https://downhilldebt.savingadvice.com Dealing with creditors, tenants, budgets and working to clear up our mess! info@savingadvice.com Jen en-us https://downhilldebt.savingadvice.com/2008/05/05/here-again_38603/ Well a new month, and fresh start. Lots to get caught up on this month and to straighten out, but with the tax stimulus and some bonus money, I should be able to get caught up on our rental, and we have a new tenant moving in these next few days. So things are slowing starting to... Mon, 05 May 2008 05:29:27 PST Jen https://downhilldebt.savingadvice.com/2008/03/30/another-step-forward_37148/ Well, sorry haven't been posting much here, I have another blog I keep going regularly, but I really like this format and alot of the blogs I read here, so I want to keep this one going. Here's my ramblings, updates, etc:<br /> <br /> Debt! <br /> Well we are making progress, I have two cards left... Sun, 30 Mar 2008 04:57:48 PST Jen https://downhilldebt.savingadvice.com/2008/03/20/my-ramblings_36835/ Last weekend we got our rental painted and did the touch ups. We have a few more items to finish up, but we did meet with the management company and now they are working to rent the house. Let's hope they get that done soon! We can't keep these payments up for long, and it really... Thu, 20 Mar 2008 04:12:14 PST Jen https://downhilldebt.savingadvice.com/2008/03/11/our-tenants-are-gone_36491/ Well this past weekend we did the walk through with our tenants, and thankfully, everything looks great! Everything was cleaned, scrubbed down, etc. It looks almost like it did when we first rented it out. The only issue was they filled the holes in the walls, so we need to do touch... Tue, 11 Mar 2008 03:28:05 PST Jen https://downhilldebt.savingadvice.com/2008/03/04/renter-woes-updated_36245/ We went to court this morning, and they gave us an opportunity to work it out with our tenants, at first I didn't want to but our tenants said they would really like to work something out and not have a judgment on their credit file. So the new agreement is they will be out by 3/6.... Tue, 04 Mar 2008 05:05:48 PST Jen https://downhilldebt.savingadvice.com/2008/03/02/february-totals-so-much_36175/ Well thought I would post my numbers for everyone to see. February was the first month I tried to track everything, but in doing this I noticed I missed some categories, so I will be adding them to our tracking for March. I still think I managed to capture about 90% maybe 95% of... Sun, 02 Mar 2008 19:11:17 PST Jen https://downhilldebt.savingadvice.com/2008/02/29/depressed-well-alittle_36099/ So every now and then I do get depressed, shocker I know! But today after reviewing our financial numbers for the 10 millionth time, I just got a little down. We are making progress and we have some good income coming in the next month or so with bonus / taxes but not having a renter... Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:15:51 PST Jen https://downhilldebt.savingadvice.com/2008/02/25/renter-woes-continued_35971/ Well it just keeps getting better and better.. lol. We made one final call to our renter and left a message Thursday. On Friday the 22nd we went to the courthouse and filled out all the paperwork to evict them. We paid $60 filing fee's, $4.94 postage to mail two copies and $73 to... Mon, 25 Feb 2008 22:49:46 PST Jen https://downhilldebt.savingadvice.com/2008/02/21/renter-woes_35836/ Well still haven't heard from my renter, they haven't paid Feb's rent and I made the payment out of my DS account (which is funds I save up to settle my last two credit cards) So as much as I hate it, I have to try and keep that mortgage current, I have enough to make March's payment... Thu, 21 Feb 2008 20:47:02 PST Jen https://downhilldebt.savingadvice.com/2008/02/17/spending-free-fall_35670/ Well as much as I watch our spending, sometimes it means watching it fly out the window. So I'm adding it to our spending and my Excel spreadsheet. Since this is the first month of tracking everything, I'm not being to hard on me/us. At least now I can say I know exactly where it's... Sun, 17 Feb 2008 06:54:29 PST Jen https://downhilldebt.savingadvice.com/2008/02/14/my-negative-1200-budget_35559/ I've posted this on my other site, but thought it would be interesting to show what I am learning from tracking my daily spending - it has helped me create a more accurate budget and it is also identifying where we need to start cutting the 'fat'!<br /> <br /> Since we were able to re-modify... Thu, 14 Feb 2008 18:28:32 PST Jen https://downhilldebt.savingadvice.com/2008/02/14/happy-valentines-day_35535/ Well happy VD! Tonight is our VD although it's still the 13th but since we don't have our boys tonight we are celebrating tonight. We went and had dinner, and now I'll have to update our spending for dining, I wasn't going to include this originally since I used a rebate visa card... Thu, 14 Feb 2008 03:37:19 PST Jen https://downhilldebt.savingadvice.com/2008/02/11/full-disclosure_35425/ Normally my parents take our boys overnight, every Sun and Wed. They take them to school the next day and pack them lunches, so this means my hubby and I are free both nights with no kids. This has been going on for ages, since they were born, and sometimes they even stay over there... Mon, 11 Feb 2008 03:47:46 PST Jen https://downhilldebt.savingadvice.com/2008/02/09/staying-focused_35360/ Well we have been through quite a bit the last 6 months, sometimes stressful but were are still here. Staying focused through all this is quite important. I stay focused by reading other blogs, msn and cnn money pages, and general finance. I do this every day, it's become sort of... Sat, 09 Feb 2008 07:31:09 PST Jen https://downhilldebt.savingadvice.com/2008/02/06/our-total-debt-909395_35222/ I thought since this is my new blog and I'm tracking my spending I would share with everyone my "total" debt. This includes everything we owe. Now in looking at our "real estate" holdings you would think were big time investors. But in actuality we made some bad moves and bought... Wed, 06 Feb 2008 07:08:01 PST Jen https://downhilldebt.savingadvice.com/2008/02/05/i-just-saved-1000-sort-of_35167/ Well I like to think I saved $1K. I got one of the many medical bills that are starting to show up for my DH. My DH had surgery in December for cancer and as of last week he just started Chemo. He has a type of cancer with a 95% success rate, and he only has to go through chemo... Tue, 05 Feb 2008 03:02:31 PST Jen https://downhilldebt.savingadvice.com/2008/02/04/todays-spending-0_35110/ A big fat $0!! No spending for me today, nothing frivolous, no eating out, no miscellaneous spending. Instead I had a fun filled Sunday cleaning out my office for 2008. Once a year all the old catalogs and accumulated junk must go! So did that, shredded all financial doc's, dusted... Mon, 04 Feb 2008 01:35:57 PST Jen https://downhilldebt.savingadvice.com/2008/02/02/and-the-spending-begins_35067/ Well today I spent $42. Got my nails and my eyebrows waxed and this includes tip. Now before everyone beats me down, saying if I saved this each month or put it towards debt, etc, I know that. But during this journey I have decided not to give up everything, I think I have a much... Sat, 02 Feb 2008 23:21:46 PST Jen https://downhilldebt.savingadvice.com/2008/02/02/my-blog_35035/ Well, since I have another blog that details my process through debt settlement, dealing with creditors and getting my house on track, I've decided to use this blog to focus on our daily spending, bad habits we have to overcome and my debt and savings goals. By tracking and really... Sat, 02 Feb 2008 04:56:11 PST Jen