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.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
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.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
December Budget
Income: We expect to get Christmas money and I should get a bonus at work. So far neither has happened. These may get carried over onto January's budget.Expenses: The ususal
Debt repayment: Minimums
Variable expenses:I added $50 for the angel tree child at work.
Funds: Our flex money has run out, so I have had to pay for some doctor visits out of pocket. I am reimbursing myself from the money we would have saved, since that is what the saved money is meant to be for anyway.
Save:only $1600 this month.
November Budget
Expenses: Termite due this month. We've had some unpredictably high power bills, so I am just keeping the budget for that at 300. I figure it will all even out, as I seem incapable of telling which months will be high and which low. I guess next year I will have this year's bills to refer back to.
Debt: Continuing minimum payments to my dad and school loan.
Variable expenses: Nothing too unusual here.
Funds: Added a baby fund (And actually, I think I later upped it to $100) for buying baby stuff.
Save: Adding $1750 to savings this month.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Payoff: Month 11
October:
cc 1,2,3,4,5: 0
Loan 1: 0
Loan 2: 8431.85
Loan 3: 9474.24
Debt: 17906.09
Paid: 750.66
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
Total Paid: 26771.22
Added to savings: 1750
Total Savings: ~7250
As you can see from the last couple of posts, we have scaled back on our debt repayment. I am currently paying $560 to loan 2 and $250 to loan 3. Anything else which would go to these loans are going into savings. Our savings should start building quickly. I will have the OB paid in January, but I still don't know what the hospital will cost or how my maternity will work out. Once all that is taken care of, we will pay the debt again with whatever is left.
cc 1,2,3,4,5: 0
Loan 1: 0
Loan 2: 8431.85
Loan 3: 9474.24
Debt: 17906.09
Paid: 750.66
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
Total Paid: 26771.22
Added to savings: 1750
Total Savings: ~7250
As you can see from the last couple of posts, we have scaled back on our debt repayment. I am currently paying $560 to loan 2 and $250 to loan 3. Anything else which would go to these loans are going into savings. Our savings should start building quickly. I will have the OB paid in January, but I still don't know what the hospital will cost or how my maternity will work out. Once all that is taken care of, we will pay the debt again with whatever is left.
Payoff: Month 10
September
cc 1,2,3,4,5: 0
Loan 1: 0
Loan 2: 8991.85
Loan 3: 9664.90
Debt: 18656.75
Paid: 1995.93
October:
cc 1,2,3,4,5: 0
Loan 1: 0
Loan 2: 8431.85
Loan 3: 9474.24
Debt: 17906.09
Paid: 750.66
Total Paid: 26001.79
Added to savings: 2000
Total Savings: ~5500
Saturday, October 16, 2010
September Budget
SeptemberHi, yes, I know what month it is.
Things, as always, are crazy. My mother had major foot surgery over a month ago and I have been staying with her to help take care of her. Time at home has been intermittent and filled with laundry and not much else.
We are also slowly trying to prepare for Baby so, while I am home this weekend, we have been cleaning out the garage and the office, into which I am (hoping) going to move all the doll stuff, as the baby is going to go in the doll room. We have so much crap. I don't want to tell you how many HUGE boxes of packing peanuts I took out of my garage. Not to mention all the cardboard, aluminum and paper. By the time we got to actual boxes with actual stuff in it, we were beat and called it a day. I put the stuff on freecycle, and what isn't taken will go into recycling over the next few weeks. We had a crappy curbside recycling program until this summer, so we used to haul it ourselves. We stopped doing that regularly, and it started piling up. When our trash service got changed to one that would take these things, we were just putting out what we were actually accumulating on a weekly basis and never got to the stores of stuff in the garage.
So, anyway....
Income: as normal
Fixed Expenses: Power has been high. No Termite or insurance this month, so extra money in other areas.
Debt: Just down to the last two. Large payment to the student loan.
Variable: I finally have a clothing fund. We had our convention, so I had some money for that. Smugmug renewal. I cut the amount for our lawn boy, as we probably won't be seeing him again til spring.
Our account balances were getting low, so I set some money aside to build them back up again. Somehow, that didn't work out quite as I planned, as my account is still reconciling negative. Hoping to float til the holidays, when we should see some extra money.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Payoff: Month 9
August:
cc 1,2,3,4,5: 0
Loan 1: 0
Loan 2: 11100.83
Loan 3: 9551.85
Debt: 20652.68
Paid: 2592.48
September
cc 1,2,3,4,5: 0
Loan 1: 0
Loan 2: 8991.85
Loan 3: 9664.90
Debt: 18656.75
Paid: 1995.93
Total Paid: 25251.13
I think I flipped what is loan "2" and "3" again. We paid less this month in order to bring up our waning bank balances. We also had an event over labor day weekend that I budgeted money for. We have crossed 25,000 paid ! We paid off the small loan! We have two loans and less than 20,000 left! This would all be very exciting, however, with the baby on the way we will not be seeing much movement in the debt in the coming months. I will start keeping a tally of our savings now. The goal before was to have all debts paid by April (my 35th bday). Now, we will save that money instead, and should be able to pay my dad off right after the baby is born, and pay the last loan by next December, depending on costs associated with having and daycareing the baby.
cc 1,2,3,4,5: 0
Loan 1: 0
Loan 2: 11100.83
Loan 3: 9551.85
Debt: 20652.68
Paid: 2592.48
September
cc 1,2,3,4,5: 0
Loan 1: 0
Loan 2: 8991.85
Loan 3: 9664.90
Debt: 18656.75
Paid: 1995.93
Total Paid: 25251.13
I think I flipped what is loan "2" and "3" again. We paid less this month in order to bring up our waning bank balances. We also had an event over labor day weekend that I budgeted money for. We have crossed 25,000 paid ! We paid off the small loan! We have two loans and less than 20,000 left! This would all be very exciting, however, with the baby on the way we will not be seeing much movement in the debt in the coming months. I will start keeping a tally of our savings now. The goal before was to have all debts paid by April (my 35th bday). Now, we will save that money instead, and should be able to pay my dad off right after the baby is born, and pay the last loan by next December, depending on costs associated with having and daycareing the baby.
Monday, September 6, 2010
This changes everything.
Wondering where I've been?
Quite the surprise. This is me hoping no one I actually know reads this. It took three months. While they were happening, it was starting to feel long and tedious and like it was going to go on forever. I am sure helping that along was my belief that I was not going to be able to get pregnant on my own. It is really really early. I haven't even gotten in to a doctor yet. But the tests keep getting darker and darker, and there hasn't been any blood, so I am cautiously optimistic.
Even though we had been trying for a few months, this is really the first month I was comfortable with it happening, as we are past the halfway point and have only the two debts left. Each month it took meant more debt paid off. I've been recalculating and I think we can still be debt free by the end of 2011. That is really hard for me, since we were making such progress, and it is scary adding this new, expensive, person, so late in life, with no safety nets or fabulous retirement accounts. All I can do is hope that we know enough now to make good choices and let everyone else buy us the expensive stuff :) and give up our toys. Priorities change.
We are going to finish out the month on paper as it is (with a big payment to the student loan), but I am afraid after that the debt repayment is going to stagnante for a while. We will start building up our emergency and hospital fund instead. Hopefully after the baby comes, we can make a large lump sum payment to one of the loans.
No one knows. It is really hard keeping my mouth shut.
Quite the surprise. This is me hoping no one I actually know reads this. It took three months. While they were happening, it was starting to feel long and tedious and like it was going to go on forever. I am sure helping that along was my belief that I was not going to be able to get pregnant on my own. It is really really early. I haven't even gotten in to a doctor yet. But the tests keep getting darker and darker, and there hasn't been any blood, so I am cautiously optimistic.
Even though we had been trying for a few months, this is really the first month I was comfortable with it happening, as we are past the halfway point and have only the two debts left. Each month it took meant more debt paid off. I've been recalculating and I think we can still be debt free by the end of 2011. That is really hard for me, since we were making such progress, and it is scary adding this new, expensive, person, so late in life, with no safety nets or fabulous retirement accounts. All I can do is hope that we know enough now to make good choices and let everyone else buy us the expensive stuff :) and give up our toys. Priorities change.
We are going to finish out the month on paper as it is (with a big payment to the student loan), but I am afraid after that the debt repayment is going to stagnante for a while. We will start building up our emergency and hospital fund instead. Hopefully after the baby comes, we can make a large lump sum payment to one of the loans.
No one knows. It is really hard keeping my mouth shut.
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