Sunday, September 11, 2011
Coupons Finally!
It has been WEEKS lately where my local Sunday paper has not had coupons, for the past 3 weeks nothing. But today finally coupons, Yeah. My coupon case has become very light so I'm looking forward to coupon cutting today.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Cooking the Debt Away
Ok here I am once again trying to save money through the families food budget. So again no eating out, so far so good, but with getting used to the new school schedule it seems harder than before.
DH just called asking what to bring home for dinner, he knows we have cut out the eating out. Guess old habits are hard to break but I really need him to try a little harder or maybe I need to try harder to not be so frustrated with.
Dinner last night was flank steak so tonight is chicken with a tandoori sauce. Night before last was grilled jerked chicken. Trying to Kees the meals switched up so husband does not get board with having the same meat each night, hope I can keep the cooking juices flowing. Any ideals?
DH just called asking what to bring home for dinner, he knows we have cut out the eating out. Guess old habits are hard to break but I really need him to try a little harder or maybe I need to try harder to not be so frustrated with.
Dinner last night was flank steak so tonight is chicken with a tandoori sauce. Night before last was grilled jerked chicken. Trying to Kees the meals switched up so husband does not get board with having the same meat each night, hope I can keep the cooking juices flowing. Any ideals?
Debt Ups and Downs
So far this week has been good for debt ups and down, lets see the goods:
- DH has not charged anything this week (I'm impressed)
- Both cars still running
- DD decided she did not want to order team photos (really she forgot about it)
- No ordering out
- I did not give in to any labor day sales; this is usually when I get a few pieces to round out my work wardrobe for the year
- Still purchasing school supplies, cost another $44.
- DD who is learning how to drive, drove over glass with my brand new tires (today) but so far it looks ok.
- Need to write checks totaling $145 for school (this is public schools)
- Refrigerator still not working properly since Hurricane Irene and our extended warranty is up.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Debt so bad I'm lost
My family's debt is so bad and I don't know what to do. Tried everything I could think of but we can't seem to make any headway. That is not totally true, we make headway but we loose it 3x faster then we make it. And I am pretty sure the main culprit is my dear husband, he is AWFUL with money. We both believed that if I took over the bill paying (after years of arguing) it would fix the problem. That was a big joke, instead of fixing the problems it seems to have just delayed the downfall and removed my husband from the reality of it and increased my stress so much that my some times tick has turned into an all the time tick. At the same time I am no angel, since my husband seems unable to curb his spending I have been spending a little more than I need. Getting super depressed again, will write more later....Happy savings
Friday, September 2, 2011
It's Been a long time
But I'm back. It has been over a year and every time I thought we were making progress in a few months we were worse then before. I took over the bill paying a little over a year ago, for a while we did ok. Even started a savings account, we got up to nearly $3,000. Well all good things must come to an end over the past 3 months I have had to deep into the savings to cover the monthly bills and I can't tell why.
That is not totally the truth, one month we had to make some car repairs about $600. Over all it seems to be a lot of little things and I feel like I have lost an uphill battle that has finally rolled down hill and can't get up.
This is so depressing, I will write more later, I promise right now I need a hot cup of tea.
That is not totally the truth, one month we had to make some car repairs about $600. Over all it seems to be a lot of little things and I feel like I have lost an uphill battle that has finally rolled down hill and can't get up.
This is so depressing, I will write more later, I promise right now I need a hot cup of tea.
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Update Debt Elimination - November 2009
Hi everyone, Hope you are having a wonderful time getting ready for the holidays and staying out of debt! It has been a crazy few weeks for me at work and I have missed blogging. It feels good to be back at the keys, typing away.
This is my day of truth, where I call all the credit card companys and get the current balances. November was a crazy credit card month, one of the cards lowered our credit limit, even though we have never been late on a payment and have been paying the balance down, it was on a card that daycare charges automatically each month. When the credit card company lowered the balance the daycare payment bounced. Very embarrassing and more then a little depressing. Hopefully 2010 will be a better year economically, I have high hopes.
Credit Card Balance
Start point = $95,351
Last month = $89,518
Current = $86,222
This is my day of truth, where I call all the credit card companys and get the current balances. November was a crazy credit card month, one of the cards lowered our credit limit, even though we have never been late on a payment and have been paying the balance down, it was on a card that daycare charges automatically each month. When the credit card company lowered the balance the daycare payment bounced. Very embarrassing and more then a little depressing. Hopefully 2010 will be a better year economically, I have high hopes.
Credit Card Balance
Start point = $95,351
Last month = $89,518
Current = $86,222
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Paying off $5800 of debt - Was it a fluke?
Lat month (October) we paid off $5833 worth of debt, I have been wondering how much of that was a fluke or one time event.
We had big plans for October, all of which did not pan out. The biggest plan was I was taking over the bill paying. This darn near caused a war, my husband felt that I was blaming him and saying that he was not capable of managing a budget. I swear I never said that but I am pretty sure I was thinking it. We have been married well over a dozen years so I do have some ideal how he thinks and the last thing I want to do is make the situation any more tense or ugly. So I have been very careful not to lay blame and to place blame on myself. But still my husband felt the way he felt, personally I think it was /is his own gilt and I can say that here since he is not aware of this blog.
After determining that divorce is not what we want we have come to an unstable payment plan. My husband still pays the bills and I check credit card balances and the bank account on a regular bases (2x a month) to make sure we are on target. The good side of this plan is that he retains some of his manhood (I guess) and all the budget and bill pressure is not on me. The bad side of this plan is that we could pay the credit card debt off a lot faster if I did it but it would damage the relationship even more.
For last month we got paid back about $3000 on a loan we made to a family member, we gave it expecting to never be paid back so this was a great surprise. All of that went to paying off the remaining balance on the credit card we use on a regular basis. Now that card is paid in full and will be paid off each month. We also get points on the card so it is the only one we are using at this time. The other credit cards have been put up and others shredded. One was closed when the credit card company wanted to increase our interest rate not because we had done something but because the "economy was bad" From about 12% to over 20%, I declined and they closed the account. No problem , decided that credit rating hit I would take.
October was the first month that we did allowances, $150 each for the month. I would like to include more things in that allowance like hair cuts but marriage is give and take and the things that caused the major drain on the finances like eating out is included. We have bee cooking at home more, by we I mean me. This took some getting use to but is turning into a nice experience, cooking new things and trying different recipes.
We are also working on planning out our purchases. Still need a LOT of help in this area, but this is what checks and balances is for. I am hopeful at the very least if it doesn't work there will be lest debt to split up if we split up.
We had big plans for October, all of which did not pan out. The biggest plan was I was taking over the bill paying. This darn near caused a war, my husband felt that I was blaming him and saying that he was not capable of managing a budget. I swear I never said that but I am pretty sure I was thinking it. We have been married well over a dozen years so I do have some ideal how he thinks and the last thing I want to do is make the situation any more tense or ugly. So I have been very careful not to lay blame and to place blame on myself. But still my husband felt the way he felt, personally I think it was /is his own gilt and I can say that here since he is not aware of this blog.
After determining that divorce is not what we want we have come to an unstable payment plan. My husband still pays the bills and I check credit card balances and the bank account on a regular bases (2x a month) to make sure we are on target. The good side of this plan is that he retains some of his manhood (I guess) and all the budget and bill pressure is not on me. The bad side of this plan is that we could pay the credit card debt off a lot faster if I did it but it would damage the relationship even more.
For last month we got paid back about $3000 on a loan we made to a family member, we gave it expecting to never be paid back so this was a great surprise. All of that went to paying off the remaining balance on the credit card we use on a regular basis. Now that card is paid in full and will be paid off each month. We also get points on the card so it is the only one we are using at this time. The other credit cards have been put up and others shredded. One was closed when the credit card company wanted to increase our interest rate not because we had done something but because the "economy was bad" From about 12% to over 20%, I declined and they closed the account. No problem , decided that credit rating hit I would take.
October was the first month that we did allowances, $150 each for the month. I would like to include more things in that allowance like hair cuts but marriage is give and take and the things that caused the major drain on the finances like eating out is included. We have bee cooking at home more, by we I mean me. This took some getting use to but is turning into a nice experience, cooking new things and trying different recipes.
We are also working on planning out our purchases. Still need a LOT of help in this area, but this is what checks and balances is for. I am hopeful at the very least if it doesn't work there will be lest debt to split up if we split up.
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