I am 37 y/o from NW Indiana and need financial advice

R

Robocp4

Dryer sheet wannabe
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the region
So I'm a married 37 y/o woman with a 9 yr old step son and a 1 yr old son. After baby was born we decided that I needed to stay home. (I only brought in 700-900/mo extra). Well it's been a year and it's great however DH has decided that he wants to try Velocity banking. His brother turned him to it and that is all I hear about.

DH is a 33 y/o working in the trades as a union Ironworker. He keeps telling me that he doesn't want to bust his butt and have nothing to show for it. We need a new car for me with the baby and he would love his paid off.

A little about what we have:
*My car is paid off (2 dr sports car not baby friendly)
*DH has an suv that we bought used in 2017. We owe 12k on it still
*We have a house with a mortgage of about 180k
*we have a lawn tractor that he took a personal loan out for... We own 3k on it
* have 4 credit cards (2 store, a m/c and the care credit card) between them we owe 6k
*and I still have a student loan that I owe 12k on (I'm on an income repayment plan so I pay $0/mo right now)

I know we live paycheck to paycheck (he brings home about 4k/mo) but he has a "vacation fund" from the union that we can use monthly. I've been using it to slowly pay down some bills. The care credit will be paid off next week.

Has anyone heard of velocity banking? Tried it? Does it actually work? I'm not so sure about taking a personal line of credit (LOC) out to pay off credit. Yes smaller interest rate and it's figured differently on the LOC but its basically consolidation with a reviving account.

Help please? I want to pay things off so that we can have a great retirement when the time comes. As of right now that won't happen quick enough for him.

P. S. I want to learn about stocks and bonds but have no clue where to start with that.
 
The balance on your non-mortgage debt is about 50% of your annual income. Don't bother with velocity banking, you need to get debt under control, not take on even more in the interest of reducing it.

You are the target audience for Dave Ramsey.

While I did not exactly follow everything he recommends, his basic advice of living within your means, tracking spending and paying down debt would be very helpful for you.

Check your local library for a copy of his Total Money Makeover. I they don't have it or can't get it, PM me. I have an extra copy I'll send you.

Follow the Ramsey prescription as close as you can. Don't worry about stocks and bonds until you get past the "paycheck to paycheck" financial management. When you get to that point, ignore Dave Ramsey, come back to this forum to get advice on how to invest your growing savings :)

In the meantime, ask DH to find some neighbors' lawns to mow to help payoff the lawn tractor.
 
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Welcome to the forum!

I don’t know anything about velocity banking. Sounds sketchy to me, though. Sounds darn sketchy.

Consolidating debt into one, low interest account is wise. Take the time to read the fine print first. Or, aggressively pay down the high interest debts first.

When I first started educating myself on investing (and taking it seriously), i read about half the books on this forum’s recommended reading list. The most helpful for me and the most comprehensive was the “The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing.” Take your time and read the chapters slowly, many of the concepts are not intuitive. I could give you a one paragraph synopsis of what I got from it, but it’s much better to learn it yourself so you believe in the method and you’re not just listening to a stranger on the internet.

The bad news is get rich schemes rely on a high ratio of skill and luck (otherwise everyone would be doing it). Most, nearly all, here will advocate for get rich slowly methods of living below your means and steady investing.

Good luck! THis is a great place to ask for help. The forum members here really helped me get my financial life on track.
 
FlaGator said:
The balance on your non-mortgage debt is about 50% of your annual income. Don't bother with velocity banking, you need to get debt under control, not take on even more in the interest of reducing it.

You are the target audience for Dave Ramsey.

While I did not exactly follow everything he recommends, his basic advice of living within your means, tracking spending and paying down debt would be very helpful for you.

Check your local library for a copy of his Total Money Makeover. I they don't have it or can't get it, PM me. I have an extra copy I'll send you.

Follow the Ramsey prescription as close as you can. Don't worry about stocks and bonds until you get past the "paycheck to paycheck" financial management. When you get to that point, ignore Dave Ramsey, come back to this forum to get advice on how to invest your growing savings :)

In the meantime, ask DH to find some neighbors' lawns to mow to help payoff the lawn tractor.
Click to expand...

I wish he would understand that velocity banking is not the way to go. Ex. You take out a 10k LOC, pay off the 6k in little debt. So yes you freed up your credit cards but now you still have 6k to pay as you just transfered it to the LOC. So then you take that 4k/mo he makes and give it all to the LOC. Then take back out what you need for expenses, bills etc. So 3k expenses means you only give 1k to the LOC. I hate this and he will not listen to me about it. His stupid brother started it and supposedly paid off 2 cars and credit cards in less than 2 years. However he also has more cash flow as we do not.

Dave Ramsey... Yes his snowball debt plan is what I'm trying to work on hence the care credit paid off next week. It's the smallest. The book you're talking about, is that the financial peace university one? Or his baby steps?

I wish I could tell him to go mow lawns but all of ours are 2.5 acres. Hence the tractor to cut it all. Plus he is actually working OT right now so at 10 hr days he's home by 6pm.

Thank you for the info. I will Def check back here for more advice on investing.
 
cooch96 said:
Welcome to the forum!

I don’t know anything about velocity banking. Sounds sketchy to me, though. Sounds darn sketchy.

Consolidating debt into one, low interest account is wise. Take the time to read the fine print first. Or, aggressively pay down the high interest debts first.

When I first started educating myself on investing (and taking it seriously), i read about half the books on this forum’s recommended reading list. The most helpful for me and the most comprehensive was the “The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing.” Take your time and read the chapters slowly, many of the concepts are not intuitive. I could give you a one paragraph synopsis of what I got from it, but it’s much better to learn it yourself so you believe in the method and you’re not just listening to a stranger on the internet.

The bad news is get rich schemes rely on a high ratio of skill and luck (otherwise everyone would be doing it). Most, nearly all, here will advocate for get rich slowly methods of living below your means and steady investing.

Good luck! THis is a great place to ask for help. The forum members here really helped me get my financial life on track.
Click to expand...
Yes velocity banking sounds super sketchy to me too. Ex. You take out a 10k LOC, pay off 6k in little debt. So yes you freed up your credit cards but now you still have 6k to pay as you just transfered it to the LOC. So now you have a smaller interest rate and it's calculated daily not yearly. So then you take that 4k/mo he makes and give it all to the LOC. Then take back out what you need for expenses, bills etc. So 3k expenses means you only give 1k to the LOC. I hate this and he will not listen to me about it. His stupid brother started it and supposedly paid off 2 cars and credit cards in less than 2 years. However he also has more cash flow as we do not.

I will look into that book for sure. And I'll definitely read slowly and most likely I will be highlighting and taking notes lol.

I love the get rich slowly method, like Dave Ramsey and the snowball debt plan. I hate these schemes. Velocity banking has been around for years but it started for mortgages and people made it now for regular bills and of course those people make money off it because they want you to sign up. Ugh.

Thank you for the info. I will definitely be asking more questions when I need more information on my financial situation.
 
Dave Ramsey's...The Total Money Make Over.

It works!

The problem that consolidation creates (according to Ramsey) is that you think you have done something when you have just rearranged your debt. Debt is a behavior problem. Learn to budget and learn to quit spending on wants. Live below your means. The savings on consolidation is minimal if you actually want to get out of debt. It will also take away the small victories that happen during the “snowball” and give you one big debt mound to try to conquer. You have not proven you are going to get debt free so it may even hurt you by clearing out the things that have gotten you in trouble (credit cards) and tempting you to use them again putting you farther in debt. No upside to consolidating in my opinion.
 
From the little I just read about it, it sounds like a questionable way to pay off debt. You roll everything over into a HELOC and use that to simplify your financial life. The savings come (if they come) short term from getting rid of high interest debt (the CCs) and long term from paying off the principal on your mortgage (while retaining access to the extra payments thru a loan in emergencies).

Theoretically, this could work for a highly disciplined individual. But when people on the edge start talking about freeing up cash flow for more spending, the more likely outcome is they will just pile up more debt on the HELOC and be in worse shape in a year or two. Or the variable HELOC will go up way beyond the fixed mortgage (if that is that is what you have) and wipe out all your advantages (if any actually exist).
 
Welcome, and I'm hoping you will get encouragement and ways forward here! I think you will get to where you want to be - you have time and some foundation - but it won't be immediate.

First, try to get you and your spouse on the same page. His goal is not the rollover of debt, right, but the REDUCTION of debt? He is contributing to this by working overtime. You, as the stay-at-home spouse can contribute just as much by getting control of your budget. You didn't mention your budget - do you have one? If not, that is the second step. You can tell him that you will set up a budget that will deliver debt reduction in one year. Tell him you'll reconsider Velocity at the end of the year, but you are sure that you can deliver just as well.

You know your goals - become debt free, save for your children, for retirement, for financial independence. Your budget will contribute to your goals. You are the one in a position to go through it several times, asking yourself, "what is easy for me NOT to spend money on?" "what can I rearrange so it costs less?" "what is non-negotiable." What are ways your family can have fun that are cheap? (I'm an outdoorsy person, so I gravitate to hiking and exploring, but there are other options). Step 3 is tackling the debt, which you can just start doing immediately, with the first extra $25 you generate.

Step 4 is building up some savings so you don't have to add to your debt for expected, but sudden, expenses like a repair. Put this in a savings account attached to your checking. You should do this simultaneously with debt reduction until you reach some round number like $1000. Then, back to full debt reduction.

Step 5 is the long term savings. Some of that depends on your spouse's job.

There are good free counseling places if it's too hard - and they would love to see people like you, who are not in a hopeless situation, who have a good attitude, and who want to learn. But it sounds like you could do this on your own.

I don't know your expenses - but I know there is a steady, hopefully decently compensated, union job with overtime - and then there is also YOU, determined to make a budget work, to reduce debt, to make it easy on your overtime-working spouse to go along with you. You can do this. You can make a dent in debt in one year. Slow and steady wins the race in your case.
 
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You’ve gotten some excellent advice. I would like to address an area you mentioned - learning about stocks and bonds. While I don’t suggest you start investing now, it’s a good time for you to start learning and be ready ready for when you can invest. I’ll recommend a site called Morningstar.com. Register for a free account for which permits you to access their education page. It is essentially a college education presented in 5 to 10 minute informational bites, with quizzes after each session. Do all the level 100 lessons first, then the 200 level, etc. Complete this and you will understand how markets and investment works. Morningstar makes its money by paid subscribers, who are looking for comprehensive market and investment information. You have no need for that. They are not pushy trying to get you into a paid subscription, so just ignore that part. If you sped 5 to 10 minutes a day, then do the quiz, you’ll be in a position to understand investing in about a year. They also provide a lot of free information about markets, stocks and bonds that might interest you.

Vanguard.com also has a similar education page. Vanguard provides mutual funds - an option you will want to look at when you start investing. You’ll learn about those if you do the education regime I’ve recommended. The education pages we a bit concealed. So. I’ll try to find a link for you.

Good luck.

Jerry
 
OH yeah - if you have any questions about what you’re learning, this is a good place to ask them.
 
You might show him this thread and that there are a whole bunch of people here who have been financially successful.... many self-made millionaires and multi-millionaires... who recommend against it.

Velocity banking is just another form of debt consolidation... debt consolidation can be a godsend if one has really good financial discipline... most people don't... they breath a huge sigh of relief when the debt is consolidated into their mortgage or HELOC and then go back to their living beyond their means ways and 6 months later are in the same difficult position but it is worse because they have more mortgage debt... so if you want to lose your home and go bankrupt then velocity banking would seem to be a good way to get there.

See the third tag line in my signature... slow and steady wins the race... if you want financial success that should be your mantra.... that is the way to avoid busting your butt and having nothing to show for it.

You don't need a new car for you and the baby. For one thing, you can't afford a new car. I wouldn't do anything on the cars if they are both reliable... the SUV is the baby vehicle and the other is the second car. I would consider making the SUV your daily driver and making the sports car DH's commute to work vehicle.... or perhaps a near even trade of the sports car for a more practical sedan if you really need to. The idea is to either make do with what you have or get to vehicles that work for your needs but with minimal and preferably no additional debt.

Your immediate priority should be two-fold: 1) learn to live within your means and 2) peck away at the debt... especially the credit card debt. What are the interest rates on your debt? How much can you apply to additional payments each month? IOW, the $4k/month that DH earns less your monthly living expenses less required debt payments... peck off the high interest rate debt first.

At this point I wouldn't worry about the home mortgage and student loans and possibly even the car debt... just make the required payments on those and focus on 1) not incurring any additional debt and 2) paying off the credit card and personal loan debt.

Hang around here some and you'll get plenty of nuggests of wisdom about living within your means.

Once the "bad" debt is gone you can start diverting some of the discretionary funds to savings.... once you have a little savings built you can move on to investing.... and that is easy too... there are lots of funds available that cover the entire US stock market... don't worry at bonds at your age... you want to be in equities so your money can grow.

Realistically, it may take you guys a year or two to get to the point where your "bad" debt is gone and you are savings but no worries... you have a 20-30 year time horizon.

Pencil out a plan for the payoff of the debt and then work the plan.... that plan, plus getting a handle on living within your means and taking care of the kids are your new "job" as a SAHM... your new "job" is your household's chief operating officer.
 
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donheff said:
From the little I just read about it, it sounds like a questionable way to pay off debt. You roll everything over into a HELOC and use that to simplify your financial life. The savings come (if they come) short term from getting rid of high interest debt (the CCs) and long term from paying off the principal on your mortgage (while retaining access to the extra payments thru a loan in emergencies).

Theoretically, this could work for a highly disciplined individual. But when people on the edge start talking about freeing up cash flow for more spending, the more likely outcome is they will just pile up more debt on the HELOC and be in worse shape in a year or two. Or the variable HELOC will go up way beyond the fixed mortgage (if that is that is what you have) and wipe out all your advantages (if any actually exist).
Click to expand...
It is a very questionable way and that is why I don't want to do it. We actually wouldn't be able to do a HELOC we'd have to do a personal line of credit.
I have a feeling he wouldn't be disciplined enough since he has been talking about getting a 70" TV (we don't even have the right room for that big of TV). We'd free up credit cards but again that debt would just be moved to a different vessel.
 
Pellice said:
Welcome, and I'm hoping you will get encouragement and ways forward here! I think you will get to where you want to be - you have time and some foundation - but it won't be immediate.

First, try to get you and your spouse on the same page. His goal is not the rollover of debt, right, but the REDUCTION of debt? He is contributing to this by working overtime. You, as the stay-at-home spouse can contribute just as much by getting control of your budget. You didn't mention your budget - do you have one? If not, that is the second step. You can tell him that you will set up a budget that will deliver debt reduction in one year. Tell him you'll reconsider Velocity at the end of the year, but you are sure that you can deliver just as well.

You know your goals - become debt free, save for your children, for retirement, for financial independence. Your budget will contribute to your goals. You are the one in a position to go through it several times, asking yourself, "what is easy for me NOT to spend money on?" "what can I rearrange so it costs less?" "what is non-negotiable." What are ways your family can have fun that are cheap? (I'm an outdoorsy person, so I gravitate to hiking and exploring, but there are other options). Step 3 is tackling the debt, which you can just start doing immediately, with the first extra $25 you generate.

Step 4 is building up some savings so you don't have to add to your debt for expected, but sudden, expenses like a repair. Put this in a savings account attached to your checking. You should do this simultaneously with debt reduction until you reach some round number like $1000. Then, back to full debt reduction.

Step 5 is the long term savings. Some of that depends on your spouse's job.

There are good free counseling places if it's too hard - and they would love to see people like you, who are not in a hopeless situation, who have a good attitude, and who want to learn. But it sounds like you could do this on your own.

I don't know your expenses - but I know there is a steady, hopefully decently compensated, union job with overtime - and then there is also YOU, determined to make a budget work, to reduce debt, to make it easy on your overtime-working spouse to go along with you. You can do this. You can make a dent in debt in one year. Slow and steady wins the race in your case.
Click to expand...
I have gotten much encouragement already just from what I have read and have gotten as a response.

We are on the same page as far as getting rid of our debt but not the way we get rid of it. Him working OT is mandatory right now for this job. He works in the trades so we take the OT when he can get it. He'll be laid off sometime between Jan-Feb and March - May. This year it started the end of April and went 6 weeks laid off. So we will be tight on everything come that time.

I have a budget. I have a book that I use to figure out what needs to come out of what check for what bill and it has worked but lately there has been too many things that have interrupted this budget. For one his engine blew in his car last month and he needed new rear axels a few months ago. We don't have alot in savings so when something comes up it takes it all away and I have to start over.

I have gotten rid of 2 debts already (1 of them will be gone next week) so I feel my way is working. Using the extra money of the vacation fund to pay down bills. I have it mapped out a few months and I just can't get him on board. He talks to his brother so much and he brings up velocity every time. I'm fact his brother told him to just go get the LOC without me, like he did, and show me that it works. Our marriage isn't based on that. We have great communication but this is a sore subject for us.
 
seraphim said:
You’ve gotten some excellent advice. I would like to address an area you mentioned - learning about stocks and bonds. While I don’t suggest you start investing now, it’s a good time for you to start learning and be ready ready for when you can invest. I’ll recommend a site called Morningstar.com. Register for a free account for which permits you to access their education page. It is essentially a college education presented in 5 to 10 minute informational bites, with quizzes after each session. Do all the level 100 lessons first, then the 200 level, etc. Complete this and you will understand how markets and investment works. Morningstar makes its money by paid subscribers, who are looking for comprehensive market and investment information. You have no need for that. They are not pushy trying to get you into a paid subscription, so just ignore that part. If you sped 5 to 10 minutes a day, then do the quiz, you’ll be in a position to understand investing in about a year. They also provide a lot of free information about markets, stocks and bonds that might interest you.

Vanguard.com also has a similar education page. Vanguard provides mutual funds - an option you will want to look at when you start investing. You’ll learn about those if you do the education regime I’ve recommended. The education pages we a bit concealed. So. I’ll try to find a link for you.

Good luck.

Jerry
Click to expand...
Thank you. I will definitely look into those lessons. That kinda what I want to do. Start learning about it so that when the time is right I know what to do.
 
pb4uski said:
You might show him this thread and that there are a whole bunch of people here who have been financially successful.... many self-made millionaires and multi-millionaires... who recommend against it.

Velocity banking is just another form of debt consolidation... debt consolidation can be a godsend if one has really good financial discipline... most people don't... they breath a huge sigh of relief when the debt is consolidated into their mortgage or HELOC and then go back to their living beyond their means ways and 6 months later are in the same difficult position but it is worse because they have more mortgage debt... so if you want to lose your home and go bankrupt then velocity banking would seem to be a good way to get there.

See the third tag line in my signature... slow and steady wins the race... if you want financial success that should be your mantra.... that is the way to avoid busting your butt and having nothing to show for it.

You don't need a new car for you and the baby. For one thing, you can't afford a new car. I wouldn't do anything on the cars if they are both reliable... the SUV is the baby vehicle and the other is the second car. I would consider making the SUV your daily driver and making the sports car DH's commute to work vehicle.... or perhaps a near even trade of the sports car for a more practical sedan if you really need to. The idea is to either make do with what you have or get to vehicles that work for your needs but with minimal and preferably no additional debt.

Your immediate priority should be two-fold: 1) learn to live within your means and 2) peck away at the debt... especially the credit card debt. What are the interest rates on your debt? How much can you apply to additional payments each month? IOW, the $4k/month that DH earns less your monthly living expenses less required debt payments... peck off the high interest rate debt first.

At this point I wouldn't worry about the home mortgage and student loans and possibly even the car debt... just make the required payments on those and focus on 1) not incurring any additional debt and 2) paying off the credit card and personal loan debt.

Hang around here some and you'll get plenty of nuggests of wisdom about living within your means.

Once the "bad" debt is gone you can start diverting some of the discretionary funds to savings.... once you have a little savings built you can move on to investing.... and that is easy too... there are lots of funds available that cover the entire US stock market... don't worry at bonds at your age... you want to be in equities so your money can grow.

Realistically, it may take you guys a year or two to get to the point where your "bad" debt is gone and you are savings but no worries... you have a 20-30 year time horizon.

Pencil out a plan for the payoff of the debt and then work the plan.... that plan, plus getting a handle on living within your means and taking care of the kids are your new "job" as a SAHM... your new "job" is your household's chief operating officer.
Click to expand...
I want to show him this thread but he'll probably get mad at me because I'm getting advice from someone who doesn't know our situation and stuff even though I gave you guys a snapshot of it.

So it is debt consolidation and I keep bring it up that way. Velocity banking (VB) is like a glorified credit card when you transfer a balance. We would be using a personal line of credit as we can't get a HELOC.

As far as the cars go.... He needs the suv for work. He takes a bunch of tools everyday as he's a trademen. The job sites are construction sites basically and my car is roughly 3 inches off the ground. No way he can get into the sites being that low to the ground. (I've had the car since my 20s and was heavily involved in a car club and modification of my car). He also drives around 100-150 mi daily and my car won't hold up with that much driving. It's almost 20 years old and has 160k on it. Being that it's that old with miles we would only get about $500 for a trade. It's not worth trading it for that low of an amount when it drives fine for me. It's just hard because the car seat doesn't exactly fit in the back seat well and there's no room inside if I go shopping. (the hatch, trunk, is broken and won't open).

The interest rates are kinda high. 2 of the c/c have a 25% Apr and the other 2 are 0% interest for a yr. I'm working on paying those off first. In fact the one will be paid off next week with the money from his vacation fund when it gets deposited.
The personal loan on the tractor is 11% and the car is a little over 10%. The mortgage is only 4.375% and we unfortunately had an issue with that last year 2018 when he was laid off and we almost lost it. So that is why we do t have any home equity bc we basically started over with our mortgage this year.

I have a plan with the snowball effect. Pay off the 2 0% interest first then the other 2 credit cards then personal loan. It's just he wants immediate results I feel and not thinking long term really. He is causing me so much anxiety with this VB that I feel like I'll give in but I know I can't and I have to stand my ground.

Thank you for all the comments/information. It has helped me.
 
Audie Murphy said:
Dave Ramsey's...The Total Money Make Over.

It works!

The problem that consolidation creates (according to Ramsey) is that you think you have done something when you have just rearranged your debt. Debt is a behavior problem. Learn to budget and learn to quit spending on wants. Live below your means. The savings on consolidation is minimal if you actually want to get out of debt. It will also take away the small victories that happen during the “snowball” and give you one big debt mound to try to conquer. You have not proven you are going to get debt free so it may even hurt you by clearing out the things that have gotten you in trouble (credit cards) and tempting you to use them again putting you farther in debt. No upside to consolidating in my opinion.
Click to expand...
Exactly. Just rearranged debt. And he feels that since there is a smaller interest rate (not necessarily I found out) and it's figured out simple and not compound that it is the answer.
 
Thank you for being you

Welcome, Robo, to this, the most useful online forum you will ever find.

There are people here - wonderful people, to be sure - who earn very large incomes. They often live in extreme HCOL cities or carry large debt loads from, for example, medical school or purchase of rental properties. But as a consequence they reap substantial cash flows, and their questions tend to be about how to optimize their already enviable situations to achieve a plush early retirement. I love those people, but I seldom have anything to offer them.

You are a much more realistic example for this board: a normal middle class family, living in the heartland, eager to build some prosperity. You've got some legacy debts. DH may not be scoring neurosurgeon-level money but he has solid employment. The two of you aren't seeking yachts or Italian exoticars, just a decent level of financial security.

You are much more likely to get actionable advice here, and extremely likely to succeed the more closely you can follow it.

And if virtually all of it sounds like, "Live below your means", "Save and invest steadily for a few decades", and "Stick with low-cost index funds for diversification and control of investment expenses", that's because it's the advice which has been most effective for the greatest number of ordinary people like you... and me.

Once again, welcome and I look forward to you posting your progress in the future.
 
Best way to get rich fast is to get rich slowly. Pay off debt first...not move it around and feel like you accomplished something.
 
The interest rates are kinda high. 2 of the c/c have a 25% Apr and the other 2 are 0% interest for a yr. I'm working on paying those off first. In fact the one will be paid off next week with the money from his vacation fund when it gets deposited.
Click to expand...

You ARE getting results. Paying off one of the debts IS a result. And it sounds as though you've retired two of the debts already. The snowball is rolling! Just make sure he acknowledges this fact.

Worse case scenario and he absolutely insists ... could you get him to give the purse strings entirely over to you? You sound very disciplined. My family was union too, and my mother entirely controlled the finances. I am still benefiting from her discipline, long after she has passed away.
 
Robocp4 said:
.... As far as the cars go.... He needs the suv for work. He takes a bunch of tools everyday as he's a trademen. The job sites are construction sites basically and my car is roughly 3 inches off the ground. No way he can get into the sites being that low to the ground. (I've had the car since my 20s and was heavily involved in a car club and modification of my car). He also drives around 100-150 mi daily and my car won't hold up with that much driving. It's almost 20 years old and has 160k on it. Being that it's that old with miles we would only get about $500 for a trade. It's not worth trading it for that low of an amount when it drives fine for me. It's just hard because the car seat doesn't exactly fit in the back seat well and there's no room inside if I go shopping. (the hatch, trunk, is broken and won't open).
...
Click to expand...

Ok, I get it on the car now... and in the OP where you said that you need a new car, I think you really meant that you need a different car. Since the sports car is worth so little you might just keep it as a summer fun car for later in life... it sounds like a used 4 door sedan or minivan would work for you and you should be able to get a used one with 50k miles that would be reasonably reliable for about $5k... not a forever car but a for a few years car.
 
One thing that you might do show your progress is simple list of your debts at the end of each quarter and perhaps a graph to show the progress and the trendline downwards.... it wil help keep you incentivized to stay the course.... you could even add to the graph the planned debt balances based on your plan to paydown the debt.
 
pb4uski said:
One thing that you might do show your progress is simple list of your debts at the end of each quarter and perhaps a graph to show the progress and the trendline downwards.... it wil help keep you incentivized to stay the course.
Click to expand...
I never thought about that. I am all about being visual and a graph would be perfect.

Yes I meant I need a different car... New to me car lol. The problem would be getting that 5k to buy the vehicle. Only thing we got is a couple thousand in savings that is going towards the new engine and I did think about his annuity. Maybe taking 10k from that but I know nothing about those.
 
Welcome Robocp4

What is a credible source to learn about Velocity Banking? Everything I’ve found so far on YouTube is beyond sketchy.

I track my debt monthly with quarterly summaries that include interest and payment amount. I target monthly and annual debt reduction targets. I also track total reduction from when I started tracking. I started tracking when our debt seemed to be getting out of control. Now I just do it out of habit.
 
jazz4cash said:
Welcome Robocp4

What is a credible source to learn about Velocity Banking? Everything I’ve found so far on YouTube is beyond sketchy.

I track my debt monthly with quarterly summaries that include interest and payment amount. I target monthly and annual debt reduction targets. I also track total reduction from when I started tracking. I started tracking when our debt seemed to be getting out of control. Now I just do it out of habit.
Click to expand...

Everything I was sent from my brother in law was from you tube. These are the ones he used to learn how to do it. See below:

*Denzel Napoleon Rodriguez (finance geek)
*Randall Cloud - Debt acceleration

Both make it sound great but in reality it's just consolidation.

Do you have a specific program you use to track everything? Or is it just in say excel?
 
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