PAIN, pain, go away...

Okay, so the last couple of days have been awful... Yesterday I went back to my orthodontist, and got braces put back on my top eight front teeth. My front tooth just has a mind of its own, and doesn't want to cooperate! He is doing it for free, so I thought why not...get 'er done, right?

Also, I somehow managed to do something to my back. My shoulder blades literally feel like they are on FIRE, and have a weird numb sensation that I cannot really explain with words. So, after several hours of calling my doctor repeatedly, I got a prescription. I think I should have probably gone to the chiropractor...

Fun day!

Rowan and I have been fighting off some bug. Yesterday Rowan was running a temperature and not feeling so well. He was very grumpy all day! Then, this morning, I woke up with a major sore throat. I felt awful all morning and afternoon. Tonight I am feeling a little better, so I hope whatever it is, is going away!!! PRONTO!
Today, my friend Hope and her two little girls, Elise and Caroline, came over. We had a lot of fun talking and watching the kids play so well together. It was actually really nice to be able to just stay home all day! :-) I feel like we haven't really stopped all month. GO-GO-GO-GO-GO!!! I don't recall February always being like this???

Baby steps count!

Today, I took a HUGE step. I called all the credit card companies, and cancelled allll of our cards!!! I paid them all off while Jamie was in Iraq last time, but we had managed to pile up some CC debt on one card. I am very pleased to say that we are now CREDIT CARD DEBT FREE, and it feels freaking fantastic!!!

Cards we got rid of:
Capital one platinum
Macy's
Victoria's Secret Platinum angel
Sear's
Sam's
Express platinum
Limited Platinum
Kay's Jeweler

At our worst, we had over $5,000.00 on all the cards. We are now out of debt as far as credit cards are concerned!!!! CAN I GET A WHOOP WHOOP???

Secondly, I have applied to get our car loan through a local bank instead of through Chrysler financing. I am looking at dropping our interest rate from a WHOPPING 14% to 7%, much improvement, right? Also, we are taking it from a 6 year loan to a four year loan, and it will STILL lower our monthly payment by over $130.00. We will continue to pay the higher monthly payment, since we already have been. Hopefully we will get out of this loan much sooner than we had expected.

Yesterday, I ordered our annual FREE copies of our credit reports, so I am anxious to see our "FICA SCORES", hale the holy! :-)

We are taking desperate measures to get ourselves out of debt. We do not have anymore debt than the average American, but we like Dave Ramsey's theory, "Live like no one else today, so you can live like no one else tomorrow"...here is to a debt free tomorrow, my friends!

Our overall financial goal is to be debt free in 39 months. We are working our tail ends off to get it done!!! WHOOOOOOOHOOOOO!!!

BECOMING DEBT FREE...is it possibe?

Hi everyone! Been a long while, huh? Sorry! Life has been keeping me so busy lately. February has been a month of many appointments. Dentist, doctor, orthodontist, gyno, you name it! Not to mention, Rowan and I have been sick off and on, and I started a new class!
I am quite excited to tell you that I am taking the Financial Peace class at my church, and absolutely LOVE IT! The class is by Dave Ramsey, and I am learning so much. I thought I was doing all that I could to save as much money as possible; in fact, when I signed up for this class, Jamie said to me, "why are you taking a class to be a tight-wad when you already are one"? It was a relevant question!
I am learning that living on credit alone is no way to live, and Jamie and I have said a MAJOR financial goal. We hope to be completely DEBT free in 36 months. That means, no credit card debt, no school loan debt and no vehicle debt. The house will take a little longer, but we are hoping to have it paid off in FIVE YEARS, instead of the 20 we planned.
Living on a budget has proven to be a little difficult for me. I am not a big spender by any means. My weakness, as I have learned, is eating out and grabbing a snack and coffee too often. Now, we will be spending more on groceries and saving in the long run. It's a challenge, but I do treat myself to the occassional coffee every once in a while.
I will keep this blog updated with each baby step we accomplish. For those of you familiar with Dave Ramsey, I am proud to say we have baby step #1 DONE!!! Check!!!