I read many of the posts and reader case studues and cannot believe how crappy my husband and I are at handling our finances compared to most people. There are many reasons for this - 5 months of bedrest with twins, lost job, dogs with cancer, etc, but I know they are excuses and if we had been more in control of our finances in the first place we wouldn't be in this situation. I am fortunate to have found this blog through a mutual friend of MMM. My husband and I have made numerous mistakes, but over the last year I have learned a great deal, paid off a lot of debt and made some head way. We are still a financial mess, having previously bought into the consumerism/living above our means... and could really use some advise. I am not even sure where to start so please let me know if I forget anything.
From the tone of your post, it sounds like you are feeling overwhelmed, I'll try and tailor my reply appropriately.
First off, congratulations!!!! Rather than CONTINUINING to drown in debt, you are trying to do something about it! It sounds like you already recognize a number of mistakes and are trying to learn from them (cut up CC's, want to pay cash for the next car, etc.). You say you are crappy at handling finances compared to most people, I disagree...I would say you are average at finances compared to most people (general population), and crappy at handling finances compared to the average member of the MMM forums. Again, this is a lucky thing, not a reason to be ashamed. Look at it this way, would you rather be the smartest person in a room full of stupid people who can't teach you anything, or the dumbest person in a room full of geniuses eager to share their knowledge with you? While the first is undoubtably better for your ego, the second option will probably help you grow much more!
Reassurement and cheerleading aside, I came up with ~$6200 in expenses, rather than $5250 like jp (possible the -$1000 for summer camp was misinterpreted?). Either way, there are definitely gains to be made. First question: how on board is everyone in your family, and how commited are all of you to sacrificing in the short term for excellent long term results? It can very tough to get everyone on board, sounds like you are making progress though. If $20 in beer and $16 in netflix is necessary to maintain family harmony, $36/month is probably money well spent. If there's room to wiggle, maybe you can cut it in half, to online-only netflix for $8, and say a case of good beer for $10-15. If you're all stars, cut it entirely and add it back in when you're out of debt (if you still want to at that point). The food budget should be able to be cut down by at least $100-200, minimum. Try to challenge you food-oriented spouse to make their creations for less than $5/person/meal the first month, then ramp it up to $3/, then $1/ if you're feeling ambitious!!! Their challenge is to make it cheap, quality, and delicious. Doing it in steps can help avoid too much shock at once. See if your kids would be happy bringing their lunch from home. I actually liked PB&J, goldfish crackers, and some grapes from home much better than what the school gave me.
On the car side, I actually don't think selling the van is the first step to saving money here. Presumably it's reliable, and as you said, it's your cargo hauler. MMM has one for much the same purpose. $335/month for 16 more months is just over $5K, and the car is probably still worth that. And presumably the loan is <5% APR, so it's worth tackling the CC debt first. If it's in good shape and not giving you any trouble, I'd leave it alone (for now). If you have spare time and want to tackle everything at once, then absolutely shop around, both for what you could sell it for, and what you'd want to replace it with. Why do you say you hate it? Is it uncomfortable or some other quantifiable problem, or is it an intangible feeling, anything from it feels cheap inside to simply not wanting to be a soccer mom in a minivan. All are valid, but the important thing is to be honest in your response. A great long term replacement, in my engineer opinion, is a station wagon. I love them, but then engineers have no sense of style to speak of. I love wagons for their car like dynamics and fuel efficiency, and their truck-like cargo capacity. I believe Honda and Toyota made Accord station wagons until very recently. Sadly, most of the US is style conscious and currently infatuated with CUVs....which were the replacement for the previously stylish SUVs.....which replaced minivans......which replaced....station wagons. Anyway, an Accord wagon in good shape with a 4cyl is the 2nd most perfect family vehicle in my mind (1st is an 80's Volvo boxy wagon with a Mustang GT drivetrain swapped in, but I digress).
That leaves the Ranger...and I'm not sure why that is not up for consideration. You say you need it for a yard business side hustle, all well and good...could you clarify? Does your husband haul a trailer with it? Does he put mowers in the bed? Something else? If this is a weekend-only thing, could you put a trailer hitch on the minivan? If its the truck bed issue, could you put a hitch on the minivan and buy a small utility trailer from harbor freight (or used off CL), assuming you have room to store it? If so, and you could consider selling it after all, possibly replace it with a small, fun hatchback to ease the loss of "his car", or since it was a 2-seater and completely impracticle anyway, get a Miata or MR2 for <$5K and have a sporty runabout that's fun to drive and will net 30+mpg on your commute. Practical and you get to be the cool wife.
For commuting, do you guys work close together? Could you carpool in, and since you have to leave early, have your husband catch a ride home from someone else? If you work far apart, but have coworkers nearby, can you carpool with them?
Lastly, and this is the killer....the CC debt. Pay it down fast. The 401K money towards it was a good suggestion, just remember to "pay yourself back" when you're out of debt. Put a big chunk in the 401K or seperate savings account to make up for the time when you weren't saving. All else being equal, I'd pick the card with the highest interest rate, and pay everything I could towards that, with the minimum towards the others. When that was done, close the card and move on to the next. Is there anything you guys don't use anymore (furniture, kids bikes that have been outgrown, other stuff around the house) that you could sell to help pay off the debt? Certainly if you sold a vehicle and netted $$ trading to a different car that could go towards it, or the fuel savings could as well. But knocking the credit card debt off nets you an
$1100 improvement in your monthly budget, so I would think that is absolutely the top priority.
Do that, get the cars paid off and sorted out, and trim a few other monthly expenses, and you'll be there before you know it. A year from now, you'll be one of the geniuses educating the next person entering the room :).