November

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October

Not the worst month, but not the best either. Still having trouble with the RCUcc. Still making good progress though. I am getting a tad worried about the Discover card. We did a balance transfer to that card back in March with 0% for 1 year. The 0% expires in February. The plan was to have it paid off by January, but I am not sure how that is going to happen right now. At the same time, I am in a state of "I don't care".

I am due in 2 weeks with the new baby and it seems that is about all that is on my mind these days. Pregnancy is very hard on me and I am ready for it to be over. I am looking forward to feeling better again so I can focus more on the bills. Grocery shopping is one place that we have been slacking A LOT. I just can't get to all the different stores to get the best deals that are out there. Getting through just one store is about all I can do. Dan helps as much as he can, but he is also not home a lot either.

We talked a week or so ago and both agreed that once the baby is here, things we get a lot easier. I won't be as tired (or irritable) and I will be able to coupon clip more again and plan out meals better, etc. We both thought we are easily spending an extra $200 - $300 a month just by not planning as good as we could be.

Hopefully, with my next update, I will have a little baby in my arms!!
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decided not to go to Noah's Ark this year

For the past few years, our family and my sister's family have made a trip to the Dells together and spent the day at Noah's Ark. We look forward to it every year and have a great time. We really wanted to go this year as well. We pick a date, made the plans and were ready to go again, but as the time got closer, we realized that we had already spent so much this summer that another $250 was not in the budget. I did not want to call my sister and tell her. I knew they would be disappointed but I also know she understands and would be supportive, which she was. This trip will be budgeted in next year as the first thing we plan. :)

We really needed to prioritize and plan better for this summer. We spent all of our vacation money in the beginning and had nothing left at the end. I hate backing out on things, especially when someone else is counting on us, so this was a good reminder to only say yes the things we know we can commit to.
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it pays to shop around

After we cancelled our cable, we got on a 6 month plan with Charter for Internet and phone. Our total was about $80.00 a month. I got a notice a few weeks ago saying our 6 months were up and our new bill would be about $105.00. That is WAY TOO MUCH, so I started calling around. I was able to get a price of $54.99 through a different provider. When I called Charter to cancel, they matched the price and gave us a 12 month plan this time.

I have called a few places in the last couple months about home and auto insurance to see what saving I could get there. We were paying $75.00 a month on the van alone. I never did end up talking to many agents or getting many quotes. My sister gave me the number to her agent last week. I just got off the phone with him and was able to get us a great savings. We were paying right around $135.00 for the van, the trailer and the WRONG coverage on the condo. We will now pay about $90 a month for all 3 three. We will have the RIGHT coverage on the condo rental as well. I fell so good about that!!!

It just goes to show that it pays to invest a little time to shop around.
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September

This month was much better than last month. The kids start school this week, so we had to spend money for school supplies, clothes and tuition. I also purchased a few items for the new baby. All in all - not too bad. Including medical bills, we managed to pay off another $1,569. We are almost under $75,000. We have come a long way since owing $116,000.

All the cards and debt went down this month, but the big problem I still seem to have is using the RCUcc and then paying it off. I am about 2 weeks behind in the items that come up to purchase. I did pay off the amount that I put on the card, but it's still a REALLY bad habit. It means I am still not budgeting right. That is the goal for next month. I am going to take that card out of my wallet and lock it up. :)
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no girl's night for me/no golfing for dan

I was asked to go out for dinner and a movie this weekend with my sister, sister - in - law and a few cousins. Easily a $30 - $40 night. Just not in the budget. Surprisingly, it was not very hard to tell them I could not make it. I really want to deal with this debt and I know what saying yes would do to it.

Dan has been asked a few times if he would be interested in golfing this summer. I know how much he would love to go. Work has been extremely stressful for him lately and he is putting in a ton of extra hours. But again, it would not be helping in the overall goal and in the long run, would not be worth it.

Here is a very good example of why we need to be working together. If one of us said yes, the other might feel resentful. That might turn into even more spending to "get even". I think a lot of couples get caught in this trap. Not only does it cause tremendous marriage issues with trust and anger, but the debt just gets worse. The flip side is a marriage that will strengthen over time. You start to really feel like a team and can not only support each other but be proud of each other as well.

Dan and I are very much looking forward to reaching our goal together, as a team.
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cutting back some more

I went back and read through the last few months of posts. They were really depressing. Almost every one was about being disappointed and frustrated with ourselves. We decided we need to change that....and quickly. I have felt pretty horrible about the debt and we both have a good deal of regret from our over spending. That just means we have to stop spending.

I had a coupon at a maternity store that ended this past Monday. I could really use another pair of jeans and had been planning on buying another pair, but I have no budget for them. I almost went and got them on the cc, but I didn't, and I feel great about it.

You might remember me saying in a past post that we were going to treat each of the kids to dinner out for their birthdays. Taking a family of 5 out to dinner can easily cost $50 or more. It would not have been a big deal if we hadn't spent all the other money we did this summer. As much as I felt bad about this, it's turning into an even better plan for them. We already took Isaiah out for his birthday and we all got to enjoy that. We decided to take Mykah to the free zoo for a picnic for her birthday and I have a coupon for 2 free lanes of bowling for each of the kids that we are going to use for Jonah's birthday. This way we will get to enjoy 3 different activities as a family. At first, the kids were disappointed, but it did not take long for them to come around. And we were very honest with them about why were changing the plans. We told them we spent too much over the summer and didn't have enough left over. It's another lesson that we can pass on to them. Dan and I are both very hopeful that talking to them openly about what we are going through will benefit them in the future. I think they are learning a lot through us.

This is the start of good posts. I feel really good about this one. It feels SO MUCH BETTER to say no and be disciplined then it does to go over the monthly lack of progress. Nothing we spent money on made it worth it. I hope this means we are leanring good lessons as well.


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saying no is not easy

No to Ourselves

Our last baby, our little girl, turns 3 in a few days. I wanted a few new baby things when she was born but did not have the money to buy them. I remember telling Dan that I would use what we had but that I really wanted to replace a few things when we had our next baby. So here we are, a couple months away from having our next baby, and I have to decided what to do.

Our bouncy seat is 7 years old and has a tear in it, but it still works. Our bassinet broke after the last baby, so I was always planning to replace that and I would love to get some new crib bedding. I have been looking around at bassinets and bouncy seats for the past few months. I had it narrowed down and even put them in my "shopping cart". They would have cost a little over $200 for both. After seeing how little progress we made on our debt these last few months, I have been feeling really guilty about buying anything. I finally decided I will use our old pack n' play as the bassinet. It's not ideal, but it will work for what we need. I am also going to fix the tear and reuse the bouncy seat. I've become a little attached to it anyway. :) It reminds me of the kids when they were little. And other than a sheet, you really don't need crib bedding. It's more for looks really.

There are still a few things that I would like to get when the baby is born. I always get a new outfit and blanket for coming home from the hospital and even though I have kept most of my baby clothes, there will be a few things I will need to get. I also need to buy a new car seat. I went through all of my baby clothes over the weekend and decided to sell any and everything that I won't need. I also went back through the kids clothes and did the same thing. I usually hang on to stuff like that for "just in case", but I am just storing a lot of it right now. It would be years before I would use some of it anyway. I will put it on the Children's Consignment Sale in September and use the money to buy whatever it is I need for the baby. EMPHASIS ON NEED!! I actually feel relieved making the decision not to buy much. It's just not worth it in the end.

No to Others

We are in charge of planning the family reunion on Dan's dad's side next year. Between gas, extra food and the cost to camp itself, the reunion this year cost us about $400. We certainly love getting together with extended family, but it turned out to be a trip we almost regret. If we would have skipped the 4 camping trips we went on, we would have saved about $1500. That is a lot of money and honestly, we are not sure it was all worth it. It has really made us think about what things we are willing to spend money on in the next year or so.

Between the two of us, we have 4 sides of parents, 16 brothers and sisters, 8 brother and sister in-laws, multiple nieces and nephews, cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents that we are close with. The opportunities to get together are endless. There is ALWAYS a birthday, graduation, confirmation, holiday, reunion or other event or planned activity going on. We are so blessed and feel so grateful for such a big, loving family, but at the same time, we often feel very torn on what things to attend. Only a few on my side live in the same town as us. Everyone else is 4-6 hours away. Gas is not cheap and the events usually cost money themselves. Even if we only did a couple things with each side of the family, the cost would add up to more then we have right now.

We had a very long talk about what the next year will be like for us. We started out this year saying we would limit ourselves, but still try and do a few things. All that has done is make us feel like we are playing favorites and put us behind on paying off debt. We LOVE our families, but we just can't keep going this way. That is our reality right now.

Every year, we plan a weekend with Dan's family to get together around Christmas. We love it. Everyone looks forward to spending time together around Christ's birthday. We all go to church together, spend the day/weekend together and just have a good time. Between gas, gifts and food, it ends up being a fairly expensive weekend for us. We have been giving a lot thought to this as well.

The problem we are having is being fair spending time with everyone. My sister asked me a while ago why we always seem to prioritize one side of the family over the other. I didn't have a good answer for her. One side is bigger and plans events better than the other, so there are more opportunities with them. She told me it hurts her feelings sometimes and wishes we would spend more time with them. I completely understand her point. We can't say yes to some and not to other's and if we can't do it all, then we have to say no to everyone.

We decided to say no to the reunion next year and will more than likely stay home for Christmas as well. We know this is going to disappoint a lot of people and some will even be mad at us. It's so hard to say no to these things. I know there are people in the family that will say certain things should just be a priority and while I agree with them to some degree, our individual family needs to come first. If the stress of prioritizing extended family is too great on our marriage or on our kids, then we have to say no.

Being a part of some of these extended family events would mean one of two things. We either put off paying down our debt to avoid putting things on a credit card, or we take away the few things that our own family enjoys in exchange. I do not want to tell the boys they can't play t-ball or give up our summer pool pass to be able to make it for Christmas or a reunion. Until we get more debt paid off, it honestly boils down to making those kinds of choices. I know it sounds selfish and that we don't care about other people, but that is not the case at all. We can't wait to be in a position where being a part of everything is something we can enjoy without it causing any kind of stress. That day will come sooner than later if we can make the sacrifices now. Unfortunately, they are not easy sacrafices to make. Although, they shouldn't be. Our debt, mistakes and foolishness have been huge, so the sacrafice has to match.
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August

Dan and I sat down last night and talked a lot about the fact that we have been spending more than we should be. We both regret planning too many activities this summer. We have not kept as tight a budget as we did in the beginning and it is really showing.

Dan has been listening to "The Total Money Makeover" on CD while driving back and forth to work. I think he is more on board then he even was before and I have definitely had a few reality checks over the last couple months. Keeping track of our bills like this is has been a really good way for us to see what is happening to our debt and is really helping us stay on top of it. We would not have even noticed the $102 increase to the RCU card in the past and then all of a sudden it is not $102 but it's $2,000. We know that scenario all too well.

We both agree that what we need to do a much better job of is planning for things. The new baby is a very good example. There will undoubtedly be expenses that we have not planned for yet. We decided to start a few more savings accounts so we can set money aside for things like Christmas and school events. There is not enough "extra" in checking account to cover everything that comes up, so this seems like our only way to avoid needing to use the CC. I'm pretty sure this was a big part of budgeting that Dave Ramsey talked about, but it just did not hit home the way it should have I guess.

These will be our new saving categories.

Kids (clothes, school events, activities, etc.)

Christmas and Birthdays

Entertainment

House and Car repairs

Not sure how much we will be putting in each one just yet. We hope to put at least $25 - $50 a month in each.
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i think i am going to cry

Up until last month, we have not used a credit card since last November. The debt has been going down and we have felt really good about it. Lately, that is not the case.

We have been doing a fairly good job of budgeting for the things we know are coming up, but we have been unrealistic about what we are able to afford right now and making sure we budget for the unexpected things too. We have used the RCU credit card a few times in the last 2 months with the intent to pay extra on the bill, which we have, but not enough to cover the purchases. I made a payment of almost $600 to that bill this month, but after looking at the statement, it was not enough. A Target purchase here and an ice cream stop there. All the little things add up to a big number at the end of the month. We over planned activities and camping trips with an unrealistic budget for them. I have had to buy some maternity clothes that were not budgeted for, items for the kids and here and there something else has come up that we did not plan for properly. It feels so good to be making progress that we are getting ahead of ourselves with the reality that we STILL have a very large hole to dig ourselves out of. We are not to that place where we can plan extra activities yet. We just aren't. And thinking that I can use the CC and pay extra is just foolish. If we don't have the money at that moment, then we can't buy it. Something IS going to come up between the time I use the card and the day I make a payment that will leave me short....EVERY TIME!!!

I guess this is just another lesson that has to be learned in order to really change how we handle money. Mistakes make you wise, as long as you learn from them. I have a pit in my stomach today. We went backwards on the RCU card again this month. It's a horrible feeling and a humbling experience to say the least.

I had to quit daycare altogether due to this pregnancy, so our income has gone down a lot. Realistically, there just isn't extra money for extra things this year. I have been really torn on how to balance life today and getting out of debt, but if life today and the activities in it are causing stress and a financial burden, then the answer should be very simple. It's hard to say no, not only to ourselves, but to all the friends and family who want us to be a part of things. Those things have cost us too much. We NEED to put all that on hold for while or we will never get our of this financial mess.
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back on track

I just finished reading "The Total Money Makeover" again. It was very motivational and put me back on track. Dan is not much of a reader. At this point, most of his motivation has come from me telling him what the books say. He has read some things online, but we decided to get him a few Ramsey books on CD. He drives so much as it is that this will not only help pass some time, but would be the perfect way for him to keep motivated as well. The CDs are on sale for $10 through today.

We had a rummage sale over the weekend and made $285. I listed 9 larger items on craigslist today. I hope to sell most of them this week yet. Our storage unit is pretty much cleared out at this point. Not much left to sell. I guess this is what DR (Dave Ramsey) meant when he said to sell everything until the kids think they are next. LOL And you know what, we don't miss anything!! :) I do have a huge pile ready for the next children's consignment sale this September. I hope to make about $600 from that. We will use that money to buy the items we need for our new baby.

We decided we really need to put our emergency fund back. It is making me very nervous not having that "cushion" in case we need it. We already have it back to $250 and hope to have most of the $1000 back by the end of the month. In order to do that, we won't be able to pay any extra on debt this month.

Cutting back on daycare hours means it will take a little longer to pay things off, but we can already tell the trade off is what our family needed right now. This pregnancy is getting harder every day. I was over doing it. I was getting VERY crabby and stressed out. The kids already seem so much happier. And I am too!! No one likes a crabby mom.

This also means we need to be that much more careful with what we spend money on. We decided to cancel a trip to see the Brewers along with a few other smaller things we had on the calender. We also started using the envelope system for groceries last week. I take out what we can spend and that is it. That should help with any over spending.

This month already looks like we will make a great deal of progress!!
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July

We are one more down!!!

I'm not sure how I really feel about this month. We managed to pay off the Chase card, which feels awesome, and we are down another $1,500, but I feel like we should have made more progress. I have been watching extra kids and for LONG hours (7:30-5:30) and have made about $775. This is also one of the 4 months in the year where we have an extra $1150 paycheck from Dan.

We talked before the month even started and decided we needed to take care of a few things this month and not put as much towards bills. We agreed to this and we did get a ton of other random things paid for, but I still feel somewhat disappointed.

Here is a list of everything extra we paid for in June.

Dan's contacts - $100
Year book Christmas gift (last years's) for Dan's sister - $60
A much needed slab of cement behind our porch - $250
Over due Culligan bill for our rental - $125
Quarterly water bill - $140
Isaiah's Birthday - $100
Maternity clothes - $150
Camping trips and supplies - $480
License plates renewal - $85
Gas (Dan was not able to give enough plasma to cover it this month) - $150
Rummages Sales - $100
Dan's expense check (instead of Dan using the check book to cover meals (he does get reimbursed) when he is out of town, we planned to just take $100 out and he would keep reusing that instead. Then I don't have to worry about things unexpectedly coming out of the check book. - $100

We managed to pay for a lot of those things with cash, but not everything. A few things ended up going on a CC. That's the part that I am disappointed about. We have not used the CCs for 7 months, until now. I have that pit in my stomach again.

I guess this just means we need to budget better and keep within our means. I will take this as a reminder to STAY ON TRACK!!!!

Next month will get a bit tougher because I had to cut back on daycare hours. The extra money was great, but I don't want a nervous breakdown to get it. This is turning into a tough pregnancy and with 3 1/2 months to go yet, I need to be careful. I should still average about $240 a month, but that is much less then I had been making.

Next month will be a good challenge to see if I can report better numbers.
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i LOVE rummage sales!!!

Anyone who knows me knows how much I look forward to rummage sale season every year. I start checking the ads in March already. A good portion of our kids clothes and toys come from these sales. I save hundreds, if not thousands, each year. I am not afraid to shop off season or a year or two in advance either. I can't tell you how excited I get when one of the kids need to go up a size and I already have most of the clothes they need stored in a bin. I don't buy junk either. It's name brand, quality items for a fraction of what they cost new. It's one of the BEST ways to save money!!!

I have gotten some really great deals this year already. Just a couple nights ago, I was thinking about getting a 12 inch bike for our soon-to-be 3 year old little girl's birthday coming up. They were between $40 and $50. I stopped at rummage sale and found one in pretty nice condition for $5. Even though it's not new, she can't tell and wouldn't care if she could. I also got a bag full of clothes (6 shirts, 3 shorts, 1 jean, 1 pant, 1 sweatshirt and 2 bunny suits (most people look at me like I am crazy when I call them this, so if you don't already know, they are fleece footy pjs) ALL for $10. The funny thing is I had just come from Kohls looking for for a few bunny suits for camping. They didn't have any because it's only June, so instead of $10 each, I paid .50.

Here are some other great deals I have found this year.

Maclaren Triumph stroller (retails for $190) - $10
Like new Medela double pump, (retails for $285) - $80
Baseball shoes for the boys - $1
Used twice Easy Bake Oven (I won't say who, but one of the boys REALLY wants one for his birthday) - $1
Brand New Fisher Price Zoo Train (retails for $35) - .25
Battleship - $2
TONS of clothes - .25 - $1 each
3 Huge bags of toys (2 Nerf guns, 3 bigger baby toys, transformer helmet, 2 laser tag guns, action figures and a few other dress up items) - $5
Scooby and Turtles movies - $1 each
worn only a few times Nike Shox shoes - $2
car seat snugli (retails for $45) - $2
books - .25 - $1

We rarely buy anything for the kids at full price. Some things they get to play with now and some things get set aside for birthdays and Christmas. The great thing about kids is they don't really care about the fancy packaging. And they don't even notice if it's not new. They are just so excited to get something that they like.

There is a children's consignment sale twice a year that I have sold at for a few years now. Anything I buy at a rummage sale I can easily resell for the same, double or triple the price that I paid for it. If I regret a purchase or we are done using something, I resell it and I always make back more than what I spent. We just keep recycling!!
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this is how people get into debt

I was on a message board just the other day where someone asked what a SAHM can do to bring in extra income. There were a lot of great answers like doing daycare, home party type business or a part-time weekend job, but there was one answer that has really stuck with me. It was not about how to bring in extra but how to manage what was going out. The lady had a great post on how important her job was making sure every single dollar that was spent was used as wisely as possible. As important as it is to work hard and earn a paycheck, it's just as important to make the very best use of that money. She pointed out that shopping around for the best deals, using coupons and shopping the sales and only buying things the family needs will often times equal a bigger savings each month then earning a little extra. Making money is one thing, but managing it is another and both are equally important.

Making money has never been our problem. We both are very willing to work hard. Before getting married, I was working a full-time management retail job and another 20-25 hrs a week at a laundromat. Dan worked 13 out of 14 12 hour days in a factory every summer during college just to pay for rent and living expenses through the school year. Neither one of us is even close to lazy, but we have definately been foolish and very poor managers of the money we make.

I have been looking over what we made the last 2 months. I was able to make $800 from doing extra daycare in the month of May and if we had stuck to our origional budget, we should have at least another $1,500 paid off by now. It is frustrating, but I find myself saying things like, it was a lot easier to manage our money in the winter because there is so much more to spend money on in the summer. Parties and gathering, weddings, graduations, vaccations, pool pass, summer activities for the kids etc. etc. etc. Needing new maternity clothes has not helped either.

We needed to buy a few new things for our camping trips this summer. I felt like we did an okay job of planning ahead and trying to budget it all in, but we went over what we wanted to. I then found myself saying that it was okay because we had done such a great job and have paid off so much at this point. We even ended up putting a small about on a CC. I fell horrible about it. I know it's not the end of the world, but this is how is all starts. Feeling like you deserve it and coming up with reasons for why you "need" to be spending extra. I am so exhausted from watching kids and being pregnant and Dan is working extra hours to make sure he is doing the very best job he can, that it's easy to think we deserve it and that is dangerous territory. Don't get me wrong, I don't think there was anything wrong with spending a little extra on things our family will enjoy over the summer, but I know it was not planned for correctly and that is a BIG problem.

Just like the lady from the messaage board said, managing money and spending it wisely is a full-time job and very important. We do this together as a team, but it is mainly my role right now and I want to do it well.

I guess this is why getting out of debt does not, and should not happen over night. It's a learning process and it takes time to change and create new habits or you will find yourself right back where you were. I AM NOT GOING BACK!!!!

Here is what I plan to do in the upcoming months to get focused agian.

Create a new budget plan that includes blow money and budgeted spending money.

Spend more time finding and using coupons and shopping sales.

Start using the envelope system for groceries/diapers/shampoo etc.

Read "The Total Money Makeover" again. I could use the motivation!!


HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY ISAIAH!! WE LOVE YOU!
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struggling

The last month or so has been tough. We are having a hard time finding the balance between life right now, knowing it may not be here tomorrow, and applying all our energy to paying off our debt.

We have been seeing our pastor for about a year now, just to help us with typical (and some not so typical) issues we have been going through. At one of our meetings, we laid out our entire financial situation. One question we struggle with is how much to be giving as our offering. Even though we have given more this year than all other years we have been married combined, it's still very small in comparison to what we put out each month on bills and debt. His answer was simple and complicated at the same time. He said we needed to evaluate our heart and pray about it, making sure we were giving for the right reasons and putting God first. He also reminded us that we WOULD eventually get out of debt, but that in the 2 or 3 years it will take us, our offerings could be helping to spread the gosple and save souls.

This process has been about so much more then just math. It's forcing us to evaluate our entire life and to be honest, we are struggling with it. I want to do it all RIGHT NOW. I want to give to church, I want to get out of debt, I want to enjoy life with the kids and I hate having to say no to so many family events. So where do you draw the line? What should your money go to first and how much? These are questions we will continue to pray about and with the Lord guiding us, we will find the right answers.
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June

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May

It's been a really long time since I last updated. We found out in the beginning of February that we are going to have another baby in October. I haven't felt very well the last couple months, so getting on here to post just didn't really happen. The news of a new baby took some adjustments, but we are very excited to have a newborn around the house again. The kids can't wait.

We continue to pay down our debt and every month we get more and more excited to see that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We would've liked to have the Chase card already paid off by now, but with me being sick the last couple months, I haven't been doing as good of a job with making sure we stay in budget. There was a night here and there that I just didn't have the energy to go to the store for groceries or make dinner, so the kids and I had our fair share of Subway and pizza. That added up. I also did not do any daycare in the month of April. The family that I was working for went through a job layoff. I lost at least $400 of income. I did managed to sell a few more things on craigslist (including a few items for my brother) and I also made $560 selling at the Children's Consignment Sale in April. We used part of that money to buy the kids a swing set and basketball hoop. We figured for $250 it would give the kids plenty of things to do while we play outside and it has been well worth it. They LOVE the swing set. They have been so understanding when we tell them no to things they want to do or buy, so this was something they "earned" and have been looking forward to.

All in all, we have still been doing really well. Nothing is going on credit cards anymore and the overall debt keeps going down. We certainly could be saying no to a few more things, which would help the debt go down even faster, but we both agree that life with our little ones will go faster than we realize and we don't want to look back one day and say we wish we would have done more things with them. So, we have 4 camping trips planned this summer and decided that for each of the kids birthday, they will get to pick an activity (mini golf, bowling, a movie etc.) and we will all go out to eat as a family. These are things we are already starting to budget for.

We are slowly adding back to our emergency fund, which needs to be fully funded again soon. And we have a few house and car repairs that need to be done. We also need a new tent for this summer. Our old one was a 4 man tent. It was a tight squeeze to say the least. It was Dan's from college and had seen many years of camping trips. We would have used it again this year, but the poles finally broke when it snowed during out October camping trip last year. Good memories!!!

Our medical bills are really starting to pile up again. We are spend about $225 -$250 each month on those. I have had a few labs and an ultrasound with this new pregnancy. I forgot how quickly medical bills add up. We will soon hit our $3000 deductible and things should be paid 100% after that.

Our goal is to have the Chase card paid off at the end of this month. Then, on to the van loan!!
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One more!

I just realized I forgot to post that we are 3 DOWN!!!

To date, we have paid off Kohl's, Citi Bank and now one of the Discovers. And we are well on our way to paying off the Chase card.

Slowly but surely....we ARE getting there! :)
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April

Our $6,600 tax return was more than triple what we expected. We were so excited to take another big chunk out of our debt. We have made tons of progress, but we still have a very long way to go.

We have been at this for about 4 months now and I can already tell it's not nearly as easy as it seems. We have opted out of and passed on so many things to pay down debt. It's a price we are willing to pay, but not an easy one.

We have had to say NO to so many things. Parks and rec programs for the kids, dinner and movie opportunities with friends, sledding with family, birthday parties, family events, shopping trips.....and the list goes on.

I don't want anyone to read this and think it's an easy thing to do. It is taking commitment, dedication and lots of sacrafice to pay down our debt, but we are so glad we are finally doing it!!! The pay off is going to be amazing!

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the latest update

A lot has happened since the last post.

As I was checking all the credit card balances last month, I noticed that we were charged more interest on the Discover #1 card last month. As it turns out, they raised our interest rate to 23.9%. I called to find out why, but I just got the run around. Nobody would give me a clear answer. They all just kept saying there was nothing they would do about it. I was really upset that day. It's the perfect example of being a slave to your debtors. It's a terrible feeling. There was nothing that we could do but keep working on the debt. They had absolutely NO reason to raise our interest rate, but yet they did and we were just going to have to deal with it. The positive that is coming out of it though, is that we are even more ready to be done with credit cards and credit card companies. They will suck you dry!! I was so mad that day thinking about all the interest they would make off us until we could pay it off that I decided to use the rest of our emergency fund and apply it to the bill.

After spending a few weeks working on the taxes, Dan and I were very excited to find out that we were getting a lot more back than we ever thought we would. Losing so much each month on renting out our house paid off at tax time this year!!

We will be getting $6600 back.

It will be plenty to pay off the Discover #2 card and then we will apply the rest to the Chase #1 card which also has a higher balance of 15.9%. It will still take us another 2 months to completely pay off the Chase, but that will be the last credit card charging us interest. YAY!! It's a really good feeling to being to eliminate all the interest payments we were wasting by our own foolishness.

We were originally going to work on the Discover #2 after the Chase was paid off, but with the extra tax return, we will be a few months ahead of schedule. The Discover #2 is interest free until February 1st of next year, so we will tack advantage of that and work on the van payment next. Before starting on the van though, we will need to rebuild the emergency fund.
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March

We were able to make a ton of progress this month.

It so motivating and exciting to see how much we have accomplished in such a short amount of time, but we would not have been able to accomplish anything if it weren't for all the blessings God has given us. We are thankful for good jobs. We are thankful for good health. We are thankful for supportive family and friends. And most importantly...we are thankful for grace and the gift of our Savior.

We are going to change a few more things in the month of March that I will post about soon.
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a bitter-sweet day

My wonderful husband has been into online programs like memomail and memolink since before I met him. A few years ago, he decided he wanted to save Hom Depot gift cards so he could buy himself a nice table saw. It took him about 3 years, but he finally had enough to purchase a $550 table saw. He was so excited that day. He paid with all $5, $10 and $20 gift cards. The stack was a few inches thick!! :) I saved a few of the gift cards and made him an ornament that year.

He has only used it a handful of times and as of our move, it had been just sitting in our storage unit. We decided to put it on craigslist and see what happened. We had a buyer the next day. It was a sad day for Dan. He waited SO LONG to earn it. In the end though, we both knew it was the price to pay for being irresponsible with our money.

He was able to sell another tool to the same guy who bought the table saw and I sold a big box of scrap booking supplies just a few days before that. Dan made a stop at bank after selling the saw and we made a payment together online right away. It felt really good!!

We were able to pay an extra $575 on the Chase card. That is the next card to eliminate. It's the last card with a high interest rate at 15.9% . It's awesome to see the total debt on that card start to go away!!!

I have another 23 craigslist postings and plan to add a bunch more over the weekend.love
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saving on vaccation

We are back from our mini vaccation to the water park. The kids had a blast and Dan and I really enjoyed getting away to help break up Wisconsin winter boredom. Spring is ALWAYS a welcomed season around here!!

We ended up budgeting about $125 for gas and anything "extra". This was in addition to all the food we brought, and that came out of our weekly living expenses. The kids really wanted to order pizza while we were there, so that was the one thing we really spent any money on. One of the boys ended up getting a fever while we were there, so we also spent money on a thermometer and a few redbox movies. I had bought the kids the game mousetrap for a Valentine's gift right after Christmas and got a great deal on it. I think it was $7. I also got them each a $1 mailbox at target's $ spot and we helped the kids filled them with Valentines from each other. (It's amazing how excited they each got over a packet of hot chocolate and a quarter when it comes on a Valentine.)

While we were there, we got a call from the timeshare people wanting us to sit in on an hour presentation in exchange for a $75 visa gift card. At first was said NO (we know all too well what those presentations are like) but after talking about it we decided we really wanted the free $75, so we stopped in on our last day. As soon as they realized we were only interested in learing how to sell or rent it, the presentation went quick, although, they did try to get us to spend another $6300. We said no thanks and took our gift card. Whoo Hoo!!!

When we got home, I had $25 still in my wallet, an almost full tank of gas and a $75 visa gift card!!!

The kids had a lot of fun, but we could have easily spent hundreds more if we wanted to. Everytime we went to the waterpark, we had to walk past 2 gift shops, a cantine and right though an arcade. I could tell the kids would have loved to play some games, but we just told them we didn't bring money for it. That's not anything new for them to hear, so it didn't really phase them. They are not spoiled or greedy and rarely expect things from us. They were perfectly happy playing mousetrap. It think it just goes to show that spoiled, greedy kids are raised - not born. It makes me glad my kids don't get everything.

Our oldest boy was really eyeing up some candy at one of the gift shops. We told him he could buy it if he used is own money. He has been diligently saving for an electric train. The candy was $3. He thought about what he wanted to do for a while. I was very proud of him when he decided it just wasn't worth his $3. He knows it will take longer to get his train if he spends any of his money. It feels so good to know what we are teaching them will benefit them through the rest of their lives.


Here is how was saved money on our vaccation.

We had a plan and a budget and we stuck to it.

We planned for and brought all our own food. Other than pizza (that was budgeted for), we did not buy any food or drinks.

We passed by the cantine and gift shops.

We said no to the arcades.

We spent quality time together as a family without all the "stuff".
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another card down!!

Yay for us!!!

After applying all $2400 from selling the Alero, I was still able to apply enough today to pay off the balance to the Citi bank card. I was under the impression that the entire balance of that card was at 0% until March 1st, but I was wrong. There was a few thousand on that card that we were paying interest on, so intsead of the payoff amount being $976 like I thought, it was $1050.

(We are definatley NOT an exception to the couples out there that could use improvement in communicating, but we are steadily learning and working on it. Just one of the hidden blessing through this process.)

Our goal to have that card paid off was April 1st, but we were able to do it much faster. Next card....here we come!!!!

I have been doing some extra daycare, selling a little here and there and staying under our weekly budget which is were the extra $$ is coming from. I still can't believe how much we are saving each month just by planning out what we buy before we spend any money.
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one more bill change

I was really frustrated last month after realizing we pay almost $600 a month in interest. For some reason though, that amount was just not adding up to me. I went back and looked at all our cards and realized that one of the cards we thought was at 6% was actually at 16.9%. Well, that was just not going to do, so I got on the phone to the bank right away. There was no way for us to secure the amount on the card, but the bank was still happy to do a blance transfer from the Chase #2 card to their bank credit card at 8%. That's a lot better than 16.9% and because I have banked with this particular Credit Union for over 15 years, I trust them a lot more than I do Citi bank. Our payment that was once $249 to Citi bank, will now be $360 to the bank. We are prefectly fine with that because it is still paying down the debt over all and saving us about $70 a month in interest.

I REALLY DISLIKE INTEREST!!!

I also gave the 2 boys and Dan haircuts and saved a $45 trip to Sports Clips.

All in all, it was a pretty good day for us!!

ETA: Dan wanted me make sure I added all the coupon clipping he did today!!! I just love him!!!
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yay!! we sold the alero today

Wow.

That did not take nearly as long as we thought it would. We are VERY grateful it is now sold.

The balance of the Citi card is currently at $3376. Once we apply $2400 to it, the new balance will be $976.

Looks like we will easily make our first big goal of having that card paid off by April 1st!!! And even soon than planned!!!

We can also cancel insurance on the Alero which will save us another $25 a month.
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the value of sacrafice

For the last few months, I have been considering getting rid of tv all together. I was not sure this idea would fly with Dan, especially during football season, but after finding out it would save us about $60 a month, I had to run it by him.

At first, he was not on board. He works long hours, has a 3 hour commute EVERY day, travels for work each week and has multiple meetings he attends and has very little free time or hobbies that he is able to keep right now. Watching tv is something he enjoys and felt like he would be giving up everything.

We talked about the benefits our family would get out of keeping the tv and the benefits our family would get from giving tv up. The benefits from giving up the tv where much greater and held a much higher value. Not only would we be able to save money, allowing us to reach our goals of getting out of debt sooner, but we will also have more time together and with the kids. Watching tv, even if it's together, does not have much quality to it. Those things seem pretty obvious, but as we started to talk, we both realized there would be so many "hidden" benefits. We will gain more understanding of discipline and sacrifice and it will teach us how to better prioritize. Our kids see our choices and they ask lots of questions. Through us, they are learning the same things we are and will take what they learn with them in life. It's not just about giving up the tv. Each time we choose to sacrifice together for the common good of the entire family, our marriage strengthens and the entire family feels supported and loved and encouraged from each other. There is less stress and everyone seems to be happier.

The key though, is to have the right attitude and heart about it, otherwise the opposite will happen. I did not want to cancel tv until both Dan and I were in complete agreement, or the entire thing would backfire and we would take steps backward instead of forward.

Right now in our life, keeping the tv seems foolish. I will be calling to cancel tv on Monday. Dan and I are both excited to see how our life will change (for the better) once the tv is gone. I am sure I will miss HGTV and Dan will miss weekend sports, but our family is going to gain so much more.
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new bills and some changes

We just got a few medical bills from some testing I had done early last fall. I am still waiting for our insurance to review one of the tests. The current medical bill is just under $900. I am anticipating at least another $500. We decided to start putting money back into a health savings account (something we have always done up until last year) to pay that off and plan for anything else that might come up. We need to put about $80 a month into that account. That decreases our monthly "extra" some.

When I did the $5700 balance transfer from citi bank to the new discover card, we picked up a monthly payment. I am not sure exactly yet what the payment is, but I believe it will be in the ball park of $130.

I just got our other discover bill in the mail. They raised the min. payment from $104 to $143. Not a real big deal since it's still paying down our overall debt, but it still takes away from the extra we have each month.

Our energy bill was also higher this past month by about $60. Our heat bill is very reasonable, but our electric bill is rediculous. Our water heater is a horrible waste of energy and the computer tends to be on a ton. We are going to try a few things different next month to see what kind of a difference it makes, but for Feb., I will be $60 short on our extra.

I also applied our $200 savings for our waterpark trip in a few weeks to the Citi card, so I will need to use some of the February's extra for that as well.

Taking all that into consideration, we are still on target to pay off the citi card by April 1st, provided our tax return is at least $1200.

I am sure each month will bring changes and surprises that are not always predictable and when that happens, we will just have to adjust a bit.

I don't think I need to use the sale of the Alero (which is still for sale) to pay the Citi card at all, so all that money can be applied to the next bill of choice. :)
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BIG payment today

We received our 401k check in the mail yesterday. $10,924. This is the smaller of two 401ks that we have. The penalty was less than the interest we would have ended up paying on credit cards without cashing it out. We will not be touching the larger 401k.

I found out that our 0% interest rate on the Citi card actaully expires March 1st, not April 1st, so we decided to take all but $500 of our savings (yes, we took half our emergency fund) and made a big payment on the Citi card today.

We paid $12,700 on the card today! I can only imagine what the credit card company is thinking!! I am sure they were looking forward to cashing in on interest from us. Too bad for them!

We now have a balance of $3,376 on the Citi card. I will still apply the regular month payment and the $500 extra we have each month in the month of February. That should bring the balance down to about $2600 by March 1st.

Our overall debt is now under $100,000. Whoo Hoo!!!!

We will slowly build back our $500 emergency fund to $1000.
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choices

Since starting this process, it has been very hard not to want to point fingers and blame each other for why we are even in the financial mess we are in. It's easy to be angry and hold grudges. It's easy to say hurtful things when we feel hurt or wronged ourselves. It's easy to make comments that can be destructive to our marriages. Even though it can feel really good in that moment to "make a point" or "be right", it's temporary, because it was the wrong and selfish way to handle the situation. That "good feeling" soon turns to guilt and embarrassment and nothing good will come of it.

I am realizing now more than ever, that the toughest times in our life is not only when we are challenged the most, but when we are given the best opportunity to grow in wisdom, strength and kindness. Going through this journey is challenging. It's not just about the money, it's about our marriage and our life.

I was reminded of what God says in this devotion. Every situation we are given in life comes with a choice. And each choice comes with consequences that will either bring blessings to our marriage and family or it will bring destruction. With God's help, the choice is ours!


"Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit." Proverbs 18:21

I often hear my husband Scott say something to my sons that brings a smile to my face. "Have you told your mom you love her today? Don't ever forget you have the best mom in the world." When I hear him praise me to our sons, I feel encouraged and appreciated. From my husband's example, I've learned to be careful about the words I say not only to my husband but also about my husband.

Today's verse tells us our words can bring "death or life." In our marriages, this means our words can either tear down our spouses or build them up. I've been noticing lately if I'm more likely to say words such as, "I'm married to the greatest man." Or do my words tend to be critical, such as, "I told you so," or "You don't even try to understand me"? What about you and your words to your husband? When you speak to your husband, do you fill him up with praise or make him feel like he's not measuring up?

Now let's consider the words we say about our husbands to others. What kind of things do you say about your husband to your children, best friend, sister, or mother? I tend to be a venter when I am angry or frustrated with my husband. Sometimes I turn to others because I'm seeking validation for my angry feelings. Often I vent when I haven't taken the time first to deal with the situation with God. I'm learning that if I go to the Lord first in prayer, pouring out my heart to Him, He changes my heart and brings me to a place of repentance and calmness. Then I'm able to let go of my anger and move on or talk to my husband in a loving manner.

Scripture gives plenty of evidence that God's words have the power of life. In Genesis we're told God
created every inch of the world with His spoken words. John 1:1 tells us that Jesus is the Word. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus heals countless people with the power of His words. In a similar manner, God wants our words to bring life to our marriages. We can choose what we will sow—words of life or words of death—and we will reap the consequences many times over.

So will you take some time today to consider the words you use to and about your spouse?

Dear Lord, let my words to my spouse and about my spouse draw us closer to one another. Teach me to communicate in ways that build my husband up. Help me hold my tongue when I'm about to say something that will tear him down. If pride, stubbornness, selfishness, or any other sin is preventing me from speaking words of life in our marriage, Lord, I confess that right now. Make me aware of any words of death I've spoken in our marriage , and as the Holy Spirit brings those to my mind, help me confess and turn from them, especially any words of divorce. Guided by Your wisdom and love, may our words to and about one another build a protective wall around our marriage. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Ephesians 4:29, "Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift."

Psalm 19:14, "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to you, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer."

I have a wonderful husband. He truly loves me unconditionally. Sure, he may have faults, but so do I. He is a blessing. He is someone God handpicked for me, because He knows he is what I need. I love him very much. I am looking forward to this journey with him, I look forward to changing our life and our family and growing through this together and no matter what life brings, I look forward to spending the rest of my life with him.

I Love you Dan!


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February

Each month I am going to list the previous month's balances and the new balances of all credit cards and bank loans. These will be super fun and motivational posts to see how much progress we are actually making. The debt will be listed in the order we plan to tackle them.



Debt------------ January -----------February----------- Payment ------------Paid down
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Kohls--------------- $920--------------- $0 (whoo hoo) --------$930----------------- - $920

Citi bank------------ $22085.04---------- $16076.76----------- $335----------------- - $6008.28

Discover #1--------- $5180.09----------- $5076.09------------- $104----------------- - $104

Discover #2--------- $0------------------ $5985---------------- $0------------------- + $5985

Chase #1----------- $6586.99------------ $6480.06------------- $195----------------- - $106.93

Chase #2----------- $12418.46----------- $12290.30------------ $249----------------- - $128.16

Van loan------------ $6723.86------------ $6583.02------------- $167----------------- - $140.84

Mobile loan---------- $17774.02----------- $17490.82----------- $369----------------- - $283.20

State bank loan----- $26047.05------------ $25610.35----------- $607.97-------------- - $436.70

Total debt---------- $113,282-------------- $111,162


When I did the transfer from Citi bank to Discover #2, there was a $275 balance transfer fee. We will pay zero interest on that card until it's paid off (provided we pay it off by Feb. 2011) so we will save a ton more than we had to pay.

Last month we paid $2,966.97.

We paid down our debt $2119.83.

That's a difference of $846.84.

The balance transfer amount was $275.

That means we paid $571.84 IN INTEREST ALONE!!!!

We could do a lot of things with $571.84 each month. Someday soon we will be able to. : )

The Citi card is the next one to tackle. The Citi card has 0% interest until April 1st, so instead of paying extra each month, I have been putting our extra into a savings account to see just how much we can save until then. I have $1400 extra put away to pay on the Citi card.

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Whoo hoo!! One down!

Yay!!!

After finding a few more things to return to Kohls, I used the last subsistence check and an extra $40 and paid off the Kohl's card.

Now we have $25 more each month to apply to the next bill!!

So who can't wait to look under the little pull-off tab when your Kohl's mailer comes to see what % you got, hoping you finally got a 30% off? (doesn't getting the 30% off feel like you just won something?) And when you do finally get one, how many of you think that you HAVE to go shopping and use it because you could not possibly waste it. LOL

It's really easy to shop just because we have a coupon, and it's even easier to buy things we don't really need just because of the "great deal" we got on it. Those 30% off coupons (or even the 15% or 20%) can be very helpful IF you were already planning to buy something and IF you pay off the card with cash the second after you make a purchase. If you don't pay it off right away, you end up paying more in interest than the savings was in the first place.

I will always get excited to check my % off, but I will use those highly envied 30% ones much more wisely in the future!!

the budget

So here it is....The Budget.

Not sure I have ever been this "out there", but it's important we are honest about everything. It's a bit overwhelming, but we now have a great plan to deal with it and that feels really good.

I hope we can be an inspirtion to anyone who is reading this. Without asking, I would imagine our total debt is much more than the average family, so if we can accomplish getting out of debt, anyone should be able to.

When it comes right down to it, we have misused the gifts God has blessed us with. It was never our money to begin with, it was His. Now we have to make our selfish choices right.

I think it's very important to realize this process is so much more than just getting out of debt. It's a humbling experience that is teaching us both many things and those things have a value far greater than either of us ever realized. We may gain financial freedom through all this, but God has a bigger plan than just that. We are already starting to see that plan unfold.

Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!!


INCOME

Combined income.................................................$1,260 per/week
Rent from our condo.............................................$900 per/month
Dan's plasma.......................................................$120 avg. per/month
(one more $850 subsistence check in February)

Based on only 4 weeks each month
our monthly income (minus plasma income) ...............$5,940 per/month

BILLS

Mortgage............................................................$1,394 per/month......$151,000 balance
Condo dues ........................................................$99 per/month
Mobile home lot rent, taxes and garbage.................$277.50 per/month
Storage unit.........................................................$40.00 per/month

Mobil home loan....................................................$369 per/month.........$17,774.02 balance
Van loan..............................................................$167 per/month.........$6,723.86 balance
State bank loan (3 ccs consolidated last year)..........$607 per/month........$26,047.05 balance

Van insurance......................................................$62.71 per/month
Alero (car that is for sale) insurance .......................$24.75 per/month
Condo insurance...................................................$11.74
Mobile home insurance...........................................$48.16
Life insurance.......................................................$135.11
Excell energy........................................................$192.59 per/month
Water bill.............................................................$128 per/3 months
Charter (tv, Internet, phone)...................................$124.71 per/month

Chase card...........................................................$249 per/month..............$12,418 balance
Chase card...........................................................$195 per/month..............$6,587 balance
Discover card........................................................$104 per/month..............$5,182 balance
Citi bank card........................................................$333 per/month..............$22,085 balance
Kohl's card............................................................$25 per/month................$920 balance

Subsistence debt...................................................$10,200

(As of right now, Dan will forfeit any yearly bonus until this debt is paid off. We may have to make additional payments in the future.)

Family debt...........................................................$5,400

(This is an amount a family member lent us to pay off a loan with a very high payment right after Dan was laid off. It's not something that will need to be paid on until all our other debt is paid off.)

That brings our total debt (as of January) to...................................$113,282 (not including our condo mortgage)

Budget

Our monthly income is..............................................$5,940 (not including plasma)

Our monthly bills are................................................$4502.27 (not including money to live on)

That leaves us with.................................................$1,437.73

This budget may need to be tweaked a bit, but here is what we are going to start with.

Living expenses.......................................................$150 per/week
(food, diaper/wipes, toiletries)

Church offering........................................................$50 per/week
(we plan to increase this over time)

Gas.......................................................................plasma card

Misc. fund..............................................................$25 per/week
(house/car repairs, clothes, entertainment/vacation, charitable givings, birthday/Christmas fund)

Total expenses........................................................$900 per/month

Extra.....................................................................$537.73 per/month

There you have it. We will apply at least $500 extra each month to the first bill we tackle.

Goals

Since we have started this, we have paid down our total debt by almost $3,000. It's a great start, but we have a LONG way to go.

We are going to use the last subsistence check to pay off the Kohl's card. That will give us another $25 per/month. Our extra per month will then be $560. We should be able to apply all $560 extra (that's in addition to the regular payment we already make) to the next bill, but I need some room in case the budget is too tight, so I am just going to plan for $500.

Dave Ramsey talks about needing to have a log jam plan. Doing something somewhat drastic to really get things moving. Sometimes it can be really slow at first. Here is our log jam plan.

The Citibank card has a very high balance of $22,085. Normally it would not be the next debt to deal with, but as of April 1st, that card will go from 0% interest to 30%. We decided to take a penalty on one of Dan's 401ks. We will apply $10,400 to that loan from the 401k. It will bring that debt to about $11,685. I have already set up to make a $5,700 transfer to a different card with 0% until January of 2011. Once that is done, the debt will be down to $5,985. Our goal is to have most of that paid off by April 1st and here is where we plan to do it.

With everything that I have been selling and the extra jobs I have taken on, I have saved up another $700. $500 of that will be applied to the bill. If we apply the full $500 extra each month, we will have another $1500 which makes $2,000. We have a table saw, scrapbook supplies and anything else I can find that we plan to sell over the next couple months. We should be able to sell another $300, if not more. That makes $2,300. There is an extra week in the month of March, so Dan will receive one extra paycheck and so will I. That's another $1,260. That brings our total to $3560. We are not sure exactly what out tax return will be yet. Dan claimed more this year than he has in past years. We are hoping to get around $1500. That would bring the total to $5060. We are hpoing the Alero will sell as spring gets closer, and that sale will give us more than enough to pay off the remainder of the bill.

Are you wondering where the extra $200 from the $700 I have saved up is going? We decided to take advantage of the timeshares we own (which we rarely do), and take the kids to a waterpark for 2 nights in February. It will be a VERY cheap mini vacation. It's only a couple hours from where we live. The hotel and water park is included in the timeshare and the $200 is for food or extras that we might need. Our goal will be to spend very little of it and bring home the rest, but we wanted to budget for it in case we needed it. We are all looking forward to a few nights away. We decided it will be easier to stay on track with little mini rewards along the way. Ones that are budgeted for of course.

If you are wondering why we don't just sell our timeshare, we have tried. I had it listed with an agent and even had a buyer last year. The deal feel through and now we are still stuck with it. I guess other people are just smarter about buying these things than we were. ;)

We will list all of our loans and credit card payments each month and the amount we paid on them along with the new balance. It will so rewarding to see them decrease each month.

I hope you all stick with us to see if we can accomplish our first big goal!!
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