Financial Update -- May 2011

A little financial update for everyone since I just got around to moving some money here and there. 

Hubby got paid today (a bit early because of the holiday on Monday) so I decided to get the ball rolling on some transfers. 

Some of the money I already had set aside and the rest was added with this paycheck.

• Transferred $450.00 to our mortgage savings for 1/2 of the monthly mortgage payment (it's actually more than 1/2 our regular payment, but I like to have the account padded a little in case homeowner's insurance or property taxes go up)
• Transferred $501.07 to our credit card
• Transferred $240.82 to my college loan savings (loans not due until end of 2011/beginning of 2012, but starting to make "payments" to get a head start)
• Transferred $501.08 to our emergency fund
• Transferred $534.00 to our vacation savings (have to keep up with it if we want to go to Italy next year)
• Transferred $50.00 into my IRA (automatically deducted every month)

All of our bills are paid until the middle of June.  The emergency fund is almost back to the pre-layoff amount, which we'll finish next month.

Finally!!!!

We finally got hubby's March 31st paycheck last Thursday!  Phew!  Now I only hope his April 15th paycheck goes through the direct deposit correctly this time.

I've updated the sidebar now that I've actually been able to spend some money to pay off some debt and add to some savings.

I'm saving for our vacation to Italy in 2012 again.  That's $534 per month.  We may be able to get some discounts through my husband's old friend, but I'd rather not count on it.  So I'm saving up as much as possible and if we get lucky enough to get some discounts, then we'll have extra money for later.

I took another look at my payoff plan and I may be able to cut 8-10 months off of my total debt payoff.  I was only saving $190 a month to pay off the heloc, but realized that I may be able to take out $380 a month instead.  That will take care of that debt much quicker!  Crossing fingers that will be the case.  I'd really like to get the heloc cut in half so that we'll be closer to what our home is worth right now.

We'll see how that all goes though.  Right now we've just started getting paychecks again so it may take some time to sort everything out and get the perfect amount set aside for debts that we are comfortable with.

Project Savings/Payoff

As I mentioned in my last post, I put together a spreadsheet listing our debts, a quickie budget, grocery expenses, and a debt payoff plan.  It is in no way a done deal because I'm working on preliminary income figures. 

Also, I used the minimum payoff amount available so the payoff dates may be better than the spreadsheet indicates.  As a matter of fact, I've already knocked off 1 month from my entire savings/payoff plan! 

We started out owing $177,273.30 (credit card, student loans, heloc, and mortgage) and we need to re-save $1,097.22 of our emergency fund.  We are on track for the emergency fund and should have that completed by the middle of April.  We had some extra money come in that we didn't need so I put it towards the credit card lowering our total owed to about $177,023.70 (it's actually less, but I rounded the credit card up for minor use).

My plan is to re-save the emergency fund first, then move on to the credit card.  That should take us through October 2011.  I'm starting out with $697.48 per month as the extra debt payoff.

My student loans do not become due until November so I'll be saving up the payment through the summer.  By the time they are due, I should be able to pay off the smallest 2 of the 8 student loans.  I'll consolidate the remaining 6 loans and that total should be paid off by July 2013 depending on the monthly payment.  I calculated the payment to be about $240.82 per month, then added in the extra $697.48 for a total monthly payment of $938.30.  The original monthly payment could be more or less and that could change how long it takes to pay it off. 

The next item on my payoff plan is the heloc.  That's where I've reduced the payoff time by one month with a complete payoff by July 2016.  This may depend on some other things we could be doing with our house and mortgage so we'll have to see how that goes to determine how the heloc payoff will really go.  But for now I will continue to pay an additional $190 a month, which reduces the amount by $5,510, then in July 2013 I will add the $938.30 extra I've been using towards the other debts to pay this one down for a total of $1128.30 per month. 

The mortgage is part of the total balance, but is not on the payoff plan as yet.  We have to wait and see how that will work out with our other plan that I'll talk about another day.

The other variables in this plan are my husband's income, any income I may make, the extra money showing in my budget, and other incidentals.  Right now I'm working with what I think we will be getting from my husband's income.  So far we've only received one 1/2 check with the w-4 showing single, zero.  The next check will include a completed w-4, but no deductions other than taxes.  By May we should have a normal check with insurance, 401K deductions, and taxes taken out.  That will be when I can finalize things a bit more.

I may start substituting next school year, which could bring in some extra money to go towards our debt payoff.  Since I don't know how many days I'll be working, or whether the school district will still be accepting new substitutes, I haven't included this into the payoff plan yet.

I also have $704.23 left over after my quickie budget plan.  I've subtracted out bills, savings, groceries, and extra debt payoff.  The rest is what we will use for all the other things we buy, need, want, use, etc.  Any thing left over by the next month will go to pay down the debt even more.  I don't want to say it's our spending money because I bet we usually won't use that much extra in a month.  Only if we have some sort of extra expense.  So I expect most of it will go towards debt.

Any number of things could happen to mess up my plan...or make it better!  Those are my incidentals.  Couldn't say what they'll be yet, but I can guarantee something will show up one way or another!

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.

Advanced Payments are GOOD!

Thank goodness for the truck loan being paid in advance!  My husband desperately needs new tires on his truck because he drives 570 miles a week and the tires the truck came with are crap!  

Anyway...

Since I haven't had the time to start saving up for Auto Maintenance, which this lovely issue brought to my attention, I am planning to use the money I would have used to make the 2 extra payments to the truck loan to buy the new tires.  Because honestly it makes no sense to use the money to pay down the truck early instead of buying new tires so hubby doesn't go out of control on the highway when a tire blows.  Plus I would probably have to pay for massive hospital bills, if not a funeral.  That would be bad!

The tires are actually going to cost $568.00 plus delivery, installation charges, taxes. I'm expecting it will cost quite a bit by the time this is all said and done.  But it is a necessary expense with how much he drives.

We've already researched the tires on tirerack.com and found some that have a very high rating.  His original ones are there, too, and confirmed how crappy they really are, though the dealership told him they were top of the line when they tried to sell them to him when he got his oil changed.  They had no idea we already researched the tires. Nice try, but no thank you.

So the plan now is:

• Use one, possibly two, months of extra truck loan payments to pay for tires for the truck.
• Use any extra money such as bonuses and tax refunds to "catch up" to where I wanted to be with these missed extra payments.

Hopefully that will all work out the way I would like it to, but if it doesn't that's alright. I still see the truck loan being paid off early even with skipping a couple of months.

September Update

I finally got around to taking care of end of month activities.  Phew!  This year is just flying by!

I've updated my sidebar including NetWorth IQ.  Did you notice the truck payment?  I'm now under $7,000!  My last two payments have posted and the remaining balance is at $6,697.32!  I AM SO EXCITED!!!!  Sorry for screaming, but I just cannot contain myself.

My emergency fund is trickling along, but at least it's moving up.  It's now at $3,273.04 and I earned a whopping $8.65 in interest last month!  This is the most I've ever made in interest.

I earned a measly $0.29 interest in my checking account, which I promptly put in my round up fund, and $0.71 interest in my "mortgage" savings account.

I've already paid most of my bills for this month.  The credit card, cell phones, water/sewer/garbage, and the electric bill (which was horribly high for us at $153 and some change) have now been paid.  I only have two bills left for the month--other than the mortgage, which is automatically taken out in a couple of days.

I seriously need to go through our food and set up a menu plan so I can use all the food we have efficiently.  I know I'll be running out of a few items soon, but for the most part we have a lot of food to eat if I would only start writing it down!  That will help me save money on running out for food I don't really need yet.

More Future Payments

I've made out two more checks towards the truck loan!  They will be for the January and February payments.  WOOHOO!  It feels so good to be that far ahead in our payments.  I want to continue making 2 payments a month, but it's nice just knowing that if there was an emergency we won't have to make another payment until March!

And the really good news is that these two payments should bring the truck loan below $7,000!

Now I can't wait until next month so I can make payments for March and April!

Suze Orman on AC360

Last night Suze Orman was talking to Anderson Cooper on CNN.  Everyone has a different opinion on her.  Some people like her and some don't.  I'm more in the middle, but that could be said about any financial personality out there.  

But last night she made some very good points that I believe a lot of people forget.  Before I get started on them I just want everyone to know they can find the transcript for the show here.  You have to scroll down some--about halfway down the page to find the section with her, then Ari Velshi talks for a little bit and back to her again.

Here are some points:

• "If you need the money in one year to retire, to generate income for you, and it's all in growth stocks, yes, you betcha. You come out of the stock market right now." and "But, if you don't need the money for 10, 15, 20 years, and you're in good, quality stocks, stocks that aren't going to go away, then of course you stay here."  

Let's face it most of us are in it for the long haul.  You're 401K is there for the future and over time they end up growing.  The media reports make it sound like it is so bad that you're going to lose everything!  The big thing is to keep on contributing, don't put everything into one basket, and if it really makes you nervous--don't look at your account too often right now.  It can get really depressing if you do.  Be patient!  In my case, I try not to look at it because I know it's going down, but I have another 27 years until I really need it!

• "Look at your own lives. Look at what you have got going on. There's only one thing, Anderson, you have control over in this life. And that is your own personal finance, as what you do with the money you have, what you do with the money that you don't have.  Look at your own lives. Look at what you have got going on. There's only one thing, Anderson, you have control over in this life. And that is your own personal finance, as what you do with the money you have, what you do with the money that you don't have. And that's where you have to focus right now" 

Again I have to agree here.  How can the average person control what is going on outside of their own finances?  The average person cannot!  So the only thing anyone can do is take care of your own finances to make sure you can survive in a time like this.  You cannot worry about others (examples: government spending, stock market, bank closures and bankruptcies, etc) when you don't have your own finances in order.  Make sure your money is safe in FDIC insured accounts, pay off or down high interest credit cards and loans, have an emergency fund, know where your money is going and/or figure out where it should be going.

So how are you dealing with the current financial situation?  Do you watch it constantly and panic/get depressed?  Or are you patiently waiting for it to be over because you know you're in it for the long haul?  

I admit it can get pretty depressing always hearing about decreasing home values, decreasing home sales, increasing foreclosures, increasing bankruptcies, businesses going under or being bought out, stock market crashes, increasing gas and grocery prices, etc.  But the media also isn't talking about people that are making it in these "hard times", who were smart enough to not get themselves into a bind by paying off debt, not panicking, not buying more house than they could afford, etc.  I know that some really fell into trouble because of others or emergency situations, but we also have to be responsible for our own personal finances at some point.

Attempt to Get Back on Track...

...Or at least I'm going to try.  

I've updated everything on the sidebar now as well as NetWorthIQ.  It's not looking good, but I didn't expect it to what with the student loans being added to it all.

I made several payments to the truck loan.  We are now down to $7,131.24 left on it and I don't owe them another payment until January.  Of course, I'll continue to send them in because I want it gone!  My extra loan payment "savings" is up to $145.69 so I'll only need $87.07 to send in another extra payment along with my regular payment.

I received my homeowner's insurance statement.  The payment is due in December and is paid through my mortgage escrow account.  I would love to not have a mortgage escrow account, but they are required on VA loans.  As usual the policy covers some pretty stupid things like volcanic eruption, which may be needed if I lived in Hawaii, but I live in a flat state with barely a hill; and grave markers (is there something I don't know about?).  The good thing is that it looks like it will be going down $14.97 from last year's premium.  It's not much, but it'll still lower my monthly mortgage payment.  That's $1.25 a month that I can put towards something else.  

I have all my monthly bills paid for the rest of the month and we still have another payday to go this month!  The next bill is not due until the 7th of next month and it's the only one for the next two pay periods!  I've already made sure I did a big grocery shopping.  We are set for food other than refrigerated items we go through quickly.  I spent over $215 so it better last!  So I think this is a good time for auto maintenance.  I need an oil change and new battery and DH needs an oil change, some other routine maintenance yet to be determined, and a couple of new tires.  We'll have to do some pricing.  For tires we like to check them out on Tire Rack to get reviews and pricing.  We bought my new ones on there earlier this year.  We had them delivered to a local shop to be put on and we couldn't be happier with them.

I believe that may bring me up to date for now.  If I think of anything else, I'll add another post later.

Payoff Date Goals

Things have been kind of busy here dealing with storms, college classes, the boys going back to school, and their activities starting back up.  But at the same time the finances have been kind of slow going.  There just hasn't been anything much to talk about.  So I was looking over my posts here and realized that I never gave any dates of when I'd like to get everything paid off.  

I guess I do have something to talk about now!

1. Pay off truck loan early: My goal on this is to completely pay it off by December 2009.  The original maturity date is October 2011.  Once it is paid off, then I'll also be downgrading the insurance coverage so I'll be saving some money there, too.

 

2. Start paying down Heloc until student loans come due: This will be done from January 2010 through June 2011, which is when I should have to start paying on my student loans.

3. Pay off student loans as quickly as possible:  I do not have an actual payoff goal on this as yet until I see the final damage.  I'll have a better idea around the summer/fall of 2010.  But know it will be paid off early.

4. Finish paying off Heloc:  This will also depend on other factors like how much I paid off prior to student loans coming due and what my work situation is like once I start paying it off again.

5. Work on paying off mortgage early:  The original maturity date on our mortgage was January 2034, but we knocked it down to August 2032 with an employee loan through the bank as I worked with them at the time we bought the home.  We paid that loan off a long time ago!  My ultimate goal would be to pay off the mortgage somewhere between 2020 and 2022 or sooner.  Again it will all depend on paying off the other debt, my employment situation, and any other things that happen to pop up.

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.

2-Week Pay Period: July 31, 2008 and End of Month

It isn't often that both the end of a 2-week pay period and the end of the month coincide.  This was also the end of a 3-check month.

End of 2-Week:

• The first thing I decided to do is to redirect my extra 1/2 mortgage payment transfer amount of $442.60 to my new extra loan payoff savings.  I just don't really need it for the mortgage so I figure it'll do me more good paying off some debt.  So along with some additional funds I managed to move over there, I was able to make two additional payments on the truck loan.  So this month I've made payments for August, September, and October.  And I still have $90.03 left in the extra loan payoff savings.  When it reaches another payment, then I'll send it in as an additional payment.
  

• I paid $100 for my August credit card payment.  I only owed $19.00, but I'm used to paying extra.  Besides I've had to use it more often lately because of the boys' dentist appointments.  
  

• I scheduled our cell phone bill for August in the amount of $63.75 (that's for two phones).
  

• I paid $99.91 on a doctor's bill for what was left after copay and insurance.
• I transferred the blow money for my husband and me; and the allowance for the boys.
  

End of Month:

• Groceries: $213.59
• Dining out: $184.31
• Husband's Work Lunches: $138.10 (can you tell bringing his lunch to work isn't working?)
• Gas: $570.21 (it's going down!)
• Prescriptions: $8.20
• Dental: $313.70

All our bills are now paid through the next pay period due on August 14th.  I may still need to update some of the numbers in the sidebar later because:

1. the mortgage payment hasn't gone through yet and I like to see the exact loan amount remaining after the payment.
2. interest in the savings accounts are not showing yet.
3. I always check the truck loan after the checks have cleared as the total amount due is usually lower (I tend to overestimate the interest and underestimate the principal).

I believe that about covers this last 2-weeks and last month.  Let's hope August is a good one!

Sidebar Figures

I see that today is going to be one of those days that I make multiple posts.  Either I've saved them all up or I'm stalling so I don't have to do my school work.  You decide which! ;-)

You may notice some changes in the sidebar.  I've added some progression bars for debt that I would like to pay off and I've removed my NCN Network thingamabob.

The debt I wish to pay off is my mortgage, heloc, truck loan, and student loans. 

The mortgage should go down gradually at first because it will be the last thing to pay off.  

The heloc is next and will probably cease to go down because of what I spoke about in my last post of putting the extra towards the truck loan.  

The truck loan is already at over 30% paid.  I'm really looking to see that get to 100% fast.  

The student loans are showing 0% paid and will continue to show 0% paid for the next several years.  It will also be increasing in size as I'm still going to college.

I've removed the NCN Network debt tracker thing because it just won't work right as long as I'm still racking up the student loan debt.

The one thing you will not notice on here is my one credit card.  That is constantly used.  I use it, I pay it down, I pay it off, I use it again.  I don't expect I'll ever get rid of it as we are not irresponsible with it.  I know a lot of people say the only way to be totally debt free is to get rid of all your debt and cut up your credit cards never to be used again, but I'm not one of them.  I believe that debt is bad, but I also believe that using a credit card is essential in certain circumstances as long as you know how to use them properly and don't go overboard.  With only a $5000 credit limit, I seriously doubt we would go very far into debt with it especially once we pay everything else off and have the extra cash every month.  Right now my credit card bill is around $59, but I always pay much more than that and have paid it off several times.  I do hope to get to the point of being able to pay it off every month, but right now getting the other debt paid off first is my big priority.  It's not what most people would do, but it works for us.

OK...so hopefully this is the last post for today.  :-)

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.

No Go on Gas

Gas prices are not going down.  

My bubble has totally burst.  *sigh* 

My husband put gas in his truck yesterday evening and it was up to $4.059!  He used to put $55 worth of gas in every two days and now it's up to $70!

We are just fine, but I cannot imagine how people that are worse off than we are or who literally live paycheck to paycheck manage it.  

And when gas goes up so does food.  Again we are fine.  We appear to live paycheck to paycheck, but I make tons of additional payments on several debts each month that I don't have to pay.  

If we end up feeling squeezed, then the extra payments will be the first to go.  It will amount to over $400 extra every month, if needed.  My debt won't go down as much, but we'll be able to live.  And with kids that's important.

We are able to do this because we live below our means, but at the same time we don't sacrifice a whole lot either.  

• We were told we could afford a larger house with a larger mortgage, but instead we bought in another area where the houses were bigger and the prices the same as the home we had sold.  Our mortgage was larger than the previous one, but we didn't go overboard plus we got a low fixed rate VA loan.  However, compared to others our house may be considered small for a family of 4 with two growing boys.  For us it works and we did upgrade from a 1600 sq. ft., 3-bedroom home to a home that has 4 bedrooms and just under 1900 sq. ft.  Plus we moved out of the city to a more suburban town with a better school system.
  
• When a couple of years later we were looking into a heloc, we were told we could get almost double what we did.  We purposely capped ourselves to ensure we wouldn't be in debt any more than we were comfortable with.
• When we were told more than several times by our credit union that we could have a much higher credit card limit, we told them, "no, we want a lower credit limit of $X,XXX amount" because it was all we wanted.
• We keep vehicles until they are falling apart and only have a payment (if any) on one at a time.
• We don't touch our retirement funds at any time!
• When our pay goes up, we increase the retirement funds and put extra towards the debt.
• With bonuses, we take some to splurge with and the rest goes to savings and debt.

I hate seeing people taking what others say at face value.  "Look at this!  Great!  You can afford a home at $XXX,XXX."  And then they go out and buy one at that amount without really looking at their finances to see what they could really afford with incidentals like gas and food going up, or home insurance rates and property taxes.  And I bet there are not a lot of people who consider what would happen if they lost their jobs like many are now.  *shakes head*  I feel for them, but I wonder how many could be prevented in losing their homes or having to move closer to work just because of poor financial planning.

Hodge Podge

I have a mixture of things to talk about and decided to do it in one post...hence the hodge podge.  Don't ask...LOL...anyway...

My debts have been going down (slowly, but going down) and my net worth has been going up (again slowly).  It's always nice to see them moving in the right direction!

Yesterday, I received the excess money from my college grant.  I immediately transferred the $106.15 to my credit card.

We also received my husband's paycheck so off went $442.60 to the savings for 1/2 the mortgage payment.

I'm pretty sure my husband needs to get gas today so we'll see how that goes.  A few days ago the gas was up to $3.869.  I'm sure it's above that by now so filling up will probably be over the $65.00 it was last time.

Also on an "earning money online" note, I signed up with Ebates.com today.  They were giving out $10.00 referral bonuses to both me and the referrer.  I don't know how I missed them in the past because I am always shopping online!  Thanks to 2 Nickels Making a Dollar for mentioning and referring Ebates!  I've now added Ebates to my list of online money earnings and a referral link.  Again no pressure!

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.

Stimulus Refund

We got our stimulus refund direct deposited tonight and within 20 minutes it was gone.  See that's what I call good planning.  :-)

We got $1800, which was the original $1200 plus $300 for each of our children.  

• On Quicken and my checkbook register I transferred $800 to our new auto insurance fund to ensure we have the money available for our auto insurance payment in July.  I did not actually transfer this money with my credit union because I will need it readily available to either transfer online or write a check when the bill becomes due.  We never really saved for the payment before, but I've decided it will take a lot of stress away knowing it is available if I started saving for it little by little instead of waiting until a month with 3 pay periods.
  
• I then transferred online with my credit union $767 to my credit card.  I had planned on paying $873.15 in total, but that included some left over college grant money after summer tuition that I haven't received yet (will be used to pay off the textbooks I bought on the credit card).  So when I receive that money I'll pay an additional $106.15 on the credit card.
• Finally, I wrote out a $232.76 check for the July truck payment.  I made double payments at the end of April for the May and June payments.  At the end of this month I'll make a double payment for the August and September payments.  Anyway, the July payment check is ready to go out in the mail tomorrow.  I then rounded up the amount as I usually would when making a payment.  That puts an additional $0.24 going towards savings at the end of the month.

Tax Stimulus Refund balance: $0.00

HELOC Interest Rate

We originally got our HELOC in 2006 with an interest rate of 7.5%.  A few months later they modified our interest to 7.25%.  Because of the drop in interest rates it is now at 4.25%!  

I always pay a fixed amount of $300 every month regardless of the interest due (unless it is more, but it never has been yet).  That means due to the lower interest rate I'll be making a larger principal payment of $138.90 this month, whereas last month's extra principal was $116.03.