Comments on: The One Hour Project: Construct Your Debt Snowball (Or Something Like It) http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/29/the-one-hour-project-construct-your-debt-snowball-or-something-like-it/ Financial talk for the rest of us Sat, 16 Feb 2013 01:14:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: Jay http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/29/the-one-hour-project-construct-your-debt-snowball-or-something-like-it/#comment-924464 Jay Tue, 14 Sep 2010 19:02:31 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/29/the-one-hour-project-construct-your-debt-snowball-or-something-like-it/#comment-924464 @Alyssa

First: Go to the library and read Dave Ramsey’s book Total Money Makeover. It totally changed the way I look at my debt.

Next: Get rid of your car payments – this one is really tough. Sell your car and buy a cheap reliable car, or use public transportation. If you really want to get out of debt, it will take a lot of effort on your part. The extra money that you have from a cheaper or non-existent car payment you can then use towards the snowball.

I am currently working on my snowball and have had to squeeze my budget very tight, but in a few more years my only debt will be my mortgage.

]]> By: Alyssa http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/29/the-one-hour-project-construct-your-debt-snowball-or-something-like-it/#comment-923384 Alyssa Sat, 04 Sep 2010 23:37:18 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/29/the-one-hour-project-construct-your-debt-snowball-or-something-like-it/#comment-923384 After 2 mortgages, car payment, electric, water, heat etc, there is no money left..
Barely can afford food for 5 people…

It’s not so much that we have credit card debt, but more to the point of after we pay the necessary bills, there is simply not enough to pay any other bills.

Any advice? (Note: We can’t refinance any more, or “consolidate”… multiple payments have been missed and credit does not allow us to do so)

]]> By: 144mph http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/29/the-one-hour-project-construct-your-debt-snowball-or-something-like-it/#comment-125911 144mph Wed, 05 Dec 2007 12:43:11 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/29/the-one-hour-project-construct-your-debt-snowball-or-something-like-it/#comment-125911 Trent, why don’t you write about an asset snowball as well? Considering that it is a more apt use of the word snowball (implying growth rather than diminishment) and many of us aren’t in debt.

]]> By: Andrew G http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/29/the-one-hour-project-construct-your-debt-snowball-or-something-like-it/#comment-125572 Andrew G Tue, 04 Dec 2007 22:05:25 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/29/the-one-hour-project-construct-your-debt-snowball-or-something-like-it/#comment-125572 I’m posting as one of the other posters mentioned that this post was showing up again frequently referenced in newer posts and thought I’d add my $0.03 (inflation adjusted).

My wife and I just finished creating our debt snowball. The way that I’m going to start it rolling in January 2008 is with our web banking. If anybody is interested in reading about that you can see the description I posted today here:
http://www.gearhartav.com/andrew/blog/2007/12/our-debt-snowball.html

]]> By: Marian http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/29/the-one-hour-project-construct-your-debt-snowball-or-something-like-it/#comment-102381 Marian Tue, 06 Nov 2007 18:51:27 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/29/the-one-hour-project-construct-your-debt-snowball-or-something-like-it/#comment-102381 The only problem I have with the snowball approach is that I am paid weekly and I never have one big chunk of money. So I pay different bills on different weeks by their due dates. I am paying much more than the minimum on each (about 5 cards), and I do concentrate on paying the lowest balances first.

]]> By: Mariette http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/29/the-one-hour-project-construct-your-debt-snowball-or-something-like-it/#comment-79948 Mariette Mon, 01 Oct 2007 05:23:04 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/29/the-one-hour-project-construct-your-debt-snowball-or-something-like-it/#comment-79948 I find it works better for me psychologically to pay down the highest interest rate debt first. I know that Dave Ramsey suggests paying down the smallest amount first for psychological reasons but it isn’t as satisfying to do it that way for me and I don’t get that momentum going that he talks about because the high interest one is still haunting me. So, slightly different approach, but ultimately same results.

]]> By: inabighole http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/29/the-one-hour-project-construct-your-debt-snowball-or-something-like-it/#comment-79791 inabighole Sun, 30 Sep 2007 15:32:29 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/29/the-one-hour-project-construct-your-debt-snowball-or-something-like-it/#comment-79791 This speaks to me because I’ve been unable to resist paying a little more (notice I said “a little more,” not doubling payments—–I mean maybe $25 more tops) on all my cards and since I am in a huge hole of debt with not enough income to do more than tread water, this is not serving me well. I need to take a deep breath and pay just the minimum on all but one card & apply what gravy I can scrounge up toward either the smallest amount owed or the highest-interest-rate balance. I’ve read where even if you pay just $5 more on a card, the bank sees that as “trying” to pay down your debt; I’ve also heard from one major bank that the point is to get the debt paid off, and if you can’t afford to pay anything but the minimum, they do not penalize you (i.e. they don’t interpret the minimum-only payment as meaning that you are not “trying”). It’s hard to know what to believe. I’ll print out Trent’s steps, though,and take a crack at that method.

]]> By: MD http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/29/the-one-hour-project-construct-your-debt-snowball-or-something-like-it/#comment-79739 MD Sun, 30 Sep 2007 07:49:42 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/29/the-one-hour-project-construct-your-debt-snowball-or-something-like-it/#comment-79739 The debt snowball method is what I am adopting now to clear my debts of which I am tracking online. Apart from trying to save on other areas, I am also looking add on extra revenue online to help in my efforts. Great post.

]]> By: Peter R http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/29/the-one-hour-project-construct-your-debt-snowball-or-something-like-it/#comment-79699 Peter R Sun, 30 Sep 2007 03:08:53 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/29/the-one-hour-project-construct-your-debt-snowball-or-something-like-it/#comment-79699 Just also don’t forget to stop accruing the debt too. If you’re putting $100 into paying off one debt and creating a new $100 debt somewhere else you’re not achieving anything.

]]> By: Prairie http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/29/the-one-hour-project-construct-your-debt-snowball-or-something-like-it/#comment-79654 Prairie Sun, 30 Sep 2007 00:44:53 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/29/the-one-hour-project-construct-your-debt-snowball-or-something-like-it/#comment-79654 The debt snowball really, really works. I started with the smallest balances first in order to get some psychological momentum going (Dave Ramsey’s approach) and because fewer bills lessened the chance of an “Oops” in terms of forgetting something or being late. After I cleaned up these smaller debts, I got super aggressive with a high interest debt. Between the minimum “debt bill” that Trent talks about, plus the “extra” money I was finding, I was knocking down my debt with roughly 50% of my takehome pay. Now, like Sense above, I’ve rolled those former debt payments into savings goals.

Paying off the debt taught me how little I really NEED and forced me to realize how much money I had frittered away over the years. As great as it was to see the balances due go down, it’s even more fun to see the savings and investment balances go up.

Prairie

]]> By: tba02 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/29/the-one-hour-project-construct-your-debt-snowball-or-something-like-it/#comment-79559 tba02 Sat, 29 Sep 2007 21:48:49 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/29/the-one-hour-project-construct-your-debt-snowball-or-something-like-it/#comment-79559 This has been referenced in several posts as of late. Adaptiing it to pay off the higher interest rate first seems to make more sense to me but I have actually run any numbers. Has anyone else worked with that kind of scenario and crunched the numbers?

(I have no debt so my motivation in this area is a little laxI will admit)

]]> By: Sense http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/29/the-one-hour-project-construct-your-debt-snowball-or-something-like-it/#comment-79553 Sense Sat, 29 Sep 2007 21:23:17 +0000 http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/09/29/the-one-hour-project-construct-your-debt-snowball-or-something-like-it/#comment-79553 Once I got out of debt, I continued to use this method for my savings goals. I prioritized my goals (fully fund emergency fund, save up for new (to me) car), fully fund Roth, save up for my stint in school) and applied my ‘debt payments’ towards my savings goals. If I don’t use this method, I find that I don’t save as much and flounder.

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