Another Good Day!

We received a check in the mail yesterday for $1,185! This was the remaining deposit from the previous condo we rented. We originally put down $1,375 but we knew we wouldn't be getting the whole amount back. Mentally we prepared ourselves to only get about $1K back. Happily they only took out $190 : $100 for carpet cleaning and $90 to have a cleaning person come in. I guess that wasn't too bad overall!

I checked in with the hubby to see what he'd like to do with the money and at first he said that we should deposit it and send it right into the credit cards. My heart skipped a beat! So, off we went to deposit the check. Shortly afterwards, he suggested only putting $1,100 towards the debt and keeping the $85 for misc. stuff. I thought about it briefly and agreed! We're on the right path and making progress, so holding back a little isn't the worst thing for us. As long as the majority was going to our debt, I was happy!

So with the extra $85 we plan to do the following:

• $25 we'll put on our laundry card (otherwise laundry money comes out of our food/misc. budget and that already goes too quickly!)
  
  
• $10 towards a car wash (we do the self car wash and it shouldn't even be this much but maybe we'll even vacuum the car too)
  
  
• $25 extra "Mad Money" for Him this week
  
  
• $25 extra "Mad Money" for Her this week
  

Last night we also sold our breadmaker! As much as I. LOVE. FRESH. HOMEMADE. BREAD., I just hadn't used it in years and couldn't picture myself using it anytime in the near future. It turns out I love fresh homemade bread that OTHER PEOPLE MAKE! Who woulda thought? So, that's another $25. I had already earmarked this to go towards a payment to the person who prepared our taxes.

So, I'm happy to say that things are working out and we had another good day. I hope we stay on this path and continue to make such great progress. Time will tell!

Lastly, at the beginning of May I did a post referencing a quote I read from The Quest to be Financially Abundant -

Ask for what you want and be open to receiving it.

I wanted to share it again because for some reason I keep thinking back to it. I know it may not mean much because many of us have been "asking for what we want" for a long time - aka more money, better jobs, additional hours, less stress, etc. I think I'm focusing more on the second half now, "be open to receiving it." The thing that has changed for me is that I'm truly open to receiving it now. I look for what I want in new and creative ways. I'm more willing to do what it takes to get to my goal and opportunities are presenting themselves now.

I'm not much for giving advice, but I guess I'm just saying "stay positive and focused and it will work out!"

$300 Extra to the Credit Card!

So, in the last week or so, we've been able to put an extra $300 towards our credit card debt! We were able to sell my old Kitchen Aid mixer for $100 on Craigslist. Although we had it listed at $125, the person who came to pick it up asked if we'd take $100. My husband and I are HORRIBLE negotiators, so we said "Sure!" I was hoping to get $120 (I put a $5 buffer in there for negotiating, but when it came down to it, I caved!)

The other $200 came from a weekend trip we took to the casino. As I shared in a recent post, this is something we do periodically for fun. We had some "free money coupons" that the casino sent us. To be safe, we only took those with us so we wouldn't be tempted to take any money from the ATM. Well, as luck would have it, we did quite well. We got up $200! I thought it was in our best interest to leave while we were still up. On the way home we deposited the cash and the very next morning, I made a payment online to our credit card. That's an easy $300 paid off! I know it won't all be this easy to pay off, so I'll enjoy the occasional times that it is :)