Okay FINE. I'll address the stupid student loan/house/babies situation, since so many people are riding my tail about it.
My undergrad student loans were not that bad. $22K. My grad student loans are going to be about $47K. Jonny's are going to be about $36K when all is said and done, for a total of $105K.
Surprisingly, that number does not bother me, because we have a plan. The plan, as I've mentioned before, is to have the car and consolidation loan gone by Christmas. Maybe earlier if Jonny can find some more permanent steady income before then. My undergrad student loans will come out of deferment in December, my grad student loans will still have a 6 month grace period. Jonny graduates in May 2011 and he will have a 6 month grace period as well.
My undergrad student loans are in an interest only repayment bracket, for the first 5 years. I'm not sure if that will change since I defered them for 2 1/2 to go back to school, However, because I will have no other debt at that point, I plan to use the amount that was going towards the debt snowball and build up the fully funded emergency fund.
But Amanda, that's not Dave's plan. You're supposed to be COMPLETELY debt free except for the house before you move on to Baby step 3.
You know what? Stuff a sock in it. Daves plan is about making changes. It's MY total money makeover. It's making smart financial choices. I am smart to know that I cannot continue to live life with a measly $1000 emergency fund. I must have more. Plus, my total money makeover is about LIVING on a budget......not isolating yourself from life and the rest of the world to stay on a budget.
Do you really think it's fair, or right, that we should have to wait to get a house just because we have student loan debt? We have made the decision to wait until we have a house to start having a family. Being debt free isnt a prerequisite to having babies, but it's a prerequisite to getting a house? Say WHAT? Yes, There are nimrods on the TMMO forums who believe this. It's okay to have a baby in an apartment. Babies dont cost anything. LIKE HELL THEY DON'T. Mind you, these are the same folks who already had houses before they started the process, so for them to wag their fingers at me like tsk tsk shame on you for not knocking out that student loan debt before getting a house, is ridiculous. Psh, to think that it's okay to have a kid and more expenses that way, but it's not okay to buy a house? So in other words, you're trying to discriminate against me because I didnt do stupid BEFORE starting the process to crawl out of debt by buying a house and then getting gazelle instense. Tsk tsk shame on me for pausing temporarily so that I can get a house and start a family. I guess my eggs just need to wait another 6-7 years and shrivle up because I must be student loan debt free first, is that it?
Yes, I realize that this is because of limitations I have put on myself. I realize that someone people are perfectly happy popping out babies while they still live in an apartment. I would not be. I know how I am and that's just not me. Jonny and I are not going to go buy some big fancy smancy house - we just want a home. But we want a home before we work on a family. Don't piss on my parade and the accomplishments we will have made by paying off $42K in STUPID DEBT because we have decided to hold tight temporarily, to the debt that is going to better our careers before moving forward.
Some people are just SO narrow minded. How dare you bark at me about temporarily pausing my debt snowball to get a house, when you have NO room to talk because you already have a house and are still in debt?
At any rate, to close everything up - the plan is that after we finish the consolidation and car loans, we will do our FFEF, and then buy a house next summer. If we have a downpayment, which I would like, then great - if not, it wont be the end of the world because we've got the VA Loan guarantee. Once we're successfull in a house, guess what? We will go back to being snowball intense and will work on knocking out that student loans at a rate of about $1500-$2K a month (and find time to have a baby in there somewhere too). If we do this, we'll be debt free but the house by ~2016. However, whats going to be REALLY awesome is if Jonny does get a great paying job and we can knock it out even faster. I really dont think that's a bad timeline to shoot for, but anything quicker depends on circumstance.
So yeah - if you want to tsk tsk me because I'm slightly deviating from Dave's plan, you go right ahead. Who are you to talk anyway?
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
The Month-Ahead Plan
I am sick of my cash flow problem. The money is budgetted appropriately each month, but the fact of the matter is that with only 1 steady income, the money is not there as quickly as we need it to get through the month. As a result of this, during the first half of the month, I am ashamed to say that we have "borrowed" from the emergency fund, to have cash for expenses such as food and gas, and then paid back that which we borrowed when the paycheck for the second half of the month comes in.
This is dangerous, and I'm sick of having to do it. What is going to happen if we do have a Major Murphy visit after rent has been paid, but before Paycheck #2 comes in for the month? DISASTER!
I've been reading on the MTMMO forums that many people operate under the "Month-Ahead Plan." Basically the idea is that you build up one month's worth of income and you have that money sitting in your account, and then, on the first of the month, you already have every bit of money you need to pay your entire expenses for the upcoming month. You could essentially pay your entire month bills on the first, and pull out the cash you need for the month on the first. By doing this method, it wont matter when your paychecks for the current month come in, because you'll be paying THIS month's bills with LAST month's income.
So for example, if my usual monthly income is $4000, then I need to build up a reserve of $4000 in my account before the first paycheck of the month even comes in. Then on the 1st of the month, I can pay all my bills for the upcoming month, and withdraw cash for my cash envelopes - gas, food, and blow money. For safety's sake, I would probably actually only pull out enough cash for each envelope to get me through 1 week at a time, so that I wouldnt accidentally spend my entire month's grocery budget in the first week, etc.
It's going to be very very hard to look at my checking account and see a large available balance of $4000 or so from month to month, and not throw it to my debt snowball, but I think that this is the best way to take control over the cash flow issue. I need to start paying THIS month's bills with last month's income, rather than struggling to make this month's income work for this month's bills.
The plan to put this into place is to back off the debt snowball for a month or two and resort to paying only the minimum balance due on my consolidation loan, and car loan. I have some money, approximately $2000, coming in from the Post 9/11 GIBill within the next several weeks, and Jonny is still bringing in some money from his job at the tax office. If I have calculated everything correctly, I should be able to be on the month ahead plan starting June 1st, which is only 11 weeks away.
There are many more plus sides to getting a month ahead. I can stop relying on each bi-weekly paycheck and I can set up more allotments through work, to where certain funds go into particular savings accounts already, rather than into my checking account and manually transferring the money when it's time to put it in. My $300 a month Sinking Funds could become a $150 per paycheck allotment that would automatically go into my sinking funds account. Instead of having to wait until the second half of the month to pay the church my monthly tithe, I could pay the entire tithe at the beginning of the month. I could even FINALLY set all my regular bills up on AUTOPAY, rather than insisting that I pay them on a specific day of each month, because I know it's a day that the money is available. <--I'm a little iffy on that one, I'm afraid I would become sloppy, and not double check the bills to make sure they are right and that I'm not being overcharged.
At any rate....I've been digging my heels in about this one, but as I tried to come up wth my cash flow plan for April and May, I was thoroughly depressed to learn that, once again, I would be forced to borrow from the emergency fund in order to have the basics covered: food and gas. Bummer. I guess it's time to put my big girl panties on and just DO IT.
This is dangerous, and I'm sick of having to do it. What is going to happen if we do have a Major Murphy visit after rent has been paid, but before Paycheck #2 comes in for the month? DISASTER!
I've been reading on the MTMMO forums that many people operate under the "Month-Ahead Plan." Basically the idea is that you build up one month's worth of income and you have that money sitting in your account, and then, on the first of the month, you already have every bit of money you need to pay your entire expenses for the upcoming month. You could essentially pay your entire month bills on the first, and pull out the cash you need for the month on the first. By doing this method, it wont matter when your paychecks for the current month come in, because you'll be paying THIS month's bills with LAST month's income.
So for example, if my usual monthly income is $4000, then I need to build up a reserve of $4000 in my account before the first paycheck of the month even comes in. Then on the 1st of the month, I can pay all my bills for the upcoming month, and withdraw cash for my cash envelopes - gas, food, and blow money. For safety's sake, I would probably actually only pull out enough cash for each envelope to get me through 1 week at a time, so that I wouldnt accidentally spend my entire month's grocery budget in the first week, etc.
It's going to be very very hard to look at my checking account and see a large available balance of $4000 or so from month to month, and not throw it to my debt snowball, but I think that this is the best way to take control over the cash flow issue. I need to start paying THIS month's bills with last month's income, rather than struggling to make this month's income work for this month's bills.
The plan to put this into place is to back off the debt snowball for a month or two and resort to paying only the minimum balance due on my consolidation loan, and car loan. I have some money, approximately $2000, coming in from the Post 9/11 GIBill within the next several weeks, and Jonny is still bringing in some money from his job at the tax office. If I have calculated everything correctly, I should be able to be on the month ahead plan starting June 1st, which is only 11 weeks away.
There are many more plus sides to getting a month ahead. I can stop relying on each bi-weekly paycheck and I can set up more allotments through work, to where certain funds go into particular savings accounts already, rather than into my checking account and manually transferring the money when it's time to put it in. My $300 a month Sinking Funds could become a $150 per paycheck allotment that would automatically go into my sinking funds account. Instead of having to wait until the second half of the month to pay the church my monthly tithe, I could pay the entire tithe at the beginning of the month. I could even FINALLY set all my regular bills up on AUTOPAY, rather than insisting that I pay them on a specific day of each month, because I know it's a day that the money is available. <--I'm a little iffy on that one, I'm afraid I would become sloppy, and not double check the bills to make sure they are right and that I'm not being overcharged.
At any rate....I've been digging my heels in about this one, but as I tried to come up wth my cash flow plan for April and May, I was thoroughly depressed to learn that, once again, I would be forced to borrow from the emergency fund in order to have the basics covered: food and gas. Bummer. I guess it's time to put my big girl panties on and just DO IT.
What are Sinking Funds?
Sinking Funds are defined by Frugal Dad as follows: "In the personal finance world we can use sinking funds to help prepare for large, infrequent expenses that come along throughout the year. A prime example of such an expense is car insurance. Many insurers allow customers to pay monthly premiums for a convenience fee (my company charges $4.00 per monthly payment). I can easily save $24 by rejecting the monthly payment arrangement and agreeing to pay once every six month, when the auto insurance policy renews. But this means I have to come up with a hefty sum of money twice a year to cover the premium. This is where sinking funds can help."
Dave has a great form for such Lump Sum Payment Planning that works beautifully. The idea behind it is that you list your pricier infrequent expenses (you know, those things that you only have to buy every so often - usually only once or twice a year) and rather than having to come up with a large chunk of change when it's due, or paying a convenience fee to give the company the honor of setting you up on an installment plan, you save the money in your own savings account in the months leading up to when that bill is due, and pay it in full, with cash.
Our current sinking funds are $300 a month, for a total of $3600 over the course of the year. This includes auto insurance, renters insurance, car tag/taxes and fees, car maintenance (tires, oil changes, other services), and life insurance. Here are our yearly expenses on these items:
Car Insurance: $1300
Amanda Life Insurance: $350
Jonny Life Insurance: $450
Car Tax/Tags: $300
Renters Insurance: $350
Car Service/Repairs: $850
Total: $3600.
We actually had our car service and repairs a little less (only $700) when we initially started working on this, but when we divided the total amount out by 12 and our monthly savings were to be $287.50, we decided to round it up to $300. This way, if something happens and it's a little more expensive, we've got a little more wiggle room in there.
If you're first starting out, and trying to get your sinking funds caught up so that you can go forward with the correct monthly amount, you'll need to figure out how many months you have until that expense is due, and how many months portion you are behind on that item. Lets look at our example again, from a monthly standpoint, and taking into consideration when our due dates are:
Real Estate Taxes
Homeowners Insurance
Home Repairs
Replace Furniture
Medical Bills
Health Insurance
Life Insurance
Disability Insurance
Car Insurance
Car Repair/Tags
Replace Car (You should watch this video! As for the skeptic comments by users - just remember that the stock market AVERAGE is 12%. No, it's not 12% right now, but over a period of time, thats the average. Don't over-think the concept because of technicalities, or you'll end up just being another boring NORMAL person. Be WEIRD!)
Clothing
Tuition
Bank Note
IRS (Self-Employed)
Vacation
Gifts (inc. Christmas)
Other
Dave has a great form for such Lump Sum Payment Planning that works beautifully. The idea behind it is that you list your pricier infrequent expenses (you know, those things that you only have to buy every so often - usually only once or twice a year) and rather than having to come up with a large chunk of change when it's due, or paying a convenience fee to give the company the honor of setting you up on an installment plan, you save the money in your own savings account in the months leading up to when that bill is due, and pay it in full, with cash.
Our current sinking funds are $300 a month, for a total of $3600 over the course of the year. This includes auto insurance, renters insurance, car tag/taxes and fees, car maintenance (tires, oil changes, other services), and life insurance. Here are our yearly expenses on these items:
Car Insurance: $1300
Amanda Life Insurance: $350
Jonny Life Insurance: $450
Car Tax/Tags: $300
Renters Insurance: $350
Car Service/Repairs: $850
Total: $3600.
We actually had our car service and repairs a little less (only $700) when we initially started working on this, but when we divided the total amount out by 12 and our monthly savings were to be $287.50, we decided to round it up to $300. This way, if something happens and it's a little more expensive, we've got a little more wiggle room in there.
If you're first starting out, and trying to get your sinking funds caught up so that you can go forward with the correct monthly amount, you'll need to figure out how many months you have until that expense is due, and how many months portion you are behind on that item. Lets look at our example again, from a monthly standpoint, and taking into consideration when our due dates are:
Car Insurance: $1300/12 = 108.33 per month, Due in May and November ($650 every 6 months)
Amanda Life Insurance: $350/12 = 29.17 per month, Due in January
Jonny Life Insurance: $450/12 = 37.50 per month, Due in November
Car Tax/Tags: $300/12 = 25.00 per month, Due in December
Renters Insurance: $350/12 = 29.17 per month, Due in October
Car Service/Repairs: $850/12 = 70.83 per month, Varies.
Total: $3600.
To clarify, I have a separate savings account that I dump the entire $300 per month into, and I keep track on an excel spreadsheet how much belongs in what category.
For illustration purposes, let's pretend that I just got my tax return back, and rather than putting that amount towards our debt snowball, I wanted to get current on my sinking funds before putting any remaining amount towards debt. This way, starting next month, I'll just need to add the budgeted $300 to the sinking funds savings account. How much money would I need to put into the SF account to bring me up to speed?
Car Insurance is due in May. There is only 1 more month between right now and May, so to get caught up, I need 5 installments of the car insurance. $108.33 * 5 = $541.65
Amanda Life Insurance is due in January. I have 9 months between now and January, therefore, I need to pay 3 installments: $29.17 * 3 = $87.51
Jonny Life Insurance is due in November. I have 7 months between now and November, therefore, I need 5 installments: $37.50 * 5 = $187.50
Car Tax/Tags are due in December. I need 4 installments: $25.00 * 4 = $100.00
Renters Insurance is due in October. I need 6 installments: $29.17 * 6 = $175.02
Car Service/Repairs due dates vary. You can start with the current month and only add $70.83, or keep in on a calendar year basis. I'm going to assume this is a calendar year thing, and save up from January through December. Therefore, I will save 3 installments now, which will catch up January, February and March, for a total of $70.83 * 3 = $212.49
Now, I'll add all these installments up: $541.65 + $87.51 + $187.50 + $100.00 + $175.02 + $212.49 = $1304.17 needed in my savings account for the month of March. In April, I will add $300 to it. In May, I will add another $300 to it, but I will also pull $650 from it, to pay my semi annual Car Insurance. In May, I'll add another $300, etc etc etc. Car service money will be pulled from it as needed, but make sure you don't spend more than you've currently built up for the year for car repairs. If you need more than you've built up, you'll need to budget to pay it back in future monthly installments.
Here's a list of other Sinking Fund expenses you may need to consider budgeting for:
Real Estate Taxes
Homeowners Insurance
Home Repairs
Replace Furniture
Medical Bills
Health Insurance
Life Insurance
Disability Insurance
Car Insurance
Car Repair/Tags
Replace Car (You should watch this video! As for the skeptic comments by users - just remember that the stock market AVERAGE is 12%. No, it's not 12% right now, but over a period of time, thats the average. Don't over-think the concept because of technicalities, or you'll end up just being another boring NORMAL person. Be WEIRD!)
Clothing
Tuition
Bank Note
IRS (Self-Employed)
Vacation
Gifts (inc. Christmas)
Other
*If you're reading this on Facebook, please go to http://proverbs227.blogspot.com/ to read the original post for links to videos and other websites.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Mr Murphy is trying to attack me....
During the first week of March in 2007, my desktop computer died. It was spring break my senior year. I had 8 weeks of classes left and I could NOT survive 8 weeks of classes with no computer.
So...on March 7th, my bestie Cynthia went with me to purchase a new one. I bought an HP Pavillian dv9000 laptop.
Today, it fried. I think it's the graphics card, but I have no way of knowing for certain until they look at it.
I called Fry's to verify the date of my purchase and the warranty info. Leap Day back in 2008....yeah, would have screwed me over. My warranty is valid until 9pm on Friday the 5th (so I guess a 3 year warranty is really a 1095 day warranty when you add in leap days....)
To make matters worse, since I now live in Columbus, and not the Atlanta area, there is NO Fry's location nearby. None, nada, zilch. I have to make the 135 mile drive 1 way to take it in to the store, because they will not allow me to ship it.
CRAP.
Luckily, the store is open until 9pm during the week. I guess I'll be getting off work at 5:15 tomorrow and will be making the trip to Atlanta.
Murphy tried to get me to go out and buy a new one. After all, it's mighty tempting considering you can buy a netbook for less than $500 these days. But that was the old me. The new me will spend 2/3 tank of gas round trip to get the darn thing fixed rather than buying a new one.
So...on March 7th, my bestie Cynthia went with me to purchase a new one. I bought an HP Pavillian dv9000 laptop.
Today, it fried. I think it's the graphics card, but I have no way of knowing for certain until they look at it.
I called Fry's to verify the date of my purchase and the warranty info. Leap Day back in 2008....yeah, would have screwed me over. My warranty is valid until 9pm on Friday the 5th (so I guess a 3 year warranty is really a 1095 day warranty when you add in leap days....)
To make matters worse, since I now live in Columbus, and not the Atlanta area, there is NO Fry's location nearby. None, nada, zilch. I have to make the 135 mile drive 1 way to take it in to the store, because they will not allow me to ship it.
CRAP.
Luckily, the store is open until 9pm during the week. I guess I'll be getting off work at 5:15 tomorrow and will be making the trip to Atlanta.
Murphy tried to get me to go out and buy a new one. After all, it's mighty tempting considering you can buy a netbook for less than $500 these days. But that was the old me. The new me will spend 2/3 tank of gas round trip to get the darn thing fixed rather than buying a new one.
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Proof that it never hurts to ask...
I received a rent renewal notice from my apartment complex earlier this week. I was dreading getting this notice, because I just KNEW they were going to increase my price. Well, to my surprise, they did not.
A little background: When we moved to Columbus, we were not yet on this financial kick to get out of debt. The "plan" was to get an apartment for 6 months, and hopefully by the end of that 6 months, be ready to move into a house.
Yeah right! Well so anyway, when we signed the 6 month lease in October 2008, our rent was $730. If we had committed to a 12 month lease, it would have only been $685...but we didn't want to be "stuck" here for 12 months because we just knew we were going to be house hunting right away.
6 months came. 6 months went. By then, we were attending FPU and knew that this temporary living arrangement was turning out to be a little more than temporary. We re-signed a new 12 month lease, but as with most apartment complexes, they up your price every renewal. We were now paying $750. Bummer.
So our current lease expires May 8th, and the renewal notice offered us 12-14 months at $750. Yay it wasn't going up, but BOO because I still felt like we were paying too much. There are banners outside the complex that says 2 bedroom blowout starting at $570. I also plugged my address and stats into Rentometer.com and was told that I was paying too much for the area of town I live in, with the features I have.
According to the apartment complex's Rent.com info, the floor plan I'm living in now goes for $650-$850. So I WAS right in the middle of the range. But geographically, the other complexes in my area are still much cheaper.
I didn't want to go through the hassle of having to move again, but I REALLY wanted to save some money. So I just picked up the phone and called. and I said what I've told you here...and they asked "Would you stay for $700?" (which was already the price I had hoped I could talk them down to.) I said "Absolutely."
Man, that was easier than I thought! We're going to re-sign a 14 month lease this time, which will get us through July 8, 2011, and saving $50 a month - that's like getting 1 month free! Plus, we already know it's going to be next summer before we are house hunting, so by then we can do month to month, or work out some other arrangement to stay longer if we need to.
$50 a month more to my debt snowball. Yahoooooo!
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I'm hitting the road to go to the ATL to see Mom and Dad. I'm suffering withdrawal - it's been over a month since I saw them :( Boo.
A little background: When we moved to Columbus, we were not yet on this financial kick to get out of debt. The "plan" was to get an apartment for 6 months, and hopefully by the end of that 6 months, be ready to move into a house.
Yeah right! Well so anyway, when we signed the 6 month lease in October 2008, our rent was $730. If we had committed to a 12 month lease, it would have only been $685...but we didn't want to be "stuck" here for 12 months because we just knew we were going to be house hunting right away.
6 months came. 6 months went. By then, we were attending FPU and knew that this temporary living arrangement was turning out to be a little more than temporary. We re-signed a new 12 month lease, but as with most apartment complexes, they up your price every renewal. We were now paying $750. Bummer.
So our current lease expires May 8th, and the renewal notice offered us 12-14 months at $750. Yay it wasn't going up, but BOO because I still felt like we were paying too much. There are banners outside the complex that says 2 bedroom blowout starting at $570. I also plugged my address and stats into Rentometer.com and was told that I was paying too much for the area of town I live in, with the features I have.
According to the apartment complex's Rent.com info, the floor plan I'm living in now goes for $650-$850. So I WAS right in the middle of the range. But geographically, the other complexes in my area are still much cheaper.
I didn't want to go through the hassle of having to move again, but I REALLY wanted to save some money. So I just picked up the phone and called. and I said what I've told you here...and they asked "Would you stay for $700?" (which was already the price I had hoped I could talk them down to.) I said "Absolutely."
Man, that was easier than I thought! We're going to re-sign a 14 month lease this time, which will get us through July 8, 2011, and saving $50 a month - that's like getting 1 month free! Plus, we already know it's going to be next summer before we are house hunting, so by then we can do month to month, or work out some other arrangement to stay longer if we need to.
$50 a month more to my debt snowball. Yahoooooo!
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I'm hitting the road to go to the ATL to see Mom and Dad. I'm suffering withdrawal - it's been over a month since I saw them :( Boo.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
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:
Goals for the upcoming year:
- 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!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Big News, More Couponing, and updated budget
Fabulous news! As most of you already know, we paid off the last 2 credit cards, and for the first time in over 10 years, we have NO credit card debt whatsoever! All that we have left is a consoliddation loan, and to pay off Jonny's car. We feel very confident that we will be able to do this by Christmas, and will be able to spend Spring building up our fully funded emergency fund, as well as a down payment on a house. Our goal is to be house hunting by Summer 2011! WEEE!
We've also cut our food and household budget because of the use of coupons and looking for savings. I looked back at my post from about a month ago, when I said I had spent $89, and just shook my head. These days, my shopping trips are more in the $40 range, and I have become successful at "flipping" my bill. I dont go shopping for what I need that week anymore. I go shopping for things that we use, but are also on sale. I stock up on non-perishable items. For example: Hamburger Helper. Normally $2.00 a box, today, they were 10 for $10 ($1 each) and I had three $0.75 off 3 coupons. So I bought 9 boxes for $9.00 - $2.25 = $6.75. 9 boxes at normal price of $2.00 each would have been $18.
I don't buy things just because I have coupons or just because they are on sale though. I buy things that we use, but the key to couponing is definitely to not be brand loyal. I have stocked up on laundry detergent, toilet paper, paper towels, and personal toiletries in the last month and have spent just a little bit of money doing so. They are all different brands, depending on what was on sale when. I have a good 6 months of toletries and laundry supplies stocked up right now.
I also buy more "treats" now, because I can. Jonny and I LOVE brownies....we dont make them all the time, but I'd rather buy them when they are cheap, rather than when I'm having a hankering for some, and end up paying $3 or $4 a box for the "good stuff." Today, the Betty Crocker Hersey Brownies were B1G1, and I had a $0.75 coupon off 2. Price came out to $1.02 per box. So, in short, todays trip to Winn Dixie prior to them swiping my loyalty card was $83.33. After swiping the loyalty card, and applying coupons, it dropped all the way to $37.80.
I look at grocery shopping completely differently now. If it's not on sale, if I don't have a coupon, and it's not something I can't live without for the next week, the I don't buy it. Such a different approach to grocery shopping than I used to have...
I'm still trying to find a cheaper way to buy Gillette Fusion Blades, which is one thing we ARE brand loyal to. Jonny and I both use these, and currently, we buy a pack of 16 at Sams club for $42, which comes out to $2.63 a blade. I've been looking at target, walmart, cvs, publix, winn dixie, etc, for a better price, but even with a $3 off coupon (cant use coupons at Sams), the cheapest I have found at those places are $3.00 a blade. So...until I find a better price, I guess Sam's Club will win for this particular product. If you have any suggestions for me, please let me know!
Here's the new budget. Since the last time I posted, we have lowered the cable bill, lowered the food and grocery bill, upped the medical bill. The snowball has changed as a result of no more credit card debt, and anything left over at the end of the month will also be tacked on to the NFCU Loan until that one is knocked out as well.
--------Incomes--------
A Disability 123
J Disability 123
GIBill 1518
Paycheck 1051 (after tax)
Paycheck 1051
Svgs Allotment 100
Svgs Allotment 100
--------Charity--------
AXiD 10
Church 300
--------Saving--------
Savings 443
Sinking Funds/NFCU 300
--------Housing--------
Rent/Water 794
--------Utilities--------
Electricity 150
Mobile Phone 142
Cable 85
Storage 40
--------Food--------
Food & Household 300
--------Transportation--------
Gas & Oil 125
--------Medical/Health--------
Medical 75
--------Personal--------
A Blow 100
J Blow 100
--------Debts--------
Student Loan 126
Corolla Loan 276
NFCU Loan 700
We've also cut our food and household budget because of the use of coupons and looking for savings. I looked back at my post from about a month ago, when I said I had spent $89, and just shook my head. These days, my shopping trips are more in the $40 range, and I have become successful at "flipping" my bill. I dont go shopping for what I need that week anymore. I go shopping for things that we use, but are also on sale. I stock up on non-perishable items. For example: Hamburger Helper. Normally $2.00 a box, today, they were 10 for $10 ($1 each) and I had three $0.75 off 3 coupons. So I bought 9 boxes for $9.00 - $2.25 = $6.75. 9 boxes at normal price of $2.00 each would have been $18.
I don't buy things just because I have coupons or just because they are on sale though. I buy things that we use, but the key to couponing is definitely to not be brand loyal. I have stocked up on laundry detergent, toilet paper, paper towels, and personal toiletries in the last month and have spent just a little bit of money doing so. They are all different brands, depending on what was on sale when. I have a good 6 months of toletries and laundry supplies stocked up right now.
I also buy more "treats" now, because I can. Jonny and I LOVE brownies....we dont make them all the time, but I'd rather buy them when they are cheap, rather than when I'm having a hankering for some, and end up paying $3 or $4 a box for the "good stuff." Today, the Betty Crocker Hersey Brownies were B1G1, and I had a $0.75 coupon off 2. Price came out to $1.02 per box. So, in short, todays trip to Winn Dixie prior to them swiping my loyalty card was $83.33. After swiping the loyalty card, and applying coupons, it dropped all the way to $37.80.
I look at grocery shopping completely differently now. If it's not on sale, if I don't have a coupon, and it's not something I can't live without for the next week, the I don't buy it. Such a different approach to grocery shopping than I used to have...
I'm still trying to find a cheaper way to buy Gillette Fusion Blades, which is one thing we ARE brand loyal to. Jonny and I both use these, and currently, we buy a pack of 16 at Sams club for $42, which comes out to $2.63 a blade. I've been looking at target, walmart, cvs, publix, winn dixie, etc, for a better price, but even with a $3 off coupon (cant use coupons at Sams), the cheapest I have found at those places are $3.00 a blade. So...until I find a better price, I guess Sam's Club will win for this particular product. If you have any suggestions for me, please let me know!
Here's the new budget. Since the last time I posted, we have lowered the cable bill, lowered the food and grocery bill, upped the medical bill. The snowball has changed as a result of no more credit card debt, and anything left over at the end of the month will also be tacked on to the NFCU Loan until that one is knocked out as well.
--------Incomes--------
A Disability 123
J Disability 123
GIBill 1518
Paycheck 1051 (after tax)
Paycheck 1051
Svgs Allotment 100
Svgs Allotment 100
--------Charity--------
AXiD 10
Church 300
--------Saving--------
Savings 443
Sinking Funds/NFCU 300
--------Housing--------
Rent/Water 794
--------Utilities--------
Electricity 150
Mobile Phone 142
Cable 85
Storage 40
--------Food--------
Food & Household 300
--------Transportation--------
Gas & Oil 125
--------Medical/Health--------
Medical 75
--------Personal--------
A Blow 100
J Blow 100
--------Debts--------
Student Loan 126
Corolla Loan 276
NFCU Loan 700
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