Today was payday, and let me tell you how weird and strange it was to only have one credit debt payment due.

Very strange.
Very weird.

BUT I LOVED IT!

It's amazing. I do not need to make the minimums on our last three cards because they will all be paid off before their due date this month.

I save all of my old budgets, and just for fun I wanted to post a budget from June 2008... THIS IS JUST ONE PAYCHECK (out of 4 for the month)... Look at all of those things:



And here is our new and improved budget for June of THIS year.



What a difference.

We are getting so close...

I rcvd a snowflake on the 27th... and it paid off AmGen (2400) and Kay (1100)!!! That's a saving of $380 a month know in our budget (not to mention the interest).

In June, we have our last three cards being paid off!

In July, we will be done with Dell!!

After Dell, it's Medical Bills from our credit reports! That will take Aug, Sept, and Oct!

We should be able to start socking away money in November for a down payment on a house.

Our lease is up in Sept, I don't really want to stay; I know we can find somewhere cheaper... but we don't really want to move in Sept, and then again next Summer. So we may just sign a 9 month lease, and get gazelle in our house buying journey.

I pulled our scores... they went from a median score of 483 and 488 (his and hers) to 548 and 516 in just 3 months.

Things are just looking good...

I may need to do something serious about this. Right now, our Snowball $$ is in my husband's second paycheck. That day takes FOREVER to arrive. There's only so much account checking, envelope stamping, and snowball salivating I can do. I am so excited to be able to pay off ANOTHER credit card this month!! Well, not just THIS month, but THIS Friday! We are getting there... and that's so very exciting.

My daughter turned 10 this past weekend, my mom had a lovely ladies luncheon for her, and we are taking her horseback riding on Saturday. Should be fun!

I started my new job, but still retain about 50% of the responsibilities from my old job. Just until September - but I tell you... they don't pay me enough! ha!

I start my Masters on April 30. And to be honest with you... I am looking forward to my company's tuition reimbursement program. $5200. Since my classes are only 6 weeks long, I can request a lump sum... I love lump sum money!

We are scheduled for a few snowflakes this year... so I am looking forwarding to paying off most of our debt by December. In January we will focus on the Van (and get it paid off 3+ years early) and then Student Loans.

I am praying we will be in a house by the end of next year! We've worked so hard!

In doing the new budget - I've rounded up a lot. I will be getting a reimbursement of $250 a month for childcare (I only pay $460). I will be budgeting the higher amount of course, and then use the $250 each month as a snowflake and pay off the next debt.

I am now working from home, so I have had to add a second phone line - this will also be reimbursed. So... by working from home, I am saving money on some internet (we can expense $150 a month for Blackberry, internet and phone line). I will also be saving money on not eating out or buying extra snacks for my work. It's quite nice working from home!

In regards to our credit monitoring... at FICO. It keeps saying there are no alerts and no changes... Not sure how that's possible. We've closed 5 credit cards... shouldn't those trigger something? Hmmm. Off to investigate that!

Have a great day! It's going to be a HOT one here!

We paid off two more credit cards this morning. One for $538 and the other for $697 - What? It was only $571 when I pulled it up last week!! Yep - they charged me an annual fee. I called to close one of the cards today (same company, but I am keeping one open due to the length of time I have had it). Besides trying to sell me Term Life ins, they were pretty great. They noted my payment, I asked for the annual fee to be reversed - and they did it!

I am shocked! But pleased of course.

I started this month with a new Excel spreasheet that is too cool for words. Each tab represents my 4 different financial institutions... and within each tab, there are all of my specific envelopes. It took a while to set up, but this way I can use my debit card, instead of cash I hate carrying around that much cash. The envelope still "exists", just electronically. We got paid yesterday, so I split all of the money into the different banks, and then into the envelopes.


I just did my grocery shopping (on budget!) and Costco. I cannot believe I am going to type this... I was $50 UNDER budget at Costco. WOW! And I got a ton of great snacks for the kids (string cheese, gogurts,and stuff - all healthy-ish).

I think it helped not to by the boneless - skinless chicken breast at Costoc; rather I bought it at Fry's (Kroger). It was only $1.67 a pound for fresh, not frozen!. I bought three packages with 6 huge breasts (giggle!) in each - for the same price I would have paid for a total of 12 frozen. Score!

I've got our meals planned for the week, a STOCKED freezer and pantry... the weekend is shaping up! We have a lot going on next week... so I wanted to be as organized as possible.

My littlest DS is going to be starting a new DayCare next Monday - more expensive, but well worth-it. So we are going to go by him a back-pack and get ready for his "school" adventure!

I think I am going to revamp this for March... start as I aim to continue!

I think we did an awesome job with our Allowance... (the kids didn't get theirs due to behavior, so it went in their Savings Account) and our overall debt reduction.

I felt like we needed a good base point, so I ran our FICO scores. These do not include our 3 credit cards we just paid off... so it will be interesting to see how that changes things.

Just a note, before we lost our car, they were in the 500s (515 - 520 range). And now after the car (which does show up on our credit report), they barely dropped in my opinion. I thought they would have been a lot lower.

I am not proud, but as I told my husband, we can only go UP from here. We have been doing everything right since November, I am proud of that.

So here they are:

JJ:


DH:


Oh, and our total debt:

Orchard 4 (because there are four, total) is GONE!

Paid it today ($488), and had DH close it!!

Wahoo. Only 6 little cards left.

But, it WAS good news!!

We've been mapped to Bank of America! They found a position in our same campus, for a bit more pay, M-F. I will no longer be a manager, but I am okay with that. I want to focus on school anyway for the next 20 months.

The position is with the Mortgage department, and it's NOT sales.

I can continue to pay all my bills off!!! Wahoo!!

Snowball alert!

$626.94 tuition reimbursement check in the mail today!!

Paid off 1st Premier (total paid = 268.26) - Cut up and oh-so-CLOSED!

Paid down my Capital One (total paid = 358.68). Balance owed on Cap 1 is $60. I will pay and close that card on March 13!!

Wahoo!

I have no idea if we are getting a tax refund or not, but I hope so!! I would love to attack a few more bills!

YAY!

I can picture your avatar now!
Thank you for the advice (Click Here)! I always welcome ideas!

I have already gotten rid of one vehicle, and no longer have that $455 payment. I am not yet ready to give up the van, we will drive it until it is dead, and never finance another vehicle again. And as of right now, we owe less than what it is worth (not a whole lot, but still!). We will spend 2010 paying off the van, and it will be paid off 4 years early. We are very excited about that.

I just sunk 2k into our 98 F-150... the engine died. Otherwise it’s in excellent condition. We used cash. I have never been able to do that before!

In regard to Verizon, Internet, Allowance, and Satellite...

The allowance amount is not very much compared to what we would spend if we didn't have it budgeted. $50 is for my husband, $50 for me, $20 for my teenage son, and $15 for my ten year old daughter. If they don't behave or complete their chores as assigned, they never see the money - it goes straight into their ING account. I've seen the damage we can do; I think the allowance amount is small compared to others I have seen. And as of right now, we both have those fifties in our wallets -- still not spent.

The other items you listed are all things I would love to cut back on (or out completely)... however, I do need Internet for school and work. I will check to see if I can save some money by omitting the never used Caller ID, Call Waiting, and VM. That could save me abt $10, I think.

For Verizon and Satellite - we have contracts. To get rid of Verizon, it would cost us $200 a line ($1000) to cancel the contract. We have a line for my mother-in-law and sister-in-law to share. They watch my son during the day, and they don't have a phone (they can't afford even a basic one from the local phone company) - I am their only source of income at the moment. I take the $10 it costs me per month and reduce it from daycare costs, so it works out in the end.

I have to check with DishNetwork to see what we have left on our Contract for HD. My husband works with them, and we get a $40 credit each month, so as soon as we can, I will be knocking down our programming to the bare minimum, so if there will be an amount owed, it might be for a Pay Per View movie or something.

I am proud to say, our snowball is currently $860 a month. January was an "off" month for us, but we are back in the game... We will be debt free (except the van and school loans) by the time I am laid off in September.

They are raising my interest rate.

And here, I thought it couldn't get any higher.

After 1st Premier and BofA this month, both of our Capital One's are next on the list.

We are having a budget meeting to discuss what to pay off next month. We will have our tax refund (amount unknown), tuition reimbursement ($632), our snowball ($850), and three normal payments to our American General loan by mid-March. That would wipe out that debt. The reason I consider it first is because the monthly payment is $256 a month... that's more than my little 9 credit cards' monthly payments combined.

So... we should have our budget meeting soon.

Praying for a nice refund!

As I have mentioned in the past, I having my given my notice at work. Sad, but true.

A few weeks ago, I was watching a recorded (DVR'd) shows, and once it was done, the show that was currently airing happened to be the morning news. They were in the middle of an interview with a young woman who became a teacher through a internship/fellowship process. I was intrigued. I've always wanted to obtain my teaching certificate.

I went online, and after a few days of research the program, I applied. The application and question were lengthy. Well, when I got home from work yesterday, there was an email from the director of this program. I have been invited to interview for an Elementary teaching position at a high need school in Phoenix. I am very excited.

My Basic Skills tests are on March 28, and my interview (6 hours, different tasks) is on March 29.

I have a lot to study! It's been forever since I was in Elementary school! lol... I am going to have my kids help me! Along with the traditional interview, I also will have to teach a lesson plan I create, and write an essay.

Now... the spending money part. The basic skills test through the state is $105. And the fingerprint clearance card is $69. :/ Thankfully, I am getting my work bonus this week.

If I am selected to do this, they will forgive some of by undergrad student loans. In addition, I will be attending a Masters of Arts in Education (MAEd) program through Arizona State to obtain my license to teach in any school, and no longer as an "intern".

There is a 5 week (paid) training course this summer, and then I would be in my own classroom in August.

While I am practicing positive thinking, if for some reason I do not make the program, I will still go on to obtain my MAEd. Either way, it's what I want to do.

Did I mention I was excited?

- + - + - + - + - + - +

Payday is JUST around the corner. I cannot wait to get the first of the month's bills done and paid.

We are still waiting on our truck to get out of the shop. It's funny, I thought I'd miss that $2k a lot more. Out of sight, out of mind - I guess.

In Credit Card Debt.
Gross.

We are getting back on track though, so that's a good thing! We are scheduled to pay off Bank of America and 1st Premier this month! And then we have to add money back into Savings (for Baby EmerFun). We had to use our $1000 plus another $1000 cash to replace the engine in our truck.

Back in the game.

at least more pleased than you were before.

I just worked on the budget again, and with DH's new raise, less car ins, and a few tweaks here and there - we have an additional $600 a month. Nice, huh?

So, I am putting $600 towards debt, $400 to Dell and Kay ($200 each - yes still debt, but higher monthly minimums) and $300 for Savings.

I've decided to take Merch's (and others for sure) idea of putting more towards the EF. And then I decided to make my goals more short term (quarterly).

Here is what I came up with:

Quarter One (January, February, March)
EmerFund (SunWest) $250/month
Orange House $5
Kid 1 $5
Kid 2 $5
Kid 3 $5
Disney $5
Hawaii $5
Roth - Me $5
Roth - DH $5
HSBC $5
Keep the Change $5

Goal in EF for Q1 = $750

Quarter Two (April, May, June)
EmerFund (SunWest) $200/month
Orange House $10
Kid 1 $10
Kid 2 $10
Kid 3 $10
Disney $10
Hawaii $10
Roth - Me $10
Roth - DH $10
HSBC $10
Keep the Change $10

Goal in EF for Q2 = $600

Quarter Three (July, August, September)
EmerFund (SunWest) $200/month
Orange House $10
Kid 1 $10
Kid 2 $10
Kid 3 $10
Disney $10
Hawaii $10
Roth - Me $10
Roth - DH $10
HSBC $10
Keep the Change $10

Goal in EF for Q3 = $600

Quarter Four (October, November, December)
EmerFund (SunWest) $150/month
Orange House $30
Kid 1 $10
Kid 2 $10
Kid 3 $10
Disney $10
Hawaii $10
Roth - Me $15
Roth - DH $15
HSBC $25
Keep the Change $15

Goal in EF for Q4 = $450

So, I was reading on Debt Reduction 101's blog about her Debt Management program... and I checked them out. They said that 2 companies do not belong to the program, so with the other remaining cards, I would have to pay $229 a month and I should be able to pay it off within 5 years (about $10K total).

$185 towards debt
$ 39 admin fee
$ 5 dues of some sort
-----------------------
$229

That still leaves cards to pay on our own. If I add up what my monthly minimums are - and add a little extra ($5-$10 per month) - that equals to $392 a month (all towards debt, no fees). I have about $550 budgeted each month for debt repayment... so I think I am going to go at it on my own for a bit, and see what I can do. The goal is to not murder my credit score, but still come up with a feasible way to pay down the cards within the next 5 years (or sooner, if we can). If I find I am still in over my head in January - then I will reconsider. I did love how I could do everything online, though!

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DH was promoted recently, and I finally got a hold of his new salary. He is making just $4K less than me now, but since health ins. comes out of my pocket - we will be bringing home the same amount. YEAH!! And it's SALARY - no more guessing from paycheck to paycheck. This should make things easier, right?

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The Phoenix Suns won on Friday night!! =) And true to our word, we grilled cheeseburgers and ate warm, salty, french fries by the fistful. It was a great night.

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Our dogs are not adjusting well to our recent move. They are used to having a big back yard. Chloe (dog) is becoming very testy with Nico (kid) - I cannot leave them alone. Well, we took them out last night, then brought them in to the bathroom (it's tiled, and huge!) and left them while we went for a longer walk. We were gone about an hour and when we got back, Chloe ate the door jamb trim (is that what's it's called?) ATE IT. Shredded it. In pieces. Gone. Well, about 24 inches of it. As much as I love them, it's been very tough the past two years. They just don't seem happy. We are considering finding new homes for them. My oldest son, Xan, is not happy... but I think he's starting to see what we mean. So, tough decision there to make.

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Well, it's Sunday - the day I dread the most. I have three kids to get ready for Monday morning. And now, even more fun, I have to plan our route tomorrow since we are down to one vehicle. Our tuck is parked at my MILs and will be fixed over the next month or so. Until then, we will be carpooling!

First and foremost... Savings Plan!
I spent several hours coming up with a monthly goal - to put away $200 a month into our various savings accounts. That may not seem like a lot to some, but I have d.e.b.t. (blech!). So, a good portion of our income has to go to that as well.



* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


I know I said before, that I would keep this blog focused on savings, but I feel like I should give some additional background information.

In July of this year, we fell behind. A lot. I haven't been able to pay our one car, and some of our credit cards. I recently had a friend go through bankruptcy (with a much larger debt pile than us) - and it seemed easy, and fast and "cool". I called and got an appointment. The husband and I felt a little relieved... we could start over, we could BUY groceries. The "salesman" sold us. We signed on the dotted line, offered up 4 post-dated checks for the payment plan, all this even though we were told that they didn't know what to do with us. Our income was high, but we were over the allotted amount (in terms of monthly bills) by $500. So, it wasn't a pretty picture, but they couldn't tell us if we could file Chapter 13 or 7, or either at all. Regardless, we agreed to a $990 (discounted from $1200) Pre-Bankruptcy review.

The first of my payment plan checks cleared on October 15. And then I got to thinking. This is SERIOUS stuff. Never again will I be able to check mark "No" on the "Have you ever filed bankruptcy" question. I am in the banking industry - this could cause issues when applying for jobs. When would we be able to finally buy a house? What are we DOING?

We have about 10K in Credit Card debt (up $10K from 2 years ago when we had zero), and another 5-6K in medical bills (son was born premature - lots of medical bills!)

I called the lawyers on Monday, and told them we wanted to cancel. They asked what my plans were (seeing as I was 70 days late on our cards and 90 on our car). I told them we would do what we needed to - it just didn't involve BK. I don't feel we have tried to remedy the situation at all - that we jumped straight to BK. In my defense, I felt hopeless...I have been given notice at work (we were acquired by a big bank) - thankfully, I have until 9/2009 to find a new job - but it was still very fresh at the time, and I was ready to give up.

So, with the Pre-BK review cancelled (and after a cancellation fee of $250 - even though they had yet to do ANYTHING) I called Consumer Credit Counseling [CCCS]. They can help, and they won't kill my credit too much (or anymore that I already have).

And then I got a call from one of my credit card companies. They offered to allow me to make two $25 payments a month until I was caught up. Then two more of my cards called... I only had to pay the minimums that were behind - $30 on one, $42 on the other. They would worry about the over limit charges later. Suddenly, things didn't look so scary. These numbers were smaller than the DUE NOW amounts that screamed at me each month.

My husband and I decided to put our big people underoos on - and do what we could to fix our mess. (I cancelled the meeting with CCCS)

Some positives that have happened - he got promoted ($$$), we moved closer to our family and work, we pay less in daycare (thanks to his sister watching the little one).

We have decided to let go of our 4 year old car. It was a bad deal to begin with - our final payment is going to be around 3-4K due to the way the contract was written and our late payments(we got it when we didn't have awesome car credit). The payments are $455 a month - and we still owe $13K. I don't know if it's the RIGHT thing to do, but it's what we have decided to do. I cannot come up with the $1700 due, and they will not budge on offering to defer the payments or extend the contract.

So- that's where we are. I will be making small payments on each of the cards on Friday. I just had to pay $172 to the dentist for my daughter (3 baby teeth had to be pulled). That's tough...

It's going to be hard, but in the end - we will have accomplished something on our own. It may take a while to get caught up completely, and back on track with our credit - but I am in it to win it. I think we will be sitting pretty in 5 years. That's our 5 year plan. To be sitting pretty! =) And as the title of my blog states - NO PAIN, NO GAIN!

In the meantime... we will build our EF, sell what we can, save where we can, use coupons, and just plain do without.

I have decided to spend the next 1.5 months gearing up for January - by making goals.

I have decided that annual goals are great, but I want to start off with monthly goals. Baby steps.

Some of the goals I am considering are:

> NSDs
> No New Debt
> No Running Credit Report
> Savings Contribution
> Coupons

As I mentioned before, we are in the middle of a huge cleanup of a mess that was made (of the debt kind, of course). I am hoping, if we throw everything at that mess over the next few weeks, we can start off in January on track. We will still have debt repayment, but we won't be so far behind.

Do you have any ideas for mini-goals to help save money, spend less, and stay on track financially? Share them with me!