Time For A Change

Fall is just around the corner, and I have been thinking about changing up this blog a bit.

I have been looking at wordpress, but I don't know if I like their layout so much.  I'm sure I could figure it out, but for now, I think I will continue to 'play' with it.

I'm here to just document what's going on.  I'm nowhere near what blogs like Andrea over at So Over This or Niki when she had Debt Free by 30 and now Hello Paper Moon. They are awesome.  I'm just a small thing here.

I also feel like I slack here when things get crazy or busy and that's not fair to the blog or to anyone who actually reads it.

We also need to change how J and I are living.  I think sometimes we both forget that he's not in Afghanistan any longer and not making the money he was when over there (and I just found out that J has been wanting to go back....that's another story that is still being played out, I'll update when at least *I* know more).
So we've spent a bit of money....on credit which we shouldn't have.  And I am so ashamed by it all.  But we got out of it once, we'll get out again.
The Canadian cards are going to be gone here very soon, which was the bulk of where my monthly payments were going because of the higher minimum payments, sometimes as high as $350-$500/month.

Once that is gone we can tackle what we have added.  I'm still deciding what to put up on the sidebars, because we still have money from the tax return (which I am being stingy and holding on to).
Once I feel comfortable at what we are doing and where we are I will reveal what we have.

But for now, no more spending and more getting on track.

Happy Friday to you All! :)

Lazy Days

I really wish the title of this post was Really Productive Days! But, alas it has not been as productive as I had hoped it would be. My parents will be coming to visit in a few weeks, and I would like to have my place looking somewhat decent. Not to mention, that when I gave our June rent check yesterday I was told that they are looking at refinancing since rates are so low. So, that will mean an assessment. Just to give me a heads up. *sigh* I hate cleaning, and we have so much stuff that this place is bursting.

I'm going to have to look into getting offsite storage for the things that we don't really need to keep here.

On a good note, today was another no spend day, so that's 6 for the month. Only 4 more to go meet my goal.
Tomorrow on the other hand, will be a spend day. Need to go and get J some socks. And we're not talking about your run of the mill Walmart Hanes socks. He needs these 1-pair $14 socks. I married a diva. I'll get them because I know they make him comfortable when wearing uncomfortable military style boots all day.

So, another Saturday has come and gone. I have a cat lazily dreaming beside me, watching NASCAR and wishing that we could get all of our credit cards paid off so that J can come home.

Tory is the Grey cat beside me right now

Absent

So when I re-started this blog, I was hoping that I would be able to post at least 3 or 4 times a week on how things were going. Well, that obviously hasn't happened.

Things have gone a little off course, nothing really bad, but just enough to cause me to have to deal with other things at the moment.

Right now hubby is in Nevada training for the deployment. I haven't physically seen him since Feb 20 when I dropped him off at the airport.

It's been tough, but we'll get through it. Just like we'll get through the 6 months when he's deployed overseas.

Just wanted to check in, and let everyone know who may still read this blog, that I'm here, and hoping that when things calm down a little bit, I will be back. I can't wait to start posting about paying off credit cards, and loans here soon :)

Countdown to DRP in 5...4...3...2...

So officially, the DRP (Debt Reduction Plan) begins on December 1. We both get paid on the same weeks, he on Thursday and I on Friday. Since this is a 3 paycheck month, we should actually be able to get ahead with the DRP and pay off the second CC that is listed to be paid off from the Quicken schedule. That's a good sign right?

I'm really excited and nervous all at the same time. What if we fall off the wagon? What if this causes problems between J and I?
I have been trying very hard to explain everything to J, but it's hard because either he really doesn't care (I trust you syndrome) or he doesn't understand.

This has always been a hard one between us. He would like something, and when I say No, I feel guilty. Which has contributed a lot to where we are now.
Just the other day he asked me, "Do I get any fun money out of this?"
and wants me to set up a checking account just for him.
He didn't ask about fun money for me.
Kind of disheartening.

Oh well, our goal is to get out of debt, and get into more when we buy a house (but hopefully with a heft downpayment!)

Even though our 'goal' from Quicken is 09/2013 that may change dramatically if J gets deployed with work. If that's the case we most likely will be out of debt by the end of 2011. Won't know about that for a little bit though. Just thankful he has a good paying job as it is.

Off to calculate my payments for the paychecks coming up this week!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! May your day be filled with friends, family and food!

Today is J's birthday as well, so it's filled with Turkey and Cake. He got his birthday present about a month ago, so today will be a good day to just relax, play some of the video games he already has (no new ones until Christmas) and enjoy the smell of the turkey cooking in the oven.

Might spend some time with the DRP on what payments will be made, how much and when. This journey doesn't get a holiday :)

Trying to start again, but difficult times lay ahead

So since my last post, of inspiration to start saving, I have been essentially laid off from work, and have been collecting partial unemployment in Virginia.
I went from working close to 24-30hours a week to 8 (at most).

Thank goodness my husband has a good, and most importantly Stable, job, but we had to pull a loan out from his 401(k) to help us through this time. Which included some major dental surgery.

I have applied to countless jobs, and the only one I've had an interview for is a part time not so well paying job, but it's one that I would actually enjoy doing.

So who knows what the future may hold for my 'current' job of 8 hours. Things may pick back up again in the new year, and they may not. I just hope that something out there will come along and we can get back to reducing our debt.

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.

Update & Tools I Use

So I have a tiny update to add. My CDN CC is now $28,539CDN. Now, I have to be honest…since my CDN CC has such a high limit, I do sometimes use it to make purchases. This is one of the things that I am working on is not using the cards, or using them responsibly.

Husband and I have only been married for just over 2 years, and we are still renting, which is nice (we only pay $850 a month in Northern VA) but I have been dreaming of owning our own home. We are hoping to be able to do this sooner rather than later. The earliest we could buy would be Dec. 1 as that is when our lease is up.

We have 3 problems though:
#1: We don't have much in savings for a down payment yet.
#2: We need to pay down a lot of our CC Debt (not including the CDN debt)
#3: Our credit scores aren't that high (which will change with the reduction in CC Debt)

If we can knock out #2 while adding to #1, #3 should improve. No problem right? Easier said than done!

But, we're not giving up, and we know that we will get there. It just might not be as quick as we want.

One thing I have found that helps with our finances, is having a personal software to help crunch and keep track of the numbers. I use Quicken, and have found that I am able to know exactly how much money we have at any moment, which wasn't the case when we first got married.
Husband is terrible with money. TERRIBLE. Which is why his credit isn't as good as it can be. While he likes to know what's going on, I'm the one who takes care of all of the bills, making sure that nothing gets lost, or behind, or late.
One thing I have to be very proud of is that I have NEVER been late on a payment. And I plan on keeping that way.

Hopefully a better update soon! :)

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.