Another month, another budget....

[Cricketlegs]

So I took a few minutes and set up February's 3 pay checks. The economy is so bad for GM that the 2nd commision dh was getting with his new raise dried up and I am stuck making a budget run off $3400.

I only just make it and yet I am thankful every month that the numbers work out not only on paper but also in reality.

Once again I went to the bank account page and saw WONDERFUL things happening with our debt balances and I take great comfort in the fact that so many debts will be paid for this year.

Dh ran our numbers and we will not only have an income tax refund big enough to pay off the credit card but there will be money left over. I will be able to flip that $300cc payment+the $400car payment=$700 to get the car paid off so much sooner.

Meanwhile, my savings are awful. My EF is NOT in place but I am working on it. Also, I am about to have to finance hearing aids for dd at the tune of $3600. We have $1000 to put down to soften the blow. Also, I will be looking at $10,000 in dds student loans in 2011.

One thing at a time. I would begin to deal with these new debts as soon as the old ones are finished but I just hate to take on more while working so hard.

So, this year is shaping up to be a great year and a disappointing one too lol!

ARGH!

I don't really have a purpose to this thread except to say that while things are not as good as they could be they are getting better. Also, I have learned to be much more disaplined with my money.

Forgive me for rattling on......

Now, I ask the question..

Where are you improving? Falling behind? Staying above the game?

[homesteadmamma]

I think you're doing well, especially in the debt department. Keep it up.

[TigerGirl1226]

Sounds like you are doing pretty good to me.

For us, it's still a little dicey. DH makes good money but we have a buttload of debt. My siggy is only a slice of it. It feels like I am constantly robbing Peter to pay Paul, but I can see the balances going down. In March, we will have one Amex paid off which will free up $400 a month to give me a little breathing room. I got a forbearance on my student loan for a few months until we are back on our feet. I just keep the faith that it will get better.

[frugalbabe]

Cricketlegs you sound just like me! I was all revved up to take 2009 by storm and well January hasn't been stellar. The good: We are actually keeping up on the EF building as well as our food storage. The bad: We are selling our home because we will soon be moving dh's disabled parents in with us so the showing and staging of our house has brought things we have needed to purchase, meals out (when we have all-day showings) now some of those things like the repair costs had to be done but the eating out? Not necessary my laziness and lack of planning ahead has cost us (and I thought I knew better arrgh!!) And well, I need to change the credit card balance in my siggy to a few hundred dollars higher because I went ahead and made some house purchases and didn't think I wanted to wait to transfer the $$ over. Stupid! I now know that as cocky as I am thinking I have total control over myself it is a thin line. The ugly: So now I am looking at a few extra months on my entire debt snowball plan because of two days of use of that card....But I have repented, the card is no more and I will be going back to a cash/envelope system because apparently I can't trust myself! I think I need to subscribe to a February accountability thread where I check in daily and report my progress! Here's wishing us both luck!

[MomToTwoBoys]

We're definitely improving with paying on debts and bills at a time that works the best for us. We figured out that by paying half of the bill one payday and then the other half on the next payday, we're better able to judge which account to pull it from and if we'll actually have enough money to cover the bills way before they're due.

For example, we paid all of the bills due the 8th on the 1st. We paid half of the VISA bill (due on the 30th), the Rogers cell phone bill (due on the 30th) and a big payment on the Wells Fargo account (due on the 13th). We're set up to pay off the WF account on Monday, which frees up $53 a month to pay on Best Buy. We're paying $78 per month on Best Buy until DH's tax return in March. Once Best Buy is paid off, we'll be able to put $53 + $78 + 209 on the VISA per month for our snowball. I'm still looking at tossing $50 per deposit (so the 22nd and the 1st) into my savings account for the slush fund and $100 per month into savings for the EF.

Bill payments are so much easier now. All I have to do is sit down on the days we get money, open Excel, look at what needs to be paid and pay it.

[starsapphire]

I'm doing really good on getting my FFEF built up but I've allowed debt to creep into my life again. I got ratejacked so my plan is to attack the debt starting February. Should only take 4 to 5 months to wipe it out and then back to finishing up the FFEF. BUT... with this economy its a bit dicey. DH works in a sensitive industry and at my job, its pretty much a done deal that we will have to be taking some mandatory time off without pay for a significant part of the year, we just don't know the details because they're still working it out. Right now its looking like 1 to 2 days a month. And they're threatening layoffs so I don't know. Alot of stuff going on around that. Part of me wants to just keep paying minimums and throwing the rest into savings and the other part of me wants this debt out of my hair. I will probably end up doing some of both. The good news is I just got my raise approved and the higher ups are talking about suspending raises but that hasn't happened yet so it looks like it won't affect me if it happens. I won't have hard numbers until my next paycheck since there's a whole bunch of changes taking effect on it so I don't know my final number to work with yet. So we'll see what happens.

[Marie78]

Improving on debt here, we paid for Christmas and don't have to worry about any new debts just yet. We have only $1,500 in CC debts on a 0% interest card. This will be taken care of with our tax refund (that we hope is enough) if it's not enough we also have my yearly bonus that we should have by May (if the company doesn't decide to skip on our bonus this year). If no extra money comes in to pay the debt then we will take it from our savings and take a hit there.

We are building our savings each month and really cutting down on spending. We haven't bought anything new this year for ourselves except for a few pieces of maternity clothes for me and jeans for my Dh. We used gift cards and coupons to soften the cost of these items.

We are building the savings, because we are expecting our first baby in July. We don't know what my work schedule will look like after maternity leave. Our goal is to have our debt payed off by May and then have enough in savings to get us through my maternity leave and a few months after, depending on if my job lets me return part time or not. One of us will have to find part time work if my job won't have me back. The savings should see us through after the baby is born, until more money comes in.

Lots of things to anticipate and save for this year and we are trying to juggle it all .

[rowdy35]

we are just treading water so I know how you feel. I'm working on a refi of my home but the fees are 9K so even though the payments will go down alot per month, overall debt balance goes up.. ARGH

I dropped the price of my rental property way down and put in new carpet and blinds (cost over 2 K but I paid in full for it & didn't finance it) as I just want to sell it and get out from under the "debt monster" that has been controlling my life for the past 2 yrs.

Keep the faith, this will get better for all of us.