Well, with a new year, a new life, and about to be out of debt I feel I need to start fresh with a new focus. I am not sure what that will be yet. But I would like to blog (as well as other things) more frequently, and it seems silly to keep a blog only about getting out of debt now. I am going to broaden. Still discuss finances, but not exclusively.
So, to that end, I have started a new blog:
http://life0after0debt.wordpress.com/
Friday, January 27, 2012
Monday, January 2, 2012
Happy New Year ~
Here is what I hope is a 7 month recap and not 7 months worth of excuses :)
our life
The baby finally came the end of May. My son is now 7 months old, and wonderful. We had a very rough start - my delivery did not go at all as planned and I was sick and recovering for the first couple of months. He was also a very demanding baby and I spent a lot of time sitting and holding him. So not much at all got done the first few months. Now that he is napping and playing on his own more, I am working on getting life back to normal. I have been working on cleaning out the house, starting to sew again, I am trying to get a handmade business going. I've been spending a lot of time in Florida with my mom. My sister got married in September, and that took up a lot of time and planning as well. I feel very lucky our two elderly cars didn't give us trouble this year, but we are anticipating replacing a car in the not too distant future. We need a bigger car now anyway.
work
I had a meeting with work about two months in. I was still real ill and adjusting. I asked if I could go part time or work from home. My commute and pay did not make continuing to work (for them at least) continue to make sense. Additionally, the baby wakes up and stays up frequently in the night (he still does even now - I am exhausted) They told me that wouldn't work, and severed my employment with them. A couple months later, I got an email asking if I was still interested. So, I have been working part time from home. Some weeks more than others. My accounts hadn't been touched since I left, so I have been catching them up for the year. I have mixed feelings about it. I loved my job, and having some money come in is helpful. I miss really working though. I miss going into the office and all the components of my job. I am rather jealous of the girl who replaced me. It just wouldn't work though. I'd be working for daycare, and I can't imagine daycare raising my baby. Don't get me wrong - I never in a million years believed I would be a SAHM. Until I was. I never understood why people would give up their jobs to be moms. But there are lots of reasons to do so. It also doesn't mean I don't miss the socialization and accomplishment of work, either. I just can't do it all, after all.
The money
Here I wish I had kept up the blog. I think I could have used a place to sort things through and would have appreciated the recording of it. However, after April budgeting kind of went to hell. After I had the baby, everything did for a while. It was enough just to get to and from the bathroom for a while. I kept an eye on the bills but couldn't go to the bank. So we started using debit cards, and my husband signed us up for our grocery/gas credit card. We had a bunch of money sitting in our accounts that should have been put in savings. We have been going over budget and spending more freely again.
We were very lucky in that my family really provided us with most everything we needed. However, as I spent most of my days sitting on my couch holding the baby and watching game shows I also developed quite the addiction to online shopping. What else could I do one handed and sitting? Every little baby trinket or cloth diaper that appeared on a DOTD site I was buying. I didn't use a credit card, at least, but I have spent quite a bit of money earmarked for other things. I am still spending, and really that is one thing on the list for this year - get back on track. With everything - the budget and the spending. As well as try to find ways to make money.
The medical bills were far above what we had planned. I had a horribly emergency last minute C section and a lot of tests. Between me and the baby, we had about $40,000 in hospital bills. We paid oop (after insurance) $2500 in the end ($900 to an anesthesiologist I had never even planned to have!). That's 5 times what I planned on though. But it is all paid for. We had the money.
When I was going to the bank and taking out our monthly cash, we had accumulated over $3000 in cash savings funds I was keeping in my linen closet. I started having horrible nightmares about us getting robbed and killed. We finally took most of that cash and opened another savings account for short term savings. Now I just transfer the money every month.
I paid off the loan from my father on his birthday in September. All we have left is around $4000 on my student loan. We had a large "gift" for the holidays and we additionally have about $15000 in savings. I just have to sit down and think it all through but regardless, I should be debt free this month. 9 months later than originally planned. Not working has obviously slowed us down and I just have a lot harder time not having a lot of savings now with the baby. How funny when I lived most of my life with a couple hundred in the bank and thousands in debt and never thought twice about it.
our life
The baby finally came the end of May. My son is now 7 months old, and wonderful. We had a very rough start - my delivery did not go at all as planned and I was sick and recovering for the first couple of months. He was also a very demanding baby and I spent a lot of time sitting and holding him. So not much at all got done the first few months. Now that he is napping and playing on his own more, I am working on getting life back to normal. I have been working on cleaning out the house, starting to sew again, I am trying to get a handmade business going. I've been spending a lot of time in Florida with my mom. My sister got married in September, and that took up a lot of time and planning as well. I feel very lucky our two elderly cars didn't give us trouble this year, but we are anticipating replacing a car in the not too distant future. We need a bigger car now anyway.
work
I had a meeting with work about two months in. I was still real ill and adjusting. I asked if I could go part time or work from home. My commute and pay did not make continuing to work (for them at least) continue to make sense. Additionally, the baby wakes up and stays up frequently in the night (he still does even now - I am exhausted) They told me that wouldn't work, and severed my employment with them. A couple months later, I got an email asking if I was still interested. So, I have been working part time from home. Some weeks more than others. My accounts hadn't been touched since I left, so I have been catching them up for the year. I have mixed feelings about it. I loved my job, and having some money come in is helpful. I miss really working though. I miss going into the office and all the components of my job. I am rather jealous of the girl who replaced me. It just wouldn't work though. I'd be working for daycare, and I can't imagine daycare raising my baby. Don't get me wrong - I never in a million years believed I would be a SAHM. Until I was. I never understood why people would give up their jobs to be moms. But there are lots of reasons to do so. It also doesn't mean I don't miss the socialization and accomplishment of work, either. I just can't do it all, after all.
The money
Here I wish I had kept up the blog. I think I could have used a place to sort things through and would have appreciated the recording of it. However, after April budgeting kind of went to hell. After I had the baby, everything did for a while. It was enough just to get to and from the bathroom for a while. I kept an eye on the bills but couldn't go to the bank. So we started using debit cards, and my husband signed us up for our grocery/gas credit card. We had a bunch of money sitting in our accounts that should have been put in savings. We have been going over budget and spending more freely again.
We were very lucky in that my family really provided us with most everything we needed. However, as I spent most of my days sitting on my couch holding the baby and watching game shows I also developed quite the addiction to online shopping. What else could I do one handed and sitting? Every little baby trinket or cloth diaper that appeared on a DOTD site I was buying. I didn't use a credit card, at least, but I have spent quite a bit of money earmarked for other things. I am still spending, and really that is one thing on the list for this year - get back on track. With everything - the budget and the spending. As well as try to find ways to make money.
The medical bills were far above what we had planned. I had a horribly emergency last minute C section and a lot of tests. Between me and the baby, we had about $40,000 in hospital bills. We paid oop (after insurance) $2500 in the end ($900 to an anesthesiologist I had never even planned to have!). That's 5 times what I planned on though. But it is all paid for. We had the money.
When I was going to the bank and taking out our monthly cash, we had accumulated over $3000 in cash savings funds I was keeping in my linen closet. I started having horrible nightmares about us getting robbed and killed. We finally took most of that cash and opened another savings account for short term savings. Now I just transfer the money every month.
I paid off the loan from my father on his birthday in September. All we have left is around $4000 on my student loan. We had a large "gift" for the holidays and we additionally have about $15000 in savings. I just have to sit down and think it all through but regardless, I should be debt free this month. 9 months later than originally planned. Not working has obviously slowed us down and I just have a lot harder time not having a lot of savings now with the baby. How funny when I lived most of my life with a couple hundred in the bank and thousands in debt and never thought twice about it.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Payoff: Month 16
March:
cc 1,2,3,4,5: 0
Loan 1: 0
Loan 2: 5631.85
Loan 3: 8471.92
Debt: 14103.77
Paid: 758.34
April:
cc 1,2,3,4,5: 0
Loan 1: 0
Loan 2: 5071.85
Loan 3: 8264.50
Debt: 13336.35
Paid: 767.42
Total Paid: 30571.53
Added to savings: -5000
Total savings: ~13600
YAY! for crossing $30,000 paid (Finally)!
A word on savings: We owed $3500 in federal taxes. My husband took out $5000 to cover the taxes. We should be able to repay the difference ($1500) plus what we would otherwise be putting in savings ($1600) and our state refund ($500) for a total reconciled (but not actual as of this moment) savings of $17200. I think we will hold off on this for now incase the little guy comes early. We anticipate hospital/doctor costs of around $1000 and a savings amount of $1600 in May. Total projection for May is $17800. Our debt at that point should be roughly $12,500, allowing us to pay it off with around $5000 left over.
cc 1,2,3,4,5: 0
Loan 1: 0
Loan 2: 5631.85
Loan 3: 8471.92
Debt: 14103.77
Paid: 758.34
April:
cc 1,2,3,4,5: 0
Loan 1: 0
Loan 2: 5071.85
Loan 3: 8264.50
Debt: 13336.35
Paid: 767.42
Total Paid: 30571.53
Added to savings: -5000
Total savings: ~13600
YAY! for crossing $30,000 paid (Finally)!
A word on savings: We owed $3500 in federal taxes. My husband took out $5000 to cover the taxes. We should be able to repay the difference ($1500) plus what we would otherwise be putting in savings ($1600) and our state refund ($500) for a total reconciled (but not actual as of this moment) savings of $17200. I think we will hold off on this for now incase the little guy comes early. We anticipate hospital/doctor costs of around $1000 and a savings amount of $1600 in May. Total projection for May is $17800. Our debt at that point should be roughly $12,500, allowing us to pay it off with around $5000 left over.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Payoff: Month 15
February:
cc 1,2,3,4,5: 0
Loan 1: 0
Loan 2: 6191.85
Loan 3: 8670.26
Debt: 14862.11
Paid: 760.45
March:
cc 1,2,3,4,5: 0
Loan 1: 0
Loan 2: 5631.85
Loan 3: 8471.92
Debt: 14103.77
Paid: 758.34
Total Paid: 29804.11
Added to savings: 1600
Total savings: ~18600
cc 1,2,3,4,5: 0
Loan 1: 0
Loan 2: 6191.85
Loan 3: 8670.26
Debt: 14862.11
Paid: 760.45
March:
cc 1,2,3,4,5: 0
Loan 1: 0
Loan 2: 5631.85
Loan 3: 8471.92
Debt: 14103.77
Paid: 758.34
Total Paid: 29804.11
Added to savings: 1600
Total savings: ~18600
Payoff: Month 14
January:
cc 1,2,3,4,5: 0
Loan 1: 0
Loan 2: 6751.85
Loan 3: 8870.71
Debt: 15622.56
Paid: 761.02
February:
cc 1,2,3,4,5: 0
Loan 1: 0
Loan 2: 6191.85
Loan 3: 8670.26
Debt: 14862.11
Paid: 760.45
Total Paid: 29045.77
Added to savings: 1750
Total savings: ~17000
I'm here.
Wow. I've gone AWOL. Just because I have become tardy with my updates, doesn't mean I am not still following my plan. I have been very preoccupied with the pregnancy. I am 36 weeks now, and feeling big and uncomfortable and sore. My feet are huge. All my free time has gone to preparing for the baby, and I don't even really have energy for that anymore. Overall the pregnancy has gone well.
I have been having a much harder time sticking to my budget. I am spending lots on the baby. I have had some monetary gifts that help with that, but all my discretionary money and I have a baby line item in the budget and I have even gone beyond that. I was doing so well watching my spending til it came to the baby. I am still doing monthly budgets and payoffs. April has been hard because our taxes are much more than we were expecting. May is hard because the baby could come at any time. So, there is some shuffling of money going on in and out of our savings. We should still be able to be debt free after the baby comes with a decent savings starter.
Something has happened at work causing the blocks to go away, so for now, I am able to update here. Which is somehow a lot easier than updating from home for some reason. I don't know when they will put the blocks back up, but I am going to take advantage while I can to try to catch up. :)
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Payoff: Month 13
December:
cc 1,2,3,4,5: 0
Loan 1: 0
Loan 2: 7311.85
Loan 3: 9071.73
Debt: 16383.58
Paid: 753.08
January:
cc 1,2,3,4,5: 0
Loan 1: 0
Loan 2: 6751.85
Loan 3: 8870.71
Debt: 15622.56
Paid: 761.02
Total Paid: 28285.32
Added to savings: 6400
Total Savings: ~15250
cc 1,2,3,4,5: 0
Loan 1: 0
Loan 2: 7311.85
Loan 3: 9071.73
Debt: 16383.58
Paid: 753.08
January:
cc 1,2,3,4,5: 0
Loan 1: 0
Loan 2: 6751.85
Loan 3: 8870.71
Debt: 15622.56
Paid: 761.02
Total Paid: 28285.32
Added to savings: 6400
Total Savings: ~15250
I realized
In doing our payoff for this month, I realized we have about as much in savings right now as we have in debt. This means that had our plans not changed, we would be out of debt in February. In part this is due to a substantial holiday money gift from my mom, which may or may not have been the case if we were not bearing her grandchild, so who really knows. But we are grateful and it feels good to know this.
I am itching to pay of debts. At least one? But I am not. We anticipate a $2000 or so tax bill coming up which we will have to pay. We have to pay the hospital still. Part of my leave will be unpaid, and I am still wavering on what to do about work. But, assuming all goes well, we should be able to have everything paid off between the baby being born and me going back to work.
I am itching to pay of debts. At least one? But I am not. We anticipate a $2000 or so tax bill coming up which we will have to pay. We have to pay the hospital still. Part of my leave will be unpaid, and I am still wavering on what to do about work. But, assuming all goes well, we should be able to have everything paid off between the baby being born and me going back to work.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Thoughts as we come to the end of the year...
Heh. The first one is, I made it! I haven't used the credit card for over a year. And, until maybe this month, I haven't even been tempted. Living on a budget works.... if you stick to it. We have come a long way. I am proud of what we have accomplished, though at the same time, I feel beaten up. It is hard, now especially, to stick to the budget, and I have been overspending lately.
We found out we are having a boy. Even though I wanted a girl, just knowing this suddenly made the pregnancy so much more real. I also started feeling him move in the last few weeks, and have started really showing in the last week or so (though I really just look really fat, I think). I am wanting to buy stuff for the baby and worrying about big ticket items. I have been going over budget and my account is suffering for it. BUT I drew the line at the credit card. I did spend some money that was sitting in my account for car repairs, though. And it isn't like I went crazy... I bought some clearance clothes at Target and some cloth diapers and I am making the nursery linens, so I bought fabric (which I still don't have enough of). But when you are on a tight budget, and when I really have myself focused on being able to pay a lot off this summer, it is hard to carve out even a little bit.
We have also gotten hit at work - Neither one of us got bonuses or raises. Although, my husband's job has "promised" retoractive raises and bonuses in June. He thinks this means layoffs are coming, though it is unlikely he will be laid off. In addition, our insurance premiums are skyrocketing. They are going up $150 in January and another $150 when the baby comes, so we are essentially taking a big paycut. I don't know what is up with my job. They refuse to admit we are hurting, but it is a huge deal that we got screwed in both raises and bonuses and we saw several large rounds of layoffs this year. I also feel I am terribly underpaid for what I do for them, and feel I deserve an additional raise to balance that out. I was surprised I didn't get it, and am debating at what point I need to ask for it. I just feel I am not in a bargaining position right now. That may change next fall. I really think I will be looking for another job by then, not just because of money but also because I spend 2-3 hours commuting everyday. I am having a hard time justifying that knowing I will have a baby this time next year. I keep playing with the stay at home scenario budget, but I just can't do it. Not only do I not really want to be a stay at home mom, we would be cut to nothing. I don't think it is worth it. It is worth it to find a better paying and/or closer to home job though, even though I ultimately love my job and am very comfortable there.
Making things worse, my laptop finally gave up the ghost this weekend. My husband keeps talking about getting me a new one, but I hate spending that money. All I can think about are all the other expenses we have coming up.
Looking back, I said there were three things, I think, that I wouldn't be able to do and still pay off debt:
1. Buy dolls: Well, I did. I am not entirely sure, but I think I bought three dolls this year, and minimal doll accessories. While this is certainly more than zero, it is a whole lot less than the several hundred dollars a month I was spending before. There have been many things I have had to pass on and watch retire, even though I really wanted it. There's always ebay? It did get easier once I got pregnant, though. It is a lot harder to justify these sorts of purchases knowing I need things like cribs and bottles.
2. Get a dog: Well, I did. Barely made it a few months on that one. He was expensive initially, and has been lately because I am taking him to training classes before the baby comes. But, overall, he has not been an overwhelming financial impact. I think after having such an old, sick, expensive dog for so long, I forget that the younger ones aren't generally as expensive. We have also built up a good savings fund for pet expenses. With everyone's shots coming due in the next few months, I am much more calm about handling that than I was this time last year.
3. No 5th anniversary in Hawaii: Yeah. We had to let this one go. There was no way. We did spend a nice week at my parent's beach house using money we saved for that purpose. I spent a lot of time on the beach, reading books, and getting pregnant. :) Maybe for our 10th we can do Hawaii?
4. No baby: Well, I did. Well.... I will. My arrangement with myself was that we would start trying once the credit cards were paid off, which is what we did. It took a few months to get pregnant, which allowed me to also pay off one of the loans. It did not take anywhere near as much time as I thought it would though. I thought we would be seeking medical treatments at this point, but I guess we were very lucky that it did not come to that. It does, however, throw off my 14 month to debt freedom plan, and I have had a hard time dealing with the realities of that. I hate stretching the money stuff out so much longer, and baby expenses, daycare, and maternity leave are all going to make it even longer.
So. I guess the lesson here is that even though you get on a budget, and by definition you have to sacrifice, you do not have to pass on the important things. I was still able to get some fun things - not as much as I wanted to or would have a year ago, but didn't have to give it up entirely. And the important things, like animals and babies, can still be worked in and worked around. You just have to be flexible and plan.
I think back to the first few months, when we were really getting by on nothing. When buying my book club book was my entire "fun money" allotment. When a month with five weeks cropped up and we ran out of gas and grocery money. When I had to pay vet bills with no pet fund cushion. When a leaking roof was the end of the world. When a hotel and plane for my cousin's wedding was a huge deal. I am griping about how low our sinking fund is now that we used it for it's purpose: Christmas gifts. But I am still entering January with around $300 in it, which is $300 more than I had last January! We have been through a lot, and we have come a long way, and we have been able to increase things, like gas and fun money, as things have been paid off or income increased (fat chance).
This has gotten long, so I suppose I will post my looking ahead thoughts separately.
We found out we are having a boy. Even though I wanted a girl, just knowing this suddenly made the pregnancy so much more real. I also started feeling him move in the last few weeks, and have started really showing in the last week or so (though I really just look really fat, I think). I am wanting to buy stuff for the baby and worrying about big ticket items. I have been going over budget and my account is suffering for it. BUT I drew the line at the credit card. I did spend some money that was sitting in my account for car repairs, though. And it isn't like I went crazy... I bought some clearance clothes at Target and some cloth diapers and I am making the nursery linens, so I bought fabric (which I still don't have enough of). But when you are on a tight budget, and when I really have myself focused on being able to pay a lot off this summer, it is hard to carve out even a little bit.
We have also gotten hit at work - Neither one of us got bonuses or raises. Although, my husband's job has "promised" retoractive raises and bonuses in June. He thinks this means layoffs are coming, though it is unlikely he will be laid off. In addition, our insurance premiums are skyrocketing. They are going up $150 in January and another $150 when the baby comes, so we are essentially taking a big paycut. I don't know what is up with my job. They refuse to admit we are hurting, but it is a huge deal that we got screwed in both raises and bonuses and we saw several large rounds of layoffs this year. I also feel I am terribly underpaid for what I do for them, and feel I deserve an additional raise to balance that out. I was surprised I didn't get it, and am debating at what point I need to ask for it. I just feel I am not in a bargaining position right now. That may change next fall. I really think I will be looking for another job by then, not just because of money but also because I spend 2-3 hours commuting everyday. I am having a hard time justifying that knowing I will have a baby this time next year. I keep playing with the stay at home scenario budget, but I just can't do it. Not only do I not really want to be a stay at home mom, we would be cut to nothing. I don't think it is worth it. It is worth it to find a better paying and/or closer to home job though, even though I ultimately love my job and am very comfortable there.
Making things worse, my laptop finally gave up the ghost this weekend. My husband keeps talking about getting me a new one, but I hate spending that money. All I can think about are all the other expenses we have coming up.
Looking back, I said there were three things, I think, that I wouldn't be able to do and still pay off debt:
1. Buy dolls: Well, I did. I am not entirely sure, but I think I bought three dolls this year, and minimal doll accessories. While this is certainly more than zero, it is a whole lot less than the several hundred dollars a month I was spending before. There have been many things I have had to pass on and watch retire, even though I really wanted it. There's always ebay? It did get easier once I got pregnant, though. It is a lot harder to justify these sorts of purchases knowing I need things like cribs and bottles.
2. Get a dog: Well, I did. Barely made it a few months on that one. He was expensive initially, and has been lately because I am taking him to training classes before the baby comes. But, overall, he has not been an overwhelming financial impact. I think after having such an old, sick, expensive dog for so long, I forget that the younger ones aren't generally as expensive. We have also built up a good savings fund for pet expenses. With everyone's shots coming due in the next few months, I am much more calm about handling that than I was this time last year.
3. No 5th anniversary in Hawaii: Yeah. We had to let this one go. There was no way. We did spend a nice week at my parent's beach house using money we saved for that purpose. I spent a lot of time on the beach, reading books, and getting pregnant. :) Maybe for our 10th we can do Hawaii?
4. No baby: Well, I did. Well.... I will. My arrangement with myself was that we would start trying once the credit cards were paid off, which is what we did. It took a few months to get pregnant, which allowed me to also pay off one of the loans. It did not take anywhere near as much time as I thought it would though. I thought we would be seeking medical treatments at this point, but I guess we were very lucky that it did not come to that. It does, however, throw off my 14 month to debt freedom plan, and I have had a hard time dealing with the realities of that. I hate stretching the money stuff out so much longer, and baby expenses, daycare, and maternity leave are all going to make it even longer.
So. I guess the lesson here is that even though you get on a budget, and by definition you have to sacrifice, you do not have to pass on the important things. I was still able to get some fun things - not as much as I wanted to or would have a year ago, but didn't have to give it up entirely. And the important things, like animals and babies, can still be worked in and worked around. You just have to be flexible and plan.
I think back to the first few months, when we were really getting by on nothing. When buying my book club book was my entire "fun money" allotment. When a month with five weeks cropped up and we ran out of gas and grocery money. When I had to pay vet bills with no pet fund cushion. When a leaking roof was the end of the world. When a hotel and plane for my cousin's wedding was a huge deal. I am griping about how low our sinking fund is now that we used it for it's purpose: Christmas gifts. But I am still entering January with around $300 in it, which is $300 more than I had last January! We have been through a lot, and we have come a long way, and we have been able to increase things, like gas and fun money, as things have been paid off or income increased (fat chance).
This has gotten long, so I suppose I will post my looking ahead thoughts separately.
Payoff: Month 12 & year end review
November:
cc 1,2,3,4,5: 0
Loan 1: 0
Loan 2: 7871.85
Loan 3: 9264.81
Debt: 17136.66
Paid: 769.43
December:
cc 1,2,3,4,5: 0
Loan 1: 0
Loan 2: 7311.85
Loan 3: 9071.73
Debt: 16383.58
Paid: 753.08
Total Paid: 27524.3
Added to savings: 1600
Total Savings: ~8850
We finish out the year with 62% of our debt paid off. We have almost $9000 saved now, which would have gone on our debt as well (proving we would have wiped out at least one more loan at this point). This is an average of just under $2300 in debt repayment per month (not including our additional savings). Under the current circumstances, I cannot quite predict a projection based on this information. We will not be able to put that much per month going ahead, and I am not sure how much of our savings will be used by the time I come off maternity leave. My soft goal is to have the debts paid off by this time next year at the latest, but that will move as other things become more clear. I am confident that if we had proceeded without pregnancy, we would have met or exceeded the April 2011 goal. I don't have the actual paperwork on this with me right now, but we have also paid off around $14400 in mortgage principal this year as well. I will try to remember to check on that and update it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
