Hi, everyone. So far, I have only received $500.00 of my total conference reimbursement (it comes from 2 different places). I had a lower balance on cc #2 that what I thought, so I have adjusted my original plan as follows.

$500.00 Total Reimbursement Part 1

$192.00 cc #2 payment (the balance is now $0!)
$ 50.00 cc #1 payment
$100.00 yard light allocation
$100.00 trip out of town at end of month allocation

So, with all of that, here is the update to my 52 Week Challenge Balance:

Prior Balance: $2443.25

Payments and Set Asides: $442.00

New 52 Week Challenge Balance: $2885.25


I still have $58.00 left out of the $500.00 after all that. I think I may put it on cc #1 because it really needs to be paid down.

This is me right now. I'm so excited!! And this is only the beginning. I have about $1100.00 coming probably tomorrow to spend on debt, savings, etc.

Click on this video of the Pointer Sisters to see just how excited I am to pay off debt and allocate funds for things that I really need.

https://youtu.be/YwKRM_835uk

Hey, everyone. My mortgage is down to $66,187.11. Woo-hoo! We have been paying the amount that we would have to pay if it were a late payment for about 4 years now and it has made a real difference in the balance. Some day, I would like to increase it, but this is management and affordable now.

I should be getting my conference reimbursement (a total of over $1600!) in the next few days and will disburse it when I get it. I have paid all but about $200 of the total trip cost on cc #2 out of money that I set aside through survey checks, rebates, and regular savings deposits. That money is a separate account than regular savings so that I don't affect other savings needs.

Hi, everyone. Well, today was payday (I am usually paid on Fridays, but tomorrow is a holiday), so more money went to savings, debt, and retirement. Also, last Wednesday, I left on my conference trip and returned on Tuesday night. After returning, I also claimed my travel rewards on cc #2 which I used for the trip. After claiming the travel reward, I emptied out my professional account, as shown on the left to pay most of the rest of the bill. That amount covers almost everything, including what I spent on fun stuff, food, hotel, airfare, subway fare, and my share of the rental car. I will also get a reimbursement check from my employer. I am not sure of the amount yet, but in general, I plan to pay off a large amount on cc #1, put money into regular savings and house savings, and also have a outside yard light replaced with something more energy efficient. That is as specific as I can get until I know the exact amount. It may seem counter-intuitive to save my own money to pay off the purchase when I know I will get reimbursed for some of it, but the truth is the amount I get back is only guaranteed up to $500 per year for out of state travel, so I have to save some of my own money also.

Prior 52 Week Challenge Balance: $2095.25

Regular Savings Deposit: $40.00
House Savings Deposit: $20.00
Car Savings Deposit: $20.00
Travel rewards from going on conference trip $28.00

New 52 Week Challenge Balance: $2203.25

I am not counting the amount I paid out of the professional savings to cc #2 in the challenge because I already counted it. However, I will count the reimbursement once I receive it.

One more cool thing that happened recently was on the day I was returning from my conference, my husband who stayed home was supervising the installation of 3 new windows in our home.

Hi, everyone. I just cashed out my mrrebates account for $10.10. I will get it until June 1st and I will directly apply to credit card debt.

Also, I have realized that I have enough funds for my conference trip saved up, so I am not going to set aside any more funds. I will devote the "extra" funds to the following: 1) $40 to the house account for the windows which will likely be installed soon and 2) $100 to credit card debt.

I have also been using my rewards credit card for my one major grocery purchase each week in order to earn rewards. At the end of June, I will have enough rewards to get a rebate. I will use that to make an extra payment to the other credit card.

I just found out that two different funding sources I applied for to attend a professional conference have come through. I had estimated I would need approximately $1600 to attend this conference. Here is what I have so far.

$1252.00 money saved up since last fall through surveys, rebates, payday deposits, etc.

$250.00 grant
$500.00 professional development fund

So, I have a total of $2002.00! So, I can use some of the money I worked hard to save up for fun money and not have to incur credit card debt. Yay! That was my goal.

Hello, everyone. I guess I have been living the high life, because I have had a few too many expenses and need to buckle down for awhile until I get it all balanced out. I think I will start with a food challenge by seeing how many meals I can make out of what is in my cupboards and fridge. And I must not forget that I now have lettuce, kale, and arugula that I can harvest and it's delicious. I have onions every now and then.

Anyway, I got paid today, so more money is going into savings, debt, and retirement.

Old 52 Week Challenge Balance: $1627.67

Regular Savings Deposit $40.00
Car Savings Deposit $20.00
House Savings Deposit $20.00
Professional Savings Deposit $40.00
Payment on cc #1 $100.00
Slush Fund $20.00

New 52 Week Challenge Balance: $1867.67

Old 52 Week Challenge Balance: $1602.67

Cashed in Swagbucks $25.00

New 52 Week Challenge Balance: $1627.67


This also brings my Conference Challenge Balance to $1212.00! Woo-Hoo!

Hi, everyone. I get paid tomorrow, so more money is going to savings, debt, and retirement. I don't really report my retirement here except on the sidebar. Here are my numbers.

Old 52 Week Challenge Balance: $1482.67

Regular Savings Contribution $40.00
Professional Savings Contribution $40.00
Car Savings Contribution $20.00
House Savings Contribution $20.00

New 52 Week Challenge Balance: $1602.67

I will make payments to the credit card tomorrow. See ya'!

Great news today. I got my $5.00 deposit from Pinecone (thanks, creditcardfree for the update about that). So, my 52 Week Challenge Balance is up to $1482.67 and my Professional Savings is at $1147.00. I need to get it to about $1600.00 before the end of June. That's going to be hard but so worth it so I can just immediately pay off cc#2 after attending my conference.

Woo-Hoo!

Hi, everyone. I cashed in my pinecone points for $5.00 today. I requested paypal, so I guess I will probably get it in a week or two. I can't remember exactly what pinecone does. Anyway, when I do get it, that will put my 52 Week Challenge balance at $1482.67. I am concentrating on Professional Savings Account right, so that will bring the balance to $1146.70. Woo-hoo!

Hi, everybody. I get paid again tomorrow, so more will be going in and out of checking, savings, and towards debt.

Old 52 Week Challenge Balance: $1238.19

Regular Savings Deposit $40.00
Car Savings Deposit $20.00
House Savings Deposit $20.00
Professional Savings Deposit $100.00
DH's payment to cc #1 $37.48
Slush Fund Deposit $22.00

New 52 Week Challenge Balance: $1477.67

Hi, everyone. I get paid again tomorrow, so more money will be going to savings, debt, and retirement.

Old 52 Week Challenge Balance: $963.48

Regular Savings Deposit $40.00
Professional Savings Deposit $100.00
Car Savings Deposit $20.00
House Savings Deposit $20.00
cc#1 payment $75.00
Slush fund deposit $22.00

New 52 Week Challenge Balance: $1200.48

Woo-Hoo!

Prior 52 Week Challenge Balance: $783.48

$22.00 deposit to slush fund
$40.00 deposit to regular savings
$40.00 deposit to house savings
$100.00 deposit to professional savings
$37.48 dh's payment to cc #1
$20.00 regular payment to cc #1

New 52 Week Challenge Balance: $1042.96

One of my new games this year has been to use all my change in my purse for my one big, regular purchase of the week. And that is grocery shopping. I go through the self checkout and bag all my groceries myself. I use as many coupons as possible. To limit the amount coming directly out of checking, I use all my pocket change and any bills I have in my purse. Usually, it is only a couple of dollars, but one week, it was about $20 I had leftover. Woo-hoo! I have also really been trying to evaluate each purchase I make and to use cash I take out of the ATM for impulse purchases, so that when the cash runs out, I stop buying stuff.

Hi, everyone. I get paid tomorrow. I have already allocated for 1/2 the mortgage and paid the gas and electric bills.

Prior Challenge Balance: $521.48

Regular Savings $40.00
Slush Fund $22.00
House Savings $10.00
Car Savings $10.00
Professional Savings $140.00
Payment to Credit Card $30.00

New Challenge Balance: $773.48

Hi, everyone. I get paid tomorrow and am trying to make a go of the 52 week challenge, but am getting a late start. So, I went through my records to get an idea of all my stuff that qualifies for my challenge.

1/2 paycheck
$17.00 deposit to car savings
$17.00 deposit to house savings
$100.00 deposit to professional savings
$1.00 deposit to AAA/car tax savings
$5.00 deposit to escrow savings
$40.00 deposit to regular savings

1/30 paycheck
$10.00 deposit to house savings
$10.00 deposit to car savings
$40.00 deposit to regular savings
$145.00 deposit to professional savings
$22.00 deposit to slush

That means my 52 Week Challenge Balance is $407.00.

While my real goal with the 52 Week Challenge is to pay off cc #1, I have not put any payments on this list. The balance on the margin is not the real balance because I had to use it again recently, so the balance is higher. I also have a goal to attend a professional conference in June this year, so I am ramping up what I am setting aside for that. I plan on doing lots of surveys, buying and selling used books, and whatever else I can do to raise the extra cash I need to accomplish my goals.

Cheers to the 52 Week Challenge!

Hi, everyone.

My cc #2 balance is still $0! Woo-Hoo! I get paid tomorrow. I have already allocated for 1/2 of the mortgage payment, gas for the car, slush fund, groceries, and the purchase of health supplements. I have also paid the water/sewer bill and put money into savings.

I will be putting the balance of my work reimbursement into my professional account. That's where it came from and I want to go to another conference next summer, so I figured the $231.00 would be a nice beginning to the approximately $1500 I will likely need.

I will be getting 2 payments of $3.00 each for Pinecone surveys in a couple of days. They will be going straight to cc #1. That feels good to say.

My dh's regular check came today. I allocated some of it for regular expenses. I also paid $58.28 (from my dh) and $7.00 from something we were going to buy and didn't to cc #2, bringing the cc #2 balance to a whopping $99.52!

Prior Challenge Balance: 2213.46

$58.28 payment to cc #2
$7.00 from something we allocated money for, but did not buy

New Challenge Balance: $2278.74

My hubby had previously stated he wanted to come with me on the conference trip, so I had budgeted for that (food for 2 people, etc.). But now, he has decided he doesn't want to. Yeah for me! Because I can eat where I want and what I want. Translation here: somewhere much less expensive. He always wants to eat at somewhere kind of like an Applebee's, which can be expensive. So, the cost of food will be at least 1/2 of what I budgeted for. So, whatever funds are leftover out of the budget I plan on sending directly to the credit card with no stops in between. I have a $20 gift card for Darden Restaurants, the company the owns restaurants like Red Lobster, Olive Garden, etc., but I would really rather just go to a local grocery store and buy a salad off the salad bar. So, I figure I can get my first evening meal there for about $15.00. No problem. The hotel I am staying at has breakfast for free. I am also taking along some of my own food to compensate for food allergies and just because it's cheaper to buy them at a grocery store than most other places. So, I will have a small bag with 4 bottles of iced green tea, 4 packages of snack nuts, my travel mug, and gluten free oatmeal. My second meal will be a work meeting with a company my work deals with and should be no more than $10 or $15. The gas will probably be $50 to $75 and the car rental $140. My conference registration is already paid for. As much as I hate, no matter what I spend, I will only get back $122.00. Ugh. But I will also funnel that directly to the credit card.

Hello, everyone. I am starting to love payday. I used to hate it, because that's when I would see a mass amount of my money vanish from my bank account to debt and stuff I didn't really need. But things are looking up and that's good, very good. For example, the hubster and I have gradually migrating our entire house's light bulbs to LED. At first, they were a little expensive, so we would buy 1 bulb a month or something. But the price has come down to about $10.00 a bulb lately. And no, I do not want to discuss CFLS AT ALL. The mercury is bad for the environment, so I don't care how cheap they are. Anyway, on payday, I was paying the electric bill and wanted to see what impact this has had on the electric bill, because we had replaced 4 bulbs last month. From one month to the next, it went down 150 kilowatts! Wow. That's amazing! We just replaced 4 more on Friday, so I can't wait to see what happens next month.

My retirement account has increased quite a bit in the last few months. My house and emergency savings were somewhat depleted due to the need for tuckpointing on our house. Without it, we could have had serious structural issues down the road.

In the second week of April, I will be attending a professional conference in my state. It should only cost around $400 or so to attend, but I will only be reimbursed for $122. My professional savings account will be cleaned out for that. Ugh. Bummer. But I already have a plan for that reimbursement loot. I have agreed when I get my reimbursement that we will buy a ladder so that we can do some maintenance around our house a little easier. Changing light bulbs in some rooms and also outside is impossible without a ladder.

Well, I am still continuing my Food Challenge to be not only healthier but also financially free. Here are my meals for the week:

1) Spinach salad with cucumbers, onion, tuna, olive oil, apple cider vinegar. Side of walnuts and an orange. (3 meals)

2) Chicken salad with onion, salt, and pepper. Side of walnuts and an orange (2 meals)

3) Eggs with ham. Either omelets, scrambled, or fried over hard. Add seasonings and veggies. Smoothie with almond milk, flaxseed, oranage juice, and banana for a side. (3 meals)

4) Oatmeal with honey, raisins, almond milk, and cinnamon. (4 meals)

5) Stew made with ground bison meat, carrots, onions, black beans, and brown rice. (3 meals)

6) Spaghetti made with ground chicken, tomatoes, tomato paste, onions, mushrooms, and seasonings. (2 meals)

7) Chicken breasts and side of vegetables and rice. (2 meals)

Here is the dispersal of my reimbursement as it stands now:

$1241.38 (total of reimbursement)
-$200.00 (payment to credit card)
- $90.00 (balance payment on lawn mower)
-$200.00 (deposit to car savings account for eventual replacement of car)
- $33.93 (ordering health supplements)
- $56.25 (ordering new water filter cartridge 7/4/2011)
- $50.00 (second payment to credit card 7/4/2011)
-$325.64 (replacing dying PS3)
-------------------
$285.29 balance as of 7/4/2011

I would have sent a larger portion to the credit card, but the bank balance is a little wonky right now and I need to clear that up before sending more. Our PS3 is our primary source of entertainment, as we do not have cable tv or satellite. My husband plays some of the PS3 games and we both watch tv episodes and movies on Netflix instant viewing. So, that's why we wanted to replace our dying PS3. After I get the bank balance straightened out, I will likely make another payment to the credit card and put more in regular and car savings.

Oh, and if you need to order any health supplements and certain health food stuff, try

http://www.vitacost.com. They are having a 4th of July sale today with a lot of things heavily discounted and no shipping charge on any order over $49.00.

Here is my progress so far with the reimbursement.

$1241.38 (total reimbursement)
-$200.00 (payment to credit card)
-$200.00 (deposit to car savings to eventually replace the car)
-$90.00 (pay off the balance on the lawn mower)
-$325.64 (bought a new PS3 because our old one is about to die)
__________
Balance $425.74

I will make at least one more deposit to the savings and payment on the credit card next week.

The other thing we need to get is a new filter for the water filter connected to our kitchen faucet. That will probably be around $75-$80.

http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=231719&catid=...

A computer geek we know has basically offered to buy our old PS3 because he fixes old ones and sells them. We don't know how much yet, but it should help some.

The note about my credit card balance at the left is correct for the first time in a long time. I had not put the actual number up there because it was so embarassing. Now, I will be putting the correct, and declining, number there. I am getting a pretty good raise in July and that should help a lot in enabling me to: 1) increasing regular savings, 2) increase retirement, 3) pay down the credit card, and 4) put away more for house upkeep and eventual car replacement. Woo-hoo!

My reimbursement for my travel expenses has arrived. Normally, I only get $500 per year, but if there is any travel money left at the end of the year in my organization because someone didn't use their travel money, someone gets the benefit of that. So, it is being deposited and once it clears, I will begin the process of dolling it out. The first amounts to go out will be: 1) $90.00 for the lawn mower, 2) $250.00 to the credit card, and 3) $250.00 to savings. That is just the beginning of my plan, but it gets better than that. This is gonna be FUN to pay off debts and bring up savings balances!

Well, I survived with no major catastrophes. However, while ironing clothes in my hotel room last Friday morning, I burned myself with the iron. It will probably take a couple of weeks to heal, but it's okay and does not even hurt. It itches a lot, though. I also managed to something get my neck vertebrae out of place and had to go see the chiropractor. I sounded a lot like a popcorn machine when he put them back in.

As for the financial news, you will note in my list of the debts to the left, hospital bill #1 is PAID OFF. After I got back from my trip, I found that I had some money in checking that I had allocated for the trip left over. So, I immediately wrote a check to pay off the hospital debt. It feels great. I had planned on paying it off with part of my reimbursement from the trip, but this is even better. It's like found money.

I also had $6.00 in cash left over from the trip. That money went to the regular emergency savings account, bringing the balance to $522.43! I am loving this!

Also, I got a $20.00 survey check in the mail today, so I deposited it to checking without delay and scheduled a credit card payment for the same amount.

I managed to do fine with eating on my trip. I was a little bit afraid I would not be able to find gluten free food to eat, but there was a market close to the hotel where I bought cereal, bagels, almond milk, fresh fruit, lunchmeat, peanut butter, and bottled water to eat. It cost a whole lot less than going out to eat. Most of the cash I took with me went for food at that grocery store. I am so proud that I never whipped out the credit card and only used the debit card 4 times, so I was way under budget.

Well, I leave by Greyhound bus on a trip to St. Louis for a conference. So that I don't sidetracked into eating lots of junk food and spending lots of money, I am taking all my own snacks. It's a 6 hour bus ride and it leaves at 5:00am, so food is essential. Because of my food allergies, I can't depend on finding food I can eat at the places a bus is likely to stop. So, I have packed Larabars, single serving raisin packets, and single serving nuts. I am also taking a bottle of water and 2 sandwiches.

My bus ticket and conference registration are already paid for. I already have money allocated for the hotel bill and any other food I will buy. I'm so excited!

I don't leave for the trip until Thursday, so I still have to make some food to eat from now until then.

1) Salmon and gluten free pasta salad with salt, pepper, and garlic (3 meals)

2) Spaghetti sauce with rice (1 meal)

3) Stir fry with chicken, peppers, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, and hot chili sauce (3 meals)

4) Oatmeal with raisins, cinnamon, almond milk, and honey (4 meals)

5) Beans and rice - I am not sure how many meals I will get out of this. I have never made it before and have to look up a recipe.

6) Breakfast at the hotel during my conference - The hotel serves free breakfast, but some of it I won't be able to eat. I will probably be able to eat some fruit and hot tea, but I will have to buy my own cereal and almond milk at the store. (3 meals)

7) Dinners at the hotel during my conference - The hotel also serves free dinners, out of which I will probably be able to eat a salad, baked potato, and some kind of drink. I will probably have to buy some gluten free lunchmeat at the nearby grocery store. (3 meals)

The fact that the hotel serves both breakfast and lunch is an extremely major deal, because my college gives us a per diem (a meal allowance) for attending conferences. Since I don't have to pay for many of my meals, they will reimburse more of my other costs, like conference registration and bus ticket. I am keeping track of all costs on a printed spreadsheet and, of course, keeping all receipts.

7) I will be eating out for any meals not accounted for above. This will probably include my lunches while at the conference. I don't know what they are serving, or even if anything will be available. I have money for that, though, so it's not a problem.

My go is to have $1500 cash available for my conference trip before June. It is costing me less for this trip than the one I did in 2009 because it is only a 6 hour drive away rather than flying. I am going to have to board my cats, though. I know they won't like it. I am building that cost into my plan. So, I have $409.71 to go to meet my goal of $1500 in available cash for the trip.

I also have a goal to have $200 paid off on my credit card so that I can use it for the car rental for the trip. I can pay the $200 off as soon as I get back with the cash I will have available. In addition, I will get a $500 reimbursement from my work for my expenses. I know. It doesn't really come close to the $1500 project costs, but it is something and it is important that I attend national conference at least once every other year. This goal is in progress, but not quite as good. Working on it.

Well, I get paid again tomorrow. Hubby is going to the bank to make the mortgage payment which has already been allocated from my two previous paychecks, so no problem there.

I am also making another payment on Hospital Debt #1, bringing the balance to $177.58. Woo-Hoo!

Because I am already done paying on Hospital Debt #2 (!!!!) and I have 3 paydays in April, I am allocating a little extra money towards debt payment on the credit card, the Conference Challenge, and home maintenance.

I plan on spending around $50 to $60 on a new ceiling fan Saturday.

I am also allocating $150 to the Conference Challenge, bring my balance to $1056.44! Woo-Hoo! I will add more to that after going grocery shopping and paying the credit card bill, etc.

I am not sure how much I will pay on the credit card. Hmm...

For the Lunch Challenge, I am thinking of making lentil soup. I hear it's yummy and nutritious, so here goes!

Well, I just got an email telling me that survey money will be arriving soon, about a week or so. That will be $25.00

Also, I cashed in my beezag points for $8.00. Thanks to beezag doing some kind of special this month where a lot of their videos were 250 points instead of the usually 20 or something.

So, when those go through, I will have another $33.00 in the Conference Challenge. woo-hoo

Unfortunately, part of the money that went to pay for the car repair came out of my emergency savings. I am bummed, because it took about 6 months to get it to almost $600 and I had to take some out. I am bummed, but happy I did not have to resort to a credit card. I also have to remind myself that that is what emergency savings is for -- unplanned expenses like car engines. My savings balance is now $305.72. :|

On a happy note, I got a $20.00 survey check in the mail which went straight to my Conference Challenge.

I also got a paypal deposit of $25.40 from another survey company.

That brings my conference challenge balance to $898.44.

All I can say is Woo-Hoo!

I just got a paypal payment from a survey company for $25.40! That goes straight to my Conference Challenge and brings my balance to $878.44.

Hello, everyone. I got paid again on Friday. More money went to savings and retirement. Speaking of which, I need to update those numbers. Done as of 5:11pm on 3-19-2011.

The repairs to the car should be complete on Wednesday and we can go pick it up. That will be a relief. Hubby and I agree we should immediately start saving for a replacement car. We thought seriously about getting a different car now, but everything we looked at was out of our price range and we did not want to go into debt for a car so shortly after buying a house. I also added more money to the Conference Challenge. I cashed in some survey points, which will get added to the Conference Challenge.

I also hit another major milestone. I PAID OFF HOSPITAL DEBT #2!! Woo-hoo!

This debt was close to $10,000 in 2006. My husband had no insurance and I had to take him to the ER. He has insurance now thanks to my pointing out it might have cost less than 1/2 that if he had had insurance.

In other news, the Lunch Challenge continues. Next week, it is Spring Break at the college I work at. I will be working Monday and Tuesday, but Wednesday through Friday I will be on vacation. My progress so far this much is that I have eaten lunch out once on last Friday. I spent about $10.00. I also bought ice tea or soda several times, but I bring my own cup which makes it cheaper because they give a discount for that. Here are my lunches for next week:

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday - leaf lettuce salad, carrots, cucumbers, tuna in foil packet, oil and vinegar for dressing, orange or apple, water

Wednesday - Wednesday is the day we expect to pick up our car, so I think we may go out to lunch to celebrate

Friday - maybe an almond butter sandwich on gluten free bread, orange, apple, carrots, water

Another thing I have planned to do on Wednesday is to go to Home Depot and buy stuff to fix our toilet that runs frequently. Our last water bill is $60 and we only have 2 people living in our house. I think the water bill should be about 1/2 that much. Have any of you ever fixed a running toilet? Is it difficult?