All Entries

Yay it’s pay day. Today bright and early I was crunching numbers.

For the first time I decided not to pay extra on the mortgage and throw it at the credit card 💳. It was tough because I don’t want to lose the habit of paying the extra on the house but I want the CC gone. Extra payment on CC9 is $181, down to $3,495.18.

I socked cash away to all the sinking funds. I looked at my home repair fund and smiled. It’s $667, for some of you that may seem small but it’s...
[ Read More ]

The paycheck hit the account early. Usually it isn't in there until eight a.m. So I went ahead and did the budget for the end of March (and what I didn't do out of last time's paycheck because I was sick) and then closed out the budget for the month. After that, since this paycheck did have the new amount with the raise on it, I changed my budget template to account for the increased money and then I set up the April budget.

So it looks like we will have $1177.54 more in...
[ Read More ]

$21,000.00 Balance Forward
-__,800.00 Payment Made
-------------
$20,200.00 New Balance

Next payday that first digit will be a 1. So close I can taste it.
[ Read More ]

Student loan updates:

It seemed like a good time to post a snapshot of my loan progress . For the paid off federal loans only principal is listed because it’s hard to tell the total interest paid on the website. As you can see, I owe Uncle Sam approximately a gazillion dollars.

Private loan: $19,612.46 principal and $454.07 interest – PAID OFF
Grad plus loan: $9,546 principal – PAID OFF
Stafford loan #1: $8,500 principal – PAID OFF
Stafford loan #2: $8,500 principal-...
[ Read More ]

Here it is the official second day of spring (first full day if you want to be accurate) and it is gloomy and cool. I'd say cold, but I guess 41 is a lot warmer than it has been this winter.

One of my favorite things to do is go to the library and we did. I returned 4 books and checked out 5. So, after I finish here, I'm going to go back to reading.

Amber asked for a list of books I've read so far and here it is:

Title & Author
The Christmas Wedding James Patterson...
[ Read More ]

The boys and I stopped at Culver's last night after music lessons, and I spent $13 for three burgers. Music lessons now start a little later and go a little longer, so the boys are really hungry when they get done.

I spent $4 out of pocket above the $15 gift card for groceries at Aldi yesterday. Variables are now at 82%. Six days to go.

I am checking out lending closets for medical equipment. It looks like the nearest one is a little over nine miles away. I will be provided...
[ Read More ]

Yesterday I had an appointment with my neurologist. I mentioned earlier how his staff insisted I needed to see the doctor (new to me) every 3 months, even though I said I was feeling fine and not having any problems. It was "protocol," they said.

He peppered me with a lot of questions while reading my charts simultaneously, and followed that up with a brief exam, after which he declared, I'll see you again in a year. I guess his staff was a little overzealous. This caused...
[ Read More ]

Sold an item on Poshmark and made $5.05, I’ll be adding this to CC9 💳.
I wish I could sell items like others, I have a bag full of clothes I can’t get rid of.

I broke down and had pizza and a salad for lunch yesterday, $8.50. Today my boss and I are going out and tomorrow it’s an old colleague.

Tomorrow is pay day, I can’t wait to knock these bills out, especially paying on the CCs 💳, who would have thought that paying down debt would be so exciting 🤦🏽‍♀️.
[ Read More ]

I said I'd try to blog more regularly so figured I actually need to post every couple of weeks.

I made our latest mortgage payment which brought our principal under the $10,000 mark. The end is near. I expect to pay it off in August most likely so that's exciting.

I haven't picked up any extra shifts at work the past week or two. I need to take a look at the schedule and pick up something in the coming weeks.

My wife and I are doing an overnight getaway this weekend. We're...
[ Read More ]

I forgot to post that I made a loan payment to the monster mom loan from the last paycheck.

$21,500.00 Balance Forward
-__,500.00 Payment Made
-------------
$21,000.00 New Balance

Friday should be the first payday with the raise on it, assuming no one screwed up in payroll. Then I should be able to start making some serious headway on knocking out this loan.
[ Read More ]

I hate to be blah, but the state I am in at the moment doesn't stir up much more than blah. We are eating at home - all meals. The bank account is better for it. I am able to pay all of our bills right now, but still not credit cards. Its an awful feeling. Garage sale is still planned. I have been listing 5-7 things every other day online. No sales yet. We are going to a free event this weekend that is nearby, so I think it will be nice to get out. Some days the debt is...
[ Read More ]

Hard to believe that Q2 is almost here, though as a SADD sufferer Spring is most welcome.

My relationship with the financial has done a total turnaround. I've found a system that finally works for me - the budget mom whose plan involves simply budgeting per paycheck. I was one of those people who couldn't make it work when we're paid on a random Friday for whatever reason. Now random paydates such as 3/8 and 3/22 aren't a big deal. So we are being successful. I have...
[ Read More ]

Well we finally got signed up for health insurance. It's not accepted yet, but it should kick in on April 1st as long as all the paperwork goes through. Final amount was $360 a month minus his $160 raise. So $200 a month out of pocket, or $50 a check. (weekly)

This includes putting $1,000 into an HSA this year. His employer will also put in $1,250 I think. In the future I would like to up this number, but it will work for now until we pay off our debt.

Our driveway was finally...
[ Read More ]

I was doing a good job of keeping my net worth stable. It went down by $14K after I bought the car, but I was okay with that -- I had to have a car. Being in my gap year, I wasn't able to work at making it up, but I was keeping it on an even keel.

But now it has fallen again, because my condo was assessed at a lower value. In short, according to the assessor's office, it is worth about $8 less than I had it figured in my spreadsheet. Now, to be fair, I think I had personally...
[ Read More ]

I didn't mean to leave it this long between entries. Since my last entry we've had my birthday and SG's birthday. I had money in the sinking fund for that. We had a relaxed day, eating food that the birthday girl wanted. I made a chocolate fudge cake.

We had to borrow money from MIL a few weeks ago to get current on hubby's credit card. Sigh.

We received the new baby payment, then found a highchair on Amazon for £58.20. It's similar to the one that we had for the older...
[ Read More ]

Well I looked at our budget last night and I think we can be back to where we want to be in the next couple of months...albeit if nothing else happens.

So I was looking at our CC statement and noticed a $423 payment to a games online place...its not something we have done so had call and get it sorted so the company is working on it and we will hopefully get the money back and we have ordered a new card....we don't use it a lot but have lately but need to get it paid off again...and...
[ Read More ]

So my fiancé has a friend who recently had surgery. The friend has been out of work for a little bit. He decided, the friend, to sell prepared food meals. My fiancé ordered two meals from him for dinner tomorrow. I said to him, this is why it’s so important us to save. You never know what might happen.

I have a family friend in his 70s who is going to be evicted, he has diabetes and goes to dialysis twice a week. He never paid into SS, always worked under the table. Again,...
[ Read More ]

The last time I posted was on the 6th. 13 days later and I am still sick, though on the upswing. This thing has kicked my butt so hard. I've lost 15 pounds on the too sick to eat diet. The first week I was sleeping about 22 hours a day. Then days 8 through 10 I was sleeping about 18 hours a day. Now I am sleeping about 15 hours a day. I've been able to sit upright for a couple hours a day for the last 3 days. I still have a cough, but it is in my throat and that stupid...
[ Read More ]

Life has been insanely busy. My family and friends threw me a surprise shower, the nursery is just about finished, and tomorrow is my last day in the office. I was supposed to stop driving a few weeks ago due to my size and belly positioning, but pushed it to term because we have a new person that I'm training.

Financially, thanks to the surprise shower and my work shower, we only have a little left on our 'buy' list. I also have about 35 meals in the freezer, so groceries should...
[ Read More ]

So it's Spring Break!! D had to go to the UK to see his parents, but there wasn't enough for all three of us to go, and F has soccer and track anyway, so she and I are having a staycation.

Try explaining that to my clients, though! I've had to do at least some work every day. Thankfully, I can do some work while F is at practice. And she is also working on a musical about the suffrage movement (no, not for school; yes, she is a super focused person), so I try to do work...
[ Read More ]