Posted on: March 25, 2009 by Matt
With all the economic stimulus talk buzzing around lately I thought I would take a minute and put my one little wish out there with all the other ideas. While I believe there are a lot of great areas the stimulus package will address the one that I do not believe is listed that I would (selfishly) add would be a forgiveness or rehabilitation program for privatized student loans.
I am sure that I am not the only person struggling with paying off old student loans that fell into bad standing. Federal loan programs offer several methods to get back into the good graces of your lender but the private programs leave you in collections and generally unable to get back into good standing. I have yet to find a program that will work with you to get your private student loans out of a collection or default cycle and removed as bad debt on your credit report.
I am not saying we should just waive all the bad debt – I took the loans and made a mistake and want to repay the debt. I would like however to have a program to get the loans back into good standing and off my credit report. With the loans in good standing with a reasonable payment the $20,000 I have in collections would not be such a source of stress in my life and it certainly would not prevent me from moving forward. There are all sorts of programs coming up for people behind on their mortgages – why not something for those that would like to get other aspects of their lives back on track?
For me - getting the private loans I have rehabilitated would allow me to move forward with several other areas of my life. Right now these loans are the primary reason that I am unable to look into buying a house (they are the only negative item on my credit report). My job is steady, I pay my bills on time or early and am in otherwise good standing. However having the $20,000 in a negative report on my credit report inhibits me from moving forward.
Anyway – I do not expect anything to come of my little rant but if a program did come up I would certainly be excited! In the mean time – I will just continue to work on repaying the debt as quickly as I can. It will take a long time but it is my next big obstacle to overcome while working towards my goal of owning a home.
Posted on: March 10, 2009 by Matt
I think I have had enough with the news about the economy. The current economic crisis is all that the news media seems to cover these days with a little touch on other items. I understand that our economy is important news but I also believe that the daily reports of all the horrible economic events incites fear and encourages the current economic state.
I know there are probably a lot of people out there with a similar point of view but I think I need a short rant! All we hear lately is scary news about the current economy, consumer confidence is at an all time low and that banks are failing. Then the people we have elected to work these problems out spend time bickering or working their own agenda to hold up potential progress!!! Is it just me or is something fundamentally wrong here? I could understand not wanting to endorse a program that you believe would not benefit the citizens of your district or that you strongly believe would be detrimental to the nation as a whole but obstruction for the sake of bringing down the other party’s approval numbers? That is just irresponsible.
So now we are not only hearing about how bad the economy is but also about how our elected officials think their own plans to move forward are more important than the current needs of the country. I really am starting to think that if America as a whole was to just turn off their television sets for a month we would probably start to see a turn around. The economic fear would start to dissipate for most consumers after a couple weeks and people would start to live their lives again. Of course this is another “if a tree fell in the forest and nobody was there to hear it…” theories but you never know – it might work (if we could keep people from being bombarded by media that is).
Ok – there’s my rant for the week. What do you think? Are you as tired of all the economic and political news as I am?
Posted on: February 15, 2009 by Matt
Since the crazy spending spree of the holidays my finances have suffered a bit. I figured that one month of overspending probably would not affect me all that much and that I could handle to splurge a little bit. I did not account for falling back into blowing off my normal financial habits for the easier to follow do nothing approach though.
As I stated – I have not been putting money back into savings (I had no problem taking it out for my spree though) and am not balancing my spending back out. However – I am grateful that I have a good job and I have not fallen behind on the essentials. My family has a place to live, my bills are all paid every month and there is food on the table.
In order to start moving back out of the paycheck to paycheck model I will need to start up all my good habits again. Anyone that has been on a gym routine and stopped for a week can probably relate to how hard it can be to pick the good habits back up. Currently my get back on track plan includes:
- Writing my monthly budget: I started slacking off here and it really hit me hard.
- Tracking my expenses: If I track the areas I am over spending on I can look into ways to cut back.
- Plan weekly meals and shop with lists: We spend a lot at the grocery store, largely from lacking a list.
- Work to increase my income: At work I am in the midst of starting a new division. The more I develop and expand the division the better my bonus checks become.
- Cutting back on luxuries: We have been letting little purchases add up over the past couple of months. If we want to get out of the cycle of feeling like we never have money we need to all agree (as a family) to give up a few luxury items.
- Get my tax return done early: I expect I may owe Vermont some state tax (still need to look into this) but my federal return should kick start my savings and debt repayment again.
All said – I am hopeful that we can get back on track in March. There are not any special holidays that require presents or spending and I think we have a lot of the house settled now. Hopefully we will start to get back ahead in the next month.
Tags: Budget, Budgeting, Debt Reduction, Expenses, Extra Income, Relationships, Savings Filed Under: Budget, Debt, Debt Reduction, Expenses, Frugal Living, Goals, Planning, Recession, Relationships, Savings, Student Loans
Posted on: September 25, 2008 by Matt
Autumn has started in the northeastern reaches of Vermont; the leaves are changing, the air is crisp and everyone seems to be buckling down for winter. I really think that fall is my favorite time of year. While driving this summer and early fall so far I have noticed that it looks like everyone in the area is starting winter preparations early this year. Stacks of wood are piling up next to houses and a lot of stuff (bigger ticket items like boats and cars largely) sits on the side of the road for sale.
Before I moved back to Vermont this spring I had not really noticed how the current economy has effected people. I lived by myself in a city and the only major indicator I could see were the number of houses for sale and news about the foreclosure rates. Maybe the signs were there before I moved as well but I did not notice them until I got home. The buzz around town is: “how are you going to afford to stay warm this winter?” The local economy is not very strong in the area and people are really feeling the pinch of the recession. With the price of heating oil going up a lot of people have turned back to burning wood for heat. This has driven the price of firewood up considerably and left a number of people uncertain about what the winter holds. Rural communities have been hit hard – it makes me nervous about what the future holds. From what I have seen my area is normally a little bit behind the current trends but when a financial downturn hits we seem to see the effects quickly (a microcosm of the current state of the economy and a glimpse into how tough the economy is going to get).
When I originally started to notice everyone worrying about winter and money I figured that I had nothing to worry about – that the recession does not have any effect on my finances. I was wrong. With my move came a number of expenses to get set back up and I also moved into a new living situation where I do not live alone. I now have other people to consider in my financial planning and we all need to agree on spending. The increase in expenditures over the past few months has opened my eyes a bit and I think I am finally starting to realize that maybe this recession everyone is talking about is a big deal. Expenses for everything (gas, groceries, heating fuel, electricity) are all going up while incomes remain the same. Monthly budgets seem to get tighter every month and I now realize just how financially difficult getting by can be for families.
Making ends meet while trying to put a little aside in savings and pay down extra debt seems to get more challenging with each passing month (well more like every negative news story). I hope to have a post up with ways we are combating the pinch of the recession in the near future. Until then what are you doing to ease the pain of the pinch?
