Change can be a good thing

April already???

2013-04-02T13:41:00.002-07:00

Where did the first quarter of 2013 go? Wow! It’s been a good year so far and I’m seeing some good progress in my debt reduction and staying credit card debt free while slowly building up the savings account as well. I’ve been working a lot of overtime and I was paid for some other non work time that I wasn’t expecting, so that was a nice bonus added to the financial picture. Always nice to receive about $400 that you weren’t expecting. I’ve been working really hard and thinking about purchases before I make them and continually asking myself if it’s a need or a want. Often times I find things are wants and I put them back. The only wants I should be indulging are adding to my retirement account so that I can be financially solvent in my retirement years. I have more than enough “stuff” so I really shouldn’t be needing anything. I rarely go shopping anymore, usually because all I do is indulge in wants, not anything I really need. Also, I find clothes I like at thrift stores for a fraction of the price of the stuff I see at the mall. My wallet really likes the thrift store prices better too. I’ve made it through my most expensive time of year and now that the big expenses of birthdays and ticket renewal for football have been met along with having the money for my annual loan payment to my parents, I’m feeling REALLY good about my financial life. I’m 4 months ahead on my car payment, but that doesn’t mean that I have been continuing to make that monthly payment. I’m working on getting that debt taken care of next. I’m hoping to have this one completely knocked out by June 30, 2014. That would be 3 ½ years early! Then it’s on to FULLY funding my Roth IRA each year. I’ve continued to contribute the match to my Simple IRA through work and it’s great to see that continuing to grow year after year. All in all, I’m feeling really good about where my money is going and the improving look of my financial future. I hope you are all seeing the same trend as me. Happy Spring!

Current debt: $227,390.55

Progress is being made…woohoo!!

2013-02-06T15:42:00.001-08:00

OK, so I’ve made it through one family birthday already and one more to go this month (next week). Then I have a break from birthdays until the end of March. I’ve gotten my tax refund and it’s sitting in my savings waiting for my loan payment due to my parents in April and I have my football season ticket renewal coming up, but I have the money for that in my checking account. All bills are paid until March 1, so I’m feeling pretty good about things at the moment. I’ve been being really good about not overspending on my groceries and keeping tabs on my gas expenditures, trying to make smart decisions when running errands. So far this year I’ve only spent $65 on gas for my car. I cut out my Internet connection at home, I have access on my iPhone and the library is very close if I ever need more access. I’ve also cut down my cable to basic, I watch about 4 hours of TV/week, so it’s not like I’m missing out on anything. I read A LOT!! Thankfully, again the library is just down the street.  We’ve had a warmer than usual winter this year and it shows in my utility bill, it was surprisingly smaller this time than I think it has ever been at this time of year since I moved in 6 years ago.

Every year I try to give something up for lent and I’ve been giving it some thought lately as to what I will give up this year. I’ve decided that I’m going to give up alcohol. I’m not a huge drinker, but I do like a glass of wine every evening and on the weekends a couple of glasses. It’s not a big thing, but the 6+ weeks of lent will save me quite a bit of money in my grocery bill, not to mention the health benefit of not imbibing.

Other than that, not too much going on here, just waiting for spring to come…I love it when the flowers start sprouting and the days are starting to get longer.

Current debt: $230,364.87 (that’s quickly going to be under $230,000!!!)

Will I ever be able to retire???

2013-01-28T14:59:00.003-08:00

Last week I met with my financial planner and while it was good to hear what he had to say, it was also somewhat depressing. I will be turning 41 in about a month and that is making me think how much I am looking forward to retiring someday. I’m not an extravagant person and don’t anticipate being so in retirement either, but as things look right now, even without having a lot of wants for my retirement years, I will be lucky if I can retire by the time I’m 70! UGH! I really don’t want to think about working for another 29 years! It was good for me to hear this as hopefully it will be the kick in the butt that I need to buckle down and not only contribute to my 401K, but also to get back on track to fully funding my Roth IRA each year. I haven’t added anything to that since 2008. For shame! Now that I have my credit card paid of completely and am working on the car loan, I will continue to put most of my money toward that, but my goal is to also fully fund the Roth IRA this year, that’s adding $5,500for the year. This might be a little over aggressive, but I’ll give it a try! Nothing ventured nothing gained! How are you doing on your retirement goals?

Current debt: $231,114.94 ($500 car payment hitting this Friday will put this under $231,000)

Extra money???

2013-01-14T17:28:00.000-08:00

Is there such a thing? J What do you do with extra cash, bonus money, found money…whatever you call it? I used mine to pay down my credit card and now that I no longer have credit card debt, I thought about applying it to my car loan as that’s my next target, but I recently earned a little extra money from some surveys I did and instead of putting it toward my car loan I decided to reward myself a little and put it on my Starbucks gift card so that I can enjoy a few treats. I earn quite a bit throughout the year on surveys and I seem to have a knack for finding money while out running errands, so for a little bit at least I’m going to treat myself to a few indulgences that I had denied myself while paying off the credit card. I earned Starbucks gift cards from both Swagbucks and Bing. I’m going to allow myself to treats with these bonuses at least through April while I have less discretionary income due to making my annual loan payment to my parents and paying for my football season tickets as well as all the family birthdays that come up this time of year. After that, once May starts, I don’t anticipate the big expenses that I usually have in the first part of the year. I’ll re-evaluate what to do with found/bonus money at that point.

I hope you are all having a great start to 2013!

Current debt: $231,230.18

Credit card debt is ..........

2013-01-03T17:22:00.001-08:00

GONE!! I just set up my final payment on my credit card! Woohoo! Payment will go through tomorrow and I will officially have the credit card debt gone. My pay increase has taken affect and it's made a real difference in my paycheck. So far, I've only spent $10 in 2013 with no plans to spend any money until Saturday. Then I will be running all of my errands and hoping to have a quiet evening. I'm working on planning my menu for January and will try to do the bulk of my grocery shopping then for the entire month and then make do with what I have on hand for the rest. January is going to be my month of spending as little as possible on unnecessary items.

The first 4 months of each year are always expensive for me as I have my football ticket renewal and the annual loan payment to my parents as well as 4 birthdays in my family by April 30. I'm going to have to be creative about the things I come up with for those occasions, but I don't think that will be much of a problem.

Now that the credit card debt is gone, I'm moving on to saving for the annual loan payment and knocking out the car loan. I am working on setting up a graph to chart my progress and keep me motivated. Does anyone know if there is an IPhone app that will help me track this?

Woohoo! Super excited that the credit card debt is FINALLY gone, that was the end of the debt from my divorce and it's nice to begin the year putting closure to that part of my life. :)

Current debt: $231,520.74 (look at that balance going down!!!)

Happy 2013...

2013-01-01T12:17:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a safe and happy start to 2013. I had a great time at a house party where I spent the night and didn't have to worry about driving after celebrating or risk being on the road with others who'd also indulged.

Have you made any resolutions? I'm still thinking on mine, but I'm hoping to have them pinned down in the next couple of days, by the end of the upcoming weekend at the latest. I didn't quite reach my goal of having my credit card paid off completely by New Year's Eve, but I'm close, only $810.24 to go. Should be completely gone by the end of the month, then it's on to the car loan and building up the savings.

I'm working on myself a little bit more this year, doing things I want to do, not what others want me to do. I need to do the things that will make me happy, regardless of what others might think of my decisions. For too long, I've been doing things to please others, sometimes to my own detriment and that's not right.

That's all for now, I have much thinking to do on what my goals and resolutions will be this year. I'll be back soon with more.

Current debt: $232,330.98 (I can't wait to see where this number is at at the end of this year)

How was your Christmas???

2012-12-26T15:36:00.001-08:00

Were you able to stay on budget? Come in under budget? Or are you saying, "what budget?" I am very happy to say that I came in UNDER budget and did not have to pull out the credit card once for holiday expenses. I was hoping that I'd have the credit card paid in full by 12/31/12, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen, although it will be close. I'm down to $1286.01 left to pay on it and I should have that paid off by mid-January. I have a fairly large check coming at work tomorrow for some back pay that was owed to me. Once I see exactly how much that is, I'll have a better idea of when I'll have that balance down to zero! I also have a check coming hopefully in the next couple of days for a $122 for a reimbursement from a drug company. It pays to look up prescriptions you are taking to see if they have an offers. I have a face cream that I use and even with my prescription my co-pay was still $152.50. I checked out the site and they are currently running an offer where your portion is no more than $30. So, I quickly filled that all out and sent it in, I should be getting that check in the next couple days as well, that will all go straight to debt reduction. My birthday is in 2 months, so I've decided that I'm not going to go to the after Christmas sales and buy stuff I don't need or want and will wait until my birthday and use any birthday money I receive in order to do some shopping for spring/summer clothes.

For New Year's Eve I will be going to a party at my brother's house and will spend the night there. Better to not be out on the roads that night. I love that they have a party every year, it's very low key, lots of fun and light on the wallet. I only have to bring what I'd like to drink and a dish to share.

Not too much else coming up that will cost much, so it'll be nice to get the credit card knocked out and then work on the car loan next. In April, my annual loan payment to my parents is due and I've been putting money aside each paycheck to cover that, so that'll be taken care of. Last year marked the 1/2 way repayment so now I'm on the downhill slide to having them paid off. Woohoo!!

I'm still working on fine tuning my new year's resolutions, they won't all have to do with my finances. Are you making any resolutions? If so, what are they? I'd love to hear what you all are working on. I hope you had a FANTASTIC Christmas holiday and are looking forward to 2013, I know I am.

Current debt: $232,806.75

Holidays...bah humbug...

2012-12-02T18:55:00.001-08:00

OK, not really, I'm just working on a plan to keep the cost associated with said holidays down. While I've drastically reduced my gift spending over the past several years, I'm still looking for ways to cut even more. This coming Friday my mom, sister in law and I will take the day off work and head out shopping. I'm hoping to take care of all of my shopping on this one day and then next Monday when I take my Grandma out to do her shopping. Other than that, I hope to steer clear of the malls and shopping. I'm looking forward to spending some time celebrating the real reason for the season, enjoying friends and family, relaxing and reflecting.

I was home sick this past week for 2 days and was so thankful to have paid sick leave at work. There was NO way I could have gone to work and while I felt miserable, it was a real comfort to know that I was still going to be paid for those days, one thing off my mind while I was home and could focus on getting better.

I'm working on thinking of what my goals for 2013 are going to be. I'm hoping to start the new year without the credit card debt, however, there may be a small amount left to pay on that. That will be my first priority, then I have to get the money built up to make my annual payment to my parents for my mortgage down payment loan. That will be due in April and is nice to get it taken care of. Then it's time to power ahead on knocking out the car loan. Since I turned 40 earlier this year, I am focusing on planning more for retirement and the future. It's hard to believe I've hit 40 already, I'm sure 50 will come even quicker, then 60 and so on. It was a real eye opener to see that 40 came so fast and I want to be able to retire at a reasonable age and enjoy life.

Not too much going on here, I know it's going to be 2013 before I know it and a new exciting year. I hope you all are looking forward to a joyous holiday season with family and friends and NOT getting yourself in to debt. Remember, no one wants you to give them a gift that you can't afford. I would hate to hear that someone when in to debt in order to give me a gift. And because I feel like that, I am not going to put myself in to debt in order to give anyone else a gift.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy holiday season!

Current debt: $233,562

Are you ready for the holidays???

2012-11-17T12:59:00.001-08:00

It's hard for me to believe it's already this time of year again, where has 2012 gone? I'm spending a quiet day at home today, not venturing out in to the chaos. This will probably be the last weekend like this for me until the new year. I'm enjoying watching football and baking some cookies for my lunch this weekend. Working on my shopping list for gifts and what I'll need this week for my contribution for Thanksgiving dinner. I took advantage of the great coupons and loss leaders at my local grocery stores and was able to get a large bag full of groceries for little to no money to donate at the food drive at work. I've listed a bunch more things on eBay for a friend and she's going to pay me a commission for helping her, currently her items are selling for over $500!

Dear friends were supposed to be in town this weekend, but they had to postpone the trip, probably not until after the new year now. :( They made the decision to postpone due to some expenses related to the trip and while I'm disappointed they aren't here, I am proud of them for making the financially smart decision to wait until the trip was more manageable for them.

So, while there's not much to report from here, I'm enjoying the day and looking forward to a holiday season that is not as stressful as they usually are. I feel really organized and ready for the season.

Current debt: $233,351 (stayed the same since last time, at least it's not going up!)

Reducing expenses...

2012-11-12T18:34:00.001-08:00

I've been taking a look at a lot of what I thought were my "fixed" expenses and am finding that I can reduce these as well. It had been awhile since I'd looked at my insurance rates, so I ran some quotes with different companies today and found that I could go back to Progressive which I'd had in the past and save over $500/year. That's HUGE!! My homeowners policy is also going to be just under $100 less per year by switching. I had Progressive insurance years ago when my car was stolen and they were great to work with, so I'm excited about the savings and not worried about the coverage. That $600 savings alone would put me under $1,000 left to go on my credit card debt!

I finally turned my heat on this past Saturday night, but it didn't take much to take the chill off and I think if I'm diligent about it this year I can reduce the costs from what I paid last year.

I took a full inventory of my pantry and have made a meal plan for the next 2 weeks. I should only have to buy a few minimal items between now and Thanksgiving. I know my mom will send me home with LOTS of leftovers and I won't balk at that. Apparently she thinks I eat a lot as a single person because she always sends me home with enough food for almost a week.

I cut my cable back somewhat too, not to just basic, but close. I watch TV maybe a couple times a week, so it just doesn't make sense for me to have extended cable and all the extras, I don't watch enough TV to get my money's worth. This change will save me $16/month and will really add up.

A good friend was supposed to be coming in to town this coming weekend which I was really looking forward to, except I knew I would spend WAY too much money. Since I put the money aside to spend while she was here, I'm going to go ahead and put it toward reducing my credit card instead. I think I may actually get that final $1,550 paid off before New Year's Eve. OMG, that would be the BEST way to start 2013. Then I can plow full steam ahead in paying off the car.

Well, that's about it for now, hope all is well with you.

Current debt: $233,351

Day 5 of the month...

2012-11-05T18:09:00.002-08:00

and I've only spent $10.87 all month so far. I had a super relaxing weekend at home, didn't go anywhere, in fact I never even got out of my PJ's yesterday. It was WONDERFUL!!! I made a delicious casserole from things I had on hand that I can eat for a couple of days. I took some for lunch today, then saw on my calendar that I had a lunch meeting with one of our vendors and they always treat. Even better, lunch out and my lunch brought from home saved for tomorrow. I think I will have one more no spending day, possibly 2 before I have to go to the grocery store. I perused the grocery ads and the coupons in yesterday's paper, I've done an inventory of what I have on hand and for the first time in a long time, I've made a meal plan. I should be able to get through the next week to 10 days on less than $50 for groceries. I'm kicking it in to high gear to get this credit card debt paid off by the end of the year. I'm refusing to activate the replacement credit card that came in the mail and hoping that I can do all of my holiday shopping without needing to use it. I'm pretty sure I can make it, I don't have much shopping to do and if I plan right and shop smart, I should be able to get it done quickly and for little money out of pocket. Tomorrow I will know what this Friday's payday will look like and I'm hoping that will give me a better idea of where I stand on making further debt reduction process. Other than that, not too much to report from here. Hope you all had a great Monday and if you haven't already done so, get out and vote tomorrow.

Current debt: $234,184

Progress is continuing...

2012-11-04T13:04:00.000-08:00

Not as quickly as I'd like, but at least I'm continuing to make progress and the debt total is going down and not up. I'm SO close to having the credit card paid off and should have it at a ZERO balance by the end of the year. My credit card was compromised online and used all over the Internet, thankfully I wasn't responsible for those new charges and my account number has changed. I received the new card and haven't activated it yet or put it in my wallet, less temptation that way. I've been out and about often lately when if the card had been in my wallet, I knew I would have used it. This is something I've learned about myself and it's been great to know that by not having the card and not being able to make some purchases, I've not felt the least bit deprived. I can't even remember what some of those things are that I would have wanted to buy, so I guess that means I didn't really want them to begin with.

I'm having a bit of an internal dilemma as to what to do about my car. While I really do like my Volvo XC90, it's WAY more car than I need and I resent it every time I have to fill the gas tank. I've had the car for just over a year now and I'm trying to decide if I want to keep it, or trade it in for something smaller and more economical. I'm afraid that for a short time I'll be upping my debt in order make this change, so I'm torn as to what to do. I've decided to make myself wait at least 6 months thinking on this and not to make any quick decisions. Quick decisions usually spell financial mistakes for me.

As the holidays are approaching, I'm looking at the gift shopping I am doing and there will really be very little spending. I typically only buy for my niece and nephew along with both of my Grandma's. My parents I always go in on something with my brother and that's about it, I don't buy gifts for friends. I bake a lot and usually give that away to many of my friends.

Still really busy at work and putting in a lot of overtime, that's really what's helping me get this credit card off my back. I'll let you know when the debt is gone 100%. Hope you are all having a fabulous fall.

Take care!

Current debt: $234,202

A quick update...

2012-10-07T18:26:00.001-07:00

I know, I know, it's been awhile again since I posted anything, but it's because I'm still working long hours and putting in lots of overtime. Did you see the decrease in the ticker above? I'm really seeing progress on my debt reduction and doing what I can be mindful of my day to day spending. It's the 7th day of the month and so far I've only spent money one day! OK, mind you, I spent $152.88 yesterday, but that was groceries for the next week and a half and fuel for the car and a birthday gift for a dear friend. All in all, not too bad. It's starting to really cool off here and I'm fighting turning on the furnace yet, I always try to at least make it to mid-October before doing so and if I can make it for the next week, I'll be out of town for 2 weeks, so I may even be able to hold off until Nov. 1st. That darn electric heat is expensive!!

I've been busy with all kinds of things besides work lately too. I've been watching my niece play soccer on most Sundays and trying to get to all of my nephew's cross country meets. I've been taking care of all of my yearly Dr. appts, I've had my annual gyno exam and just the other day I had my 1st mammogram, had my eyes checked, my teeth cleaned, and received my flu shot. Not one of these things cost me any money out of pocket and I'm eternally grateful for insurance. I even have some long term care insurance that paid me $50 for having the mammogram, hard to pass that up! And you know me, as soon as that money was deposited in my account, I made a payment on my credit card with it. I can hardly wait to see that at a zero balance. Next up after the credit card is knocking out the car loan. I hope to have that one paid off by the end of 2013.

I received a call on Saturday morning from my credit card company asking if I'd been trying to use the card that morning, as I'd just gotten out of the shower and had not yet turned on my computer, I told them no. Turns out, my card had been compromised somewhere along the line and someone had tried to charge over $1,000 in the wee hours of the morning all over the Internet. Thankfully my card was being closely monitored and it was caught in time. I would have noticed it as well, later that day as I had been planning on logging in to make a payment, but so glad they flagged it. I'll have to wait about a week to get a new card in the mail, which is fine, I rarely use it anyway as I'm trying to get it paid off, so I won't miss it.

On a totally different note, I am taking my niece to the Justin Bieber concert this week! Am I insane? I think I must be or I really, really love that little girl! A friend won the tickets from the radio and her daughter is too young to go, so she gave the tickets to me. Oh well, at least I didn't have to pay anything for them and my niece is SO excited, it makes it totally worth it.

Other than that, not too much going on around these parts, working, working, working to get the debt paid down and enjoying these last few days of warm fall weather before the rain and cold sets in. Hope you all had a GREAT weekend, I know I did. Take care!

Current debt: $235,965.49

I thought twice about spending...

2012-09-19T18:56:00.003-07:00

I was going to go to Costco on my way home from work today which would have put a pretty big dent in my wallet, then I thought twice about it. I knew going straight from work without eating dinner would almost double my bill there and I'd come home with all kinds of snacks that tomorrow I'd look at and feel so guilty. So, I decided to come home and take stock of what I had in the pantry, fridge and freezer and to eat a quick dinner before heading out. Turns out, this was a really good move on my part. Not only did I eat something good for dinner, I also realized that with a little thinking and planning, I could avoid doing much shopping for another week to 10 days. It's been a while since I've done a grocery shopping freeze and after taking stock of what I have on hand, I should be able to stay out of the store, other than for fresh produce for quite awhile still and continue to eat good, healthy meals. This upcoming weekend I don't have too many plans, so I will take advantage of the time to prep meals for the following week and peruse my cookbooks and the web to come up with some new ideas.

Does anyone know of a website where I can plug in a few ingredients and recipes will come up? I know they're out there, I just can't think of what they might be at the moment. This should really help me come up with some new meals that I like and are easy to fix. With the money I was going to spend at Costco, I think I'll make another payment on my credit card. My goal is to have that paid off by New Years. Wish me luck!

Current debt: $237,622.88

Favorite savings tips...

2012-09-12T18:18:00.002-07:00

Hello all...

I'm still working a ton of hours and when I get a minute to update my debt ticker above, I will do that, but in the meantime I thought I'd let you all know what I've been doing with all the overtime pay I've been earning. It has been so great to see these large paychecks coming and and even greater to see the money going out to reduce my debts. I've been able to make great progress in reducing my debt while I've been working so much. I'm currently ahead on my car payment through the end of January and while I've only been rounding my mortgage payment up a slight bit, I'm seeing greater decrease in this as well. The main debt I've been hammering away at is my credit card which is now down to under $4,500! Yay! I can't wait to see this at zero. I'm really hoping I can do it by the end of the year and hoping to eliminate the car loan by the end of 2013. I think that paying debts off early is my greatest savings tip as this will reduce the interest paid over time and can save a bundle, but I also have many other savings tips that I use all the time. Here are a few more of my most favorite.

*I buy my bread at the Franz Bakery outlet for at least 75% off the retail price.

*I save all of my change and then cash it in at Coinstar for gift cards, when you do this, they don't charge the fee like they do when converting the change to cash. Sometimes I'll get a gift card for a gift to give, sometimes I use it for Starbucks as a treat for myself.

*I keep a running list of people I buy gifts for and ideas for each of them, that way when I'm out and about I can keep my eye out for sales that will stretch my gift giving dollars.

*I can wear jeans to work and tend to buy all of mine at the thrift stores, they fit great and are already broken in without breaking my wallet.

*I check out books and movies at the library rather than buying them.

*I do all my grocery shopping at one store to take advantage of the loyalty points that give me a greater discount when buying gas there as well.

*I never order a soda out at a restaurant, they are grossly overpriced, so I drink water, it's free and good for me.

*Even though I'm busy, I make almost all of my food from scratch rather than stopping for fast food. This is both cheaper and healthier.

* I put most of my clothes in the dryer for only a couple of minutes, then hang them to dry. This will lower the energy used to dry them and cut down on the wear and tear.

Those are just a few of my tips for now. If you have a great tip to share, I'd love to hear it. Hope all is well with you!

Current debt: $237,617 (I love that this is dropping!!! )

Resisted the urge to spend...

2012-08-26T17:28:00.001-07:00

Today I went to the mall to meet my step dad to help him pick out an anniversary gift for my mom and I thought about doing a little shopping of my own, I've been wanting some new clothes, but I resisted and thought I would wait until after Labor Day when my mom, my best friend, her mom and I all go shopping at the local thrift store where all the clothes are half off on Labor Day. In the past, I've done really well on these shopping trips and since I can wear casual clothes to work every day, it's nice to find jeans and t-shirts there at GREAT prices. To help me resist the urge to splurge today, I only went in to stores that were necessary to help my step dad out with his shopping and I went straight home afterward. I didn't even go in to any of my favorite stores. Funny thing, while driving home, I was really proud of myself and didn't feel like I'd missed out on anything, but not at least window shopping. I think I'm getting better and better at this saving money and not spending thing. Tomorrow I will know what my paycheck for this Friday will be and I can make my plan to make debt repayments. With so much overtime, I know I will be able to make another good size dent in it. Stay tuned....more to come later this week!

Current debt: $239,744.00 (darn credit card interest increased this total a little bit.)

Working WAY too many hours....

2012-08-24T19:37:00.001-07:00

So, usually when I've been away for awhile it's a sign that things aren't going well, but lately it's all been going right! We've been swamped at work lately and I've been working a ton of overtime. Just this week alone, I put in 73 hours. Woohoo! That's helping me really make a dent in some of this debt. My main goal right now is to have the credit card paid off by the end of the year and the car loan paid off at the end of 213. Then it's full speed ahead paying down the mortgage and upping the retirement contributions. My parents won't take any more than $2,000/year on the money I owe them, so I may as well put the extra to savings, mortgage reduction and retirement. Usually when I'm making extra money I spend more, but since I've been working so hard, I've decided to continue being frugal and making the extra money work as hard for me as I've been working to earn it. Seeing those balances drop so much quicker is very motivating to keep this up. The funny thing is, I have so many things on my wish list, but none of them seem worth it when I've been working so hard to earn the money. I've cut down on just about any extra spending, I'm sure it helps that when I get home from work, I'm too tired to go do anything. I know that this isn't something I can sustain, so for now I'll just enjoy the extra money coming in and get ahead on some bills, feels really good!

How are things with all of you?

Current Debt: $239,728.33 (yay, it's under $240K!!)

No spends days will be more than 50% this month...

2012-06-26T15:06:00.000-07:00

I've been trying really hard to have fewer and fewer days each month where I'm spending money. This month, I just hit the 15 days mark which is 50% of the month, but I know at least one more day that I will not spend, so I'll be over the 50% mark! Yay! I write down EVERY penny I spend in a little notebook and just the act of having to write it down helps keep me accountable, but I also love to see how many of those days show a big, fat ZERO spent. It's the little things in life sometimes.

Current debt: $242,070.69

Goals for each month...

2012-06-19T16:06:00.002-07:00

I've decided that I need to start challenging myself a little more and would like to start coming up with monthly goals that I'd like to achieve. So, I'll start this new plan in July and follow it up until the end of the year.

July goals:
*Walk at least 2 days a week for exercise
*Eat out no more than 3 times all month
*NOTHING charged on the credit card
*Sell $100 on eBay, money to go toward credit card reduction

We'll see how this goes, but I'm hoping it motivates me to get moving on some things that I'd like to achieve.

Current debt: $242,070.51 (hoping these challenges will reduce that!)

Just checking in...

2012-06-18T13:21:00.000-07:00

Not too much to report from the around here, but I guess that's a good thing. That means I haven't been spending a bunch of money and dig my hole deeper and deeper. I'm currently staying pretty steady where I'm at, but I'm not going further in debt, so I'm going to look at that as a positive for today. This Friday is payday and I currently still have quite a bit of money in the checking account from last payday, so I haven't had to pull out the credit card at all! Woohoo! Now, that might not seem like much to some of you, but for me that's big progress! I have to go to the gas station tomorrow and I know it won't be cheap, it never is, but at least I know I have the money to pay for it now, so I won't have to use credit. I'm taking a few more days off from work and really hoping these don't become big spending days like they were last month when I did the same thing. I have a few things planned, but not a ton of stuff, so it should be relatively inexpensive. The week after this one is looking to be really mellow and should involve very little spending! Yay! I will have to work a really long one day next week, but the overtime will be a nice addition to my regular paycheck, going to be nice to have some extra to add to the debt. :)

So, like I said, not a whole lot going on here, just wanted to check in.

Current debt: $242,070.51

Long time since last post....is never a good thing...

2012-06-06T19:00:00.000-07:00

Ugh! It's been over a month since I've last posted and that is never a good thing. Whenever I'm not posting often, it usually means my finances are in the toilet. Seriously, who wants to tell the world when things aren't going great, I like to post about my successes, who doesn't?! It's really not all that bad, but I've been making very little progress on my debt reduction and that is extremely frustrating! I was off from work for a week over Memorial day weekend and any time away from work usually spells lots of SPENDING for me. :( I'm disappointed in myself for my lack of restraint while on vacation. This wasn't really like a "vacation" anyway, more of a staycation and trying to use up vacation time before losing it, so there was really no excuse. Oh, but the sales were SO great for the holiday weekend and I am now the proud? owner of a beautiful new sofa from Macys. Or should I say that Capital One is currently the proud owner of my sofa? I've been analyzing my debts ever since that long week off and am not pleased with my behavior or my debt totals. When I realized that my car is currently 10% of my total debt, including my mortgage, I about had a heart attack! This is SO not acceptable and must be dealt with ASAP. This coming weekend will find me listing many more things on eBay and getting rid of things I don't use, need or want all in order to help pay off my existing debt. Almost $7,000 on the credit card and $24,000 on my car along with my mortgage of just over $200,000! All this on an income of around $50,000/year. Who do I think I am to have amassed so much debt?! Not happy at all with myself right now and I'm going work my fanny off to get this monkey off my back. I'm 40 years old and certainly don't want to continue having this much credit card and auto loan debt hanging on. OK, enough about my ranting about my bad behavior, time to stop typing and do something about it. Time for some tough love with myself and time to take the one credit card I have, out of my wallet and put it on ice.

Current debt: $242,935.00 (Ugh, makes me a little nauseous just typing that!)

A third of the year is gone already...

2012-04-30T11:04:00.002-07:00

Where does the time go? I can't believe we've already finished up 1/3 of the year! While I'm not where I want to be with my goals, I'm making progress and all things are pointing to the bottom line looking SO much better by the time we are 2/3 of the way done with the year. We're coming up on my favorite time of year and the one in which I tend to spend the least amount of money! April always hits me hard because I have several big expenses to pay for, now it's smooth sailing for me until we get closer to the holidays. The longer days are such a great thing, I can spend more time outside and relaxing with a good book or by the pool at my condo that I pay for regardless of whether I use it or not, might as well use it. :) I'm looking forward to seeing how little I can spend, while still having some fun. I plan to be a tourist this summer in my own town and finally see several places here that I've never been to, even though I've lived here my entire 40 years. Should be fun to get out and explore some new areas. I have so much vacation time to use up and if I don't use it, I lose it. That's not going to happen! I'm looking forward to May 1st and seeing the change in my spending and how I'm looking at each and every purchase I make. My goal is to have my car and credit card paid off by 12/31/13. That will leave me with only my mortgage and the remainder of my debt to my parents, which they refuse to take more than $2,000/year in payments for, so I'll put the extra toward retirement and my mortgage. :)

I hope you are all having a wonderful spring!

Current debt: $243,615.69

Ever tried Advocare???

2012-04-26T09:31:00.003-07:00

I have been wanting to do an herbal cleanse for quite some time now and I've been really slow about getting on it. When I was discussing this with a friend of mine, she mentioned that she's a distributor for Advocare and recommended that I try theirs. I was a little reluctant, but thought what the heck, I'll give it a try. She mentioned that if I became a distributor, I'd get the products at a discount, not to mention with signing up, I would get a lot of their drinks as well with my starter kit. So far, I've been thrilled with all of the products I've tried. I even ventured in to the skin care a bit, something I rarely do because I have very dry and sensitive skin. The Advocare has been GREAT, very subtle and non irritating. My skin has never been so soft and feels wonderful! I'm thrilled with all the products thus far. Does anyone else have experience with Advocare?

If you're interested, check it out. https://www.advocare.com/120424311

Current debt: $243,565.24

Refinance complete...

2012-04-25T07:46:00.002-07:00

So, just yesterday I was able to complete the refinance on my condo and lowered my interested rate a full 2%!! Up until now, I had a 5/1 Interest only ARM and it was due to shift rates. While this would have been fine, it was only going to stay the current rate for 12 months and then it could shift every 12 months for the remaining 24 years. That is a stress that I do not need to have on my head. So, I've locked in now for 30 years at 4.125% and will finally be making payments toward reducing the principal as well. Although, all along, I've been paying extra to reduce the principal, it's just that it was an interest only loan. Something I would not recommend, but as we all do, we learn some lessons the hard way. But, now that I know what it's going to cost me to pay it off and there won't be any surprises, I feel like I can really start to make progress on the mortgage and other debt and really see the big picture.

Current debt: $243,565.24

Pretty inexpensive weekend...

2012-04-16T13:21:00.003-07:00

We finally had some GREAT spring weather around here and I spent most of the weekend outside enjoying it! Saturday started with a 5 mile walk and ended watching a baseball game, both totally free things to do. Sunday was a little overcast in the morning, but not bad enough to not get out for a walk, so out I went. Then a trip to Ikea. I don't think I've ever gotten out of there so cheaply!! Only $20.15!! Sure, I could have spent several hundred $$, but I'm trying something new...I am going to think about several of the things I saw and wanted and I will save up the money to buy them. I figure this will either make me take my time buying something, or I will decide I didn't really want/need it to begin with. I'm working really hard on not using my credit card and slowly paying it off. I've been in the vicious cycle for too long of making a large payment, then coming up short of cash for things and pulling the card out. NO MORE!! I've also been writing down EVERY single penny I am spending and this is making me very aware of the way I tend to nickel and dime my way further in to debt all the time. No more! If I don't have the cash to pay for it, I don't need it. Wish me luck!

Current debt: $240,686.82 (seems to be stuck here...)