Journey Towards Financial Freedom

Howdy, friends and neighbors. If you notice in my bio to the right, a digit in my age has changed. Yes, I am a year older. Am I mortified? Feeling old? Feeling sick? No, to all of the above. My Papa (grandfather) had a story he told about one time when he was in his late 80s and went to sing and play his saw at a nursing home. A old man was there and was moaning and groaning about being old. Papa asked him "Well, how old are you?" and the man said 65. Papa said, "I am 89 and I don't feel old." Papa died in July 2000 just a few months shy of 97. He remained very active until about the last year or so before he died. He lived a very good life and so I try to practice his philosophy of feeling good about yourself no matter what your age is. I feel fortunate and blessed to be alive and healthy.

I took a survey titled What Kind of Shopper Are You? at http://www.memolink.com. This is what it has to say about me. This is very true, as I go to the store with a specfic list of what items I want, brands, sizes, quantity, and whether I have a coupon or it is on sale. This is not to say that if I see something else that is a better deal, that I don't go for it, though.

-----------------------------------------

We'd bet that if we ran into you at the mall, you're there to get something in particular - not to browse. You're probably the kind of shopper who ventures into the retail realm armed with an idea of what you want, where to get it, and how to get out of there as fast as you can.

Maybe you're on the hunt for a birthday gift for Mom or a housewarming present for your best friend. Then again, maybe it's a new outfit for yourself for a special event. Whatever the occasion, you're not too likely to make impulse buying or window shopping a standard practice. While some shoppers may get easily distracted, you're most likely to stay on track in pursuit of your intended purchase.

I feel really happy with my life right now and grateful for all the many blessings that I have. I have a really great job with a lot of job security. I work with some really great people who like working with and for me. I have a wonderful husband who has really been there with me through the thick and the thin. I am grateful for the friends I have that have been there for me in the last year. I am grateful that both of my vehicles are paid for. I am grateful to have a computer at home so that I can read email, surf the internet, and pursue my education.

While I have everything that I really need, I also want:

both of my vehicles in good working order by the end of February

a different house to live in in my current town

have enough money that we don't have to borrow money from anyone by the end of next year

to start a second master's degree program in June next year

I don't know how I am going to make this happen, but I can definitely visualize these things. Since I don't know how it will happen, I will let the universe decide how to make it happen.

Hello. I am starting a New Year's Resolution.

I am beginning a resolution to save an extra $20 per month and pay it towards my credit card. This extra money will come from pocket change I will toss in my piggy each night when I come home from work, rebates, refunds, and unexpected money. We are also going to cancel my cell phone, since I don't use it very much.

I have been maintaining a payment of $50 per month without fail no matter what the balance is. From now on, I will continue to make that $50 regular payment, but also pay a separate $20 payment.

My current challenge balance with all the pocket change I have is $7.59. I know it's the 25th of December and I may not make $20 by the 31st, I am going to try to accumulate as much as possible. I will report my progress here on the 1st of each month.

Well, after my "great day" blog earlier today, I logged into the credit card online to make an online payment. I discovered that the balance was up over 2K - again. I had had it under 2K, so this really ticks me off. My husband had purchased a cd online that tells you how to make money on ebay a couple of months ago. It seems that when he did so, he also inadvertantly signed up for some kind of service or membership. It is free for 14 days, then they charge. My husband tends not to read the fine print on these things. I have told him and told him to read the fine print on what is included, and not included, in the transaction when buying online. I also told him to stop using the credit card altogether, which he did, but we were not aware of this "membership." It was later this afternoon when I found this out and the business is not open until probably Tuesday morning at the earliest so that we can shut off this "service." It is really hard to think positively when stuff like this keeps creeping up on me. AArrgh!

I don't usually like shopping, especially right before a holiday. I hate crowds, waiting in line, and everything that goes along with it. But today was a great day.

To start the day off, I went and cashed in my lottery ticket and got $7 cash. Whoopee.

I took that $7 along with $5.50 in rolled coins to the bank. It's going straight to the credit card later today. Yes, I know that $12.50 doesn't sound like much, but it is something.

Then, I went to Walmart. I don't usually shop at Walmart because I hate walking through a huge store just to buy one thing I couldn't buy at some other store. I bought Vive Pro shampoo with a $1.00 off coupon, two boxes of Chore Boy scour pads with 2 $0.75 off coupons. I also bought a very small can of hairspray for those cold days when my hair is full of static when I get to work.


Next, I went to the grocery store and got everything I need for about $62.00. I saved over $15.00 between the coupons I used, my store card, and bringing my own bags.



I also went to three different thrift stores to look for a thermos with a glass liner. My doctor has told me to, if at all possible, avoid cooking in microwaves and avoid plastic food containers. Well, I wasn't able to find a thermos with a glass liner, but I did get a thermos. I will keep looking for another one and upgrade when I do. I also snagged a couple of coffee mugs for $0.19 each.

I am a happy camper. Now to update my spreadsheets and send my online payment to the credit card.

Hey, everybody. I just realized when looking at my Financial Freedom Plan spreadsheet today that the debt amount in my info at the right is wrong.

Somehow, I had not included credit card debt in that calculation. Anyway, it's updated now.

I just got paid on Friday. I sent off the final payment for one of my medical bills. Woo-hoo! I'm excited. So far, I have 4 out of 8 debts paid in full. On Monday, I will deposit some spare change in the amount of $5.50 to checking. When it clears, I will send an online payment to the credit card.

I saved $15.92 between coupons and using my store card for grocery shopping yesterday.



I also made regular deposits to my Dream Account and Short Term Savings.



My mother sent me $150 for Christmas. Whereas I really want to send it directly to the credit card, I have to use a small part of it on a trip to a nearby city to take my husband to a doctor. The rest is being allocated for repairs to my truck. It won't pay for the whole thing, but it will pay for part of it.

Howdy, friends and neighors.
Well, I went out into the big, bad world of shopping during Christmas season today. I have decided to only buy a couple of gifts this year. I bought one "gift" for an employee I supervise (I bought her pezz candy because she loves it) and a gift bag to put it in. I also bought some special pecans for my mother, which I will mail to her. I will also buy my uncle a sweatshirt from the school where I work.

When I used to live in major metro city, shopping, even for groceries, during Christmas was a complete nightmare. People thought nothing of slamming your cart, grabbing something out of your hand, and just being plan obnoxious and rude. Well, I live in a smaller town now, and it's a lot calmer here, but it's still not pleasant. So, I have decided that that's all the Christmas shopping I will do. Christmas doesn't really seem to be about family and togetherness anymore. It seems to be about who can buy whom the best or biggest gift.

Oh, on my trip to the grocery store today, I saved $13.32 between coupons and store specials with my store savings card.

My husband just found out yesterday that he will a local store manager for a tax preparation service office. We discussed what we are going to do with his pay. First, we are going to get the truck running again. (The mechanic has not looked at it yet, but based on our description of what happened, he thinks we need a new transfer box, a part that costs about $500 from a salvage yard.) After that, we want to pay off our credit card debt and set aside money for down payment and closing costs on a house.

I hope no one minds me posting an off-topic joke I received by email from a co-worker. I think a sense of humor is important to your overall being, including how you feel about your finances.
----------------------------------------
The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and trauma omplications from repeated pokes in the belly. He was 71.

Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisins, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, and Captain Crunch.

The grave site was piled high with flours. Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Doughboy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded. Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was not considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes. Despite being a little flaky at times, he still was a crusty old man and was considered a positive roll model for millions.

Doughboy is survived by his wife Play Dough, two children, John Dough and Jane Dough, plus they had one in the oven. He is also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart.

The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes.

If this made you smile for even a brief second, please rise to the occasion and take time to pass it on and share that smile with someone else who may be having a crumby day and kneads it.

Someone asked about what my Dream Savings Account is and what I do with it. Well, I haven't done anything with it yet, because there is not much money in it. But it is for all those things that we dream about: house, different car, vacation, retirement, and whatever else you can think of to dream about. I decided to call my Dream Savings rather than Long Term Savings to make it sound more interesting.

I nicknamed my other account Short Term Savings instead of Emergency Savings because I don't want to be putting idea out there that I will have an "emergency".

Someone asked about the significance of the Wall Street mint silver bar and whether that is something I advise not to buy. On the contrary, I want to buy less of stuff I don't need so I can have a lot more money. I do own some silver coins, but nothing like this Wall street mint silver bar.

I saw that someone else did this for their blog, so I thought it was a great idea.

1. Maintain a positive attitude about finances. However bad it seems now, I will keep my mind focused on it turning out right and being grateful for what I have.

2. Accumulate $300 in my short term and dream savings accounts combined.

3. Pay off credit card in full and then hide both cards (mine and my spouses's) in a place known only to me so it cannot be used except in extreme emergency.

4. After credit card is paid off, divide money previously paid to credit card among medical bills, short term savings, and dream savings accounts.

5. Deposit amounts for all rebates into either short term or dream savings accounts.

6. Take change out of my pockets every night and put it into my piggy. At the end of every week, be sure I have dumped all pocket change and bills into it. Deposit it into short term savings.

7. On payday, evenly divide the "remainder" left in checking from the previous payday and transfer to short term savings and dream savings accounts.

I saw that someone else did this on their blog and thought it sounded like a good idea, so here goes.

Trips to a Professional Salon (beauty school only)

Makeup

Perfume

Laundry Detergent (found alternative)

Limit Lunches Bought Out to 1 per week

Clothing (limit myself to underwear, socks, and thrift store shopping only)

Books (borrow from the library I work at)

Magazines

purses

shoes (have 2 great pairs of shoes)


Other Things I Will Not Do in 2007

Take My Husband with me when I go shopping

I just did this and spent about $20 more than normal. Plus, he hates coupons and store discount cards and would have a fit if he knew I used them.

Here is a picture of my Mustang and my Blazer. On Friday afternoon, my husband and I left town to go north to be at a funeral on Saturday morning. The roads were bad, really bad in some places, but we made it there fine in our 4WD truck. All went fine with the funeral and I got to meet some of his family and friends that I had never met before. We started back home on Saturday at 11:30 and stopped somewhere on the way for lunch. When we were about 1/2 hour from home, we started hearing a high pitched whining noise under the truck. It got louder and louder. Then, my husband said he thought the transmission went out, because suddenly we lost acceleration. He was able to get off at an exit and get into a gas station okay. We called AAA and a tow truck driver came and got us and took us home. (Just as a side note, I have to say AAA is worth every penny it costs and it has saved us a few times.) We are still waiting to be able to call our mechanic. The vehicle is not operational, so he will have to come and get it and fix it.



I transferred money from my checking to my two savings accounts for short term savings and dream savings. As soon as I accumulate some more pocket change, I will take my piggy to the bank for deposit.



My last win is that I have the last bit of a medical bill paid in full! Woo-hoo!

The last thing I have to say is that I was caught in the snowstorm that hit the midwest. My 68 Mustang was completely covered in ice, and because the windows don't fit tightly, there was even frost on the inside of the car. My truck is non-operational at the moment (see above paragraph), and so I was unable to even get out of my driveway this morning to go to work.

Hi, everyone. I know this is my second blog for today, but my computer has had some problems and so I am behind on my blog entries. I made some chili today and will be eating it for lunch two days this week. That is a savings of at least $5 each day. I usually just buy a bottled water and a couple of packages of crackers at my college's cafeteria, which amounts to around $.75 total. I feel better about making my own lunch, knowing that I am feeding my body good food. It feels very nourishing to eat food that I cooked myself.


On a Positive Thinking note, my husband and I have set a goal to move to a different home by the end of June next year. We are thinking of the universe as our Sears and Roebuck, opening it up, deciding what we want, and placing our orders. If you don't know what I mean by Positive Thinking, see my last blog dated earlier today. We did not specify whether it has to be a rental or one we buy, so it can be either and will be within a 15 minute drive of my work. We are setting aside money to be able to do it, but we are letting the universe decide whether it is a rental or something we buy. I feel very good about being another day closer to moving to a different home.

Well, in case you don't recognize it, the title of my blog is from an Elton John song. It seems like everything that initially starts to go wrong eventually turns out right. Sound weird? You see, my husband and I have been trying something new with our finances and our life in general lately. My husband was referred by a blog friend to a website called The Secret. The Secret is about using positive thinking and feeling in all areas of your life. The theory is that what you focus on, whether it is that you don't have enough money, you can't make your mortgage, or you are sick, gets bigger. So, if you focus energy and thought on not having enough money, you will continue to not have money.

Last Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, my husband and I were on our way to my mother's for Thanksgiving dinner. He had been chatting back and forth with his daughter on his cell phone. Suddenly, we get a call from his ex-wife who was heading in the opposite direction on the same highway. She was out of gas and asked if we could help. We were only about 1 mile away and stopped to get her and take her to a gas station. While they were inside getting the gas can, my stepdaughter stayed in the truck, they were talking to the guy inside the store who commented that it was good she ran into a good samaritan. Then, she told him that the good samaritan was her ex-husband. They said he was pretty surprised by that.

On our way back from my mother's house on Saturday, we started hearing a funny noise from the back left part of the truck. I thought it sounded like a tire going bad, but my husband said it would be fine. When we stopped at a rest stop, it was apparent that we had to replace the tire immediately, as the rubber was starting to separate. It took awhile to find some place that was open and could sell us a new tire and install it. This was, of course, an unexpected expense, something I am trying to create a solution for by funding a short term savings account, but I haven't quite got it worked out yet.

The point of my little story here is that we didn't stop thinking positively and put all of our energy and thought into it turning out right.

The unfortunate thing I found out about recently is that the 0% interest for 12 months credit card I applied for was not approved. I have to focus my energy on increasing my in flow of money. The great thing is that I have more medical bills paid off. Woo-Hoo!

Hi, everyone.
Well, I got fed up with Capital One's 18.5% interest on my credit card and also a $19 fee every year. I applied for a different one with Bank of America American Express that has 0% for 12 months on balance transfers. After 12 months, the rate goes to 7.9%. I haven't gotten the card in the mail, yet, but I feel really good about this. I also did a balance transfer from my old card. With the interest rate being much lower, I can pay this off in no time!

These are my haves:
Coleman Natural - any product
Malt O Meal
Red Baron Pizza
2 bags of M&Ms, Starburst, Skittles, Twix, or Milky Way
Red Lobster
Cheerios
Pillsbury Sweet Rolls
General Mils Oatmeal Crisp Cereal
Taco Bell
Pam Cooking Spray
Pillsbury Shape Cookies
Pillsbury Crescent Rolls
JCPenney Portrait Studio
Swanson Canned Chicken
Excedrin
Jergens Moisturizer
Blockbuster Movie/Game Rental (2)
Triaminic Infant Thin Strips
Triaminic - any product
Any Annie's Homegrown product
Theraflu - any product
Lenscrafters
Glade Air Infusions Spray
Glade Plugins Scented Oil Light Show Starter Package
Glade Plugins Scented Oil Refills
D-Con - any product
Rolaids - any variety
Pillsburg Oven Baked Biscuits
Maalox - any product
Gas-X - any product
Ex-lax - 2 24-ct products
Armour - good on Star Chili, stew, hash, or sloppy joe sauce
Comtrex - any product
Glade Carpet and Room Odor Eliminator
Any Flavor Yoplait Trix or Yoplait Kids Yogurt multipack
Pillsburg Oven Baked Dinner Rolls or Mini Loaves
Grands Flaky Supreme Cinnamon Rolls
Enova oil
Pillsbury Italian Meal Breads

I have tried listing these in the coupon trading forums on the main site, but have gotten no response and I just hate to see them go to waste. So, I thought I would try listing them in my blog. I want to trade coupons with someone, so that I can get some coupons I need, too. If you would like to part with any coupons, I need coupons for Oscar Mayer lunchmeat, Camel cigarettes, Hillshire Farm sausage, Jimmy Dean sausage, whole wheat bread, Smuckers Peanut Butter, and any kind of tea. I have a lot of others that I did not list, so if you are looking for something, let me know. Please send me a private message with your wants and mailing address and I will be happy to send them right out to you.

Hi, everyone. Well, the most frugal thing I did today was to save $17.78 on groceries I bought for next week. I have two coupons of $.35 each, which were doubled and I took 4 of my own bags. Next time, I will only be able to take 2 of my own bags, as the other two bit the dust today. I also aired up one of the tires on the truck that was looking low, which may improve the mileage in my old truck. I found a recipe on

http://luxliving.savingadvice.com/ blog. I adapted it a little bit. It smells really great and I think I will have enough for lunch every day next week. Here it is:

Gone to Pot Soup

2 lb boneless chuck roast meat, cut up into pieces
1 large onion, chopped
garlic powder, to taste
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 can of beef broth
1 10 oz box of frozen spinach
approximately 1/2 lb of yellow squash
celtic sea salt
black pepper

Brown the onions and beef in a stock pot. Once the onions are translucent, add the remaining ingredients. Simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes.

While I used beef, I think you could use any kind of meat. Just change the kind of broth you use. Add whatever kind of vegetables suit you. I like to use one pot for making soup like this, because it saves in not having to wash a skillet, a pot, etc. Enjoy!

I just got a reimbursement for a business trip I had to go on. Once I verified it was in my checking account, I sent an online payment to the credit card. Wow. I like this money game. I just have to figure out how to keep it coming in.

I get paid tomorrow. After dropping me off at work in the truck, my husband is going to a nearby town to get a part to fix our car, so that when he gets a job, he has a car to drive. Things seem to be coming together.

No, that's not my cat. I wouldn't do that to a cat. Someone sent it to me in email.

Over the past weekend, I took the money accumulated in my crayon bank to the bank and deposited it to checking. The deposit showed in my account yesterday, but I forgot to look then. But today, I sent off an online payment to the credit card. Only $12, but $12 is $12 more I don't have to pay next month. Woo-hoo! This is fun.

Oh, and see the picture? This is what I would like to do to the credit card companies!

Hi, everyone. Things are definitely looking up compared to this time last month. I have one small medical bill completely paid off and another one with only one payment left. While things still are not very good and I am already overspent on my food for this pay period, it is a lot better. I feel much more in control of my life since I downloaded a budgeting spreadsheet from the internet and am using it to keep track of the budgeted amount and compare it to the actual amount spent.

I started my own savings jar, or what I call a squirrel. Every day, I dump my change into this little bank that is shaped like a crayon. I bought the bank at a community bazaar that was being held at a local mall. (I wasn't there to spend money. I am on the Friends of the Library board and was helping raise money for the organization by selling books.) On Saturday, I will take the bank full of money to the bank and deposit it to my checking. When the deposit clears, I will go online and make an online payment for an equal amount to the credit card. It's only been about a week and I already have over $10 in it.

A lot of my stress was relieved when I paid a $94.00 electric bill instead of the $213 that I paid last month. This was all due to signing up for the equal payment plan at my electric utility company.

Oh, the funny photo has nothing to do with my blog, but I like it and think it is funny.

Hi, everyone. Well, the most frugal thing I did today was save $15.69 on my grocery purchases today. I used 3 coupons, two of which were doubled. A lot of meat was on sale, which is good because I buy a lot of meat. I also took my own bags, which gave me an extra $.20. The best purchase of all was Cottonelle bath tissue triple roll package. It was advertised on sale at $5.99. Original price was $7.99. I had a coupon from couponmom.com for $1.00, so it was $4.99. Wow!

I work in a library and am on the Friends of the Library board. We had a book sale today to raise money for the organization and we made $222.80. I donated about 9 books to clear to rid my house of stuff I wasn't using and bought 4 others for $.60.

The bad thing is that I incorrectly estimated the time it would take me to get my shopping done, so when I got back from shopping, I had to take a shower and get dressed. I didn't have time to eat lunch at home, so I ate at the mall where we had the book sale. I ate cheap and good for $6.02.

Well, today during a lull at work, I signed up for the equal payment plan for my gas company. My monthly payment will be $95.40, which is more than the $18.46 I paid this past month. But, I won't be paying $200 per month this winter.

This past Saturday, I deposited an extra $20 I had from an out of town trip back into my checking. When the deposit cleared, I went online and made an online payment to the credit card. $20 more paid on the debt! Woo-hoo!

I get paid again on October 6th and already have mapped out exactly how I am going to spend my money. I found a budget spreadsheet on the internet, which I modified by adding a column to show how much I allotted for food, for example. I added another column to show what I actually spent for each pay period. I have created an allotment for savings for long term savings and short term emergency savings.

The most frugal thing I did today was to enroll in the average payment plan for my electric company. My husband kept saying they wouldn't let us do it because we hadn't lived here long enough. Well, I did it online and in about 10 minutes. So, no more surprise $219 electric bills. When I was done, the program told me the average payment I would be making would be $99. Talk about savings!! Wow!

Next on my agenda tomorrow night - call the credit card company.

Howdy, neighbors! My truck is paid for in full. Woo-hoo! Well, I feel like going out and celebrating, but now it's time to start paying off the rest of the debt. My husband and I recently went out of town and I took some cash with me for smaller purchases. We had $20 leftover. I deposited it back to checking. When the deposit clears, I will make an electronic payment to the credit card.

Well, I have to go for now. I wanted to share my win with all of you. Thank you to all of you for your encouragement.

Hi, everyone. Thank you so much for the suggestions. I will implement some of them right away. As for being in the army and doing for my country, well I didn't. My husband was not injured in any war. He had a bone tumor in his leg, which necessitated surgery that made it so he could no longer lift more than 30 pounds. I married him almost 20 years after that surgery occurred.

$2218 is my net income. I know when I add up all these expenses, it seems like I have about $500 left over, but when it comes right down to it, I sometimes have about $20 left right before my paycheck. That's why I am really trying to pay attention to where the money goes. No more elusive atm withdrawals where you say "what did I use that money for?" I will use checks and debit card only so I can track exactly where it went.

Our electricity bill is very high this month. It was even higher, $219, last month. We have done everything to get it down. We bought CFLs for almost every light in the house. We bought a programmable thermostat and some kind of film to put over the windows that filters out heat and light. I went to the laundramat to dry clothes because the dryer was heating the house up. And we decreased the amount of cooking we did. After all that, the bill only went down $6. I was pissed. Well, I guess in another month or so, I will be crabby about the gas bill.

The groceries are high, too, and I am doing everything I can to keep it down. I am using coupons and intentionally looking for meat and stuff on sale. But, I really think is a lot more expensive than it used to be.

I will call the credit card company about the rate. My husband doesn't think Capital One, our company, will lower the rate because they are notorious for having inflated rates anyway.

This picture says pretty much what my mood is today. I feel like the computer and the world is peeing on me. Oh well, another day, and only $1.06 spent. Woo-hee!

Hello. This is my first blog entry. Currently, I have $50.74 in my savings account and owe about $900 on my credit card. I also have about $4000 in medical bills from mine and my husband's medical emergencies earlier this year. In 2001, we had declared Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, which is a debt management plan. We paid faithfully on our debt for 3 1/2 years and the rest was discharged in July 2004. We were doing great up until March this year when my husband had to go to the hospital 5 different times for 1 medical problem. I also had to have surgery. These expenses ate up what savings we did have set aside for emergencies. The $50.74 is what I have managed to piece together since. I realize this is futile given the interest rate I am paying on my credit card, which I only recently discovered is 18%!

My husband is a disabled army vet and so there are certain kinds of work he can't do, like lifting more than a certain amount of weight or being on his feet a lot. Beginning with my final payment on my truck this Friday, I will be putting my best foot forward to rid myself of this debt for good and go towards financial freedom. My husband posted a question about our situation to a forum he is a member of and was advised to check out work at home opportunities. I found a website for that http://www.wahm.com. He is checking that out to see if there is any way he can make some money that way. There is a Starbucks close to us and he is going to see someone there as soon we get our car back from the mechanic.

I have worked over and worked over our finances trying to pare them down and this is our monthly income and expenses. We are spending a lot on cell phones. I saw something on someone else's blog about skype, which we are investigating as a replacement, but our contract does not run out until December. We have not dined out in about a month, so this is accurate. This internet does seem high, but it is the cheapest internet around here except for dialup, which DH does not want.

$2218 my income
$425 rent
$49.95 internet
$69 cell phones
$240 food (groceries)
$213 electricity
$20 gas bill
$80 gas for truck
$200 truck payments (last 1 is 9/22)
$20 hospital bill #1
$50 hospital bill #2
$20 doctor bill #1
$20 doctor bill #2
$69 truck/car/renter's insurance
$25 Netflix
$40 credit card
$40 regular health care bills

I investigated skype last night on the internet and found it costs about $37 per year, which is next to nothing compared to $69 per month. So that would definitely be a step in the right direction. I hope my husband can find some kind of work soon, any work.

I you have any other ideas about something I could do, please pipe in. I am all ears and will consider any ideas.