Very Excited!!

Yes, the ball will be dropping in a few hours...
Yes, a brand spankin' New Year is upon us...
And while those are reasons to be excited, it's not THE reason!

Today was the first paycheck with my Deluxe Envelope System (in HOT!! RED).

I had so much fun at the bank taking out my envelope cash. Once through with niceties, I scooped up my cash and found a dark corner in the produce department - right next to the cucumbers.

I carefully reviewed my notes; ensuring the correct amount of money went into the designated envelopes. I was in heaven.

The grocery store was C.R.A.Z.Y. I did the best I could... this was just a mini shop; I had $60.00 to spend. I used my grocery list, wrote down the dollar amount and checked off each item as I went.

I spent 10 minutes in line (the front end was packed; we were like a herd of cows waiting to be let out to pasture). Once at the front of the line, the cashier dropped my 2-liter of soda. I asked the carry-out if he could grab me another. He agreed. This was my chance to bag my groceries how I liked them bagged. The gentleman behind me to the opportunity to take my place at the register. I was trying to pay the cashier from the front of the bagging station. My total? $60.30. WHAT? $0.30 over budget? With my calculator? And a list? I thank the workers, wished them a 'Happy New Year' and went on my way. Right to the Customer Service desk. I had a coupon for a free item, and I wanted my cash back (since I was pushed out of line and all). So I wasn't over budget after all! Whew.

Now... the $3.00? My horoscope said that today is my lucky day for a job offer or cash! So, I played the lottery for the LAST TIME! Promise. Never again. ;)
Keep your fingers, toes & eyes crossed for us; the job offer never came - it MUST be the lottery!

So... bottom line. I LOVE MY ENVELOPE SYSTEM (and yes, I am shouting!)

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Work was slow today, so I decided to create a spending log. I would really love to see what I spent this year. I will update each day and base it off of my checkbook and envelopes.


See below:

Click on the picture to get a larger view.

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2009 is going to be a fabulous year for my family. I am going to make sure. Not only do we have goals based on our personal finances, we also want to enjoy each other and everything that 2009 brings us.

* We want to get fit (exercise and eating right!)

* We want to spend one Saturday a month on a small road trip (i.e. going sledding, visiting the lake, or a trip to the zoo or museum). Our goal is to only spend the $60 allotted for our Entertainment envelope.

* We want to get and stay organized at home.

* We want to bake more together.

There you have it - just a few more things to accomplish this year. I will keep you updated.

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From our family to yours - Happy New Year!

-Leigh

Just some thoughts...

My internet was down for 14 hours yesterday. I didn't know what to do with myself.
Well, my littlest one (NJ) is super sick, so I did kinda take care of him! =)

I am trying to figure out in which order I should pay off the first part of my debts. I will do have to do some number crunching, but because all of our credit cards have annual fees, I should probably just pay them off first. I was going to pay American General off (for several good reasons) - now I need to decide which reasons are better. At the end of the day (err, year?) they will all be paid off. If I pay off the credit cards first, I will be following Dave's plan... Trust in Dave.

Hmmm...

-Leigh

Verizon Makes my Blood Boil!

I think I mentioned we purchased the BBerry Storm at the beginning of December. It's for my DH (used a small portion of his promotion bonus).

We saw a promotion they were running - "purchase the Storm and receive two free Phx Suns basketball ticket vouchers." We love the Suns! I felt that the tickets would be worth it - and a great present for my husband's Bday.

The phone was not in stock, so we handed over the money and got the receipt and rebate form ($50!) and asked abt our tickets. The gentleman said that they were out at the moment, but to call Customer Care and they would send them to us.

I tried calling several times - the wait times were crazy. I finally got through today. The Care dept has never heard of that promotion. It was televised on a Suns game, I still have it DVR'd.
=( They told me to call the store.

So, after another 10 minute wait, I got a hold of the "manager". He apologized (rudely) and said that the were out of the tickets a full 10 days before we purchased the Storm. Which to me is even worse, why did the guy not just tell us that? He said he would coach our salesman, but there was nothing else he could do.

After I picked my jaw up off of the ground, I asked for his manager's name and phone number. He gave me his name, but then asked for my phone number and said "John" would call me right back. I made a comment about not getting a phone call. The manager called me rude. I told him that I was not being rude, that I was just upset about not getting my tickets.
That was an hour ago... I have not gotten my call back.

However, I did do a survey and included everything on their website, and also sent an email to their Customer Service group. I will follow-up on Monday with a letter to their Office of the President.
I have spent a pretty penny at Verizon, I feel they need to honor their offer to me.

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The $50 rebate from above will got to my smalled credit card!! I cannot wait to get it!! (hope we actually get it!)

-Leigh

Why all the Savings Accounts?

I was once asked (on another personal finance board) why I had so many Savings accounts. Simple. I read a book called The Automatic Millionaire, and I was hooked. This book (and a whole series of them) are authored by David Bach. I love his ideas... however, we have to get out of debt first. We have our baby EmerFund [BEF] and I may put some little snowflakes [found money] in to the children's savings accounts here and there, but for the most part, all of our deniro will go towards debt reduction.

To really answer the question about why so many Savings accounts... I like to keep things organized. Each account serves a purpose (same for my color-coded checking accounts). Eventually, when we are debt free, I am sure I can make things a LOT more automatic and a LOT more simpler.

In closing, I do want to mention... I get e-statements for all of those accounts. No tree killer here. =)

Well, at least we tried.

It wasn't easy. My "reminder" went off in Outlook 15 minutes before the scheduled event. I got all of our supplies ready. It took 10 minutes before DH put down the blackberry. We rolled up our sleeves (figuratively speaking) and got to work.

About 15 minutes into an in-depth conversation about our truck (whether to fix it or not), we hear coughing (a lot) and "Mommmmm!!!"
We ran to the backroom, our littlest one [NJ] was sick. Fever and throwing up. (Perhaps he too was sick of DH's excuses!)

We got NJ a bath and put him back to bed. Then we finished our conversation.

We only have the van right now. We are carpooling (he works Sun-Wed and I Mon-Fri). I just wanted to know if the $1300 we'd have for the truck was worth it. What if we spend all of that, and it wasn't fixed, or what if it died 4 months later. I asked if we NEEDED the truck.

Ladies and gentlemen... I did not win.

So, after another half hour or so of discussion, this is what we came up with:

Pay Info:
DH Pay (take-home) $1400 (2nd, 16th, and 30th) =$4200
My Pay (take-home) $1538 (15th and 30th) = $3076

On the 2nd, we will use the $300 snowball for the truck
On the 16th, we will pay $755 towards American General
On the 30th, we will pay $200 towards American General
On the 30th, we will use $1000 for the truck

January Budget

--------Totals--------
Budgeted 7105
Income 7276
Spent 0
--------Incomes--------
Me 3076
DH 2800
DH - 3rd Paycheck 1400
--------Saving--------
Emergency Fund for BEF 50

--------Housing--------
Rent 1330
Renter's Insurance 33
--------Utilities--------
Electricity 240
Water 30
Mobile Phone 186
Qwest (phone & internet)125
DishNetwork 85
--------Food--------
Grocery 550
Costco 200
--------Transportation--------
Gas & Oil 180
Car Insurance 76

--------Clothing--------
Clothing 20
--------Medical/Health--------
Doctor Bills 50
--------Personal--------
Child Care 320
HBA 40
Gifts 50
BLOW (50, 50, 15, 10) 125
Escrow (Yearly Expenses) 85
TMMO Dues 10
--------Recreation--------
Entertainment 60
--------Debts--------
Capital One - Me 20
Orchard 2 - DH 20
1st Premier 25
Best Buy 20
Orchard 1 - Me 20
Bank of America 0
Credit One - Me 20
Orchard 2 - Me 20
Orchard 1 - DH 20
Capital One - DH 20
Kay Jewelers 118
Dell 75
Honda 626
American General 256
Truck 1300
Jan Snowball 700

Anything left over at the end of the month will go to my Capital One credit card. This includes $$ from my change jar (even if it's $5).

January Goals
$955 to American General
$1300 to Truck
$50 to Capital One

I think I am scheduled to get a reimbursement in February - that would be an avalanche ($2-$3K) of sorts. I am not going to count my chickens before they ha..... Oh, I hope I do. Plus a tax refund. It could be a snowy winter in Arizona after all!

Budget Meeting Tonight

Our very first budget meeting is tonight.
We have a lot to talk about...

I will let you know how it goes!

American General Tracker - Exciting

Before I hit the hay, I created a little tracker for eliminating American General. The $4013 includes interest. By paying it off a year early, I will save about $1ooo. Yay!


Look for this below (updated monthly):






Good night [again],

Q1 - 2009 - Goals

With 2009 right around the corner it's time to get crazy about saving money, paying down debt and changing the way we live. As Dave Ramsey says "live like no one else right no, so that later on, you can live like no one else." That's our plan.

Our goals for 2009:

1) Pay off personal loan ($4000) 13 months early [by 3.20.09]

2) 15 No Spend Days a month

3) Stick to shopping list and food menu and grocery budget

4) Do not steal from envelopes!!!

5) Make monthly budget meetings with DH a success

Watch my tracking (below) each month/quarter as we meet or exceed each goal.

To the right, you will find our Savings Account Balances. They will be updated each month. Or not at all (if we are going gazelle to pay a card or loan off). Down below, you will see our goals (as I mentioned) and our Baby Steps. Eventually, I will get some sort of tool on here to show you exactly how much debt we have paid off. But that's for another post.

For now, I have to get to bed. Unfortunatley, I have to work tomorrow.

Until next time,