Financial Peace Jr.

I got this kit yesterday. I'm trying to come up with chores to put on the commission board. Things that are age appropriate and also trying to decide the pay level. What I've got so far is

Making bed, this is ten cents a day.
Picking up toys, 25 cents a day

Sweeping .50
Vacuuming .50

The last two are twice a week chores.

The fines are going to be a real help. Each fine is .50, the offenses are

Not listening
Whining/Fit throwing
Hitting/Kicking or otherwise harming someone.

I figured that the fines need to cost more than the chores.

These are the most basic, and the ones I figure the kids can do. I wouldn't have put vacuuming on there except they surprised me one day and had vacuumed my living room. So, I know they can do it.

I have a 6 year old. A 4 year old, and a 2 year old.

What are everyones thoughts? Suggestions?

Looking forward to April

I can't wait for April to start. I'm excited to get that one debt paid off. I'm also impatiently waiting for the remaining bills for this month to come in.

The grocery store had a case lots sale this week. So I got cases of the foods we use most often. Chili, beans, corn, green beans, juice, refried beans.

I got an official notice of debt paid off from ACS. Filed away and will be kept forever. I had even over paid by 1.55 so they sent a check for that amount too. I can't wait to build my collection of debt paid in full letters. Its such a great thing to see!!

Extra money?

So, my paycheck this morning was a bit more than I had budgeted for. Any other month I would roll it into the snowball, but I'm getting my teeth deep cleaned this month and have to pay out of pocket for it. I'm going to transfer it to the money market account so that I know not to touch it. The money market account is where my baby efund is parked.

The panic set in last night. I was up all night tossing and turning wondering if I was going to be able to keep up with the program as the months go by. Crunching numbers in my head all night. I realized though that as long as I'm planning ahead of time what money is spent where and writing it down, then I have a goal to shoot for. On April 1st, I'll be paying off another debt. I have to call and make sure I don't owe anything else on it but by my estimates it will be paid off. Then in May I can start really attacking the snowball, $200 extra dollars on another payment. That will be paid off by august if not sooner. I'm also going to be looking at other ways to save. I am going to cancel my tivo subscription. That will free up an extra $12.95 a month. Which may not seem like a lot but it does add up. I'll be saving the 12.95 a month to purchase something that I really want to get.

I requested to be contacted by the area insurance ELP. I really need to see what I can do about health insurance for myself. We'll see how that goes.

In the meantime, the $60 a month savings has been split between my three children. $20 to each one's savings account. Once my debts are paid off I will put that payment towards savings. $500 a month until step 3 is completed. Which by my estimates will take 10 months. That is a conservative estimate though.

I can see it. This is going to happen for me. I will be out of debt and I will be living like no one else, and my children will be taken care of. I will retire with dignity. My retirement account has taken a hit, but I'm still young and continuing to contribute. I contribute the minimum to meet the match, but will up that when I don't have to worry about debt payments or living expenses. I can't wait! The end of the tunnel is just around the bend.

Chat anyone?

I love being able to chat with people, and I d love to chat with people who are living like no one else so later we can live like no one else. Let me know if you are interested and I will try to set up a weekly chat somewhere.

Maybe we can share chat handles? Mine is cegcrissy@msn.com on msn and gerr1271 on yahoo.

Total Money Makeover

So, I had a subscription at one point to TMMO. It's 9.95 a month and I canceled it. I've been debating for the last few months on renewing the subscription, so I sat down and looked at my budget. I have a subscription to Netflix and Tivo. Both of which really aren't helpful to my pocket book and I'm debating on canceling either or both of them. I figured if I'm going to spend $5 on netflix and $12 on tivo that spending $10 on TMMO shouldn't be a problem. After all, one is going to help me in the long run.

This morning I logged in and renewed and updated my steps, I've paid off some small debts since I had been on there. I like seeing the progress and I love the forums and chatroom, its always fun to get that WAY TO GO!!! when you accomplish something. I also love being able to bounce ideas off of other people.

I have found that creating a budget each month is working. I had an epiphany this morning while filling out the gazelle budget on TMMO, I could make the numbers work. I have a zero based budget. Its become natural for me to sit down at the beginning of the month and write out the budget. I usually use the gazelle budget lite on dave's site while I'm at work and print it out, then go through and double check it. Its happened slowly and without me realizing, but I have a budget that works.

I still love GNUcash for tracking purchases. Its a lot like quicken in that it offers dual entry accounting.

I'm such a number nerd. :D

Forecasted Debt Free Date

My forecasted debt free date is January 2013. I'm hoping it'll be sooner than that, as thats just following the snow ball and doesn't take into account extra payments like when the tax refund comes in.

And here we go

I just paid off another small debt. Original amount was $214 for a medical copay. That is now taken care of. Getting momentum definitely helps with this paying off of debts.