I think it's important to brainstorm and then finalize goals for after our bankruptcy discharge and for the future. This small series will be devoted to outlining some of the ones I've been thinking about.
Long Term Goals
Now that we've (in theory) saved up some money, paid off my hubby's student loans, and paid off my student loans (they'll be gone after 10 years as well) it's probably about 2021. I'll be 41 and my daughter will be 14. My husband will be 50.
At this point we'll spend the next ten years paying off our mortgage.
I used BOA's amortization calculator and found out we'd be able to do this easily.
Now, assuming that I'm working a full time job (worst case scenario, let's say $20k a year) without daycare expenses (she'll be in school) and my hubby is working full time still (probably $45k by then) we'll be able to do this even faster.
OR
We can also save for our retirement.
I'm debating on how much to help our daughter for college. Before I always said she can take out loans and work like I did, but now that I realize the impact non-dis chargeable student loans can have, I'm seriously considering doing the Florida Pre-Paid Plan. I'll look into that and maybe adjust our goals accordingly.
Review
- Save enough for an emergency fund that will cover vehicle replacement, a/c replacement, water heater replacement, etc.
- Pay off student loans in 10 years.
- Pay off mortgage in next 10 years.
- Save for retirement and possibly Fl-prepaid college fund.
What are YOUR goals?
If you're in the process of filing bankruptcy, what are you going to change afterward? Where are your extra payments (the ones you've been making on your dischargeable debt) going to go? Leave a comment and let me know!
Showing posts with label the future. Show all posts
Showing posts with label the future. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
New Goals: Part 3
I think it's important to brainstorm and then finalize goals for after our bankruptcy discharge and for the future. This small series will be devoted to outlining some of the ones I've been thinking about.
Goals for the Next 11 Years (10 years after our year of savings)
I did a rather elaborate spreadsheet to figure out how our finances could go over the next 10 years. This is assuming one income, plus hubby's disability, plus mom's gift (or whatever funds replace that gift), so it's not fool proof.
(In fact, chances are that once our child is in 2nd or 3rd grade, I'll be working a full time job. I might choose to go back to school myself, and I'd really love to do that, but it's not certain.)
Once our year of savings has passed we're going to pour all our extra money into paying off hubby's student loans.
He owes $60,000 at a reasonable interest rate.
Paying his payment of $325/month he'd take roughly 15 years to pay it off.
If we make payments of $500/month plus whatever else we can spare we'd be able to pay it off in about ten years.
Again, it's not exact as I didn't calculate interest which will be about $2250 a year.
We should be able to pay that as my student loans will be $100/month, roughly, and his will be $325/month. That's still less than the $600/month we're currently paying (and just getting by on if we ignore other essentials) for credit card debt.
Goals for the Next 11 Years (10 years after our year of savings)
I did a rather elaborate spreadsheet to figure out how our finances could go over the next 10 years. This is assuming one income, plus hubby's disability, plus mom's gift (or whatever funds replace that gift), so it's not fool proof.
(In fact, chances are that once our child is in 2nd or 3rd grade, I'll be working a full time job. I might choose to go back to school myself, and I'd really love to do that, but it's not certain.)
Once our year of savings has passed we're going to pour all our extra money into paying off hubby's student loans.
He owes $60,000 at a reasonable interest rate.
Paying his payment of $325/month he'd take roughly 15 years to pay it off.
If we make payments of $500/month plus whatever else we can spare we'd be able to pay it off in about ten years.
Again, it's not exact as I didn't calculate interest which will be about $2250 a year.
We should be able to pay that as my student loans will be $100/month, roughly, and his will be $325/month. That's still less than the $600/month we're currently paying (and just getting by on if we ignore other essentials) for credit card debt.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
New Goals: Part 2
I think it's important to brainstorm and then finalize goals for after our bankruptcy discharge and for the future. This small series will be devoted to outlining some of the ones I've been thinking about.
Goals for Savings
As a review we'll have about $8500 (we hope) in savings by June 2011. This money is to serve as our emergency fund. We know we're going to have to replace our water heater within the next few years and our A/C within the next five, probably sooner. We'll also need to replace my car (13 years old currently, with almost 200,000 miles on it) sometime soon and likely have some repairs to keep it running as long as possible. We hope all of that will be covered and we can pay cash as much as possible.
Goals for Mom
I would like to be in a position where if mom decides to move out or something happens to her we'll be able to pay all our bills and still save some money. Right now she gifts us $500/month. If she changed her mind or needed her money for something else, we'd be screwed. Completely and totally. So being financially secure without her gift is a big goal.
Goals for Rebuilding Credit
- Start repaying my student loans in October 2010. I've never been late on a payment, and I'm going to be even more vigilant in the future.
- Get a secured credit card that reports to the credit agencies without labeling it as "secured". Use it to pay for gas only and pay it off monthly. Convert this to an unsecured card as soon as I can.
OR
- I have several cards that have no balance on them. Assuming they don't cancel my account I intend to use them as mentioned above and pay them off each month.
Since I will not be purchasing a house (hubby already did that) or financing a new car (we intend to get a reliable older car and pay cash for it) I think that will be my plan for the next 24 months.
Hubby agreed that if we get divorced before I rebuild my credit that he will help me out as much as possible. We don't plan on ever separating, but we usually discuss "worst case" scenarios with big decisions and make fair and logical choices before the situation has a change to come up. Deciding it then would be too emotional.
If he should, God forbid, die in the next few years, I would be able to collect his life insurance and would have time to reestablish credit.
Based on those things I think a less stressed approach will work over the next 2 years and then we'll see where we're at.
Goals for Savings
As a review we'll have about $8500 (we hope) in savings by June 2011. This money is to serve as our emergency fund. We know we're going to have to replace our water heater within the next few years and our A/C within the next five, probably sooner. We'll also need to replace my car (13 years old currently, with almost 200,000 miles on it) sometime soon and likely have some repairs to keep it running as long as possible. We hope all of that will be covered and we can pay cash as much as possible.
Goals for Mom
I would like to be in a position where if mom decides to move out or something happens to her we'll be able to pay all our bills and still save some money. Right now she gifts us $500/month. If she changed her mind or needed her money for something else, we'd be screwed. Completely and totally. So being financially secure without her gift is a big goal.
Goals for Rebuilding Credit
- Start repaying my student loans in October 2010. I've never been late on a payment, and I'm going to be even more vigilant in the future.
- Get a secured credit card that reports to the credit agencies without labeling it as "secured". Use it to pay for gas only and pay it off monthly. Convert this to an unsecured card as soon as I can.
OR
- I have several cards that have no balance on them. Assuming they don't cancel my account I intend to use them as mentioned above and pay them off each month.
Since I will not be purchasing a house (hubby already did that) or financing a new car (we intend to get a reliable older car and pay cash for it) I think that will be my plan for the next 24 months.
Hubby agreed that if we get divorced before I rebuild my credit that he will help me out as much as possible. We don't plan on ever separating, but we usually discuss "worst case" scenarios with big decisions and make fair and logical choices before the situation has a change to come up. Deciding it then would be too emotional.
If he should, God forbid, die in the next few years, I would be able to collect his life insurance and would have time to reestablish credit.
Based on those things I think a less stressed approach will work over the next 2 years and then we'll see where we're at.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
New Goals: Part 1
I think it's important to brainstorm and then finalize goals for after our bankruptcy discharge and for the future. This small series will be devoted to outlining some of the ones I've been thinking about.
Goals for After Discharge
- Open up a savings account with Landmark Bank
- Have hubby's work direct deposit part of his income directly into the savings account.
- Close the multiple Ingdirect accounts we've opened, keeping one Orange Checking and one savings account for our emergency fund. It was helpful to be able to categorize our savings into specific named accounts (Ie: car repair fund, house downpayment fund) but it's become complicated and we've got Quickbooks, so there's no reason to do it that way anymore.
- Setup our accounting in Quickbooks (which we bought a few years ago when I had my own business) instead of using a spreadsheet (I love Open Office, by the way, and highly recommend it).
- Reduce our spending. Hopefully our garden will help with this in a few months.
- If we don't get them done before filing, get our teeth cleaned, examined, and cavities filled in April.
- See a dermatologist for a cancer screening. We've been putting this off, but it's terribly important in Florida and our insurance covers it.
Between filing and June 2011
Hubby's student loans come due June 2010. We're going to put them off one more year and save as much as possible. When mine come due in October 2010 I'm going to start paying on them again. Ideally we'll have about $8500 saved by June 2011.
Goals for After Discharge
- Open up a savings account with Landmark Bank
- Have hubby's work direct deposit part of his income directly into the savings account.
- Close the multiple Ingdirect accounts we've opened, keeping one Orange Checking and one savings account for our emergency fund. It was helpful to be able to categorize our savings into specific named accounts (Ie: car repair fund, house downpayment fund) but it's become complicated and we've got Quickbooks, so there's no reason to do it that way anymore.
- Setup our accounting in Quickbooks (which we bought a few years ago when I had my own business) instead of using a spreadsheet (I love Open Office, by the way, and highly recommend it).
- Reduce our spending. Hopefully our garden will help with this in a few months.
- If we don't get them done before filing, get our teeth cleaned, examined, and cavities filled in April.
- See a dermatologist for a cancer screening. We've been putting this off, but it's terribly important in Florida and our insurance covers it.
Between filing and June 2011
Hubby's student loans come due June 2010. We're going to put them off one more year and save as much as possible. When mine come due in October 2010 I'm going to start paying on them again. Ideally we'll have about $8500 saved by June 2011.
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