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! :)

Budget Friendly September

Well, since I will either A) Be off work for another week B) Be off until September 17 or C) Off all of September, I will not be making what I would normally if I were at work.  What with the night differential, and weekend differential that will cut my 'normal' pay about $120 less every 2 weeks, plus being on Short Term Disability, I will only be making 75% of my regular pay (less the differential).  I figure instead of the $1150 a paycheck it will be about $700 a paycheck. 

The numbers are going to be tight this month.  Thank goodness J pays the majority of our big bills and I handle mainly the utilities which have all been paid so far.

We do have some other bills being paid right now too.  I am a little ashamed to say that our credit card bills have been up there a little bit higher than I would like.  We just need to get past this little hiccup in my health to get back on track again.

I hope everyone is enjoying their labour day!

Balances Update (September)

Wow!  I can't believe I'm late on this.  I guess with J coming home and everything else that has been going on (which I will explain in a later post) I just plain forgot.  My bad!

As you know from my post about the WWII Jeep, we added $12,000 of debt, which will be paid off in about 3-4 months.  This was a planned expense, just not this early!  Things come up and sometimes you have to take advantage of them.  Pictures to come soon :)

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 0.00 (750.07)
Home Depot 0.00
Firestone 0.00 (1017.79)
Dell 0.00 (886.95)
Navy Federal Visa J 0.00 (1106.93)
Navy Federal MC J 0.00 (948.05)
Navy Federal Visa K 0.00
Navy Federal MC K 0.00
Navy Federal Signature Loan 0.00
Navy Federal Signature Loan 12,000 (12,000)

Canadian Cards
MBNA MC 18,292 (780)
RBC Visa 5790 (197)

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

I'm Back!

Probably not that many people noticed I was gone haha.

Hubby deployed a week and a half ago. So far it's been ok. He's able to email me and they have a satellite phone that he calls me on it every few days.

He's doing ok over there so far, and I'm doing ok here haha. I'm sure it will hit me in a bit that he won't be back until October, and how far off that is.

His first big (well bigger than) paycheck is this week and we'll be able to start paying off things much faster and saving much more. I haven't got a plan just yet on what to pay or pay off first. I think I will wait until that first paycheck comes in and I will start to 'plan' it all out.

On another note, I will be starting a new position at work, which is more of a 'supervisory' position which means new hours, new responsibility, and more money.

I hope to be back much much more starting.....today! :)

May I'm going to try and have 10 no spend days.
I'm going to try and pay off 4 or more CCs and J's Personal loan (long story, and let's just say that I do NOT like the FAA out of Oklahoma)
And....stick to my Weight Watchers :P Hope to lose 5lbs. We'll see how it all turns out :)

Car Shopping.... *sigh*

I guess I've put it off long enough.
Back in May, J had an accident and our second vehicle, the Ford Ranger (which was awesome!) was declared totaled. Thankfully, Geico paid off what was still owed and we no longer had another car payment. Yay! But now we are down to one vehicle. Boo!

We've been surviving pretty good so far, although there have been some frustrating moments. Back in July I started an earlier shift, 7-4 which was ok. J hated getting up early, but at least he wasn't getting to work at noon when I worked mid-shift. I on the other hand, would have to wait until 5 or 6pm until J would pick me up. Not good.

Now, since I started my new position, I'm back to a mid shift, and I'm being dropped off at work at 9:30am when my shift starts at 11:30am.
Again, not good.

So, we bit the bullet and applied for another auto loan. So we'll be out shopping today to find another vehicle. We definitely want 4x4, and I'm a little partial to Ford, so we're looking for an Used Explorer. I've found a couple, so we'll check them out.

I guess the only good thing about this year, is that it will all be paid off by the end of the year with J's deployment :) Again...yay and boo lol