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.