Okay...Okay....several of you have been wondering when I was going to post again, so here I am spilling my guts to you. :) Actually, the reason I have not been posting is because I have been spending instead of paying off. I decided a little over a month ago to start my own business, and starting a business apparently requires money. Instead of saving and dreaming about my business, I just went right out there and charged everything I wanted. Can you believe that? But I really wanted to do it...... Anyway, I have a business now.
But, I will give you an update....I am back on track. I let our credit card get back up to 1920.00. YIKES!!! So, yesterday was payday, and we tithed, paid ALL our bills and sent 1720.00 to the credit card. Plus, I paid for Brenner to go to BUMP, bought Brylee a week of Art School for this summer and got our family season passes to Hurricane Harbor.
Okay, so I know art school, hurricane harbor and BUMP are not in anyone's plan to pay down debt, but I had to. Well, maybe not HAD to...but I REALLY wanted it, and that should count for something.
We have 437 left over for gas and groceries for 2 weeks. So here is the part I am not telling you....I did not put 1000.00 into savings like Dave Ramsey says to. I debated about it, and just didn't want to this month. I am such a control freak...I really want that credit card paid off. You don't know how hard it was for me to leave a 200.00 balance on it and keep the 437 in the bank for essentials. I do have 75.00 in savings so that has to count for something.
Anyway, I will not wait so long until I post again for all my adoring fans out there in cyber world! :) Love ya, Amy
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Money On The Way
I decided to take a hardship withdrawl from my retirement account. It is a withdrawl and not a loan. I know some people won't agree with that decision, but it is done. I forgot to mention in in my first post, but we have a few bills that total about 1100 dollars from Brenner's hospital stay in November. The retirement money will go to pay those off. I'm pretty excited about not having to only send 20 bucks here and there. I can just pay them and be done with it. It's funny because I withdrew 1300 dollars and after taxes it will be like 1147.00. Perfect!
Amy
Amy
Monday, March 30, 2009
Every Little Bit
I know it's not much, but I was expecting a certain amount from one of our paychecks and it was actually 38 dollars more. I know that doesn't seem like a big deal, but I get paid the same amount each month, so it was a pleasant surprise.
A
A
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
It's A Start!
On Wednesday, I took some of Brylee and Brenner's outgrown clothes to Kid2Kid. Brenner needed some new shirts and instead of going "shopping", I used the 54.00 in store credit to get him some. I spent 39.00 and still have 14 something left over. Yeah us! Also, I was able to rearrange some of our bills and paid 1068.00 to our Citicard this morning. So now that one is under a grand. We are on our way!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Okay...Here goes!
I decided to buy a journal today so I can track my family's financial blessings. I am always stressing about money. There never seems to be enough even though Joe (my husband) and I make very good livings. I feel overwhelmed and discouraged. Last month, $252.00 was put on the credit card by Joe, and I was very upset about it. I ended up with the credit card, and now it is over $1900 dollars. I have a problem with spending. Now granted, several of those transactions were "emergent", but once I had that card in my hand, I felt a sense of freedom. Wheeeee! It's not until I looked at the bill online that I felt that sense of dread. Two months ago, the balance was at $0 and today....YUCK!
Even though I will be doing my part to earn extra money, I am going to have to hand over my financial situation to Christ. It consumes me, and I am tired of always feeling one step behind. I want to commit to give Him the praise and glory when things start getting paid off. I am completely aware of my vulnerability and want to acknowledge His awesome power. He can do more with my 90% than I could ever do with 100%. Even though we faithfully tithe, I have to actually hand over control and recognize it doesn't matter what I do, nothing could compare to what He can do.
So by now I am sure you are asking yourself, "Why the blog?" Well, I was at work last night cruising the internet, and I came across one of those 5 Ways to Make Money From Home. One of the ways to make extra money was to get paid for blogging. (No that is not what this is.....AT ALL!) Anyone that knows me, knows I am completely clueless when it comes to all the new technology. I don't have an Ipod, MP3 player, GPS or whatever else is out there that is the next best thing. I don't even know how to take a picture on my camera and get it to my computer. But I did start reading about blogging, and my wheels just started turning. I had already bought the journal that day and written the above entry. The next page in the journal listed all our bills and balances we owe to debtors (which I will regretfully list in a moment).
I began to pray and seek God's will for our finances. I guess blogging about God's goodness will be my way of staying true to the course. Kind of like accountability. I need you to know, I am no one special or well versed in scripture. In fact, my relationship with Christ is not as solid as I would like. But through this, I am expecting to grow and trust in Christ.
I want in some way for my friends and family to be a part of this. Actually, I told Joe I created a blog, but neglected to tell him what it is going to cover. Anyway, I know this post is a long one so I apologize for that. Hopefully, there will be many more to come (and much shorter) telling about how God is providing financially. Wheh...that's a lot of words even for me. :)
So here it is.....our debt which I am fully expecting to pay off sooner rather than later. Not because I will work more hours (although that is part of the plan) or because we will not be relying on the credit card for extra spending, but because I fully believe God is desperately wanting to provide for our family if we only trust and obey Him.
Nissan Truck $5978.45
School Loans $30,500.00
Credit Card 1 $9403.00 (Closed with 0%APR)
Credit Card 2 $3922.08 (Closd with 0% APR)
Credit Card 3 $1950.00 (Open with like 7 or 8% APR)
There it is.... the good, bad and ugly. :) Thanks for making it through this long post.
A
Even though I will be doing my part to earn extra money, I am going to have to hand over my financial situation to Christ. It consumes me, and I am tired of always feeling one step behind. I want to commit to give Him the praise and glory when things start getting paid off. I am completely aware of my vulnerability and want to acknowledge His awesome power. He can do more with my 90% than I could ever do with 100%. Even though we faithfully tithe, I have to actually hand over control and recognize it doesn't matter what I do, nothing could compare to what He can do.
So by now I am sure you are asking yourself, "Why the blog?" Well, I was at work last night cruising the internet, and I came across one of those 5 Ways to Make Money From Home. One of the ways to make extra money was to get paid for blogging. (No that is not what this is.....AT ALL!) Anyone that knows me, knows I am completely clueless when it comes to all the new technology. I don't have an Ipod, MP3 player, GPS or whatever else is out there that is the next best thing. I don't even know how to take a picture on my camera and get it to my computer. But I did start reading about blogging, and my wheels just started turning. I had already bought the journal that day and written the above entry. The next page in the journal listed all our bills and balances we owe to debtors (which I will regretfully list in a moment).
I began to pray and seek God's will for our finances. I guess blogging about God's goodness will be my way of staying true to the course. Kind of like accountability. I need you to know, I am no one special or well versed in scripture. In fact, my relationship with Christ is not as solid as I would like. But through this, I am expecting to grow and trust in Christ.
I want in some way for my friends and family to be a part of this. Actually, I told Joe I created a blog, but neglected to tell him what it is going to cover. Anyway, I know this post is a long one so I apologize for that. Hopefully, there will be many more to come (and much shorter) telling about how God is providing financially. Wheh...that's a lot of words even for me. :)
So here it is.....our debt which I am fully expecting to pay off sooner rather than later. Not because I will work more hours (although that is part of the plan) or because we will not be relying on the credit card for extra spending, but because I fully believe God is desperately wanting to provide for our family if we only trust and obey Him.
Nissan Truck $5978.45
School Loans $30,500.00
Credit Card 1 $9403.00 (Closed with 0%APR)
Credit Card 2 $3922.08 (Closd with 0% APR)
Credit Card 3 $1950.00 (Open with like 7 or 8% APR)
There it is.... the good, bad and ugly. :) Thanks for making it through this long post.
A
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