About Me

Gretchen

I am the mother of two with one on the way. My husband and I both work full time. We are blessed to have my mother who takes care of our children for us while we work. Our whole relationship we made poor money decisions and it's now crisis time. We have had more and more money going out and now we're in a pinch. We have decided it's time to turn things around...for good this time!

DEBT AS OF OCT. 27, 2009:

Mortgage $144,714.97
Home Equity Loan $38,766.17
Car #1 $14,054.99
Car #2 $11,300.30
Student Loan #1 $38,192.57
Student Loan #2 $16,649.01
Take Charge America $20,100.00
TOTAL DEBT $283,778.01

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OCTOBER/NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2009 GOALS:

1. DEBT: Bring all payments current by the end of December 2009.

Current payments we are behind in (by two weeks to one month): Storage, XCel Energy, Car #2, Direct TV, Water, Mortgage (gulp!)

2. BUDGETING: Look into ALL options to reduce monthly payments on debts and other expenses (refinancing, selling vehicles, closing storage, etc.).

3. BUDGETING: Have all spending documented for November and December and after bills are paid use only cash for all other expenses.

4. SAVINGS: Begin putting money (all extra income from photography business and all money from selling unneeded items in house) toward Emergency Fund Savings to establish a minimum of $1,000 in the bank within 6 months.

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BIG-PICTURE GOAL:
(begun 1/1/10)

Reduce debt (minus Mortgage and HEL) to $???
Can't think that far ahead yet!

Current balance (minus Mortgage and HEL) as of 10/27/09: $100,296.87

Satellite, Internet, and Phone

November 2nd, 2009 at 04:25 pm

Today we eliminated our satellite and land line phone! We went from paying about $130 for all three down to $35 for Internet alone. That's another $95 savings per month. This in combination with reducing our interest rate and payment on our vehicles by $180 makes a GRAND TOTAL of (drum roll please!) $275 a month!!!

Our next pay day is Friday and we plan to implement our envelope system!

Posted in Budgeting, Personal Finance, Saving Money | 8 Comments »

8 Responses to “Satellite, Internet, and Phone”

gertymac Says:
November 2nd, 2009 at 04:55 pm

Good job making the sacrifice. It can be adjustment, but I ended up being happier without being a slave to my DVR.
creditcardfree Says:
November 2nd, 2009 at 05:29 pm

That's excellent. Enjoy the savings!!
mooshocker Says:
November 2nd, 2009 at 05:39 pm

I am so proud of you!!!!!!!!!!!!! God bless.
LuxLiving Says:
November 2nd, 2009 at 05:51 pm

On the road to recovery!! Yeah YOU!
thriftorama Says:
November 2nd, 2009 at 06:05 pm

That's no small amount. Good for you.
HouseHopeful Says:
November 2nd, 2009 at 06:52 pm

Great job! Thats a big monthly savings!
Broken Arrow Says:
November 2nd, 2009 at 06:54 pm

Very nice! Amazing how they can add up huh? Wow, that's a car payment there. If you're like me, after a little while, you won't even notice they're gone.
mjrube94 Says:
November 2nd, 2009 at 07:08 pm

Congratulations! I'm impressed with how quickly you're getting into the swing of things.

Poohstixx's Personal Finance Blog

Documenting our financial journey to financial peace!

Satellite, Internet, and Phone

8 Responses to “Satellite, Internet, and Phone”

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