Peace...

It's finally happened. After 3 1/2 long years, Jonny has been offered a full time, salaried, with benefits job. A REAL job - not like that title pawn crap place that treated him wrong back in January when he wouldn't compromise his integrity to do something they asked that was wrong. He's going to be working as an accountant for a law firm. YEAH! This is perfect. Thank you, Jesus. He starts the new job on Monday, May 7th. Funny thing, when I graduated 5 years ago, I started my new job at the Credit Union on Monday May 7th. Crazy coincidence :)

I am THANKFUL that we have been forced to cut our lifestyle down to bare basics. We've cut it down just about as far as we could go. We cut cable. We cut cell phone costs. We are mindful of our electricity and water usage. We've cut our food budget by stretching our meat and frozen veggies, and we buy organic milk, which even though it's more expensive, it lasts longer and doesn't sour as quickly as traditional milk. Therefore, we're not buying as much, so the money we spend is actually lasting us a longer period of time. Not only that, I don't seem to be lactose intolerant with it, which I thought I was with regular milk. We joined a local food-co-op. Paid approximately $15 a week to get a weeks worth of fresh, locally grown vegetables. It was an upfront expense, so that's $15 a week that we don't have to pay in the mean time. There are several other things on our budget that if things had gotten much worse, we probably could have cut them too. One example is the $17 per month trash service... we could have started taking the garbage to the dump ourselves, but that $17 convenience fee sure is worth it.

At any rate, we cut and cut and cut our budget some more, so that now that he has this new job, it's a HUGE blessing to make progress on things that we've "needed" to do, but have had to let slide recently. I posted on FB recently that I was going to be coming after the student loans with a vengeance as soon as I cleaned some stuff up. I'm not quite sure when that is actually going to happen, though. In the short term, we've got to rebuild our emergency fund, and sinking fund accounts, which takes care of our yearly or semi annual bills, such as car tags, life insurance and stuff like that. We also have some trees that need to be cut down in our back yard. We haven't been able to do that yet. The quote is only $750.... but that's $750 we haven't had. Hopefully we'll be able to get those monsters taken down by the end of May now :D I also have some medical bills to take care of too. We also want to save up some money for some things we want to do this summer.... go to a Nascar race, maybe a concert, etc. Our 5 year anniversary is this October, and we'll be going to the beach with our church family as we do every year. It just happens to fall on that weekend. I think we're planning on going down a couple of days early to make a vacation out of it.

So yeah, now that this has happened, we can dream again. Not go crazy, but we can actually budget a little more entertainment money than we had been so that we don't go absolutely stir crazy. I'm actually excited that we're going to be giving a larger tithe to the church! Tithing is something that's been especially important to me.

I worked on a generic budget with our new income, and I'm at a point now where we have a surplus amount that I'm not quite sure what to do with it yet. Part of me thinks "Throw it at the student loans!" since that's the ultimate goal anyway - get those suckers knocked out. But another part of me thinks I need to set a little more aside in our emergency fund and sinking funds account, to create a little bigger of a cushion. Technically, per Dave Ramsey's baby steps, we are still on Baby Step 2 - Pay off all debt. Baby Step 3 is a fully funded emergency fund. However, in his teachings, he does also give you the wiggle room to bump up your emergency a little bit if you are going to be in Baby Step 2 for a long time... which we are. It's been 3 years, and we still have a mountain of student loans. Even with his income, I anticipate we're going to be here at least for 4-5 more years, if not longer. I'm hoping we can do it in 5 years, with anticipated increases in salaries, yard sales, and maybe even a part time income on the side for me. I'm currently trying to find an online teaching position that I can use my MBA for.

Well... and the truth of the matter is, while writing this, I just remembered that we desperately need to start a "Car Replacement" sinking fund... badly. My car is 9 years old. It has 150K miles on it. It's still running well, though it needs a little more TLC these days. It's due for a major service, which we were not able to afford when I had the oil changed yesterday. I need Jonny to bring in a few paychecks before we can do that service. It's got a few quirks about it, and hopefully we'll be pregnant before too much longer. When that happens, I'm going to be in the market for an SUV. I will NOT be able to fit into my car once I get pregnant. Those of you who don't know, I have a 2003 Toyota Celica. It's a small little sports car, and it sits so low to the ground that my mom jokes about dragging her butt on the ground whenever she rides in the car with me. So yeah.... when I get pregnant, it's not going to be easy to get in and out of. Worst case scenario, Jonny and I will be able to switch cars (he has a Corolla, which is a 4 door, and sits higher off the ground than mine does) until we're able to afford another car. But the fact still remains, it's time to get another car, and we REFUSE to make payments. NEVER EVER AGAIN will I pay payments just to have a metal box with wheels. No thank you. So yeah... I think I just answered my own question. Those surplus funds will become the car replacement fund. When we're able to save up about 3-4K, we'll be able to trade my car for probably only 2-3K, and get a decent running early 2000 model SUV. We'll continue to save and upgrade again within a year, just like Dave's Free Cars for Life video illustrates.

Man.... it's good to be able to dream again!!! We cut our expenses so much, that this blessing gives us wiggle room to take care of things, without increasing our lifestyle. Our goal is not to go out an party, and eat out, and buy expensive new phones, or go on vacations every month with the extra money we're going to have. Our goal is to be responsible.... save up to replace the cars so we don't have to get a loan on a new one, throw a little extra money at the student loans when we get the emergency fund where we need it to keep Murphy away, clean up some medical bills, gets some trees removed, do some inexpensive work to the house that we've had to put off.... etc etc.

Thank you Jesus, for these blessings. THANK YOU for allowing us how to struggle, so that with this blessing we can be responsible with it.

When it rains....

...it pours.

 In one swift kick, $2000 I had saved up for the trip to New York next Spring, and AXiD Convention next Summer has been wiped out.

Columbus State didn't disburse Jonny's financial aid this year as he requested them to, and he had no way of knowing that it had been over disbursed for Fall and Spring. Instead of splitting it in 3 installments for Fall, Spring and Summer, they disbursed it in 2 installments for Fall and Spring....So guess who had to come up with $2000 fast, to pay for summer tuition?

The good news is, we had it, and we didn't have to pull out a credit card to go do it, or apply for a personal loan to cover it. It didn't kill us...but that was by far, the biggest chunk of our actual savings that we had at this point, due to the fact that in Baby Step 2, you aren't really "supposed" to save. I guess it's a darn good thing I had been saving that money though, because without it, our alternatives for paying for his summer session didn't look too good.

I'm not worried, I'll build it back up in no time.

Of course, Buster is being a pain in the ass again. Jonny's gotta take him to the vet tomorrow. He's licking at his right back paw - you know, the only back paw he still has. In one week, ONE WEEK, he's licked up a dime size spot on it. Last time, we ignored it because we thought it was like the one he had on his front paw a few months after we got him that ended up being nothing, but after the snowball problem with the cancer that it ended up being, we're taking him in ASAP this time. Hopefully, they can stick with with cortisone to make it stop itching, or they can remove the spot before it progresses any further. I'm so tired and frustrated. I love my Buster, but good grief this is alot to deal with.

Which just goes to prove that I am nowhere near ready to have a baby, even though ever since Baby Kallie was born (yes, Anna, I blame you, for letting me hold her when she wasn't even 2 full days old yet), my clock has been screeching at me like a wild banshee. Financially, emotionally, and physically, I cannot do a thing about it right now. So I'll just continue to wait. And wait, and wait.

Jonny and I are reconsidering looking at houses. I'm not sure if it fails under the "we're getting impatient" mentality, or if we just feel like it's finally the right time. I think the market is proving that there are alot of potential homes out there for us that I could easily afford on my income alone, and Jonny's full time status not be an issue. Even still, we don't want to jump the gun. If you know a good real estate agent in the area, please let me know. I don't want some random person who is going to rake us over the coals, or someone who is going to force us to buy right away. I want someone who will let us do this at the pace we set, and show us good deals in the price range we provide, with as many of our wish list items as possible.

Good news for the week: I made a 100% on my first marketing assignment. Woo Hoo! Hopefully I can keep my grades up this term. This two class thing is already stressing me out.

1 year later....a reflection,

February 22, 2009 we took the first step to taking control of our finances. We started off with 6 credit cards, 2 Car loans, and a consolidation loan, over $42,000 in debt, and a whole messload of bad habits. Here is a reflection of things we've changed as a result:

• In the past year, we paid off 6 credit cards, and a car. All we have left is the consolidation loan, and the second car. Total debt paid: $22,290.06
• We no longer use credit cards.
• We have a written budget... and we actually stick to it. If it's not budgetted, we dont buy it, unless it's an emergency....
• ...which brings me to my next point. We have an emergency fund. Luckily, we haven't had to use it except for a couple of vet related expenses. Once we use it, we halt the debt snowball until the emergency fund has been replenished, and we continue with the snowball.
• I don't go shopping out of boredom or "I Wants" anymore. If I find something I want, I save up blow money if I can justify having it. Many times, I do without. Sometimes Jonny has to tell me that my want is actually a NEED...such as clothing....when you go 6 months without buying clothes, it becomes a need to add a few new pieces to the wardrobe. However, I used to buy clothes ALL the time, and I knew this was a weakness for me. Therefore, I still try to avoid clothing stores while I'm still in this pursuit to get out of debt.
• Because of our written budget, we do not eat out to the tune of over $800 a month in FOOD. Good grief I was depressed when I first realized how much money we were wasting by eating out. Our eating out and grocery budget is now less than half that (due in part to coupons).
• I've become a better cook, and I brownbag more lunches for work, rather than swinging by the drive through.
• We saved up, and paid for a trip to California right after Christmas (to see family) entirely in cash. Flight, rental car, hotel, food, and activities while we were there, etc. The trip did not follow us home in the form of a credit card bill. Woo!
• We pay for things like auto, life and renters insurance in cash now. Rather than swiping a credit card when the bill comes due, I save up an appropriate amount every month in a savings account deemed as sinking funds for these expenses, and then when the bill comes in, I transfer the money and pay it off, rather than charging it.
• As far as entertainment goes - we've gotten creative. Date nights at home with a good movie and dinner, or movies nights at the dollar theater. Camping at the local state park is CHEAP for a weekend. As soon as tax season is over and I have my husband back, we'll be going camping this spring. Yay!

Goals for the upcoming year:

• To better manage our budget by using cash envelopes for our non-bill related expenses. Now that all the credit cards are paid off, our monthly cash flow with regards to the paychecks are going to be easier to manage because. 
• Find more snowflakes (unexpected income, or "found" money) that can be applied to the debt snowball.
• Pay off Consolidation and Car Loans by Christmas.

Hope you all have a great week!

Current Financial Situation

In February, we started FPU with 6 credit cards, 2 car payments, and 1 consolidation loan (previous credit card debt). We also have student loan debt, that I will honestly admit that I'm being an ostrich with my head in the sand about right now. I'm paying the interest on my undergrad loans right now, but that's it. I'm focusing on all debt other than student loans while I'm still in school working on my MBA. Once we have the 9 debts above paid off, then we will worry about the student loans. Those 9 debts totalled just over $42,000 in February. Today, they total $28,513.17. In 10 1/2 months, we've paid off $13,486.83, and are down to only 2 credit cards, 1 car payment, and the consolidation loan.

Did I mention that this has been on 1 income? Yes, my husband has been unemployed, but it's not because he hasn't been trying. He had a temporary job during the month of July working at Fort Benning, but that's about it. In September, he started taking a tax class, and became certified as a Professional Tax Consultant in all 50 states. Last year, we used Turbo Tax to do our taxes. Had it not been for this class, we would have missed out on some exemptions and deductions we were eligible for. We filed an amended return right before Thanksgiving and got back an additional $1500 this week. If you're looking for someone to do your taxes this year - I have someone I can recommend for you!

He is hoping that he'll be successful this tax season. We're planning on using every bit of his paychecks toward debt. According to our Debt Snowball calculator, if nothing changes, and we continue to pay our debts as they are right now, November 2012 is our debt free date. I want to speed that up. I want a goal on 16 months from today, er, yesterday. May 1, 2011. I want to have all of this debt paid off by the time Jonny and I are both out of school, so that we can start looking for a house, and start working on the student loan debt.

We'll see how it goes....I'll discuss our monthly budget, and ways we can trim the fat and put more money towards our debt in a future post...

Until next time...