Amazed

I honestly can't believe that I have been able to pay off almost $10,000 so far this year and that I have just over $14,000 to go! It truly is amazing to me. However, I can't help but think that if I didn't have any debts, this could have been money saved.

Today is payday so I paid a little more towards my car, $270.00. This brings my balance to $2,992.xx. It's such a great feeling to get paid, and after making the payment, see the balance get smaller.

Housesitting

I've been away from home this week, house/dog sitting. It's a nice way to make extra money but really hard to be away from your own surroundings...at least for me it is!

Some people get a lot of gigs like this, I'm not one of them as I only house/dog sit for one family. I don't post on any of the "sitting" sites offering these services.

Basically, you just need to take care of things as if it were your house like bringing in the mail, newspaper, milk (if it is delivered), watering plants/lawn, feeding pets and walking them...some housesitters also clean house. Cleaning up after yourself is a must!! Leave the house how you found it, or better.

Sometimes it can be hard to sleep well in someone else's house. But...the money I earn will be worth it...another chunk to my car loan :)

Dentist visit

Yesterday was my dentist appointment and I was so happy to hear the total of ......... $84.00! My worry was that the dentist would see something more that needed to be done and the bill would explode. Now, any extra money I have will go towards paying my car instead of the dentist!

Speaking of my car...I just made the payment that is supposed to be automatically deducted from my checking account, because it wasn't done. I think it didn't happen because I made the large payment over the phone recently...even though I told the girl this payment was in addition to the automatic payment coming up. Anyhow, it's taken care of and I have updated the sidebar.

Saving postage stamps

Have you ever put postage on an envelope and then written the address wrong or changed your mind on sending something only to feel like you have wasted the stamp? What to do?

Growing up, when my mom did this, she would cut the stamp out and save it to be used later. This is definitely one habit I picked up.

Sometimes my mom needs me to write checks for her as she doesn't have a checking account and it's easier (and cheaper) for me to do this than getting money orders for her bills. Today I wrote some checks for her and actually remembered that I had stamps from envelopes never mailed, and decided to use them.

You need to be very careful when peeling the stamp from the old envelope. Then, you need a glue stick (my mom used to use Elmer's glue which was messy). Apply glue to the back of the stamp and stick it on your envelope. Be sure to check that the value of the stamp is current...it's good to have some 1 or 2 cent stamps around to make up the difference if needed.

It may not save you much money, but every bit counts! In my case today, I saved $1.61.

Short read - $190,000 withdrawn in $20 bills

Just read a nice short story, click here to check it out.

Debt Consolidation

I've received messages from someone telling me about some company to help reduce my debt.

Thanks, but honestly, I'm not interested in going through a company for assistance. My debt is not a problem for me, I'm not struggling, creditors are not calling me and I have a job...and a budget.

Also, after hearing Dave Ramsey talk so much about these rip-off debt consolidation companies, I would never want to go to one even if I was in a bad situation!

Things are under control and I'm feeling good about my plan! Though I must admit, I am a bit obsessed and have wondered what I will obsess about when it's all paid off and I start my 3-6 month emergency fund!

And...a bigger step

The goal date to pay off my car mentioned in my last post has been changed to October. See, I had just over $1,000 in a savings account (not my emergency fund) that I didn't want to touch, BUT...it was making less interest than what I was paying on my car loan by about 4%. I know this isn't much, but after thinking of how stupid it was to keep this money aside when I could pay off my car sooner, I did it.

Today I called my bank and the conversation went something like this:

Me: Hi, I'd like to make a transfer from my savings to my car loan.

Her: Ok, do you want to transfer the amount of your next payment?

Me: No, I want to transfer all that is available, I believe it is about $1,065. I'm trying to pay off my car loan early.

Her: Sure, do you want to close this account?

Me: No, keep it open.

Her: Ok, it's done.

Me: Great, thanks so much!

Her: Yup........(hung up)

Wow...really? She probably has a giant car loan and mounds of debt and was mad that I am trying to do something about mine. -- Should have dealt with my branch manager but didn't want to bother her.

Anyhow, this is done, I owe $3,435 on my car and am excited!

:) Going to update my sidebar now....

Tiny steps to a paid off car

I just made an extra payment to my car loan. I had planned on paying $250 out of this paycheck but $180 of it comes out of my bank account automatically in a few days. Therefore, I paid the difference of $70 ... $48.50 of it went to the principal and $21.50 went to interest.

Knowing that this is my next debt to pay off, I keep crunching numbers and figuring when it will be paid off. I'm such a number nerd. I think I can pay off my car loan by November which is about 10 months before the bank's scheduled pay off date!

BUT...this could also be set back if my dentist bill is high :( I'll know soon.

Yard Sale

I'm so tired of having "stuff" so have been planning to have a yard sale. It won't be for a few more weeks or so. I feel so cluttered with things I either bought or "inherited" that I just don't want or have a use for anymore. Also, there is a possibility that my housing situation will change in the next several months and I don't want to move everything.

Sure, I could sell it all on ebay, but I don't want to make the time to take pictures and list the stuff...I just want it gone. I am so sick of it all.

Looked at my finances

Last night I went over my money situation. I always seem to know how much I have and where, but when it comes down to adding it all up and figuring where it is supposed to be, I have to stop and write it down. By doing this, I also figure out how much money I have over and above my budget which can be applied to debt.

For example, in my pocket I have cash and checks to deposit, then I have money in checking and savings, but from that I have to pay AMEX for a few things I have purchased with it to bring it down to my current owed balance, replenish money I loaned to someone (very short term) back to the emergency fund savings account and pay my ebay fees. I found that I will have approximately $600 extra after I get paid Monday which amount can be applied to my car loan.

However, I do have a dentist appointment coming up in about a week and a half which is going to cost me at least $125.00 for a filling. Once the dentist goes to work he may discover that my tooth needs more than a filling and the price will go up. I am just hoping I don't need a root canal or anything extensive like this. It's not the pain that bothers me, it's the money.

For the record, the dentist told me that he would not have seen the problem (a shady spot in my molar) during a routine checkup. It's a good thing to keep up on your oral health and point things like this out to your dentist, they may not always catch them!

Back to the finances. It is best for me to put the extra money into my emergency fund savings account until after the appointment. This way I will know if it I can use it to pay my car, or if I have to pay the dentist more than the estimate. I sure hope I can pay my car!

If I do get to pay my car, I figured I can have it paid off by the end of this year and not April or May of next year as I had projected!