TGIF!

Although I work in Sunday, tomorrow is Saturday and I always have Saturday off...so Friday is always Friday for me (for some at work, they work Saturdays so Friday it is not)
Been moving lots of stuff, and I have a friend who has offered to help me move the big items so it will save me a lot of money and he'll make a few bucks which he needs.

Another large payment to the MBNA Mastercard will be made early next week.
Speaking of that card, here is the updated number for it.

Balance on 03/09/12
$12,736.88
Balance on 03/14/12
$8,736.88
Difference:
$4000

Now, lets go back to when I started this debt reduction!

Balance on 06/05/11 (when I first reported balances on the cards)
$20,442
Difference:
$11,706

I cannot wait for this final card to disappear, and be able to take the payments from that and use it for other things.

Hope you all have a great weekend! :)

Another Canadian CC Payment Made...Finally!

So we were paid last week.  And on Monday I did a remote deposit to one bank to transfer the money to my Canadian account.  What I used to do was an ACHO (basically an external transfer) from one bank to the next, and it would be there the next morning and available.  Well, since my bank which is connected to my Canadian one went through a transition a few weeks ago and the routing number changed.  So now the routing number isn't being recognized by my Navy account so no more ACHO for the time being.

Ok no problem. The transition included remote deposit, meaning I could just write a check from my accounts and deposit it in there.  The only problem is that now I have to wait for the check to clear before they will make it available.
I deposited two checks.  One for $3000 and one for $1100.  Both checks cleared yesterday.  But when I looked at my account, they weren't available to use.  So on the phone I get. And I hate calling if I can avoid it (mainly because that's what I do for my job), but in this case I needed to know what was going on.  I waited for a good 15 minutes on hold and finally got a representative.  When I asked when the hold would be released, I was told on the 19th.....Monday.  Uh, ok.  Since I work at Navy, and I know if a check has cleared, we can release the float and make the money available. So that's what I requested, and sure enough, she went ahead and did it! Yay!

So off my money went to Canada (stupid exchange rate....sure, when I move down here, the Canadian Dollar becomes worth something *evil eyes*)
And I made a $4000 payment to my MBNA account.
Balance when it will hit will be $8736

When it clears at MBNA, I will do a big update with all of the accounts we have. Most likely by Friday.

Hope your week is going well and that you have weather like I have (currently 73deg)
Have a great day! :)

Another Quick Update - Payday!

Payday for J and I were yesterday and today, and more payments were made.
Just a quick update!
I hope to post about the cruise in the Western Caribbean from Jan 15 - 22.

Loans
Navy Federal Auto Loan $8376 (0)
Navy Federal Signature Loan $9381 (1950)
Canadian Cards
MBNA MC $15,319 (0)
RBC Visa $3428 (1500)

Green - payments minus interest
Red - interest or added debt
Black - no change

100th Post! And Some Number Updates

Wow! I made it to my 100th Post!  It's been an amazing journey this past year.  Almost $30,000 in Credit Card debt was paid off.  Our savings account has grown a lot so that if there is an emergency we have cash available. We have a pending house purchase (Come on seller's bank!) and we're still paying down debt.

In life, J has been in Afghanistan for 8 months total, I was promoted at work and am making more money to go towards debt and we can actually afford the more expensive, but BETTER health insurance from my employer, and we're finally not living paycheck to paycheck.

What a great year we had :)

This new year, will hold new debt paydowns and payoffs. 
For work, I found out while I was on my cruise from my supervisor that our yearly bonus had been approved by our Board of Directors.  Normally there is a range from 90% - 110% depending on how well we did with the goals that were set out and your bonus is based on your yearly review, also in a percentage.  My percentage would be for an 'Exceeds Expectations' this year. The last 2 years we had been approved at the 110% and based on the numbers that had been updated throughout the year, we were thinking that it would be 110% again.  With that, I would get 9% of the gross income for 2011.  I would get about $2500 after taxes.  A nice in between bonus I'd say! Considering last year it was only about $750.
Well, we didn't get 110%.  We got approved at 116%!!!! Which means MORE in bonus money for me!  The 9% of my income became 10.8% which will be closer to $3000 after taxes :)

I was going to put all of it towards debt, but since we're doing so well, I am going to put it into our ING Savings and use it for our next vacation. And since I have fallen in love with cruising, J and I will book that here shortly (as soon as we can decide on where and when we want to go).

Speaking of doing well on debt, I thought I should update the numbers. I didn't realize that the last update was in September!  So here's a shorter list (no need for the CCs anymore) and I will have to update them again tomorrow since that's when I get paid.

Loans (the amount in parathensis is the amount since the last payment, not since September when they were last posted)
Navy Federal Auto Loan  $8376 (381) - This loan originated at $19,768 in April 2008
Navy Federal Signature Loan $11,331 (218) - This loan originated at $12,000 in September 2011


Canadian Cards (amount in paranthesis is the amount paid since my last update in September)
MBNA MC $15,319 (2973)
RBC Visa $4928 (862)

Car Is Under $10,000!

Just made another $400 payment to the car, and we are now under $10,000 on it!
Right now it is $9748.

We're hoping to pay this off with the second deployment.

Hope you're all having a great weekend!

Balances Update (August)

Balances (current as of August 31, 2011)


Macy's 0.00 Closed
Revolution Card 0.00
Target CC 0.00
Target Visa 0.00
Walmart CC 0.00
Best Buy MC 0.00
JCPenney 0.00
REI Visa 0.00
Walmart Discover 0.00
Discover 0.00
USAA MC 0.00
Care Credit 750.07 (50)
Home Depot 0.00 (534.22)
Firestone 1017.79 (150)
Dell 886.95 (23)
Navy Federal Visa J 1106.93 (1761.07)
Navy Federal MC J 948.05 (1758.16)
Navy Federal Visa K 0.00 (1477.03)
Navy Federal MC K 0.00 (1408.69)
Navy Federal Signature Loan 0.00

Canadian Cards
MBNA MC 19,072.04 (391.91)
RBC Visa 5987.11 (352.20)

Green - payments minus interest
Red - interest or added debt
Black - no change

Balances Update

Balances (current as of July 30, 2011)

Macy's 0.00 Closed
Revolution Card 0.00
Target CC 0.00
Target Visa 0.00
Walmart CC 0.00
Best Buy MC 0.00
JCPenney 0.00
REI Visa 0.00
Walmart Discover 0.00 (503)
Discover 0.00 (511)
USAA MC 0.00 (812)
Care Credit 800.07 (30)
Home Depot 534.22 (50)
Firestone 1167.79 (50)
Dell 909.95 (27)
Navy Federal Visa J 2868.00 (1444.68)
Navy Federal MC J 2706.21 (1438.58)
Navy Federal Visa K 1458.54 (604.20)
Navy Federal MC K 1386.40 (721.87)
Navy Federal Signature Loan 0.00

Canadian Cards
MBNA MC 19,463.95 (474.84)
RBC Visa 6339.31 (100.01)

Green - payments minus interest
Red - interest or added debt
Black - no change

Balance Update

Balances (current as of July 2, 2011)

Macy's 0.00 Closed
Revolution Card 0.00
Target CC 0.00
Target Visa 0.00
Walmart CC 0.00
Best Buy MC 0.00
JCPenney 0.00 (480.06)
REI Visa 0.00 (922.07)
Walmart Discover 471.05 (1900)
Discover 511.82 (976.81)
USAA MC 812.35 (976.25)
Care Credit 832.07 (50)
Home Depot 584.22 (50)
Firestone 1117.79 (50)
Dell 939.95 (24.21)
Navy Federal Visa J 4159.96 (468.28)
Navy Federal MC J 4144.80 (434.81)
Navy Federal Visa K 2062.74 (58.13)
Navy Federal MC K 2108.27 (71.04)
Navy Federal Signature Loan 0.00 (820.03)

Canadian Cards
MBNA MC 19,938.79 (504)
RBC Visa 6239.30 (406.50)

Green - payments minus interest
Red - interest or added debt
Black - no change

Balance Update

I don't think I have ever written about what cards we have (which is a lot!) or their balances. Shame on me.

Well, here it all is! I'm even going to include my Canadian Credit Cards, but I consider these separate as they have no affect or effect on my credit down here, which is one of the reasons for us getting rid of the CC debt (to decrease utilization, increase credit score, buy a house)

I will warn you, the Canadian cards are high balances compared to the ones down here.

Some of these are mine, and some J's and some are joint :P

So here we go: (Current as of June 5, 2011)

Macy's 0.00 Closed
Revolution Card 0.00
Target CC 0.00
Target Visa 0.00
Walmart CC 0.00
Best Buy MC 0.00
JCPenney 480.06
REI Visa 922.07
Walmart Discover 2371.05
Discover 1488.63
USAA MC 1788.60
Care Credit 882.07
Home Depot 634.22
Firestone 1167.79
Dell 964.16
Navy Federal Visa J 4628.24
Navy Federal MC J 4579.61
Navy Federal Visa K 2120.87
Navy Federal MC K 2179.31

Canadian Cards
MBNA MC 20,442
RBC Visa 6645.80

Quicken 2011 Fun

Yesterday the hubby and I went to Best Buy and purchased the lastest version of Quicken 2011. I had originally started using Quicken in 2009, but fell off the wagon of using it religiously. I couldn't get my accounts to Quick Connect, and it became a pain to do it manually.
This version, thankfully I'm able to connect both of my credit union's checking accounts without having to do it manually.

The other reason we upgraded was the Debt Reduction Planner (DRP). After doing some tweaking and a little frustration, I finally got it to work.
If I had continued to pay the debt we have (which I have updated on the sidebar) the way I had been doing, we would be out of debt by 04/2016. If I follow the DRP we'll be out of debt (including the auto payment) by 09/2013 and save $4000 in interest! This does not include the CDN debt that I have. The one CC that I have in Canada had raised their minimum payment exponentially (not something I did, I've never been late or missed a payment, this is for all account holders) but it's bring down the principal with each payment, so I'm letting it be for now.

Needless to say, I'm working my budget to figure out how to set this DRP in motion. Saving $4000 and getting out of debt 2.5years early sounds pretty good to me!

Update(s)

It's only a small update, but my Canadian Debt is now $28,401. Not huge by any standards, especially when you compare it to the balance! But, it's a reduction and that's the important thing.

My other Update is that I will be going on a little trip to visit my parents. Total cost for the flight? $0. It was my Christmas present from my parents. I'll only need spending money, which I have a little of. I don't plan on doing much shopping anyway.

Things are going well right now. With Hubby bringing in the extra money, it's nice to not have to worry about some things; which brings me to another update. Remember when I had mentioned about possibly paying my engagement ring off early by calling the loan and asking for Pay Off Statement? Well, that didn't happen, and rather than have something happen in miscommunication, I just sent the check for the amount this month, and will pay it off next month. Our luck, they would send it, and charge me with a late fee because it wouldn't get here before it was due. No biggie. I hate the fact that we'll pay interest on it, but what's one more month compared to the 16 we've already paid.

I have to say that while we're trying to pay down this debt, and live below our means, I'm not the most frugal person in the world, and don't really expect to be. I save where I can, and get deals when I can, but I'm not going to spend my days trying to find out how I can feed my family (me, hubby and our two cats) for pennies a day. It's just not going to happen.

But anyway, there some news for you.

The Beginning of the End…of Debt!

After reading and following a few blogs on the reduction and elimination of debt, I decided to start blogging again.

While I have started and stopped a few blogs, this one has a real purpose rather than just updates on my life here and there. If I want to do that I can twitter or facebook…which I do!

So a little bit about this blog and what it's about. I'm sure you've figured out what it's mostly about…reducing and eliminating our credit card debt. When I say 'our' that would be my husband and I.

Here's where we stand right now:

CC Debt: $17, 461

Now, here's the other side of our debt…I have Canadian debt that I am paying off. Husband will help me more when we get our US debt under control.

Can CC Debt: $28,548CDN

The Canadian debt is going to hurt for a while. And the only good thing about it being Canadian is that right now, the exchange rate is not bad, so I actually make some pretty high monthly payments!

Husband and I make pretty good money. I'm hourly, working in IT and Hubby is salaried working as a gov't contractor. Plus, Husband just got a nice promotion with a raise at work, so that will definitely help with the reduction and elimination, as well as helping to build our savings. We are looking to buy a house and having more for a down payment will always help.

Well, that's my introduction, I hope to be able to post our ups and downs, so that we can be jubilant and learn from all of it, as well as perhaps helps others who may be where we are now. I know that some of the bloggers I have been reading, have definitely been an inspiration to me.