Riverbendgirl's Personal Finance Journey

I am here with exciting news (at least for me anyway). Our camper finally sold!!! That will be one less debt. I can now add that payment to our massive credit card debt. I am going to try to pay off the Visa in June instead of July. I am thrilled! My overall goal is to payoff all cards by the end of the year. I am going to give it my best shot. I hope everyone has a great week.

Hey everyone! I hope you are all doing well. Not much new to report at this time because I paid all my payments at the start on the month and I am waiting on all bills to come in to see if I will have any extra on the last day of the month. I am following my plan and I am pretty happy about that but I have no exciting new to share. I will check back in at the beginning of April.

My fingers are crossed right now for so many reasons. In the morning we are taking our camper to a consignment dealer. We just have to get our payoff. This was a costly mistake we made last year. It would be perfect if it would sell super quick. We have to have it there by nine because a potential buyer is going to look at it at three. I am hoping this is a good sign.

Personally, we have an exciting week ahead. My oldest daughter is competing in an honors recital on Thursday. My youngest daughter has her cross country team tryout on Friday.

Wishing everyone a fabulous weekend!

Today I paid $600 on the Visa card. Last week I paid what I thought the interest would be along with new charges from hubby. I am pleased with this because my balance on this card should be $2400. I am right on track to have this paid off by July. I can't tell you how happy I am out this. I also sent $100 to Discover as planned.

We are still trying to sell our camper. I hope it will sell when the weather warms up. That will free up another $160 each month. If not, that is the debt I will tackle after the Discover card.

So for the rest of the month I am going to stick to the plan. Groceries and gas for the car are going to be the biggest variables. It seems as though the cost of everything is rising. Just have to take everything in stride and stick with the plan. Have a great evening.

I have not posted any updates in forever. Trying to get caught up at work and having the usually winter illnesses have gave me little time. Hopefully this week I can get in the swing of things. My credit card debit is looking manageable. I have a plan that suits me and I feel comfortable with it. I will put it into action on Monday.

I have only had one card (Visa). I had 8k on this card. I applied for a Discover card with 0% interest for 14 months. This month I was able to move 5k to this card. So now I have two cards with a total of 8k. I plan to pay the minimum on the Discover card until I get the Visa payed off. The Visa has a balance of 3k. I plan to pay $600 at the beginning of each month plus the finance charge. It should take me 5 months to pay off the debt. Then the $600 each month would be put toward the Discover card. It would take me an additional 8 months to be credit card debt free.

This has caused me to consider finding a second job and the income it provides will be used to pay off our credit cards. I plan to brainstorm a list of possible opportunities and get a resume ready. I want to have this credit card debit paid off by the end of the year!

Today was productive. First, we checked our pantry and found we have an abdundance of rice and flour tortillas. I am going to try to use these next week along with all the other items in our freezer. We also made the decision that we could make it another week without purchasing groceries except for bread, milk and a little fruit. So I should be able to make a payment on our credit card on Friday.

We have the order form completed and ready to turn in tomorrow for my daughter's ring. She was very conservative with her ring choice. The total cost of her ring is $185. She did not choose a precious metal for her ring. Together we made a plan on how she could pay for the rest of the ring. Today she applied to work a seasonal job (working a concession stand at a little league field). If she gets this job it will only be for 3 months. We are keeping our fingers crossed.

Tomorrow I am going to call our insurance company and see if I can combine several of our items on one bill. On my table I have two insurance premiums due days apart. Funny how things are like that, maybe, I can see if I can get a lower rate. Any particular questions I should ask?
Have a great evening!

Good evening everyone,
I have discussed the class ring issue with my daughter. I have agreed to pay the $50 deposit and she will pay the remaing balance in May. I am happy with this decision.

We have another day off from school tomorrow due to expected ice and snow. This is very unusual for us. I live in the south and I can't ever remember missing this much school. So tomorrow should be a no spend day!

I think my girls and I will organize our cabinets and freezer and see if we can plan meals so we won't have to purchase groceries next week and that money can go to debt. Got to make the most of all the days I get off. I hope you all have a great evening.

Hello everyone
This past week has not be the best. I am still reworking my budget due to things I forgot. Mostly insurance and items related to my two teen girls. I did not know my oldest daughter would order her class ring this year. I thought they did the in 11th grade. She is a sophomore. Her deposit is due on Wed. My youngest daughter needs a new dress so I spent $50 yesterday for that. I am paying for all the insurance and girls expenses out of my budget. That leaves no money to pay extra on debit. I will just be able to make all payments. While I am feeling down and out, I now know how crucial sinking funds can be. I have a few questions:
1. What do you have sinking funds for? I need one for insurance, clothes, school stuff. What am I missing?
2. Where do you keep your sinking funds? A separate account?

Thanks for any advice. I am not giving up. I am determined to have one debit paid off by the end of the year. I am just getting a slow start.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday to you all. I have made a meal plan for the upcoming week. I was able to to keep my bill under $100. This pleases me very much.

Sunday: Buffalo Chicken Sliders, fries
Monday: dinner out (can't be helped)
Tuesday: Roast with carrots and vegetables
Wednesday: Spaghetti
Thursday: Tacos
Friday: Cabbage with sausage, potatoes and peas
Saturday: Enchiladas

I am off to watch the game. Have a great night!

I welcomed in February with a $672 mistake. What? I am so disappointed in myself for not seeing this expense. Insurance....Ugh. I will be better prepared next time. Since I just got paid I was able to pay the bill in full. I am planning on being creative with my groceries to pay for it. If I come up short I will have to take money from my small savings. A new budget line item will be for insurance. While I had the nice insurance folks on the phone. I was able to get a quote on adding my daughter to our car insurance in May. Wow! It was a large jump. However, my daughter should get three discounts they offer. She will get a discount for her good grades, taking drivers education in school and completing a workbook that I have to go pick up from them this week. She will need to have it completed by May. How do you budget for insurance? Do you set money aside each month?

I still have not bought groceries because I was not able to get out. We are above freezing but I think I am going to stay home today. I still have my $80 and plan on purchasing only items on sale or a necessity. implan on doing this tomorrow after church. Off to meal plan since I didn't do it yesterday...

Hello everyone! All my January bills have been paid. I am thrilled that I have $70 left and I have already applied it to my credit card! This was an unexpected event and I can't tell you how happy I am.

Here at home we are beginning to thaw out. We are going to get above freezing today so I will probably venture out to pick up a few necessities after lunch. I have $80 in cash left that I will use to make my purchases. I hope I can include a few groceries in this trip but we will see. My plan for today is to make a menu. Have a good day everyone!

Hello All,
This has been an odd week to say the least. I have not worked since Monday because of the weather. I live in central Alabama and we are in a crisis mode because of snow. I know it is nothing for folks who live up north but this is a nightmare for us. We don't know how to drive in this ice and snow. However, since I am home I have finalized my February budget down to the penny. I am so excited!

I opened a Capital One 360 savings account with the goal to save $1K. I found a chart using pintrest on a way to save $1000 during the year. I thought this looked like a good plan. I set up atomic payments that match my paycheck for the entire year. I am pretty excited about that.

I am still working on the goal to pay off that stinking credit card. I have taken advice of others and have shopped around for another card. I think I found one that will work for me. It will have 0 interest for 14 months. I have been approved just waiting on the paperwork to see how much of the balance I can transfer. My goal is still to have it paid off by he end of the year. Looking forward to a February with a new budget. My goal is to see if I can come under budget. Have a great rest of the week!

I feed a family of four. Two adults and two teens. My grocery budget has been out of control. I have been getting a lot of advice and I have tried to take advantage of it all and see what works for me. I went grocery snooping yesterday and spent $90. I know that seems like a lot but it is a savings for me and I will get better. I am just so excited it is under $100. Next month I am budgeting $100 a week on groceries. This is a good start and a practice run for me. For example pork chops were on sale and I got a family pack for a little under $5. It had 8 pork chops in it. I broke that pack up and froze it so it would be a meal for this week and one for next week. My thought process is that if I can stay with my budget and maybe by an extra meal each week that maybe the last week in February I can purchase very little and pay it on debt. I have been reading a lot about stockpiling. Do any of you do this?

I have spent the last two days working on a budget. I am very happy with the results. Today I reviewed my credit card statement because the billing cycle ended yesterday. We have only one credit card and it has a huge balance. I currently have a 13% interest rate. I called the company and asked for a lower interest rate and was told no. Oh well, I am going to tackle this debt and get it paid for as soon as possible because I paid $102 and change in interest. Holy Smokes! I am beginning this billing cycle with a balance of $8583. I paid the minimum payment today of $188. I plan to make another payment on Thursday with the remaining money from my check. I have scheduled automatic payments of $180 each Friday beginning Jan.31 until the last Friday in May. I hope to make additional payments and have the card down to $4000 by the start of June.

Up next, the grocery budget. Oh boy, mine is out of control. Anyone have any secrets to share?
Have a great night everyone!

I am recently new (within the month) to this site. I have taken advantage of the forums and asked a question and received support with a challenge. It is past time to get serious with our money.

I am married. My hubby and I each hold down a full time job. We have two daughters. DD1 is 15 and DD2 is 13. With DD1 starting a job we need to be role models for our children.

My first step is to identify my debt. I have a total of 4 debts and they are biggies.
1. Credit Card $8600
2. Travel Trailer $8800
3. Car 1: $19,000
4. Car 2: $18,000

We have our travel trailer up for sale. Hopefully, it will sell by spring. I am hoping to have credit cards paid off by Dec 2014 and first 1000 in emergency fund.

I am hoping this blog will give me a chance to share my feelings, thoughts and progress as I become debt free, fund emergency funds and save for our children's education.