2012 at 03:20 am 1325992857
And by the way, I'm so glad you decided to blog again last year. I like your blog.
January 8th, 2012 at 03:39 am 1325993971
Shiela--Thank you. I enjoy reading yours, too. I don't comment too much, but I'm trying to be better at that this year.
January 8th, 2012 at 03:45 am 1325994343
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January 8th, 2012 at 05:11 am 1325999468
January 8th, 2012 at 05:34 am 1326000885
January 8th, 2012 at 02:10 pm 1326031836
Could you tell us how much household income you have? It would be very interesting to see what you're living on and what percentage has gone to debt repayment vs. living expenses.
January 8th, 2012 at 03:07 pm 1326035251
January 8th, 2012 at 09:06 pm 1326056771
Federal Income Tax is $29,848.52.
Social Security is $4485.60.
Medicare is $2177.80.
Alaska SUI Tax is $200.67.
Medical is $7759.95.
So net is $113,480.46.
$113,480.46 Net Income
-$57,010.88 Minus Debt Paid
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$56,469.58
But if you then take out how much we have spent on out of pocket medical expenses this year:
$56,469.58
-_9,542.36 Medical out of pocket
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$46,927.22 is what we live on.
What is left is still over twice as much as DH was making when we got married and it is definitely more than enough to live well on. This is the first year he has had such a substantial income to make progress with. The new job (he's been there a little over a year) pays far more than we ever thought it would. This year he will be allowed to contribute to a 401K which will bring it down a bit more, but there will still be plenty to live on. Most of our married life was spent living on $23K to $40K net.
January 8th, 2012 at 09:08 pm 1326056895
January 8th, 2012 at 09:24 pm 1326057887
January 8th, 2012 at 10:18 pm 1326061112
So how much more debt to go? Hopefully you can start plowing all that extra income into the 401k. That would be ideal.
Oh, sorry, I see my answer right at the top of your post.
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