Am I Making Cents?

Current Credit Card Debt- 06/09/2012

2012-06-09T22:59:00.002-05:00

For now I'll only be focusing on getting rid of my credit card debt. But don't worry about me being completely finished anytime soon, I still have student loans, a car, and my home loans to deal with.

Citi 2- $50.30
Arvest- $1016.16
Citi 1- $7677.94
Total CC Debt: $8744.40
= 48.78% reduction

Just FYI, most of this is due to my 2011 end-of-year bonus & my tax refund. But I'm not complaining :)

Dec 2011 Credit Card Debt- Starting Point

2012-06-09T22:57:00.003-05:00

Here's my starting point:

Citi 2- 5789.00
Arvest- $2498.85
Citi 1- 9638.00
Total- $17925.85

I'm Baaaaack!!!

2012-06-09T22:52:00.001-05:00

Well I've decided to give this another try. It's been two years since my last post and plenty has changed in my life, except for owing on these stupid credit cards. However, I seem to be on the right track at this point, so I'm hoping to keep up the momentum. I restarted my focus on my finances at the end of December '11 going into Jan '12, and it should have been much sooner! I think I literally ignored my money for 2 years. I had no budget, and no plan to improve my situation, so of course it just got worse. I was spending money to try and survive and spending more money to try and find a momentary happiness while I was in a stressful, dreary situation.

On a personal note, after my divorce to the father of my 2 kids, about 8 months later I got married to someone I barely knew. The marriage was a mess and I supported this guy and my family for a full year while he had no job and no true intentions of getting a job. This obviously didn't help my money situation, and me ignoring the money was my only way of having the emotional capacity to cope with everything else I think.

So on a brighter note, I'm finally able to refocus on myself and my financial situation, and it's greatly improved since December. Thank goodness!

Icky

2010-12-17T13:07:00.000-06:00

Maybe it's the impending holidays or the cold, dreary weather, but I just can not focus at work lately! I feel like I'm doing everything I can to appear busy, but not getting anything done. I hate it!

Tempted

2010-12-07T13:24:00.003-06:00

I'm tempted to just start over, but I know there's at least one person still signed up to follow this blog, so I might as well continue. It's been over a year and there have definitely been some changes in my life. Biggest of all was an unexpected divorce.
More to continue later, was just checking stuff out again.

We're so broke right now!

2009-10-12T18:11:00.000-05:00

I had to move all of our measly savings over to the checking account this week. We are beyond broke =P Thankfully Thursday is payday! Wish me luck trying to not overdraw my checking acct!

Latest Credit Card Update

2009-10-06T19:35:00.000-05:00

Best Buy $231.41
Citi $1294.66
Arvest $1960.05
BoA $8797.14
Total: $12283.26

Sick again?

2009-10-04T12:18:00.000-05:00

I think I'm one of the most unlucky people in the world right now! I am sick again w/ sore throat, nasal drainage, & body aches. I'm just glad I didn't buy any of the new AR lottery tickets lol. Anyways, I promise I will update my financial status soon!

Feeling better, glad it's Thursday!

2009-09-10T19:26:00.000-05:00

Slowly getting back to feeling better... And I'm sooooo glad the weeks almost over =) For the weekend, we plan to spend some money and finish getting the front garden area landscaped. Have to buy plants & more white rock. I'm hoping to keep the total under $200, but those rocks add up quick. Other than that, I've got studying to keep me busy and hopefully away from spending more $$!

I went to the dentist on Tuesday and they were writing out my next appt date, and I cannot believe it's almost 2010 already! It feels so weird to type that lol

Quick Update

2009-09-05T02:46:00.002-05:00

Sorry about being MIA, I'm currently sick. Just hope it's not the swine flu. I think I may get thrown into isolation for a month or something if it is =P I know something I shouldn't joke about. sheesh.

Whew... busy week

2009-08-28T21:56:00.004-05:00

Started school on Monday, turns out I'm the only student in my class. So there's no way for me to get out of answering questions lol. Tuesday at work was HORRIBLE. Went to class again on Wed evening, and my teacher is hoping that we can schedule the classes so we only have to meet every Wed, since I'm the only student and I've got a life! lol So I'm feeling lucky there, should hear more soon.

Thurs, I had a dr. appt for the results of my last labwork, and looks like my thyroid levels are evening out. My only complaint is that I'm still cold all the time, so it doesn't feel like I'm all that much better lol Dr. said to wait a few more weeks to see if it gets any better, so I will try to be patient.

Today, I put in like 11 hours at work. I had to do a system reboot/backup, so I was stuck there for 2 hours and put it to good use by getting some work done. Definitely ready for bed now. OH, AND I found out I'm getting a 10% raise!!!! How freaking exciting is that??? Yes, being excited creates more punctuation lol. I'm so surprised and I know not many people can say they got a raise this year b/c of the economy. I'm feeling so lucky!

And tomorrow's my bday! My husband Mark asked me what I wanted and I think I want an iPod Touch. Don't know if I'll get it, but it's always fun to wait and see what happens! (Yes I know I can't afford it, but I really want mobile access to the internet w/o having to pay for a data plan on my cell)

Anyways, that's about it. It's been a crazy busy week and I'm ready for the weekend! I hope everyone has an enjoyable and cheap weekend =)

Just a heads up

2009-08-15T16:15:00.003-05:00

Before I post our actual monthly update, I should warn you that it hasn't been great. NOT AT ALL. I don't know what the heck happened, but for some reason my credit card was in my purse again and has finally been removed today. I plan on getting my spending back on track now, no more adding to the credit card debt. As I mentioned in the last post, I will be adding a student loan soon enough.

Anyway, I need to find the courage to finally cut up all of these stupid cards. My main issue with this is the "what ifs".. What if my debit card doesn't work and I don't carry cash? What if some emergency happens and my poor $100 Emergency Fund is not enough? etc. I think I need to work on getting my Emergency Fund some money in it and then I will rethink cutting up the cards. For now, it seems enough to keep them out of my purse so I won't wrecklessly spend money I don't have.

About to Get Really Busy!

2009-08-14T18:35:00.006-05:00

Dang, in a week from this coming Monday, I start school again. *Cue scary music* lol Thankfully it's only a night class on Mon & Wed every week. I should probably explain what this means for my poor budget: A student loan.

Pretty much I will focus on getting myself through my Bachelor's degree before I swear off debt completely. I am going to try and save up enough money for a semester as it comes, but I still haven't saved my $1000 emergency fund, so this is going to be a long battle. But I'm still trying to save money by taking lunches to work and stuff like that, but I will just be adding another chunk of debt to my list /cry. Anyway, wish me luck, I'm looking forward to learning new things, I just hate being sleepy! =)

So all in all, I will need to focus on doing a fantastic job at work, keep up with my studies, take care of my husband and baby birds, and pray I can make it through the next 3 1/2 years. I will definitely be blogging for a while =D

Debt Update

2009-07-22T19:19:00.005-05:00

	07/22/2009
WM CC	$353.57
Paypal CC	$411.60
Citi CC	$848.46
Arvest CC	$1959.06
BoA CC	$8281.77
Total	$11854.46

Pretty Good Month

2009-07-22T18:39:00.005-05:00

It's been a good month in the sense that my husband and I are finally on the same page about the need to stop digging the debt pit. So we both took ALL of our credit cards out of our wallets and put them away! So honestly this will be the last month my credit card balances had better increase or else I'm going insane! lol Baby steps! Next step no NSF's in the checking account, and so far we've done this as well. And on to the Emergency Fund!

-We had gutters put up on our house last week (lived here for over a year w/o them) and we paid with a check, not a credit card! Woohoo! So we've only got about $100 saved in the Emergency Fund right now, but we're working on increasing this now.

-So far we've been doing really well taking our lunches/snacks for work so we're not AS tempted to go pick up some food which is saving us lots of money!

-It's payday tomorrow and I sat down tonight to get the next 2 weeks' bills paid. Makes it so much easier when I don't have to worry if I forgot something.

Question

2009-07-17T17:57:00.002-05:00

If someone blogs, but there's no one there to read, did that person really blog? =P

Medical issues

2009-07-17T17:49:00.004-05:00

On Wed this week I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. Kinda crazy since I'm only 22, but I'm just glad I finally have a reason for being so exhausted and cold all the time!
I like the Mayo clinic's website on the subject if you care for some info:

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hypothyroidism/DS00353

So I've been on my meds for 3 days now and I've got to say, I feel WONDERFUL compared to what I felt like before. And the meds are supposed to take a few weeks before being fully effective, so I'm super happy.

Anyways, the cost of health knowledge will be here soon enough, but only took 2 dr visits and some bloodwork. Hopefully not too pricey.

Taking a vacation day tomorrow..

2009-06-30T18:23:00.002-05:00

Too bad it's not for fun. My DH's grandma is having some medical issues and we'd like to go see her. So, tomorrow off work, back to work on Thursday, then off Friday! The only good thing about this week is that it's short =) Happy 4th of July to everyone. Don't spend too much on fireworks, but don't deny yourself any fun either.

Big financial change

2009-06-25T20:15:00.002-05:00

We ended up buying a second car here recently. I was going to need transportation for going to school after work and having my husband be able to run by the daycare to pick up the kids or once school starts, daycare and by school. It's a used car, but of course we couldn't pay outright so we financed it. So pretty much taking the risk of buying a vehicle so I can attend school and hopefully improve our finances eventually once I receive my bachelor's degree.
Pretty much, I haven't been able to stop using the credit cards yet as I was scraping all of our spare money from our paycheck to use for tags & title on the car. Baby steps, right? First, admit you have a problem =) I'm so there.

Debt update

2009-06-21T15:58:00.010-05:00

	06/21/2009
Citi CC	$319.02
WM CC	$397.60
Arvest CC	$1608.66
BoA CC	$8291.15
Total	$10616.43

Finally Back

2009-06-21T09:28:00.002-05:00

I'm back and hopefully strong enough to continue my push to eliminate my debt. I will be posting with my current debts as soon as I figure them out. I honestly haven't counted it up since around January.

Starting over

2009-01-01T09:49:00.003-06:00

The New Year is the perfect excuse to get me back on track! I'm officially starting over. I will collect our debts and savings and first thing we're doing is getting money in that savings account! Once I have that $1000, I will plan our debt attack!

If there's anyone out there still checking the site, please stay tuned =)

October's Update

2008-11-22T19:21:00.004-06:00

ANB $856.80
Dell $1049.31
Citi $4024.46
BoA $6712.69
Toyota: $27467.05

Total Non-Mortgage Debt: $40110.31

Mortgage: $121901.03

A little late I know.. so shoot me =P

Hello!

2008-11-22T19:10:00.002-06:00

I know, I know! I've been gone forever and a day! Let's see, speed recap: I got better, had crazy amounts of work, got sick again, both kids got sick, and just now am starting to almost feel better. So here I am again! Debt has gone up due to a new hobby, savings has gone down slightly, and DH has started to read Dave Ramsey's Your Total Money Makeover, so maybe he can get us on track.

New hobby is Geocaching! I'm excited about it, but we did have to spend money on a decent GPS unit to get started. After the GPS, we shouldn't need to buy anything and it should help us get some exercise.

Quick update

2008-11-02T20:41:00.002-06:00

I'm feeling much better than I was in my last post. But no worries, I went to work everyday last week and actually I was feeling almost normal by Tuesday. So anyways, just wanted to give everyone a quick update so y'all know I'm not dead or anything =P Anyways, I'll be gathering up my update from last month... since I always put it off =D