Nuthin, Nada Zip. We are DEBT-FREE!!!! $58,000 GONE!

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I can’t even describe my feelings right now. Relief. Accomplishment. Thankfulness. Those are just a few of the emotions I’ve felt since yesterday. What happened yesterday you ask?

Well….we paid off our very last car loan. Which means we are DEBT-FREE!!!!!!!!!

Not Normal

We started out with $58,345.16 a little over 2 years ago. When we started with that amount of debt it seemed huge to us, almost insurmountable. We had 2 car loans and a maxed out credit card. Now, 27 months later we have no debt. We aren’t normal, and I love it! The automatic payment scheduled this Friday for our car loan won’t happen. Instead, we’ll get to keep our money, and let it accrue interest in an account, instead of paying interest to someone else.

Change Your Family Tree

If you feel like you never have enough money, or won’t be able to retire when you want, please, please pick up a copy of The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. It will change your life, I promise.

If you have already begun the journey, and feel overwhelmed or can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, hang in there. It will get better, and one day you will be celebrating too. Let me know when you are debt-free!

Posted in Getting out of Debt | 2 Comments »

The Honeymoon is Over…

It’s official. The honeymoon is over. For years I’ve enjoyed doing our taxes myself. Yes, I did use enjoy and taxes in the same sentence. I loved entering everything on the forms and working the numbers.

It all started when my dad sat me down in high school with a pencil and a copy of a 1040EZ. I filled out the form and he instructed me in how to fill it out. Ahhh, those were the days. When I joined the Marine Corps and got married I moved up to a 1040A. Things got more complicated and we went to the 1040 and I started using TurboTax to help me file. We got tax refunds for many years before we got smart and figured to have less taxes withheld from our paychecks instead of loaning the government our money all year. There were even a few years while my husband was active duty and deployed to the middle east that our tax liability was $0. We are in a different income bracket now, so while I’m truly thankful for that, our taxes have gone up and gotten a bit more complicated.

I’m done with doing it myself though. In 2008 we sold our house and moved across the country. We had two state income tax forms to file and of course the federal form. If you’ve ever tried doing 2 state income tax forms you know it’s not fun or easy by any means.

So while I have this little voice in the back of my head telling me I’m a failure for not being able to do it myself, I don’t trust my sleep deprived brain enough to file our taxes. I need help. IRS, if you are reading this, why do you have to make it so stinkin’ complicated?!!!

Posted in Taxes | No Comments »

Dave Ramsey- Town Hall For Hope

Just announced yesterday (I knew being on Facebook was good for something, ha ha!), is the upcoming Town Hall for Hope on April 23rd hosted by Dave Ramsey.

Tired of hearing the fear, doom and gloom that’s filling the airwaves? Join Dave Ramsey for a nationwide town hall meeting and discover what’s happening with the economy, how we got here, and where we’re going. Plus, Dave will answer your questions live throughout the event!…We’ll take questions by phone, email, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and more.

Here’s the official promotional video with more information. (Sorry, you have to click on a link to see it. I’m stupid when it comes to technology sometimes and can’t figure out to embed the YouTube video. Well, actually I could figure it out, but my 5 month old just woke up from his nap. Gotta be quick during naptimes!)

It’s Just Sticking Your Head in the Sand!

And to this, I say no. I’ve seen a few remarks already about the Town Hall for Hope meeting and a few have been negative about Dave Ramsey’s outlook on the recession and economy. I think Dave Ramsey has such a positive outlook on the economy is because he refuses to sit back and let the doom and gloom take over his thinking. It doesn’t mean he has his head stuck in the sand or isn’t facing reality. Having hope and overcoming your fear does not mean you are in denial. It means you are not letting fear run your life. It means you have a plan and are putting it to action. (Instead of waiting for the government to come up with a plan for you).

Mark Your Calendars

April 23rd, 8:00 PM EST. You can attend the Town Hall for Hope meeting at a location near you. So far they have no plans to rebroadcast it online (please, please change your mind Dave Ramsey and crew!), so it looks like I will check it out at a local venue. So far over 1600 locations have signed up to host it, and that’s in less than 2 days!

Posted in The Economy | No Comments »

I Am Keeping Up With the Jones’s This Year!

We are keeping up with the Jones’s this year, heck, I think we are a step ahead of them even. See, saving money is “in” this year. It’s trendy, hip, and what everyone seems to be talking about.

I subscribe to a bunch of magazines (all free of course-I don’t ever like to pay for magazine subscriptions). Lately I’ve noticed a dramatic increase in the amount of articles on couponing, saving money on groceries and how to cut down on your credit card debt. This week’s USAA magazine cover has just the following phrase on it”

“Life in the New Economy- Your Home, Your Credit, Your Budget”

Woman’s Day April issue features articles with titles like

“Decorating on a Nickel”

“374 Cost Cutting Tips”

“Save on Groceries”

“Outsmart the New Credit Card Traps”

See a pattern yet? Nightly newscasts feature segments on “Where to Find More Coupons” and other cost-cutting pieces. It’s been the talk in my mom circles and even women’s bible study. Everyone has tips to share on how they save money, do their budget or stories on reducing their debt. Maybe it’s all the talk about the recession but people have money on the brain.

It’s nice to not feel like such an oddball, and I’m learning some great new ideas along the way.

Have you noticed your friends, family and coworkers talking about finances more this year?

Posted in Save Money | No Comments »

Should I Set Up a Car Repair Fund Before I Pay off My Debt?

Last month I received a comment that has gotten me thinking about the way we have handled our budget and debt payoff. I had written about a flat tire we received and how we had the emergency fund available in case we didn’t have the cash in our weekly budget to replace the tire.

PK commented in response:

Actually this is not a very good use of emergency fund dollars. This is a very foreseeable event and a separate car maintenance fund should be in place for this instead of resorting to the emergency fund.

I agree. And disagree.

For those that are out of debt it’s a good idea to set up “sinking funds” account to cover expenses. Things like car repair, new car fund, gift money, vacation, house maintenance are a few examples of things that could be covered with sinking funds. I was under the impression that it’s not advisable to fully fund your sinking funds before you are even out of debt. Which is why we did not put anything in a sinking fund specifically earmarked for car repair. BUT, I fully agree that it’s a good thing to have and we plan on doing that once our debt is fully paid off.

Should we have done this already? Do you have an amount of money specifically put aside for car repair? When did you first set aside the money? Was it before or after you were debt-free?

In our situation we didn’t have to touch the emergency fund. We had enough in our budget that we could have moved from putting into savings and put towards the purchase of a new tire. That turned out to not be necessary. Instead our cost was $25 to take the nail out of the tire and repair it.

How do you handle unexpected car repairs while you are paying off debt?

Posted in Personal Finance | 2 Comments »