It Feels Great!!!!!

So this is just a quickie.... I FEEL WONDERFUL.... With my (unexpected) tax refund I was able to pay off not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, but 5 accounts... The balances are zero and I feel so wonderful... I just can not describe it. If this is just a small glipse into what it feels like to be completely debt free then oh my!!! I might need oxygen when that happens! Since I was able to pay off these 5 debts I can now focus more energy on three other bills (1 house bill, 2 small student loans) that with discipline I will have paid off by December 31st. I am also helping my mother so that she can save for a car. I honestly owe a whole lot to student loans but I do not want to kill my joy. The two small loans my mother has been working on but the larger ones to the feds man oh man.. That would be a great stimulus package. Just to delete all federal student loan debt?? Do you think Congress and the Senate will go for that???

Anyways, I am feeling great... And I hope my readers (thank you guys so much) can relate...if not now then I hope one day in the near future...I am off to write lesson plans.... GOOD NITE

Tax Time!!!

So, my aunt (who is more like a second mother) told me when I first started working that getting a large refund check during tax season meant that you gave the government a free loan all year and now you are getting excited about getting your own money back... So I have always tried to "play" with my allowances until I broke even or close to it...Well this year not so well, I did not claim enough allowances and I am getting a rather large (in my opinion) refund check back, but this is not all bad. With this kind of boost to my debt repayment plan, I can speed up (pay off) my CC debt and save my money instead to increase my emergency fund greatly. Instead of taking a year to reach my $1000 emergency fund now I can get really ambitious (I do not have an exact goal in mind yet). At this point in my debt repayment plan an unexpected refund check is a great thing. I am going to be CC debt free in less than my projected 6 months...


But now I need to go back to the drawing board with these allowances...I am going to ask my accountant cousin when she finalizes my taxes...

How is tax season looking for you?

Part Time/ Afterschool Job

So I have officially worked my first pay cycle for my afterschool job. Seriously it is a breeze and I am so glad when they needed extra people that I was there and willing to take on the task. My friend that I work with is not in as much financial troubles as I am but she needs to pull in some extra funds, however she is just lazy in my opinion and continues to give me her days and I am so glad that classes have not started yet and I can pull the extra hours. I found out today that my first check on the 30th is going to be for $250 (for only 6 days). So with this money I will get any bills that are not current fully current, pay for my god- daughters pictures (she just turned two) and put the rest towards debt. I think that I will have roughly $100 left for debt... This is great!!! It helps out my debt repayment plan so much... I am proud of myself. It is already a struggle but I plan to pay an average of $800 a month (little more or less) to debt... I know just typing that number floors me but it is my debt and my mother's. Why my mother's because she was sick for a while and I want her to focus on an emergency plan for when she can't work so without her monthly CC bills she will be able to do that much quicker. I have only made my first payment in this new system and already I shed some tears but if I stick to it!!! MAY 1st baby!!! I will be left with just a car payment and mortgage....... And my mother will be left with 1 CC (too large a balance to get rid of in a short time).... With this afterschool job in a typical month without any extra days I will average $95 a week... Man, I am so proud of myself you all have no idea... Just to have the faith to put this plan in action is enough for me... If I have to eat rice a few more nights a week... SO WHAT!!!! keep me in your prayers

Bi- weekly spending money

So I wanted to know how much money you "give" yourself to survive over two weeks or between paychecks. Basically how much money do you spend not including bills and debt. I am waiting to truly solidify my budget until classes start again. Once classes start I will have an idea of my gas cost, and snacks (to keep me awake)....




*****EDIT******After reading the comments... I am giving myself way too much money for Biweekly spending... I am at like $45 bucks a week..This whole budgeting thing is relatively new to me... I will get it together. I can't have champagne taste on a water budget... ******EDIT*****

New Resolution Changes/ Update

Well, I have decided to amend my New Year's Life Changes formally called Resolutions...

I am going to crunch down on my consumer debt and some past due school balances....

I have decided and have created a plan to get out of this unnecessary debt by 5/15/09, this will not only give me some breathing room with my finances but also give me peace of mind. I am so tired of getting the bills in the mail and it actually depresses me. My friends go on vacations (not really expensive ones either) and I can not go because of all the minimum payments I have to make... Well I will be 26 this year (5/1) and it is time to travel honey... So I basically laid out what I wanted to tackle each month and did a rough (lower) estimate of my monthly salary and deducted my steady monthly bills... Still no cable but if I can pay this off I will get it in the summer. I am really excited and my mother said that she would help me if any surprises came up...

Emergency fund is ripping and roaring with a $50 balance today. I plan to save $100 a month for now. Once I clear my name a little bit I will increase and attention will be paid toward my car (I already pay extra towards this anyways) and student loans (too much to even think about really)...

Some windfall payments :) I will get a small reimbursement from my job for classes that I am taking or have taken (this will go toward CCdebt). I also today picked up an after-school job (finally, people started falling off and I and a friend were there to pick up the pieces). With our flip flopping schedule (to accommodate my class schedule) I estimate an additional between $600 (high) and $400 (low balling) a month. Oh yeah baby put all of that toward CC debt. With this extra money I may be able to push that date up to before my birthday which honestly would be the best present I ever could give myself. PEACE OF MIND

The Champ is here.....(drum beat) The Champ is here...

The title would have you believe that I am starting out 2009 better than the past year... Well, WRONG...I have added more debt to my name. Trying to be an educator is extremely expensive. I think I might have to look for something else starting this summer. I just can not afford to get the certification. It is so close but yet so far away. The reason for the zero account balances???? My mother needed some financial support, she was sick and could not work meaning that the only child had to step up to the plate. I see the effects of not have an emergency fund. So this year... that is my only mission. If it means that I will be in (consumer) debt until I am forty then so be it but I need an emergency fund.

I have not updated my blog because to be honest I came undone. I did not expect to get rid of all of my debt in a flash but I did not expect to add more debt. Not embarrased just overwhelmed.

I want to thank everyone for continuing to read my blog. This year I have only three goals...

Loose 20 pounds
Create a significant emergency fund
Blog more than once a month... (this should be the easiest)

HAPPY 2009

OMG

Seriously, I am going to give an update soon!!! I am still a live with a lot of drama of course. Financially I am doing horrible. I have almost completed my first semester in a doctoral program... I promise I will be back soon!!! hold me to it!!!