What's Your Story?

I wanted to respond to someone's comment asking how I am able to do what I'm doing.

Well, here are a few tips on how I'm making this financial lifestyle change happen...

1. I started making a written budget every month, and then the key thing was that I followed it. I know that sounds crazy, but many times in the past I wrote out a budget, but if we wanted something that wasn't in the budget, I went ahead and said yes to buying it.

2. I started looking at the budget to see what I could cut...
Cable, cell phones, restaurants...etc.
I set goals, and once a goal was reached (i.e. a big bill was paid off), I allowed us to bring back something little like cable.

3. Although we are a one-career household, we are not a one-income household. Here's the difference. My husband has a career-something he works regularly every week, has retirement, a steady income-and it's what we live off of. All of our necessary expenses are covered by his income.
However, I do work part-time. It is not a career. It's flexible, and if I needed to quit tomorrow to take care of family needs, I could. I do work that fits into my life, and the money goes to our debt snowball.

Recommendations for finding ways to bring in money...
Think about what your skills and talents are.
Decide what kind of schedule works for you. (i.e. after the kids are in bed or while the kids are in school, or only weekends)
Search, search, search...careerbuilder, monster, google, craigslist, about.com. Don't settle for something that requires you to sacrifice what you've made a priority. If you're persistent, you'll find something that works for you.

Good luck to you in your endeavors.

The Car is Paid Off!! $806.06 final payment!

Today is a day for celebration! The car is paid off. Next one to tackle? The home improvement loan. I estimate the end of the summer to get that one off our backs. I can't wait. 2009 is going to end with great financial successes!!

$560 on the Car!

Got another paycheck, and I'm off to the bank! I am so close to the finish line I can taste it!! WooHoo!!

Selective Memory Strikes Again!

So, on my last post I said I would just have the home improvement loan, student loan, and house left after paying off the car. Well, that was a bit of wishful thinking and selective memory. I left out the lovely credit card. What do ya' know? You'd think I would remember that one. I must have bought some wonderful things with it. I'm sure they were necessities. Right? (Insert sarcastic smirk here).

Ahh, I can't wait to be debt-free and a cash queen!

$900 down, $1,600 to go!

I just paid $900 on my car. The balance is now down to $1,600. I can see the finish line on this one, and I'm so excited! The momentum is building. Once I pay off this one, I've got the home improvement loan of under $8K. Once that's done I only have the student loan and the house.

Cashing in on A Valuable Lesson

I spent 6 hours on Wednesday dealing with what appeared to be a fraudulent charge on our family's debit card. It was roughly $24 charged to a Subway restaurant in a city about 45 minutes away that we never go to.

A call to the bank. A police report filed. Then, the detective work began. I didn't have a phone number to the store on my charge information. So, I Googled the restaurant name and the city. I called the first store on my list and told them I was looking for the store that made this charge. I was directed to Corporate headquarters. Called them. I was told the store was actually located in the town adjacent to me, rather than what was listed on the charge. I spoke with a trainer from that store (it had just opened this month) and he assured me he was going to look into it.

By the afternoon, the trainer called me back and mentioned some problems with the bank mixing up their accounts. They own a Subway and a Little Caesars. Well, the mystery was solved right then. My husband had been to Little Caesar's in our town.

So, I wasted 6 hours of my day investigating a legitimate charge thanks to the bank!!

I was very frustrated and upset at that valuable time I spent due to someone else's mistake. Well, that got me to thinking...how can I avoid having to do this again? I can't keep the banks from making mistakes. The answer: pay with cash. If we had paid for that pizza in cash it wouldn't have mattered how the credit card machine was set up.

I've wanted to switch to the envelope system for some time, but my husband has never been too gung ho on it. Well, now I had a good argument for why we should just pay cash.

So, this weekend, when my husband was paid, I took out the requisite amount for gas, groceries and lunches. I gave him his amount, and I took the grocery money to the store. I knew I had an exact amount I could spend, and refrained from tossing in a People magazine, extra snacks, candles, ice cream, and more b/c I knew I didn't have enough for them. So, the 6 hours I spent on my crazy hunt for an ID thief may just pay off in money saved. Knowing exactly how much cash I have in my wallet to last the week will also make me less likely to stop at a drive-thru. It's much easier to swipe my card than hand over my cash.

Goal-Setting & Goal-Getting!

It's been too long since I've posted. The good news is that business has picked back up, so I'm bringing home money and tackling those bills.

Status update:
Car balance: 2,500
Home Improvement Loan: 8,300
Credit Card: 17,000
Student Loan: 19,000

I'm confident I can knock out that car payment within the next month. The goals as I've laid them out are as follows:

2009: Pay off car and home improvement loan
2010: Pay off credit card and student loan

What's it going to take? 2,000 a month toward one bill until it's gone. Then, move on to the next!!!