Thinking about the Future

Since I am feeling the burden of debt lifting I find myself looking forward to the future more and more.  As you probably know if you are a regular reader, I am planning on tackling the remaining debt on my car once the consumer debt has been destroyed!  And as you probably know as well my budget has been really tight during this consumer debt destruction. 

So both of these things raise two thoughts in my mind.  The first thought is how do I celebrate once the debt is repaid.  I would LOVE to do something nice for each of my parents.  They have been huge encouragers and have listened to all my whining money ramblings.  I'm not exactly sure what it is that I want to do though.  Any ideas?  I think maybe I would spend about $200 each.  I also want to do something for myself but I'm not quite sure how to celebrate this huge milestone.  I think I'd spend about $100.


The other thing that I am wondering about is how much I should allocate each month to the car loan when I am paying it off.  If I keep my budget as tight as it is right now that will leave me $850 extra.  I would like to loosen it up a bit though and allow more for groceries, entertainment and gas for my car. 

I will owe approximately $7410 in April 2012 (which is when I hope to be starting to tackle this loan) and if I want it paid off by Dec 2012 (which is my current goal) that means I will need to pay an extra $500 a month (roughly) starting in April.  I get to that amount because my current payment is $363 a month with approximately $330 going to the principle.  $7410/ 9 months = $824.  $824-330=$494 which gives me my rough payment of $500 extra a month.  That will leave me $350 extra a month to add to the various jars.

If I leave my budget as it is now that means my car loan would be paid off in about 6 and 1/2 months.  Which would be an awesome birthday gift to myself come mid-October.

So that's where my thinking about the future has gotten me so far.  Care to add your 2 cents?  I'm open to all suggestions because I'm sure there are lots of things I'm not thinking about.  What did you do to celebrate being debt free?  Since we are in the gift giving mood with Christmas coming do you have any idea on a thank you gift for each of my parents? 

What the Numbers Look Like

Here's a peak at what my budget looks like for 31 Oct - 14 Nov

God's Money (tithing) $120
Car Payment $363
Car/House Insurance $119
Misc Loan $250
Credit Card $305 (an extra $100 from travel claim for work)
Eye Doc Appt $90 (once a year expense)
Christmas Savings $25
Pets $70 (this is normally $150)
Gas for Car $40 (this is normally $55 to $60)
Groceries $60 (this is normally $80)
Entertainment $5 (this is normally $20)

Current Misc Loan Balance is $1750 and with payment this will be $1500
Current Credit Card Balance is $3720.84 and with payment this will be $3415.84

That will mean my outstanding consumer debt will be $4915.84!!!
*Happy Dance with Sarah!!!!  :)

My car loan after payment will be sitting at about $8760. 

So it's going to be tight but I WILL NOT use that credit card.  Keeping it this tight will allow me to reset all my numbers and get back to a normal budget on the 15 Nov pay.

I'm home with a cold and I'm so cold!

BRRRR!  It's so cold in my house and to top that off I have a nasty cough! 

When I went to bed last night I noticed it was a little chilly so I went to turn up the heat just to take the chill off so I didn't feel like a turkey in the freezer.  Well it didn't get any warmer and although I heard the furnace cut in the blower never did!  My furnace is busted!  I rent so it's no expense to me to have it fixed but...  I called at 7:30 this morning and the repair guy isn't coming until 2:30.  I went to work this morning but came home a little bit ago because I am sick.  Besides coughing my guts up all morning (sorry for the graphic description but it really feels that way) I am spreading all those nasty germs around.  So now here I sit coughing and freezing!

It's getting close to pay day!  I'm excited because with debt repayment this pay my remaining debt will be under $5000.00.  I'm getting there!  Thank you all so much for all your encouragement and support.  Before blogging and having such a wonderful group of people cheering me on it was easy to keep falling off the wagon. 

I am happy to report that I have NOT used my credit card for anything since last pay day!  I am determined to reach my goal and won't allow that stupid credit card to get in my way. 

I have ordered my credit report form Equifax and from Trans Union just to see how things look on there and to make sure there are no errors.  I won't pay for my credit score because I don't care what it is and I think it's a money grab. 

Ok time to go do some jumping jacks or something to get warmed up!

Bloggy Secret Santa & a Christmas Card Exchange

Hey Guys!  Serendipity is hosting a Bloggy Secret Santa and I'm going to encourage you to join in!  It sure sounds like lots of fun.  It has a $15 limit so it won't mess with your budget too much.  You can choose which country you want to ship in be it Canada or the USA.  If there are others from different countries she will also try to coordinate that too.  Skip on over to blog for more details.

She has encouraged participants to write a few things about themselves so that their Secret Santa can get some potential gift ideas.  So here are a few things about me:

- I love Starbucks Soy Chai Lattes.  I only splurge once every month or two since they are much to pricey to indulge more often and always make a date of it with a friend to make it that much more enjoyable.

- I only use "not test on animal" products because the cruelty just makes me sick.

- I love all things bunny with one big exception, no playboy bunny cause I find that very tacky

- I love running and all things running

- I only listen to Christian music and enjoy most all of the artists in the Christian charts on Billboard.com

- My house is decorated with a country theme and others always describe it as cozy

- I live in Canada and tough it through cold winters :)

So what are you waiting for join up!!!

Also Judy at We may be poor, but we are happy is hosting a Christmas card exchange.  You should sign up for that too!

Not Changing... yet. My 2 Month Long Challenge

So although I really appreciate all your wonderful advice I am not planning on changing my budget just yet.  I am going to try to make it work for the remainder of 2011 and if I still can't make it work by then I will re-look at my numbers and my remaining debt and make the necessary adjustments.

I just think there really shouldn't be any reason that I can't make it work on my numbers.  The key thing is keeping my credit card out of the scenario.  I only  have to make it work for 2 months and 1 week.  So that's my challenge!  And I am going to do my best to make it work.

I'll explain my stubbornness resistance to change for now.  If I can continue to pay the current amounts on my debt my remaining consumer debt going into 2012 should be sitting somewhere around $3500.  This puts me in a really good position to have all my consumer debt paid off by about the end of March.  That would mean I have to continue to pay about $900 a month towards debt for Jan, Feb and March and I use any income tax refund to pay the remaining balance on my debts.  My refund for last year was $739 and I would imagine this year would be around the same. 

I want the debt gone!!!  I want the burden gone!  I think I'm up for the challenge.

My turn - A-Z's of Me!

Ok I think it's my turn to play along.  Since you all know how stubborn I am now you might as well learn a little more about me.

A – Age – 34
B – Bed Size – Queen
C – Chore You Hate – cleaning the bathroom
D – Dogs – Bella 8 yr old shelter rescue and the best running partner.  Also 3 Bunnies whom I adore!

E – Essential start to your day – nice warm shower
F – Favourite Colour – Green, I think, most days anyway. LOL
G – Gold or Silver - white gold but I'm not a big jewelry fan anyway
H – Height – short! 5'1
I – Interests – running and PF are the big ones at the moment
J – Job Title – Solider!  LOL actually I am a Resource Management Support Clerk - long title, eh?!
K – Kids – no human ones
L – Live – Ontario, Canada
M – Mother’s Name – Shirley
N – Nickname – none really, just a shorten version of my real name
O – Overnight Hospital Stays – No.  I hate the hospital!
P – Pet Peeves – People who are always negative Nellys.  Smile, would ya?!
Q – Quotes From Films – Can you bring me my chapstick? My lips hurt real bad! - Napoleon Dynamite

R – Right or Left Handed – Right but my mom is a lefty so some things I learned lefty from her
S – Siblings – 2 older brothers that I love very much!
T – Time You Wake Up – Really depends on the day
U – Underwear – were not meant to be up the crack of your bum!
V – Vegetables You Hate – oh where do I start

W – What Makes You Run Late – reading PF blogs. 
X – X-Rays You’ve Had – feet, chest, teeth, and now I getting an MRI of my head
Y – Yummy Food That You Make – Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo and Pita Pizza's
Z – Zoo Animals – weren't meant to live in cages and shouldn't have been captured in the first place.  I'd much rather see an animal in it's natural habitat.

My name is Stubborn!

Thanks everyone for all your comments, suggestions and feedback on my last post. 

I think maybe I'm just to stubborn to actually fix the issue.  I know exactly what I need to do to make it run much more smoothly.  My BIG problem with the solution is that it will put a kink in my debt repayment plan.  I know you are probably thinking if I just fix the problem now it will save me in the end... but I just can't see it that way clearly enough to make me want to change what I'm doing. 

Ok so basically I run into problems with my grocery, entertainment, gas and pet budgets.  I basically budget $80 each pay (2 pays a month) for groceries, $25 for entertainment, $60 for gas and about $150 for the pets.  The problem happens when I go over in any of these areas I usually have to fall on my credit card to fill in the gap.  Then I want to make up what I had to put on my credit card so I pull money from each of those budgets for the next pay and pay back my credit card.  And I always think, oh I can get away with only spending $60 on groceries this time and I'll put the extra on debt repayment and then end up needing to spend a little extra to get through to the next pay. 

I know that now that I am focusing all my repayment on my credit card I will see big changes in it unlike when my focus was on my now paid off debts.  I just don't want to add more to these budgets because I know that what I am budgeting is reasonable for the most part.  I just need to manage how I am spending it better.

Am I way off on my way of thinking?  Am I really being too stubborn?  Any advice for me?  :)

There's a hole in my budget, Dear Liza

My budget is leaking and the credit card is soaking it all up.  This needs to stop.  It just seems like I have been over in a few areas of my budget and there have been a few unexpected expenses.  It's eating up lots of money.  I will be making a fairly large payment on my credit card this pay but it will barely even make a dent in what was owing since I last updated my sidebar. 

However, it is what it is.  I can't go back and change anything.  I can just do better from here and try not to let it happen again.  I need to stay on top of this for about the next 6 months and I am aiming for the card to be paid off by about that time. 

I will say this, it's a hard pace to keep up.  It's kind of like I'm getting tired of the tight budget and aggressive debt repayment but at the same time my desire to be debt free and keep at it hasn't wavered.

So off I go to try to fix the hole in my budget... 

My Muscles are Tired

Another physical challenge is done!  And now I'm so tired.

The Battle Fitness Test went well.  And I'm glad its over with for another year.  I think harder than a timed 13km 50lb Rucksack March was the casualty drag (which involves a backward drag of a 150lb "dead weight" individual for 25 meters without stopping).  Of course maybe it wouldn't be so hard if you hadn't just done the rucksack march. :)

Now I'm relaxing and healing.  It's Thanksgiving and my birthday this weekend.

I know I didn't do a financial update this week like I said I was going to.  Nothing much has changed on the financial front.  I had to renew my license and registration which was $150.00.  I love the way the government helps us celebrate our birthday.  Because of that I wasn't able to make any big payments on my credit card but I am planning on that next payday.

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian Friends!!!  Here's a little peak at my day yesterday.

Getting our packs weighed

Final instructions before we step off

My Unit just before we head out

Some of the scenery is very pretty on the route

My sausage fingers!  I can't believe how swollen my hands were!

WARNING BLISTER PICTURE TO FOLLOW!!  :)

My blood blister

25km Trail Run Finisher!

I did it!  I ran the 25km Run for the Toad Trail run!  And it was a blast.  A total of 66 hills from what I was told.  Yep there were lots of them and one monster one! I always enjoy seeing photos on other blogs so here are a few for you.

 It was a very chilly morning!

We have to climb that hill?! (it looks much worse in person!)

Kissing the toad.... he didn't turn into a prince...

On a financial note, I did not spend even half of the money I took (budgeted) with me.  I really wanted a shirt from the race but couldn't find one I really liked and decided not to buy one!  I found a pair of Toad running socks instead.  I can honestly say after that experience, I know I have changed!!!  The "other" me would have bought one just for the sake of buying it even if I really didn't like it.  This "changed" me thinks things through before I spend the money most of the time now. 

Last week was really busy for some reason.  This week should be less crazy so I am hoping to catch up on everyone's blogs and give you a debt update, although the update won't be very exciting.  I'm off to let my muscles recover before the big rucksack march this week!