Tricky times ahead...

As I mentioned in my Weekly Money Check-Up, I'm hoping to stay on track during the holidays. Today I got paid and set aside $300 for gifts for my family and best friend back home. I'm planning on sticking to that budget, no matter what! These are tricky times though and there are many temptations that will face us over the next month or so with the holidays.

Coming up next weekend, I have my first girls weekend away planned! I'm super excited :) I'm meeting up with an old friend in Vegas for her birthday weekend. I'm a bit nervous about that. I have set aside some fun money to bring with me. This is her first time, so I'm hoping we'll do lots of walking around, taking in the sites and less sitting in front of the machines. My true goal at the end of the weekend will be to make it home with some money. I know it sounds silly, but even if I come home with $1 in my pocket, I'll be happy. I just don't want to blow it all. One thing I've begun to appreciate over the past few months of debt repayment is the value of money. If I have even $1 left over, I plan on putting it towards paying down our credit cards. Here's hoping it's a lot more than that though!

With my check today I also made a good sized payment to our credit card. I sent in $1,000. I'm excited to think of the new statement coming out and seeing some of the numbers drop! Happy Hump Day!

My Weekly Money Check-Up! 11/28/11

Wow, it's been a long time since I've sat down and done a Weekly Money Check-Up. I've forgotten how much I enjoy taking a moment to reflect on the week that went by. I'm happy to say, here is My Weekly Money Check-Up, courtesy of My Pretty Pennies.

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on groceries. I tend to overbuy and overcook when it comes to the holidays. Even though it's just the hubby and me, I cook as though we have an army coming over. It works out great though for leftovers!

2. Today I am thankful for hope. Thinking of this upcoming year is very exciting to me. I'm thankful for the possibilities that may arise, the new experiences we will have and how great it's going to feel once we're out of debt.

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free thing I did last week that made me happy was painted my nails. I know I've mentioned this before as my free treat that I give myself. It's true. Since I don't do it all the time, when I actually take the time to sit down and give myself a manicure and pedicure, it feels wonderful. Plus, since I already have all the supplies, it's free!

4. I will consider this week a success if I set my Christmas budget for family and actually stick to it. I have an amount I plan to use for gifts for family back home and I don't want to go over that amount. No, I'm NOT GOING TO GO OVER THAT AMOUNT!

5. My favorite Christmas song/album is Mele Kalikimaka (The Hawaiian Christmas Song). It makes me smile :)

Have a great week!

Walking on Sunshine!

Yippee! We made our final payment to CC #1 today. I really feel as though I'm walking on sunshine. What a great feeling this is. I can only IMAGINE how wonderful I'm going to feel once all of our debt is gone. Let's take a look at the numbers so far...

Here's where things were as of July 28, 2011:

Original Debt $60,555.72

Debt on 7/28/11 $50,355.00
________________

Credit Card Debt
CC #1 : $15,217.69
CC#2 : $16,913.81
CC#3 : $0 (Paid In Full!)

Car Loan
$18,223.50

Here's the update, as to where our debt is today:

Credit Card Debt
CC #1 - $0 (Paid in full on 11/15/11)
CC #2 - $13,885.25
CC #3 - $2,905.30 (0% balance transfer card I opened a few months ago)

Car Loan
$17,130.09

For a total of $33,920.64

That means since July 28th, we've paid off $16,434.36 in debt. Not bad progress. Not bad at all! The next one that will go down is CC#2. The plan is to have that one paid off in March 2012. Unless, or course, if we win the lottery before then :)

Tomorrow is a big day for us!

Tomorrow is my payday. Well, tonight at midnight actually. And like a teenager waiting in line at midnight to see the next movie in the Twilight series, I'm thinking of staying up late so I can make our FINAL PAYMENT to CC #1 as soon as the money hits our account! I can't believe this day is finally here. The final payment will be in the amount of $1483.46. It almost seems surreal. It feels as though we've been working towards this day for so long.

We were able to pay this one off sooner than we originally anticipated. We were targeting having this one paid in January 2012. I'm pleased to say that we beat that estimate by a few months! I'm looking forward to sharing our new debt repayment schedule soon.

Although this is exciting news, we still aren't out of the woods yet. I plan to update our debt status this week so you can see where we're at. There's been a good amount of progress made since that last update in July. I'm excited to share our new numbers.

Have a great day!

My Blogger-versary!

Hi there! Long time, no blogging. Here is a post that I wrote up in September to celebrate my one year blogger-versary! Life has been crazy-busy and I haven't had a chance to get on here to share it. I had a few minutes of downtime today so I wanted to get this posted so people know I'm still alive :) Thanks to folks for checking in on me. All is okay, just lots of changes that haven't allowed me to be online much at all. I'll provide more updates in the coming days.

Here goes!

.............

It's my one year blogger-versary! I can't believe it's been a year. It seems like just yesterday I decided I was frustrated with the debt and it was time to do something about it. I was tired of falling deeper and deeper into the hole we created and I wanted to stop the cycle and get out.

I have been working hard on my debt repayment - for a solid year now. Sure, there were some ups and downs. We have made some progress, but not as much as we could have if we were super diligent. This year hasn't been easy. We cut back, moved, downsized and resisted temptation a lot more than we ever have in the past.

Change isn't easy but it is worth it! I know for certain that I wouldn't have made as much progress as I have, if it weren't for my blogging buddies. When I felt down, you were there to pick me up. You've offered support, cheers, guidance and recommendations. I tried to absorb it all and learn from it.

From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for your support! Here's to the next year together.