Life Is Good

I can’t believe it is the weekend before Christmas and I have nothing to do.  I have finished shopping, cleaning, delivering gifts and all the other things that go with the holidays.  All I have to do is sit back and enjoy.

One thing that saved a bunch of time this year is not wrapping as many presents.  My son felt that wrapping his and his brothers presents were a waste of paper (Mr. Eco Friendly) so I got a box for each child that was big enough to whole all of their gifts and therefore, each only has one wrapped present under the tree.

I also didn’t buy for as many people this year.  So less time shopping and less time wrapping.  Not to mention less money spent.

We will do some baking for fun over the next few days and just enjoy the holidays. 

Have a great and relaxing weekend.

Pennies Count

I never knew how much small change dumped on tables and dressers add up.  There is a running joke in our house that if we just leave the change on the table then DH will pick it up.

Sometimes when we are really bored the boys will walk around the house putting coins in different places.  It never fails as soon as DH spots a coin he picks it up and puts it in his “bank”.  His bank is an old Maxwell House  coffee canister.

Last night DH was talking about his change bank.  I should say BANKS since he has filled several over the years.  He occasionally uses a few quarters to buy a biscuit at Bojangles but other than that he has collected the money for years.

How much is in these “banks”?  I have no idea but my husband estimates $1000-$1200.  What does he plan to do with the money?  He is saving for an emergency or something special whichever comes first.

My older son, Ashby,  then noted that he has a drawer of quarters in his desk.  I asked how much and he wasn’t sure but said I could go and look.  There has to be at least $100 in there.  He doesn’t save the small change he leaves that somewhere his dad will find.

Of course not to be beat Kennedy had to compare his stash of change.  While not quite to the extent of his dad and brother he has an impressive collection.

I pulled out my change purse to see just how much change I had.  I had exactly 2 pennies.  I have never saved change and once I get to much it weighs down my purse so I dump it.

I am glad to know that I have a family of savers.  I probably won’t start saving change but I’ll appreciate knowing that when I dump my change on a table DH is saving it for something special.

The Giving Tree

My son, Kennedy, is in the gifted program for our school district.  One of the requirements of the program is that each student must participate in a minimum of 15 hours of community service.  He and a friend decided to do a “Giving Tree”.  They sent out a notice to all the kids at school and asked for donations.   We are going to deliver the items tomorrow.

Take a look at their tree.  They were so excited to have so many people donate.

First Debt Paid In Full

Just wrote out the check to the hospital.  After the dealing with the crazy lady a few weeks ago and finally getting someone who knew what was going on, the last check has been written.  I am $485.23 closer to being debt free.  Best thing is that since it is paid before December 31, I can use it on my taxes.

It is going to be a great day!!!

 

UPDATE:  The spam nut has gone crazy on this post so for this post only I am closing comments.  If you want to comment  on this post please just leave a comment in the latest post.  Thanks

I am going to update my totals right now.

My Pay Vs. Save Plan

A few days ago I was wondering if I should save more or pay back debt.  After many discussions with my husband and hours using financial calculators, I think I have come up with the plan for us.

I read about this in the comments of someone’s blog but unfortunately I don’t remember where.  The concept is simple and it was actually like a “I should have had a V8” moment when I read it.  It fits in perfectly with our 2009 goals.

So here is the plan.  We will pay the minimums on both the car and the credit card and put the snowball amount in a savings account and when we have saved enough to pay off either the car or credit card we will pay it in one lump sum.   Then we will save enough to pay off the last debt.  The total interest we pay each month is about $75 so we will end up paying a little extra in interest but I will feel better about having the money on hand for a few months.

Here is how we are working the savings accounts.  We have 3 accounts.  One has our long term savings (about 3 months worth).   This is our security blanket and is NEVER used.  The second has $500 in it for whatever comes up (this is what we refer to as our EF).  The third account has money that we pay yearly bills (camps, insurance, etc.).  We will open a fourth account to use as our debt savings account.

I can’t wait to open up my debt savings account.  By December 31, 2009 – I WILL BE DEBT FREE.

2009 Goals to Debt Freedom

Over the last few weeks I have been thinking about what I want to accomplish during 2009.

I have decided on 5 financial goals.  Some are relatively easy while others will take some major sacrifices and work. 

1) Pay off car by July 31, 2009.  This is my major goal for the year. 

2) Pay off credit card by December 31, 2009.   When this is paid off our only debt will be the mortgage.

3) Do the home version of Financial Peace University with my boys.  Most of this doesn’t apply to them now but it will in the future so I want them to be financially literate.

4) Put $200 extra in savings each month to cover summer camp, fence for the dog, and tuition for course for DH.

5) Start a vacation fund.

In order to pay off all the debt I will have to average adding an extra $400 per month to my current snowball amount.  This will be a stretch but I think I can do it.

Personal Goals

These goals have nothing to do with personal finance  but are two things that I would like to do.

1)  Create a website that provides tips for high school students taking the SAT and applying to college.  Several people have asked for tips and advice and I would like to share what I learned during the process with my son.  And share the testing strategies that I use when tutoring.

2)  I would like to take the training to become a Hospice Volunteer.

What are your goals for 2009?

I had to get rid of the debt

I had to move the debt totals from the sidebar.   I just couldn’t stand to look at themevery time I logged on.  I like reading blogs and enjoy looking at the debt totals and progress each person has made but I was just overwhelmed looking at my on debt.  Out of sight out of mind, right?

I am adding a new page that will list the debt totals and pay off amounts.  I’ll update with each debt payment and will write a post when progress is made. 

I am one of those people who needs to focus on one step at a time.  I become overwhelmed and discouraged.  If I can keep my focus on one debt at a time, I am sure I will be more effective.

Sometimes we just need a day off!!!

Tomorrow (Friday) we are just all going to take a day off.  Ashby is home from college – he finished his first semester with a 3.6 GPA.  Kennedy is just tired.  He has spent several hours working on a PowerPoint presentation for science and saved it on his flash drive.  Now, he can’t find the flash drive and he didn’t save it on his computer.  There is no way he can redo it tonight so I am going to let him take a “mental health” day tomorrow.   Sometimes as a parent we just have to recognize that our child needs a break.  To bad we couldn’t get through next Wednesday when school is out  for the holidays.  And for me between taking care of the new puppy (boy is she a lot of work) and thinking about all this financial stuff, I need a day off too.

Hope you all have a great, restful weekend.

I want out of debt but….

I really want to get out of debt.  I think that we can be out of debt by December 31, 2009.  I want to have to pay only living expenses and mortgage. 

The problem is …. Do I want it enough?  Some days I can say without a doubt that getting out of debt is the most important thing.  On these days I’m willing to do anything to get this debt paid off.  I’m willing to eat cheaper, skip the movies, turn the heat down, rake my own yard, and a million other things.

Then there are the days that I like my life – all of it except for the debt.  I like stopping by the bakery and picking up a pie for my boys just because I know they will appreciate it.  I like going to see a play at the local theatre.  I love the way my yard looks after the yard crew has been here.  I like watching Top Chef on cable.  You get the picture there are at least a million things that I could live without but I like them.

I need to find the balance.  I’m not sure I want a rice and beans diet (Dave Ramsey – gazelle intensity) and I know I don’t want to pay the minimums on my debt so it would take years to pay off.

So the battle is internal. Am I willing to live 1 YEAR – beans and rice – work work work with very little extras to be debt free?  Or do I want to let it ride the course and pay extra but not bare bones for 3 YEARS?

Does anyone else have these internal struggles?  How do you balance the desire to be debt free and the desire to live a “normal” life?

Save More or Pay More

My plans were to focus on getting  the car paid off but I’m wondering if I should be more worried about the credit card since the interest rate may change with all the stuff going on with the banks.  The rate for the credit card is supposed to be fixed until the total is paid off  but I’m always afraid that the interest will shoot up.

I need to sit down and really think about what I need to do for the new year’s goals.  It seems to be changing on a daily basis.  I know we plan to up the amount that we put in savings each month by $200 but that is mostly to cover summer camps, tuition for a class for my husband, and a fence for the back yard.

We do have an EF and we aren’t worried about a layoff.  My husband has to take  5 days unpaid leave due to budget cuts but that isn’t a big deal.  My biggest problem is the uncertainty of the economy and how it may effect us.   Maybe I should just quit listening to the news.  It is driving me crazy.

What are some of the unknown effects this economy could have?  What are you doing?  Putting more in savings or paying off more debt.