Debt free tips from Indiana Jones

I love to read blogs. I love to see what people say. I read a lot of personal finance blogs. I read a lot of cross stitch blogs and I read a lot of SharePoint blogs. (SharePoint is a product by Microsoft) I came across this blog http://sharepointkb.wordpress.com/2009/12/23/sharepoint-tips-from-indiana-jones/ and began to think that hmmmm. I think this could also apply to personal finance. So lets see how our journey goes... 1) You have to have the courage to take on something challenging.

Fighting my way through the debt heap has taken a good bit of courage to keep going. It has also taught me to "defend" my wealth. I hate confrontation. I hate fighting. I have come to respect that sometimes you have to stand your ground in order to not be taken advantage of. Currently I have to appeal to my health insurance some extenuating circumstances that my dd had an urgent situation and needed to get care. If I do not appeal then the health care company denies my claims for around $2000.00 Its my money. She needed the health care its why we have insurance. I have learned to be brave and take the fight to the vendors because typically I get my money back. Another example is getting a lower interest rate. See my blog entry here... http://travelfarandwide.blogspot.com/2008/11/ask-dont-forget-to-ask.html
Be brave ask for what you want.

2) Know your limits and what your good at.

I am good at dreaming. I can daydream all day long. Typically, I have to stop myself from dreaming and put my nose to the grindstone to get myself to focus on my work. It is okay to run away from the big boulders when they are flying at you but it is also necessary to know when to get to work.

3) Simplicity is often the best option. (Gun vs Sword)

Isn't this one of the favorite scenes where the swashbuckler is waving his sword and Indy just shoots him. I think this is parallel to online banking. It was a lot of fuss to pay lots of bills over the phone on cards. I love online bill pay. I just hop on my bank's web site and off I go, electric paid, rent paid, cable paid. Done. And because time is such an issue in my life now that I have a 1 year old. It takes me about 30 minutes to check all my balances and pay the bills. Once per month 30 minutes is very effective. Keep it simple. Bam just knock it out.

4) You need to know your stuff and be ready to learn.

Indy Jones always pops in with some little tid bit of history that solves the puzzle. He knows a lot of stuff and it gives him that little competitive edge over the Nazis among others. I read tons of blogs. I have learned a lot about how to do things as well as been inspired by others who struggle in the same journey.
Places to learn:
No credit needed
Dave Ramsey
WiseBread
Boston gal's Open wallet

Places where I feel inspired:
I've paid for this twice
GRACEful Retirement

5) You don’t have to be a superhero.

Indiana Jones was a geeky history professor who liked fancy vacations. I am a geeky Technology buff who likes mellow vacations. I believe if we follow the map to the treasure we can achieve our goals. And I follow Dave Ramsey's baby steps road map. you should too http://www.daveramsey.com/new/baby-steps/

6) Some things never change.

Indiana Jones uses old fashioned common sense and logic to solve his conflicts. He seems to choose the best way to get out a of a fix. There is no way to stop life from becoming complicated. BUT we can keep an emergency fund in order to keep our debt from growing.

7) Know what your are afraid of, or bad at and let other people help.

Snakes why does it have to be snakes??? I love that moment. When the great hero admits to being human. But he pushes through his fears and escapes anyway. I have mounting fears that my debt is mounting. But I keep on the plan because its to only solution to escaping debt.

8) You can’t do it alone.

Jones used lots of resources on his journey. He took advantage when help was offered and so should all of us. When my mom offered to help me with some extra cash I paid it toward my debt. I am going to start cashing in my bonds (I only have 2 so its not big bucks) to pay off some if the debt. I am also going to look into selling off some stock I own to try and get the debt down further. Again we arent talking big bucks maybe a couple of hundred dollars. Any help is good.

9) You have to believe in yourself and it doesn’t hurt to be unique or have your own image.

When Indiana Jones was on an adventure he wore his unique hat. It helped to get him into the roles he had defined for himself as an adventurer. He was super confident when he came into a new situation. He believed in himself.

It turns out to be different then average is to have no debt. So my goal is to be unique. I am going to get out of debt and then build up savings. I have fantasies about how fast it will happen. But mostly I am planning to follow the steps and save for retirement. There are no get rich quick schemes.

10) You have to see things through and stay focused.

Indiana upon his return from the opening adventure in the movie said "Marcus, I had it it in my hand, Marcus. I can get it." He was completely focused on obtaining an artifact for the museum even if it took more then one adventure to get it. He was then changed to follow the arc of course, but the idea is persistence and diligence despite setbacks won him the treasure every time.

We all need to be like Indy.
This was a light and fun Holiday way to help one enjoy getting back into the grind of debt reduction. Sometimes when you look at something in a new way it gives you a different perspective. I want to be a bit more like Indiana Jones. I want to crack my whip and have my credit cards sit up and take notice. Because I am coming for you...

I am not a financial professional. If you are looking for financial advise you should seek it elsewhere. If you would like to join me on the journey, walk with me for a while and be my friend......

October wrap up

My retirement fund and my debt paydown reached the exact amount I have paid off in debt, 14,000. It is not a lot in the grand scheme of things but it means a lot to me. I am floating in the big debt sea and can see neither shore those little elements help to make your day.

Despite a really lousy financial October, I still am putting $200 to pay down debt. I have newly resolved that I no longer need web space I WILL be closing my website. That is a painful choice but I think we can do it. I wrote about it before here...

The October renewal plan:

• 
  Training 1 hour every day. read in a chapter, study something having to do with MS Sharepoint. From 8-9:30 every day.
• 
  Put money into savings. Currently I am not saving enough. It is a real problem. I am not sure I have calculated it correctly but I have noticed when the payment is automatic I put more away consistantly to my debt then at my other cards. I need to replenish our emergency fund. I had to borrow $500.00 to cover for my husband. He came up a bit short on the electric bill. So I have set up an automated payment schedule. Well see how November handles that and if I miss the money. (The budget is so tight I am sure I will.
  
• My plan is to be debt free in 35 months. I do love the snowball calculator web site http://www.whatsthecost.com/. It helps me to stay the course and not forget that #1 I have made progress and #2 I have to keep paying down the debt. On the current plan I will pay off CC#2 by October of next year (2010). I dont want to look at the rest. But I did. And its not so bad really.

Here is the run down:
CC#1 is Paid off Bal $0

CC#2 13.49% $3,833.69
CC#3 11.24% $3,590.70
CC#4 9.90% $3,690.93
CC#5 4.99% $874.97
CC#6 3.99% $2,023.11
CC#7 3.99% $11,363.51

Total is $25,335.13

So If you are following this And I know no one is I have had a bit of a back slide since July. Most of that is due to DD and College. Also some of her health issues. But I believe it will get better and I am going to just keep pusjing forward.October 2012. I can do it. I have no other choice. I Refuse to live in debt for the rest of my life.

I thought I had 6 cards and I have 7 shudder and ugh. I am paying off in interest order. I get dave ramsey's psychology first better now. On card #5 I have an automatic payment. Once it went below 1000.00 I was like thats it boom lets just knock it out. The thing is It has the LOWEST interest rate and it is until the balancce is paid off. I am better off sticking to CC#2 with a rate of 13.49% and getting rid of it. There was a time when I had 18000 on a 24% card so I know truely I am making progress. but it is very hard to feel like you are making progress. But I CAN do it. and I will do it.

Things that I have done wisely:

I am proud of myself for reducing the interest rates I am paying to the best of my ability.
I am proud of myself for trying not to carry cards in my wallett I pay mostly only cash. I have to say mostly because last month there were a bunch of unexpected medical expenses for my daughter. While you can call this murphy's law or something. It was frustrating because I do not believe she needed to go to the emerg room over a sprained ankle. So I am mad at the dicisions her employeer made for her and did not pay for.
I am proud of myself for keeping on the path to get out of debt even though It is hard and tiresome
I am proud of myself for having a budget and knowing what I can spend and what I should not.
Life is a journey. and I am on the right path for myself.

I am not a financial professional. If you are looking for financial advise you should seek it elsewhere. If you would like to join me on the journey, walk with me for a while and be my friend......

Still in the rowboat

I have started a number of times trying to write about finance. I find it to be really hard. I have felt like I was in the middle of the sea in a row boat with no shores in sight. The thing about that is I know you have to stay the course. Frankly there is no going back to having nearly 40K in debt. I do not want that life. And I don't want to maintain this level of debt either.

I know

1) If I had not started the journey when I did I would have had to declare bankruptcy - especially as many cards are now raising their rates & minimum payments.
2) I want to retire some day and I cannot do that carrying this debt burden.
3) I want my son and daughter to live a debt free life so they can learn healthy attitudes and carry that behavior forward into their own lives..

Knowing and feeling are two different things. Right now I feel despairing that I will ever get out of debt. And I relate (as I often do) to Paid Twice's journey that knowing there is light at the end only seems to invite Murphy to stop by more often. (you can read her post here http://www.paidtwice.com/2009/09/09/the-home-strecth-can-be-as-difficult-as-the-start/)

It is much easier to know what I want... College for my children and a house.

I have about 2.5 years left until my DD comes home from college. So far I have only had to borrow about 4k (Her college is 32K per year so keep it in perspective) I am willing to be in debt for her degree. I want her to have an education. It could have been cheaper, but She is happy.

The house debate within myself continues to rage. There are a lot of factors. I really wanted to take advantage of the 8K house credit. But I think my DH and I were a little ambitious there. It would have been a stretch. And while I think we are a good risk I have no idea if a mortgage lender would see that and grant us a mortgage. And even if they did grant us a mortgage would it be enough for me to get the type of house I would want.

It might be better to wait. I think If we take our time and do it carefully I will get all the things I want but I am the least patient person on the planet. All I can offer myself is that there is hope at the end of the tunnel.

So with Mad money Monday in mind....

So I am turning to the tool...

What's the cost to re-evaluate where I am today.

I have to account for some of the setbacks that I had during August....


Setbacks

Man oh man I know every dollar needs to have a purpose but right now the names all seem to be debt. And I cant even cry misfortune. Lack of planning? maybe, a little hid under a rock definitely, but its time to stand tall, take the hit and get back on the wagon.

Like weight watchers you are more apt to stay on track if you track your progress. Over the summer I have to say time has been fleeting at best and I have often been derailed. The thing is I know I need to get back on track. Right NOW.

So starting today, I logged into many of my different accounts. I have created an outline for My October budget. I will also have to do a where did my money go budget but I cant face that yet. And seriously I will only avoid getting back on track if I have to beat myself up. So today Is no judgment Monday. Just evaluate where you are and what we can do today...

I have to wait till month end to get the true numbers. And I will be receiving a check back from the college to pay back money I was forced to put on a credit card for some of my daughters education because the financing was not lined up. So I charged $2680 to CC#2 (Currently focus of the debt pay down. ) I also charged school supplies and gas because this card was having a promotion I wanted to take advantage of. Time to get back on track...

What's the Cost predicts my debt pay off, given my current standing (which includes the almost 3k in education), to be September 2012. I am sure when I adjust the numbers for the education charges I will come back from that date a bit. More like something around May 2012. Not surprisingly the first card of focus is CC#2.

So we are back to the 3 year plan. Its a long journey to pay down nearly 40K in debt. It looks like I will have paid off most of my credit card debt as my DD graduates college. I can live with that. The only worry I have is that now the minimum payments are larger from certain of my cards how will that effect my schedule. But onward. Row Row Row


I am not a financial professional. If you are looking for financial advise you should seek it elsewhere. If you would like to join me on the journey, walk with me for a while and be my friend......

Debt elimination vs savings

I read Paid twice's blog often. I have found that if you surround yourself with people who are on the same path for a goal you will be more likely to achieve that goal. I really really want to be out of debt. I can not ignore the huge credit hunk of change I owe. And I have noticed that the interest rates did indeed go up. The banks want a little more from me... I do not really want to give it to them but I did borrow the money.

I currently have 6 cards that have a balance on them. 3 of the cards are at a fixed rate until the balance is paid off. I like that fact. It saves me a LOT of money. The other three cards drive me bonkers. CC#2 is the currrent card I am paying the largest amount to each month. CC#3 will be next and CC#4 has a 9.9% rate that has not increased... However... I am charging my web design space to CC#4. It is $14.00 per month. So I eliminate any debt reduction by the charge. Previously I did not want to get rid of my domain name. But currently my job focus is elsewhere and I no longer need to post a portfolio. And if I did need to host a web space I could sign up again. Nothing there is critical any more. So it has to go. It is important to revisit these charges. Because as few as 3 months ago I felt differently. But my career goals have shifted just so slightly and I feel it is no longer necessary to have web space. Actually I feel it is foolish to hold on to something that is costing me money for no benefit.

So How do I feel about Debt elimination over savings?
Well I am in the middle. It has been saving grace that I have paid down as much as I have so that when issues come up like vacation, child's father not paying for college and school expenses I just reallocate some of the debt elimination/repayment money to the current spending challenges. Life does happen. Just because I got myself into debt does not mean my child has to pay and pay. She will have her own challenges. And having a college degree for her is so important to me I would do a lot to make sure it will happen. I would even take on more debt. I know its not Dave Ramsey's philosophy - but he is a multi-millionaire and he funded his kids schools long ago. Each of his kids are in college. There is a classest divide in this country. Those who do not have good skills or a degree have a much harder time in life supporting themselves. I want my daughter to have a degree so she can get employment. I am committed to it.

SO Anyway....

I also see the value in building up savings. I used a little savings to carry us at the end of May. Things were just too tight. That is why we have savings, to bridge the gaps, so we do not feel the need to put charges on the credit cards. Well.... I would like to pay back to savings the money I borrowed. But I chafe at the pace of debt repayment. I want it all to be over now. I want to be debt free today. I also want to be skinny now and wanting it does not make it so.

There is a rhythm to each financial year. My spending is always higher in the summer because the child is home, then there is back to school, then Nov birthdays and then Christmas. So If I am honest with myself Aug - Dec are always slimmer then Jan - July. The BEST debt repayment months are during winter. But I have felt the power of debt elimination. I feel how wonderful it is that I can decided to pay less each month if I needed to. I am committed to paying of the remaining balances.

Each month just a little more goes to elimination and a little less goes to interest. It is so powerful to be able to make progress.

For myself the argument for savings is a big one we want to purchase a home. We will need to have money for closing costs and other expenses. I am not sure if one month's savings would make a dent so I keep eliminating debt. But that is where the tug and pull comes from. Rationally I think we will end up purchasing a home in 2 years after the debt is much lower. We'll see. If they offer the tax incentive again next year it will give us pause... again.

My actions are to debt elimination even though some times I feel the savings pull. I almost always choose to put the money into debt pay down. I just don't want to live a life with an expensive anchor anymore.

Food for thought. Enough ranting... thanks for reading

I am not a financial professional. If you are looking for financial advise you should seek it elsewhere. If you would like to join me on the journey, walk with me for a while and be my friend......

Well the journey continues

July was a hard month. Financially and emotionally. A lot of events happened. Two family vacations, visits from DD, visits from my mom, and a few unexpected bumps and bruises. So my blog has been quiet. There was so much going on I didnt try to control the chaos, I just went along for the ride. Thats the name of the blog.... road traveed. And this months was a doosey. So I have been bumped and bruised. Today I have picked myself up. Brushed myself off and I am ready to be back on the financial trail.

The damage:

After vacation spending through the end of june and All of July we put $1486.88 on credit card for vacation. There may be other expenses through checking but on a credit card for two vacations $1486.88 is not bad. There was a lot of pressure to go on both of the vacations. The beach vacation is a tradition we have been doing for about 12 years. My daughter would not let me not go. Financially my husband contributed a lot more this year and thank goodness he had a lot of overtime cash he spent so we did not have to run too much on the cards. He is an awesome man.

The second trip was a vacation to visit Husbands family. I did not have a lot of vacation time left so I had to drive down on a different day and so there were gas and food expenses. It was not too bad and as it was for his family I would do it again.

Time now to get back on the horse though. Over all I am not too upset with the numbers. I want to be able to take it in stride although It makes me sick to have a debt anchor hanging around my neck. I look forward to the day I do not have to write checks to the banks and I am free. It may take longer then the origional plan BUT I will get there and I am determined to be debt free. One day at a time.

As a result of being away my desk has gone to pot. Last week I organized all the papers to help make order from chaos. This week is health care focused. Next week will be how can I save money by taking lunch to work. Thank goodness I can sit at my desk one day pr week. I do not know how I would get it done if I did not have that luxery.

I am not a financial professional. If you are looking for financial advise you should seek it elsewhere. If you would like to join me on the journey, walk with me for a while and be my friend......

The good the bad and the UGLY

First the Good....

I have paid down $15,939.98 in debt. My debt total is UNDER 24 K! Just under... but still under. I like seeing those numbers drop.

Then the Bad...

I had to pay mostly the minimums this month. I took $250 out of savings to cover daughter coming home from college and to pay the back balance on the sprint bill. I have had an increase in groceries this month and Man are things tight. Although I paid $95.00 to debt over the minimums. So It was not a waste of a month but the progess is not where I want it to be and I chafe at the pace.

The Ugly

Life happens. It makes progress slower then I would ever like but I acknowledge that life happens. I do have a daughter. I cant ignore her untill all debt is paid off. I desperatley need a hair cut. I really need to get a couple of new clothes so does she. I am postponing all of those things in order not to incur any new charges to the credit cards and I acknowledge that this road is HARD. I did replace $100 back to savings. I am concerned that I need to show the ability to maintain a balance if we choose to buy a home. I need to replace the funds I took out sooner rather then later - which means financial health at home not on the credit cards. They will see progress on the cards but that wont be as important as maintaining the balances.

We are on the road to debt freedom. We will get there eventually inspite of the side trips. And Last May was a rough one too. If history is a predictor June will be tight as well. With DH's birthday coming up in June It will indeed impact the wallet. So we shall see.

There is always hope. somehow it will get better.

I am not a financial professional. If you are looking for financial advise you should seek it elsewhere. If you would like to join me on the journey, walk with me for a while and be my friend......

Well, How did I get here?

I was reading my blogs today and I saw this on Boston Girl’s blog (http://www.bostongals.com/2009/05/ny-times-reporter-personal-credit.html) about an economist who got into big big debt. Well I too was a business major. And still I hung myself on the rope that the credit card banks gave me - paraphrased from this article
(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/magazine/17foreclosure-t.html?pagewanted=print)
So I thought I’d tell a little more of the story.

I looked back through all my posts and it turns out I try not to dwell on my mistakes of the past but I have focused on the future. I deem this to be a good thing. Yet I think how I got here is worth examining. Even reading back through some old posts I found evidence of my fuzzy logic that often times was the result of chaos elsewhere in my life. Thankfully I am much more grounded now.
As I read back my blog is more stream of consciousness not a book of how to get out of debt. I think that is the part of the journey that is personal. All I really want to do is get out of debt not to become a journalist. Here are a few posts that chronicle some of my journey…

Inspiration to begin:
http://travelfarandwide.blogspot.com/2007/03/change.html
http://travelfarandwide.blogspot.com/2007/03/confession.html

Some more of my journey:
http://travelfarandwide.blogspot.com/2008/07/economy-and-personal-finance.html

I have come a long way:
http://travelfarandwide.blogspot.com/2007/04/changing-times.html http://travelfarandwide.blogspot.com/2007/04/clutter.html

So those posts have some of the history of how the big debt got started, but I know the choice I made that really started the whole thing…

It is as clear as day the moment I first dug the hole. I had my first real job. I had just moved out of my Mom’s house, where I went to recover during my divorce. I was paid an okay salary not awesome, but enough to live on. I got a one bed room with den for myself and my daughter. We needed a TV cabinet. Well need is a matter of definition. I picked one out of the JCP catalog. It was adorable. I can still see the item in my mind. I was building my cozy nest. I wanted my DD to have a nice home. Never mind that I should have saved up for it and paid cash. That is never going to happen I told myself. I can’t save money. And I need to be clean and organized. I need the cabinet. So I ordered it from JC Penny’S and I was on my way to Credit Card debt. I made monthly payments. I don’t remember if they were over the minimum. I doubt it. I carried the cabinet board by board into the house because the box was too heavy for me to carry by myself. I put it together with my friend the power screw driver. It looked pretty nice. We had a living room.

Then the hole got a little bit deeper…

I remember getting the card offer in the mail. The card was Prime Option; they are no longer in business. 0% interest. What a good idea. I'll transfer the 22% interest JCP card over to this new card and after 6 months it will be only 12% interest. I can "afford" that I thought. But then I needed gas one day. So I put that on the card too, again and again and again.

Not related to Credit but related to income, I did some soul searching about why I was not happy where I was. I was alone in PA. My friends all lived elsewhere. I was an hour from my mom. Why was I still here? So I decided to move to NC. I did some research. I had taken a Microsoft course in computer networking. My brother was getting paid $50K to set up computers, I could do that I thought. (I still have yet to make the 50K salary mark!) I am going to move to NC and take some more classes and start over.
Well, the move was mostly all on credit cards. My dad did pay for the moving truck through his business. He even offered me a job, which I accepted. I took the position of Business Manager. Great at someone else’s money just not my own. Everything went on the card.

Because I thought of myself as middle class and sliding I had a certain amount of pride about what I could afford. I was maintaining a lifestyle that no one saw... Irony of ironies I am an introverted person. I have few social interactions with the parents of my daughter. Even at our church I was never approached by other parents. I bet they could not even tell you my name. And yet I was maintaining a three bedroom apt so I could have an "Office" for myself? How stupid was I? Don’t answer that I already know.

Then the denial or magical thinking really began. Credit card bingo. It is a sign that you are in trouble with debt that you shuffle balances from card to card. I looked at it as a good money manager to keep transferring money around so that you can take advantage of offers.

In business school your studies are all about the analysis of others behavior. It is never a focus on you. It is not discussed to gain an edge by never taking out a car loan, or not having to pay credit card interest. It is implied but not explicit. The thing about that is you get cocky. I was really really good at floating money from month to month. I took that as skill at manipulating the interest rates not a sign that I would have t o pay that money back some day.

Then more magical thinking I had some money in an investment. It was equal to the amount on my cards... So I could pay them off at any time right? (or so I told myself) But I didn’t want to. And I kept thinking my career will pick up any time. I will get a job that will pay off all my bills. I will magically have a big check to pay it all off. Getting out of debt takes step by step perseverance. I never had that. I learned it mostly when I met my husband. And slowly I have improved it my ability to focus and finish a task.

Now as I move forward It is even more important to get to the goal. To finish what I have started and to live my life debt free.

Month end and looking forward...

There were not a lot of posts for April. And I now that I have done the numbers not much progress either. All things considered though it was not too bad. We did go on a family vacation and I still paid $200 to debt. I can live with that. It may make the progress slower then I would like and I know I chafe at the pace of my progress but when I look at that number I am really happy that I dont owe 39K any more. I am able to think of owning a home which 1 year ago It would not have been possible. CC#2 has a balance of 2162. I made a payment to if in May for $400.00 so I know next months numbers will be better. My DH has been paying ALL of the child care so I can continue to pay down my Credit Cards. He is a wonderful man. I will keep forging ahead. We'll see what comes. One day at a time.

Today I plan to go to the library and check out how to purchase a home for dummys so I can start getting smart about the biggest purchase of our lives. I am excited. We are hoping to be able to make a home purchase before the end of the year. It is a little ambitious but we'll never have the same low interest rates and $8,000 tax credit again. I think we can do it.
If you have any good sites for the process leave them in the comments I will be sure to check them out!


I am not a financial professional. If you are looking for financial advise you should seek it elsewhere. If you would like to join me on the journey, walk with me for a while and be my friend......

Debt Details

Excessive Debt is bad. I dont want to put anything on my credit cards anymore. However. I just got a letter from CC#1. I worked very very hard to get rid of any outstanding balances on that card. This bank card was a very bad one. I at one point asked them to lower the rate (24.99%) and they said "NO, you are using this like a long term loan". Well DUH If I cant get a lower rate then It will take FOREVER to pay it off. AHHH now it has a 0 balance. I transfered some of it to 3.9% offeres and I paid off the rest. If you have tracked my progress you can see that I have slowly made every effort to be out of debt. This card had a crazy available credit of $24,000. I dont need that nor was I ever going to put a single dollar onto this most hated card ever again. EVER. So When I opened my mail today It surprised me that I was sad that they have "re evaluated" and lowered my limit to $12,500.

I am actually happy that the limit is lower. I still felt a pang of "Oh no" when I looked at the paper. Isnt that silly? I have considered closing the account. If for any reason any of the banks I have cards with suddenly change how much I owe because the bank has changed hands I wanted options. I do get 8.99% offers from them all the time. Of course as I get $0 and 3.9% offers from other banks, I would not consider using this card unless one of the other banks went out of business. Like I said I want options.

So why does it bother me? Well I dont want it to look like I did something wrong. I paid off that account fair and square. I want it to be the truth, the change is a reflection of the bank's choices. BUT what will it do to my credit score? We are talking about buying a home so dont say it should not matter. It will if we were to go for a mortgage in the next few weeks. One step at a time.

All things considered this month I thought it would be tighter then it turned out to be. We made it through April and I still made payments to my debt. I will be debt free someday.

$15,236.09

Good job girl.
I have been neglecting my desk but it turns out that I am still somewhat on track. I will get out of debt. I will I will I will.

Progress Update

Despite myself I have made progress. I have paid down over $15,000 in debt. Go me. I am in the middle of the journey. I no longer feel the heavy anchor so familiar to me of my monthly payments that beginning shore where I said oh if something happens I'll just use my credit card.... and the other shore where I am debt free. When you no longer see either shore the journey seems long. I know in my heart I am doing the right things. I know in my heart I will stay the path and keep pushing to be debt free. But the birth of my beautiful son and the costs of college for my daughter seem to pull at me so that I swim very very slowly to the shore where I am debt free. Had I not become pregnant and had my husband not needed to work so often on the weekends I would have taken a second job. I am still looking for opportunities to make extra money.

Today though when you break a round number like $15,000 you should stop and celebrate. I am going to treat myself to one $16.99 magazine holder for my cross stitch magazines. I dont want to spend much because I have to keep swimming. I also need to remember that the books I purchased from amazon will not have been charged to my account yet and I need to save that birthday money for when the bill arrives.

My progress from NCN. I have updated the numbers in the side bar. so Celebrate with me [ ]3 as we roll forward.


I am not a financial professional. If you are looking for financial advise you should seek it elsewhere. If you would like to join me on the journey, walk with me for a while and be my friend......

Time

There is really little time to myself these days but I did manage to stitch a little last night. Here is an update...

Marching on

March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.... Well the Lion says get some stuff done. The little lambie wants to be lazy. Sometimes people dont get blogging. But for me it helps me focus. I have to think about my progress for the week and then I can tell where I am and where I want to be.

So things I need to do to be on track:

Address health care issue
Bank (done)
Errands this morning (done)
Dr this afternoon
Balance my check book - I have not been tallying my budget for the last three months
Fill out financial info
Pay car insurance

Also I would like to do a how much does this dinner really cost. I spent $63.00 at the grocery store today. I bought the ingredients for about 5 days of food
We need to focus on two things: Cost
and Calories - I have high cholesterol and am at risk for diabetes so the meal must be healthful.

Today I saw a recipe that I adapted from A year of CrockPotting She has some awesome recipe ideas.

I am making a pork roast. Here are the ingredients list:

Pork Roast (Used 1/2 from Sam's Club, Cost 6.25)
Rosemary Used in the house ~1.00
Cumin Used in the house ~1.50
Salt
Garlic 1 bulb (Yep the whole house smells like garlic .66
Plums 3.00
Apple juice 3.79
Cinnamon stick 7.99

Mashed pots leftovers
Veg 2.29

26.48

Much less then a dinner out and we'll have leftovers for at least one meal so 26.48/2=13.24. Not bad for dinner. The cinnamon sticks were WAY over the top. But I love different spices. I will use them in another meal.

[Update: the pork was Delicious. I'll make it again. I have become a crock pot fan.]

It is really helpful to look at different costs to determine how we are doing on dinners. I am really really bad at spending money at the grocery store. I admit it. SO... If I blog about it I am then accountable. And If I am accountable I can change. I can get out of debt. I can. I can I can.


My reward should be to choose what cross stitch project I am going to bring to AZ. We are going on vacation with our family. And as you ask how can you do that??? My mom is treating us. Thats how. She paid for the tickets, the car rental, and the living arrangements. We are covering a small amount of food and whatever shopping we do there. Is it bad I looked for a cross stitch store online already? there is one there.... Maybe they have some new stash. LOL

Naughty purchase

For my birthday I have wanted the cross stitch book by Isabelle Haccourt Vautier. Her new book is called "Si la mer m'était comptée".I love the images on the cover and I cant wait to stitch them. I was frustrated that it was difficult to find the book. Well I did a search on amazon.fr and found it. Then I did a search on amazon.ca and it was there! I was a little worried about the shipping from Canada but it turns out not to be too bad. It is an indulgence I have been wishing for this for about 2 months. I decided to just go for it. I dont spend a lot of money on myself and I really wanted this book. Amazon made it a little too easy. I used my regular amazon account. It worked on the .ca orders too. Shipping info was there ready to go. Billing was one click. Like I said a little too easy. Now I just have to wait for it to ship.

In the mean time I am going to pay my Car insurance... LOL Well there has to be some reality to my day!

I am not a financial professional. If you are looking for financial advise you should seek it elsewhere. If you would like to join me on the journey, walk with me for a while and be my friend......

monday musings

I have a full plate today so here goes....

I hate Daylight savings time. I always feel so tired for days until my body adjusts. The whole house is sick and that makes the adjustment LONGER. Ugh How many days do you have to be sick before you call the doctor? I would just like to stop coughing!

Financial concerns: If a bank where you have a credit card goes under what happens?I have a plan to eliminate the debt all together. Yet... I have 6 Credit cards left. I am trying to make it 5 as fast as I can. Most have under $2,500 dollars on them and I took offers of 3.9 & 4.9% to gain lower rates. But One card has a little over $12,000 on it. What would I do if they changed the terms? What rights do I have if the bank is taken over? If the bank outright fails and closes its doors would I still owe the money or would it be forgiven? (Boy would my snowball shrink then!) They would probably sell it to a collections service. Would I be able to continue making payments then? Would they want the whole amount at once? (I dont have it so forget it) The offer I have now is 3.9% till the balance is paid off. I do not want to change the terms of that deal. I get plenty of offers in the mail, even these days, to transfer my balances. But most banks have shortened the terms of the offer. 3.99 for 6 months or 0 for three mnonths. I have a plan to eliminate the debt all together. So for myself nothing has changed. I will continue to pay down my cards with no new charges going onto them until the debt is gone. It was a 3 year plan. It is a little longer now with DS in the picture. I will continue on my journey. After all I have already paid down $14,668. whats another $25,135 ??? LOL UGH my stomach hurts seeing that number. But I did it. I ran it up I will pay it off. I think the answer is that there are so many possibilities don't borrow trouble you have no control over. But with all the banking in the news its hard not to watch and wonder.

On happier news. I was able to get a little more done on the baby bib. We are going to AZ in April and I want to have it completed before the trip.

March Money update

Well I have paid my bills for March. I was Happy with my January progress. I had a really successful pay down of debt. But starting this month the pay off will be much slower! We have started back to work and daycare. It is a big financial commitment to have the baby in daycare. But I do like this place and they seem to care for him which is a good thing. I have committed to DH that I would pay about $500 per month. Feb I paid 675. So I am really shy on a food budget and other things. But I want to celebrate progress for what it is. Last month I was at 34% paid. Now I have achieved 36.85% and I have paid off $14,668 of debt. Amazing as I thought I never would get out of debt. What a wonderful thing.

DH and I went to look at an open house over the weekend. To my distress I was sad to say we are not ready to buy. We need to get rid of the credit card debt first. So. to that end I am going to cancel my Yahoo space. It will give me back 15 to my debt every month. I am not using it and It is silly to pay for something I am not using. I still want it don't get me wrong its a great thing to have web space where you can post your portfolio and do extra outside work but if its not paying for itself then it is an expense we dont need. And truthfully I never have time any more. Baby just takes up too much of it.

I think the message for today is that the debt snowball works. Yeah hoo!


I am not a financial professional. If you are looking for financial advise you should seek it elsewhere. If you would like to join me on the journey, walk with me for a while and be my friend......

Forward March

I received two reminders in the mail this morning for items on my long nagging to do list. They are enroll in business school and re-invest my previous employers retirement into the current employers retirement fund. I moved to this state 2.5 years ago. I have dragged my feet in filling out the paperwork to transfer the funds. It is not worth much but the paperwork is so bad I have yet to have completed the process. UGH. Why do I procrastinate? It serves no purpose but to hurt myself.

Today is my work from home day. It is a great way for me to accomplish work. The baby is at daycare and I am able to focus as long as I need to on any given project. As I am working I also scan in the documents for my records. It takes soooo much time! but I feel more secure in having my documents backed up if I need to . I was so behind on my desk after having my baby that I emptied the shredder three times! how long do you keep healthcare information??? 1 year. 30 days?

So the dilemma - Go back to school for masters or get a job weekends to pay off the debt sooner. Dave ramsey would say job. the payoff long term is the MBA. What if we could pay off the debt in 2 years AND I could be half done with my MBA?

Undecided I am going to just leave this post with an open question. Feel free to comment.

I have clarity once again

Cents:
I have managed to regain focus. It only took filling up the shredder three times! I have eliminated all the Credit card Fodder. I have sorted all my documents into a Scan pile, a Take Action pile and a Tax pile. I have written up my todo list and prioritized it. I can see the surface of my desk for the first time in two months. And it is the first time in 4 months I feel organized. Phew what a difference having a work from home day makes. It is amazing!I feel so much better.

For right now I am scanning. I need to focus on high priority items but I have less then perfect focus so I am doing the low priority and waiting until the caffeine kicks in.

I have received letters from one Card that increases my limit. It is also changing my terms. Mostly it will not effect me as I took advantage to transfer balance with an offer of 4.9% for the life of the balance. Now if they change that rate with a different rate I will be transferring the balance to a new card. But for now I am keeping an eye on it. Thats why you have to look at all of your cards each month. Those silly banks like to play games. There are no additional fees and they do not seem to have changed the grace period. As I am just paying off existing balances the grace period is not really an issue either. No new charges on any card. Period.

Stitches:
I have started working on the CUTEST bib ever for my son. I love this pattern. I am sure I will want to stitch it again as a gift for someone else. I love it! Here is a pic of the progress. The design is called "Snips & Snails & Puppy Dog Tails" by Stoney Creek Collection. I bought the pre-made bib to go along with it. Oh I love it! It can be found here if you are interested.

Finance update

It takes me longer then previous life before baby to stay on top of the finances. However DH watched the little guy for a while this morning and I am sitting in the cold basement typing up the results. Good news. I have paid down $13,859.19 in debt in one year. Yahoo! The debt snowball plan works. It really works.

I Have a finish!

I did it I finished a cross stitch project! I was not to bad either. I have so many completed but not finished projects I cant begin to tell you. I actually followed the steps in this tutorial http://hannahxs.blogspot.com/2007/11/no-sew-cube-tutorial.html It made it very easy.

Here are photos of my progress.

This is a gift for my Daughter. I made it so long ago she may not want it anymore. But I do like the way it turned out. Lets hope this will inspire me to finish more.

On the Cost front it was not terribly expensive to finish. I purchased two fat quarters, some red tag ribbon and styrofoam for the center. Total cost was about$12.50. It came out of my Misc. Category in my budget. It made me very happy to spend the day working on something crafty. Totally worth the cost.

Baby decided he wanted me to wake up at 6:30 and stay awake. hmmm now he is back to sleep and I am up for the day. So just a quick entry before I grab a much needed shower....

Stitching:

I am working on a heart ornament. The pattern is from Just Cross Stitch Mag Jan/Feb 09 issue. I asked my DD to give me a subscription for my Christmas gift. I stopped getting any magazines a long long time ago as they were an unneeded expense. But I just missed JCS too much. I am altering the thread colors for the first attempt at it. I will maybe make it again in the brown as shown in the Mag. I never would have attempted a change in the pattern except for the inspiration that I have gotten reading others blogs. It is really helpful to see what other stitchers are doing and use those techniques for my own.

My local needlework shop (LNS) has sent me a coupopn for my birthday month. Ah the pleasure... What shall I get? Have to be careful about too much temptation. However on the other side of that I have only 2 weeks of maternity leave left so I should take advantage of shopping while I am still able to get out and about easily. I am sure the tiredness will return as I return to work as well as my ability to accomplish anything will again diminish.

Cents:

I really need time to spend at my desk. I am driving myself crazy with what needs to be done and what is left undone. When I return to work I will have one day where I can work from home per week. Typically I spend about half of my work day clearing off my desk and taking care of my paperwork that needs attention. It short of shifts me into work mode and makes it easier to transition into attention to details. The problem with sitting at my desk right now is with the baby it is just too cold for me to have him sit downstairs. We keep the heat off in that room to save as much money as possible. So I accomplish nothing. If I could get him to nap peacefully I would be able to sneak away. Today that is not going to happen. SIGH... Maybe tomorrow

Stitching purchases

Stitching:

I purchased the Over the top tin by Just Nan. It arrived in the mail yesterday. I am so excited. I have been a cross stitcher for many years. In 2005 I looked for cross stitch blogs.There were not many blogs out there. So I continued on with the idea that cross stitch was dying out as there are not many cross stitchers. (Michaels and other craft stores used to carry TONS of stuff for cross stitch. Now a days its all about scrapbooking and very very few cross stitch patterns are carried in craft stores.) Last year I began to pay off my credit card debt. During that process I started reading Personal Finance blogs. In Sept/Oct I searched again for Cross stitch blogs. Jackpot. I found a few. Then a few more.... I found I missed all the interaction. I have been introduced to new designers. I have been inspired by other stitchers and I am enjoying planning other projects again. One of those designers is Just Nan. I was so jealous of the tins people posted on their blogs. They all sold out so fast. So I ordered one for me. I really like it. I cant wait to start stitching. First though I have a few things to work on. I need to make a small gift for my DD for Valentine's day. (DS dosent need a gift at 2.5 months old he will never notice!) so as the holiday approaches I have to make that first. For Christmas my DH purchased a bunch of patterns for me. One of them is a bib for DS. That will be next. Then OTT tin. I have been working on my Lavender & Lace project and it is close to completion but I cant have too many Cross stitch patterns going at once. First of all it takes too much space in the Living room. Secondly with DS taking so much of my attention these days I am lucky if I get to stitch on any given day. So there it is. Just Nan awaits. I am so psyched.

Cents:

The tin kit was not too expensive. I have not been driving very much while on maternity leave. and I used the budget item of gas as justification for the purchase. In every day living I shop only for food and necessities. I also need something to be stimulating me while I am home. I love my new son but a conversationalist he is not... yet. Although lately he does try lots of wonderful coos. So I justified it that way. Plus it will go away if I do not purchase it now.

I can justify it all I want to but the truth is it would be better if you put the cash towards debt. The challenge there is if I feel so deprived that I never get to purchase anything for myself this is not a good debt reduction plan. So balance is important. I purchased one thing for myself this month. And a couple of items for DD valentines Day. Then I am finished. This is good balance.The rest of my money to the dreaded credit cards. I will be out of debt soon. I have a plan.

I am not a financial professional. If you are looking for financial advise you should seek it elsewhere. If you would like to join me on the journey, walk with me for a while and be my friend......

Stitching and Cents

Well I am finally afforded 20 minutes to type. It is much harder then I imagined to get to my computer during the day with an 8 week old baby. My computer is in the basement and It is much too cold to bring him down there. Laptop??? Of course, but at night when I finally sit down typing is awkward and If the baby is sleeping I need to be sleeping. But here I am .... and things ARE settling down.

PF bloggers if hobby talk bores you skip down to the Cents section.

Stitching:

I am posting a photo of progress. It has been a delight to get back to stitching. I am trying to figure out how to move the Q-snaps so as not to muck up the beading. I have seen other stitchers using quilted batting around the frame to help in holding the frame in place. It occurred to me that the batting might solve the bead issue. I am worried about moving the frame and it would rip out the beading that had been completed. I like to mix it up I like to stitch a color, then do a metallic which I do not like to stitch with but I do like the end result. It keeps my frustration level at the end of a stitching piece low. I always save the back stitch for the whole piece till the end. I am also reconsidering that. It is a big piece and It might be better if I did it in quadrants instead. We'll see. I do feel good about how far I have gotten this week. I had to frog 60 rows of white because the two skeins were different colors. It took me 3 days to pull all the stitches! One was a regular white from old and one a bright white. Hazards of using stash I suppose. I am so happy to be stitching again.


I finally have time to spend on stitching and I am just going to take it one step at a time. I would like to finish this project this year. After its completion, I am going to move on to smaller projects so I can get more done. I also am going to try and complete my finishes. I have never done a pin keep or a cube and I have plans to do one of each for my DD. I am also considering sending out some of the items to be finished because I know I will never get to it. I will post my progress here. Oh and I am dropping the sled project. I started it. ButI hate the colors of the bow. Not shown in this pic. And it has been a long time since I stitched on Aida cloth. I don't like it any more. I am too addicted to linen. So rather then waste time doing something I don't like I am dropping the whole thing. I might do the pattern later with different threads but. Not right now.


Cents and Sense:

Things I have accomplished this week...

1) I called CC#1 and had them adjust the "Past Purchases" balance to macth the new purchases interest rate.

2) My DH and I had a discussion about the Home purchase fund. He feels it is mathmatically smarter to pay off the credit card then to hold on to 3K for closing costs. I can see his argument, but it gave me a major sense of security. I knew that if there was an absolute extreme emergency we could dip into the fund. On the other hand it is silly to be losing money on 3K when I could gain progress on the debt reduction. Including the fact that I will be decreasing the amount of money I am putting toward debt each month. I am increasing my healthcare, I am adding child care. I really need to set time aside to do the budget for this year and that is really hard to come by.

3) Insurance. I followed up with the insurance company regarding submitting a bill for my son. He saw the Dr. In Dec and the insurance company does not have him covered starting in 2008. However... He is covered in 2009. Great execpt if I get an insurance bill in Dec for any office visits he should have been covered. So I called my employeer. They now have to follow up. and I am sure that things will need to be followed up with more later. What does this have to do with personal finance... Well I was sent a bill by the pediatrician for $223.00. I certainly would like to save that money out of pocket, He also went to the Hospital for two tests and there are probably one other insurance statements we havent seen yet from his birth. The less I pay out of pocket the farther my income goes to pay off my credit card debt.

What makes sense? Follow up follow up follow up.

I saw an item in a magazine yesterday while sitting in a doctors waiting room. there were clothes pins with each day labeled on them. I need to do one thing on my desk each day. I started With CC#1, continued with paying bills Tuesday, and follow up with insurance. I need to do one thing each day so that I can feel accomplished and organized again. I have so much to do I cant seem to wrap my head around it all. So I am doing it the way the pros do, one step at a time... Break it down and take it in small steps until the chunks are gone.

That goes for stitching too.

taking care of yourself

Sometimes I forget to take care of myself. I become wrapped up in what needs to be done and I focus on the tasks at hand. The thing that gets added lastly to the list is me. My DH yelled at me for doing it again as I was feeling frustrated because I was not able to figure out all my bills the way they should be. I needed time to sit at my desk and I was feeling VERY stressed as a result to the hight of each of the piles. Needless to say I had to ask for time to sit at my desk and take care of some of the piles. It is stunning how much mail I receive and how much time it takes for me to focus on each task and take care of things. I hate the amount of time it takes.

So as my reward I ordered a cross stitch calendar for myself. I should have ordered it earlier. but I was hoping Santa would get it for me. It was on my wish list. The calender is no longer available. It is on order but I doubt I will be able to get it. SIGH. I just needed to speak up sooner.

On the Credit card front....

I noticed that in CC#1 Statement they did adjust the rate BUT... They did not adjust the rate of past purchases. The past purchase rate stayed the same. I noticed a while ago but Dh is watching little stuff and I am slowly recovering my baby brain so here goes... I called again. I told the first customer service person the story. Oh let me transfer you. Ok I told the second Customer service person. Ok Let me see. I got a third customer service person. OK here we go again. But cheerfully I went through the explanation of why I was calling again. I noticed that the "past purchases" rate did not change and I wanted the two rates to be the same. Oh I see. He said. Let me fix that for you. And he did. I should see it reflected on the next statement. Hooray! I do think being pleasant and cheerful helped. It also helps to be persistent. I spoke with three different people before I got to yes.

January begins again

January begins again. Thank God that I put my goals on automatic pilot. I have just added up all my payments with the year end and in 2008 I paid down 13,255.42 in debt. I paid off 33.3% of my total debt. Man I rock. I even made progress in December even though I was trying to hold steady at no new debt. I accomplished that and more. I am so proud of myself. I managed to pass through Christmas without getting further into debt. WOW. I did it. Wow. I need to take time to bask in that.

Plans for 2009... The same as this year but at a slower rate. I will not have as much money for bills as I did before. Happy baby boy needs Daycare. I have allocated Some funds to pay off the debt though and I will continue to try.

My credit card #1 is paid off. My credit card #2 is paid down to 68% of the original amount. I will keep chunking away at it. My DH yelled at me to take care of myself. He thinks I need new socks. I think I need to make due with what I have until the debt is paid off. By paying off the debt I am taking care of myself.

I will post more later. For now Lunch is calling.