When Leah and I got really serious about getting out of debt, we looked at "the numbers" very closely. We added up our debts from Turner's birth and the debts we already had, and looked at our income and any other variables we could think of.
While things change and some numbers change, we are still focused on getting out of debt on our target date. That date?
December 31, 2008.
We are happy to say that, since April of this year, our debts have continued to go down. We have not added a penny to them. While we do not know if we will "hit" that target date, we are going to do our very best.
Hopefully we can keep you up-to-date on this blog as to how we are doing.
In other news...
Where Your Treasure Is has been added to pfblogs.org. This site is a reader--much like an RSS feed--of scores of personal finance blogs. However, to be added, a site has to be reviewed and approved. I am proud to announce that we were approved yesterday and added late yesterday. Check out the site for literally hundreds of great articles from dozens of blogs and watch for articles from Where Your Treasure Is!
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label goals. Show all posts
Friday, December 28, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
A GREAT Month!
Usually, December is a hard month in which to really "pay down" debt. With Christmas shopping (which, for us, includes driving = $ for gas) and the electric bill starting to rise, this just usually isn't a very fun month.
But December 2007 will go down as a great one in the Faughn house!
We budgeted for Christmas throughout the year and are going to be right at the budget. We still have a couple more gifts to purchase, but we still have money left, too. So that came in right on schedule. Our family helped very much. We all set a limit (that was equal for everyone) on what we would spend on Christmas presents. We set a limit where we could get each person something he/she wanted, without feeling the pressure to buy anything huge. It took some savvy shopping, and some online work, but we met that goal.
Also, our electric bill (for November; paid in early December) was low for this time of year. We have been staying around 50 degrees and have actually been up in the 70s for a few days in late November, so our heater didn't have to run all that much. Also, when we went out of town for Thanksgiving, we turned the unit way down, so it would hardly run. While our water bill was a bit high, it was more than covered by the lower electric bill.
We have had two negatives this month, though. First, we have had to travel a bit more than expected, so we are going to barely make our gasoline budget (if we make it). Gas prices have come down just a bit, which is helping, but we are still paying quite a bit (about $2.85 on average). Also, our DirecTV bill had a mistake on it and the mistake was ours. We had been paying it, but we had been unintentionally late a couple of times. We just did not realize that our payment was due on the 1st of the month, and we had been waiting until the 2nd week of the month, because we pay all our bills out of that one paycheck. We had to pay the extra money, but we also had DirecTV move our "due" date back so we can continue paying without the late charge. We also went ahead and paid January's bill early.
Now, for the big "upside" factor. For the past 3 months, I have been teaching a class for Faulkner University, one night each week, on the Book of Acts. I finished last week and quickly graded all papers and sent in the necessary paperwork on the night of the final. I was hoping to get my paycheck before Christmas (kind of a "special" holiday treat). They were good to me, and we got the paycheck yesterday.
Add all these up, and December became a banner month for us:
1. First, we got cash to pay for our entire trip to the Freed-Hardeman University lectures in February. The trip is already taken care of, which will be a big help in January's budget.
2. Second, we are up to date on all bills (since we got our mistake taken care of with DirecTV). We have never been behind before--and still haven't intentionally--so this is a great relief.
3. Finally, and most exciting for us, is the fact that we paid off...are you ready for this?...over $1100 in debt this month! We did that while going Christmas shopping and taking another 2 trips out of town! By sticking to out budget and using the extra money from my class, we were able to attack our debt.
When you have good news, you just have to share it. And this was great news to us. We're not debt free, yet. But we are working on it, and this month really pumped us up to work even harder in 2008 to finish our journey out of debt!
But December 2007 will go down as a great one in the Faughn house!
We budgeted for Christmas throughout the year and are going to be right at the budget. We still have a couple more gifts to purchase, but we still have money left, too. So that came in right on schedule. Our family helped very much. We all set a limit (that was equal for everyone) on what we would spend on Christmas presents. We set a limit where we could get each person something he/she wanted, without feeling the pressure to buy anything huge. It took some savvy shopping, and some online work, but we met that goal.
Also, our electric bill (for November; paid in early December) was low for this time of year. We have been staying around 50 degrees and have actually been up in the 70s for a few days in late November, so our heater didn't have to run all that much. Also, when we went out of town for Thanksgiving, we turned the unit way down, so it would hardly run. While our water bill was a bit high, it was more than covered by the lower electric bill.
We have had two negatives this month, though. First, we have had to travel a bit more than expected, so we are going to barely make our gasoline budget (if we make it). Gas prices have come down just a bit, which is helping, but we are still paying quite a bit (about $2.85 on average). Also, our DirecTV bill had a mistake on it and the mistake was ours. We had been paying it, but we had been unintentionally late a couple of times. We just did not realize that our payment was due on the 1st of the month, and we had been waiting until the 2nd week of the month, because we pay all our bills out of that one paycheck. We had to pay the extra money, but we also had DirecTV move our "due" date back so we can continue paying without the late charge. We also went ahead and paid January's bill early.
Now, for the big "upside" factor. For the past 3 months, I have been teaching a class for Faulkner University, one night each week, on the Book of Acts. I finished last week and quickly graded all papers and sent in the necessary paperwork on the night of the final. I was hoping to get my paycheck before Christmas (kind of a "special" holiday treat). They were good to me, and we got the paycheck yesterday.
Add all these up, and December became a banner month for us:
1. First, we got cash to pay for our entire trip to the Freed-Hardeman University lectures in February. The trip is already taken care of, which will be a big help in January's budget.
2. Second, we are up to date on all bills (since we got our mistake taken care of with DirecTV). We have never been behind before--and still haven't intentionally--so this is a great relief.
3. Finally, and most exciting for us, is the fact that we paid off...are you ready for this?...over $1100 in debt this month! We did that while going Christmas shopping and taking another 2 trips out of town! By sticking to out budget and using the extra money from my class, we were able to attack our debt.
When you have good news, you just have to share it. And this was great news to us. We're not debt free, yet. But we are working on it, and this month really pumped us up to work even harder in 2008 to finish our journey out of debt!
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Our August Goals
Amanda and I took some steps backward financially when we made the move from our apartment into the church-owned house last month. For us, August will be an opportunity to get back on track and essentially re-build some things:
1. Use only cash for purchases. Exceptions include: gas (card), contribution (check), and bills (online and checks). We have done this before with success; the emotional connection to cash helps us make much better decisions.
2. Keep track of every single penny spent. This is something we have attempted to do on several occasions, but have not completed it to satisfaction. Our regular expenditures have changed some with the move, so we need to re-evaluate what all is currently going out.
3. "Pay ourselves" $50 a week. We have a long way to go with our savings goals. It has been several months since we have saved like we are capable (and need to).
1. Use only cash for purchases. Exceptions include: gas (card), contribution (check), and bills (online and checks). We have done this before with success; the emotional connection to cash helps us make much better decisions.
2. Keep track of every single penny spent. This is something we have attempted to do on several occasions, but have not completed it to satisfaction. Our regular expenditures have changed some with the move, so we need to re-evaluate what all is currently going out.
3. "Pay ourselves" $50 a week. We have a long way to go with our savings goals. It has been several months since we have saved like we are capable (and need to).
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
An August Journey
While we don't plan to be too personal on this site, our blog is about personal finance. As such, I thought it would be interesting to share our financial goals for August and then let you know how we did at the end of this month.
As a youth minister, August is an interesting month. There are still youth activities going on (which require money), but, then, the young people go back to school. In other words, life gets back to "normal" (whatever that is!).
Here are some of our goals:
As a youth minister, August is an interesting month. There are still youth activities going on (which require money), but, then, the young people go back to school. In other words, life gets back to "normal" (whatever that is!).
Here are some of our goals:
- Only spend money in our envelopes for those expenses. Nothing extra!!!
- Buy materials (or begin saving for them) for a minor bathroom remodel, and get prices for a couple of other upgrades to our house (do-it-yourself stuff--not professionally done).
- Pay at least $500 extra on our debt (above the required amounts).
- Compare our electric bills before CFLs and finish installing them in all lights.
These may not be huge goals, but they are what we are trying to accomplish this month. Money will be tight. We will be going to Tennessee in August for the birth of our niece (yeah!!), and we have a youth trip planned later in the month. Also, beginning today, we'll eat out at lunch with the youth group for 3 days in a row. These things add up and make it harder to stay on budget, but we're going to do it!
Or, at least, we'll do our best!
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