Posted on 06/01/2011 6:57:16 PM PDT by Libloather
out of pocket
We got lucky. We paid our mortgage off in 2007, pay off credit cards in full every month. The wife's car should be paid off later this year.
My wife checks for sales and uses coupons when shopping. I am the only income earner in the household, but we make do with my salary. We have a lot in savings and some stocks and bonds.
Is your savings paying more than the credit card? If not, pay off the card with non-retirement savings.
If your savings is paying more than the credit card, take the card to the max and put it in savings. :)
“I pay about $50 more than the minimum on each one every month,”
If you are doing so well on investments, borrow to the hilt on the cards and just make minimum payments. Otherwise, your plan doesn’t make sense.
“My suggestion is to draw down your savings to pay off a credit card, but only if you have at least 4-6 months worth of expenses saved set aside already.”
Illogical. Pay off the credit card and use it for emergencies until your 4-6 months savings is built. Then dump the card
:) Thanks. That makes total sense.
“reserve 10k for guns, ammo, seeds, MREs, and misc supplies.”
Ridiculous except for the guns. If the SHTF, the survivors will be people who know how to scavenge and live off what is available
Oh, AMEN to that! I have Frugality Fatigue big time.
As far as the land line is concerned, I went all the way down to nothing but the phone. It costs about $10/month. I added long distance and local toll calls through a 3rd party provider (one who is affiliated with a pro-life org and donates a percentage of their profits to them). That costs between 3 and 12/month.
I have to have a cell phone for work since I travel a lot.
Agreed, but I can’t scavenge because of health conditions. I hope 6 mos off MREs will be enough. Moot point really because survivors out of NYC will overrun my position w/in a week.
I talked to a plumber that went up there to check things out. He said the rent for a one bedroom was so outrageous that he could hardly put any money away.
MRE’s are an expensive toy. If you have that much money, buy lots of rice and beans.
Rent runs $1200/mo. and more for a one bedroom apartment if you can find one. Figure three grand or more to move in. I'd be checking out possibilities and weighing them against expenses. A good place to start is here: http://www.theshopperinc.net/viewer.html (start about the middle) for Williston and the surrounding area, there may be something similar in Minot, or Dickinson, and I'd check the Bismarck Tribune because there may be some work in that area due to flood damage (Minot, too). The construction season here is relatively short, but intense. We have up to 16 hours of daylight in midsummer, so the workdays can be longer, and this is a right-to-work state.
The state is business friendly--check out www.nd.gov for info on starting a business here.
As in all things, compare your skill set and talents to available positions and the compensation for those and do due dilligence, then decide if the change is right for you. Keep in mind that winter here is brutal by most standards, but a summer of employment may prove to be helpful for your situation.
High demand positions include semi drivers, especially w/tanker, doubles and hazmat endorsements. Most drilling and workover rig companies pay well, and will train. A clean driving record helps, ability to pass a preemployment drug test is pretty much needed for any really good paying job.
No, technically I did not pay into the UI program. I live in Tennessee and the state does not tax the worker, only the employer.
And it’s one of the lowest rates and tax bases in the country which is why we have more employers.
They did up the base and increase the rates a couple of years ago when the so-called fund was, on the fake books, running out. Cost our hotel a retro tax of about $30K. Enough to hire a new assistant mangager in some department.
So the company paid the tax but under the law are liable for eliminating my job. They did “offer” another but more hours and less money wasn’t worth it. Thankfully it’s just a perk and not a necessity.
Out Of Pocket
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