Update Thursday: 2nd Week of July

We made up some ground this week.  Not much, and after all the money that has been spent (to date) on the pregnancy, I’m really not surprised…  (Kids cost a bundle, and he’s not even here yet!)

Start of the Month:	$3,932
Start of the Week:	3,945
Now:	3,914
Total Paid Off This Week:	31
Total Paid Off:	18
Goal:	80
Left to Pay Off for Goal:	62

 

If we can keep up the pace of $30+ a week this month, we’ll make our goal.  It is beginning to look more and more that I’ll need to get something going in the evenings, though.  The recession added to my debt isn’t helping anything.

Update Thursday: 1st Week of July

Well, nothing like starting the month in the hole!  I didn’t get a chance for a payment to hit, and one of the credit cards charged interest yesterday, so we start with a $13 hit to our goal.  Here’s the numbers:

Start of the Month:	$3,932
Start of the Week:	3,932
Now:	3,945
Total Paid Off This Week:	-13
Total Paid Off:	-13
Goal:	80
Left to Pay Off for Goal:	93

 

At least we are pretty well caught up everywhere else.  Medical could use some help, since I wasn’t anticipating a $55 bill for asthma medication this month, and we’ve apparently been spending more on gas lately, but everything else is just about even.  If we can get a little better handle on our grocery budget, we should be fine.  Hopefully by next week, we’ll have made decent positive progress against our goal, too.

July Goals

Well, we made our goal for June, even if only just barely.  This month will more than likely see the birth of our son, so I’m going extremely conservative on our debt reduction, and we’ll see what happens from there.

We had a few setbacks last month – nothing too major, and nothing impossible, but I’d still like to get a month in like the latter part of last year.  Chances are good that I’m going to be looking for second job again here pretty quick.

In the meantime, I’m setting a relatively low goal, just to be sure that we catch up on things this month.

So, my goal for July is $80 against the credit cards.  I’d really like to do at least that much, even on slow months.  Of course, this really means more than $80, because of the interest that gets put on the cards every month.

Update Thursday: 4th Week of June

Yech.  What a week.  I’ve started the “Couch-to-5k” program, and was on week 2 when one of my knees started acting up.  After talking with a few people, it was decided that it was my 12+ year old tennis shoes that were causing the problem.  Correcting for my foot cost me nearly $110, but hopefully this will allow me to continue on the program.  So that set me back a bit on catching up this week.  Still, we made our goal for debt reduction, so it wasn’t all bad…

Start of the Month:	$4,049
Start of the Week:	3,988
Now:	3,932
Total Paid Off This Week:	56
Total Paid Off:	117
Goal:	117
Left to Pay Off for Goal:	-0-

 

Now if we can just get caught up on bills.  I think I am about ready to invest in a timer for the sprinkler.  Two nights since we’ve moved in, I’ve forgotten about the sprinkler in the front yard.  I’m sure our water bill will be through the roof this month.

Update Thursday: 3rd Week of June

Well, this week saw my savings account getting zapped for service charges (due, I believe, for the balance dropping below $100).  As a result, although there was still forward progress made, it still wasn’t as much as I’d hoped.

Initially, our balance in our checking account dropped below $1,000 for the first time since fall of last year.  Coupled with the fact that we have no emergency fund in place makes things a bit sticky.  However, even with the transfer, we also had some extra income, and it allowed us to get current in all but two categories.  I anticipate getting caught up in those by week 1 of July.

Also, my current plan is to see about getting some passive streams of income going.  I’m not exactly sure what I’m going to do just yet, but I do know that I’m not happy with the amount of progress being made – I’d like to have an extra $1,000/month to throw against debt, and be done with it in the next 2-3 years.

Start of the Month:	$4,049
Start of the Week:	4,017
Now:	3,988
Total Paid Off This Week:	29
Total Paid Off:	61
Goal:	117
Left to Pay Off for Goal:	56

 

The economy being what it is, I’m grateful I’ve got a job and that the numbers continue to decrease, though.