The hunt is on!

So, in an effort to reduce our monthly expenses even further, we've been hunting for a new place to live. We currently rent a fairly large condo for $1375 a month. It's much further North than our jobs and we carpool together about 60 miles a day (round-trip) between work and home. The commute is rough on us. It's constant stop and go on a very busy highway. We'd like to try to move further South so we can 1) be closer to our jobs, which will lower what we spend on gas, 2) hopefully reduce our monthly rent and 3) reduce our stress levels with our daily commute. I've sworn to my husband that the highway we drive on will be the death of me!

Although places further South typically cost more, for less living space we realize it's the best option for us right now. We're in a 1300+ SF, 2 bedroom/2 bath condo on a nice golf course. Realistically we'll probably have to downsize to about 600 SF, 1 bedroom/1 bath, in a crowded complex. There are a few non-negotiables for me though... it has to be a top floor (I'm super-sensitive to sounds and can't stand someone walking above me) and the area needs to be pretty safe (it's not worth it to me to move and live in fear for a few hundred dollars). The nice to haves would be a dishwasher, porch and a washer/dryer. I'll keep my fingers crossed on those last ones :)

We're in a bit of pickle though. We have yet to build up our savings and every place we check out wants a heafty deposit. We'd love to move into something between $1000 - $1100, so we could put another couple of hundred dollars towards our debt each month. We know it will be worth it in the end to make the move, it's just that our hands are tied and unless by some miracle, we find a complex with a low deposit, it looks like it may be months before we're able to move. It's a bit of a catch-22 and somewhat frustrating, but I guess it's just the situation we've gotten ourselves into. We're focused now and want to make progress TODAY, but I guess it'll all happen in due time. As they say... patience is a virtue.

Weekly Money Check-Up

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on my niece's college tuition... $561. My niece is in a tough financial situation, so we pay this monthly to help her out with college. It's expensive, but worth it! I do look forward to when this amount is lower or completely gone though, so we can put that much more towards our debt.


2. Today I feel really good towards money :) I am really proud of how this last weekend went. We stayed on budget and paid for everything with cash. As each day went by, I started to feel better about only having a quarter in the bank. That means I'm doing it right! It motivated me to look over my budget again with a fine tooth comb, to make sure every dollar had a duty and that I would only be left with change after the bills were paid, if anything at all!

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was went to a local, free village fair. They had vendors and craftsmen all set up with their goodies. It was fun to walk around and take it all in. I even parked the car far away so we wouldn't have to pay to park! It was a beautiful day and we got some fresh air and exercise. All in all, a good day and we didn't have to spend a penny.

4. I will consider this week a success if I don't dip into next week's money envelopes. Since this was my first real week paying for everything with cash, I hope that I budgeted accurately and won't have to dip into next week's envelopes for gas or groceries. So far, so good though!

5. My go-to recipe is BBQ Chicken Pizza! I haven't made it in a while (we're on Atkins now) but when I do, it always comes out really good :)

So long cable bill!

We did it! We canceled our cable/internet. I'm still kind of in shock. Perhaps in denial too. I hate to admit it but we watch a lot of TV. Let me say that again... A LOT! I'm a bit confused, wondering what we are going to do with all that time!

Anyway, let me get to the story... My husband texted me on Friday saying that he thought we should get rid of our cable. I almost had a stroke! Although the idea was in the back of my mind, I never thought he'd go for it. So, I immediately agreed. I've been struggling with ways to reduce our monthly budget so that we could build up our emergency savings and start paying down our debt faster. Cable and internet are nice to have but definitely not necessities in life - especially when you're in debt like us. So, he made the call and canceled our service.

We went in to our local cable office on Saturday to drop off our cable boxes and internet stuff. While in the office, they had about 12 different TV's going at the same time and I could see my husband starting to second guess himself. Believe me, I was too! We stayed the course though and handed in our dusty old equipment.

I should explain that we are not going completely without some form of home and couch entertainment :) We have decided to still keep our Netflix account active. For about $10 a month, we do get a good amount of use out of it. Now, we're planning to get a lot more! There's got to be some old shows that we missed and good movies to catch up on. Also, I do get internet access on my work phone. Although the screen is tiny, it's still access! Lastly, I was able to score a wireless internet card for my work laptop, so I could use that at home as well. Although the speed it dreadfully slow, we're hoping it'll be sufficient to get us online as needed.

Yayyyy! So, that's my good - no, GREAT - news. It's only $120ish a month, but will certainly help us out. Oh yeah, one more bit of news - my hubby also willingly canceled his wrestling show account (about $4 per month). So, make that $125 going towards savings and debt. Today is a good day!

Question : Have you ever given up cable? If so, was it difficult? What did you end up doing instead to fill up all your spare time?

A quarter.

A quarter. That's all we have left in our checking account right now. Twenty-five pennies. That's it! I'm not sure if I should be embarrassed by that amount or proud of myself for coming close to Dave Ramsey's zero based budgeting method. As he suggests, I allocated every dollar somewhere! Some of the dollars changed locations since we went over our budget last weekend but in the end, it all worked out.

I do have a sense of insecurity with only having a quarter in the bank, but it's just for today. My husband gets paid tomorrow (we are on rotating schedules) so that brings me some peace and the odds of something happening between now and then are pretty slim. (Now that I said that watch something crazy happen!) This really makes me wish that our emergency fund was already fully funded, but we'll get there. Mama said there'd be days like this...

Things I'll miss...

Today my husband mentioned ordering pizza. I hadn't budgeted for this type of treat and our "food budget" was already spent on groceries for the week. So, this got me thinking about the things I'll miss now that we're getting on track and out of debt!

- Being able to just pick up the phone or go online and order dinner in after a long day of work.

- Looking in my closet and thinking I could really use a _______ (fill in the blank - it could be a new black turtleneck, a new pair of jeans, a new pair of running sneakers....). I won't be able to just go out and buy whatever the item was that I felt I needed.

- Going out with co-workers for a drink or two after work. If it's not budgeted and planned for in advance, it's probably not going to happen.

- Just deciding on a Saturday morning that we want to go to Disney for the day/night and pack up and go.

I guess what I'm saying I'll miss the most is spontenaity! If I'm good about it though and able to budget in some fun money each week, then I guess I will still be able to do some of these things in moderation. One of my favorite phrases that seems to apply to this situation is : If you do what you always did, you'll get what you always got! I was too spontaneous in the past and because of it, I was careless with money. I need to be a little less spontaneous now in order to achieve our financial goals. I guess it's time to grow up and put on my big girl pants now.

Question : If you are also on a get out of debt journey, what are some of the things you miss?

Confession...

I just updated my debt numbers in my "Status Updates" section on the right side of my blog. This is the first update since I started the blog in September. I was kinda postponing this since 1) I was super busy in October with the wedding and stuff and 2) I was embarrassed. Truth be told, we charged more than we should have for our wedding, so not only did our balances actually increase, but we also put items on another credit card. Phew, glad to be honest and get that off my chest. Ouch though! I knew things would cost a bit but was surprised by how expensive some items were and unfortunately I didn't appropriately budget enough to cover all of the incidentals that arose. Lesson learned. Enough said.

So, our new total debt balance comes to... $60,926.30. With the wedding behind us, a new budget in place and a ton of motivation, I truly believe that this will be the highest our debt will ever reach! I look forward to more positive status updates in the future :)

Weekly Money Check-Up

Happy Monday! I'm excited about a new week and a new month :) I spent most of last week working on my budget (decided to go with an Excel spreadsheet... for now anyway) and I'm pretty happy with the results. I also spent a while listening to Dave Ramsey's online broadcasts. They were interesting and eye-opening. It's sad to see how many people are in the same boat that I am - many were worse off. I tell myself that if they can dig themselves out of it, so can I!

To continue with the posting I started last week from My Pretty Pennies, here is my Weekly Money Check-Up:

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on an unscheduled night out. My husband and I wanted to have fun for Halloween and we spent more than we planned for. This caused me to have to adjust our budget for the remainder of the month. Although it's not a HUGE deal, it was a set back for us that I don't feel good about. I know I can't turn back time and this is just the start of this long journey, so I have to cut us some slack but these types of things won't get us to the finish line any earlier.

2. Today I feel positively challenged about money. I'm finalizing our budget and although it's overwhelming at times, I'm staying positive and looking at it as a challenge... one that I plan to be successful at!

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was cleaned my house. I know that sounds crazy, but when the house is a mess, it makes me feel a bit uneasy. We had our suitcases, clothes and a bunch of miscellaneous junk all over the place that needed to be put away (or at least out of my sight in the back bedroom!). I spent a few hours picking up and now when I get home, I feel a sense of peace come over me when I look at my clean living room.

4. I will consider this week a success if I stay within my budget for the rest of the week!

5. If I could grow one thing, it would be a money tree?!? :)