I am skint.
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Don't ever get divorced. Marc Help! I'm an AI running around in someone's f*cked up universe simulator.
LOL - never before has a post said so much with so few words. I've been divorced but there were no kids and we were so poor, there was no money to fight over. Christian No offense, but I don't really want to encourage the creation of another VB developer. - Larry Antram 22 Oct 2002 Hey, at least Logo had, at it's inception, a mechanical turtle. VB has always lacked even that... - Shog9 04-09-2002 Again, you can screw up a C/C++ program just as easily as a VB program. OK, maybe not as easily, but it's certainly doable. - Jamie Nordmeyer - 15-Nov-2002
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Christian Graus wrote: I did one. It leaves me with about $1100 a month, so I try to just put $1000 away as a first priority and live on the rest. It worked great for 5 months, then I needed to buy the new PC, and now Xmas is killing me. You should be saving about 15% of your income into mutual funds (you may not have them in NZ). From http://www.mfea.com[^]: A mutual fund is a company that pools the money of many investors -- its shareholders -- to invest in a variety of different securities. Investments may be in stocks, bonds, money market securities or some combination of these. Those securities are professionally managed on behalf of the shareholders, and each investor holds a pro rata share of the portfolio -- entitled to any profits when the securities are sold, but subject to any losses in value as well. My wife and I are quickly paying off our debts so we can save a bundle later. X-mas always hurts though. Christian Graus wrote: Home loan, car loan and a couple of small, temporary store accounts. Forget the home loan for now, just pay regular monthly payments on it until you eliminate your other debt. First you should focus on your smallest debt (not smallest interest rate, smallest balance). Pay it off as quickly as possible then apply its payment to the next smallest debt and so on until you have everything paid off. We are using this method and we will have over $20,000 in debt paid off in about 1 1/2 years if not sooner. Of course, if you have extra cash, throw it on the debt until its gone. You probably shouldn't save anything until your debt is gone either. After you are out of debt, don't get back into it. Use a debit card if your bank has one and cancel your credit cards. Next, you can focus on the house and save some real money. Christian Graus wrote: If it does not involve 4 $5 bills and sending lots of emails, I'm interested to hear it Just send me a personal check, I trust you. :-D
Jason Henderson
start page ; articles henderson is coming henJason Henderson wrote: Forget the home loan for now, just pay regular monthly payments on it until you eliminate your other debt. First you should focus on your smallest debt (not smallest interest rate, smallest balance). Pay it off as quickly as possible then apply its payment to the next smallest debt and so on until you have everything paid off. We are using this method and we will have over $20,000 in debt paid off in about 1 1/2 years if not sooner. Actually, the goal should not be to reduce the number of creditors as quickly as possible. The goal should be to pay the LEAST amount of interest (thereby saving the most money). This means ordering your debt from HIGHEST to LOWEST interest rates. Pay the minimum payment on all but the highest. Pay more than the minimum (whatever you can) on the highest interest rate. It may take longer to pay off some creditors, but you will save the most money in the long run. -Sean ---- Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -- Albert Einstein. I saw a woman wearing a sweatshirt with 'Guess' on it. I said, "Thyroid problem?" -- Emo Philips. Love is two minutes, 52 seconds of squishing noises. -- Johnny Rotten.
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LOL - never before has a post said so much with so few words. I've been divorced but there were no kids and we were so poor, there was no money to fight over. Christian No offense, but I don't really want to encourage the creation of another VB developer. - Larry Antram 22 Oct 2002 Hey, at least Logo had, at it's inception, a mechanical turtle. VB has always lacked even that... - Shog9 04-09-2002 Again, you can screw up a C/C++ program just as easily as a VB program. OK, maybe not as easily, but it's certainly doable. - Jamie Nordmeyer - 15-Nov-2002
Unfortunately, I've been divorced twice. The first time we both had a very pleasant split-up (sort of an oxymoron, isn't it???), but the second time cost me $10,000 in legal fees and $16,000 in alimony. Ugh. If there ever is a next time, it'll be with an iron clad pre-nupt in hand as we walk down the isle. Maybe the vows should be: "...to care for each other in sickness and health, and never to sue each other's asses when you get divorced". (note "when", not "if") Marc Help! I'm an AI running around in someone's f*cked up universe simulator.
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Jason Henderson wrote: Forget the home loan for now, just pay regular monthly payments on it until you eliminate your other debt. First you should focus on your smallest debt (not smallest interest rate, smallest balance). Pay it off as quickly as possible then apply its payment to the next smallest debt and so on until you have everything paid off. We are using this method and we will have over $20,000 in debt paid off in about 1 1/2 years if not sooner. Actually, the goal should not be to reduce the number of creditors as quickly as possible. The goal should be to pay the LEAST amount of interest (thereby saving the most money). This means ordering your debt from HIGHEST to LOWEST interest rates. Pay the minimum payment on all but the highest. Pay more than the minimum (whatever you can) on the highest interest rate. It may take longer to pay off some creditors, but you will save the most money in the long run. -Sean ---- Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former. -- Albert Einstein. I saw a woman wearing a sweatshirt with 'Guess' on it. I said, "Thyroid problem?" -- Emo Philips. Love is two minutes, 52 seconds of squishing noises. -- Johnny Rotten.
Sean Cundiff wrote: The goal should be to pay the LEAST amount of interest (thereby saving the most money). This means ordering your debt from HIGHEST to LOWEST interest rates. Pay the minimum payment on all but the highest. Pay more than the minimum (whatever you can) on the highest interest rate. I disagree. The mental/emotional side of debt elimination is very important. When you eliminate a debt, you feel liberated. If I were to try and pay off my car first, I'd feel like I wasn't getting anywhere plus I'd have other debts to pay off too. I couldn't focus only on the car. With each debt you eliminate, you need to add that payment to your next one. Sean Cundiff wrote: It may take longer to pay off some creditors, but you will save the most money in the long run. Interest compounds over time. If you pay off debts quicker, you won't have to pay as much interest. If it takes longer to pay off your debt using that method, then you aren't saving much.
Jason Henderson
start page ; articles henderson is coming henderson is an opponent's worst nightmare * googlism * -
Sean Cundiff wrote: The goal should be to pay the LEAST amount of interest (thereby saving the most money). This means ordering your debt from HIGHEST to LOWEST interest rates. Pay the minimum payment on all but the highest. Pay more than the minimum (whatever you can) on the highest interest rate. I disagree. The mental/emotional side of debt elimination is very important. When you eliminate a debt, you feel liberated. If I were to try and pay off my car first, I'd feel like I wasn't getting anywhere plus I'd have other debts to pay off too. I couldn't focus only on the car. With each debt you eliminate, you need to add that payment to your next one. Sean Cundiff wrote: It may take longer to pay off some creditors, but you will save the most money in the long run. Interest compounds over time. If you pay off debts quicker, you won't have to pay as much interest. If it takes longer to pay off your debt using that method, then you aren't saving much.
Jason Henderson
start page ; articles henderson is coming henderson is an opponent's worst nightmare * googlism *Jason Henderson wrote: Interest compounds over time. If you pay off debts quicker, you won't have to pay as much interest. If it takes longer to pay off your debt using that method, then you aren't saving much. OK, I'll give you this one. I have a mortgage and credit card debt. I certainly am not worrying about the home. However my goal is to get rid of credit card debt. To that end, I ordered my CC's by interest rate and used the method I discussed above. Jason Henderson wrote: Interest compounds over time. If you pay off debts quicker, you won't have to pay as much interest. If it takes longer to pay off your debt using that method, then you aren't saving much. Yes, but the point is you have a collection of debts (not just a single debt), which is accruing interest faster? The higher interest rate is. That means the faster you pay off the higher interest rate, regardless of balance, the more money you will save. This is a classic Linear Algebra problem (minimization/constraint). In other words, given various debts with associated interest rates, minimize the TOTAL amount of interest paid. The constraint is how much money you have to pay on the balances. Example: Debt 1 $1000 @ 5% min payment = $200/month Debt 2 $5000 @ 10% min payment = $600/month (just to keep things simple) $1000/month expendable cash ($200 for debt 1, $600 for debt 2, $200 to spread over the two debts) Your method: Debt 1 pay $400 month. (add extra to lower balance) Debt 2 pay $600 month.
Debt 1 (1000 @ 5%, $200 minimum payment)
Previous Balance Payment New Balance
$1,000.00 $400.00 $650.00
$650.00 $400.00 $282.50
$282.50 $296.63 $0.00Debt 2 (5000 @ 10%, $600 minimum payment)
Previous Balance Payment New Balance
$5,000.00 $600.00 $4,900.00
$4,900.00 $600.00 $4,790.00
$4,790.00 $703.37 $4,565.63
$4,565.63 $1,000.00 $4,022.19
$4,022.19 $1,000.00 $3,424.41
$3,424.41 $1,000.00 $2,766.85
$2,766.85 $1,000.00 $2,043.54
$2,043.54 $1,000.00 $1,247.89
$1,247.89 $1,000.00 $372.68
$372.68 $409.95 $0.00Debt 1 Paid Off: 3 Months Debt 2 Paid Off: 10 Months Total Payments: $9,409.95 Total Interest Paid: $3,409.95 My method: Debt 1 pay $200 month. Debt 2 pay $800 month. (add extra to higher interest rate)
Debt 1 (1000 @ 5%, $200 minimum payment)
Previous Balanc -
Jason Henderson wrote: Interest compounds over time. If you pay off debts quicker, you won't have to pay as much interest. If it takes longer to pay off your debt using that method, then you aren't saving much. OK, I'll give you this one. I have a mortgage and credit card debt. I certainly am not worrying about the home. However my goal is to get rid of credit card debt. To that end, I ordered my CC's by interest rate and used the method I discussed above. Jason Henderson wrote: Interest compounds over time. If you pay off debts quicker, you won't have to pay as much interest. If it takes longer to pay off your debt using that method, then you aren't saving much. Yes, but the point is you have a collection of debts (not just a single debt), which is accruing interest faster? The higher interest rate is. That means the faster you pay off the higher interest rate, regardless of balance, the more money you will save. This is a classic Linear Algebra problem (minimization/constraint). In other words, given various debts with associated interest rates, minimize the TOTAL amount of interest paid. The constraint is how much money you have to pay on the balances. Example: Debt 1 $1000 @ 5% min payment = $200/month Debt 2 $5000 @ 10% min payment = $600/month (just to keep things simple) $1000/month expendable cash ($200 for debt 1, $600 for debt 2, $200 to spread over the two debts) Your method: Debt 1 pay $400 month. (add extra to lower balance) Debt 2 pay $600 month.
Debt 1 (1000 @ 5%, $200 minimum payment)
Previous Balance Payment New Balance
$1,000.00 $400.00 $650.00
$650.00 $400.00 $282.50
$282.50 $296.63 $0.00Debt 2 (5000 @ 10%, $600 minimum payment)
Previous Balance Payment New Balance
$5,000.00 $600.00 $4,900.00
$4,900.00 $600.00 $4,790.00
$4,790.00 $703.37 $4,565.63
$4,565.63 $1,000.00 $4,022.19
$4,022.19 $1,000.00 $3,424.41
$3,424.41 $1,000.00 $2,766.85
$2,766.85 $1,000.00 $2,043.54
$2,043.54 $1,000.00 $1,247.89
$1,247.89 $1,000.00 $372.68
$372.68 $409.95 $0.00Debt 1 Paid Off: 3 Months Debt 2 Paid Off: 10 Months Total Payments: $9,409.95 Total Interest Paid: $3,409.95 My method: Debt 1 pay $200 month. Debt 2 pay $800 month. (add extra to higher interest rate)
Debt 1 (1000 @ 5%, $200 minimum payment)
Previous BalancYour interest accrual is way off. You won't be paying 5% per month in interest, but per year instead. After the first month of the $1000 total you would owe $4.17 more, not $50. Here's how the calculations should look (I think they are right with compounding interest and such.) : My method:
Debt 1 (1000 @ 5%, $200 minimum payment)
Previous Balance Payment New Balance
$1000.00 $400.00 $606.69
$606.69 $400.00 $207.55
$207.55 $207.55 $0.00
_____________________________________________
Debt 2 (5000 @ 10%, $600 minimum payment)
Previous Balance Payment New Balance
$5000.00 $600.00 $4483.68
$4483.68 $600.00 $3916.04
$3916.04 $792.45 $3149.62
$3149.62 $1000.00 $2167.53
$2167.53 $1000.00 $1177.26
$1177.26 $1000.00 $194.99
$194.99 $194.99 $0.00
_____________________________________________
All debts paid off in 7 months.
Total Payments: $6194.99
Total Interest: $194.99Your method:
Debt 1 (1000 @ 5%, $200 minimum payment)
Previous Balance Payment New Balance
$1000.00 $200.00 $807.52
$807.52 $200.00 $610.05
$610.05 $200.00 $430.55
$430.55 $200.00 $242.08
$242.08 $200.00 $42.26
$42.26 $42.26 $0.00
_____________________________________________
Debt 2 (5000 @ 10%, $600 minimum payment)
Previous Balance Payment New Balance
$5000.00 $800.00 $4277.02
$4277.02 $800.00 $3506.00
$3506.00 $800.00 $2728.55
$2728.55 $800.00 $1944.62
$1944.62 $800.00 $1154.16
$1154.16 $957.74 $198.06
$198.06 $198.06 $0.00
_____________________________________________
All debts paid off in 7 months.
Total Payments: $6198.06
Total Interest: $198.06Jason Henderson
start page ; articles henderson is coming henderson is an opponent's worst nightmare * googlism * -
Your interest accrual is way off. You won't be paying 5% per month in interest, but per year instead. After the first month of the $1000 total you would owe $4.17 more, not $50. Here's how the calculations should look (I think they are right with compounding interest and such.) : My method:
Debt 1 (1000 @ 5%, $200 minimum payment)
Previous Balance Payment New Balance
$1000.00 $400.00 $606.69
$606.69 $400.00 $207.55
$207.55 $207.55 $0.00
_____________________________________________
Debt 2 (5000 @ 10%, $600 minimum payment)
Previous Balance Payment New Balance
$5000.00 $600.00 $4483.68
$4483.68 $600.00 $3916.04
$3916.04 $792.45 $3149.62
$3149.62 $1000.00 $2167.53
$2167.53 $1000.00 $1177.26
$1177.26 $1000.00 $194.99
$194.99 $194.99 $0.00
_____________________________________________
All debts paid off in 7 months.
Total Payments: $6194.99
Total Interest: $194.99Your method:
Debt 1 (1000 @ 5%, $200 minimum payment)
Previous Balance Payment New Balance
$1000.00 $200.00 $807.52
$807.52 $200.00 $610.05
$610.05 $200.00 $430.55
$430.55 $200.00 $242.08
$242.08 $200.00 $42.26
$42.26 $42.26 $0.00
_____________________________________________
Debt 2 (5000 @ 10%, $600 minimum payment)
Previous Balance Payment New Balance
$5000.00 $800.00 $4277.02
$4277.02 $800.00 $3506.00
$3506.00 $800.00 $2728.55
$2728.55 $800.00 $1944.62
$1944.62 $800.00 $1154.16
$1154.16 $957.74 $198.06
$198.06 $198.06 $0.00
_____________________________________________
All debts paid off in 7 months.
Total Payments: $6198.06
Total Interest: $198.06Jason Henderson
start page ; articles henderson is coming henderson is an opponent's worst nightmare * googlism *Jason, OK, for arguments sake let's say 5%/year and 10%/year. Debt 1's monthly interest rate is then 5/12 % a month. Debt 2's is 10/12 % a month. Your calculations are off and you forgot to charge interest on the last payment in each category. :) Also, interest is charged before the payment is made and not after. (This is called 'begin mode', there is also an 'end mode' where interest is charged after the payment. Needless to say this is very rarely used.) New Balance = Previous Balance * (1 + monthly interest rate) - Payment So, for Debt 1: NB = PB * (1 + 5/1200) - Payment Debt 2: NB = PB * (1 + 10/1200) - Payment 1200 because % should be divided by 100 when used in a calculation.
Your Method:
Debt 1 (1000 @ 5%, $200 minimum payment)
Previous Balance Payment New Balance
$1000.00 $400.00 $604.17
$604.17 $400.00 $206.69
$206.69 $207.55 $0.00
_____________________________________________Debt 2 (5000 @ 10%, $600 minimum payment)
Previous Balance Payment New Balance
$5000.00 $600.00 $4441.67
$4441.67 $600.00 $3878.68
$3878.68 $792.45 $3118.55
$3118.55 $1000.00 $2144.54
$2144.54 $1000.00 $1162.41
$1162.41 $1000.00 $172.10
$172.10 $173.53 $0.00
_____________________________________________
All debts paid off in 7 months.
Total Payments: $6173.53
Total Interest: $173.53My Method:
Debt 1 (1000 @ 5%, $200 minimum payment)
Previous Balance Payment New Balance
$1000.00 $200.00 $804.17
$804.17 $200.00 $607.52
$607.52 $200.00 $410.05
$410.05 $200.00 $211.76
$211.76 $200.00 $12.64
$12.64 $12.69 $0.00
_____________________________________________Debt 2 (5000 @ 10%, $600 minimum payment)
Previous Balance Payment New Balance
$5000.00 $800.00 $4241.67
$4241.67 $800.00 $3477.02
$3477.02 $800.00 $2706.00
$2706.00 $800.00 $1928.55
$1928.55 $800.00 $1144.62
$1144.62 $987.31 $166.85
$166.85 $168.24 $0.00
_____________________________________________
All debts paid off in 7 months.
Total Payments: $6168.24
Total Interest: $168.24So once again my method saves money! It doesn't matter what the interest rate is per month. The fact of the matter is that pay
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Jason, OK, for arguments sake let's say 5%/year and 10%/year. Debt 1's monthly interest rate is then 5/12 % a month. Debt 2's is 10/12 % a month. Your calculations are off and you forgot to charge interest on the last payment in each category. :) Also, interest is charged before the payment is made and not after. (This is called 'begin mode', there is also an 'end mode' where interest is charged after the payment. Needless to say this is very rarely used.) New Balance = Previous Balance * (1 + monthly interest rate) - Payment So, for Debt 1: NB = PB * (1 + 5/1200) - Payment Debt 2: NB = PB * (1 + 10/1200) - Payment 1200 because % should be divided by 100 when used in a calculation.
Your Method:
Debt 1 (1000 @ 5%, $200 minimum payment)
Previous Balance Payment New Balance
$1000.00 $400.00 $604.17
$604.17 $400.00 $206.69
$206.69 $207.55 $0.00
_____________________________________________Debt 2 (5000 @ 10%, $600 minimum payment)
Previous Balance Payment New Balance
$5000.00 $600.00 $4441.67
$4441.67 $600.00 $3878.68
$3878.68 $792.45 $3118.55
$3118.55 $1000.00 $2144.54
$2144.54 $1000.00 $1162.41
$1162.41 $1000.00 $172.10
$172.10 $173.53 $0.00
_____________________________________________
All debts paid off in 7 months.
Total Payments: $6173.53
Total Interest: $173.53My Method:
Debt 1 (1000 @ 5%, $200 minimum payment)
Previous Balance Payment New Balance
$1000.00 $200.00 $804.17
$804.17 $200.00 $607.52
$607.52 $200.00 $410.05
$410.05 $200.00 $211.76
$211.76 $200.00 $12.64
$12.64 $12.69 $0.00
_____________________________________________Debt 2 (5000 @ 10%, $600 minimum payment)
Previous Balance Payment New Balance
$5000.00 $800.00 $4241.67
$4241.67 $800.00 $3477.02
$3477.02 $800.00 $2706.00
$2706.00 $800.00 $1928.55
$1928.55 $800.00 $1144.62
$1144.62 $987.31 $166.85
$166.85 $168.24 $0.00
_____________________________________________
All debts paid off in 7 months.
Total Payments: $6168.24
Total Interest: $168.24So once again my method saves money! It doesn't matter what the interest rate is per month. The fact of the matter is that pay
My calculations may be wrong, I'm not sure. But the differences in the two examples is minor. Also, we are just talking about credit card debt. Regular loans have interest pre-calculated, therefore the faster you pay those off the less you have to pay in the long run. Frankly, either way is good, as long as you pay off the debt and keep it off.
Jason Henderson
start page ; articles henderson is coming henderson is an opponent's worst nightmare * googlism * -
For many years we were incredibly poor, but since I became a programmer, mainly due to the period when I both coded and was a sales rep and the money from the odd article, we've managed to claw our way out of the circle of debt. What's more, I worked out I could save $1000 a month if I watched my spending. Then my wife got a job, so I imagined we'd soon be rich. Which is good, because we desperately need to buy a bigger house. So we started saving. I soon had $5,000 in the bank, but then a few things happened that cut it down to zero, not least buying a new PC, desk, chair and software for work my wife was supposed to get. That work has not happened yet. My wife continues to work, and at her insistence, our savings are in her bank account. I asked her how much was in there last night, thinking it was a paltry $3,000. It's $1,300. She has saved $300 in a year of working, and after buying all the gear I bought, I've only been able to save one lot of $1,000. That was two months ago, last month and this month coming are a write off for me because of a number of seasonal bills, mostly associated with Christmas. So now I am incredibly depressed. $300 is why I run home from work early every day and cook dinner, and do most of the housework so she can go to work ? And of course it's all going to be *my* fault, I can see it now. Christian No offense, but I don't really want to encourage the creation of another VB developer. - Larry Antram 22 Oct 2002 Hey, at least Logo had, at it's inception, a mechanical turtle. VB has always lacked even that... - Shog9 04-09-2002 Again, you can screw up a C/C++ program just as easily as a VB program. OK, maybe not as easily, but it's certainly doable. - Jamie Nordmeyer - 15-Nov-2002
I feel your pain Christian. After 5 years of marriage we managed to not only blow £9,800 in equity but also run up £16,500 of loans - mainly down to Karen being much better at spending than I am at saving. :( I'm just glad it's over...and hope I can make a new start now. Anna :rose: "Be yourself - not what others think you should be"
- Marcia Graesch -
I feel your pain Christian. After 5 years of marriage we managed to not only blow £9,800 in equity but also run up £16,500 of loans - mainly down to Karen being much better at spending than I am at saving. :( I'm just glad it's over...and hope I can make a new start now. Anna :rose: "Be yourself - not what others think you should be"
- Marcia GraeschAnna :) wrote: I'm just glad it's over...and hope I can make a new start now. And the good news is that next time you're biologically excused to be the one spending !!! Christian No offense, but I don't really want to encourage the creation of another VB developer. - Larry Antram 22 Oct 2002 Hey, at least Logo had, at it's inception, a mechanical turtle. VB has always lacked even that... - Shog9 04-09-2002 Again, you can screw up a C/C++ program just as easily as a VB program. OK, maybe not as easily, but it's certainly doable. - Jamie Nordmeyer - 15-Nov-2002