You know how when you’re a kid, it feels like you can physically FEEL Christmas, like electricity in the air, but when you grow up, it’s kind of just another day? I thought I’d feel lighter now, but today feels the same as the day before. We closed on the sale of the townhouse yesterday and have again made a substantial reduction in our debt-load. What a relief! We feel elated and excited, but also a little bit sad. In the past two years, I had repeated many positive affirmations about the sale…
Category: Money
Net Worth & Debt Payoff Through January 31, 2017
January 2017 for us, like most families, was mostly spent in survival mode. But not because of any holiday hangover as we paid for Christmas with cash. No, three of our family birthdays are in January and I’m on a mission to make memories. Also, because I am a lousy mom, I missed my youngest son’s 12 month and 18 month photo sessions, but was adamant that we secure his 2 year images on film. Forget the townhouse that hasn’t sold. Forget putting any seeds in the dirt. THIS is important! THREE…
Net Worth & Debt Payoff through 12/31/2016
Happy New Year, Everybody! We sent 2016 out with a bang! Just kidding! It was LIGHTS OUT at this house around 9PM. But we did make some dramatic changes to our finances in the last month and I’m so pumped to go into 2017 in this shape! Let’s just bust this thing on out and see if you notice anything different: Assets Value Owed Totals Farmhouse $200,000.00 $166,367.39 $33,632.61 Town house $100,000.00 $84,199.09 $15,800.91 Savings Accounts $8,453.37 $0.00 $8,453.37 Checking Account $40.15 $0.00 $40.15 Family Loan $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 Discover $0.00…
Net Worth & Debt Payoff Through 11/30/16
I’m not going to cry. I let it all go this month. Our net worth decreased. Our debt payoff percentage backslid. I didn’t post a single time this month to the blog. Marketing our townhouse for sale took a back seat to the increasing chaos for me at work. I freely spent hundreds of dollars on Christmas presents at Veteran’s Day and Black Friday sales (but I was saving money!). And I actively chose to *NOT* pay off all of the credit cards in full (we need cash to pay bills…
Net Worth & Debt Payoff Progress through 10/31/16
We emerge from October 2016 bruised and bloodied, like the zombies of Halloween. This month was brutal! Have you ever noticed how when you start to track something, it starts creeeeeping along? I’ll spare you the suspense: we are at 1.86% paid down. That’s -0.08% less than last month. While on one hand, it feels stagnant, I’m trying to see it as Staying Afloat. Here’s what went down. Our real estate contract expired October 5, so I went into full-realty mode to market our two properties myself. (You…
Net Worth & Debt Payoff through 9/30/2016
Let’s just call this month a big fat “How NOT to Use Credit Cards.” Have you seen pins like the one on the right in your Pinterest feed? Beware, advertisers hire wily copywriters to separate you from your money. Even though this pin says transferring a balance is ingenious, and even though I did exactly what it says, I have to disagree with the “ingenious” part. No, I’d have to say it’s the slippery slope of managing your credit. Let me tell you why: You’ve just opened yet ANOTHER credit card. Welcome…
How to Pay for Christmas with Pre-Tax Money
Say what?! Yes, you can pay for Christmas gifts with Pre-Tax Money. I know, I know. It’s in the semantics, but if other strategies haven’t worked for you, this one might. Have you filed for your Flexible/Health Spending Account reimbursement yet for the year, by the way? Have you earmarked that money yet? Let me explain. Open Season is generally around November, so be sure to sign up for this awesome tool to save money and you could have Christmas money saved up for next year with little effort. If…
Re-Purposing a Table Destined for Destruction
A new desk for $8.39? Yes, please! I picked out a table from a pile of junk that was headed for the dump. It was still pretty sturdy and I’ve been on the lookout for a simple rustic table that wouldn’t break the bank. The funny thing about this particular table is that it is exactly the same model as our dining room table, just smaller. Here’s what I did: I cleaned that dirty old thing with the strongest bathroom cleaner I had on hand. You never know what crud has been on these…
Bust the Excuse: I Don’t Have Space to Homestead
This is part four of a four part series on why you don’t homestead. If you would prefer to read the posts in order (which is in a random order, by the way) you can click here. I’ll wait right here. Today’s excuse is “I don’t have any space or land to homestead!” I DON’T HAVE SPACE. AKA: I DON’T HAVE LAND. You dont’ have to have forty acres to homestead. You can homestead in a 250 square foot apartment in the city! You’re probably already doing some homesteading and don’t…
Net Worth & Debt Payoff Update thru 8/31/16
Do you ever feel like you’re not making progress with your debt? This month, I’ve felt like I was treading water with our finances. But after digging deeper into the numbers, I can see that we are still improving. It’s small, but it’s in the right direction. We increased our debt payoff from 1.47% to 1.58% in a month when we took a one week family vacation (paid cash!). See the details in the chart below. So, what did we do this month to attack our debt? One. I opened a…