I am frustrated and seem to be running on a treadmill...maybe a hamster wheel is a better description because I feel like people watch me run my ass off for NOTHING.
March was an okay month as far as the budget goes. I just can't get Hubby to follow the written budget when he makes more than the 'required' amount ($1900). To him it is free money and therefor not real somehow. Like a credit card is invisible spending to so many, as is his above the line income.
His last paycheck was over $1800...it's a week until his next paycheck and we are BROKE. There is nothing left in the bank account...ugh. Knowing his check was going to be larger than normal, he pre-spent most of it, causing us to incur $112 in overdraft fees before the damn check even got here!!!
So now, I'm just angry and that is unproductive. Can I knock it in to him? Probably not a good idea...Maybe May will be better!!
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Another Tweak...
Well, our spending was a little out of control for March. I did a few budget tweaks on paper and decided that as long as $950 of each paycheck was deposited in to the checking account there would be no reason to not have enough to cover the entire spending plan. So today that's exactly what I did, I deposited $950 and kept the extra $11.23...well I kept $11.00, #3 asked for the $0.23 to add to her March for Babies fundraiser for next year that she has decided to make an ongoing project.
This year our team placed second overall at the Grand Forks, ND event with one of our youngest members being awarded with the Top Youth Award. As it was my #4 who received this honor, #3 has decided next year it's all hers!! Should be an interesting season of raising funds next year with the three of us! It's pretty hard for people to say no to a five year old asking for money "For the March of Dimes and Babies because they helped #5 be healthy."
Anyway...back to my original reason for this post; changing how much money is deposited each pay day. We have not yet figured out the discipline part of sticking exactly to the budget, even if we have a few extra dollars. The extra money is supposed to go to the baby emergency fund and then when that reaches $1000 (again) then the excess should be gong to the debt snowball. So now, the money is going to be put in to an envelope and put in a drawer for now until it reaches a significant sum (whatever I decide significant means).
Hubby has what is considered an irregular income because he's paid per mile plus a fixed dollar amount for every stop he makes to load or unload freight. At $1900/month we have everything covered except for placing money in an account for annual expenses such as property taxes and insurance. Fortunately our insurance is less than $600/year and is due in July. He has three paychecks in July so that will cover that expense. For property taxes my plan for right now is to focus on the baby emergency fund and that should be built enough by May to pay the first half of our taxes and to repeat the process for the second half due in October. Eventually I would like to pay our auto insurance annually as well. One less payment every month is fine by me!
Our student loans are another cause of concern for me. We owe crazy amounts to student loan companies. I don't even have them listed in our debt snowball yet because they cause me to lose all hope of ever getting things paid off! We probably owe as much on student loan debt as we do on our home! They are all in deferment currently but that can't last forever...can it??
This year our team placed second overall at the Grand Forks, ND event with one of our youngest members being awarded with the Top Youth Award. As it was my #4 who received this honor, #3 has decided next year it's all hers!! Should be an interesting season of raising funds next year with the three of us! It's pretty hard for people to say no to a five year old asking for money "For the March of Dimes and Babies because they helped #5 be healthy."
Anyway...back to my original reason for this post; changing how much money is deposited each pay day. We have not yet figured out the discipline part of sticking exactly to the budget, even if we have a few extra dollars. The extra money is supposed to go to the baby emergency fund and then when that reaches $1000 (again) then the excess should be gong to the debt snowball. So now, the money is going to be put in to an envelope and put in a drawer for now until it reaches a significant sum (whatever I decide significant means).
Hubby has what is considered an irregular income because he's paid per mile plus a fixed dollar amount for every stop he makes to load or unload freight. At $1900/month we have everything covered except for placing money in an account for annual expenses such as property taxes and insurance. Fortunately our insurance is less than $600/year and is due in July. He has three paychecks in July so that will cover that expense. For property taxes my plan for right now is to focus on the baby emergency fund and that should be built enough by May to pay the first half of our taxes and to repeat the process for the second half due in October. Eventually I would like to pay our auto insurance annually as well. One less payment every month is fine by me!
Our student loans are another cause of concern for me. We owe crazy amounts to student loan companies. I don't even have them listed in our debt snowball yet because they cause me to lose all hope of ever getting things paid off! We probably owe as much on student loan debt as we do on our home! They are all in deferment currently but that can't last forever...can it??
Monday, March 22, 2010
Starting to see some progress
I had trouble knowing I have $1000 sitting in a bank account knowing we are paying almost 30% interest on one of Hubby's credit cards. I know I whined and cried about the security of the cash, but the number did me in. I paid off two credit cards with the mini emergency fund. I've heard that money management is 20% brain and 80% emotion...well my emotions are well withing the normal limits on this one!
Now I feel like I've made progress. I actually have two less payments to worry about every month. They weren't big payments, and with the snowball method our monthly expenses do not change, the minimum payments that were being paid to the cards I paid off will now to go the next debt in line. The longest it will take to be finished our debt snowball is next February and I can't wait...patience has never been a strong suit of mine!
The budget is working as good as can be expected. I still have trouble taking out a personal allowance. For some reason I just can't justify it! Hubby gets his allotment, the kids get theirs...so what's the problem? Maybe if I saw the money piling up I would spend it, but I doubt it. I told Hubby yesterday that things like paying off debt were more important than taking personal spending cash. There is always somewhere else in the budget that could use the $50/bi-weekly more than I need it (or want) it!
The options with $1300 each year are nearly endless in my mind!
I've been giving serious thought and prayer towards tithing to our church. Another quote I've heard, though I don't know who to give the credit is, if 10% can break you, your problems are deeper than you think. I know there have been months that we could be drowned by 10%, it has become obvious to me that God has given us more than 10% could ever make up for.
There is no price on salvation, God forgives all our sins and teaches us to forgive those who have sinned against us. When my days are done, it will not matter if I gave 10% or $0.10. What will matter is my willingness to learn His word and to live my life as God has planned.
There are some days where it is harder to forgive myself than it is to forgive those who have sinned against me. I have come to a point in my life where I believe God's plan for me is already in place and I am just 'along for the ride.'
This Sunday after Church #4 came and told me he wanted to go see Faith. We walked over to where she sleeps eternal and he talked to her as if she was sitting with us! How very touching to see a five year old believe in life everlasting.
While we visited and he 'decorated' (picking rocks off the road to place on her grave) I began to put more thought into the memorial stone I want placed. The ones I've seen with an angel standing in a hugging motion against the stone is the one that I like best. It's probably close to a $1000 touch...wow saying it out loud makes it seem almost not a good idea! Think of the difference we could make with $1000. We could give a sizable donation to our church or the March of Dimes that would mean so much to Hubby and I. Guess I'll have to put some serious thought and prayer into this one!
Hugs and Love,
Me
Now I feel like I've made progress. I actually have two less payments to worry about every month. They weren't big payments, and with the snowball method our monthly expenses do not change, the minimum payments that were being paid to the cards I paid off will now to go the next debt in line. The longest it will take to be finished our debt snowball is next February and I can't wait...patience has never been a strong suit of mine!
The budget is working as good as can be expected. I still have trouble taking out a personal allowance. For some reason I just can't justify it! Hubby gets his allotment, the kids get theirs...so what's the problem? Maybe if I saw the money piling up I would spend it, but I doubt it. I told Hubby yesterday that things like paying off debt were more important than taking personal spending cash. There is always somewhere else in the budget that could use the $50/bi-weekly more than I need it (or want) it!
The options with $1300 each year are nearly endless in my mind!
- Pay down debt
- Give to our church
- Donate to charity
- Quarterly weekend family getaways
- Save for a real vacation
I've been giving serious thought and prayer towards tithing to our church. Another quote I've heard, though I don't know who to give the credit is, if 10% can break you, your problems are deeper than you think. I know there have been months that we could be drowned by 10%, it has become obvious to me that God has given us more than 10% could ever make up for.
There is no price on salvation, God forgives all our sins and teaches us to forgive those who have sinned against us. When my days are done, it will not matter if I gave 10% or $0.10. What will matter is my willingness to learn His word and to live my life as God has planned.
There are some days where it is harder to forgive myself than it is to forgive those who have sinned against me. I have come to a point in my life where I believe God's plan for me is already in place and I am just 'along for the ride.'
This Sunday after Church #4 came and told me he wanted to go see Faith. We walked over to where she sleeps eternal and he talked to her as if she was sitting with us! How very touching to see a five year old believe in life everlasting.
While we visited and he 'decorated' (picking rocks off the road to place on her grave) I began to put more thought into the memorial stone I want placed. The ones I've seen with an angel standing in a hugging motion against the stone is the one that I like best. It's probably close to a $1000 touch...wow saying it out loud makes it seem almost not a good idea! Think of the difference we could make with $1000. We could give a sizable donation to our church or the March of Dimes that would mean so much to Hubby and I. Guess I'll have to put some serious thought and prayer into this one!
Hugs and Love,
Me
Monday, March 8, 2010
February 2010 Autopsy
Looking back it's easy for me to feel like I actually accomplished something good in February! Finances were finally put in order, debt is getting paid off, and an actual plan is in place!!
Total Income $11,715.71
Total Spending $11,026.08
Excess (deficit) $ 689.63
After paying all monthly bills and a few 'extras' (licensing fees for the ATV, parts for the pickup, a little bit of blow money for each of us, etc) there was actually money still left over! The best part is that the amount left over is almost as much as a regular paycheck!
Popular thought would be to take that extra $689 and put it towards our debt snowball. Well, I would like to be popular but prefer security over popularity right now! I simply advanced those dollars to March and began paying those bills. I scheduled the 'new' payment amounts based on the debt snowball calculation done earlier. It's amazing how much of a psychological job it is to stick to a plan!
Payday is this week and almost everything is already taken care of. Will I increase the debt snowball now?? Probably not. I'm likely to build a small cushion on top of the Baby Emergency Fund of $1000 already sitting in an online bank. If I'm still ahead of the game in April, then the snowball will reap the rewards.
It's funny about making larger than minimum payments towards debt. The "buyers remorse" I feel after hitting the submit button to make the payment is almost always gone before the confirmation page even loads! I feel anxious just at the thought of 'maybe just this time we can charge ~whatever~and it'll be different. ' I still get thoughts of, "Yes, I need this now...and if I wanted to save $15/month for 10 months so I can pay with cash I could...but I don't have to wait 10 months." Amazing that a princess like me can actually delay gratification!
If this keeps up, we can have our debt paid off much sooner than we had planned. I believe in our common goal. I believe in our ability to work together. I believe we are wonderful Stewards of God's Word and He is good.
Total Income $11,715.71
Total Spending $11,026.08
Excess (deficit) $ 689.63
After paying all monthly bills and a few 'extras' (licensing fees for the ATV, parts for the pickup, a little bit of blow money for each of us, etc) there was actually money still left over! The best part is that the amount left over is almost as much as a regular paycheck!
Popular thought would be to take that extra $689 and put it towards our debt snowball. Well, I would like to be popular but prefer security over popularity right now! I simply advanced those dollars to March and began paying those bills. I scheduled the 'new' payment amounts based on the debt snowball calculation done earlier. It's amazing how much of a psychological job it is to stick to a plan!
Payday is this week and almost everything is already taken care of. Will I increase the debt snowball now?? Probably not. I'm likely to build a small cushion on top of the Baby Emergency Fund of $1000 already sitting in an online bank. If I'm still ahead of the game in April, then the snowball will reap the rewards.
It's funny about making larger than minimum payments towards debt. The "buyers remorse" I feel after hitting the submit button to make the payment is almost always gone before the confirmation page even loads! I feel anxious just at the thought of 'maybe just this time we can charge ~whatever~and it'll be different. ' I still get thoughts of, "Yes, I need this now...and if I wanted to save $15/month for 10 months so I can pay with cash I could...but I don't have to wait 10 months." Amazing that a princess like me can actually delay gratification!
If this keeps up, we can have our debt paid off much sooner than we had planned. I believe in our common goal. I believe in our ability to work together. I believe we are wonderful Stewards of God's Word and He is good.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Getting ready for Autopsy
And I'm looking forward to dissection our crazy month of earning and spending. We have the money (or we had the money) and we followed through with the plan we had established. Now with March here I can rewrite the budget, maybe tweak is a better term. Tonight and Tomorrow I will get all the numbers together and see where we struggled and where we can improve.
Life is finally beginning to take a shape that I am satisfied with and am comfortable with. Should be clear sailing from here on out!!
Life is finally beginning to take a shape that I am satisfied with and am comfortable with. Should be clear sailing from here on out!!
Friday, February 26, 2010
Over half way there!
After making the regular monthly payments on our debts plus using our checks from the state and federal government we are 52% complete (not including our student loan balances). How nice it is to see things moving along!
The second column is the amount that was paid towards each of the debts. Some of the amounts are different from the original post just because they had to be updated after all the previous months payments posted. When I checked our online savings account it still had just over $10.00 so I just deposited enough to get to the $1000 mark.
When Hubby and I were looking at the debt repayment plan for the remainder of our debt he was shocked to see that we pay out $439.20 in debt repayment. "That's half a paycheck" he commented.
We then talked about how even though we paid off over $8000 our monthly payments hadn't changed much because only two cards with minimum payments were paid off. The rest was debt we'd just been ignoring...bad I know.
The other thing is that even if we had been making minimum payments, the whole idea of the debt snowball is that when one debt is paid you put that payment towards the next smallest debt. It does allow you a little wiggle room if you get into a pinch though.
As things stand now if we only continue to make the $439.20 our debt will be paid off in December 2011. It's comforting knowing that we will have $3896.71 left at tax time next year. We definitely won't receive the payments we did this year, but we should easily have that much. So realistically we will have our debts paid off February 2011at the latest! If I could choke out an extra $200/month we would only owe $1800...ugh, sometimes I just can't slow my brain down sometimes.
Imagine what we could do with $425/month!! I better not...my imagination would up and take me away and I have things to do this weekend!!
| Savings | 1000.00 | 989.14 |
| Lawyer | 2,480.32 | 2480.32 |
| NSB | 863.30 | 863.30 |
| Taxes | 1,711.81 | 1711.81 |
| Coop | 391.29 | 391.29 |
| CC 1 | 430.57 | 430.57 |
| CC 2 | 454.32 | 15.00 |
| CC 3 | 787.78 | 765.37 |
| CC 4 | 687.34 | 21.00 |
| CC 5 | 2,195.60 | 78.00 |
| Furniture Card | 2,489.04 | 117.00 |
| Vehicle Loan | 2,866.51 | 284.40 |
The second column is the amount that was paid towards each of the debts. Some of the amounts are different from the original post just because they had to be updated after all the previous months payments posted. When I checked our online savings account it still had just over $10.00 so I just deposited enough to get to the $1000 mark.
When Hubby and I were looking at the debt repayment plan for the remainder of our debt he was shocked to see that we pay out $439.20 in debt repayment. "That's half a paycheck" he commented.
We then talked about how even though we paid off over $8000 our monthly payments hadn't changed much because only two cards with minimum payments were paid off. The rest was debt we'd just been ignoring...bad I know.
The other thing is that even if we had been making minimum payments, the whole idea of the debt snowball is that when one debt is paid you put that payment towards the next smallest debt. It does allow you a little wiggle room if you get into a pinch though.
As things stand now if we only continue to make the $439.20 our debt will be paid off in December 2011. It's comforting knowing that we will have $3896.71 left at tax time next year. We definitely won't receive the payments we did this year, but we should easily have that much. So realistically we will have our debts paid off February 2011at the latest! If I could choke out an extra $200/month we would only owe $1800...ugh, sometimes I just can't slow my brain down sometimes.
Imagine what we could do with $425/month!! I better not...my imagination would up and take me away and I have things to do this weekend!!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
A good Map
I've already spent 51% of the state check. I paid off my credit card and started the emergency fund savings account. The federal money should be here on Friday so I'm going to have a GREAT weekend paying off debt!!
I almost booked a vacation yesterday...I sooooo deserve one! Hubby talked me out of it wanting to stick to the original debt repayment plan :(
I'm so glad the Baby Steps are written like a good map. There is even an "expanded baby steps" to break down each step into even smaller steps (for those of us who seem to be climbing the ladder of success ever so slowly).
Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. We attend a small church that is out in the middle of nowhere and has less than 200 members. For such a small congregation it never ceases to amaze me what a diverse group we are. Although the members range from poverty stricken to beyond wealthy, we really are a family...feuding included. For the most part it is a very healthful place for me. I look forward to the Lenten season each year. Hearing God's word more than once a week brings me such peace.
There's another reason I would like to live in a larger city. I could likely attend a church service of my denomination everyday. I just am so much more at peace at church (even when the boys are crawling over, under, and around the pew).
I almost booked a vacation yesterday...I sooooo deserve one! Hubby talked me out of it wanting to stick to the original debt repayment plan :(
I'm so glad the Baby Steps are written like a good map. There is even an "expanded baby steps" to break down each step into even smaller steps (for those of us who seem to be climbing the ladder of success ever so slowly).
Tomorrow is Ash Wednesday. We attend a small church that is out in the middle of nowhere and has less than 200 members. For such a small congregation it never ceases to amaze me what a diverse group we are. Although the members range from poverty stricken to beyond wealthy, we really are a family...feuding included. For the most part it is a very healthful place for me. I look forward to the Lenten season each year. Hearing God's word more than once a week brings me such peace.
There's another reason I would like to live in a larger city. I could likely attend a church service of my denomination everyday. I just am so much more at peace at church (even when the boys are crawling over, under, and around the pew).
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