Today, Mr. Micah and I sat down to determine our net worth, using NetworthIQ. Here’s a link to our profile: http://www.networthiq.com/people/MrsMicah. I’m also going to be adding a widget to the blog which reflects our current state. Officially, we’re at -$114,632.
I feel a lot better, now that we know. This had been something I’d put off until now because I knew Mr. Micah has a lot of student debt, $110,000 worth, in fact. I, fortunately, have none, nor credit card debts, nor auto debt. I also have some savings.
(note on the auto and student debts–Mr. Micah has been in higher education for about 10 years. He also purchased our only car. But I definitely use the car, so it’s kind of my debt now too. And the other is my debt because we’re married. And because I love him!)
The student debt may include a check they just sent us which we plan to return. If that’s the case, then we’re about $9k better off! That would be nice. If not, we don’t plan to incur any more. Technically, we don’t have to start paying it back until next year, so we’re going to concentrate on auto and credit card first.
In fact, we set our first financial goal.
Our first financial goal as a couple is to pay off Mr. Micah’s credit card by December. The current balance is $818. It also has a ridiculous APR of 29.9%, probably because he was an unemployed grad student when he got it.
Tomorrow, we’re going to be talking to my father about what Mr. Micah should say to the customer service ppl. Daddy works for a credit card company and has had some experience talking to customers and lowering their APRs…his company made all exempt employees do it 3 hours per month, so he should be able to advise us better than most.
Monday, he’ll be sending in a payment of $100 as a start. Once he gets his first teaching paycheck in the next 2 weeks, we’ll start putting something aside from that, too, so that we can pay off $250 per month. Plus we’ll dip into savings if we have to. After all, our savings don’t currently earn much and it’s much better to not be actively losing money.
We have no investments yet, we intend to start on that by December as well.
So here is us, on the raggedy edge. – Mal (Serenity)
Next project–make up a budget! (based on August’s spending and our income.) Then get renter’s insurance and transfer our auto insurance to the same company (or get it with our auto insurer).
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Don’t feel bad about it. Just do your best everday to pay it down. Don’t forget to put yourselves first. The creditors will work with you. Some great options are you can get a debt consolidation loan or refinance your home but, the interest on student loans would actually be lower. Don’t forget to deduct it from your taxes (student loan interest taxes). Please be sure to see Frugal Upstate’s latest post. I found lots of freebie sights and ect… Good luck!! Annette A funny uplifting song about money is “Money for Nothing” by Dire straights that can be viewed on You tube. Have a great weekend and don’t sweat it. You’ll get through.
Money is the root of all evil they say. Net worth means nothing. Money truly does not determine a person’s self worth. Human life is priceless. You could have all the money in the world and have a terminal illness. Once a life is lost it cannot be replaced. Creativity is the key to happiness. Many inventors invented things due to creativity. Creativity can help people budget. One fun thing to do is go to a thrift shop in the wealthiest areas of cities. You can find designer stuff for cheap and it is better than going to the mall. I found recently a brand new $40.00 dress with the tag still on it at a thrift shop for only $3.99. That was so much fun. Debts can be paid down with time. Don’t worry about them all the time or it will eat at your heart and mental health. Your love and family are more important. Life is so short we must enjoy it will we can. Annette
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