tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78451787654455137242024-09-14T00:59:03.532-06:00Updated mostly in the summer!!Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.comBlogger215125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7845178765445513724.post-52311575239666808112009-10-16T16:04:00.000-06:002009-10-16T16:04:00.303-06:00

Wow! Talk about a weekend! I guess it all started with a dishwasher. Our dishwasher was having trouble. I said, let's repair it. Dh said, I need a new tool and I can fix it. Father in Law says lets look to see what kind of tool he needs. Wait I can fix it with this tool. Oops, I broke your dishwasher. $365.I say, I have some work to do on Monday while school is out. Take kids to daycare.

Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7845178765445513724.post-23277973677458110882009-10-15T16:03:00.001-06:002009-10-15T16:03:38.722-06:00

You can go anywhere online and find a ton of tips about what to do if you are in debt and want to start paying it down. You can also find plenty of advice on how to save and invest your money once you are out of debt. But, what about those at the mid-way point? Is there a big difference between someone starting out and someone who has half of their debt paid off?The simple answer is YES! If

Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7845178765445513724.post-91714356709001846072009-08-30T14:05:00.003-06:002009-08-30T14:16:35.317-06:00

I think I posted a few months ago about my budget being messed up. I did not have enough money to cover something and had no idea where the money went. It was just gone. I didn't spend it, not that I had recorded anyway. Well, I think I found it. But, again, it makes no sense. This month I have an extra $200 in my account. It makes NO sense. I have zeroed out my budget twice now. Well,

Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7845178765445513724.post-40988835761992125582009-08-15T08:50:00.002-06:002009-08-15T09:02:20.177-06:00

Can I just say I am SO glad I bumped up my emergency fund? I added an extra thousand to it from our tax refund this year and thank God I did, because I am about to have to tap into it.I haven't been around this month because I have been SICK! It started out as bronchitis and turned into ASTHMA! I didn't know you could just "get" asthma. I thought it was something you were born with. I also

Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7845178765445513724.post-44465599850148854282009-07-28T13:12:00.002-06:002009-07-28T13:24:42.763-06:00

I blew every bit of my snowball this month. It was not ALL due to the budget mess up. Actually half was due to the budget screw up and the other half was because we are SICK around here. I have a pretty severe case of bronchitis that apparently required 4 different medications and my daughter was put on a prescription decongestant. All together those 5 scripts were $103!!! Yes that is with

Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7845178765445513724.post-64113466142510130622009-07-19T12:07:00.002-06:002009-07-19T12:17:38.309-06:00

I messed up somewhere. My checking account does not have enough money in it to cover what is left to come out this month. I don't know what I did, but I have a feeling it has to do with daycare. My daycare checks generally come out of my account the Monday after I write them. However this last week nothing came out on Monday. So that means I have 3 weeks left to go and not nearly the money

Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7845178765445513724.post-29969333065883532512009-07-17T08:34:00.000-06:002009-07-17T08:34:00.675-06:00

Dave Ramsey has a good plan with his baby steps, but I almost wish he would write a follow up book for some variations on the plan. For example, here are his steps:$1,000 to start an Emergency FundPay off all debt using the Debt Snowball3 to 6 months of expenses in savingsInvest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirementCollege funding for childrenPay off home earlyBuild

Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7845178765445513724.post-39982163043098363382009-07-16T07:53:00.003-06:002009-07-16T08:14:15.269-06:00

I can't believe it has been four months since I have posted anything. I am a bad bad blogger!!What I decided about the car...I am paying on the car as soon as I get the money. I found that it doesn't really matter when I pay it, the interest does not change, except that I pay a little less each time I pay on the car because the principle is going down. Also, this keeps me from saying... well,

Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7845178765445513724.post-26142380135099847212009-04-18T09:15:00.002-06:002009-04-18T10:08:15.341-06:00

Ugh, I have quite a few decisions to make soon. I am not exactly sure what I should do on the first one. The second decision is kind of a no brainer, but I still have options so I guess I have to decide what is most important... money vs. sanity!Anyway, the first thing is snowballing my car payment. I will have my car paid off this year one way or another. I have a $366 snowball to add to my

Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7845178765445513724.post-86837030600970380022009-04-15T16:12:00.003-06:002009-04-15T16:24:33.568-06:00

I think I am getting a little too comfortable with my finances again.The more bills that we pay the more room we have to "breathe". I know I am overspending, but it isn't really causing a big problem right now because I have the money to do it. However, I am using money that could be snowflaked to my debt.Snowball- using money from a paid off debt toward your next debt. You continue paying the

Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7845178765445513724.post-7313328958252287012009-03-29T15:22:00.002-06:002009-03-29T15:42:10.095-06:00

Two years ago, I bought 10,000 dollars worth of furniture. I really wanted to give our house a facelift, and I totally succeeded. I just put us in a lot of debt at the same time. Two years ago that decision or really lack of planning, caused me to start this blog. I have had LOTS of blogs before and since then, but this is the only one that still gets any posts.I was reading back to some of

Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7845178765445513724.post-45803250687696651182009-02-24T16:15:00.002-06:002009-02-24T16:25:14.839-06:00

Hi, yes, it is me again, the woman who never posts. Well, I won't be doing much better any time soon, but I am sure this summer you will have more posts than you want. Ha ha. Anyway, we paid off a debt in full yesterday and as soon as we get some more bills from recent hospital visits we have endured we will probably pay off one more. If it is not paid off completely it will have a huge chunk

Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7845178765445513724.post-71353563961620396602009-01-08T15:04:00.000-06:002009-01-08T15:04:00.843-06:00

A little over a week ago I was deciding exactly how I was going to spend my tax refund. I hoped to pay off my smallest debt, put an extra $1000 in our emergency fund, and if there was any left at that point, I was going to pay it toward my next debt.Approximately two days later I was in the hospital which lasted almost an entire week. Oops. While I do have insurance, I still will have to pay

Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7845178765445513724.post-39230204918580495562009-01-07T14:56:00.002-06:002009-01-07T15:04:28.736-06:00

Since my last post over two months ago our economy has gotten even worse than it was. Because of my work on our finances, my family was able to make it through crazy gas prices with no problem and we are actually doing just fine now too. However, I feel like I haven't been doing as well as I could be. I think I can do even more.I just ran my debt snowball calculator to find out where I am at.

Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7845178765445513724.post-78509317481481332182008-10-25T09:27:00.002-06:002008-10-25T09:35:38.580-06:00

Trent at the Simple Dollar posted recently about what you should do with an extra paycheck. He says you should treat it like a regular one. I agree somewhat buy not entirely. Of course I don't believe you should blow it all on yourself either. Since we will be getting ours next Friday I thought I would break down what I plan to do with it.1. Take out 2 weeks expenses. Don't forget to take

Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7845178765445513724.post-20805023515013355972008-10-13T13:49:00.002-06:002008-10-13T14:09:57.635-06:00

I am conflicted. I cannot post as often as I would like, so part of me feels very guilty when I am "trying" to post daily and cannot. I feel like I am letting my readers down. However, I guess not posting anything is just as much of a let down. I had a long conversation with myself today though and I forgot that I started blogging for ME not anyone else, not to get readers, not to make money

Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7845178765445513724.post-66398665882133531102008-09-21T15:03:00.002-06:002008-09-21T15:12:15.801-06:00

I really thought that I would be able to get more posts in. Lately I haven't even had time to get on the computer and check my email. I have decided to just let POW go static for the time being. I may post some things here and there, so if you do enjoy my posts I highly suggest you subscribe. That way you will be updated ONLY when there is a new post and won't have to check here for new

Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7845178765445513724.post-63612242012942962862008-09-18T13:56:00.000-06:002008-09-18T13:56:00.577-06:00

PoW Retro (that is Picture of Wealth, not prisoner of war) is a look back at some of my favorite posts over the past year and a half. I hope you enjoy these!http://picturewealth.blogspot.com/2008/01/my-biggest-money-mistakes.htmlhttp://picturewealth.blogspot.com/2008/01/my-biggest-money-accomplishments.htmlToday you get a two-fer. My biggest money mistakes followed by my biggest accomplishments

Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7845178765445513724.post-5422556942522041002008-09-16T01:19:00.001-06:002008-09-16T01:19:00.527-06:00

For the final post in this series I just wanted to talk about what to do when all the debt is gone.First of all, you need to think about the future. Dave Ramsey suggests continuing to save until you have 3 to 6 months worth of income in savings. This will cover you if you lose your job unexpectedly.After that it is time to think about retirement. You should be able to max out an IRA at this point

Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7845178765445513724.post-66041776186328930472008-09-11T13:55:00.001-06:002008-09-11T13:55:00.192-06:00

PoW Retro (that is Picture of Wealth, not prisoner of war) is a look back at some of my favorite posts over the past year and a half. I hope you enjoy these!http://picturewealth.blogspot.com/2007/08/big-news.htmlThis was the BIG News that changed my plans and my life forever. And, I am pleased to report that I DID IT…. DEBT FREE…. BABY!** My thoughts and prayers are with all those who lost

Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7845178765445513724.post-48303298597199180252008-09-09T01:18:00.001-06:002008-09-09T01:18:01.097-06:00

If you are just finding the Back to Basics series you can find all of the posts in the series by clicking on “Back to Basics” in the sidebar. So far we have discussed tracking our money, finding money in our budgets, saving for an emergency fund, things to do before you start repaying your debt, and how to choose and implement a Debt Snowball.Today I want to tell you how to get your debt paid

Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7845178765445513724.post-20598104057802069532008-09-04T13:53:00.000-06:002008-09-04T13:53:00.143-06:00

PoW Retro (that is Picture of Wealth, not prisoner of war) is a look back at some of my favorite posts over the past year and a half. I hope you enjoy these!http://picturewealth.blogspot.com/2007/07/objects-in-rear-view-mirror-may-appear.htmlI don’t know when you will actually read this but today is July 28, 2008 (I am scheduling this for some time in the future). This post was written exactly

Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7845178765445513724.post-24632783217773048632008-09-02T01:16:00.000-06:002008-09-02T01:16:00.579-06:00

If you are just finding the Back to Basics series you can find all of the posts in the series by clicking on “Back to Basics” in the sidebar. So far we have discussed tracking our money, finding money in our budgets, saving for an emergency fund, and things to do before you start repaying your debt.The next item up for discussion is the Debt Snowball. This can be quite controversial. There are

Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7845178765445513724.post-74467280468949143192008-08-28T13:52:00.000-06:002008-08-28T13:52:00.864-06:00

PoW Retro (that is Picture of Wealth, not prisoner of war) is a look back at some of my favorite posts over the past year and a half. I hope you enjoy these!http://picturewealth.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-truthful-are-you-about-debt-40000.htmlOh, the lies we tell ourselves!! I was telling myself a whopper. We are actually a little worse off now having just purchased another vehicle, but it

Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7845178765445513724.post-37863919039527598322008-08-26T01:15:00.000-06:002008-08-26T01:15:00.486-06:00

If you are just finding the Back to Basics series you can find all of the posts in the series by clicking on “Back to Basics” in the sidebar. So far we have discussed tracking our money, finding money in our budgets and saving for an emergency fund.Today’s topic is what to do before you begin the debt snowball. Now that you have $1000 in an emergency fund you are ready to begin paying off your

Jenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14765403942285370190noreply@blogger.com0