You're Now Free To Move About The Country

Last week, the Senior VP of Marketing and Revenue Management, Dave Ridley for Southwest came a Chamber event to talk about Southwest, their new expansion of cities and their customer service policy. If you have never flown Southwest, I encourage to because they are not only perfect for that frugal traveler but their flight attendants enjoy their job. Like this guy...

And the BEST part of the whole speech. I won a FREE roundtrip ticket to use anytime starting next spring. Totally awesome.

Where's Toto?

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Sorry for the lack of posting these last two days. We've had some major storms in my area which made me afraid to go near anything electronic and revert back to 1800's with candles.

This past weekend, Mr. M and I painted our kitchen and dining room and paid for it with money that we received last Christmas.  The past home owner painted all the rooms but one a light peach and I was determined to change the color in 2010. So every though we didn't apply that money towards our debt snowball, I do feel that we made a great decision. The new room color has lifted our spirits and makes the home feel a little more like our own.

It's Alive!

No more Murphy!!  Our oven has been repaired and we were able to cook for the

first time in several weeks last night. So excited.

Well said.

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Love it.

I love this commercial not because of the product but because of the message. Yes - you can pay for your car in cash with a little sweat equity.

Debt Snowball...It's Rolling...

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Current Numbers:

Student Loan: $10,489.19

Credit Card #1: $7,599.90

Auto Loan: $5,724.81

Credit Card #2: $3626.99

Credit Card #3: $1,870.38

Non-profit Pledge: $830.00

Bank Loan Closed 8/27/10

Credit Card #4 Closed 7/27/10

Total: $30,141.27

A year ago this month is when Mr. M and I had our "what-in-the-world-are-we-doing?" moment when it came to our finances as we realized that we were $44,104.25 in debt. Now we've paid close to $14,000 off in debt ($13,962.98 as of today but we still have a few more bills for October) and are much more in tuned to our finances as a married couple than ever before. Not bad for a couple that's only been married for a little less than a year and a half.

We're not perfect and I know that we will have bumps in the road (Murphy) but our eyes are on the prize.

Where You Live Does Matter...

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Where you live does matter when it comes to your wealth according to a recent poll seen on MSN. Today, U.S. News & World Report decided to list the 5 worst states to build a nest egg and unfortunately gave that title to Ohio, California, Kentucky, Georgia and Indiana. Reasoning that after looking at “each state’s housing market, unemployment rate, average per capita income and taxes” they felt that they knew if these Americans were able to save for retirement.

 I found some of these states to be a tad shocking because I thought Michigan would be listed (no offense to those who live in Michigan) as my city has had an influx of transplants in the last month but also due to their high unemployment rate and housing market. What are your thoughts?

Friends.

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Before borrowing money from a friend,

decide which you need most.

~American Proverb

Source

Murphy Part 3



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More on the Oven Situation...

We shopped at two stores in our area when it became apparent that we needed to go with Jenn-Air since they only sold our type of stove. Not going to lie, I was bummed out by this fact since I love to bargain shop but when you buy a house with a custom kitchen, you have to pay for the repairs of a custom kitchen.
Here’s the kicker. When you replace a stove and you plan to resell your home (like we plan to do) in the distant future, you also have to think about matching the rest of your appliances.

Since our kitchen was remodeled 15 years ago, we know that our dishwasher and refrigerator will possibly die on us in the future. So now we’re not only planning to replace a stove but we’re also replacing a dishwasher so they match.



It’s slightly frustrating especially when the price tag is now $3,500+ and our debt snowball is the size that it is currently.

 After much discussion, we decided to just repair the current stove and take add on an extra month to our financial freedom goal month of July 2011. That way we can save for the $3,500. If our stove last until we finish our debt snowball and all of Dave’s baby steps – awesome – and if not, well we have a few months to get a head start on saving up for the repairs.

Murphy Part 2

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Sorry for the lack of posting...the flu bug has hit me hard. I’ve been battling it for the last week and thought it was out of my system. Not so much.

We have made progress in the oven situation. A repair guy came by the house today and told us that we had two options:

Option A: Repair the oven/computer board for $695 and we should be good for a couple of years. But that's a maybe...

Option B: Buy a new stove

One of the selling points of this house is truly the open dining room and kitchen. The previous owners remodeled the kitchen back in the 90’s and removed a wall that separated both rooms and designed it so the oven sits in the bar area.

Honestly, this is a great feature and a top selling point of the house. I can cook and my guest can watch me (which they do) allowing me to still entertain. With this nice feature comes a hefty price tag (a whopping $2,500) as there is only one brand of stove that we can buy.

Yep – you read that right. Only one which is Jenn-Air and that’s due to the down draft system. Since we have no wall and open space above the oven, the drafting goes under the oven. That’s probably as clear as mud because I really don’t understand it all but get that ventilation is important.

So…that brings me back to the problem, I can’t price compare this time as there is this monopoly on appliances. Again – who knew?  I’ll tell you all more tomorrow since I’m still on medicine but welcome any suggestions on finding a cheaper (yet reliable) solution.

So where does it go?



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I found this interesting diagram on Fabulously Broke in the City who found it on Substance Over Stuff.  I was amazed that the average American spent more on transportation than food which is probably why we have such a high obesity rate now (thanks to all of that "cheap" fast food).  What are your thoughts?

Murphy's Law



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So today our poor oven croaked. As in won't-even-turn-on-no-matter-how-hard-we-try dead. It's like Murphy decided to show up and plan himself at our house this weekend.  We're living off the burners, a trusty toaster oven and a George Forman grill for now.

Thankfully, we do have that rainy day fund as Dave teaches for instances like this but I hope we don't have to dip into it to much.

R&R

I was forced into a little R&R this weekend as I decided to “eat the pavement” when I took a tumble while running. Not only did it hurt my ego but I now have two scrapped knees as well as a messed up right hand which cut down on my typing until this morning.

I seriously felt like Peter Griffin in the first few seconds of the clip below as I laid there trying to figure out how A) I was going to get up and B) how I was going to schlep myself home as a bloody mess.

Needless to say my grand plans for the weekend (which included studying for my midterm) were halted as I became a couch potato and tried to sleep off the pain. It’s a blessing that we know a few athletic trainers that were able to come to my rescue so I didn’t have to go to the emergency clinic saving us from a doctor’s bill.