One year later...

This post is a little belated due to various factors related to family and work and general business. Regular scheduled posting is still a dream that I hope to one day achieve.

Without further ado, after a year of working toward a goal of paying off $15,000 of debt (save for about 6 weeks where I fell off the wagon), my debt load has been reduced by a total of...

$17,035.14

I still have a $1,000 emergency fund in the bank. My net worth has improved by $17,806. My stress level has decreased by a billion percent. My happiness has increased, to quote one of my children, "one hundred million a jillion times."

Here is a balance update:

Direct Deposit Advance - $0/$550
Store Card 1 - $0/$323
Credit Card 1 - $0/$400
Line of Credit - $0/$510
Credit Card 2 - $0/$685
Store Card 2 - $0/$2,798
Auto Loan - $0/$4,140
Credit Card 4 - $1,933/$5,150
Credit Card 3 - $3,564/$4,577
Student Loan 1 - $1,705/$1951
Student Loan 2 - $2,046/$3,148
Student Loan 3 - $4,926/$5,614
Student Loan 4 - $5,538/$6,048


I'm almost half-way done!! According to my debt tracker, I'm currently scheduled to pay off my debt in July 2012 which, coincidently, is the same month in which my fiance and I intend to wed. As I've gone through this process, that date has moved up more and more, so I'm actually hoping to be able to pay everything off prior to the wedding and still pull off a great celebration without any debt. How awesome would it be to enter our marriage without these financial burdens?

Now We're Hittin' The Big Time!!

We have cleared the $10,000 hurdle!!!! That means we are more than two-thirds of the way to our goal and the one-year deadline is still four months away! Wooooohoooooo!!!!  A frugal holiday season and plenty of overtime are upon us, so I intend to keep the momentum going!

It's about time I take another one down!!

It has been a while since I was last able to make one of these posts!! I sent off the final payment for Store Card 2 this morning! Goodbye, 29% interest rate!!

Direct Deposit Advance - $0/$550
Store Card 1 - $0/$323
Credit Card 1 - $0/$400
Line of Credit - $0/$510
Credit Card 2 - $0/$685
Store Card 2 - $0/$2,798 - PAID!!
Credit Card 4 - $4,098/$5,150
Credit Card 3 - $4,064/$4,577
Auto Loan - $3,195/$4,140
Student Loan 1 - $1,876/$1951
Student Loan 2 - $2,650/$3,148
Student Loan 3 - $5,407/$5,614
Student Loan 4 - $5,748/$6,048

Total paid to date (including interest): $9,283.15

Next on the chopping block is another credit card. After I paid off all of my smaller balances (those under $1,000), I decided to stray from the Dave Ramsey plan a bit. My momentum and my financial discipline are pretty well established at this point, so I'm comfortable tweaking my plan.to pay off the higher interest rates first. September should bump me over the $10k mark! Woohoo!!

In apartment-deck-gardening news, we picked over two pints of cherry tomatoes yesterday. They're growing faster than the girls can eat them now, so there are finally enough for me and some to share! The green peppers are getting big and I can't wait to chomp into those. A squirrel has taken a liking to our peas (and nothing else), so we haven't gotten any of those yet. There's still time before the end of the season. I hope s/he's enjoying having some fresh produce. Especially since I usually only feed the wildlife moldy bread. Mmmmmm.... Spores...

Half-Way Goal Met!!

We've met our half-way goal of $7,500 paid off at the six-month mark!  To be more specific, In the last six months, I have paid off...

$7,753.61

I've pretty well settled into my budget now and it's not much of a struggle to stick to it.  An interesting thing has begun to happen since I have started to really think about my purchases; I have a newfound desire to purge the junk from my apartment.  There is just so much stuff everywhere.  I have had a few friends hold garage sales over the last month and I have donated some items and sold a few things.  It has been nice to make a little bit of money, but even better to just have literally truckloads of things removed from my living space.  I'm hoping for a few more garage sale opportunities throughout the summer.

I sold most of the CDs and DVDs that I didn't want anymore to SecondSpin a few years ago.  I like that they tell me exactly what they'll give me for each disc so I can decide if it's worth shipping to them or not.

I've taken tons of kids' stuff to Once Upon a Child once the girls have outgrown them.  They can be a little picky about brands and how worn things can be because they want to be a retail store, not a thrift store.  Check out what they're currently accepting on their website.

My local Once Upon a Child is next to Half-Price Books, so I drop off a load of books to sell and browse while I'm waiting to hear about the kids' stuff.  Half-Price will recycle books if you are looking to get rid of them and they choose not to buy them, but more often, I'll take whatever doesn't sell along with the items that Once Upon a Child doesn't want and swing by Goodwill on my way home.  I love that the store near my place does drive-thru donations.  I just pop the trunk and it all disappears.  I don't even have to get out of the car!

These little snowflakes add up fast and have kept the debt snowball rolling along at a pretty good pace.  I'm on track to pay off another credit card in August!  Woohoo!

KID PIC: Here's a picture of me riding a motorcycle inside a whale.  Kids think their parents can do anything. :)

Aiming for $7,500 by the end of July!

I took my first step in this journey on February 5th of this year when I put $1,000 in an Emergency Fund and made my first big payments toward my debt. It is now almost five months later and I have paid off a grand total of...

$6,279.94

Wooohooo!!! I broke $6k!! I'm going to aim for $7,500 to be paid off by the end of July. It is an aggressive goal for the next month, but I want to be half-way to my $15,000 goal by the end of my first six months of really working at this. I haven't been working as hard as I could have been at times, but I need to keep my nose to the proverbial grindstone.

Speaking of challenges, have you read the most recent report on the cost of raising a child? The average American family spends $222,360 to raise a child from birth to age 18. My cherubs being born a mere two minutes apart means that I have the divine privilege of spending somewhere in the vicinity of $444,720 before I give them the boot. I'm pretty sure they're mostly going to eat nine of the next fourteen years of my income with the way they go through pints of berries and cherry tomatoes. We're going to have to find a way to expand our farm off of this little apartment deck.

Don't get me wrong. They're worth every penny, but the girls were born as a two-for-one deal and I'm going to do everything I can to keep those deals going. Either I'm going to have to be diligent about my frugality or they're going to have to find a way to break into showbiz. Maybe we should try a two-fold approach. That's it. We're starting a band. Please leave your band name suggestions in the comments below.

We've crossed another threshold!

Total paid since starting this project on February 5th, 2010: $5,068!!

and my $1,000 Emergency Fund is still actively preventing emergencies from occuring. It's amazing how few emergencies happen when you're prepared.

I'm one-third of the way to my 2010 goal. I am right on track to pay off $15k this year! Maybe I can achieve a -0- net worth by the end of the year. I could be worthless! : )


Thank you so much for the comments and kudos! I think I'm a pretty average American debt story. All I've done differently is choose to talk about the financial mess I've created and the hard work and sacrifices that it is now taking to make a better life for myself and my girls. Having the support of regular readers and those just passing through keeps helps to keep me motivated, so thank you, thank you, thank you!!

If we someday adopt the metric system, will I have to call these kilometerstones?

As of this morning, I've made two big accomplishments.

1. I paid off another credit card!  This is the last card from my college credit card debt and I am so happy to finally be rid of it.
2. With the payments made today, I've crossed the next big marker on my debt-o-meter.  I have now crossed the $4k threshold for debt paid off.  That means I've paid off more than 11% of my debt in under three months!

So, here's the update in numbers:

Direct Deposit Advance - $0/$550
Store Card 1 - $0/$323
Credit Card 1 - $0/$400
Line of Credit - $0/$510
Credit Card 2 - $0/$685 - PAID!!
Student Loan 1 - $1950/$1951
Store Card 2 - $2,638/$2,800
Student Loan 2 - $2,765/$3,148
Auto Loan - $3,735/$4,140
Credit Card 3 - $4,376/$4,577
Credit Card 4 - $4,910/$5,150
Student Loan 3 - $5,610/$5,614
Student Loan 4 - $5,904/$6,048

Total paid to date:  $4,131.05

(plus I have my $1,000 Emergency Fund in the bank, which didn't exist before this process started)

All of those little balances are out of the way.  The remaining larger balances look a little daunting, but I'm determined to keep the momentum going.  I'm going to skip over Student Loan 1 for now and knock out Store Card 2.  Student Loan 1 has a whopping $6 monthly payment which must be spread over about 72 years or so, but it has an incredibly low 3.25% interest rate.  Store Card 2, meanwhile, sports a 25.24% interest rate and a $80 minimum payment, $56+ of which goes to interest every month.  I'm looking forward to the day that I never again have to look at a statement with a double-digit APR.  In fact, when I'm through paying off this debt, the only interest rate I ever intend to see again might be for a mortgage.  Maybe, but we'll see.  Maybe I'll just save up for a house and pay cash.  Or maybe I'll build one a little at a time as I can afford whatever Lincoln Logs are needed to build a real-people house.

If I can keep going at this rate, I can be debt free in less than two years.  That would be amazing.  Most or all of this debt is going to be gone before the girls start kindergarten.  That means that I'll be in savings mode throughout most of their school years.  I can't believe that as a single mother raising twins I'm going to be able to pay for both of them to go to college by myself!  Paid-for college is going to be a reality!

another one? REALLY?!?

Who's a winner?  ME!  I'm a winner.  Check this out!

Direct Deposit Advance - $550
Store Card 1 - $323
Credit Card 1 - $400
Line of Credit - $510 !!!!!!
Credit Card 2 - $685
Student Loan 1 - $1,951
Store Card 2 - $2,800
Student Loan 2 - $3,148
Auto Loan - $4,140
Credit Card 3 - $4,577
Credit Card 4 - $5,150
Student Loan 3 - $5,614
Student Loan 4 - $6,048

BAM!  There goes another one!  I got a bonus at work that knocked out my Line of Credit and put a small dent in Credit Card 2.  I'm also looking ahead to next month when I'll get three paychecks, one of which will not have deductions for benefits.

I've been at this for about six weeks now and have paid off...

Drum roll, please!...

$2,984.52

It's amazing what can be accomplished when you really work at it!

Speaking of working at things, one of my other goals is to take at least enough classes this year to use up my tuition reimbursement from work.  I've been doing some research and completing some applications and have discovered that I may be able to take more classes than I had initially thought.  I already get $2,500 from work (it would be $5,000 if I went into a pharmacy program, but I don't have any desire to be a drug dealer).  According to my FAFSA results, I also qualify for a Pell Grant of up to $4,500.  Because I qualify for a Pell Grant, I also qualify for a scholarship from the University of Minnesota that will cover 100% of my remaining tuition and fees.  I need to read the fine print, of course, but this sounds to me like I can probably take as many classes as I have time for.

Creating more time in the day is another matter altogether.

another one bites the dust!

I had my eye exam on Friday and discovered that I don't need new glasses. The glasses that I have are my current prescription.  It hasn't changed in seven years!  New glasses have now become a want rather than a need, so they're going to wait.  The money I had set aside to pay for my glasses has now been applied to my debt!  I have paid off three creditors this month and have $1,000 in the bank for emergencies!

Store Card 1 - $323
Direct Deposit Advance - $220
Credit Card 1 - $350
Line of Credit - $465
Credit Card 2 - $685
Student Loan 1 - $1,640
Store Card 2 - $2,800
Student Loan 2 - $3,145
Auto Loan - $4,005
Credit Card 3 - $4,470
Credit Card 4 - $4,910
Student Loan 3 - $5,615
Student Loan 4 - $6,025
 
According to the Debt Snowball Tracker that is part of my budgeting software, I have paid off $1,303.15 of my debt since I committed to this journey.  This includes both the larger payments I've made to pay off creditors as well as my regular payments to those still in progress.  I still have a long way to go, but this is an amazing start.  Next up is my Line of Credit.
 
I am using an envelope system for categories in which I tend to overspend the most or spend without thinking.  I have envelopes for groceries, restaurants, clothing and entertainment as well as one for fun money.  I have two checking accounts.  One of these is now being used solely for gas.  The reason for the gas account is that it makes it much easier to get gas when I don't have to take a pair of three-year-olds out of their car seats and into a store full of candy to pay for it.  That account is, essentially, my gas envelope.  The other checking account is being used to pay bills.

I'm still tweaking my budget with every paycheck.  I have discovered that I spend less on gas than I thought I did.  It's getting easier to admit that I don't have the money to do some things.  It's also very exciting to have money set aside to have some fun.  The girls and I are getting back into the habit of going to the library on our weekends together.  They love it and it provides entertainment for several weeks in the form of books and movies.  Gabe and I often cook as a form of entertainment and just generally enjoy each others' company.  I have maintained my Netflix account as an inexpensive form of entertainment as well.  We only get one DVD at a time and unlimited streaming movies online, so there is always something to watch if we're lacking things to do.  When we do go out, it's far less expensive with Gabe than most of my social life had been prior because there is no drinking on his part and very little on mine.  I used to buy friends drinks if I was getting myself one so the expense of one drink often doubled or tripled.  They're not cheap to begin with, so this is probably saving me more money than I even realize.

Things are great. My valentine's weekend was low-key and wonderful.  The girls and I are taking a road trip tomorrow to see Grandma Char and Grandpa Doug.  It'll be fun to spend some time with them and the girls always have a great time.  See you soon, mom and dad!

i've hit the gas pedal!

I'm happy to announce that I have already paid off my first two debts! Store Card 1 and my Direct Deposit Advance were both paid off this week, never to be seen again.  This is where I'm at (yes, these balances are the same as the last post as these posts are being made on the same day).

Direct Deposit Advance - $550

Store Card 1 - $323
Credit Card 1 - $400
Line of Credit - $510
Credit Card 2 - $685
Student Loan 1 - $1,951
Store Card 2 - $2,800
Student Loan 2 - $3,148
Auto Loan - $4,140
Credit Card 3 - $4,577
Credit Card 4 - $5,150
Student Loan 3 - $5,614
Student Loan 4 - $6,048


I have also ordered new tires for my car and have an appointment to get new glasses and will be paying cash for both of those expenses. Whatever is left of my tax return after I get my glasses is going to be put toward my next debt. I'm incredibly proud of myself for accomplishing so much in the last few weeks.  I debated buying a Wii with a piece of my tax return, but have come to the conclusion that maybe that would be a good reward when I get everything paid off.  It's too much money to put toward something that will only make me want to spend more money.  Come to think of it, maybe it would be a bad idea to ever get a Wii. :)

baby step 1: COMPLETE!

I got a big fat paycheck (lots of overtime) and my federal tax return today.  My baby emergency fund ($1,000 in the bank) is now fully funded!  Yay!  I also paid off half of a low-balance credit card.  When my state return comes in, it will buy tires and glasses and the rest will go to debt payments.  What a great start!  I'm going to do my best to keep the momentum going.  Woooooohoo!