Getting A Plan Together

Currently, I'm just paying a set amount towards my credit card debt.  It started out that the payment was just the minimum payments but over the past few months, the minimum payment has went down and I've just kept paying the same amount.  I've finally got a plan together on how we're going to pay off our credit card debt.  The decision has been made once and for all to use all extra money to get rid of this debt.  Any extra money that I make on my check is going to debt.  The first debt on the chopping block is our American Express.  Later today, I plan to cut it up and never use it again.  It had been a convenience because Costco only accepts debit cards or American Express.  It became to easy to use it for purchases that we had cash for and then turn around and use the cash for something else.  The balance on that card is about $1100.  My goal for having that balance eliminated is January 2013.  After that, we will focus on the next in a long line fo credit cards.  Until then, Happy Debting!

Checking In

I've been so busy that I havent' been on a computer in two days.  My energy levels are at an all time low and I just can't find the energy to complete small tasks.  I haven't been on the computer in a couple of days but as I was catching up on blogs that I read, I ran across a paragraph from one of my favorite bloggers Bridget from Money After Graduation was talking about debt as a dating deal breaker.  Since I'm married that part doesn't apply to me but she aptly described how debt makes her feel. 
She said "Debt is a one-of-a-kind, soul-crushing burden. It puts a damper on every day. It turns my decent salary into pittance. It forces me to go without many things I enjoy. Ultimately, it just exhausts me with its demands on my bank balance. I want to keep the money I earn, I don’t want to give it away to my past spending — or someone else’s."  That paragraphy just resonates with me.  That's how I feel about our debt.  My husband makes a good salary and with what I bring in, we should be able to do fantastic things (along with saving a ton of money), but because of our out of control past-spending, we're stuck in a not so fun place.  The only way to get out is to put our focus on paying off the debt and whittling it away as fast as we can.

When It Rains, It Pours...

inside my house, ruining part of the ceiling, carpet and wallboard. Awesome, I know.  You wish you were me.  It wasn't really an expense we were expecting, but thus is home ownership.  It's not the roof (he took a look today), it's the chimney.  So now we wait for the chimney guys to take a look and give an estimate so it can get repaired.  I'm surprisingly calm about this situation.  So we will wait...