It's mine!

Last Friday I received the title to my car in the mail!  It's officially mine ;)

This week!?

This could be the week that I am debt free! I have submitted my bill to get paid for housesitting...but knowing the history, it could take a while to receive payment. I will get my day job paycheck probably Wednesday so that will cover some.

Exciting and frustrating at the same time!

Planned on 9 months, only took 6

This afternoon I went to the bank because I had to deposit the $100.00 check my dad gave me and also some cash I have been lugging around. I don't like to have cash, because if I get robbed or it gets lost, I'll never see it again.

So, I went in and the Branch Manager who set up the loan against my car was there and helped me. I didn't tell her that I paid the car off, I guess because of feeling bad for still owing AMEX. When she looked at my account she paused and said, "You paid off your car? When did you do that?" I told her, "This morning!"

She was so happy for me and gave me a high-five. Then I told her that I have a little left to pay on the card. She couldn't remember when I took the loan out and asked; it was in October and at the time I told her my goal was to pay it off in 9 months...but it only took 6! SO cool!!

I balanced my checkbook and figured out how much I had in my account to transfer to AMEX, $450.00. The housesitting check will be coming soon and I get paid again next week. Also, I have $90 going into my account from eBay, and the 1st of next month I will be requesting another housesitting check for about $240.00. I also have to return some purchases and collect money owed to me for things I used my card for. This should cover the AMEX charges. :)

Bye bye car loan!

The paycheck was deposited this morning and the car PAID OFF! :). What a great feeling! Well, technically it wasn't the car I paid off, but a loan I took out and used the car as collateral. Originally I paid the car off in October, I blogged about it.

When I awoke this morning there were two messages on my Blackberry...one to notify me of the direct deposit going through and another from the guy who sends my housesitting check. He didn't say anything other than the check is on its way. Once I get it, I will transfer funds to AMEX.

Tonight I MUST sit down and balance my checkbook.

Paying off my car...again!

I'm really excited about tomorrow...I am getting paid! :) This is good because I only owe $346.xx on my car loan and I will be paying it off!

This WAS supposed to be my last debt, but I've been [shamefully] using my AMEX card. The only reason I use it is for the Skymiles. Not long ago I was using it to pay for work expenses which I would get reimbursed for, but then started using it for personal things again. This means that after my car loan, I will have to pay AMEX off...again. It's not that much and I'm confident that it will be paid off fast!

I bought my brother a new cell phone a few days ago. I felt bad that I didn't give him a Christmas present last year, and his old hand-me-down phone just broke....totally died. He was really happy to get the new phone which made me feel good. Yes, I used the AMEX. After the rebate it's only costing about $60.00 which isn't bad.

Anyhow, besides feeling a bit down that I added to the AMEX account, I'm happy that once again I will be paying off my car, and this is not a debt that I can add to the balance like a credit card.

Sadly, I have not received my housesitting check, or a response to my email questioning it all. It is supposed to be $160.00 which will go right to my AMEX card when I get it. Gosh, in ten more days I'll be requesting a check for the month of April...

On the other hand, my dad gave me $100.00 for running some important errands for him which he could not do due to being out of state. That check gets deposited tomorrow :)

Taxes

My Federal Income Tax return was direct deposited and landed in my account today. I have already made the transfer to my loan which brings my balance down to $346.xx!

I have not updated the sidebar and had put my state taxes towards the debt as well. Total return were around $640.

If I got paid today the car loan would have been paid off! BUT I won't be getting my check until Tuesday...and the housesitting check, I don't know when that will come.

I have some extra expenses I need to pay AMEX :( but it won't take long to do.

It's like pulling teeth!

I've been waiting for my housesitting check for almost two weeks...the guy that mails them seems to be a slacker. Never even responds to my emails when I tell him how many says he owes me for. It has been a pain for the last several months since I have to wait 2-3 weeks to get the check when I can have it within a week if he's on the ball.

I know everyone is busy...but when you owe someone and you have the money...is it really that hard to write a check and mail it?

I just sent him a reminder note by email. I try not to bother people, but next time I will email him sooner to follow up and I'm sure that will get things done quicker.

On the brighter side...I'M SO CLOSE! :)

28 Days to goal date!

I know, I know, I've been terrible with posting. I think about it often but don't do anything about it.

The good news is that I'm still working on my debt and my projected debt free date is in 28 days...April 30th! I got off track a bit but do feel that I am going to make it! I owe $1,050 on my loan and have two paychecks, taxes and a housesitting check all in my favor this month.

Is it possible that I can reach this goal before the 30th? Yes, anything is possible!!!

Payday!

Got paid today so took $455 from the total and paid my loan down a little more. My new balance is $3,211.xx!

Really wish my housesitting check would arrive...it's a big one.

Debt free friends?

Still waiting on housesitting money and my paycheck, but I had some eBay funds come in...so I updated the sidebar.

Many times in the past I was jealous of my friends when I would find out that they didn't have very much debt. It sort of made me feel like a loser for not being able to keep my debt under a few thousand dollars. For instance, I have a friend who has traveled quite a bit and lived in other countries for months at a time. One day we talked about credit cards and such, this is when I found out that her debt was somewhere around $1K and she could pay it off within a couple of months!

It was then that I realized she is able to travel and have fun, due to being nearly debt free, *and free spirited* :) She did not come from a wealthy family and everything she has, she earned.

She's only one of my friends who can do what she wants...because she's not tied down to credit cards... I'm almost there and hope to travel with her *again one day!!! *We took a trip in the US together once - it was one of the best trips I've been on!*