Timing

Timing is everything. In my case, it's working against me! One of my new expenses, my dental bill, is $176.25 per month minimum payment. It's due by the 2nd of the month, which I have budgeted in my paycheck that hits on the last day of the month. Now, since I can't get the payment there in time (online bill pay) in the 2 day window from payday to the due date, I planned to pay 2x last month and get ahead. So I made my first payment before August 2nd's due date, and then I made anothe payment after the due date for the next cycle. However, I didn't time it right and the payment was credited before the statement cycle ended. Since it's a minimum payment, it doesn't roll over, so I have to come up with an extra $176.25 before the 2nd of September and start all over again. On the positive side, it puts me ahead of schedule to pay it off, but it makes things tight right now.

New Expenses and Budget Adjustments

Well, I've had some new expenses pop up and need to re-arrange my budget to accommodate them. Unfortunately that will slow down my other debt repayments, but that's how it goes sometimes!

Expense #1: Dental Work - $176.25 - $305 per month
I decided to take care of all of my dental work now, rather than do it in bits and pieces for a few reasons. First off, I know that prolonging some of the work could potentially result in worse problems down the road, and second, I was able to get a 0% interest LOC for 18 months. The minimum payment is $176.25 per month, but in order to get it paid off in 18 months I need to pay $305 per month. The plan is to pay the minimum for the next 6 months until my car is paid off...then I will use my car payment money to pay off the remainder of my dental work. This should result in my having everything paid for in 13-15 months, 3 months ahead of schedule.

Expense #2: Best Friend's wedding - about $1100-1500 to save
My college roommate/best friend just got engaged and asked me to be her maid of honor. She's also informed me that they are doing a destination wedding in the Riviera Maya. They are trying to keep costs to $1100 per person, all inclusive, and the wedding is July 2009. So I have just under a year to save for this, which means I need to put back another $100-150 a month.

It should all be do-able, I'm just going to be a turtle on the debt repayment front for the next year! :) C'est la vie!

I thought I wanted an iPhone...

...until I did the math! :)

So, it's time for me to get a new cell phone. Mine is about 3 years old, and is getting more and more unreliable as the weeks pass. So, like everyone else, I've been reading up in the new iPhone 3G and had fully planned on getting one. The price of the phone itself is about the same as if I were to upgrade with my existing carrier. I'm not locked into a contract right now, so there wouldn't be any fees for breaking a contract, etc. However, today I did a little more research into the rate plans and that's looking to be a deal breaker.

The cheapest plan I found for the iPhone 3G includes 450 anytime minutes, 5000 nights/weekends, as well as unlimited email and data for $69.99 a month. It's an additional $5 per month to add 200 text messages, totally about $75 per month before taxes and fees. It's an additional $20 to get 900 anytime minutes, so $95 before taxes and fees. Right now I'm using between 500-800 minutes per month.

My current plan is 1500 anytime minutes, unlimited nights/weekends, and free roaming for $49.99 a month + $2.99 for 300 text messages. So $53 a month before taxes. The plan is no longer available at this price. It's about $10-15 more now than when I got it. To get the iPhone I'd spend anywhere from $22-42 more per month, depending on the plan. I can afford the jump, but it would reduce my ability to repay debts by that much. Over the course of a year, that's a pretty substantial amount. Unfortunately, there really aren't any other phones on the market with my current carrier that wow me in the same way...so I have to decide how BADLY do I want an iPhone?

My First Setback

So I was one of the lucky ones that didn't have a major setback after joining the WIRR board. Here I am, just past my 1 yr mark and I'm having my first unplanned setback. I went to the dentist this morning and the news is not good. Some of my teeth that have older dental work on them have weakened even more and are on the verge of cracking. So in the end, I have to have 6 crowns put on, and some other minor restorative work...to the tune of $5,500!!! But I've already come up with a plan and a solution...thanks to my new WIRR attitude. Yes, I will be adding to my debt load, but with a 0% loan for 18 months. My car will be paid off in 5-6 months, so I will be able to add that money onto my dental loan money to get rid of it faster. Luckily I've got about 2 months before the payments kick in, so in the mean time I can take care of some other things. :)

Mid-Year Update

So it's 1/2 way through 2008, and this is my mid-year status update.
Savings Goals - these have struggled this year, primarily b/c my 401(k) has done so poorly with the markets lately. I've made a few strides and put more money into my EF and other savings account. I also opened up an ING Sharebuilder account to start buying small amounts of stock, for long term investing. So I've made some progress, but I'm not where I need to be. I still have the problem of seeing money accumulate in my savings, and then feel like it needs to go to a debt, so I send it off to pay things down. At least I'm not using it for frivolous things.
Debt Goals - I am right on track with these...actually a little ahead of schedule on my Student Loan goal. I realized that my SL accrues interest daily, and right now I'm paying about $4.94 a day in interest to that thing. So I want to crack down on that principle as much as possible. I'm also almost a full car payment ahead of my car paydown goals, which is nice, and "Other" debts are right where they should be. Those debts are money I owe to a friend and my mom from the past, so neither is charging interest. And I'm paying them fairly regularly, so they are both content.
All in all I'm happy with where I am to this point. I'm still hoping for a promotion and raise at work, which will definitely help my situation. :)

$15k Paid

I've had a few extra dollars land my way this month and was disciplined enough to put them to good use on my debts and have now surpassed $15k paid of since joining the WIRR. That's 28.68% of my starting debt, and puts me at about $38.45 per day paid off since May 16th, 2007.

All of my debt goals are on track for 2008, and most are slightly ahead of schedule. My savings goals are a little behind, but mostly due to 401(k) issues with the current market.

I talked to my mortgage guy again and learned that paying off my car would allow me to qualify for $20-30k more on a house. Since I have less than $3k to go, I'm going to really focus on paying that one off while I'm still trying to ramp up my savings a little more. So I'd say I'll be in the market to buy in about 6 months...unless an unbelievable deal comes my way between now and then! :)

Happy Anniversary!!!

One year ago today I joined the WIRR with over $53k in debt. I still remember how much it hurt to see that total for the first time. In the past 365 days, I have reduced my debt by over $13k to $39,927.49. Today is my first time to be below $40k!!! :) I have had plenty of setbacks and in the moment they are the most frustrating things in the world. In the big picture, I'm still making great progress! Now I try to stay focused on the long-term goal and the big picture. It makes those small setbacks a little less painful! :) i've learned that hiding from my debts does not make me feel better...I've made the decision to not let my finances stress me out any more. Today I feel like I am in control of them, not the other way around. Sure they are there, but I'm dealing with them and they WILL be gone sooner than later. I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel! It's dim, but it's brighter than it was 1 year ago!

I lied...

So much for shifting my priorities! I have a problem when it comes to saving money. It does one of two things...burns a hole in my pocket OR burns a hole in my conscience. Lately it's been more of the latter than anything else. I let money accumulate and then decide that it would be better served if I sent it off to one of my debts. I tried to increase my savings for about a month...then decided 2 things. I had something that I wanted to buy, and getting a house is less important to me right now than becoming debt free. So, I split the money and paid cash for the thing I wanted (a new bike, as I am a triathlete) and also paid down some bills. Now it's time for me to refocus back onto the track that I was on previously...get rid of this debt once and for all. Then focus on saving for the long term.

Shifting Priorities

I've been mulling around my financial picture for a while, and I'm starting to think more long term instead of short term. For all of 2007, my goal was to get my financial house in order, fix the problems from the past and work on improving my credit score. I've brought all accounts to current, and haven't had a late payment in over 6 months. My credit score has come up about 50-60 points in the last 9 months, so the progress is paying off.
I want a house. Not right this second (although that would be nice), but someday. So I talked with a mortage broker yesterday. She looked at everything and it was nice to hear that I could qualify for one NOW! My credit score has also passed the point where they penalize borrowers with higher interest, so that's good too! After asking a billion questions and getting her opinion, I've decided to ease up on the debt repayments and get more aggressive with my savings. In fact, I'm doubling my savings from $250 a month to $500 a month. Also, any financial windfalls that come my way (gift money, bonuses, etc) will be split 50/50 between debt and savings. For the next 6-12 months I will save as much as I can, without sacrificing the quality of my debt repayment. In this amount of time I my bad credit will age, and my good credit will get stronger, so my score will continue to rise. I also am up for a promotion and raise that will hopefully go through in March. That will help in both arenas, as well as provide a higher income for a qualifying mortgage later on. Hopefully this time next year I will have made a wise investment and be a home owner!

Milestones

So I've been assessing my financial situation and I've hit and will soon be hitting some great milestones! As 2/20/2008, I will reach over $10k in debt repayment. Also, since I've started tracking my net worth, it has gone up $11,748!!! :) Some months it seems so slow, but looking back over the last 9 months, it's added up quite nicely!

Honesty and Accountability

Well, I'm no longer CC debt free...I ended up using my CC over the holidays (I know, I know) because I have a history of being horrible at saving. I've made savings one of the 2008 goals that I'm tracking to keep me accountable, so hopefully that will change. I wasn't going to post the increase to my CC debt b/c I'm so close to a party hat, and I found myself paying less on the CC balance so I could put more on my "trackable" debts to get that party hat. I've finally decided that to be completely successful in this journey we have to admit our mistakes and hold ourselves accountable...so here I am. Plus, now I will get credit for all of the debt I'm paying which will re-motivate me to get rid of that CC AGAIN!!!

Changes at Work

Word on the street is that there could be some changes at work in my favor! Reportedly the upper management has approved a restructuring to our compensation plans that would allow us to obtain quarterly bonuses. They wouldn't be anything super spectacular (i.e., 5% of salary max over the course of the year), but it's better than nothing! And anything extra will just help me get out of debt faster! :)
The other news is that I'm up for a promotion, which would also mean a raise. My boss told me its in the works, and they want my input as to what direction I want to go. There are 2 possibilities for me, so I need to figure out what would be best for me in both the short term and long term. I'd also get to do some negotiations on the salary increase, so that's a plus too! Keep your fingers crossed that all goes well!

Happy New Year!

Well the start of a new year always lends it self to reflection and the setting of resolutions. Although I've never been really big on setting "New Years Resolutions", I will be setting financial goals for myself for 2008. I've learned how much posting my numbers keeps me accountable, so in 2008 I'm adding my savings progress to my blog and WIRR goals in hopes that I won't be so tempted to raid the savings to pay the debts! :) So here are my 2008 Debt Progress and Savings Goals:

2008 Year End Debt Goals - have all debts except the SL paid off and have my SL down to $32,500. (My stretch goal is to have the SL down to $28,217.96...that would put me at $25,000 debt paid of since I joined the WIRR and started tracking my progress).

2008 Year End Savings Goals
- 401(k) - $6,800 (currently at $4,376 with contributions at 5%)
- ING EF - $2,000 (currently at $0.21)
- ING Other Savings - $400 (currently at .02)
- WF Savings - $300 (currently at $1)

Best of luck to each of you in the New Year! :)