Follow-up: How's it going for those of..
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Follow-up: How's it going for those of..
| Thu, 02-02-2006 - 9:42am |
you who made financial New Year's resolutions? Are you on track? Is it looking a little harder? easier/ Please share!!!
Heather

So far so good. Paid off all store cards last month. Made one big payment to one card and will hopefully make another with whatever's left at the end of the month. I only get paid once a month.
One new little hiccup: I found out I am pregnant on Monday. We were sort of trying but not having any luck so I wasn't counting on it, and well now I am. Due in October. So I'll have to start putting some money aside for that, plus now we're thinking of putting an addition on the house, so my plan could be modified. Not totally derailed, though, I hope!
Ugh!
Let's just say that DH isn't helping much.... but *I* am trying to stick to the plan! ha ha
Although, the plan originally was to pay the CCs off by December, '06.... now, I am thinking January, '07.... And I am hoping I don't have to re-evaluate that again!!!
And if I can keep DH from buying a motorcycle this summer (ha ha), we might be okay!! :) I love him, I do.... but MAN, his parents never told him that money doesn't grow on trees! ;)
~Aravis~
STILL THINKING POSITIVE!
Congrats!!! That's wonderful news. While it may make the debt reduction plan change a bit, that is a small sacrifice!
Best wishes for a happy and healthy pregnancy free of complications!
Anyway, as far as my debt goals...my goal is to pay off cc and car loan by the end of this year. To do that I need to cut back on my spending and so far I am doing a good job. I have been saving every little bit I can and transferring every little snowflake, even if it's only 2 dollars, into my ING account or to my target cc, whichever seems appropriate at the time. I'm up to 450 dollars now in my ING account, so that's good, and my target card has a 520 dollar balance. If I get as much back in my tax return as I expect to, I will be able to knock off the loan I owe to my friend which totals 1200 dollars. I will definately be on track and my goal will be more feasible with that loan gone!!!
well, we have our emergency fund at $900 (our goal was 600). We have also knocked off a few of our smallest balances, so now we have balances on 6 cards, one of which will be paid off by the middle of the month. Our goal for the year is to have our debt on three cards only, and to get our balance below $15,000. We stand at about $22,625 today, so I am hopeful we may reach this goal, too.
We have started using an envelope system...it does make me want to part with my money even less...it is weird!!!
Heather
Actually it's going pretty good.
I wanted to track my expenses better. I bought an updated version of Quicken and that has helped a lot. I'm finally getting a hang on how much I'm spending where and where I'm wasting money.
I also wanted to try and trim one thing that I spend money on each month. Last month I had the cable pulled way back to basic cable. This money I cancelled Netflix. I have no idea what I'm planning for next month.
I have scaled way back on using my credit cards. I plan on stopping after this month. The only thing I use them for is postage and shipping for the items that I sell on-line. I sell on Half.com and they pay out twice a month. I finally have built up the savings t to the point that I should be able to stop using the credit cards.
I have done really well with taking my lunch to work everday as well. I fell off the wagon once but have gotten right back on it. It's so nice to have the money that I was spending on lunches for other things.
I also wanted to stick to my budget. I am still tweaking it here and there.
I have decided to take a different approach to pay off my debt. I was going to do smallest to largest. But then Chase raised my interest rate again and that ticked me off. Well I'm focusing on them now. It's my highest interest card and buy doing this I will be out of debt several months earlier. And the best news is I will still have three cards paid off by the end of the year. And this is even with having to buy a new car and paying sales tax. Woo Hoo! Oh and I cut up all but one of my credit cards, this was a huge step for me. I'll keep the one, it is the Chase, for emergencies. I figure since it's my highest interest rate card that will curb the temptation to use it.
Oh and I haven't had an overdrawl or late fee in a little over two months which is a real change from the way it used to be.