Paying Off the Debt

I had to fill in at my hometown library today so while I was there I scouted out their books on personal finance, naturally. I spotted one, You and Your 401(k), by Julie Jason that looked interesting.

I've commented to my husband that we needed to look into his 401(k) and figure out why it doesn't seem to be gaining much ground. He's had it since the mid 90s and has been contributing up to what the company will match most of that time, but it just doesn't seem to be doing much. Neither of us know anything about how to pick what funds to invest in, so we just took a friend's advice years ago and really haven't done anything else to it.

On the other hand, I've only had my IRA for not even 2 years and it's already worth 1/4 of what his 401(k) is worth.

So I thought this book might be a big help to us so that we are more informed. I will report back in on what I've learned from it.

DD#2's flute is finally paid in full. She's been paying for this flute for over 3 years (since 4th grade), using her allowance money she gets for doing chores. It's been a long haul and she finally finished it.

To be honest, I thought she'd get part way through the plan and decide she wasn't interested in playing the flute any longer, but she didn't. She faithfully practices and really enjoys it. It was a good investment.

Today is a great day at work. My boss took today off for her birthday so I'm able to listen to Dave Ramsey all day while working on inventory.

Our library listserv had a link for a neat website,

Your Money's Best Friend that has some really good games for kids to teach them about money. I especially liked the game that teaches them to make change. Check it out!

It amazes me how there can be such a drastic difference in gasoline prices in the area that I travel frequently. In the town where I live gas is $3.15 a gallon. Here in the town where I work, which is only 18 miles away, it is only $2.95! That's quite a savings!

I've been keeping track of the mileage I get from both gas stations because I've heard that the one in my hometown gives you much better gas mileage. I haven't seen it yet. Both have been about the same, only a couple of a tenths of a mile difference. And that difference could easily be explained by the use of the air conditioner more frequently during that time.

What are the prices in your area?

We almost had a house fire on Saturday. I was in the living room watching TV and sleeping since I'm still not feeling well. I thought I smelled something odd, but no one else said anything so I figured it was just my sinuses being so messed up.

The dryer went off so I went in and folded the clothes and put the last load in the dryer. I thought the smell was even stronger in there but, since I wasn't feeling well, I didn't investigate.

About a half hour later the light next to my chair in the living room flashed bright and made a weird sound. At the same time I heard a pop coming from the kitchen area. I went out and looked around but didn't see anything. I went upstairs and DS#3 said that the surge protector on his computer had beeped. I could smell a really strong electrical smell in the upstairs hallway. I checked around upstairs and didn't find anything.

Back downstairs I went and finally found the problem in the downstairs bathroom. The outlet for the dryer was melted and there was black soot all over the wall around it! I tried to yell for DH, but since I have laryngitis that didn't work very well. He finally heard me and rushed in with a fire extinguisher. There was no fire, thank goodness, just that awful smell.

We have no idea why the outlet overheated. The outlet itself was really hot and so was the dryer plug, but not the cord. We think the dryer is probably okay. I hope so, it's only a year old.

Rolled $6 in change this morning and deposited it in the Emergency Fund after work.

Came home from NYC with the worst sinus infection I've ever had. I've been sick all week and seem to be getting worse. I'm now on antibiotics but woke up this morning with very little voice. The family is enjoying that.

Tomorrow there is a motorcycle dice run to benefit Sydney, my cousin's 18-month old daughter that had the seizure. She has been off of life support for quite a while now and is still breathing on her own. Her eyes have begun to respond a bit to light even though the doctors said it would never happen. She's had a feeding tube inserted and the family is either going to bring her home next week or take her to a nursing home near them.

Getting anxious to get that $248 paid to drop our total debt below $70,000.

DS#2 called from camp tonight but a thunderstorm was rolling in and we lost the connection. DH had time to ask him if he was taking his seizure medicine like he should and that's about it.

DS#2's salvage title FINALLY came for his wrecked Toyota so I faxed that right off to the insurance company so they can mail him the check. Maybe that whole mess can be done soon. It's only taken 3 months...

I stopped in at the library in town last night. This is the library where I was the director before taking the assistant county librarian job. I still do the bookkeeping for them.

It turns out that one of their employees just quit and the librarian offered me the job. It would only be about 10 hours a week at minimum pay. It was really tempting for a while because I'd love to add that little bit to the mortgage payment and pay it off even earlier.

I told her I'd think about it. DH and I discussed it and at first were okay with the idea. Then I got to thinking what it would mean to work 1 evening a week and 2 Saturdays a month. I already feel guilty and uneasy every morning when I leave the kids during the summer and this would mean even more time away. Right now, DH is working every Saturday morning so this would mean even more time without one of us here. The youngest of the kids is 13 so it's not like they're really little and I'd only be 2 blocks away, but still.

I ended up deciding that it wasn't worth the little bit of income that I'd be making. There will be time for that when the kids are all gone. For now, I feel the need to be home as much as I can.

I sent off for a Chase Freedom card for DH. He's been using cash for his gasoline, but we decided that as much gas as his truck takes, we'd be better off getting the 3% cash back on it. Also, the money that we use to pay the Chase Freedom card will be sitting in our Electric Orange checking account earning interest all month rather than in his wallet.

So with both of us using the card to buy gasoline and groceries and almost all of our utilities charged to it, we ought to be earning some money back a few times a year.

I'm back from my trip to NYC.

We had an excellent time. The Book Expo was okay, but not as great as I thought it would be. The librarians that had gone last year when it was in Washington D.C. weren't impressed. There didn't seem to be as many free books for the libraries as there was last year.

We did have a great time sight-seeing though. On Friday we went to Macy's after dinner. I almost bought something, but then thought better of it and put it back. Yeah me! LOL!

Saturday we spent the afternoon touring Central Park. We did pay to take a bike taxi. That cost $50 for a 45-minute tour, but since we had 2 in a taxi it wasn't too bad. And it saved our poor feet, which by that time were getting pretty sore.

After Central Park we took the subway (bought an all-day pass for $7) and went down to see the World Trade Center site.

Then back uptown for Times Square in the evening.


As we were leaving the city on Sunday morning we drove down to Battery Park

and viewed the Statue of Liberty

and did some souvenier shopping.

I managed to only spend $55 of my own money the entire time I was there. I thought that was pretty good. $20 of it was for 2 pair of shoes since I was having problems with blisters from all the walking!

Our net worth took a hit this month but it is because we used a chunk of the money we had in savings for home improvements. Necessary repairs that hopefully have added some value to our home.

I leave early tomorrow morning for NYC, so this is going to be a busy day. I have to go into work for a while today, but I think I'll leave early. I need to get a ton of laundry done, get paychecks ready to deposit and pack.

I got a $200 advance to cover some of my expenses and also have the System credit card for the rest. I think I'll get out $100 of my own money just in case I find something that I'd like to buy, but I don't plan on spending it. I am going to try to find free books at Expo for the family. There should be enough variety that I can find something for everyone.

This is going to be a long and tiring weekend, but it will be fun, I'm sure.

On Thursday I will be paying an extra $233.90 on mortgage #1 and doubling my payment for this month on the furniture loan. This will bring our overall debt total down to $70,505.08. We're closing in on goal #3!

You should set personal financial goals so that you have a "road" to follow to get where you want to go.

Goals need to:

1. Be realistic: You should set your goals based on your own earnings and life situation.

2. Be in precise, measurable terms: Know exactly what you're aiming for and create a plan to achieve it.

3. Have a set time frame: This will help you to see if you're advancing toward your goal.

4. State the action needed to achieve the desired result: Use your goals as the basis for your future financial decisions.

When working through your personal financial plan you should set 3 types of financial goals:

Short-term goals: typically goals that you strive to reach in a year or less (small debt pay-off, vacation trips, etc.)

Intermediate goals: aim for a time period of 2 to 5 years (paying off smaller loans, saving up a down-payment for a newer car, etc.)

Long-term goals: these goals can be achieved in 2 to 5 years (college savings, retirement funding, etc.)

All of these goals should be worked into your financial plan. As you achieve the short-term goals you'll earn a sense of satisfaction and it will give you the drive you need to accomplish your longer term goals.

Personal financial planning is the process of managing your money to reach economic satisfaction. This process gives you control of your finances. By having a financial plan you enhance your quality of life and increase your satisfaction because economic uncertainties about your future needs and resources are minimized.

There are 6 steps to personal financial planning. They are:

#1: Determining where you stand currently with your finances

#2: Developing financial goals

#3: Strategizing different courses of action

#4: Evaluating your alternatives

#5: Creating and putting your financial plan into action

#6: Periodically reviewing the plan to see if it's working for you

Research has shown that people with their own financial plan save more money than those who haven't taken the time to develop a plan.

Yes, I'm going to New York City! Can't pass up a free trip!

DH will see to everything at home while I'm gone. He'll get DS#2 to the camp he's working at for the summer (a 2.5 hour drive one way) and make sure he has his seizure medicine. He'll also oversee the last day of school and graduation and the parties we've been invited to.

DH is determined that I'm going so I guess I'd better get planning.

I got a phone call at home today from one of the librarians in our system. She offered me her place on a trip to NYC to attend Book Expo 2007. They leave this Thursday! Should I go? Can I get everything ready in order to go?

I'll miss graduation next weekend. We don't have any children graduating this year, but DS#2's good friend is graduating so I wouldn't be here for that.

DS#2 also leaves next Sunday for his summer job so I wouldn't be here to take him. DH can do it, but would he do as a good of a job as I would? LOL! Would he make sure that DS has his seizure medicine to last him all summer? Would he nag him to death up until the final second of saying good-bye to remember to take it every night like he needs to?

Can my family make it without me for 5 days?

It's free, it would be a blast, I'd love to see NYC again...what to do????

I wrapped up $12.50 in coins today and decided to deposit that in my EF. I normally deposit $25.00 per week out of DH's overtime. I decided this would be a nice little boost to get us closer to my minimum of $1,000.

We picked up our siding for the house this morning, so that was another chunk out of the house repair fund. Between that and putting a new porch roof on, the house repair money is getting hit heavy this spring.

#10: You have a stay-at-home spouse that relies on your income and would not be able to support themselves if something happened to you

#9: You're a stay-at-home spouse that performs duties that a full-time working spouse would find impossible to duplicate

#8: You do not have enough other assets built up that would provide support for your dependents

#7: To protect your minor children until they reach maturity and can fend for themselves

#6: Life insurance is not meant to be an investment (like whole-life is), it's protection

#5: You can choose a policy length that suits your needs

#4: Compared to whole life, term insurance is very low cost for the coverage you get

#3: You can lock in a fixed premium that is guaranteed renewable

#2: It will give you peace of mind

#1: It's the responsible (and smart!) thing to do

We got an announcement a few weeks ago that our local bank was going to be upgrading their website so that it was more secure and user-friendly. Great, right? Ha!

The first day the "new and improved" site was ready to be used I tried to log on. We had gotten a letter, with a booklet, telling us how to log on the first time. We were to put our username in all caps and then enter our regular password. Okay, no problem. I eagerly logged on and entered my username in all caps, hit the enter button and, at the next screen, entered my password as usual. Up pops a message telling me that I'd exceeded my allowed number of attempts to log on and would now have to call an 800 number to have my account unlocked! What!!! Exceeded the number of allowed attempts after one try?!!

I dial the 800 number, push "2" for the correct extension and am promptly greeted with the announcement that my call cannot be answered because there is an unusally high traffic volume. Hmmm...wonder why?

I wait 4 days and try again. This morning I am finally successful after 2 attempts and another message about high traffic volume to get put on hold. After waiting 34 minutes I am finally connected to a real live person who is not surprised at all to hear that my one attempt caused such havoc. She quickly reset my account and I finally have on-line access again.

Ugh! The cost of the convenience of technology!

I finally feel like I have my Quicken up and running again since my computer reformat on Mother's Day. I think I have most of my recurring bills entered and reminders scheduled.

The only lingering problem from the computer reformat is that I cannot get into my phone bill online. I have to have my account number and PIN that comes on my statement. Well, I no longer get the statement in the mail since I pay it online so I don't know what the PIN is. They can't give it to me over the phone so I'm waiting for a printed statement to arrive in the mail. Once that comes I'll have access again.

I was under the impression that once you logged in with that information and created your own user name and password that you no longer needed that information. But since the site doesn't recognize my computer anymore I have to have that info in order to gain access once again. What a pain!

I discovered the Fuel Economy website last week and decided to track my mileage on there to see how many miles to the gallon I'm getting and also to compare gasoline stations to see if there is a difference in miles to the gallon with the different gasolines.

I only have 2 entries so far but the first time I got 20 miles to the gallon and this time I'm up to almost 25. This should prove interesting to watch.

You can choose to share your information and can compare with others.

I got this email tonight:

Today they took syd off the ventilator and pulled all her tubes out, except the ones in her
right leg. The only part of her brain stem that is still functioning is the part that tells her
heart to beat and her lungs to breathe. So we are just playing a waiting game for now.

We have a situation in our extended family that's hitting a little too close to home right now.

I've written about DS#2's hemiplegic migraines and seizures. Well, my cousin's 18 month-old daughter had a seizure this past weekend that ended up with her in cardiac arrest for 10 minutes. She was life-flighted to a larger hospital and is now on a respirator. They've done an MRI and she has damage to her brain stem.

The situation is not good and the parents and grandparents are having a difficult time coping, naturally. It's made me more aware of what could happen.

They all could use some prayers right now.

I feel like I'm operating in the dark here without my Quicken program being fully functional. I had it all set up with reminders to pay all of my bills throughout the year. Now with having lost all of that, I'm afraid I'm going to miss something.

I am slowly adding the information back in as I go, but it's been slow and tedious. Just setting up the reminders for my transfers to ING each week was dicey since I'd also lost my budgeting spreadsheets. More reason to order a flash drive and start backing up onto that!

I assume it's just the price of gas and the fact that we now have 7 to feed again for the summer since college is out, but I'm feeling the financial pinch. We just got rid of the credit card debt so you'd think that I'd have some extra money laying around. Not!

I am adding extra to the mortgage payment but that is all coming out of overtime pay.

I think what I need to do is get that EF back up to $1,000 and I'll probably relax a bit. It makes me nervous to not have some money tucked away, just in case.

Not mine, but DH's. My mom gave him $20 for his birthday yesterday and now he can't find it.

I swear that he and DS#2 are SO much alike. Always losing something and accusing everyone else of putting it somewhere. Then after a bit it will show up exactly where they had it last. It drives me crazy! I'm the extremely organized type so for them to do this just drives me up the wall.

I looked for it today after he left. I searched his shorts pockets that he'd been wearing this weekend but didn't find it.

Before he left he was telling me that he remembers taking it out of the envelope and laying the card on the kitchen counter. I told him he can't possibly remember doing that because I gave it to him in the garage! I saw that he did go to the garage before he left for work so hopefully he found it there. Ack!

I had to begin the process today of starting over with Quicken. I had to totally reformat my computer this weekend because it would not do anything, so all my Quicken records are gone (hadn't backed them up for a while) and also my spreadsheets.

I'm kind of glad to start again with Quicken because I had way too much in there anyway. It will just be a tedious process to get all of my bills reentered and the bill-paying schedule going. Oh well, I'll enjoy it!

My boss recently bought a new truck. The dealership threw in a buying incentive of 2 days at a Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott. She knew that she would never use it so yesterday she gave it to me.

It has to be used by October 1st and you have to book 30 days in advance. There are several hotels listed in the 2 states that are closest to us. Now to just decide where and when we'd like to get away!