Monday: Salmon, Asparagus and Artichoke Au Gratin
Tuesday: Chicken with Rice Bowls – Kale, Mushroom, Edamame and Scallion
Wednesday: Salad with Chicken, Avocado, Corn, Scallion, Cheese, Black Beans and Tomato
Thursday: Marinated Tofu (Cilantro, Jalepeno, Lime), Broccolli and Asparagus
Friday: Out
Here is the facts and breakdown:
Flights – $260
Car Rental – $250
Accomodations (Our Portion) – $670
Spending – $1900
Dog Care – $280
Total $3360
Originally, I had budgeted $2900 – So we went over $460. Exactly $100 was on car rental – there was an additional per day fee to add an additional driver. The rest is all in food and booze. I am sure there are things we could have cut back on here and there but we had an awesome time and the credit card was paid in full the next pay period.
Spring is finally here. It feels good to feel the sunshine again.
Our Spring vacation was great and we went slightly over budget. I will post our spending on another post.
Here are a couple things that have come up that will or have impacted our debt repayment plan:
Here is the Debt Totals:
It has been over a year….Good news we are still working on getting out of debt. Bad news we still have debt.
This is a slow process and at times find it difficult to stay motivated.
Here is an update on debt:
| $ 9,580 |
| $ 2,478 |
| $ 9,024 |
| $ 21,082 |
Well, the last post had 2012 goals and one of them was to clear $10,000 worth of debt. That didn’t happen. We took out $5,180 in 2012. Apparently, I had pretty lofty goals for 2012. Even though we didn’t even come close to the goal – I still feel pretty good about our progress. We were able to save more and pay for all of our trips with cash. I tracked our travel spending which end up being close to $7000. I guess if we would of cut back on travel we would of met the goal. I will save that for another post…
2013 Goals
1. Credit Card Debt under $15,000 by end of the year
2. Pay cash for all travel – keep vacation under 2012 spending ($7,000)
3. Efund at $5000 by end of the year
I would like to be more put together this year. The last couple years between saving for a wedding and trying to get out of debt I have let somethings slide. I truly believe there can be a better balance.
1. Get 2-3 great outfits – buy some accessories to dress up current clothes (Budget $500 – currently saving up $)
2. Join the gym (I have been avoiding because it cost money which is ridiculous my well being should be higher on the priority list) and GO! I have joined and I have been going 🙂
3. Continue to pay down debt – I would like to pay down $10k in 2012
4. Continue to build up Efund – Current sitting around $3400. I would like to see it at $5k or more.
5. Travel and pay cash for all travels – We have been doing this for the last couple years but I need to keep telling myself that is the only way you can go on vacation 🙂
#1 – Paid Off
#2 – $4222
#3 – $2428
#4 – $8838
#5 – $10,774
#6 – Paid Off
Total: $26,262 down $48 dollars from last month.
No excuses but my man had to use his card (#5) for a couple things this past month and some of his payments hadn’t hit yet so hopefully next month we will see a bigger gain.
Couple changes coming up – I did a balance transfer from #4 to #2. The plan is still to pay off the current balance of #2 then move onto #5. So the transfer will not effect the current plan just switch the balances around a bit.
#1 – Paid Off
#2 – $4787 – this is the card we are currently working on paying off. Goal is April 2012.
#3 – $2428
#4 – $8938
#5 – $10,157
#6 – Paid Off
Total $26,310
Down $947 from November
We have paid off $2762 since joining forces in August 2011.
So far we keep falling under $1000 on cleared debt each month. I am going to try to break $1000 this month. If we can constantly knock out $1000 per month – we will really start gaining some ground 🙂
I have found it is really easy to get ahead of yourself when trying to pay down debt. This typically results in getting frustrated because you just want to cross something off and start focusing on the next thing. We focused on the two smaller credit cards so the first couple months of our new plan have seemed very rewarding and like we are getting somewhere. After we take out #6 in November we are going to start having a longer delay in gratification. This is when we (I) need to keep my eye on the prize. All of this debt repayment is pretty much automated so it is just a matter of waiting till the end of the month to tally the total. I hate the idea of wishing our lives away until we are out of debt but it is hard not to just want to fast forward. We know it is possible but the challenge is not how we are going to do it but do we (I) have the patience to endure the next 24 months or so. Patience is a virtue as they say.
My question to my non-existent readers is how do you keep your patience?
As of earlier this week CC #1 has a balance of $0!!!! Immediately, after that payment posted I recieved an email saying they raised that credit limit by $4000….geez!
I am sure they will be missing my business but I am moving forward without them. Our next goal is to have #6 paid off in November. I was really hoping for this month but a few birthdays and vacations has left the extra money to some other things.
#1 $247
#2 $5376
#3 $2428
#4 $9138
#5 $9949
#6 $975
Total $28,113
Paid Off $1059
This is so amazing! Our goal is to eliminate #6 in November!
Almost 30 and its time to get out of debt... 