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Archive for December, 2019

2019 Goals Final Update

December 27th, 2019 at 04:04 pm

1.) Save $1,000 in HSA
We exceeded this number by double and paid a lot of medical bills out of pocket.

2.) Pay off $7,500 in Debt
We paid off over $10,000 in debt this year! Sadly we added more debt as well, but we are still below what we started with at the beginning of the year.

3.) Add $1,000 in Car Fund
We did not complete this. Well sort of. We did save over $1,000 in the car fund. But we had to raid it several times for car and/or home fixes. So we are finishing the year with only $665 saved this year.

4.) Save $1,500 for Vacation
Completed and exceeded this goal. We ended up having to change plans and we went to Utah/Arizona/Colorado/Nevada to see all the famous canyons. Went a bit over budget but paid cash.

5.) Save $4,500 in Animal Fund
Did not complete again this year. Was about $1,600 short. Then I had a litter of puppies which I have been unable to sell and I am currently paying over $100 a WEEK to feed them. So animal money is currently killing me.

Overall not a bad year considering my pregnancy and the thousands in medical bills we accrued.

2020 Goals

December 27th, 2019 at 03:51 pm

1.) Pay off $3,100 Credit Card
This is the last remaining debt from our home remodel. It is 0% interest until August so it needs to be paid in full by then.

2.) Pay off $3,950 Construction Loan
0% interest debt from waterproofing our addition. Expires in October so it needs to be paid in full by then.

3.) Pay off $1,900 Medical Bill
Not really a huge deal since it is 0% interest for two more years. But it would be nice to be debt free again.

4.) Save $2,000 for Vacation
We are hopefully going to Yellowstone in September.

5.) Pay all Baby Medical Debt
No idea how much this will come out to but expecting around $6k+. This is our stretch goal. We can/will get a 0% interest payment plan for this, but I would prefer to pay it off by the end of the year.

The total amount (if medical debt is $6k) is $16,950! Our HSA will cover $3,000 so we need to come up with $13,950 or $ 1,162.50 a month. Whew. Quite a stretch but we will try our best.

December Check In

December 27th, 2019 at 03:34 pm

Debts
Mortgage -$112,886.90 (-$155.54)
0% CC -$3,100 (-$400)
Helitech Loan -$3,950 (-$50)
Medical Loan -$1,900 (-$100)

Savings
Roth IRAs +$16,217‬ (+$496)
401K +$26,208 (+$1,005)
Emergency Fund +$2,229 (-$199)
Animal Fund +$105 (+$0)
Truck Fund +$1,665 (-$190)
HSA +$506 (-$45)

Overall: +$1,772.54

Average month, but I'm actually surprised it is not worse with all the Christmas shopping! I did not make my goal of paying $400 on the Helitech loan this month. Fingers crossed for next month.

We are getting into crunch time to save for the baby. I have already put back some money (not included above) for debt payments next month. I would like to get everything paid ahead before husband has to take off work.

**Some deposits haven't went through yet, and I may have to update figures.

In the Hole

December 11th, 2019 at 05:37 pm

Well unfortunately a few other things popped up and I owe myself $500+ and I'm $350 short on the construction loan payment to stay on schedule. Ugh. I hate eating into my buffer. Especially since maternity leave is coming up and I really need to be getting ahead not behind...

My computer has been such a pain. I had to run it back to the store twice because I couldn't get the part in myself, and then when I got home the first time it wouldn't turn on. Some how my power button happened to go out, so I had to pay another $50 to fix that and drive 2 hour round trips. But whew, it is working again now. Thank goodness!

We also found out that husband will NOT be getting any paid paternity leave. Frown So that is a bummer. He will use his one week of vacation and take a week unpaid. That is all we can really afford.

He is still working a lot of overtime, which is good because we need to dig out of the hole we are in and save as much as possible before the baby gets here. It is going to be tight. Thankfully Christmas shopping is completely done.

Pumping the septic did not fix the plumbing problem, so now we are trying other things before we call a plumber.

Here's to hoping life and finances settle down in January!

Computer Fix & Feeling Frustrated

December 6th, 2019 at 04:55 pm

Well the good news is that I believe my computer can be fixed! I found a local shop to repair it, and I'm waiting for the right parts to come in.

It was $135 for the diagnosis and to fix one part. Plus another $450 for the main part that I need. Thankfully my family is buying me that part for my Christmas present! Seems like a pricey fix but still much much cheaper than the few thousand a new computer would cost. Hoping I get a few more good years out of this one! Whew.

But besides that I am feeling frustrated. I have had to raid some of my buffer to pay for things like dog food, fixing my computer, a few baby items we needed, medicine for me and the pets, etc. Also I am working very minimum hours at my side job so I will barely be able to put anything towards debt this month. I just feel like I can never get ahead. It seems like my money is spent way before I ever even get it, and I am always playing catch up. I save for one thing, and then something else goes wrong.

For example: Our new plumbing is messing up and so I need to come up with $200 to pump the septic and then fingers crossed that is actually the issue and not something terrible and more expensive.

I'm starting to stress about maternity leave. Thankfully I will be paid. But my husband is also hoping to take off for a month at 70% of income. (Which is a blessing) but we need to put back money to cover the difference, and also we won't have any overtime that month to put towards debt so we need to pay that ahead of time too. Seems like we are quickly running out of time and paychecks!

November Check In

December 2nd, 2019 at 04:47 pm

Debts
Mortgage -$113,042.44 (-$154.93)
0% CC -$3,500 (-$515)
Helitech Loan -$4,000 (-$562.50)
Medical Loan -$2,000 (-$109.65)

Savings
Roth IRAs +$15,721‬ (+$395)
401Ks +$25,203 (+$948)
Emergency Fund +$2,428(-$931)
Animal Fund +$105 (+$1)
Truck Fund +$1,855 (+$130)
HSA +$551 (+$201)

Overall: +$2,086.08

A solid month. Lots of gain which was offset from having to pay my annual yearly home insurance.

Not figured in this is the $1,500+ we spent on nursery furniture and Christmas presents on Black Friday. We had the cash for this. My Christmas shopping is mostly done. I only have two more people to buy for and my husband's stocking. The only big thing we have left to purchase for the nursery is a rug. We bought a crib, recliner, and a used dresser that I am going to paint.

Computer Woes

December 2nd, 2019 at 04:39 pm

And just like that my computer is toast. :/ The computer I scrimped and saved for and then paid off early.

I knew this day was coming. It has been making some noises for a month or two now. (Of course about a month after my extended warranty wore off...) The computer is 4.5 years old and I use it for hours daily and have lots of programs and games.

Fortunately I can still get in it in safe mode so I was able to save my bookmarks, and documents. I had almost everything backed up anyway since this computer has died multiple times in the last year or two (under warranty) and I had to recover things over and over. I'm kind of used to it to be honest.

Thankfully my husband has a computer so I think I am going to download the bare minimum to his computer so I can work somewhat and wait a bit to purchase. Today is Cyber Monday but the computer I want is only $450 off which isn't much. I think I got my last one $1,000 off plus a free tv.

I can get 12 months free financing but I am leery to take on anymore payments. So I'm going to wait for now if possible. A major pain, but doable I think. Since I am getting close to my due date I have cut back my hours and projects a lot anyway. I think I can finish up my commitments on my husband's computer. But eventually, probably sooner rather than later I am going to have to buy a new one and it is looking like around $2,500. Yikes!

A necessary expense for someone who makes a living on computers, but definitely not what I wanted to spend my money on right now.