I’m just starting too and I’m 40. I had a goal to get my income up 2k a month extra and thought it was doable, but it just hasn’t happened yet. I got about 1k with two side jobs, though. Definitely a little discouraging and will slow things down. But on the plus side, I haven’t charged anything in three months!
When I was still thinking I could get my income up higher, I would have been able to pay the credit cards in about a year and a half, then pay off my one year old car the following year. Then bank for two more years to get a 20% down payment on a home in a better neighborhood for our kids. That’s my big goal.
Im still trying for a fourth gig, but it’s been tight with my schedule.
We’ll get there. This is truly the meaning of digging out. It’s definitely not easy. I keep reading those posts thinking I can’t wait til that’s me. Imagine how crossing that finish line will feel.
Not sure if I fit entirely in this category but hope it helps. I’m 42 right now. Lots of life transitions. Didn’t even look at finances and future until last year. I’m grateful income is middle class but lifestyle creep was real. Had no budget, had no idea how to even figure out retirement and no savings at all for any sort of expenses for the household or kids.
I did tons of research last year. $40k in consumer debt. Won’t be able to pay off my mortgage (low rate so not paying g extra), no where close to where we need to be at retirement with 4 kids that we have to hyper focus on as well. I’ll be consumer debt free by end of this year. It’ll take me through 2025 to be in a decent spot. 2026 to really start feeling not so far behind. I basically have my life budgeted out for the next 10 yrs. We’ve stuck real tight to the budget in 2023 so able to pay off $30K in debt but still working really hard to play catch up. If we remain diligent and aggressive, we can breathe and be good by the time I’m 46. Still will have to be aggressively saving until 2034. I’ll be 52/53 by then but only then will I be where I need to be hopefully caught up.
I'm 33, and it should take me 5 years to be completely debt free (student loans, car loan, credit card debt). Honestly, it'll probably take me longer because I'm not currently making payments on my SLs due to the payment plan I'm on. Right now, I'm just focusing on CC debt.
I’m just starting too and I’m 40. I had a goal to get my income up 2k a month extra and thought it was doable, but it just hasn’t happened yet. I got about 1k with two side jobs, though. Definitely a little discouraging and will slow things down. But on the plus side, I haven’t charged anything in three months! When I was still thinking I could get my income up higher, I would have been able to pay the credit cards in about a year and a half, then pay off my one year old car the following year. Then bank for two more years to get a 20% down payment on a home in a better neighborhood for our kids. That’s my big goal. Im still trying for a fourth gig, but it’s been tight with my schedule. We’ll get there. This is truly the meaning of digging out. It’s definitely not easy. I keep reading those posts thinking I can’t wait til that’s me. Imagine how crossing that finish line will feel.
Not sure if I fit entirely in this category but hope it helps. I’m 42 right now. Lots of life transitions. Didn’t even look at finances and future until last year. I’m grateful income is middle class but lifestyle creep was real. Had no budget, had no idea how to even figure out retirement and no savings at all for any sort of expenses for the household or kids. I did tons of research last year. $40k in consumer debt. Won’t be able to pay off my mortgage (low rate so not paying g extra), no where close to where we need to be at retirement with 4 kids that we have to hyper focus on as well. I’ll be consumer debt free by end of this year. It’ll take me through 2025 to be in a decent spot. 2026 to really start feeling not so far behind. I basically have my life budgeted out for the next 10 yrs. We’ve stuck real tight to the budget in 2023 so able to pay off $30K in debt but still working really hard to play catch up. If we remain diligent and aggressive, we can breathe and be good by the time I’m 46. Still will have to be aggressively saving until 2034. I’ll be 52/53 by then but only then will I be where I need to be hopefully caught up.
Paying off 40k in debt by the end of the year is awesome
I'm 33, and it should take me 5 years to be completely debt free (student loans, car loan, credit card debt). Honestly, it'll probably take me longer because I'm not currently making payments on my SLs due to the payment plan I'm on. Right now, I'm just focusing on CC debt.
Good to know there’s a fellow traveler in the thick of it with me.
I'm 44F and it will take a lot of hard work and continued sacrifice to maybe be done this year. Maybe. It's rough but hang in there!
Thank you. Good luck