DH and I have been doing this debt reduction thing for about 10 months now and the light at the end of the tunnel is right there. We have only $3750 left of that credit card! Woo hoo!! What a relief that will be to have paid off! We are a bit off-target with our goal date, but that's okay. We've had to do quite a bit of adjusting as we went.

We are SO close to being done with our Christmas shopping. We wrapped almost everything the other night and discovered a few things that we need to get. But a stop at a store or two will get it all done. Except for the pj pants...those will take some time. I really need to get started on those! I'm no seamstress so they take me a while to sew. It's super fun though...and the kids love them so that's all that really matters.

We only paid 2X the minimum on the card this month because we helped out our family member more with their Christmas. It felt so good to help out and I feel like that is the true Spirit of Christmas...serving. I had a blast shopping for gifts for the kids and I hope that they love what they get...I'm sure they will especially since they are expecting basically nothing. We've asked that our help is not mentioned again and I think they'll honor that. It sure was fun and I still feel so good about it.

Anyway...plugging along with our debt seems to remain my story. I'm so happy though at each baby step along the way. Each one is taking us that much closer to being debt free. I love the idea of living debt free....talk about freedom! What a great feeling.

Happy Holidays!

Finances and Marriage...

We did more Christmas shopping this weekend. Now we are down to cousin gifts, stockings and the sweat outfits. Piece of cake. We are going to open another dedicated savings account after the beginning of the year. We'll save some money every paycheck and then by next October or so, take out the money and go Christmas shopping. I'm totally hooked on getting the shopping done early. What a relief!!

Let's see...the debt? Well, the payments are coming along. We are under $4,000 now....that is the LAST TIME we will have cc debt at that amount. It feels good to be under that marker. It's been SO long since we were under that amount. Let's see....it's probably been a good 10 years or so. Wow - that's just crazy. That's most of our married years. Never again!!

I can't describe how good it feels to have DH doing the finances right along with me. We are on the same page and actually communicate about where the money should go. Gasp!! Communicate? To each other?? It's been a foreign concept....up until February anyway. It's so nice to have a partner in this. And I think he enjoys seeing where the money goes as opposed to feeling like we had so much and wondering where it was all going! He's so awesome.

Anyway...off to do some laundry. I gotta look at the envelopes to see how big of a box of soap I can buy. It's got to last me another 1 1/2 weeks at least!

Christmas Shopping

We finished almost all of the Christmas shopping for our date last Saturday. It was FUN! Usually, we all go to the toy store as a family, the kids will show us some things they think are cool, then DH will take them to the car while I make the final decisions and purchases. Not to say that DH doesn't have any say....there are usually MANY phone calls back and forth. Anyway....we got a babysitter for our date night and went shopping together. It was fabulous. I loved it. As of today, we have to get three small cousin gifts, three books, three sweat outfits, and some miscellaneous stocking stuffers. THAT'S IT!! Woo hoo!! I'm SO happy to be done with the shopping. I'd so much rather bake some cookies with the kids than go face the holiday traffic and shoppers.

DH and I decided this weekend that we are going to figure out our budget and collect some money to help out a family member and spouse. They are unsure if they will be able to do Christmas at all this year because of some pretty crappy circumstances. So - we are still in the planning stage but I'm excited to be able to help them out. They are awesome and would give the shirts off their backs to anyone who needed it.

Budget is going well....I'm pretty sure we'll be putting off the serious commitment to paying down debt for the next month or two. It's just not as important right now with the holidays and other things that we want to do. Come January though, we'll be right on track. And maybe, just maybe, if DH gets a bonus, we'll be able to put another chunk on the debt. But we aren't counting on anything and that way if we get something, it will be extra fun. Usually, we wait til he gets his bonus and we hope it's big enough to cover Christmas gifts. I like doing it the way we are this year. It's a total relief and joy to be done. No matter the size of the bonus (if there is one at all), we have Christmas done. YIPEE!!

Dating again...

I don't think I mentioned that DH and I are trying to date more. We went on TWO dates last weekend and we have another this weekend. We spent all our money for this weeks date on our costumes for one of last week's date, so we had to figure out something to do that's free. Solution? Finish the Christmas shopping! I'm so clever sometimes, I surprise myself! HAHA.

Anyway - DH and I have not put our marriage first for a long time so we need to do that. I know I have a lot of improving to do in my role as wife. I'm glad he's so darn patient with me. He's a good guy.

So, anyway - I've added a "Date" row and "Babysitting" row to our budget spreadsheet. I'm excited to spend some time alone with my BFF! Wish us luck.....!

It's a boring week....

Nothing much to report this week. The interest on our Visa was added today...only $33 or so! Not bad considering it used to be over $100 a month. It did bring our balance to just barely over $4,000 but one more small payment and we'll be below that mark permanently.

DH and I are going Christmas shopping this Saturday. We have the main gifts for 2/3 of the boys. We've got my parents done and basically DH's parents done. We just have to donate some money for the group gift for my M-I-L. We are going in on a gift for her with the Golden Child and his family, so she'll basically love it no matter what they decide to buy for her. Some call that being lazy...we call it being smart! We get automatic bonus points for doing anything with the Favorite! See what I mean? Smart!!

So, it seems like these random but necessary things keep coming up that cost money. Like the fridge filter, the vacuum filter, furnace filters, light bulbs, and a whole slew of other household items. They add up so dang quickly! I'm so glad though that we put money aside for those. What a relief to know that I can go get those things and still be able to buy groceries for the family. As difficult as it is to do, the envelope system is the only way to go. And it is getting much easier as I figure out the best way to do things. I've been using a coupon organizer in addition to the envelopes and that has proven to be a bit easier than carrying around a ton of envelopes.

This week, I've got a smaller grocery budget because of Halloween and parties, but we'll just eat a bunch of noodles this week! We are going to have F-I-L and his wife over on Sunday so we'll 'splurge' for that meal. I've also got to come up with some great appetizer for DHs game night tonight. I better get cracking on that one!!

Things I'm grateful for today: awesome husband, awesome husband who works his butt off at a great job, incredible kids who make me laugh and love me even though I get so ornery with them sometimes, warm home.

Goals for today: LAUNDRY, clean house for awesome DH, work on church duties for an appropriate amount of time.

What a weekend...

Well, we survived the weekend with the six boys in the house. The house is a disaster but other than that, the weekend went really well. The boys were well behaved and extremely polite. The hardest part was trying to keep them entertained for 3 days....it was snowy and rainy and cold outside so they couldn't play out there for very long. We went on a couple of walks, played video games, watched movies and played UNO. And ate. And washed dishes. I can't believe how many dishes we went through! I think we ran the dishwasher 3-4 times every day. It was crazy.

I didn't buy a ton of food for the weekend because I still had the $100 budget for the week. However, I spent most of that on food for the weekend. The eight of us went through about 20 hot dogs on Saturday night. I guess I better prepare for that kind of thing for when my own boys get to be pre-teens. I think that's just the way it goes, right?

The next little while we've got a bunch of smaller expenses that I'm afraid are going to add up. The boys all need new pants and socks. I have to look at the boot/coat situation but I'm pretty sure most of them will need new boots. At least the oldest one will. And new shoes. And warm shirts. Then babysitters for holiday parties. Dinners for friends who've had babies. Gifts for new babies. It's all good - it's just a matter of working it all out in the budget.

We have had to add a bunch of time onto the no-debt goal but we are doing the best we can. It's been so hard but it has been SO worth the sacrifice and self-imposed hardship. I can't wait, however, for a bit more flexibility in the budget. I can't believe we've been doing this for 8 months - it seems like forever. I guess it took a while to rack up all that debt so it will take a lot longer to pay off. I have to be patient. And disciplined. It's good for me, right?!?!?

It's that time of year....

We decided to get our Christmas shopping done early instead of putting it all on the debt. And still with that, we've put almost $300 on the card this month. We are now under $4,000...FINALLY! I'm loving that we are getting so dang close to the end of this balance. I read online this morning that the average credit card purchase costs 112% more than cash. We're suckers, aren't we?

Anyway - we bought a bunch of Christmas gifts last weekend. So no matter what, we at least have a huge start on our shopping. I'm looking forward to doing some fun things with the kids instead of going to the mall. I'm more than happy to avoid driving around the holiday drivers. People are crazy!!

This weekend we are watching our friend's boys for them. Trying to figure out cheap meals on a budget is difficult but then add in three growing boys into the mix and that's darn near impossible. But...I think I've done it. Spaghetti, crepes, ramen, hot dogs...certainly not well balanced, but I think we'll all survive! It will be an adventure, that's for sure!

Jeans and George

My friend set me up with a ticket to a screening for the new George Clooney movie "Michael Clayton". So - I got to go see a movie for $.75 (the cost of the refill of Coke). That's the BEST!! It was a good movie. Pretty slow at times but it picked up speed at the end. It wasn't my favorite movie, but I was entertained for a couple of hours. Plus, I got to have a girl's night out, which is always good!

Okay - I just had a girl's night out on Friday night as well. We all went bowling and I laughed SO hard. I'd say that it was money well spent out of the "happy budget". I just named my babysitting money...what do you think? It's used mostly for clothes, but once in a while I spend it on some other 'feel good' thing. Jewelry, bowling, haircut (one day)....whatever. I LOVE shopping and my new love affair with shoes is manageable but sometimes hard to control. I could easily blow the whole paycheck on some fabulous shoes. But then it might look pretty stupid with my old worn out jeans.

Ahhh...the jeans. Per my hubby's request, I went shopping for a pair of nice jeans......I'm so naive. I had no idea that real people (who don't make $20 million a year) spend $260 on a pair of jeans. We went shopping and the first store that we went into had a pair of jeans for $160. WAY over my budget. So I picked up another pair....$260!!! I know my usual $20 for a pair of jeans might be frugal, but TWO HUNDRED AND SIXTY DOLLARS?!?!?!? That's just crazy talk. Anyway - I "settled" for a pair of nice Calvin Klein's and I must admit that I love them. I'll have to go jeans shopping again in November and I think I'll get me another nice pair...but I'll have to keep it under $100. I'm so cheap....

My short attention span...

So...I've sort of lost steam for my blog over the past few months (is it that obvious??). Anyway - we are still in the trenches with this damn debt, but we ARE making a difference. Since January 24, we have paid off over $18,000 in debt. As of right now, we have $4,168 left on the credit card and still $13,000 on the car. I haven't included the car in the total debt amount because, well, I didn't want to. So - after we get the card paid off, the car will be next....then after that we are going to buy a van for the family.

Yes...we'll pay off our debt to get more. The car we have now is seriously on its last leg....or tire. It's a good little trooper though! I'm grateful to have it.

Our good car is in serious need of brake repair...to the tune of $500. Yikes. There goes half of our emergency fund. Which means the deadline for getting our debt paid off has been postponed yet again. But that's okay. We've been doing really well, IMO. Sometimes life happens....right?

Kindergarten, debt, and honoring the dead...

We just put another $160 on the ol' card. By the time we get this damn thing paid off, it'll have been like paying off a small car. I'd like to do more, but I'm also very proud of us. It's been a really good experience for us and I'm glad we are doing it. Nippin' it in the bud...that's what we're doing. Although, I guess all our debt was more than a bud, but you get the idea.

I think I always am most frustrated right before we can pay more toward the card. I'm feeling pretty darn good today though about what we are doing....even though we've had to keep extending our payoff date. Whatever. It's all good! WE ROCK!!

Yesterday was kind of a crappy day....first day of Kindergarten for the middle kid. It was TONS easier to send my oldest off the first day of school...I think only because he was so excited for it. Number 2 boy, however, was not so easy to walk away from. I was totally fine until he went inside his 'special place' where no person can penetrate the wall. He hunches over, doesn't talk to anyone, doesn't look at anyone and just sits there as though he is trying to reshape his body into a small ball that no one can see. I actually started to cry while I tried to help him complete his first activity for the day! Nice going, mom! Ugh...that's so unbelievably bad. I'm supposed to be strong for him!

At the end of the traumatic first 1/2 hour though, he was okay (only because he HAD to be...all the parents were asked to leave at that point). At the end of the day, he had fun and was excited to go back again this morning. I hope his second day is better!

Yesterday was also difficult because it was the fourth anniversary if my little bro's death. CRAPPY. I'm not sure if it was good or bad but I just didn't get an opportunity to spend some time with my thoughts of him and just remember him and how incredibly awesome he was. We did go up to the cemetery with part of my family, which was nice. The only bad thing is that there's no time alone at the grave site....which I happen to prefer. My mom likes to talk about him, DH and I like to talk about him, but my other siblings don't really enjoy bringing up the ol' B-man. Don't know why and I have to put forth a major effort not to be annoyed by it. I have to force myself to respect that they just don't work that way. Oh well...what do ya do? Anyway... I think I'm going to make it a ritual to go somewhere by myself to just take some time to quietly honor him.

So....onward and upward. That's how I'm marching today. Just trying to keep the sanity, keep focused with the debt, get some housework done, and I'm NOT going to forget to pick up the cute boy from Kindergarten. (Yes....I have a real fear that I'm going to forget to go get him one day......SCARY!)

Another day....

Today is another exciting day in the life of ME. This morning I got up at 5:00am as DH and I have done every day for the last two weeks now. Got up (boy was that difficult!), got dressed, and did some aerobics. It was awesome - had a great workout and now I'm trying NOT to be frustrated that it's been 6+ weeks since I've started exercising and counting calories and I've not lost a single pound!

I'm in a RUT!!!

The debt reduction is coming along just beautifully. It's just taking FOREVER! Arghhhhh! I'm sick of it and burned out and I'd just like to go on a fabulous family vacation. But...what am I going to do? I'm going to be strong when DH is not (or at least try...) and he'll (as always) be strong when I am weak. Which happens more than I'd like to admit....me being weak, that is.

Anyway - I haven't had to babysit the baby for about 6 weeks now (other than the one random week I had him here) and I won't have him back until mid to late August...I'm looking forward to shopping again. I've discovered that it's a whole lot o' fun to have cute clothes. Now if I can just lose some weight so they look better on me.....

Another milestone...

Today we paid another couple hundred on the Visa which brings our balance below $6,000. It's SO nice to see the balance below that amount and I can't wait til it's even smaller. What a pain this is. We are in the crappy part.......the just-get-this-over-with stage. Maybe this is the portion of the lesson that really drives the "Debt Sucks" home. Suffering through this part is so we NEVER forget how bad this blows.

Today I paid the bills and as usual, I'm so grateful that there's enough there to pay all of them and fill our envelopes. DH is a good provider. I think that he is getting tired of this whole thing also. It's tiring to pay every single extra cent to this damn debt. I'm so sick of it. But - on we march. We continue to stay focused - even if I'd really like to just go blow an entire paycheck and go on some fabulous vacation to somewhere else besides the debt pit. Yes...it's more of a pit than the canyon it started out as. See? I'm feeling better already. But did I say that this SUCKS??? Okay - just as long as I'm making myself clear on that point.

Okay - sounds like I need to remind myself of what the future will be like.....excellent retirement contributions, ample savings for a rainy day, vacations and weekenders, a decent yard, new paint in the house, bedroom furniture (including closet organizers), DATES WITH DH!! I can't wait for those! This will all be worth it....this will all be worth it....this will all be worth it....

We are the tortoise...

This month is going to be a plugging-along month. I paid $143 to the ol' credit card this morning. We had a good month last month and will have a decent month in August, but July? Well, we get two gold stars for sticking to the plan!

There's a number of reasons why this month's payments will be so small. First - we are saving some money to be able to pay our taxes next year. For whatever reason, the right amount isn't being taken out and after trying to have it fixed a number of times, we decided to just save the money. Second - it's a big birthday month - lots of nieces and nephews, my M-I-L, and mine (woo hoo! Another year older!!). But - my birthday present will be the clothes that I buy from babysitting and my diet software....more than I deserve, IMO. I'm grateful for an awesome hunny who doesn't have the freakish selfish nature when it comes to money. I'm trying really hard to not be such a freak about money and he's a great example to me.

If a person borrows $1.47 from my mom, you better pay her $1.47. She will also accept $1.50. Now - bless her heart, she is a kind and decent person who is a really nice grandma and she tries SO hard. She just has this weird relationship with money and, sadly, I find that if I don't control myself, I have some of those same tendencies. It's a real effort for me and I'm not usually successful. At least not the first reaction.

Anyway....RAMBLING!! It's a full day of cleaning, cooking, and errands. Better get to it!

Happy July!

Our 4th of July was pretty quiet...boys went fishing in the morning, we took the kids to a splash pad in the early evening, had tacos for dinner and watched "Night at the Museum". We went to a neighborhood BBQ the night before with the huge firework display so that was fun and the kids got to enjoy some good, fun, totally legal fireworks.

Today I got paid from babysitting the neighbor boy....almost enough to buy my diet software. It's called Diet Power and it totally ROCKS! I love it. We had it on another computer a number of years ago and I lost a bunch of weight using it. I'm hoping for even better results this time around. So anyway, the babysitting money will go toward buying the software. DH supports and approves of the purchase, so I'm going to go for it. Not that he's trying to tell me that I'm fat and I need to lose weight - he's much, much to kind for that. He has always been extremely supportive in anything I do - except maybe the whole babysitting thing. He's not such a fan of that. Fortunately, it will be for only one more school year and even then, it's only a little longer than 1/2 day. And, thanks to him...my wardrobe is slowly but surely improving because of the fruits of my labor. I'm still trying to talk him into using the money for new clothes for both of us but he's not going for it. But like I tell him...he's being stubborn! I'll just have to keep asking!

So - completely off topic....DH put up a blog of some videos of my little bro. He passed away August 1, 2003. It's fun to see these videos that we'd taken over the years. They've just been sitting in the basement waiting for us to figure out what to do with them and this is a good start. So anyway....if I start writing about him, I'll blubber on and on so I'll just stop right here. But - in honor of him....here's Burke's Blog.

Ratatouille and the class party...

We had so much fun last night at the movie. We got to the theater about 1 1/2 hours early to make sure we could get tickets and then decent seats. Since it was a sneak preview, there were a bunch of local radio station personalities there giving away posters and t-shirts. I got a kid size t-shirt but unfortunately it is pink. The boys don't really think it's all that cool.

The movie itself was cute. It was super funny in some parts and look-at-the-clock-every-five-seconds in some parts. We waited through all the credits for the usual Disney/Pixar 'outtakes' but there weren't any. Bummer. It was amazing animation and the characters were great. Watching all those rats in the kitchen was a bit sickening...blech. But overall it was a really good kid's movie. The kids loved it and have been asking me if we can buy it. I've been warning them that it will have to wait til after December but I wouldn't mind adding that one to the ol' library.

The class party yesterday was okay...pretty boring actually but my boy said he had fun so whatever. I did the autograph books that they decorated with foam stickers and then they all signed each other's books. Then they ate donut holes and watched the rest of the movie they started before I got there...Aladdin. See what I mean?? Boring. Oh well...what do you do? It's the end of the year...the kids just want to be out of school!

Tonight we get a free family night!! My good friend is in the local TV biz and hooked us up with some passes for a Ratatouille preview tonight....for the whole family! I'm so excited that the kids will get to see this movie before it's even out! On our current plan, they might have been able to watch it once it came out on DVD. So - fun for them! I'm just excited to take the kids to a movie...it's been a while since we've done that. Good times....

Today I've got the oldest kid's class party. It's the end of the school year and the party is today and I haven't done a thing for it. I'm thinking we'll make autograph books and have a treat. Boring? Possibly. Easy and cheap? Yes. And that's the way I do things these days.

Here's an article from MSN Money. I like the percentages of what we should be saving for retirement. We have a lot of work ahead of us as far as saving for retirement goes and this was a helpful article.

Rewards....

Friday night we finally went out on our reward date. It was FUN!! We went to Ruby River Steakhouse where I learned that I should just stick with what I love there. I tried something new (Filet Mignon) and they mixed up how our steaks were cooked so mine was a bit too red for my liking. Anyway - I asked (SO POLITELY!!) if they could cook it for just a tiny bit longer. I was super nice and so I hope I didn't ingest some disgusting floor or spit germs! Anyway - I should have just traded steaks with DH - he says mine wasn't nearly as good after they cooked it a bit more. Anyway - just a note in my 'eating out' notebook - order the usual and don't send the food back. But whatever.

After dinner ~ which really was lovely and fun and delightful~ we went to see Evan Almighty. It was good, mindless entertainment for a couple of hours in a cool theater. It was pretty funny, pretty silly and very sweet.

Overall, I give two enthusiastic thumbs-up for the whole evening. We've worked so hard for that reward and it was even sweeter knowing just how hard we have worked and how much we've sacrificed. It's been a long 5 months but I still can't believe how much we've been able to pay off now that we are so intent and focused. I'm proud of us. (pat on my back...would give DH a pat too, but he's hard at work!)

Mom watched the kids so we didn't have to pay for a babysitter - woo hoo! I did make dinner and took the whole thing over to her house, so she did get a free dinner out of it. Wow - she should just be so grateful. Aren't I a good daughter for letting her watch my kids and then on top of that...I bring her dinner?!? I'm amazing. (HA!!) It was incredibly nice of her to watch the kids and I really am grateful that she does that for us once in a while. She's a good mom/grandma.

The weekend was LAZY...so nice and much needed! I did get some laundry done, the grocery shopping, church, date, etc. Other than that....lazy.

I've made up for some of that this morning though....up at 5:45am, treadmill for an hour, laundry, got the kids ready and walked to school, worked on the garden a bit and did a little weeding. Now I'm ready for a nap!

I'm still waiting for JC Penney to put the money back in my account from a return I made on Friday. It irritates me that I buy something and the money is immediately gone from my account. I return it and it takes 2 days to put the money back in. What a rip off. Oh well...what do you do?

WOO HOO!!!

Today we were able to pay another $2,060 to the Visa!! WOO HOO!! That brings our balance below that milestone of the balance we'd had FOREVER. I can't even remember it being below $6,400. Of course, it had to be below that amount at one time....I just don't remember it because it was so long ago. It's like weighing 75 lbs. I know I had to weigh that at one time in my life...I just don't remember when I went past that mark. Too long ago. Anyway - I paid part of the Visa payment, then after we got everything finalized, DH made the rest of the payment. So we both got to share in the joy of paying down more money. It ROCKED!

Anyway....DH and I are finally going on our big date with the nice dinner. We're also going to a movie....yup...too exciting. But hey...it's been SO long since we've gone to a movie together - with out the kids - that this is a BIG deal! I can't wait. I don't think either of us really cares what we see....it's just the 'getting out' and being together that really matters. Awwww....

So - we most likely won't make the self-imposed November deadline, but it will definitely be before the year is through. I can't wait!

DH was kind and generous and awesome enough to give me another $200 bucks for clothes. So, today I went shopping and it was FABULOUS. I loved it. My 5-yr old was an awesome shopping partner. Okay....he did hide in the racks a bit too much, but other than that, he was the BEST. He told me that the shirts I got looked cute and that I looked cute....what an ego boost. Even if it was from a five year old! He's a sweetie!

I'm thinking that we planned a little bit better this time for our budget. We padded some envelopes a bit thicker than we did last time....specifically the gasoline envelope. It's getting WAY too expensive, but that's a topic for another day! I'm ready for upcoming birthdays, teacher gifts, family obligations, etc. I hope I haven't forgotten anything this time. I just get so excited to get rid of that stupid credit card debt! I hate it!

At Everybody Loves Your Money there is a couple of interesting videos to watch. I've not heard of the movie "Maxed Out" but it looks pretty interesting. But I do have one question from the trailer....is it George Bush's fault then that I used my credit card? No matter....enjoy the trailer.

Tomorrow. Tomorrow. I love ya. Tomorrow....

Tomorrow we should be able to pay off enough debt to take us below $7,000. It will be SO nice. Right now, our balance is the same as it was one year ago. After tomorrow, our balance will be about where it's been (excluding last year) for the last....well...too many years. It will be nice to get below that mark as well. Each thousand is another step up and out of this hole and I can't wait to be out of it!!

Yesterday I was feeling like we are in this debt prison. I'm always talking and thinking like...."When I get outta here, I'm gonna do __________", "When we get out of this, let's buy ________", "When we finish, let's __________". Okay - so I've never been in prison and maybe 'they' only say that kind of thing in the movies. But no matter.....I can't wait to get outta the debt clink!

The list seems to grow longer and longer. Water softener, yard, closet organizers, paint, furniture, fence, trees, deck, clothes, vacations....on and on it goes. It will take a lot of focus to just do one thing at a time and wait to do it until we have the money saved. But....I don't foresee it being too difficult to NOT use the credit card. I don't EVER want to do this again!!

Happy Father's Day....yesterday...

Yesterday was a lovely Father's Day...at least for me. DH might have a different story, but I'm pretty sure he feels the same way. We had our parents and the couple next door over for some yummy dutch oven breakfast and "Breadsert". The dutch oven was to die for, as usual. DH makes a mean Mountain Man hash! Nice and cheesy and yummy and bacony. Mmmm....it's so good we are going to have the rest for dinner tonight! And the "breadsert"? Well...let's just say it's dessert for breakfast. It's basically french toast with brown sugar & butter topping baked on. Yum. Anyway...we got to see our dads and then we got to spend the rest of the day at home being LAZY. It was beautiful. I don't feel guilty for not doing anything all afternoon. We both worked our butts off in the morning getting ready for our guests.

Someone at breakfast asked us if we had sworn off our Walmart boycott because we had mentioned it a couple of times. It really made for an awkward moment for more than one reason. First - what a poser! I swear off Walmart for the good of the country and here I am 1 1/2 years later shopping there somewhat frequently - ONLY because we are trying to cut back wherever we can! Second - we had to get in to WHY we are posers and so I felt like I was at confession with my parents and neighbors. AWKWARD! Ummmm....we shop occasionally at Walmart because we are re-directing our financial ship and this is helping us accomplish that goal?!?!? Ugh. Then my mom pops in with the "sinking financial ship" comment. WHAT?!? I've NEVER said we are sinking! She thinks that because I want to do things on the cheap that we are financially destitute. I've told her before that we are choosing to do things this way so we can get rid of our debt. I really don't want anyone feeling sorry for me because of my small grocery budget. Or because we are being so careful in how we spend our money. I try to make it clear that there is a bigger goal in mind and still the judgements come.

Okay...this might sound pretty harsh but really, it's more complicated than I can say. And you really DON'T want me to get into my issues with my mother! You know how it is....love her. She just drives me to want to scratch out my eyeballs sometimes. But then...I'm NEVER annoying. I'm certain of that! HA!

Here's some inspiration for you...

Inspiration: You Can Do It (June 5, 1989)

I've seen the video before and it's amazing. I would never have thought to translate it to personal finance, but it's an interesting inspirational tool. Enjoy and learn something about your own convictions. I know I did!

As for my own personal finance...nothing new and nothing more paid to debt til next week. It will be another cheap meal week as far as groceries are concerned. But on the upside, I won't have to buy diapers for at least two more weeks! That ROCKS!

Article for the Day....

Invest in your own happiness

It's an interesting idea. I personally am looking forward to the day when we can spend our money how we'd like....not paying for purchases made years ago. The first "happiness" thing I'll buy/do after we get out of this hole is a nice weekend trip with my hubby. Just the two of us....no kids allowed. That will be some much needed and wanted time alone. It will be well worth the hard-earned money....

Today's Article...

Here are some legends and tall tales for you to read about. Kind of humorous. I think I'll try the 'use red ink and float the check longer' method. Think it will work? I'm sure it will make a huge difference in my financial picture! 10 financial urban legends

DH reminded me yesterday that there is still no word on the bonus situation for last quarter. I don't really think about it because if I did, I'd drive myself crazy. Will we get a bonus? If so, how much? DH works so hard and deserves a huge bonus - he should get at least $X! But will he? I don't know! And slowly.......I drive myself MAD. I've found it's just much easier to not count on one and be pleasantly surprised if one comes our way. It would certainly make things easier this summer. I'd like to believe that we will be able to pay off our debt by November but I'm just not sure. Hmmm...I hope he gets a HUGE bonus! If he does, it would be nice if he got at least $X. I wonder......!

Oops...there I go again! Anyway....it's back out of my head. Not another thought....

You learn something new.....

Here is an article on MSN money. I've got to start reading a financial article a day again just to keep me motivated....
The Basics
Trapped by debt? Free yourself in 7 steps

Sell the house....?

So, a recent topic of conversation around here has been...."Wouldn't it be cool to sell the house, make a huge profit, buy a smaller home with a large down payment, and get rid of ALL the other debt?" Hmmm...I have to say, I seriously considered it. And.....if the right house (with matching right price) came along, I would certainly have to entertain the idea. In some ways, it would be a lot easier in that we'd make a quick buck. But...then again....moving? Again? Yuck!

For multiple reasons, the debt payment has slowed down a little bit. Well...by about $300 - $400 a month. I've said it many times before and I'll say it again...this sucks! Not having the debt gone - that part is awesome! Just the day to day, struggling, sacrificing....it's hard. Money is so tight even though we've got more of a cushion than we've ever had. (DH is a great provider - thank you babe!) We keep having to adjust the envelope amounts because even though we aren't spending money on non-essentials, life just seems to keep happening. Soccer for the kids, for instance. Laundry, a sensitive reaction to the cheap diapers, Father's Day, birthdays...you get the idea.

I think I've also said this before, but since I'm feeling it even more, I'll repeat myself.....The frustrating part is that I have a consuming desire to be rid of all debt. I don't want it anymore. I don't want new debt. I'm good with changing how we do our finances. I want the debt gone! I just want it gone NOW. And it's not. We have to keep plugging along. This is the endurance part. It's not 'new' anymore and the end is in sight although it's an incredibly long way away. I can barely make out the finish line, but I know it's there. It's so tempting to just say....let's slow down a little bit and allow ourselves a bit more wiggle room. In fact, I think I did say that to DH! But - as usual, he is strong when I am not. He is a good partner to have! We'll have to make some minor adjustments, but other than that...the war on debt rages on!!

Long time no post....

Wow...have I been in a funk! I've been too busy taking care of other things so I've neglected posting. Today I've also been feeling a bit less motivated than I have been about paying off the debt so fast. This is HARD!!

We paid about $2,500 in May and this month it will be about $800. But we are now well below the household average debt and so it's a great step. I'm feeling a bit frustrated with the lack of being able to do things...not me so much....it's more about the kids.

Anyway....more tomorrow. No time to get into it much tonight! Just needing to stay focused and committed to the November/December payoff date!

It's been a good May....

May has been a great month for the elimination of our debt. We are now below the $9,000 mark, which according to some stats, that's the average household credit card debt. We probably won't make our November goal, but as long as we stay focused, it will be okay if we have to add a month or two to our goal.

Life just seems to keep showing up every once in a while. For example...soccer registration for the kids is up this week, car registrations are approaching in the next few months, birthdays, and holidays, etc. seem to just keep happening even though we are paying down our debt. Isn't that just crazy. You'd think that anything that would take our money would understand that we're trying to get rid of our debt (haha....read - HEAVY SARCASM)! Oh well.. a girl can dream.

Minor slowdown but FUN for me!

We've paid another $500 to the card this check. We're just waiting to get the cell phone bill and the gas bill to see how much more we can pay.

DH adjusted our budget a bit and told me to use my babysitting money to buy some clothes. In the last 2 1/2 years, I've spent $50 on clothes for me and you can tell! My clothes are SO hammered and I've been looking like such a slob lately. He was so sweet and told me that he wanted me to spend this money on me...I had to promise that I wouldn't spend it on anyone else. So - I went shopping yesterday and got some nice clothes for relatively cheap. I feel a bit guilty using our debt payment money but at the same time, my wardrobe is pretty pathetic. Sadly, I'm not as big of a princess as I'd like to be. If I were, I'd have a fabulous wardrobe and makeup and hair. Maybe I can find a happy balance between princess and slob. I really don't like being the slob!!

Anyway - this slows our debt payment only slightly (I don't make that much money!) and I'll be watching another boy for a few hours a week starting in 2 weeks. I'm still so proud of us for doing this (getting rid of debt) and I'm really happy with our progress.

Trudging along faithfully....

Not much has been going on with the finances over the last week or two. I've learned that sometimes nothing going on is a good thing! Even though nothing has been paid, nothing has been charged either! And that is EXCELLENT!

Tonight we'll hopefully work on the budget so it's taken care of for payday. I'm anticipating being able to pay off a huge chunk of the card this month. I gotta say....I LOVE the getting-paid-every-two-weeks thing as opposed to the twice monthly paychecks. It just makes things so much easier, in my opinion.

I spoke with my friend yesterday...she want to talk to me more about finances. She is teaching a lesson on living providently and wants to talk to me about what I've learned so far in my budgeting/debt reduction journey. I'm certainly no expert (obviously) but I LOVE talking finances! You get me going and you just can't shut me up. Of course, it's that way with everything I talk about, but finances are just so much fun to talk about! I think one reason why I love it so much is that it's such a positive thing right now. I mean....not the debt part, because that sucks. But...everything I've learned, the change in attitude about money, the communication between me and DH....those things are all such positives in my life.

Life has been incredibly busy so I haven't been able to read any more books on finance and I obviously haven't been as faithful in posting as I would have liked, but I'm still on track and focused and wanting to be better at the finance thing. These next few months are the 'trudging along faithfully' part of our debt reduction. Each milestone will be so fabulous but I don't think they'll come as quickly or as frequently as they have so far. Only because we've paid off all those smaller debts which have been a big boost to our commitment to paying off ALL the debt. Once again....I can't wait til this credit card balance is a big, fat, ZERO! I'm looking forward to it!

Another $180!

Surprise! The babysitting money just showed up so there goes another $180 to the card. Yahoo!!! We are in the 10k's! FINALLY!

Another $131 gone

It's another "not much to post" day. Last week we paid another $131 to the card which brings the balance down to $11,042. As soon as the babysitting money is posted to our checking account, we'll pay another $180. With that money and the addition of the monthly finance charge, our total will be just under $11,000. Woo hoo!

I never could have gotten the balance down without DH. He's so awesome. I'm still trying to move past the guilt and he's never said one mean word to me. He's just the best. Every once in a while I indulge in a little 'we're-so-much-better-off-now' daydream. It makes me sick to my stomach to think about the stress of not being totally honest with him and it makes me SO glad that we are working together. Personally, I think that's the only way to go when dealing with finances as a married couple.

Anyway...life is certainly busy and we are in the trenches, as they say, with this last credit card. It will be a number of months before we pay it off so we'll just be trudging along, making payments, and hopefully still celebrating every milestone of that balance. The next one is having the balance under $9,000. In May we'll be able to pay a big chunk because of the 'extra check' phenom. I'm looking forward to that boost!!

It's Contagious!

Yesterday I spoke with a friend who had been speaking to another friend (you follow?).....Friend 1 said that Friend 2 told her that she needs to talk to me about menus and budgets. What??? Someone actually wants to pick my brain about this money thing? Awesome! Not that I know anything, but I can certainly share what I've learned so far! It totally made my day.

Anyway....I'm admittedly completely obnoxious about this budget thing. I'm totally obsessed and it seems to be my only topic of conversation lately. I had been talking to Friend 1 and a third friend and the whole budget thing came up (surprisingly not by me!). Friend 1 said that she usually spends $800 - $1,000 on food every month, including eating out and groceries (she's got a family of four). Then a few days later, she asked if I had any extra coupons. I told her that I don't take the paper anymore so no more coupons but the biggest way that I save money is by doing a menu and sticking to my grocery list when I go to the store. (*BTW - I know people out there search diligently for coupons and pay $50 for $200 worth of groceries....I don't have the time or the inclination at this point to spend hours every week doing that. I admire the people who save an obscene amount of money at the grocery store though!)

Anyway....I told Friend 1 that I used to use 'menu cards' that I made up. I made one card for each week and had a meal plan for each day of the week. I'd rotate favorite meals, allow one meal for eating out and/or one meal for trying a new recipe, and a 'freebie' every week for those crazy nights. I made about eight of these cards and after I'd use one week's card, I'd put it in the back not to be used for seven more weeks. Friend 1 had been printing out other people's menus and asked me for a copy of my menus. I personally don't like using other people's menus because even though I like the occasional recipe, they are another person's favorites...not mine. I told her to just use her own meals that she makes as a guideline. Although, thinking about it now, I should tell her that I'll trade her my favorite recipes for hers. She's from Japan and an excellent cook, so I could really branch out and learn how to make some new, different, yummy foods!

Anyhoo...Friend 2 told me last night that she has to stop spending money and that she wants me to help with her menu and also to tell her how my budget works with the menu and the grocery store. I'm more than happy to oblige....even though we all know that my sticking to the budget is completely due to DH's lack of straying from the budget plan. He's a stickler....thank heavens! He's always so good to tell me that I'm doing a good job though. He tells me I'm doing a good job but he's the one who is being so good about it.

Last night I saw an acquaintance at a jewelry party and she also started talking about money (more specifically, the lack of). The theme of that conversation (as in many others I've had) was that the most difficult place to show discipline is at the grocery store and eating out. She said she doesn't want to go on a budget because.....YUCK! I couldn't remember the quote at the time (and even now I have to paraphrase) but it was a good reminder to me. In one of Dave Ramsey's books, he said that a budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went. I love that because I think that's so easy to do....wonder where the money went. The key is to find the leak and plug it up...and also not let the money start draining out of another spot!

And another small chip gone....

Last week we paid another $151 to the credit card. That will be the last payment til this week's paycheck. We've paid $988 from the last paycheck to the VISA. It will be nice once that money is ours to spend as we wish.

DH and I discussed a family vacation after the card is paid off. We are thinking Disneyland but the problem is that we can't reserve anything now because you have to pay for the trip upfront. Hopefully, we can get the damn card paid off early enough to be able to reserve a hotel room without paying an arm and a leg. We are still shooting for November for the debt-be-gone goal...we'll see how that affects the vacation.

Saturday I did the grocery shopping for another week....I spent every last dollar but I was able to buy a treat...more Coke Zero! Woo Hoo! We've got fruits, veggies, and lots of pasta planned for this week. Not an exciting menu, but at this point, frugal is exciting! I was quite pleased with myself for being so smart at the grocery store. Yes...that's pretty dumb of me, but what can ya do?

We were going to have some friends over for hamburgers on Saturday night so I bought some things I wouldn't normally buy...potato chips, pickles, stuff for chip dip, etc. But our awesome friends took us out to dinner on her company's tab. So, we got to go out to eat...what a luxury! Let's see...we went to Cafe Rio a few weeks ago with our milestone/celebration money and before that......hmmmm.......I think we went to dinner one other time since January. Eating out three times in three months....that's just crazy talk! I really enjoyed eating some really yummy (FREE!) food that I didn't cook and I didn't have to clean up after. Plus...the real perk was spending some good quality time with our dearest friends. Ahhh...the memory is just as sweet as the experience!

Debt Sucks!

A couple of days ago, we paid another $300 to the credit card. We will hopefully be below $11,000 by the end of the month. That's pretty darn awesome.

I went to the grocery store last night and spent about $30. I bought enough of a few items to last us for the next 1 1/2 weeks. I'm going to have to be super frugal next week as well after buying all those household items last weekend. My $5 payback for the Coke didn't make a huge difference, but it did buy a bunch of apples which is always good! I've got my menu set for next week and I'm positive that we'll be set...we might even end up with a little extra grocery money.

I've also been thinking about Boy #2's birthday party that I've been promising him for over a year. I've been trying to figure out how to do a party on the cheap. Well, not just cheap, but on the frugal cheap...a difficult task! But I think I've come up with an excellent solution. We are going to have the party at a (free) splash park in the neighborhood. We'll have a couple of water balloon games and cake and ice cream on Spiderman plates. We'll be able to invite more of his friends because the party itself will be so cheap. I'm excited about it and I think the kids will have a blast. How can they not have fun at a splash park?

I'm having a hard time this paycheck not wishing for more grocery money. This is the second time since this journey began that I've had a such a hard time being so darn frugal at the grocery store. So...I think that each paycheck, I'll buy one or two items ahead of schedule and spread those little things out a bit. Plus...I am completely aware of the dangers of shopping at Wal-mart. Next time I go, it won't be when I'm in a hurry. Even though I stuck to my list, I think there were at least a few things that could have waited another two weeks. We will also be starting a "Household" envelope next month so that should help a bunch too.

Anyway - moments like these are frustrating to get me angry enough about my mistakes and our debt that it just reinforces that I NEVER want to do this again. I'm going to grit my teeth and focus with more intensity. I have to....this SUCKS!

Another chip....

I just paid another $200 to the card bringing the total up to $537 this month. More to come....

Not much to report....

Not much to report today...still waiting for the gas and cell phone bills to come in before we can pay more to debt. I think we should be able to pay about another $500 to the credit card which will bring us to $837 or so for this paycheck. We still have one more paycheck this month....not too bad!

This weekend we had THREE birthday parties and one baby shower to go to! It was an expensive weekend - even with frugal buying. It was also another paycheck for household items...laundry soap, bath soap, hand soap, kid's bath soap, foil, saran wrap, treats for the soccer team, etc.

I REALLY hate to admit it but I could have done a little better with the grocery money this week. I went to Walmart with the intention of buying the birthday gifts and bought the household things while I was there. Well...I was in a hurry by the end of the shopping trip so I wasn't adding purchases up and debating the priority of each purchase when I put it in the basket even though I stuck to my list. I don't really NEED the 2-liters of Coke Zero that I bought....I'll have to pony up for those out of my $10 allowance. Oh well...what do you do. I'm still trying to shape my behaviors so I'll do better next time. Next month we will be putting a bunch of money to the "Household" envelope which will be nice to not have to take out those purchases from our food budget.

BTW...having two cars this weekend was AWESOME! DH went to work on Saturday and I ran all the errands - soccer games, baby shower, birthday party - we stayed at the birthday party til it was over because DH could drive himself home from work when he was done! Such a simple pleasure but definitely was not taken for granted!

Chipping away....

I just paid another $337 to the VISA which brings our balance below $12,000...YEA!!! As soon as I get the cell phone bill and the gas bill, we'll be able to pay another good chunk of change on this mountainous debt. Depending on the amount of those bills, we could possibly be under $11,000 by this time next week.

WE ROCK!!!!!!

Budget Night

Tonight is budget night. We'll be planning the next two weeks and also get an idea of what to expect for the entire month. I think we'll be able to put around $1,000 on the card this paycheck. SWEET! We'll hopefully get it below $11,000 by the end of the month. As much as that balance makes me want to throw up, I'm thrilled at our persistence and dedication to getting rid of debt!

Last night we took our date money and went out to dinner with the family and some friends that were in town. Dang, I miss them! They have also decided that they want to be debt free, which is awesome! Good for them! Her mom read Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover" and got them excited about getting rid of their debt. I told G-Friend that she needs to check the book out of the library and read it for herself. I love the motivation that I got from it. I personally can't wait til I can call him up and yell "I'M DEBT FREE!!" Woo hoo...gives me chills every time I hear it!

I have a car again!

Yesterday, Mom-in-law and her DH came over to look at the old, dead car. M-I-L gave it to us last year and it lasted for about 6 months before the battery kicked it. We didn't know it was the battery til yesterday or else we probably would have taken care of it sooner. Anyway....after charging the battery for a while, jump-starting it, and driving all the way across town with my foot on the gas pedal the entire time, we finally got it to the car place that installed the battery originally. It was still under warranty and so they swapped it for a brand new, top of the line battery for only $47. M-I-L & her DH paid for the battery (even though I put forth a valiant effort to pay for it) which made my cost only $10 in gas money to get across town.

So DH did Mom & Dad's taxes and we got a Costco membership. He did his Mom's and her DH's taxes and we got a car battery. I'm really grateful for those blessings. Makes me SO glad we worked hard and got DH through school so he could become a CPA so he could do parent's taxes. Good job, DH and thank you parents!

This will actually help out with our gas money now. I've been taking DH to work every Saturday so I could run errands. Now I can run errands closer to our house and I don't have to drive across town to have access to a car once a week. Last Saturday I used between 1/4 and 1/2 tank of gas just doing my 'To Do' list. Of course, last weekend was a heavy errand day because of Easter and the beginning of soccer season, but errand day is still crazy.

Anyway - it's SO nice to have another car but not have another car payment! I've decided I LOVE 'Big Red'. It's almost 20 years old and looks like it's been through the ringer. But it runs like a dream....well....like a 20 year old dream that's been well taken care of! My attitude toward this car has changed drastically from just a couple of months ago. I've always been grateful for the car and to M-I-L for giving it to us. But I can't say that I loved the car before. Now? Boy, do I love that car!! I hope we can keep it for 3 or 4 more years. That might be a stretch, but I can hope!!

Happy Birthday!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DH!!!!

You have had a really good 35 years and I'm looking forward to what our future brings. I see a bright and shiny one for our family.

You are a fabulous husband and a wonderful father and we all love you to bits and pieces. Have a super day!!

WE <3 YOU!!! MEAN IT!!

The Parent's Future...

Last Saturday, I went over to Mom's house to help her with Quicken. She has always used a paper register and I convinced her to try out Quicken. She has been using it now for about three weeks but she is also still writing down everything in her paper register. I think she's not getting the whole point of Quicken...it's supposed to make life easier...NOT create more work! I think that once she gets used to entering her checks on the computer and having it do all the adding, subtracting, balancing, categorizing, reporting, etc., she'll see the beauty of it and dump the paper register once and for all.

I left her house on Saturday, once again nervous about their financial future. Am I the only one out of my siblings who worries about them like this? I'm guessing so. I'm not sure what to do about it because she got SO defensive this weekend. I showed her the report that adds up everything by category...I was shocked at how much she spent in three of her categories and I really hope she was shocked as well. I know exactly where I learned how to do finances... from Mom herself. She does her finances the way I did them all last year...haphazardly. Spending money that she thinks she has, but really doesn't.

OH - I sound so judgemental! I tried really hard to not sound that way when I was talking to her but I must have because of how defensive she got. We didn't fight...she just got defensive....and I started worrying again about the two of them. I have to figure out the best way to talk to her about getting them on a budget. I told her she needs to buy "Total Money Makeover" by Dave Ramsey...and I really hope she does. She's read "The Automatic Millionaire" by David Bach but that doesn't really help with getting the finances under control. It's a great post-debt book, in my opinion but that's not what Mom and Dad need right now.

Yes...I realize I sound like a hypocrite because I still have debt and who am I to give financial advice? No one...that's for sure! I just know how hard DH and I have worked over the last 2 1/2 months and how fulfilling it has been for us to have paid off FOUR loans and working on the last one (not including the car loan....baby steps within baby steps!). I just want her and Dad to have the comfort of knowing that their future is more secure than it is right now. And selfishly, I want the comfort of knowing that their future is more secure than it is right now! It will undoubtedly affect me and DH too!!

Christmas and Gardening....

Yesterday I opened up a "Dedicated Savings" account for our Christmas fund. We'll get about $300 by September. It will get us a great head-start on the Christmas season. Wouldn't it be so great to have my Christmas shopping done by Thanksgiving? I've never experienced that before...I can't help but think it would be a huge relief to focus the 'hustle and bustle' on something else besides crowded shopping malls and insane holiday drivers (which is everyone but me, of course)! Anyway - it's way too early to start thinking about Christmas, so I'll be content knowing that we are saving to get a good jump on it.

It IS time to start thinking about yard work and my garden. I am so excited to start planting, I can hardly stand it! I can't wait for yummy, fresh zucchini, squash, tomatoes, basil, cilantro....mmmmmmm. I have been craving basil and tomato pasta salad - its even better with fresh garden vegetables and herbs. My neighbor and I are sharing vegetable seeds this year, so the cost of the garden will be minimal. It could use some work but that will have to wait til next year. It could really use some nice, stinky, fertilized dirt, but I think it will be okay for this year. It'll have to be....we're on a BUDGET!! Which is why I'm so excited to actually have a garden! This is only my second year of gardening and I LOVED it last year. It will be nice to not have to spend any grocery money on vegetables that aren't nearly as good as what I can grow.

I might also see if I can borrow Dad's canning equipment and try to can some tomatoes. If I can go to the second hand store and buy some jars, then I could definitely save some money over the winter as well as the summer. We'll see how ambitious I am in August and also how big of a harvest I get.

I'm trying to figure out more ways to cut back on the grocery bill. It seems like I've never had an extra money in the grocery envelope. This paycheck I bought enough cheese, Goldfish crackers and laundry soap to last for both weeks but that means I have about $80 for next week's groceries. I'd like to figure out some more cheap and yummy meals so I can pad the grocery envelope for a really nice Mother's Day brunch. I see beans and rice in our future!!

Yes....more random thoughts....

So, here's two totally random thoughts for you....

One night last week, a new friend came over and by the end of his visit, the conversation had turned to debt reduction. We talked about our goals to get out of debt and (whether real or not) there was a moment when the conversation could have gone down the road of why we are now so focused on getting out of debt or at least how we came to have so much debt. DH adores this new friend but I don't know him as well as DH and so he's not one of my closest, most trusted friends.

Anyway....the point of the story is that I didn't share with him all the dirty details of me using the credit card over the last year and seriously reducing our available credit on the card. I didn't feel like confessing to him and thankfully, DH was kind enough not to indulge that info. It's really embarrassing to me. I've shared the full story with only four girlfriends and they are all friends that I trust wouldn't judge me for being such a jerk. I find that my actions over the last year are completely humiliating and, I'd like to think, completely out of character. I'll talk to anyone who will listen about budgets and debt reduction but no one else about the full truth. Is that being deceitful or is that just using good judgement in who should know about this (one of my many) flaw?

My second random thought is this....last night I went shopping for Easter outfits and basket items for the kids. As I was walking out of the store, I discovered that I didn't feel like a martyr for not being able to buy everything I wanted. There was a complete lack of...."Poor me. I'm on such a tight budget. There's no way I can fill three Easter baskets on this budget. Blah...blah...blah." I hadn't been thinking that before, and I wasn't planning on thinking that. But I have felt that way when I've gone grocery shopping. So - when there was a complete lack of those thoughts, I was a bit surprised and, I'll admit, pleased with my progress. So - just because it's a challenge to be on such a tight budget, doesn't mean that it can't be done and that I can't have some fun doing it.

Death and Taxes

Last week, DH did a quick estimate of our taxes for next year and if we keep things as they are right now, we'll have to pay $3,000 or so. Yikes. So, he changed his withholding...which means that we won't have to pay for 2007 but it also reduces our net income which means less to debt every month. We thought we'd be able to pay things off in October, but it looks like we are now back to November. Which is just fine...I'd rather not have to pay thousands of dollars next April..........even if it adds a month on to our debt reduction plan. I'm SO glad we don't have to pay someone to figure this stuff out! Good job, DH, on earning that CPA!

DH and I talked a little bit last night about our money plans for after November. I'm pretty sure that I drive him crazy sometimes. I think he might be getting sick of hearing me drone on about money. I feel like it's consuming me right now....it's all I can talk about!

But really, I'm pretty passionate about it at this point in my life. I like to talk to people about it and I never ask them what their financial picture looks like, but they often share small portions of it. I've found that so many people in my world have credit card debt and are struggling or at least aren't where they want to be, financially speaking. My goals right now are focused on my marriage, our finances, and my family, but if I can get people excited about getting out of debt themselves, I think that's a pretty good perk! Death to debt! (Going along with the death and taxes theme...hahaha.)

Slow and steady...

This paycheck we are taking the slow and steady approach to paying down our debt. The house payment eats up a bunch of the money but we will still be able to pay $144 to debt. Not bad! That puts our total amount paid to the Visa for March at $1178.01! Pretty darn awesome! I'm extremely glad to see that we are so close to being under $12,000. Interest will add another $100 or so, but after our regular payment in the middle of the month, it will definitely be under $12k. Yahoo!!!

I am keeping our goal for paying off the credit card at November, but it looks like we might be done paying for it by October! Woo Hoo!! That will be SO awesome. It's been so great to get rid of all our other loans...this Visa is the big monster and so the it feels like the road ahead is a long one. But I'm sure October will come fast enough...thank heavens! I can't wait.

Anyway - that's about it for now. I haven't read any more books - although this weekend I'll be picking up a copy of Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Makeover" from the library. They finally have a copy reserved for me! I'm sure I'm going to love it.

I am going to work on a menu for the next week...I'm going to try to be under budget this week so I can possibly buy some nice brunch foods for Easter morning. I'm not sure it will matter though - DH is taking Boys with him so he can play his saxophone at a friend's church and I'll be going to a meeting at our church. So - I won't even really see my family til 12:30pm on Easter. Hmmm...looks like I might be able to just save the 'nice brunch' money and buy a bunch of Diet Coke instead! Ha Ha.

April Budget

DH's love for Excel is rubbing off on me....I've made a budget spreadsheet for the year and for each paycheck. We've got Quicken but I don't like the budget part so much, so I made my own. I know DH could do so much better, but for now mine will work for me. DH has his own fancy shmancy spreadsheet on his computer that he likes but it's way too complicated for me!!

I'm estimating that we'll be able to pay $1500 - $1700 to the Visa in April! Woo hoo! That's including Easter and saving some money for Christmas, along with all the other bills for the month. I've got every dollar assigned right now but you know how life is....there are always variables that you can't count on....Baby's Mom might not bring him a day or two, utilities might be higher or lower, etc. We have done the budget for this next paycheck but not the budget for the month. I've got to find out how many family birthdays we have next month, we also are going to buy some school pictures...those little things.

I also offered a while ago to give my friend a baby shower. She decided (with her mom) that she'd just combine all the baby showers since she lives in another state and will only be here for a week or so. So - the small, intimate, friend shower I offered to give has blossomed into friends, Her family, His family, and anyone else she knows here. Fortunately, her mom has kind of taken over planning the shower but I might be in charge of the invites. Which, I'm guessing, her mom will also take over because she wants them out by tomorrow and that won't happen if I am in charge! I can't get to a store to buy the paper, etc. til Friday night or Saturday when I have a car. And it's yet another thing that I need to figure out how that will fit in the budget. Hmmmm......

Anyway...I'm constantly amazed that managing our money has enabled us to find money to pay for bills, clothes, food, house, tithing, etc.,.......AND pay a bunch towards debt. Awesome! Our money has a purpose now and it seems to go a lot further this way. I've got such a rocker-awesome hubby. He's been so great during this whole journey and I'm so grateful for him....he's my rock star!

More random thoughts....

I started a couple more books this weekend. The first is by Ben Stein (love him!) called "How to Ruin Your Financial Life". I've been getting a kick out of it...how can you not with Ben Stein? Anyway - I love the sarcasm and the way he can call you an idiot without being so mean as to actually call you (me, her, him, them, etc.) an idiot!
"By the way, do you want to know a good test of whether or not you've overused your credit cards and carrying too large a balance? Well, if the banks and credit-card companies are still offering you applications for cards, that shows that everything's fine and you have plenty of reserve spending capacity."
Funny stuff.....!!

The second book is called "Money, A Memoir" by Liz Perle. I haven't gotten very far in this one but it's about "Women, Emotions, and Cash"....the emotional connection women have with money and the struggles that go along with it. I think it will be an interesting read.

DH and I are going to work on the April's budget hopefully today or tomorrow. We have to figure in Easter, dentist, baby shower for my friend, lawn care and a few other things. I'm always excited to do that to see how much we'll be able to pay towards the credit card....I can't wait til it's paid off!!

Just a note...

We paid another $72 last night on the Visa. How awesome is that? This month we paid off the LOC, the Home Depot, saved $1,000 and put over $1,000 on the Visa. I'd say that's a pretty successful month!

Two Random Thoughts...

First Random thought:
My mom paid for our Costco membership as a 'thank you' for DH doing their taxes. A very kind thank you. I know she wanted to do something nice for DH to show her and dad's appreciation - I think the Costco membership might have been because she feels sorry for us. I've said to her a few times that our renewal is not in the budget this month. I've also told her, though, that we have a tight budget because we will be debt free by November...she might have forgotten that part. Anyway....I am so proud of DH and I for working so hard. This debt-reduction plan has been extremely challenging and, well, pretty much the opposite of easy! Anyway - it came to me last night that this means that the reward at the end of this journey will be that much sweeter. The greater the sacrifice, the greater the reward....right? Already I have found so much satisfaction in how hard we have worked to knock out so much debt in two months. We've paid off FOUR loans! This is one big, huge, pat on our backs! Good job to us!

Second Random Thought:
I was thinking this morning that I've been struggling with the 'no car loan' issue. DH wants to keep going and pay off the car ASAP after November. While I've liked the idea, I've just been selfish and wanting to have a new (used) van. I think in the back of my head I've been thinking that maybe we could just save 1/2 the money and get a loan for the rest. But this morning I must be feeling the effects of DH's commitment and perseverance....I think it would just be better to fix the old clunker sitting in the driveway and then saving money for a van. This car might take $500 - $2,000 to fix (I have no idea at this point). We could save money up to fix the car and use it until it doesn't run anymore or until we have enough saved to buy a decent used van...whichever comes first. I'm pretty sure I've waffled back and forth on this issue in the last couple of months, but I'm a lot more dedicated now to staying debt free than I was even one month ago. We'll see. DH gets back from his business trip today and so we'll chat about it soon. It doesn't really matter right now anyway. We've been fine (mostly) with one car since December...I can do it for another year! I might regret that statement, but I'm sure it can be done!

SOSDD

As my dad always says....SOSDD....Same old (stuff) different day. Not much new again today. After Baby leaves, I'm off to deposit my babysitting money, run a couple of errands for a church activity and then back home.

I've done my menu and grocery list for next week and I think I'm set....even though I'm cooking a fairly expensive dinner on Saturday and then taking dinner to a family of four on Monday. The dinner on Saturday is expensive upfront, but then I can make a ton of extras and stick them in the freezer for leftovers. Mmmmmm......spring rolls! My mouth is watering already!

Anyway - just listening to Dave Ramsey while I'm typing this....I find it very inspirational to keep focused on debt payment. It's sometimes tempting to pad the envelopes with extra money - especially the grocery envelope! BUT....thank heavens for teamwork because DH & I are accountable to each other and so all extra money goes to debt. It feels so good to make those extra payments. So far, this month, we've put about $962 on the VISA (including our regular payment). I'm so proud of us!! It will be over $1,000 after the babysitting money is paid on it. Woo Hoo!!

Another debt payment...

I paid another $134 on the VISA this morning. We finally got our gas bill yesterday and it was $36 less than what we budgeted. I can't wait to get rid of this last debt monster. What a relief that will be! November is not that far away!

That's just about it for today....I know....boring! Nothing too exciting.....other than having all the bills paid for this month and food in the house. That's such a good feeling!

I am feeling extremely grateful today for DH's awesome job and his ability to provide for his family. I'm grateful for DH, our kids, the house, food, clothing, car, neighbors, friends, family, religion...all of it.

Turning down money....

Today Baby's Mom and Dad brought Baby and a check over (yes, they remembered to pay me this week!). They paid me for yesterday even though they didn't bring him. I thought that was a really decent thing to do and I totally appreciate the thought. So, what else could I do? I gave the check back and asked them to write me another for just four days worth of work. I had to fight him on that, but he finally took the check and will bring me another tomorrow. The funny thing is that if I was still working for RSIC (Ridiculously Stupid Insurance Co), I'd expect that pay and I'd accept nothing less! Oh well...what do you do?

On the debt front....I'm still waiting to get the gas bill before I can pay more to the VISA. Hopefully it will be a lot less this month since Feb/Mar was quite a bit warmer than Jan/Feb. I will have $80 tomorrow ($72 after tithing) but we've got a nephew birthday party on Sunday and Easter is also coming up. DH and I will need to sit down and discuss upcoming expenses that aren't exactly part of the budget.

I listened to a bunch of Dave Ramsey CDs yesterday. On the subject of budgets, he said it would take about 3 months for the budget to really work....basically, plan on failing the first couple of months. We've stuck to our budget but pretty much only because DH is hard core. He doesn't budge an inch when he gets his mind set on something (I know where Boy #2 got his temperament!! Ha Ha). Anyway - as exasperating as that is sometimes, I am so glad that being stubborn is one of his characteristics. It has served us well with this debt reduction/budget plan we've been on. Good job, babe! You ROCK!

Oops...

When I estimated that we'd be able to put an additional $250 on our credit card, I forgot a couple things so the estimate has gone way down! I forgot that we budgeted $50 for a trip to the dentist for Boy #1 and also $50 for a celebratory dinner for DH & I.

We've been working on this budget for almost two months and we've been incredibly disciplined so we are rewarding ourselves with a date. We rarely go out to eat, so this is a special treat. Two months isn't really that long of a time, but we've had a big bonus and a big tax refund that could have been blown on less responsible things than paying down debt. I think we deserve a night out!!

Today, Baby's Dad called to say that Baby's Mom is taking the day off because he got a tooth or two over the weekend so he's grumpy. First timers....hahaha. They said that they didn't want me to have a grumpy baby......like I've never dealt with one of those before! Anyway - that takes 1/5 of my paycheck for the week. Which is okay because I'd much rather spend the day with just my boys at the park. Next week, Boy #1 goes back to school after having 3 weeks off and since we've had Baby both weeks he's been off track (and assuming we'll having Baby again tomorrow), this is the only weekday that it will be just Mom and Sons. I'll have to make it loads of fun!

So anyhoo - I don't feel bad at all about only the paying the minimum on the VISA because we've paid down a ton of debt this month and we got our emergency fund started at $1000. Not too shabby! Good for us!

Book Review

Not much new on the financial front today - status is the same as yesterday. Just waiting for bills to come in so we can pay more on the VISA.

I'm going to start listening to the Dave Ramsey CDs and last night I finished another personal finance book, "The Family CFO" by Mary Claire Allvine, CFP, and Christine Larson. I use the term 'reading' loosely. I skimmed over more than half of the book. It was a bit too gimmicky and involved for me to really get into. It was ALL in business lingo which was too much for me. I think you'd have to have a degree in business for the book to make sense. The caption on the front of the book says "The couple's business plan for love and money". It was definitely a business plan - not much to do with love and I think the 'couples' part might be in there somewhere, if you look hard enough. So, I realize that not being able to learn from this book might make me a little bit on the dull side, and I'm okay with that! What can you do?

The last chapter in the book is called "Better Sex Through Financial Management". Their parting pieces of advice are 1) Define your priorities. 2) Treat your family like a business. 3) Simplify. 4) Do your own best practices survey (asking people you respect how they manage their money). Hmmmm...my DH would be severely disappointed! Okay...I was severely disappointed! Ha.....ha....ha. Anyway - I took one thing that I liked from that book (the couples retreat) and now I'll return it to the library. I'm sure it's an excellent book for those people who LOVE business and can't get enough of it. For me....the regular stay-at-home-mom? I'll stick with Dave Ramsey, David Bach, and any other book I find helpful and we'll call it a day!

A Change of Plans....

Today is payday...woo hoo! DH proposed a change of plans which I readily agreed to. Instead of paying $1200 to the VISA, we put $1000 in a savings account for our emergency fund. I feel much better having that bit of money put away for a just-in-case cushion. As of right now, we've only paid the minimum payment on the VISA but we should be able to put a bit more on it. It all depends on a few bills that haven't come in yet...we've budgeted for them but don't have the exact amount yet. On Monday, we'll have one more week of babysitting money, so hopefully we'll end up paying another $250 or so on the VISA.

I did a spreadsheet this morning of all the payments we've made to debts since D-day. We've paid over $10,000 in about 7 weeks...that is including regular payments, tax refund, and bonus money. Wow - I can't even describe the relief that soon we won't have to worry about this last debt monster and we currently don't have to worry about the four other debt monsters we've paid off.

So....seven weeks is not that long of a time considering DH and I have been married for over 12 years. But as time goes on, my belief that finances must be done together is becoming greater and greater. This belief is pretty firm - you will be more successful if you do budgeting together and if you have goals together. I don't see how you can fill your potential if you do these things separately. What a difference it has made for us, anyway!

Two more down!

This morning, DH got his bonus so we immediately paid down some more debt. We paid off the LOC and the Home Depot! YAHOO!! There's an extra $106 per month that we can put towards debt, which means that we've added about $300 per month just from paying off four of our loans. That rocks!!

We are scheduled to pay off our last loan, the VISA, by November. We'll be getting an 'extra' check in May and another in October so we might be able to knock it out a week or two earlier than we are planning. This is so exciting! What a great feeling to pay down these monsters.

So...tomorrow (payday), we'll be able to pay down another $700 or so on the VISA and a little bit more on Monday when I get paid again (assuming they remember...hahaha). Next week my paycheck will be half of what it normally is since the mom is going off-track. I will miss the money for those three weeks that she's out of school, but it will be really nice to have a break from babysitting.

Since it's my turn for the carpool, I'll be walking to and from school. It will be fun to get some exercise, some fresh air and some sun. Hopefully the weather will cooperate with my plan!

Just as a side note...I'm feeling humbled this morning that I've got such a great guy. He's got a heart of gold - no matter what he tries to tell me or anybody else. I know the truth....I <3 u!!

Fences and Frontline...

If you want to watch a fascinating show about credit cards, go to:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/credit/.

I don't know how to make it all pretty so you get the ugly link. I was reading "the bizarro world debt elimination freak show" blog (http://bizarroworldfreakshow.blogspot.com) and that's how I came across the link to PBS.org. Like I said - I don't know yet how to do the pretty links...I'll have to ask DH how to add them in later....

Anyway - this Frontline show makes me want to hurry even faster to get rid of this credit card debt. I can't wait for Thursday - payday and bonus day! We will be able to knock off two more loans and really dig into the last one. I asked DH this morning if he and I could go out to dinner with a little bit of the money - just kind of a reward as well as a date night for us. We both need it! He needs a night out more than me, but I'm not going to pass up a date with my honey! He ROCKS!

Anyway - it's mostly quiet on the financial front, other than the fact that I told our neighbor that we won't be going in on a fence this year. It's the year of debt elimination and so there's just no room for any new fences this year. She was totally cool about it, which is good. So - that's it for now! More to come later...

Budgets and Butter...Peanut Butter, that is...

I did our grocery shopping on Saturday...I spent about $90 for the week for our family. I splurged and bought the kids a bag of raisins, which they LOVE. Anyway - I forgot to buy peanut butter! How did this happen? It's traumatic, really. I mean, how can a family with three young boys and one grown-up boy live for an entire week without peanut butter? The problem is that I have only two dollars and some change. If only I hadn't bought those darn raisins! Ha Ha. Anyway, I might be able to buy a small jar of the store brand peanut butter....just enough to get us through the week. Let's hope it's on sale!

Last night I tried a new recipe and I'm pretty happy with the results. It was Double Herb Roasted Chicken and Potatoes. Here's the breakdown: Chicken $4.50, Potatoes $1.10, Basil $1.15, other ingredients I had on hand (peas, salad dressing, s & p, olive oil) - total cost of dinner for five people $6.75. Not bad for a nice Sunday evening dinner! That is definitely our most expensive meal of the week. Plus, we get a new recipe to put into our rotation of dinners. Can't complain about that!

The rest of the week we'll eat spaghetti, tacos, Navajo tacos...nothing fancy, nothing expensive. This grocery budget is still a challenge, but I'm getting in the groove of things. I really like the fact that we have kept our $400 cushion in the checking account and haven't touched it once. It really is exciting to know that in a matter of months, we will be in charge of where our money is going. I asked DH the other day if I could save my babysitting money for a few months after we are revolving-debt free. I have wanted to buy something for a really long time but it's just never been in the cards. I can't tell him what it is, but I can say that its not for me and that I think he will be extremely happy when we get it. I'm really excited about it and I can't wait to be able to purchase it. I'll let you know early next year (or Christmas time, depending on when everything gets paid off!) what it is and DH's reaction...

Looking forward....

So I've been in a bit of a funk this week. Lots of personal stuff, friends having lots of personal stuff...you get the idea. So I'm going to pull myself up by the bootstraps and get back into a groove. The good news is that on the financial front, things are AWESOME!

DH found out a couple of days ago what his bonus will be...sounds like it will be a really good one! So, on Thursday, we'll be able to finish off the LOC, finish off the Home Depot, and start on the VISA. Our goal is still to have everything paid off by November, but we are both hoping it will be sooner than that. I'm looking forward to it, whenever it is!

We figured out the other night that we will have given ourselves almost a $10,000 a year raise by the time this is all said and done. That's not all from debt....most of it is, but some of it came from getting rid of some things that we don't really need. The "Latte Factor" as they say.

I started reading a book called "The Family CFO". It has a ton of business jargon (duh) which means that I have skimmed over much of the first couple of chapters....no offense to the authors, I'm just a simple minded girl with no background in business. Anyway...one thing that I really liked and that I badly want to start in my marriage is a yearly retreat. The idea is that many businesses will have yearly retreats, some for a couple of hours, some for a weekend, some for anything in between. Those retreats are spent away from the business where there will be no interruptions and the focus is purely on whatever topic they come up with...usually goals or motivation, etc. This book talks about combining the yearly retreat with a weekend getaway. What a fabulous idea! So - we go on a getaway, just the two of us, discuss our goals for 90 minutes and spend the rest of the time just being together, reconnecting, and having fun. I talked about it with DH and he seemed to like the idea also. I'd like to make it an anniversary trip but that may not happen this year...unless we can pay everything off by September 19! Anyway - this is something I'd really like to do - I thought it was a great idea!

Excerpt from Getting Green blog

Getting Green - Information For Those Who Want To Be Millionaires: "You know that you're going to have to buy things within a certain amount of time, yet most people think that they don't have enough money to save for such things. This is because most people don't budget their income and just let their money slip away from them rather than telling their money what to do on paper on purpose."

I really like that last sentence...telling your money what to do on paper on purpose. Money does tend to slip away so easily without a plan. Well...even with a plan it can slip away without discipline! But I'm learning that the money has to have a purpose and a place to go. Otherwise it just goes away. And that's no good. Thanks Getting Green for the reminder of the importance of a budget plan!

Coupons and groceries

So...we canceled our subscription to the newspaper which means I don't get the Sunday paper with the coupon inserts anymore. I just tried looking through ads for two stores where I don't really like to shop and it about drove me crazy. I don't really have the patience to inspect all the tiny, fuzzy pictures searching for an item that I can only hope is on sale...I just tried it and it gave me a headache! My friend recently suggested that I plan my weekly menu around what's on sale at the grocery store. So - I thought I'd try it and 1) I've got the headache as a souvenir and 2) I found it SO tedious. What a baby....I know. I think I'm a bit like my second son...he has to be pulled, prodded, and bribed into each change or new adventure.

Is this one of those things that I've got to learn to accept as a mom on a budget? Is there a way around scouring the Internet and ads for good deals? I've read and heard about people who go to the grocery store and walk out with $50 worth of groceries that they paid $5 for. Really...how do they do that? How do they do that without spending hours finding the best deals and driving to 50 different stores? Hmmm...I think I might be a bit grumpy about this whole coupon thing! Better change my attitude before my next trip to the store!!

Payments and Perfume

Today we were able to pay another $177 to the LOC.....WOO HOO! We'll be able to pay off the remaining $419 next Thursday and then that loan will be gone. What a relief! We are knocking down this debt faster than I thought...yea for us!

DH is nice enough to let me make all the payments. Maybe he really doesn't care about doing it which is just fine with me....I enjoy it. I'm a nerd that way, though! Just ask my girlfriend across the street. She gave me an awesome pencil sharpener for Christmas...it was one of my favorite gifts! (After, of course, the Tiffany jewelry and perfume and sweater). I told you I am a nerd!

Anyway - it just makes me happy to see these debt balances go down instead of up. After all this is said and done, we can watch our savings balances go up instead of nowhere. Now that's the way it's supposed to be!

So I'd say the keys to our progress so far has been honesty with each other about where our joint money is going and the envelope budgeting. I feel like we've come a long way in 6 weeks and I'm excited about our financial future. Now if I can just talk DH into that water softener....

Credit Cards & Cruise Ships....

Well, baby's mom paid me yesterday when she came to pick him up. Thank goodness! I SO did not want to have to ask for money again. So there's another $180 to the LOC once it's been deposited.

DH will be getting a bonus on the 15th or so...who knows how much it will be, but we're hoping for a good-sized check. That, of course, will go straight to debt. First to the Home Depot, then to the credit card. Our goal is to have our CCs paid off in November, but hopefully it will be sooner with any bonus money coming in. There's also the two 'extra' paychecks - from getting paid every two weeks as opposed to twice a month. That should help put a dent in this debt.

Our original goal was to have everything paid off by March 2008. We've now changed it to November 2007 and hopefully it will be even sooner with those other checks coming in. Woo Hoo!! I can see the cruise ship at the end of this debt road! Here we come!!

March Goals...and ramblings....

So February was a GREAT month for debt reduction. I'm really happy with how much we were able to pay off and how disciplined we were. It was really hard sometimes, but I'm thrilled at the overall outcome. Some of the highlights for February....
*we stuck to our budget for groceries (which was a challenge - especially the $30 week!)
*we paid off the Student loan, the Vespa, and most of the LOC (thanks in a huge part to our tax refund but lots of it to discipline)
*best of all...DH & I are talking openly about our finances and working together as a team.

I told DH the other day that all this money going to debt is bittersweet....sweet because we are digging our way out of this hole, bitter because all that money could go towards something fun. That sounds like I'd rather buy fun things now even with all this debt, but that's not what I mean. I mean that it's bitter because if we (and if I) had been smarter with our money, we wouldn't have the mess we have....we wouldn't have to be paying all this money to debt because we wouldn't have any! But my sweet DH had such a positive attitude. He said that you can't think that way - IT is what it is and we are doing our best to change it so we are never in this mess again. I was surprised a little bit at his 'glass is half full' attitude. I tell you what...it's just what I needed to hear...especially from him. It meant more to me than I can explain. What a guy!

So - looking forward in March...more debt reduction! We will be able to pay off the rest of the LOC by mid-March and some of the Home Depot balance. By the end of the month, we should be able to pay off the remainder of the HD card and move on to our biggest balance which is the credit card.

I was hoping to mail my babysitting money in to the bank today but the parent's forgot to pay me again. This is the second time in two pay periods that they haven't paid me when they said they would. I hope the mom pays me this afternoon because I REALLY don't want to ask them for money again! They pay me in advance, so I don't feel like I can be too antsy with it. I was, however, really hoping to be able to pay another $180 to the LOC. I guess it will have to wait for a day or two...

I decided yesterday that I have a deadline for growing my hair out. I'm trying to grow it out to donate to Locks of Love. My MIL has breast cancer and she lost all her hair. Her sons shaved their heads in support of her and I told her I'd grow my hair out to donate. It's proving to be more difficult than I thought. I'm just not looking my best these days and my hair is just one thing I'd like to change. Anyway - what does this have to do with debt reduction? We figure that we plan to have all debt (except car and house) paid off in November, so that's as good a time as any to get an all-around fresh start.