Boomeyers's Digging Out of Debt

Well, if you wanted to return something without a receipt before, now is definatley a worse time! IF you choose to buy something from this store, PLEASE do not lose your receipt, especially if you had the NERVE to pay CASH (God forbid!!) If they can look it up by your CC or debit, you are okay, but if you paid cash and it was over $20, you a NO LONGER ALLOWED to return it AT ALL! I did'nt care if they had to send me a check or give me a in store credit, but you are not allowed to return it PERIOD. So, you know I have a long standing problem with this stores "rules", but now it is beyond, beyond!! The clerk smiled at me and told me to use it as a gift!!

YES! I had a no spend day. Woo hoo, happy dance. They are few, they are far between, but soooo appreciated when they are here!

I also have come to realize just how much I LOVE staying at home. I need to make peace with the debt and work hard at not making new debt, but I still don't have that screaming urge to head for the desk and work, work, work. I'm thinking I am going to live in the status quo for now and try to reverse process.

I remember when the kids were smaller and we were in debt. We got out of debt, overcame it and excelled over it. (Much, much thanks to Amy Dacyczyn!!) Grant it, it was'nt this huge overwhelming amount of debt we now have, but I think we can do it again with me still working part time and being a homemaker. I told DH as soon as the kids are independent enough, I will glady hit the grindstone and he can stay at home! I appreciate his hard work and sacrafice for us. Anyway, this is what I have been pondering today. Hopefully DH can hang in at his job, but that is a story for another day!

I have two decisions to make. One is that the library has another position open for a secretary. As you recall, I was passed over the last time. The hours are'nt my favorite, but I guess I could make it work, even keep working my current job if I wanted to. Plus my side jobs. My DH says would'nt it just be easier to hold out for a good full time job instead of juggling all the PT jobs. Thoughts?

We have a $360 rebate from Costco. I know it does'nt go far there! Should I just take it and buy lots of meat and stock up things? DH and I can't think of anything large we need right now, except for things to use to finish the basement. You have to use the whole amount at one time and it must be used by August. I think I am leaning toward stock up. Thoughts?

Geeze! I just let it slip by. Seems like I've been here forever! I missed it by a couple of days, but hey, lets celebrate it nonetheless!

Been busy trying to keep at the no spenders. I did spend yesterday, but in gift cards, no credit cards! Yeah!

Am busy changing our withholding and having DH lower his retirement contributions by just a little, so we have enough money to pay bills every month. Hope it will help. He gets paid next week, so we will see if it goes into effect that quick. I think we can change our healthcare plan in June, so I will look into lowering that amount too.

Today we had 7 inches of snow in 3 hours. Cool! Helped to make today a no spend day! Better yet, the mailman brought me a free Senseo coffee maker that I could return to Walmart for around $63.00! And for lunch DH used a free coupon for a burrito at a local mexican joint. Free is fun!

The girls and I hunkered down to watch the snow fall. I made us some cookies and some yummy chicken chili for dinner! I do hope they go back to school tomorrow!

Here are my Feb goals:
1) Use tax refunds to fund the EF to $1000.
2) Eat out no more than 8 times.
3) Use tax refunds and salary to cut down debt by at least $1000.
4) Assume no more new debt.

Well I did close to #1, go the account up to 800.00, but I have already used it up to pay bills. Will try again with the ammended tax money.

We ate out a lot because of the fibromyalgia. Hopefully it is waning and March will be better. I will be more realistic with 10 times out instead.

I did cut down debt a lot!! I will post my new totals tomorrow!

Assume no more new debt. Okay (are you listening Front Porch Mom? Don't feel guilty, you have company!) I did do this! I let my daughter talk me into a new outfit for a dance and one outfit that was a complete waste of money, plus I treated myself to two new bras (sorry boys, cover your ears) and boy did I NEED them. So I have a JCPenney balance I will chip away at with the Am EX.

I was able to snowflake $60 to the AMEX!! Woo hoo! And it really helped me think twice about putting anything on it! Yeah! No new debt on any Amex for me!

I did receive my rebate for my Costco from Amex. They give you cash back to spend a Costco depending on how much you spent on it last year. Since we took two big trips, it was a lot. We have about $360 to play with. Am discussing with DH how to spend this.

Will think about new March goals and post them later.

Okay, ya'll would be VERY proud of me, I was on a NO SPEND STREAK!! Three days! Holy cow! But DD1 had to go in for a strep test today, plus the antibiotics, plus the throat spray, a water, well you get it. Not too bad, but I did splurge and buy DD2 and 3 some McD's for dinner. In a hurry, ya know.... Anyway, got $327 back for the refinance on our house. Will carefully see which direction to send that in. Still waiting on checks for the ammendment of our taxes. Not sure how to check on that?

Help! We've been trapped inside with no school, no spend and cases of Girl Scout cookies. Ummmm..... life is good??!!

It was easy to have no spenders, but Saturday we got OUT and had SPECIAL OCCASIONS and Sunday we were BUSY and had to go SHOPPING. Well, you get the picture. We did spend, but not too much.

Wow the ice storms were nuts! And now more snow is supposed to come tonight. Please, please, please, make the kids go to school.....please!!!

Babysitting tomorrow. Good for the pocketbook, but not so good for the fybromyalgia. Ugh, the pain and all the other fun symptoms have been really flaring up this month. We did eat out too much, shot one of my goals down. At this point it is called survival.

Hoping to fix the wreck of Sat/Sun and make another snowflake payment to the Amex!!

Yes, I have to keep a close eye on this. My Citi card payment has been moving backward. I make a budget each month and write down payment due and due date. Now I know that a due date can change because of the weekend or holiday, but then it has been staying earlier the next month and if it adjusts again, it stays even earlier! So yes, I had to pay $39.00 in a late fee. So far they have not raised my interest rate because of it, but I am keeping an eye on it. So I looked at my March budget and made sure to back up the payment AGAIN so it won't be late next month. Tricky sons of guns are'nt they??

I did make my first "snowflake" payment to the American Express. Yeah! March will be sooooo tight unless we get the amended tax return money, that I will have to be very creative making REGULAR payments, let alone any snowflake payments, but I will try!! I took a couple days babysitting jobs. It doesn't pay much, but it is better than nothing!!

Sooo... anyway, money wise we are doing OK. Nothing great, just OK. I am still waiting for our amended tax return deposits. We also did a refi, not a whole one with money out, just one with a better interest rate and it was a no cost one, but they will be sending what was left in the old escrow account, so another $800 coming in to send somewhere. Did dip in $300 to the savings account. Something is always coming up. There was another meat sale at the local store and we were almost out of our stash, so a $100 resupplied that. Except for fresh fruit and milk, I really have a load of groceries to last us a while! As soon as I get paid I will make my first "snowflake" payment. It sure won't be much, but it will be a start!!

Well, in reviewing the "ugly debt", I decided to move a hunk of the Amex to a 6.9% Chase interest rate good till the debt is paid. So I will throw $11,000 on there and make the left over amount the object of my snowflake, as it is the highest interest rate. So, housecleaning already!!

DH and I went out LAST night for our Valentines date. We went to Lions Choice, used coupons, and paid cash. Way cheaper than the Outback DH was inclined to! We gave each other store bought cards and I gave him some more deluxe mixed nuts, as he is on the South Beach. Bought them 2/$5, so one for the anniversary and kept one for Valentines day. He gave me some chocolate and a balloon. Perfect! I am going to splurge on the girls, I gave them some candy and other knickknack things I had around (body lotion, get pens, notepads) and I will order a pizza for dinner. We have gotten back to the point where this is exciting to get... instead of expected!!

Yes, I have finally gotten my UGLY DEBT TOTAL in order and can face posting them on here. And it is ugly my friends. $45,500 in CC debt. It about chokes me. Soooo, since the beginning of January, the rule has been no new debt. That has been successful although not 100%. My goal is to get the baby EF up to $1000, which I am trying to do with the tax return money. We had to amend our taxes, so who knows when this money will come in. I have decided to attack, ie.. snowflake to DEATH, the BOA first. It has a 0% until May. I am attacking this one as it has the lowest total.

We'll see how it goes. Feels good to finally be getting a handle on it. I know some of you will say, "Holy cow, I feel good, she's got it way worse!" and maybe a few of you will say "Gee, that's not so bad...." Anyway, hopefully we can finally get moving of diminishing this. Don't fool yourself that "Everyone has debt" because that is NOT the way it should be! I can't wait for someday when we are DEBT FREE! I could be a looooonnnnggg time! Stay tuned......

Yes, I have finally gotten my UGLY DEBT TOTAL in order and can face posting them on here. And it is ugly my friends. $45,500 in CC debt. It about chokes me. Soooo, since the beginning of January, the rule has been no new debt. That has been successful although not 100%. My goal is to get the baby EF up to $1000, which I am trying to do with the tax return money. We had to amend our taxes, so who knows when this money will come in. I have decided to attack, ie.. snowflake to DEATH, the BOA first. It has a 0% until May. I am attacking this one as it has the lowest total.

We'll see how it goes. Feels good to finally be getting a handle on it. I know some of you will say, "Holy cow, I feel good, she's got it way worse!" and maybe a few of you will say "Gee, that's not so bad...." Anyway, hopefully we can finally get moving of diminishing this. Don't fool yourself that "Everyone has debt" because that is NOT the way it should be! I can't wait for someday when we are DEBT FREE! I could be a looooonnnnggg time! Stay tuned......

Here is a link to a $5 off a $15 purchase at Fridays resturant. Enjoy!

http://www.tgifridays.com/Feb2008_5off15_home.htm

Not literally, but I was invited to join a survey chat group that paid $50. Unfortunatly, I had to work late today and get dinner, so I called DH and told him to start getting on line for me. Poor guy is not computer literate and just could'nt make it work, so by the time I signed it, it was 6:01, one minute late! So I was bumped from the survey. Bummer!

Wow, less than a week later! Now that is service! I already have planned out how all the refund money will be allotted, so I just consulted my chart and sent out a payment. Payday is tomorrow too! I again will just follow the pay off schedule. I have been following my meal plan, but I have to redo it because I forgot about Lent! Got to change my Fridays meal plans!

Two no spend days in row! Woo hoo! I do need some hairspray desperately! It was 75 degrees today! Humid weather and no hairspray equal disaster! Good thing it will be snowing again in a couple of days!

My DH and I have been planning for our anniversary dinner for a couple of months! We ended up with 4 $10 gift cards to Red Lobster and $5 from a survey I cashed in, plus a $4 off coupon! So with an extra $20 we had in cash (in-laws gave us some anniversary money), dinner was paid for! YUM! IN CASH, felt sooo good!!!

We picked Ground Hogs day for our anniversary date, so that my husband could remember it, but it was'nt as mushy as Valentines Day! Oh, eighteen long wonderful years!

For those of us who have a hard time setting and acheiving goals, February is a great month to get moving! (It's short!!!) So, my goals are:

1) Use tax refunds to fund the EF to $1000.
2) Eat out no more than 8 times.
3) Use tax refunds and salary to cut down debt by at least $1000.
4) Assume no more new debt.

Whew!! For a non-goal setter, 4 is the max I am going to try for. Revisit on March 1, to see how I did!!

We received 8 inches last night. Fun to look at , but already melting. Every school in the region was cancelled so the kids are having fun in the snow! We are lucky to have a big hill on the side of our house, so that is where the neighborhood kids gather to sled!

Thats DD3 on the right and the neighbor girl.

I went to enter in a photo for my profile yesterday and it knocked out all my blog preferences!! The colors, the favorites, everything. Very odd, and the picture never did show up. Any thoughts??

BTW, to add to my last entry, I used Turbotax again this year. I think I have been using it about 7 or 8 years. This year it was extremely difficult to log on, I had to download Firefox and use it to make it work. I had to call customer service to figure this out, every time I would go to log on, the screen would just turn blue. You could not move easily from place to place and when I went to print, the screen would pop up blank. Over and over. Finally hunted around and found out I had to download the latest version of Javascript. Then it turned out I had to amend the return, and oh my, another complete nightmare. Two thumbs down for this years version!!

Well, no wonder it was so hard to pay bills last year, we were grossly over paying our Federal Taxes!! So we will get an obscene amount back and change our withholdings for sure!! Ugh!

My van passed its emissions inspection! Yeah! Just in time for the end of the month deadline. Instead of having them "tear into it", DH went to Walmart and put in a new battery. No problem!

I am getting ready to ship out sales of $144 from ebay! Had some problems with paypals shipping, but they were resolved and all is good.

Funny, the hi temp today was 73, the low is now 14!!! Yikes!

After I scrape my ego off the concrete, I will keep looking. After 4 months of seriously looking, I am very discouraged. Multiple resumes sent, three interviews, three rejections. Face it guys, its not like I am interviewing for a high tech job or bank presdient, I'm interviewing for receptionist/secretarial work. I have been doing this for five years, with previous experience and I am damn good at my job (check my references!!) I take a shower and dress decently and make articulate conversations with people. Sooooo, anyway..............

I have to snicker a little bit here. I am the girl guilty of spoiling my family till we are deep in debt. Of course, that has changed and I have tried to be very proactive in our debt pay off, at least in baby steps. First is no new debt. That is going okay. So I am learning to say NO! I guess even to the point of being a little mean. DH was extolling the virtues of a great boat, better than the last one he was looking at. I calmly said, "There is not a chance you will be buying a boat!" I hated to squash his dreams (for now!), but then again it felt pretty good! I never told him he couldn't stop dreaming or shopping for one, I just draw the line at BUYING.

I went on my job interview today. I met with the "recruiter" and the "supervisor". They are interviewing another person on Monday and said they would review all the candidates and pull a couple back in to meet with the "head" people. Patience, patience!

The too good to be true part:

1) great salary!
2) health insurance 3x's less than what we are paying from my husbands company.
3) big huge plasma tvs everywhere!
4) flavored "coffee bars" everywhere!
5) Casual fridays - EVERYDAY! Jeans!
6) 15 Vacation days from the start! 5 can roll over to the next year and you can accrue a bunch!
7) Food Fridays - breakfast is served, huge tables full of food, bagels, croissants, fresh fruits, tons!
8) They believe in "happy, healthy employees"
9) full gym with a personal trainer!!!!!!
10) My best friend works there.

The only negatives are the hours: 1 hour travel to and from, 8 hours of work, you have to take an hour lunch, so 10 hours away from home a day. For a recent SAHM that is a lot!!!

Now, most of you know I'm a prayin' kind of girl. I asked the big guy to show me to a full time job, or show me I'm supposed to stay at home. I have had NO calls on ANY of my resumes I sent out, except for 1, and I got the letter today saying they "did'nt have a place in their company for me at this time". If I don't get this one, I would have to say He is saying "stay home and be poor"! My best friend has worked for this company for 16 years, so we will see what kind of "pull" she has!

I did a phone interview today and the lady wants me to come in tomorrow for a face to face. We'll see how it goes!

I did spend today. Our local store had a 10 for $10 sale, so I looked through my coupons and went and spent a little bit. Used a competitive grocer coupon for $10 off my total order too!

Lets see... sent out three more resumes. I got an interview at my best friends work, but the lady said it would be a phone interview. Guess I don't have to get out of my pjs tomorrow after all!!

I am still interested in doing the refi on the house. Just have to have DH agree.

The van did not pass its stupid emissions test. Not sure what to do. Paid $24 for it. Must chew on this. It is a computerized test that said some of the sensors are not working or something. Can't imagine having it fixed, can't imagine not having a car!

Splurged at the knitting store to get a few quick lessons. Bought yarn and new needles and had a hour long class, all for $11.00!! That lady was toooo nice!

DH and I had our date night. $20 at IHop. At least we got to catch up on some things.

Going to list more on ebay tomorrow. Gotta keep the money coming in somehow!

I did get offered a job from a friend at my Bible Study class. She asked if I would come over and help her get organized and do paperwork. This is already what I have done for the guy I work for that sells durable medical equipment. She said she would pay me in gift cards for wherever I want! I think I will definately help her out until I get a full time job!

Picked up breakfast on the way to work with my Starbucks GC. Yum!

Went to work. This situation is getting WAY to uncomfortable!! Yikes! I'm sorry, but there is a woman who is running the business that is running it LIKE a man would say a woman would!! Secrets, back stabbing, running amuck!! AHHHH! I may have to quit before I find something else, as it is almost a moral dilemma for me!

DD3 wanted a new game for her Nintendo DS, so we gathered all her unplayed games and an old Gameboy her sister unearthed and traded it in. Not only did we get the new game for FREE, but we also got 8.15 in store credit for next time!! Woo hoo! They gave us money to take things from their store!