Finally...

I have never been so happy to see a pay period get here!  OK...that's not exactly true because all pay periods are good...more money always helps!  But this time with DH's mistake I was really looking forward to this one.  

And there are NO BILLS due for these next 2 weeks!  I can really put some money aside for DH's tires and hopefully he'll be able to get them really soon!  I've already replaced all the money I've "borrowed" from the other accounts.  Plus the normal transfer of $442.60 into the savings account for our mortgage payment.  

Getting into the routine of transferring 1/2 the mortgage payment every two weeks into the savings account it automatically gets pulled from was a great idea!  The mortgage is the first thing I "pay" every pay period.  I have never made a late payment or missed a payment!  And I know the money is always in the account when it's time for it to come out.

I don't expect to have any problems paying my bills, but if I did I would pay my mortgage and heloc first because I would never want to lose my home.  Second, I would make the truck payment because DH needs to get to and from work (though if we were really that bad off we would probably sell the truck and get a cheap, reliable vehicle--unless it was already paid off).  Lastly, I would pay the credit card.  Of course mixed in all that would be buying food, prescriptions, and paying for utilities.  Those would also be before the credit card.  

Of course all of this really doesn't matter if you plan well.  That's why we have an emergency fund.  If DH loses his job we don't have to make decisions on what to pay and what to not pay.  

And someday our plan is to not ever worry about it at all!  Our plan to payoff all our debt including our mortgage is a long term one for now, but once I can go back to work that will turn into a short term plan.  

• Everything I make will go towards debt!  
• Anything over what we've been currently living on from DH's paycheck will go towards savings.  

Right now it's just send whatever we can to pay down or off our debt.  Living below our means definitely helps though we don't deny ourselves either.  I have 2 more years (Spring, Summer, and Fall terms) of college to complete my B.S. degree along with my double minor and 3 certificates.  Once that is done I'll volunteer for a few years to get my foot in the door of my new career and still be available for my youngest son, who will still be in elementary school.  I'll be able to get a job again when he gets into middle school (my oldest will be in high school by then).

I can't wait to see how fast the debt disappears once I'm working again!  I almost want to see about getting a job sooner because of it, but I know I have to concentrate on my schooling and children first. Though if the right opportunity came along that still allowed me to do all the things I do with my boys, then I would consider it.

Woohoo!

DH paid $2.799/gallon for gas this morning and I paid the same at a different station this afternoon!  Usually we've been paying up to $65.00 to fill up DH's truck and about $40.00 to fill up my car.  But today it was $44.50 and $27.02!  I am so happy!  I know it would be better if it went even lower, but for now this is exciting to me!

On another note...DH made a mistake and bought something using the debit card instead of using the credit card that I told him to use to replace a piece of important computer equipment that died on us.  It totally threw off my entire budget for these two weeks.  Especially since things were already tight because it was a 2-week period where it seems all the bills decided to be due.  In the next 2-week period coming up there are absolutely no bills due!  So I've had to borrow from our blow money "accounts" and will replace it when we get paid later this week.

Answer to Comment Questions

I received this comment and thought I should answer it in a post:

dedicated said...

Stupid Question - Does the loan company require that you make your regular payment amount? Or do you do this for ease and record keeping? Do they have a limit on how many payments you can make a month?

Or maybe you are just trying to show in your minds eye the car is being paid off, by the shrinking payment book coupons?

Just curious. Not that it matters since you will be 4 months ahead on payoff it is all good.

Firstly, I don't think they are stupid questions at all.  I would probably have the same questions.  And if you don't ask, then how do you know?

I'm not really sure if the credit union we got the truck loan with would take partial payments, though I don't see why not.  

Yep, I do this for ease and record keeping.  I know it seems like a waste to write out separate checks when I'm mailing them all out in the same envelope, but 1) I don't use checks all that much anyway so I've got to use them for something--LOL; and 2) it helps me keep track of them better.

I don't know if they have a limit on how many payments can be sent in at once.  So far the most I've tested it with is 3 payments at once.  I would think they would just be happy to get their money.

Oh yes it is definitely nice to see the coupon book start to get smaller and smaller.  Our maturity date is supposed to be October 5, 2011.  My goal is to have it totally paid off by December 2009 or sooner.  I can do this by making at least 2 payments a month with some extra payments thrown in during the two months with extra paychecks.

Thanks for the great questions!  I hope that has cleared it up, but if not feel free to ask me some more questions.

Been kind of lax...

...with everything!

Good thing I have all my bills paid right now.  I guess it's because I'm on "vacation" until school starts back up.  I need a regular schedule even if it is only at home.  

Luckily there haven't been any major expenses these past couple of days. *knocks on wood*

I'm waiting for the end of this 2-week pay period, which ends this Thursday night.  I'm hoping to see that I've stayed on budget.  We're cutting it kind of close this 2-week pay period.  I've already "paid" all my bills for the next 2-week pay period through bill pay -- well I've scheduled them anyway.  I decided to only pay the interest on the Heloc this month (plus extra just to round it up to the next dollar) and try paying by bill pay this time (usually I send a check).  We'll see how it goes.  I'll be putting the extra money towards paying off the truck loan.  I really want that truck loan gone!  Technically my next payment isn't due until November, but I'll be continuing to make payments anyway.

So here is my plan:

• Pay off truck loan early
• Start paying down Heloc until student loans come due
• Pay off student loans as quickly as possible
• Finish paying off Heloc
• Work on paying off mortgage early

The last two should be easier because I should be working again by then.  The student loan payoff will take a while at the beginning since I won't be working right away, but should take off once I'm ready to get a job.

Does More Income Actually Mean More Money?

I want to thank Fabulously Broke In The City for giving me something to talk about on these slow three days (personal finance wise anyways).  She wrote a post on July 4th entitled High Income doesn't necessarily mean Financial Smarts that set off a topic I like to talk about--basically people that have a lot of income (or what should be a lot of income), but still don't have any money and lots of debt.

One point that wasn't brought up was that income and how much is high really depends on where you live.  Other factors such as whether you are single or married, or have children or not could also determine what is considered a low or high income to someone.

For instance my husband's salary would barely pay the mortgage/rent if we lived up north.  Because we live in the south and have stayed out of the larger cities, then his income allows us to pay the bills plus some and I can stay home with the children now.  Five to ten years ago we were only making in the $25K-$35K range and managed to build two houses (not at the same time) and have two kids (again not at the same time).  My husband was able to stay home for a while during that time period to take care of our youngest son who was born with a birth defect and needed extra care, and go to school.  Now with DH working post-degree (and his student loans paid off early) we are making in the $50K range, living more comfortably, and I get to go back to school.  Imagine what we'll be able to save and pay off when we are both working!

At the same time I've known people that make more than we do, but still don't have a life as comfortable as ours.  Oh on the surface it looks comfortable!  One job layoff though and it'll be all over...no more house, no more cars, debts sent to collections, trying to figure out how to pay for food.  Yeah that could be bad!  

I don't believe that income has anything to do with whether you can pay off your debt and live comfortably or not.  Yes, more income does make it easier, but the real key is living below your means.  I'm pretty sure I've mentioned how we live below our means here.  Has it always been easy?  No, and more income would have been nice, but we managed and we still do.  

I do believe that there are people out there that try very hard, budget their money well, and due to situations out of their control still don't have enough to make it.  Just living below your means and budgeting doesn't always cut it for everyone.  But I think there are also a lot of people out there that would benefit if they would just live below their means and budget and the amount of income really wouldn't have anything to do with it.

End of 2-week Pay Period

Another end to another 2-week pay period.  I had a whole dollar left in our checking account!  It has now been divided up into different savings categories.

On another note, my grant money has gone through and paid my college tuition for the summer.  I'm now waiting for the remainder to be deposited in my account so I can pay that extra on the credit card.

Payday Activities

Hubby got paid yesterday so I did my usual every two week payday thing.  

First I checked to see the final balance in my checkbook for the end of the day for May 7th and zeroed it out by transferring the remaining money to different savings funds.

Next I transferred $442.60 to my mortgage savings account for 1/2 the mortgage payment (P&I and escrows), so it will be available for the June automatic payment withdrawal.

Then I paid any remaining bills.  They have all now been deducted and/or scheduled for the remainder of the month and all except two will be deducted from this pay period.  The other two have been scheduled to be sent after the next pay period in two weeks.

The only remaining things to take care of this month is interest received, VA Benefit received, the IRS rebate which has to be disbursed to various areas, the college grant remaining after tuition payment, and the 5/22 paycheck and 1/2 mortgage transfer. Once those are complete, I can begin taking care of June's bills.

Postings and Budgeting

I just want to let everyone know that I sometimes have a habit of wanting to post several times a day.  I like my posts to be organized into categories so I may write a post that talks about one subject and instead of continuing on will write another post about a different subject.  OK...I'll admit I'm weird. :-)

Now as for my weird budgeting.  And yes it is weird.  I don't make a true budget and I don't do it monthly, but I do keep track of some things monthly.  Have I lost you yet?

I use Quicken to keep track of all my bills, deposits, transfers, etc.  So I do not make a true "write it all out on paper" monthly budget with a bunch of categories of what is due when.  I also base my so called "budget" on each pay period (every two weeks) instead of monthly.  To me it is better to know what is due within a two week period than a monthly one.  Therefore, I am always over-budget if you look at it on a monthly budget because most of our two week pay periods overlap months.  Still with me?

However, I still like to look at monthly totals for things like gas and groceries.  I also keep track of my round up fund monthly, where I round up my payments to the nearest dollar and transfer the total monthly into my emergency fund.

So now that I've totally confused you, here are my April monthly spending totals:

Bills (utilities, doctor, heloc): $876.49

Auto (Fuel): $629.65

Groceries (for family of 4): $255.25

Dining Out (includes a special anniversary lunch): $164.73

Dining (DH's work lunches): $117.47

Other Expenses: $339.17

Auto (Loan) (double payment made): $465.52

I also transferred $42.14 from March's round up fund to the emergency fund and two transfers of $442.60 to cover the mortgage.