Conquering Debt. . .Financial Freedom Ahead!

The truth . . .

2010-08-18T07:07:00.000-07:00

House $145,077.40
Home Equity $ 39,574.49
Minivan $ 14,911.78
Honda $10,715.86
Motorcycle $2,477.18
Mastercard $ 11,314.68
Mastercard $ 3,090.46
Unsecured Loan $ $1,853.08
Discover $ 7,209.64

Total $236,224.57 Subtract mortgage 91,147.17

2010, New Year, New Update

2010-02-05T09:21:00.000-08:00

House $146,746.02
Home Equity $ 40,633.37
Minivan $ 16,675.53
Mastercard $ 11,263.59
Mastercard $ 3,093.86
Unsecured Loan $ $3,093.86
Future Trust Credit Card $ 6,299.20

Grand total of debt is $228,807.07. Subtract the mortgage and the new total is $82,061.05. Total amount of debt paid since the start of this journey is $35,606.07. I had expected to pay more by now, but it is still going well. Just need to buckle down.

One Year Update

2009-10-21T13:25:00.000-07:00

House $147,768.08
Home Equity $ 41,488.29
Minivan $ 17,309.70
Mastercard $ 11,304.78
Mastercard $ 3,051.32
Unsecured Loan $ $4,733.89
Wells Fargo Loan $ 6,424.48
Wells Fargo Credit Card $ 2,879.66
Future Trust Credit Card $ 7,864.36

One crucial change that was made and needed to completely stop the use of credit cards was changing my straight cash card into a debit/credit card. Now I can still use the internet to buy things online and have the money come straight out of my account. Nothing has been charged since this change was made, approximately 1-2 months ago.

Grand total is now $242,824.56. Subtract the primary mortgage and we have $95,056.48 I have now paid off $21,589.23 in debt. Excluding the mortgage, I now have under $100,000 left to pay in debt. Sounds terrible on paper, but every milestone counts!

2009-04-30T18:09:00.000-07:00

Another bill conquered and laid to rest! The Wells Fargo loan for my sewer line is history! I made the final payment today.

House $148,973.12
Home Equity $ 42,639.02
Minivan 18,708.36
Mastercard $ 11,530.60
Mastercard $ 3,075.61
Unsecured Loan $ $5,970.63
Wells Fargo Loan $ 7,005.78
Wells Fargo Credit Card $ 4,290.99
Future Trust Credit Card$ 8,673.55

Grand total is now $250,867.66. Subtract the primary mortgage and we have $101,894.54 I have paid off $11,891.29 in debt since the beginning of this adventure. Man, it feels good! Next bill to tackle is the Wells Fargo credit card.

Lowes Credit Card HISTORY!

2008-11-27T04:33:00.000-08:00

Hooray! I finally paid off the Lowes credit card. Let's do a quick tally:

House $150,397.94
Home Equity $ 43,505.80
Minivan 19,785.53
Mastercard $ 11,388.40
Mastercard $ 3,055.84
Unsecured Loan $ 7,010.73
Wells Fargo Loan $ 7,428.41
Wells Fargo Credit Card $ 4,662.84
Wells Fargo Loan $ 3,376.83
Future Trust Credit Card$ 9,403.82

Excluding my mortgage, the new total is: $109,618.20 Difference from last tally: $4,167.63

With the house: $260,016.14 Difference from last tally: $4,397.65

Today is Thanksgiving, I am thankful to see progress! In two months I have completely paid off a bill and paid a bit of the entire mess down. My next goal is the Future Trust credit card. That stupid card has a 24.99%. It did not start that way. They changed my interest rate without telling me and I have NEVER been late with payment.

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Update and Slight Set Back

2008-11-19T17:43:00.038-08:00

It has been a while since my last post. I was really hoping to have the Lowes Credit card paid off by now. However, I still have $242.77 left to pay on it. I am crossing my fingers that it will be paid off next week with next weeks' pay check.

Now for the set back, I ran my van into a dump truck! It was completely my fault. I was gawking at the construction and BAM! Ran right into the dump truck in front of me. I did nearly $1900 worth of cosmetic damage to the front of the van. Thankfully the engine is fine. My car insurance deductible is $1000. Plus, I received a $75 ticket for the accident. I have $489.84 in my emergency fund. I will be able to cover my deductible without charging it and the insurance will cover the rest. I had the funds due to a large paycheck I received because of my overtime I have been working.

That was suppose to be the theme of this post, How I Got Extra Income. We now have bigger fish to fry so you will get the short version:
I work overtime hours at work for over $50 an hour.

Now it's time for confession. I went to Chicago despite the fact that I had not met any goals. I spent money on train ticket for my oldest son and I. I spent money not only on my eyebrows, but also a haircut. I spent $190 in the salon alone. Then my son and I went to a nice dinner where I dropped another $50. I also spent money on cabs. I spent a total of $300 that weekend. It did not make me feel good at all! In fact, I hated it. Plus, the $125 haircut wasn't anything great.

This was a huge step backwards in regards to the habits I had been forming. If I had to find the silver lining, it would be that I did not charge one thing. I am back on this frugal wagon with renewed ambition. I want to begin tackling another bill before the year is over.

Budgeting

2008-09-25T17:57:00.000-07:00

If you have ever read anything on finances and budgeting, one of the first things that is always recommended is that you track and write down everything you spend money on for an entire month. I have tried this and lasted for maybe a little over a week. The budgeting worksheets that I have seen are very detailed and look time consuming. Finances bore me to death!

However, I knew I needed to figure somthing out to get a handle on the outflow of cash throughout each pay period. It seemed like I was always making ATM withdrawls for gas, going out to eat, groceries, etc. And I had no idea how much I was really spending. So I decided to use a very simple form of the envelope system. I now budget $500 per pay period for extra expenses that are beyond the bills. I have 3 envelopes. I place $200 in the envelope marked Groceries. This includes nonperishable as well, such as, diapers, shampoo, papertowels, etc. Then I place $200 in an envelope marked Gas. And the last envelope has $100 marked for Entertainment. This also includes trips through the drive-thru at McDonald's for me and the boys. I intentionally gave myself a bit more than I thought I would actually need. I wanted it to work. And thus far, it has been an outstanding tool. Anything that is leftover in the envelopes when the next paycheck arrives, goes directly to the bill I am attacking.

The bill that I am currently tackling is the Lowe's credit card bill. If I crunched the numbers correctly, it will be paid off in the middle of October. I get paid every two weeks, and as such, October has 3 paychecks. I can not wait to feel that first taste, little as it may be, of victory!

My next post will be about how found extra income and my current savings plan.

In the beginning. . .

2008-09-24T16:49:00.050-07:00

Every story has a beginning and mine is no exception. I could tell a sob story about now I ended up with this debt, but the simple truth is that when I want something, I go out and get it. There was no huge misfortune. No past history of extreme poverty. I am simply an American who never waits for the things I want. After all, we have this unending supply of credit available to us, right?

So let's just get done to the details. I am a woman who likes to cut to the chase. Here are the facts:

Debt as of 24 September 2008
House Approx $150,627.96
Home Equity Loan $ 43,807.17
Minivan $ 19,994.41
MasterCard $ 11,258.77
MasterCard $ 3045.03
Unsecured Loan $ 7,388.03
Wells Fargo Loan $ 7589.09
Wells Fargo Credit Card $ 4765.06
Wells Fargo Loan $ 3480.63
Future Trust Credit Card $ 9914.47
Lowe's Credit Card $ 2543.17
Grand Total $264,413.79

Now, at this point, paying off my home is not even in the cards. I pay my mortgage and will continue doing so, but I am no where near being able to tackle paying off the mortgage early. So let's subtract that and see what I am truly tackling. Without the mortgage the total is $113,785.83 I could own a second home for that amount. I have over $100,000 in consumer debt! Completely and totally disgusting and unacceptable!

After looking at this mess, you may be thinking, "How much income does she make?" Well let's just get that out in the open as well. I currently draw $110,000 salary annually. If I were even a little bit patient, I would have no problem paying cash for the things I want. However, now that I have dug this hole, I am beginning to feel the crunch. I make over $100,000 a year and I feel financially tight?!?!? I can not take this lifestyle anymore. I have put into place some practices already that are beginning to show very positive progress in turning this mess around. And I will begin to share those in my next posts. This post is just about the facts.

I do have some savings. As of today, the savings picture is this:

Savings
401K $16,347.95
IRA $ 4,812.09
Online Savings $ 474.24
Grand Total $21,634.28

There it all is, the good, the bad, and the ugly! Next post will be about the first bill I am tackling and how I began to "budget". And I really do use the word budget very loosely.