Monday, January 31, 2011

Rolling...

We’re rolling…

The snowball is rolling…rolling down one bit at a time which reminds me of that Tina Turner song.


We did make it under $30,000 by 2011 and currently right now, we have $27,852.54 in debt. So far we have reduced our debt down by $16,251.71 and our credit card with the highest interest rate {evil Capital One with a really fun 18%} is $2454.89.

Here’s the breakdown

Student Loan: $10,207.88
Credit Card #1: $7,631.17
Car Loan: $4,846.48
Credit Card #2: $2,454.89
Credit Card #3: $1,882.12
Non-Profit Pledge: $730.00
Non-Profit Pledge: $100
Bank Loan Closed – 8/27/10
Credit Card #1 – Closed 7/27/10
Total:$27,852.54

Monday, January 24, 2011

Super


                            So this post has nothing to do with money but its fun. Happy Monday!

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Divorce.

Photo Credit
If you had to ask me who out of our friends was the most secure in their relationship, I would have to say it was our friends Frank and Sue.  Together for over 11 years, they are both successful in their jobs, they lived in a half a million dollar house in the top neighborhoods, dressed in the very best fashions and couldn't understand last year when Mr. M and I would have to decline eating out with them due to the fact that they always ate at the most expensive restaurants. 

Then the unthinkable happened.  Two months ago Frank found out that his wife was having an affair. Not once...not twice but four times between September and November of last year.  Then last week, Sue decided that she needed to move out to think things over and we decided to invite Frank over for an early birthday dinner so he won't be alone.  After a long night of conversation of why she decided to cheat, what his next steps would be, etc. he received a text from Sue asking him to dinner for his birthday and he left our ecstatic that he was going to see her.

They did meet up for his birthday dinner in which she told him that she wanted a divorce.  A divorce.  Needless to say, Mr. M and I have had several financial and relationship conversations this weekend.One of the questions that I asked Frank was if they ever sat down as a couple and did a budget.  He just laughed.  We may never know why Sue felt that she needed to cheat on Frank.  I'm not sure if this couple is a victim of the economy or if they just became complacent.

It shows me that Mr. M and I have to keep our relationship a top priority during this debt free journey. It's easy for us to forget about going on dates since we're trying to save money. Our goal is to make an assertive effort to have date night.  I don't want us to fall into the same trap.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Sold another book!

And this time it's a textbook! Whoo for getting clutter out of the house and making a few dollars.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Snowbound.

Photo Credit


So the last few days or so have been interesting due to the snow.  Our town was completly shut down over the weekend up until today and kids still haven't gone back to school. 

Mr. M saw the benefit of having a stock pile when we started to run out of food...as in food for the cats. Luckily, I had several free samples stashed away for moments like this week so we were able to keep our furry children happy until the grocery store opened today.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Where we crawl…

Photo Credit
Happy 2011! I’d like to say stand but we’re not completely financially free yet. We did make a great deal of progress in the last six months to the tune of $5,368.75.

Back in July {when I started this blog} we were $33,837.53 in debt. Now, we have $28,468.78, which is a great distance from the $44,104.25 we had when we got married in 2009.

We had two NDO months – one in August and one in December – that allowed us to place more towards debt. I started selling books on Amazon and using coupons more than ever before. {Yes, I’m that geek with a binder…but I’m going to be a rich geek one day}

While it is a great deal of money, there is a sense of ease amongst Mr. M and me as we begin this next year. Here is our main goal for this year:

Pay off all the credit card debt
This is currently $12,214.04. There is a light at the end of the tunnel and it is called September! We do plan to buckle down and attack this debt with a vengeance as we both plan to take odd jobs or sell stuff to reach this goal.

I’d love to pile on other goals but this is really our focus for the next year and we can totally do this.