It's a chilly winter day... IN MY HOUSE! When I arrived home yesterday at 6:00 pm, it was 64 degrees in the house - much too cold for the likes of me, who keeps it 72 all winter long. We reset the thermostat and changed the batteries, all to no avail. I knew I was in for a cold morning. I was right. 59 degrees as of 5:00 am. I wonder how "warm" we'll get today.
Last year, we replaced the motor in the heater to the tune of $990 because the motor was a non-standard part. Last month, we replaced the thermostat when this happened before, thinking that it was the cheap thermostat we bought when we moved in. It seemed to do the trick...until yesterday. I hope it's not an expensive fix this time.
Woe is cold me.
Friday, January 28, 2011
Friday, January 14, 2011
Financial journey continued...
It's been a long road on your journey to financial freedom following the plan laid out in Dave Ramsey's The Total Money Makeover, but we have made amazing progress since our start in September 2009. In that time, we've gone through some changes:
But that's okay because our outlook for 2010 is even better. I am still teaching a total of 5 classes at a time, which is considered full-time, though it's still between 2 schools. My salary is still a little lower than it was at the full-time job, but that's okay, too. We've learned a lot through Dave Ramsey's plan: we know where we can tighten our budget and still be financially fine. Howard's promotion (and the raise to go along with it) will give us some extra money each month to attack our debts. I could possibly be full time at the business school this year, which would give us another boost to get us closer to our goal, maybe faster than we have planned.
We are now down to a car payment, one credit card, and my student loans. Our plan is to knock out the credit card and the car payment in the next few months with our tax refund. We will start paying the student loan and our goal is to pay off the entire balance in one year to be debt free by March 2012. It is amazing to think that in just over a year we could be debt free other than the house and be ready to start on Baby Step 3 to fully fund our emergency fund of 3-6 months of expenses. I cannot imagine having a bank account with that much money sitting in it!
What I'm really excited about is getting to Baby Step 4, where we start funding our 401Ks again and start saving for retirement. Howard is a little nervous that aren't doing this now, but I believe in this plan we're on, and I know that in the long run, we will reach our money goals!
- Our wages returned to the full amount early 2010 (after a 10% pay cut in early 2009)
- Howard was given the only pay increase in the company at the end of 2009 (other than employees who were given held promotions from the year before)
- I went to 3/4 time at the full-time job in January 2010 and started teaching a class at the community college in the spring semester
- I left the 3/4 time job when my second class started in March 2010 (late start)
- I picked up 2 classes at a business school (April quarter)
- I taught 4 classes in the next 2 quarters (July and October quarters)
- I also taught an early morning class at the community college in the fall semester of 2010
- Howard got his anxiously awaited promotion at the end of 2010
But that's okay because our outlook for 2010 is even better. I am still teaching a total of 5 classes at a time, which is considered full-time, though it's still between 2 schools. My salary is still a little lower than it was at the full-time job, but that's okay, too. We've learned a lot through Dave Ramsey's plan: we know where we can tighten our budget and still be financially fine. Howard's promotion (and the raise to go along with it) will give us some extra money each month to attack our debts. I could possibly be full time at the business school this year, which would give us another boost to get us closer to our goal, maybe faster than we have planned.
We are now down to a car payment, one credit card, and my student loans. Our plan is to knock out the credit card and the car payment in the next few months with our tax refund. We will start paying the student loan and our goal is to pay off the entire balance in one year to be debt free by March 2012. It is amazing to think that in just over a year we could be debt free other than the house and be ready to start on Baby Step 3 to fully fund our emergency fund of 3-6 months of expenses. I cannot imagine having a bank account with that much money sitting in it!
What I'm really excited about is getting to Baby Step 4, where we start funding our 401Ks again and start saving for retirement. Howard is a little nervous that aren't doing this now, but I believe in this plan we're on, and I know that in the long run, we will reach our money goals!
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Welcome to 2011
It seems like a good day for a blog post, first day of the year and all that. I am ready for this new year. I don't know that there is any greatly profound reason why, it's just a feeling that this year is the year I get my shit together. There are always so many things I want to accomplish in any given year, and the end of the year comes around and I find that I haven't accomplished as many of them as I would have liked. Not that I feel like I have failed in any way, things change and those things that seemed so important at the beginning of the year no longer take precendence, and why worry about the things you cannot change, anyway? So in this first hour of the first day of 2011, I can see all the possibilities in what lies ahead in this year.
Some of 2011 is already planned, so there are fun times to look forward to. In May, I will walk/jog in my 5th Bay to Breakers in San Francisco. It has become a tradition since 2006, our first year. I missed 2007 because Spencer was due the day of the race. I probably should have gone anyway - she was 5 days late! In July, we're traveling to Minnesota with Mom to see where she grew up and learn more about her side of the family. We've never been there with her. We'll also have a reunion with my dad's side of the family and celebrate my oldest brother's 50th birthday. Can't wait for May and July to roll around!
And of course, there are the resolutions we're supposed to make every new year. I can never decide if I want to make them or not, and when I do, I make half-hearted resolutions that last about 2 weeks and then are forgotten in the daily grind. Perhaps if they weren't called resolutions it would make them last longer. Okay, goals then. I will set goals for myself instead. So what do I want to do? What do I want to see happen for myself in 2011? Let's take a look....
-- Complete the Bay to Breakers 12K in under 2 hours
-- Lose 20-25 pounds before the Bay to Breakers
-- Pay off the SUV and the last credit card
-- Pay down my student loans
-- Finish the work on the front yard
-- Plan better
-- Procrastinate less
-- Achieve a better work/life balance
-- Drink more water
-- Allow myself time to read
-- Walk, hike, and swim more
-- Blog more consistently
Welcome to 2011 - there sure is a lot to be done!
Some of 2011 is already planned, so there are fun times to look forward to. In May, I will walk/jog in my 5th Bay to Breakers in San Francisco. It has become a tradition since 2006, our first year. I missed 2007 because Spencer was due the day of the race. I probably should have gone anyway - she was 5 days late! In July, we're traveling to Minnesota with Mom to see where she grew up and learn more about her side of the family. We've never been there with her. We'll also have a reunion with my dad's side of the family and celebrate my oldest brother's 50th birthday. Can't wait for May and July to roll around!
And of course, there are the resolutions we're supposed to make every new year. I can never decide if I want to make them or not, and when I do, I make half-hearted resolutions that last about 2 weeks and then are forgotten in the daily grind. Perhaps if they weren't called resolutions it would make them last longer. Okay, goals then. I will set goals for myself instead. So what do I want to do? What do I want to see happen for myself in 2011? Let's take a look....
-- Complete the Bay to Breakers 12K in under 2 hours
-- Lose 20-25 pounds before the Bay to Breakers
-- Pay off the SUV and the last credit card
-- Pay down my student loans
-- Finish the work on the front yard
-- Plan better
-- Procrastinate less
-- Achieve a better work/life balance
-- Drink more water
-- Allow myself time to read
-- Walk, hike, and swim more
-- Blog more consistently
Welcome to 2011 - there sure is a lot to be done!
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