Have not forgotten.

So, it's been awhile since I've updated...but I have not forgotten. I had trouble with some morning sickness and feeling too tired to accomplish anything for a few week. I feel much more myself lately and had a few minutes so thought I write up something.

Eli's new job at the airport hasn't started yet due to the FAA not working currently. He will still begin out there, just not when we were expecting. He continues to work down south though. He has been offered and taken several overtime shifts including a shift on Sunday which pays him double his normal hourly rate. So far, his overtime has brought in another weeks paycheck this month...which was already a 5 week paycheck month. I'm so thankful to be married to a man who works so hard for his family.

I got a new job! It's at the same company I currently work for so all my benefits and my future maternity leave will remain intact. It's a slightly different position than what I have been doing but is much closer to our house! I am currently putting 80 miles on my car a day with my driving. The new job will only be putting on 30 miles a day. It doesn't pay anymore, but will be like I'm getting a raise since I won't be paying as much money in gas!

Snowball Update.

Our current target is the Family Loan #2. Since we were able to pay off the car, we now have that $483 to put towards other debt. The standard payment for this loan is $100 per month. Today I sent a payment of $583 to reduce what we owe. Our new amount owed is $2,357.00. We have estimated being able to send an additional $300 to this at the end of the month. Although, Eli is scheduled to start at a new work site which would give him 10 hours of overtime a week. Not planning on the money until it is actually in my hands, but if this does work out it'll give us an additional $1300 to put towards this loan as well. Definitely on the way towards payoff!

Debt Totals Update.

Since it's the "beginning of the month" I thought I would update our totals. Here is where we stand:

                              July 2011               Current

Car:                        $280.79       Done- 7/2011
Family Loan #2:   $3,040.00             $2,940.00
BOA CC:             $9,559.61            $9,429.99
GE Online:           $9,669.07             $9,539.07
Chase CC:         $11,938.49           $11,738.49
Truck:                $27,337.60           $26,811.60
Family Loan #1: $55,460.00           $55,460.00

Grand Total:    $117,285.56          $115,919.15

Budget Review.

We start our budget month on the 28th of each month. I get paid monthly on the 28th and it just makes things easier to start the budget month on the same day.

A review of last months budget marks some good improvement! We were less over budget then we ever have been. The only things we went over budget for this past month was groceries, eating out and gas. This was the first time we went over budget for gas (fuel). The gas prices have made it hard to determine how much to allocate for this category.

So, overall, we still went over budget, but we did much better then last month! We will keep moving forward and WILL figure this out! :)

Paid off the car.

We did it! The car has been officially paid off. Finally! This was more of a relief for Eli then it was for me since he has been paying on it for more years then I have. He went into the bank to make the last payment himself. I typically make the payments since I deposit his paycheck every week...but this time he wanted to do it. Nothing like a feeling of satisfaction.

Pregnant.

We are pregnant! I will be 5 weeks tomorrow. We have been trying for awhile, but were not sure I would be able to get pregnant due to some medical conditions I have that would either have no impact on the ability to get pregnant or would make it so I couldn't. The only way to find out, was to try.

We do have a plan moving forward to afford the baby and to continue paying off debt. We are very fortunate to have several family members in the area that have volunteered to watch the baby during the day. We also live in the country with has cheaper daycare if we need to go that route as well.

The baby is due March 25. So far, we are keeping it a secret and only telling immediate family members.

New Goal.

With our first goal completed, we are moving forward! I still can't believe we were able to accomplish the savings goal that quickly and worry I made a math mistake somewhere. We double and triple checked...so I'm allowing myself to be excited....and to set the next goal.

We are working on family loan #2 next. We borrowed $5,000 to repair a the townhouse from a leak which ruined the floors. Previously, we had worked with our insurance agent to insure we had adequate coverage for renting the house. What we learned through this process is we only have $1,000 worth of coverage for all repairs. Not nearly enough! I immediately made adjustments on our insurance, but ended up needing to borrow money since Eli was laid off for 2 months this year and we utilized the savings account to pay our tax bill. We borrowed this is June and have already paid it down to $2,940. We still need to narrow down a goal date on this. I asked Eli last night, but need to clarify "a couple of months."

Since I'm finding it fun, I have another ticker. It was a water leak, so I opted for a water theme. :)

Family Loan #2

Goal Update.

Already!! Apparently we do much better at working towards financial stability when we have a clear goal set for ourselves with a dead line and reward. I am thrilled to announce we have accomplished our first goal of saving $1200! Yes, already...thank-you overtime!!

Raise.

Today I received notice I would be getting a raise starting with this month's paycheck (July 28). It's a little over $1,000 so not a ton, but enough to push me into the $40k's for salary. I also get paid an additional $83 for my certification and $125 for my license- both monthly. It's better than nothing so I'll take it! :)

Sold!

Tonight we sold an old washer and dryer. Eli had purchased the set when he first moved out of his parent's house. We he moved back in, they started using the set as a family. When we got married, I already had a set so he left them there. Well, his parents decided to upgrade and got a new set and told us we could do what we wanted with the other set. Off to craigslist I went!

$200 for very minimal work on my part and sightly more work on Eli's part.

Dentist.

I hate the dentist. No, not my actual dentist as I actually like him, but the dentist field. I only go when needed, which I'm trying to change for both Eli and I, which probably doesn't make things easier. During our anniversary dinner something happened to my tooth. I wasn't sure if my cap fell out, if my filling fell out or what, but it no longer felt right.

Monday morning I'm on the phone with the insurance company (yes, I have dental insurance and don't use it. dumb I'm know) and find out since I didn't select a dentist at the time of enrollment they selected one for me. Well, I don't know how they determine the selection but this dentist was over an hour away from both my house and work. I try to change it, but it takes a month to "process" the change. The agent on the phone agreed to give me a "one time exception" due to the fact I truly needed to go to the dentist. At this point I wasn't in pain, but who knew how long that would last.

So, I went to my appointment on Wednesday. The do x-rays of my entire mouth and ohh and ahh over how small my mouth is. Yes, my mouth never "grew up" and remains the size of a child's. Another part of the problem. The dentist comes in and actually spends time talking with my before even looking at my teeth. I was able to explain my anxiety and past experiences which have led me to being terrified of the dentist. He was so amazing! So patient and gentle and didn't hurt me at all. Amazing! My tooth had broken in half, so I needed a cavity filled, the tooth repaired and a crown. He wouldn't know about a root canal until the process was underway since he didn't want to hurt me that night. So thankful!!

So, come Monday (tonight) I go in for my appointment. My TWO HOUR dentist appointment. I remember to bring our Ipod since the noise bothers me as well. They gave me laughing gas- a huge blessing! I actually fell asleep during the process and they were able to get everything done- and no root canal. Yeah!

So now, I'm in a ton of pain but tomorrow is supposed to be worse. Not looking forward to that. But I feel more confident about going for my return appointment in August. And, as a bonus, the dentist is going to clean my teeth at my next appointment too so I don't have to go back for a third time. He's the best!!

Overtime.

Well, I missed my husband  being at home on Saturday, but I will admit I'm excited to see his check on Sunday with 10 hours of overtime on it! I am so proud of him for the step he took on Saturday. He sent me a text on Thursday saying he had to work on Saturday. It turned out he was offered an overtime shift at the airport (not his current work location) and he opted to take it knowing we could use the money. Eli is a hard worker doing physical labor all day. He doesn't shy away from work, but enjoys the weekends where he doesn't feel so tired. I'm so proud of him for making this decision for us!

Since, Eli was at work on Saturday I decided to work hard at home while he was gone so we could relax together when he got home. We have been experiencing monsoon type weather every evening for the last two weeks. My weeding has gotten out of control since the evening is when I typically weed. I spent all morning weeding the front yard, we have wonderful landscaping with rock and mulch that I hated that morning, and doing laundry in between. I spent the afternoon in the garden and got almost half way through. Still some work to do, but I feel I made some good progress and am no longer embarrassed at our front yard.

We had a stay-at-home date night in the evening. We had yummy burgers and onion rings and watched some Netflix movies. We watched Knowing- highly recommend. It was not what I expected but I really enjoyed it. We also watched Fast Food Nation. I have been reading the book and although I enjoy the book more, I would recommend the movie as well. It served it's purpose to ruin my passion for grass fed, local meat.

Ticker.

Alright, so I've never actually created one of these tickers before. I hope it works. This is for our first goal of having $1,000 in savings. I really need to set a time frame for this to be completed. I'll have to discuss with Eli and report back.

Edited: We decided to change our goal from $1,000 to $1,200 for this step.

Balances.

As promised, I have finally collected our stack of debt and the balances on each account. I will say I was aware of all the accounts and they are all current, but I was not necessarily aware of the balance and/or interest rate on everything. That was definitely insightful!

You might wonder how we accumulated so much debt. Well, some of it I brought into our marriage, some of it Eli brought into the marriage and some of it we racked up together. I would not categorize ourselves as "out of control" spenders though. We have always had a budget and have always worked to stay within the budget. Our debt came mostly from emergencies and our (my) love of animals. I had a very sickly dog who was literally my lifesaver and I paid thousands to try to save her life. Also, the family loan #1 is from medical bills and a down payment on my townhouse (more on that later). I do sound like I'm justifying things...I'm aware. Maybe I am. Not really sure.

So, without further explanation, we have the grand totals (from smallest to largest):

Car:                        $280.79
Family Loan #2:   $3,040.00
BOA CC:            $9,559.61
GE Online:           $9,669.07
Chase CC:         $11,938.49
Truck:                $27,337.60
Family Loan #1: $55,460.00

Grand Total:    $117,285.56

Yikes!!  That's a lot.


So, we will stick with our plan. $1,000 in savings to start the emergency fund. Pay off Family Loan #2. Then increase savings to $2500 then pay off debt. Family Loan #2 was given to us with the intent we would pay it back as soon as possible. We definitely want to honor that so our adjusting our plan slightly for that. Of course, the car will be paid off next month and that will give us a total of $483 to put towards the current goal.

I feel overwhelmed now. I think I'll go to bed. :)

Anniversary.

Today is our 2nd wedding anniversary! We had talked about going away for a long weekend to somewhere warm and tropical, but changed our plans due to no money and really working towards not acquiring any additional debt. Instead, we went out to "dinner" at 2pm to take advantage of the lunch specials still being served and a quieter time at the restaurant. We went to one of our favorite places called The Elephant Bar. It was delicious! I got an amazing Phili Cheese steak with sweet potatoe fries and Eli got a BBQ special. For dessert we got a Strawberry Shortcake and a Red Velvet Chocolate Cupcake. So yummy!

I still can't believe we have been married for 2 years! Part of me feels it has gone by so quickly while another part of me feels we have been together forever. I know "everyone says that" but it really is true. Can't wait to spend many more years with such a wonderful and amazing man.

1/2 Payment.

We are still in the process of saving money for our emergency fund, but it works out that we only have half a payment left on the car. Awesome! The car payment costs us $483 a month...yes, you read that correctly. Sadly it isn't the largest car payment we have either...our truck is $526 a month and we still have several years on this.

Anyway, I am so excited to have this payment done with! I feel like it will start to give us some much needed traction to move forward with. We had about $100 of "leftover" a month before this, but this will just make it even better and the debt repayment will go faster.

Our current goals consist of bringing our emergency fund up to $1,000 and then move forward with paying my parents back for some money we had to borrow for emergency repairs. After that, we will build the emergency fund to $2,500 and then focus on the debt.

I can feel the process starting!!

History.

Just some fun facts. I am writing this blog more to record our journey than anything else. If others gain from our experience and avoid some of the same or similar mistakes, that would be great, if not, our journey will still continue.

I am 30 and my husband is 27. We have been married for 2 years and live in the Denver area. We have 2 great dogs and are looking forward to adding some human children into the mix soon. We are in debt...haven't figure out the totals, so stay tuned for that. We are working towards being debt free and are in the phase of grasping where we are at and working on a budget. We move forward one day at a time, sometimes on moment at a time, but are moving forward. Together. As a family.

Holiday.

Holidays have typically been filled with spending time with family, throwing barbecue's for everyone, little presents for our niece and nephews, parades, fireworks, food at the carnival and on and on. This year we took a much needed break from past traditions. My brother took his family on a vacation so that was helpful for our plan although we missed seeing the excitement on the kids faces during the day. We did attend the car show in our town, walked through the carnival and the art/business expo, and saw fireworks twice. The total cost of our entire holiday weekend: $2. We did it! We did break down and buy cold beverages when the nearly 100 degree heat got to us. We had an amazing time just hanging out and spending time together and with our dogs.

Debt.

Debt. The evil 4-letter word. I hate it...it brings me stress and creates an unbelievable amount of anxiety within me. But, it's my reality. Debt. I get up and go to work every day because of the debt. I stress about every purchase I make because of the debt. I have anxiety about having enough money to pay the bills each month. I stress about potential layoffs and making ends meet on unemployment. I have anxiety every time my car makes a different noise and the potential bill that comes with a car repair. I stress. I worry. I don't sleep well. Debt seems to be consuming my life. I feel like I'm in a deep, dark hole with no way out. It's a struggle every day. Take a deep breath. It's manageable. I can do this!