Can't leave well enough alone

It's an addiction...working and re-working the numbers. There has to be a way I can scrimp more money over to my debt repayment. I look at it every day - some days I say, nope that's about right, and others I have an "AHA" moment and somehow manage to figure out something new. I've currently worked things out so that if I really keep a tight lock on my budget, I can be completely debt free by September 2010. That's only 3 years from now! :) Instead of the 18 years left on my SL note. Not too shabby...now let's see if I can make it work. (Oh, and this doesn't account for any increases in pay or other monetary windfalls like bonuses...anything like that would just be icing on the cake)! And I'm still saving while I do this...

I've given myself some incentive...no new car until the SL are paid off! Plus, I can save more $$ for the downpayment this way too, or potentially pay in cash.

Hah...take that!

Alright, so apparently this toll tag bill really got under my skin! For the first time in a while I felt like I wasn't in full control of my finances, which is a feeling it TOTALLY hate! So I took control...I had a card with a $96 balance (the one I was hoping to put the extra $$$ on) and was planning on paying it off in October. So, I transferred $$$ out of my savings and paid it off. If life wants to throw me a curve-ball, I'll throw one right back!

2 Steps forwards, 1 step back

So yesterday was a good day. Financially I felt like I was ahead of the game. I had to put new tires on my car and was able to pay cash for it. (YAY!!) Later in the day I was balancing my checking account and looking at my budget, and realized I had about $50 extra to play with this month, so I threw another $30 at one of my CCs through bill pay. Today is another story...I checked my account online and saw that I had a $10 balance, not including the $30 payment I made to the CC yesterday. So what happened to that $40? Damn Toll-tag payment...seriously those things always sneak in when you're not expecting it. And it's not like a regular bill that hits when I know it will! For those of you who have never had a toll tag, the way they work here is that $40 is charged and credited to your account. Each time you pass through a toll booth, they deduct from your account...when the balance hits $10, they charge another $40. So depending on how much I've had to rely on the toll roads, i get billed anywhere from every 4-12 weeks. Luckily I used bill pay through my checking to send the $30...since I don't have the $$ in my account, the bill pay will just get rejected (no fees, no returned checks, etc.). And luckily it was and extra payment, not my actual payment.
Good news about the toll tag is that it will be basically irrelevant in within the next 60 days...I only use the toll road to get to work, and my office is moving in Nov...I won't have to take the tolls to get to the new location. (I could get by without taking the tolls now, but the extra time sitting in traffic probably wastes more than $0.35 of toll charges in gas.) In the mean time I tracked down the website where I can track my TT balance...i'll just have to stay on top of it now.

Life Changes

Well, this past weekend I moved in with my BF...I'm not officially out of the old place yet. I still have a few small things to bring over and of course the cleaning to do. (bleh)...but it's nice to know that when rent is due on Oct. 1st it will be considerably less ($300) than I've been paying! :) More money for debt repayment.
I'm also thinking about cancelling my gym membership. I almost always workout outdoors (I'm a triathlete, so running and cycling are always outside - plus the weather in TX is never SUPER cold). I always hold onto the membership for the pool, but I haven't used it in 2 months. Plus, I could join a masters swimming program for about $50 less than I pay my gym (I know...I pay outrageous gym fees)....something to ponder...

Personal Accountability

So I had a "personal" debt that I've been avoiding for awhile...it was from a friend who loaned me money last year and told me to "pay it back when you can". Well, for a while my financial situation was a bit rocky, but recently things have gotten a lot more stabilized. My friend and I haven't talked about repayment since she gave me the money, but for me it's been a bit like the "elephant in the room" each time I saw her. So yesterday I got the urge to confront it. I had been estimating what I owed to this point, but yesterday I sat down and ran the true numbers. I also contacted my friend about repayment plans...and wouldn't you know that being a responsible adult would pay off?!?! I actually owe about $700 less than I expected! :) Hooray for holding myself personally accountable even though my friend was giving me no pressure...it's a good feeling.