My cc debt is under the $1k mark. I actually owe $950 now. I hope to have it paid off by the end of March.


I set my mom's 2012 budget up. She has been begging me since the 1st of Dec. I have her set up to pay her HELOC off by Nov '12. Last year we focused on her CC. She paid them off in full and according to her budget. I have to give her credit that if I put the plan on paper she will follow it. I am going too really cheer her on to pay her HELOC this year. Then she will be left with her mortgage which I know she can pay off by 2015 (at age 58). Afterwards, hopefully she can spend the next 5 years aggressively saving for retirement.


Even though my mom has always had good credit and has always paid her bills on time, she has never been much of a saver. The past couple of years I have been talking to her more and more about retirement so she had been more interested in her finances. I am so happy to help her get ready for retirement.

I am finished with my Christmas shopping and I stayed in budget. Yay me!!! I will make a payment to my CC tomorrow, which will put me @ $1400. I have my goals set for 2012:

1. Credit card paid off by May 2012. I have a zero percent interest until Dec 2012.

2. Save 3-4 months of living expenses. (Currently at 1 month)

3. Get car loan to $4000.


2011 was a good year for me, I paid down about $8000 in debt without adding any new debt. I hope 2012 is just as good. My husband will be having a sleep study in January 2012 but our HSA will cover that. He will also need a cornea replacement but that will be later on in the year. I know we will definitely be out of $1500 for that, hopefully we will be able to cash flow that.


Happy Holidays....

A few weeks ago when I started this blog I had right at $4k in cc debt. I am currently at $2600 and if all go as planned I will down to $2150 tomorrow. I transferred the remaining cc debt at 7.99% to my 0% cc so I could have 1 monthly payment. The balance transfer fee was $15, which wasn't too bad. I am trying to continue to simplify my life as much as possible. Even though I have made great progress, I still have a ways to go with a car loan and student loan. I also feel like I am behind on retirement. I have less than $5k saved and I am almost 30yo. In January, I plan to start putting $200 a month into my company 401k. The only problem is my company doesn't match. I don't qualify for a Roth IRA because me and my husband file separate because my student loans are on a income sensitive repayment right now. I plan to tackle my student loans aggressively once my car is paid off.


Do you think I would be better off with a Roth Traditional IRA?

I am very excited about this week. I get to make a hefty payment(at least hefty to me)on my cc, which will put me under a $2k balance. I also get to declutter some items because my church is having its annual yard sale. In addition, I get to work a few extra hours this week at work. We have been having gobs of overtime lately, which is helping me to pay my cc's down. I can't wait to get rid of those things. I feel like they weigh a million pounds on my shoulder. I am so glad I decided to blog it really helps me to release, but please bare with me as this is new to me