March Madness, April's Slow Progress

March was a very full month, to say the least.

There was the final installment of the cruise, Kristi's trip to LA/Las Vegas, my trip to Orlando, plane tickets to San Francisco, a tattoo, and Gamestorm.  There were numerous ways to spend extra money throughout the month, and I believe we found all of them.

While were able to pay about 2200 towards loans in March, we spent more than we should have and our Debt Snowball will suffer now in April.  I think we'll be able to contribute about 1000 towards loans this month (which is about one-third of what we should be able to do, on a normal, thrifty month).

Kristi and I discussed our spending and I found we had slipped into our old habits for the month.  We weren't discussing much about the budget, we weren't keeping great track of our spending, and we were using our cards a lot, instead of getting cash and spending from envelopes.  3 ingredients to an over-budget month, to be sure.

And it probably won't slow down.  I'm going to Germany, and while I'll be covered for most expenses while I'm there, I still plan on seeing some sights on my own which will cost some money.  We're also planning to fix our lawn with sod, which will cost a couple hundred dollars.  By the end of the month I'm hoping we'll return to some normalcy, and get back on track.

However, we're still on track to be Debt Free by June of 2013, which is still 2 months ahead of our initial schedule of August 2013.  We had a great run for a few months, and we lost our way a bit here in March/April, but we'll refocus and get back on track.

The slow March begins...

The last 4 months have been great, haven't they?  In each of the last 4 months we've paid off a loan!  It seems so crazy sitting here thinking about it.

In November we paid off the truck.

In December and January we paid off two of the Gate loans .

In February we paid off the ECSI loan and the third Gate loan.

In short, we killed it.  We really focused, even while going through the holiday season, and we met our goals.  And now comes the hard part.  

The remainder of our loans are all multi-month projects.  We knew this was coming, but it does derail the momentum a bit.  Paying off a loan was a nice way to end each of the last few months.  It allowed us to build a lot of momentum and fine-tune our spending habits that will propel us through the slow March that's upon us.  (See what I did there?)  Our next estimated payoff date (EPD) is April, and that will be one of Kristi's Stafford Loans ($4600 @ 6.8% Interest).  

Let's recap The List, shall we?

The List

1. The Truck
• $2,256 - PAID! (Nov 11)
2. Gate Loans
• $2,604 - PAID!! (Dec 11)
• $2,628 - PAID!!! (Jan 12)
• $2,799 - PAID!!!! (Feb 12)
• $4,978 - EPD:  June 2012
3. ECSI
• $5,486 - PAID!!!! (Feb 12)
4. Stafford Loans
• $4600 - EPD:  April 2012
• $5848 - EPD:  October 2012
5. Federal Direct Loan
• $22,495 - EPD:  July 2013

The more observant of you will notice a large gap between EPD of the Gate and second Stafford loan.  In previous years we stored money over the school year to cover the two months Kristi doesn't get a paycheck.  We realized that this money we were saving would almost all go to loans anyway, so we decided to stop saving and start using it towards loans now.  However, the drawback is that in August and September we won't have a snowball.  We'll make the minimum payments, but that's it.  Kristi is doing summer school this year, so that may change, but right now we're not planning having large snowball funds in August and September.

I'm incredibly happy with our current progress.  In the last 4 months we've paid off roughly $15,780 in loans.  I am amazed at that total.  I knew we were capable of this, but seeing it in print is still jaw-dropping.  It's also amazing that we're in month 5 of a 22 month plan, almost 1/4 done.  I say 22 months because with our progress so far we've cut a few months off the total time (even including the Aug/Sep no extra payment months).  


I want to thank everyone for the support.  It's really great to know we're on the right track and that everyone understands and supports us.  It's been hard saying no to a lot of the fun stuff we've had to cut back on, but in the end we'll be able to do so much more that it'll all be worth it.  Besides, we still have Alaska 2012 to let our hair down a bit on, so we can recharge and refocus when that trip is over.  It's very exciting to see where we were, and where we are headed.  Let's do this!

February Progress! "It's not you, it's me"

Loan Update:

Hooray for Tax Season!  Like I said earlier we got $3265 of our money back from our loan to the government.  Combining that with our refund from the refinance ($789) and the house payment we're skipping because of the refiance ($765), and our normal monthly contribution of about $2500 we had about $7319.

SO!  We paid off the ECSI loan which was $5140.82.  Yay!

We also paid the AMEX ($863) which had the Cruise Deposit, the Home Inspection, and Kristi's flight to LA.  We use the AMEX for these purchases for the protection the credit card offers, and we never carry a balance since we pay it off at the end of the month.

Additionally, we had about $370 left over in January that we carried over into February to pay loans with.  Also, Kristi found out that she will be teaching summer school this year, so she'll have another paycheck in July that we will use to cover expenses in August and September (the two months she doesn't get paid for the year).  This means the money we've been saving for those months we can use to pay off a loan this month.  So, with some luck and thrifty spending we'll be able to pay off the Gate 3 Loan.  I'll post when/if we do it this month or decide to play it safe and do it in March.

"It's not you, it's me!"

This week we went to Bank of America and to Umpqua and closed a bunch of accounts and consolidated others.  We opened an Umpqua account because it gave us a discount on the closing costs and we thought it would be easier to pay the mortgage with an Umpqua account.  While we were thrilled with the service we received, Umpqua is severely lacking in their online services and it's a pain in the ass to use your phone to access your account (only 1 phone can be linked to an account).  For the way we do our banking it simply wasn't going to work for us.  We cancelled our Umpqua accounts and got rid of a bunch of extraneous BoA accounts.  We know only have 1 joint checking account and 2 savings accounts. 

However, the real story came when we cancelled our Visas with BoA.  We never used them (only use the AMEX), so we decided to finally cancel them.  The banker called the Visa people to cancel my card.  She chatted with the rep and closed my account, no questions asked, except "Why?" and our answer. "we don't use credit cards anymore."  No problem there.

Then!  Then she had to call back to cancel Kristi's.  She got a different rep this time, a real go getter who didn't want to have to cancel the account.  Eventually the banker passed the phone to Kristi who dodged some questions, and finally after a few minutes, Kristi said, "It's not you, it's me."  The banker and I laughed so loudly that Kristi had to cover the receiver.  We laughed about it for a good few minutes afterward and then left.  Just remember, when you want to cancel your credit card, you have to use the classic breakup line, "It's not you, it's me!"

February is Rocking!

I just wanted to write a quick post about how awesome February is shaping up to be for the debt snowball.

We sent in our taxes last week and expect our refund to arrive next week.  Our refund was about $3300, which will go directly to loans.

In addition to that, we refinanced our home from a 30 year fixed @ 5.0% to a 15 year fixed at 3.25%.  Currently our house payment, included private mortgage insurance (PMI), taxes, and home-owner's insurance totals roughly $765.  It's going to go up to $925 (and we're eliminating PMI), but our loan term has been cut in half.  I don't have the exact numbers in front of me, but the amount we're saving in interest is ginormous.  However, the other benefit of refinancing our home loan is that we get to skip a full 2 months of house payments, so all the saved money goes to loans.

But wait, there's more.  Not only are we getting a great interest rate on our house, but because our loan-to-value (how much you owe compared to how much your house is worth on the market) is low we're actually getting money back from the refinance this month to further put towards loans.

So, all in all we'll have about $6000-$6500 to put towards loans this month.  We've decided to pay off my ECSI loan which rests at about $5200 and then put the rest towards the lowest Gate loan remaining.  The main reasons for skipping to this loan is 1) It has the third highest monthly payment ($80) and the second highest interest (5%) of all our remaining loans.  2) It doesn't sync with Mint.com, so it's a logistical pain.  And 3) I'm sick and tired of having to use their website that was set up in what feels like the 90s.

And also, since there's no house payment due next month either we'll have enough money to knock out the smallest remaining Gate loan AND pay the balance due for the cruise.    

I'm very excited about how this is shaping up.  Sometimes I'm too excited.  I look at the calendar and want it to move faster, I want to be done with our loans.  But I know we're headed in the right direction, and I know that we're ahead of our projections, so I will try and slow down and enjoy the experience of destroying our debt.

January Progress

So, it turns out January has been busy!  Or I keep forgetting to blog.  One or the other, you decide...

The important news of the month:  We paid off yet another DEBT!  Woohoo!  Which means, if you're playing along at home, we've paid off 3 loans in the last 3 months.  We just bowled a turkey!

I wish I could adequately describe how good it feels to be chewing through our debt.  In fact, with just a few more days to go in January we are sticking to our budget and will be on pace to pay off another loan in February.  We have like $30 bucks left for the rest of the month, but we have no needs, except possibly gas, until February, so we should be good to go.

February is going to be a tough month.  Fact: 34052 of our friends have birthdays that month, so the opportunity to spend money will be high, but our friends understand our goals and are very supportive in our quest.  So if we have to be lame and stay home or go out and have water instead of beers, I know they'll be fully supportive.  Besides, when we're done, after all the sacrifices we make, we'll have a giant party to celebrate.

In addition to paying off a loan this month, we also spoke with my friend Dave Lind about refinancing to a 15 year mortgage.  After some consideration, we decided to go for it.  Rates were, when we locked in our rate, just above the all time lows.  In fact, shortly after we locked in our rate, at 3.25%, rates went up.  We had an appraisal on Tuesday, and our loan will be going through soon.  In the end, we'll end up paying about $120 more a month, but we'll pay off our house 15 years earlier.  Sounds good to me.

Next month's loan is approximately $2800, which is going to push us to the edge of our finances.  We also have to pay for the cruise deposit, which is going to make February crazy tight.  Wish us luck!

New Years "Game Plans"

Every year around this time people declare they need to change.  This past year they've done to much of X and resolve to do more of Y.  For most people these are goals to work towards, or habits they wish to change, or even new rules for the way they wish to run their lives.

In the end though, these resolutions end up as empty words.  I know many have for me.  And the reason that these resolutions end up falling by the wayside is that for me they are simply something we do at this time of year.  There's no urgency, there's no real desire, there's no gameplan.  You've heard it said that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and well that's what's going on here.  For years I've said I'm going to workout more or I'm going to spend more time doing this or that while spending less time doing that or this.

So this year I'm not making resolutions.  I'm sick and tired of saying one thing and then doing another. More importantly I'm sick and tired of failing at my "resolutions."  An idea without a plan of action is just an idea, but an idea with a plan of action becomes a goal which becomes inspiration.


1) Pay off Debt!
This is pretty obvious.  I mentioned in my last post that we're on pace to pay off 6 loans this year, which is wonderful, but those 6 require tight spending and sticking to The Plan.  To that I'm going to stick to the following gameplan:

• No fast food.  This will shore up a major area where we overspend on our budget: Recreation - which covers eating out and activities like movies.  I'm hopeful we can cut this budget down by 25% this year by simply not spending money on fast food.
• No purchases outside the budget:  Over the course of the last 6 months we've spent money that we didn't need to on various items for the house, for ourselves, for whatever.  The fact is that we could have been much better with our budget and purchases.  This year we'll include large purchases in the budget from the outset so we've planned for every dollar.  As a quick example we need to replace our refridgerator (or get it repaired).  We can add this to a budget and know exactly where the money is coming from.
• Weekly Budget Checkups:  We've also noticed that we're not as diligent at recording our expenses as we could be.  This means that we often find we've spent more money than we have accounted for or that we have more money than our budget says we should.  I believe if we talk about it and do a weekly count we'll be able stick to our budget better.  We also need to be more diligent about entering transactions into our budget app, EEBA.

2) No Uneccesary House Improvements
This doesn't really need detailed steps.  The fact is that both of us tend to spend money on things for the house, most of which is usually not needed.  So unless we need to replace a window, or like I said above, the fridge, we don't spend the money.  Easier said than done, but if we're committed we can make it happen.  This is the one I'm the worst at.  The other day I bought a new wireless router and modem (without consulting or informing Kristi) and it led to a fight because I tried to hide the purhase, and when confronted I lied about.  This is a big problem for me and something I need to work on.

2) Purchase Discussions
The aforementioned fight notwithstanding, this is something that I need to work on. Kristi is the natural saver and I'm the natural spender, which can cause some friction if we're not clear with each other. The fact is that I need to be more open about how I want to spend our budgeted money. The gameplan for this is simple: talk about our money before it gets spent and make sure we're each on board.

That's about it for the money gameplans. I'm thinking about my personal resolutions/gameplans still, and when I've settled on them I'll post them here.

On the Road Again!

I'm on my way to California for the Christmas and Kristi and I have been listening to a lot of people call in to the Dave Ramsey show with huge problems.  Problems with their husband/wife/significant other/family.  Problems with their management of money.  Debt problems, health problems, car problems.  It really makes me appreciate all that I have, and all the plans I have to continue the success we've achieved in 2011.

First of all, let's begin with my lovely wife Kristi.  We've been together for 7 and a half years, but we've only been married since May 2011 and I couldn't be happier.  Statistically the number 1 reason for divorce is money issues.  As the saying goes, "It's not 'till death do you part,' but rather "till debt due you part."  I am so incredibly fortunate that Kristi and I are on the same trail together.  She has been working on me for awhile, but I had to come around on my own.  And I'm so happy that I did.  Kristi and I have struggled with finances in the past, but we're both on board, we've circled the wagons, and we're on our way.  I don't think I could do it without her, and I'm so glad I'll never have to.

Secondly, I want to reflect a bit on how much 2011 has changed my life.  I think this will always be a year I look back on and marvel at just how fortunate I've been.  The year started off with landing a job at Optimize Technologies and I love my job.  Every day I go to work for a locally-owned company that cares about me and that wants me to succeed.  I enjoy everyone I work with, the atmosphere fits my personality perfectly, and the only direction I've gone in the almost year I've been there is up.  I've heard some whispers on the next step at Optimize, and I'm catiously optimistic about my review next month.  Stay tuned for an update on that front.

The year continued with my wedding and subsequent honeymoon.  I'll always remember my wedding as one of the happiest moments in my life.  I was surrounded by my closest friends and family as I made the committment to Kristi and I will be eternally grateful for all the help and memories everyone there shared in.  And then there was the honeymoon!  Words can't explain how great that was, and I'll always remember it. 

As the year continued I made new friends and deepened other friendships on and off the softball field.  I couldn't ask for a better group of guys to spend a few nights a week with.  I'm looking forward to the 2012 season that starts in a few weeks (cold!!).

In September Kristi resumed school and thus far has had a much better year than last year.  She's comfortable in her role and the kids are much better behaved for her because she has the confidence that comes from someone who knows their position and how to get the most out of the kids she has.  It's really been helpful for our relationship as she's not bringing home bad experiences every day.  To me she is happier than sh's been in a long time with being a teacher.

In October we had the priviledge to stand witness at our best friends' wedding.  The lead up, the ceremony, and the reception were great and I really enjoyed meeting Tamara's friends and family, many for the first time.  I am so happy for them and I know now that the clock is ticking before our lives are full of baby joy.

And finally I want to look back on the debts we paid off this year, and the debts we're on track to paying off next year.  This year we paid off a small student loan that my mother had to co-sign for when I was in college.  This was very important to me because I didn't want my mom to have to assume any risk on behalf.  She was gracious to do so when I was in college, but I no longer wanted to have her in that position nor do I ever intend to put ANYONE in that position again.  After that we took care of some other small loans/credit card debts.  We (or rather, I) wasn't as committed as I am now, otherwise we would have done much more.  We had a balance on a Home Depot card for our carpets (at 0% interest for 12 months) and I had a balance on a ShaneCo card for the wedding gift I gave Kristi (also at 0% interest).  Even though they were 0% interest, the priciniple of being beholden to a credit card company frustrated us to no end.  Part of the plan is to cash roll everything, so we knocked out those debts quickly.  We also took care of the truck and the first of 4 Gate Loans through American Education Services, the recent one happening last week!

For 2012 we're on track to pay off the following loans:
January 2012:  Gate 2 ($2500ish)
March 2012: Gate 3 ($2800ish)
May 2012: Gate 4 ($5000ish)
July 2012: ECSI ($5300ish)
September 2012: K Loan 1 ($4800ish)
December 2012: K Loan 2 ($5500ish)

Wow...  Just looking at that makes me smile.  We're on track to knock out 6 (SIX!!) loans this year based on our currect incomes and payment plan.  That's awesome and I can't wait for 2012 so we can meet this challenge head on.

Merry Christmas everyone and may the New Year bring you new joys and adventures!