Monday, March 05, 2007
I'm stuck between a tough decision and a..... tough decision
With the addition of baby coming in October, I've been trying to decide what to do with my debt snowball. Should I continue to knock out as much debt as possible over the next 5-6 months or should I save up as much as possible for baby expenses? Let me see if I can't discuss some pros and cons of each and then hopefully get some input from the readers.
Debt Snowball
If I continue to put as much towards this as possible, my minimum payments will be less when baby gets here. This would almost force me to do a reverse snowball. Putting all I could towards my largest debt would help tremendously with reducing my largest minimum payment which is currently about $130.
If I didn't continue to put as much toward my debt, I may get behind on payments later down the road and it would take a lot longer to get rid of my debt.
Save up for Baby
If I save up for all the baby expenses that are due to come, I will not be pressured to use credit for anything later.
If I have too much saved up (is that possible?) I can then use the excess towards the credit cards.
Anyone else got any thoughts?
Debt Snowball
If I continue to put as much towards this as possible, my minimum payments will be less when baby gets here. This would almost force me to do a reverse snowball. Putting all I could towards my largest debt would help tremendously with reducing my largest minimum payment which is currently about $130.
If I didn't continue to put as much toward my debt, I may get behind on payments later down the road and it would take a lot longer to get rid of my debt.
Save up for Baby
If I save up for all the baby expenses that are due to come, I will not be pressured to use credit for anything later.
If I have too much saved up (is that possible?) I can then use the excess towards the credit cards.
Anyone else got any thoughts?
Labels: baby, debt, saving money
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Holmes...
The Weavers crossed through this wilderness recently as Amanda and I prepared for Ryland's birth. As you are now paying medical bills... remember that they will not stop rolling in... from hospital bills, to car-seats, to baby shots, to circumcisions...
The number one thing that I recommend stockpiling is not money in the bank... or cash under the matress... but diapers in the closet.
My wife was wise enough to stockpile as many diapers (in random brands and in all kinds of sizes... ranging from newborn to 4's... which Ryland is now wearing at 7 months old) as possible before Rylz was born. There have been times in the last several months when money was tight (but dude... that's the story of my life anyway) and we were down to only a few diapers in a certain size... but we were able to return some diapers for the right size and brand at Target or Wal-mart.
Anywho... that's my advice... and on a re-read of all that I just typed... I'm not sure that I ever envisioned myself giving ANYONE advice on diapers. Oh well...
PRESS ON!!!
-Weav
The Weavers crossed through this wilderness recently as Amanda and I prepared for Ryland's birth. As you are now paying medical bills... remember that they will not stop rolling in... from hospital bills, to car-seats, to baby shots, to circumcisions...
The number one thing that I recommend stockpiling is not money in the bank... or cash under the matress... but diapers in the closet.
My wife was wise enough to stockpile as many diapers (in random brands and in all kinds of sizes... ranging from newborn to 4's... which Ryland is now wearing at 7 months old) as possible before Rylz was born. There have been times in the last several months when money was tight (but dude... that's the story of my life anyway) and we were down to only a few diapers in a certain size... but we were able to return some diapers for the right size and brand at Target or Wal-mart.
Anywho... that's my advice... and on a re-read of all that I just typed... I'm not sure that I ever envisioned myself giving ANYONE advice on diapers. Oh well...
PRESS ON!!!
-Weav
I just had a baby in December, and I started Dave Ramsey's total money makeover last March. He actually suggests stopping the debt snowball and put it all in savings until the baby arrives, and once the dust settles, to use that savings to pay a lump sum on your debt snowball. So it's really just a delay of the snowball, but it's good just in case you need to pay! I think I only had to pay about 200 total for my whole delivery as there were no issues. I do have good insurance, but I thought that was pretty good! (The delivery and appointments were about 13,000 total.)
Hope that helps!
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Hope that helps!
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