Car Problems

We have had a few car problems so far this month. My wifes SUV started running bad so we took it a local shop to have it looked at. Luckly we had an extra vehicle, its a 92' old but it runs. So I took the old truck and the wife drove my car. Then more bad luck happened when my car refused to even attempt to start when the wife went to leave work one morning. Now we were down to 1 vehicle. I wasn't sure what we were going to do?

Thank goodness the garage got to my wifes car earily and called us two days before they were scheduled to be looked at it. So we got the vehical back just in time.

We didn't have enough saved for Auto repairs so we will have to make it up in this budget or have to dip into the emergency money.

Happy with our progress

Our first year on the Total Money Makeover is complete. We have had a written budget every month this last year. We have paid extra on our debt, and also saved money each month for future expenses, each month. In December we paid an extra 1849.95 on our debt, which brought out total paid off to over $28,000. Overall it has been a huge success. We hoped to complete baby step 2 in two years, and we seem to be ahead of schedule. I hope we can this pace up.

We still haven't got a WILL written. Also we still need to buy some extra life insurance on me. We will hopefully have these goals taken care of soon.

The Busy Month of December

This was a very busy month. I haven't had anytime to write on this blog. I thought the overtime was over, but it wasn't. I had to work 50 hour weeks all this month. Plus with family Christmas dinners and Christmas shopping, I have stayed very busy.

As for Christmas. We had a budget and stuck to it. We had saved the money for Christmas over the coarse of the year. To cut back costs on gifts, my wife and I didn't get each other anything. Also we didn't exchange gifts with my sister and her husband, we just got presents for each others kids.

We also used online purchases to stay away for large crowds after thanksgiving. Most stores offered free shipping on orders over a $100, the weekend after thanksgiving. We also got a lot of gift cards this year. Some stores offered to send you the gift card, inside of a personalised Christmas card for free.

Our Christmas was paid for in cash, and that makes it a success. Last Christmas we weren't on the Dave Ramsey plan, we weren't saving, and we weren't living on a budget. We had a lot of stress last year. This holiday there may have been a little stress, but none of it was about money.

11 months on the Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover

November is over. It seems that all the overtime I was getting has come to an end. It was nice to get extra money, but its nice working a 40 hour week also. With all the extra hours at work, we still haven't got our addition insulated all the way yet. Now we are working less, we will have to get it finished up.

No big events or changes in the budget for November. So when the month was over we paid $2750 extra on our debt. And I just realized with have crossed the half was point. We have paid off over half our debt. I think I see a light at the end of the tunnel.

My car is definitely a beater now.

Last week my car rolled over 200,000 miles. That has to make my car a beater, right? I bought it in Feburary of 2000 new. Back when I was young and had a totally different outlook on money. Today my view of cars and money is totally different. I don't think I'll buy another new car again.

I have to admit I do hate my car, but I don't hate it enough to buy another car yet. The car gets great gas mileage and is in great shape. Over the coarse of the last year besides oil changes I probably spent only $600 on maintenance on it. That is less that 2 car payments. That is way cheaper than buying a new car.

After we are passed baby step 3, we'll save up money and buy a used car to replace my old beater. But until that day comes, my beater will do just fine.

October summary

October was a busy month. I worked lots of overtime at work. My wife and I also took a week of vacation to work on the house. I get paid for my vacation but my wife doesn't. So the extra overtime helped make up for the week she didn't work.

We spent a good bit of money on the house in October. We sort of divided the extra money in the budget between debt and home improvement. When the month was over we paid an extra $817 on our debt.

This years goals

Over 9 months ago the wife and I started our journey to financial peace. Before we started in January, I posted a list of goals I wanted to complete. We have been focusing mostly on our written budget and paying extra on our debt. But our goals have more than just those two things. And I know I need to just tackle some of the other goals and get them done. There is only little more than 2 months left in this year, and we need to start moving toward the other goals.

2010 Goals.

1. Have a written budget each month.
2. Use the Envelope system to help save and curb spending.
3. Budget Home Improvement costs and not let our house control our money
4. Have a “will” written
5. Get term life on my wife and additional on myself.
6. Have my Wife’s name put on our property.
7. Start a debt snowball rolling!

I'd say goals 1, 2, 3, & 7 are on track on doing good.

Goal #5, we got insurance on my wife, but not the addition on myself yet.

As for 4 & 6, we haven't don't anything but talk about them.

So the first one of those, is get some extra life insurance on me. We have talked about this probably every month since we started. We have priced it online. We just haven't got it done. This should be the first action taken

Second, having a written "WILL". We need to get this done after the life insurance, and also look into having a trust setup for our kids for the life insurance.

Third, we need ask a lawyer if we need to put my wife's name on the property we own, or if a WILL is OK.

Now I just need to get off my but and complete my goals.