Debt Payments in April: $2,580.53 Interest: $2,078.73 Principle: $501.80 Total Debt: $311,014.06 Second Mortgage: $31,482.99 Rental Mortgage: $108,899.92 Primary Mortgage: $170,631.15 ***** Our Debt Snowball is taking a breather. We made our regularly scheduled payments and nothing extra. And I’m okay with that. Instead of throwing snowflakes on the debt snowball, I am throwing as [...]
by jolyn on April 6, 2010
Whew, what a Spring Break we’re having! We drive almost 800 miles to visit family in Kansas; the air conditioner goes out in the van; my youngest has an ear infection and a sinus infection; and my oldest has strep. Oh, and my camera broke. Why is it we came here again? Hmm… To be [...]
by jolyn on March 24, 2010
Rental Property Remember how we recently rented out our rental property in Vegas? Right after the new tenants moved in, our property manager notified us that the water heater wasn’t working. Yea. So I’m thinking, “So much for our first rent check.” Good news! We have enough money left over in our property management account [...]
by jolyn on February 23, 2010
Yesterday I made the final payment on Debt #3, which was essentially our car loan. Just as soon as I made it I started thinking about the next step: ROTH contribution? Build up Emergency Fund? Start tackling the Second Mortgage? It wasn’t until later that I started thinking… When was the last time we didn’t [...]
by jolyn on February 3, 2010
Getting the oil changed in our van ended up costing double the amount that I had (guessed) budgeted for it. Whoops. Sure I could have asked The Hubs how much it usually costs, but I forgot. And when I sat down to geeky-crunch the budget numbers I figured $30 would be pretty close. Even though [...]
by jolyn on October 13, 2009
Good news! The transmission didn’t fall out of the car! Or, you know. Whatever it is that transmissions do when they go kaput. So that’s a good thing. The actual damage?$277.57 Much better than a couple-few thousand. In Other News – The Hubs’ on-again, off-again deployment is… On again! Gee, didn’t see this one coming. [...]
by jolyn on October 8, 2009
I can’t watch my news’ shows because our satellite dish doesn’t work when it rains. My 4yo thought it would be fun to wipe my dry-erase calendar clean. I write things down so I don’t HAVE to remember. The Hubs just got home from work and said he thinks the transmission in his car is [...]
by jolyn on September 1, 2009
August’s Progress Debt #1 Balance in April: $2260.17 *Still Paid Off* (wOOt!) Current Balance: $00.00 Debt #2 Previous Balance: $389.09 PAID OFF! Current Balance: $00.00 Debt #3 Previous Balance: $10,270.55 Paid minimum balance of $68.00… and an extra $400.55 Current Balance: $9,802.00 Previous Grand Total: $10,659.64Current Grand Total: $9,802.00 You might say our debt eradication [...]
by jolyn on August 10, 2009
…and it ain’t pretty. Our van needed a new starter. The total cost of the repair? $1041.55! Ooch. Cost breakdown: Labor: $249.50 Parts: $546.72 Towing: $157.00 Repair Order: $17.47 Sales Tax: $70.86 It was sooo good to get our van back and get back on the road. I think our greatest fear was that the [...]
by jolyn on August 7, 2009
I can no longer pretend I am on vacation, even though we aren’t home yet. We traveled to my hometown in Kansas for my 20-year high school reunion! But we have been stuck here with car trouble, waiting for a part for our high-maintenance (never again) VW Eurovan. Breakdown of the trip so far: Miles [...]