Journey Towards Financial Freedom

Hi, everyone.

Yesterday in the mail, we got a refund check. Woo-Hoo!

So, with this refund, I have a plan to put a small amount in DH's savings he uses for video games, etc. With the rest, I plant to pay off a debt and I will save the rest. So, that's one piece of good news. Woo-hoo!

We also got our house painted. Our house is nearly 100 years old, brick, and was somewhat run down when we bought it 10 years ago. So, we have been gradually fixing it up, replacing windows, replacing aged appliances and HVAC, etc. The painters also replaced some cracked mortar. The original brick was a traditional red brick color and it is now painted a light beige. The paint has improved the appearance and we hope the lighter color will help to repel heat in the summer.

I have been successfully accumulating a small stash of canned goods, extra frozen foods, and meats starting about March when the shutdown happened. This has helped up greatly to continue to eat well and stay healthy while not going into debt or having to order everything online. Stores here have been good about keeping most things stocked, but I have not been able to buy paper towels for over a month. So, it's a good thing I stocked up at Big Lots before that.

I have also been putting any extra funds we have onto debts, into savings, or stocking up on extra supplies.

I also bought supplies to donate to the food bank at the college I work at. It breaks my heart to know that college students could have to choose between buying textbooks or eating, so I help students out a little here and there. I check the clearance aisles at the stores and use coupons or sales to buy canned goods, hygiene supplies, and school supplies. Today, I got a package of Bic pens for free because they were on sale for $1.00 and I had a $1.00 coupon for Bic products. I also went to the only thrift store open in my town today where I bought a new, large box of pencils for 50 cents. I will have quite the haul to take to the college food bank on Monday. It feels really awesome to help others, and I actually get a great deal out of it emotionally when I see the look on the face of the workers there when I donate items like canned tuna.

Hi, everyone.

It definitely has been awhile. I believe it has been at least a month since I last blogged. I have been working at home for a little over a month now. Like many others, I am also concerned about my job.

Since we are dealing with this type of situation in one way or another, I was wondering if we could also make a list of our strategies of how we have been dealing with higher food costs, healthcare issues, and loss of income or a job for some. Maybe pooling our ideas would give us all some fresh ideas.

Here is my list of ideas for weathering through the financial side of the coronavirus:

1) putting any savings from not driving so much into savings or towards debts or bills
2) putting any savings from coupons or sales into savings or towards debts or bills
3) planting a garden so that we are less dependent on grocery stores - I also buy some thing direct from farmers
4) doing surveys and putting money towards savings or towards debts or bills
5) working on resume
6) gaining valuable job skills through online learning platforms
7) cashing in rebates and put money into savings or towards debts or bills
8) buy meat on sale and freeze it for later use
9) buy vegetables on sale and chop and freeze it or blanch and freeze it for later use

Do any of you have any ideas?

Hi, everyone. With all of the problems with this site, is it time to use our alternate site? I think having communication with all of you is key to my success in paying off debt and saving money, so I would be sad if it were to end.

Well, it's another payday here for me. Whee!!

So, I have already paid all bills due. I have deposited money into savings. I have allocated for the mortgage and car insurance.

I also allocated $100.00 for the upcoming car maintenance to be done early next month. That is part of my UFM Challenge, figuring out how to pay for it without going into debt to do it.

I know I have some pocket change leftover. I am going to use that to pay for part of the grocery bill and make an equal deposit to the UFM Challenge.

I don't know about you, but it is a struggle to maintain ourselves and our stuff. Going into huge debt would be easier on the front end, but I know from being there that the other side is not easy. As they say, "onward and upward!"

And speaking of stuff, I think I will try to declutter my house by getting rid of some stuff I don't need anymore this weekend. What are your plans this weekend?

Since starting my UFM on January 3rd, I have made considerable progress on my UFM goals.

1. Car maintenance - ca. $400 - I have not decided on the plan for this yet, but it will probably be a combination of setting some money aside and using the credit card

2. Road Trip #1 - have some money set aside, but need about $200 more, probably

3. Road Trip #2 - have some money already set aside, but need about $1100 more

4. AAA membership - paid in full tomorrow, 1/10, with funds set aside in a sinking fun plus $39 from checking

More good news. A few days ago, I bought a scratcher lottery ticket for $1.00 or $2.00. Today, I found out I won $10.00. So, I am adding $10.00 to the UFM total.

Hi, everyone. I have a number of current things and things happening in the future that will require money. I don't want to go into credit card debt to pay for it all, so I am doing a UFM, or maybe UF several months. LOL

I am going to limit my purchases for the next few months to essential purchases. Specifically, I am going to cease trips to convenience stores for the time being and make my own tea with my tea bags. I will also use pocket change to help pay for my grocery purchases. I will set aside equal amounts of money as well as money saved from coupons and saved towards the needed purchases. Here are the expenses I have coming up.

1. Car maintenance - ca. $400 - this is a guesstimate on cost. I will have to contact the shop to get a better estimate. Target Date: 2/15?

2. Road Trip #1 - have some money already set aside, but need about $500 more. Target Date: 4/30

3. Road Trip #2 - have some money already set aside, but need about $1200 more. Target Date: 5/31

4. AAA membership - have some money already set aside for this annual expense, but need $39 more. Target date 1/24

It's time to get to work and find $2139.00.

Update to the above: I just got a rebate from mrrebates for $10.80. This is going towards the total. Woo-Hoo!

2019 Financial Plan Progress

1) Purchase a used car with saved funds and tax refund by the end of February. It took me 6 years to accomplish this goal, but I did find a used car in good condition, get it inspected by my mechanic, and get the carfax report.

2)Pay down balance on cc #1 to $2000.00 by December 31st. I did not quite that close, but the number is much better.

3) Continue to eat super healthy by growing some of my own food and buy some at the farmer’s market and stores. I have grown some of my own food and bought some from local farmers.

4) Contribute any coupon or sales savings to credit card payoff. I have redirected sales and coupon savings toward the car savings project, and after buying the car, the credit card.

5) I will also contribute any funds I get from rebates to credit card payoff also. I did the same thing with this that I did with #4.

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2020 Financial Plan

1) Pay down cc #1 to by $1,000.00 by 12/31.

3) Continue to eat super healthy through gardening and buying from local farmers.

4) Contribute any coupon or sales savings to credit card payoff. This is a money game I play.

5) I will also contribute any funds I get from rebates to credit card payoff also.

6) Save up for vacation. (Target 4/30)

7) Save up for work trip. (Target 05/31)

Hi, everyone.

I have had some significant improvement on the financial improvement front this month. I thought I would not be getting paid until Friday, but I got paid yesterday. I still had $59.11 leftover in checking before getting paid, so I divided it up between house savings and cc1. After adding in my pay, I went to look for my bills to pay. So far, I have paid the electric bill, which is not even due until December 19th! I have also allocated for the mortgage and I will be doing my savings deposit tomorrow. Now, except for groceries and gas, I don't have much else that needs to be paid for. I already paid the gas bill earlier this month, on the 15th. I also already paid the water/sewer bill, but it was not due until December 5th. I will have the phone/internet bill to pay soon. I will be buying some items for donation, including gifts for teenage foster kids, a college students' food bank, and toys for tots, at Black Friday sales. Life is amazing when get enough debt paid off that you don't have a lot of bills to pay. I feel so blessed and thankful for my blessings.

ADDENDUM: I should add that other big progress of note is that I paid off around $300.00 of credit card debt in October and so far around $200.00 in November. I will be doing another $97.62 payment to cc 1 on Friday. Every time I have gotten a bill of any type in October and November I have been able to pay it early by around 2 to 4 weeks. This is really big for me, as I usually wind up paying bills on the payday right before the are due.

Hi, everyone.

Today is my payday, so I have already allocated funds for bills. I have sent money to debt, mortgage, and savings. I sent $50.00 to cc1.

We are also saving money like mad for a couple of house maintenance projects we have coming up. I sent the leftovers of $41.31 from checking to house savings. I also recently received a reimbursement for having attended a work related conference. I had already paid off most of the charges for attending the conference out of checking. That is, except for the hotel bill. After paying off the hotel bill with part of the reimbursement, I sent the balance of $189.06 to house savings. House savings is now at about $1400.

Hi, everyone. I got a payment of $10.05 for surveys. I paid it directly to cc #1.

I also cashed out rebates of over $10.00. I will get that in a few days and send it also.

Friday is my next payday and I still have money in checking.

I definitely feel blessed right now.

I got a survey payment of $3.00 today. I sent it off to cc #1. Woo-hoo!

So, I realized today that I can send more money to cc #1, so I sent more.

I am also depositing funds to the car tax/aaa savings, escrow savings, and tax preparation savings.

This completes my savings and debt payoff goals for this month, but because I still have some money left, I will be sending more soon.

I paid $50.00 more to cc #1 today. Woo-hoo!

Here's a shocker. We order an entertainment center on Friday. We expected it to take the usual 7-10 days shipping time to get here. When I got home from work tonight, it was on the porch. That's fast! The resl test is going to be putting it together. LOL

I did some more shopping today for much needed items.

Furnace Filters. I buy our furnace filters online because we have an odd size of 16 x 25 x 2. Hardware stores in my area do not carry this size. The ones I buy are better filters and cheaper by the filter than buying at a store. I bought 4 filters for $47.00.

Supplements. I bought some more supplements online for $47.00.

I will get rebates on all of these because I ordered by going through mrrebates. I also had coupons for most of what I ordered. Woo-Hoo!

So, my pay raise finally kicked in yesterday and I had a couple of things I have been needing to buy.

One of them is an entertainment center that is open on the back, making it easy to get to cords, etc. Our old unit is an old kitchen cabinet that someone gave to us about 15 years ago! So, one has been ordered and will be here in a week or so.

The second thing I bought was a Serta perfect sleeper memory foam mattress topper. These things are so good that putting one on top of a regular, good mattress is better than buying a really expensive mattress in my opinion. I am sleeping like a baby now and even my chiropractor commented about she could see an improvement.

I also bought groceries, gas, and paid all the regular bills, credit cards, and made savings deposits.

This is my first update in awhile and I think that was way before the hacking incident.

Today is my payday. Woo-Hoo! The other thing I am celebrating is that my raise has finally kicked in and I have back pay in that paycheck from July to now. Yay! So, for this payday, I have stepped up the debt payoff and savings deposits. I am also planning on buying a couple of things I have been needing for awhile.

That's all for now. Now to make my shopping list.

DONE!! 1) Purchase a used car with saved funds and tax refund by the end of February.

2)Pay down balance on cc #1 to $2000.00 by December 31st. Current balance is over $4,000, so I have a ways to go.

3) Continue to eat super healthy by growing some of my own food and buy some at the farmer’s market and stores.

4) Contribute any coupon or sales savings to credit card payoff. This is a money game I play.

5) I will also contribute any funds I get from rebates to credit card payoff also.

Hey, everyone.

I finally got my tax refund on Tuesday.

Today, I bought a 2007 Chevrolet Impala with cash. I have not had a car in such good condition in years. I had this car fully checked out by mechanics and it passed completely with a couple of minor exceptions that are easily fixed. It needs new brakes and new windshield, mostly. The rest is just basic maintenance stuff. I am so relieved and proud to have accomplished this goal. It's good thing I found a car in such good shape, because my old car no longer starts as of yesterday.

Hi, everyone.

I just went and had my taxes done.

We are getting $1066.00 for our federal return and $118.00 from the state.

These additions alone will bring the car savings up to $7467.08. They said it could take 6-8 weeks to get our return. [Insert frownie face here.] But in the meantime, I will be adding in more to that sum.

As my Grandma used to say, I'm cooking with gas now!

Hi, everyone.

I am making more progress on my plan. I just got a survey payment of $11.35 today. That brings my car savings balance to $6283.08. Woo-Hoo!

I get paid tomorrow. This is my progress of my 2019 Financial Plan.

1) Transferring $80.00 to car savings, bringing the car savings balance to $6251.73. Woo-Hoo!

2) Payment to cc 1 $20.00. I will be paying an additional $93.81 on February 1.

3) Coupon savings and cash paid to grocery bill $11.00. I transferred this amount to car savings and it is included in #1 above.

4) I am also using the money I normally use to pay for mowing in the summer ($50.00 every 2 weeks) towards the car savings until we buy a car. After that, I will pay it towards the credit card. That $50.00 is in addition to what is listed in #1 above.