tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-207600392011-12-13T22:56:35.446-05:00Our progress: $25,047.93 owed on 1.1.06. $12,097.87 paid. $12,950.06 to go.Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.comBlogger511100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1160921474837099512006-10-15T09:36:00.000-04:002006-10-15T10:11:14.963-04:00

First off, this will be my last post because after paying off over $12,000, we anticipate The Great Debt Payoff will be complete in a few months.There have been some crazy things happening around here, none of which I expected at all. I could go into all the details but I won't bore you. Suffice it to say, we have decided to sell our house. Ironically, the decision to sell is not a result of

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1160617321649588932006-10-11T21:42:00.000-04:002006-10-11T21:42:01.820-04:00

If you're interested in making passive income on the web, check out supermom's ideas at Getting Out of Debt: Five Simple Ways of Creating Passive Income.

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1158319291433914522006-09-15T07:15:00.000-04:002006-09-15T07:21:31.450-04:00

Debt payoff has been slow going. The busyness of life seems to have taken control (gotta fight that) and we've decided to earmark some money to make some much-needed repairs on the house...money that would've otherwise gone toward the debt. I'm encouraged that we've already paid off more than $8000, but for some reason, I'm having trouble seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. I think it's

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1156292053175834872006-08-22T20:14:00.000-04:002006-08-22T20:14:13.186-04:00

Well, in case you haven't heard, there are lots of people making lots of money selling on eBay. In some cases, lots and lots of money. Like millions.It's hard to imagine there are people in the world just like you and me who started selling the old stuff they found around their house and now they're rakin' in the big bucks. But it really happens and it just plain gives me hope. Not that I'll

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1156290937922021282006-08-22T19:55:00.000-04:002006-08-22T19:55:38.026-04:00

It may not be the most original recipe, but the description of Ghetto Pizza at Cheap Eats is certainly the most well-documented I've seen. And how can you go wrong with a meal/snack which costs only $.32?

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1156121444581062432006-08-20T20:19:00.000-04:002006-08-20T20:50:44.603-04:00

I already talked about making money online via a catablog which is basically building a blog around a specific product you are selling.Well, if you don't have a product to sell (like yours truly), you can still make money via your blog. Yes, your lovely monologue can potentially bring in the big bucks.There are a lot of ways to do this. For example, you'll notice the Google AdSense ads on the

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1156009652581249392006-08-19T13:44:00.000-04:002006-08-19T13:49:37.393-04:00

So, I've been selling my textbooks on Amazon again and business has been smooth and steady. I so wish I had lots and lots of textbooks lying around—this is easy money. Definitely a good way to bring in a little extra.By the way, I have listed some other books (non-textbooks), but they don't do as well.

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1155606983155166702006-08-14T21:56:00.000-04:002006-08-14T21:56:23.156-04:00

Just thought Unusual Businesses Ideas That Work might give you some ideas...

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1154479251992261492006-08-01T20:40:00.000-04:002006-08-01T20:45:27.153-04:00

Click here, then scroll down and click on the photo of the African woman with her baby's fingers pressed against her lips. Look at the photo journal. Somehow it cannot be—the vast chasm between my life and theirs. It cannot be right. My debt freedom must not be the end, but the means to the end of grief like theirs.

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1154051204419120482006-07-27T22:14:00.000-04:002006-07-27T22:33:03.063-04:00

You'll recall my first experiment in selling books online. Well eventually I decided to abandon the experiment, but now that school will be starting again soon, I think I'll give it another whirl. After all, the books are just sitting here. I might as well try to ditch 'em for cash.One of the reasons I decided to abandon the experiment when I did was because we were out of town for a good

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1154053881723047272006-07-27T21:47:00.000-04:002006-07-27T22:36:44.180-04:00

Speaking of Amazon...in case you haven't heard, they now sell groceries. What next?Anyway, you can get $10 off your order if you spend $49 or more through August 21, 2006. Plus, if you spend $25, you'll qualify for FREE Super Saver Shipping.I did a little browsing to see how the prices at Amazon Grocery compare to the stores in my area. Bottom line: I can get most of the items I would normally

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1154049579327836122006-07-27T21:07:00.000-04:002006-07-27T21:19:39.356-04:00

First off, let me say that I have NOT tried this. I only came across this post at Money Dummy during one of my random rabbit trail surfing sessions.I post about it here for two reasons. First, it appears this may be one way to make money online (although I will say again that I have not tried it myself). Second, and most importantly, I'm curious if any of you, dear readers (all 3 of you), have

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1153444121196327102006-07-20T21:07:00.000-04:002006-07-20T21:08:41.213-04:00

I'm sure there are many of you out there who are crafty in one way or another. Me? Not so much...I'd much prefer to putz around on the computer because I don't like "stuff" and making things always require too much "stuff" in my world. My daughter on the other hand, is a crafting queen, always creating something. She's got bits of paper, homemade books, crowns, hats and all sorts of other

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1153100710409282912006-07-16T21:05:00.000-04:002006-07-16T21:45:10.476-04:00

Well, as a blog about getting out of debt, the original intent was to figure out how to make extra money online. I'll eventually get to more of that, but I just keep coming across ways to make our existing money work better. Speaking of which...We've been hardcore Quicken fans for many years now as a way to keep track of our finances. Well, no offense Quicken, but we're moving on to a new

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1152235011319927782006-07-06T21:16:00.000-04:002006-07-06T21:16:51.413-04:00

Well, here's one way to make money online. As the name suggests, PayPerPost pays you to blog. I haven't signed up myself, but the basic idea is this: Companies that want to advertise a product or service, will pay you to blog about said product or service. Check out the details here.Also, Dave Taylor from Ask Dave Taylor has some good thought about it too.

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1151984099398666852006-07-03T22:26:00.000-04:002006-07-03T23:34:59.420-04:00

Well, I knew it was coming and sure enough, my school loan interest rate increased from 5.05% to 7.15% as of July 1. I'm glad we transferred the bulk of our school loans (all of B's & 2/3 of mine) to our credit card last month. We took advantage of a 3.99% deal for the life of the loan and no balance transfer fee.We would have transferred over all of our school loans to the 3.99% but the limit

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1151800846824074562006-07-01T20:40:00.000-04:002006-07-01T20:44:51.336-04:00

This isn't exactly about making money on the web, but it sort of is...I've had about 6000 airline frequent flyer miles sittin' around for the last several years. Because you can't do much with 6000 miles as far as free flights go (a reward flight takes at least 25,000), those miles were pretty much useless to me. You can redeem them for free magazine subscriptions which I've done a few times,

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1150907419548703422006-06-21T12:15:00.000-04:002006-06-21T12:37:24.216-04:00

The other books I bought on eBay as a part of my book-selling experiement arrived and my batting average isn't so hot. I received another one with a different ISBN than the one listed in the eBay listing. Apparently, when they are listing their books, they just search by title and assume that if the title matches and the front cover matches, then it must be the same book. Not so. There are

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1150762943094638252006-06-19T20:10:00.000-04:002006-06-19T20:22:23.106-04:00

My first book from eBay arrived which I planned to sell at a profit on Amazon. Well, guess what? Wrong book. The seller was a first-time seller and said she wasn't careful enough in listing the book. Her auction listing said the ISBN was that of the latest edition of the book. But when I got the book, I noticed the ISBN was different; this book was an older edition. Major bummer.So, I

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1150254905335357082006-06-13T23:15:00.000-04:002006-06-13T23:15:05.426-04:00

We've got a credit card that we don't use anymore for purchases, but we have been using it to consolidate our debts at low rates. We transferred all our credit card debt (about $4800 currently) to that card at a rate of 1.99% through November.Our only other debt is in student loans which are currently at 5.05% interest and most certainly will go up come July 1. So, we've now transferred the

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1149862692365271782006-06-09T10:18:00.000-04:002006-06-09T10:24:06.396-04:00

I'm going to keep a running list of specific ways to make money online. I'll add to the list as I work my way through The Great Debt Payoff and I'll put the link under "Helpful Posts." It would be great if all of you would contribute by sharing your ideas as well.To begin...As I see it, there are essentially 4 ways to make money on the internet:Sell a product.Sell a service.Sell

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1149715892764348872006-06-07T13:06:00.000-04:002006-06-08T23:03:10.610-04:00

If you sell on eBay or are thinking about it, the pros will tell you that a little research before diving in is a must. I've sold some things in the past and will do so again as part of The Great Debt Payoff at some point. I came across this article again, though, and thought I'd pass it on to you while I was thinking about it. Find out The Most Popular Day to End an eBay Auction.(It's an old

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1149698580764014362006-06-07T12:43:00.000-04:002006-06-07T12:44:45.700-04:00

For those of you with kiddies and a long summer ahead of you, Regal Cinemas shows free kid movies (G & PG) on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings at 10 am through the summer. Click here to see if there's a Regal Cinema near you participating in the program and to see which movies will be showing.We enjoyed doing this last summer. The kids liked seeing a movie in the theater and I liked the fact that

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1149540193035118132006-06-05T15:55:00.000-04:002006-06-09T10:34:24.596-04:00

So I just bought a book on eBay to sell on Amazon. A simple concept and I'm certainly not the first to try it. There are people who make a nice living doing just this. But for me, the question is, how much time and energy will it require? And what can go wrong? I've got 3 kids to raise and a house to keep, so I want to make money as quickly and conveniently as possible without a lot of

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1149429106494584272006-06-04T09:48:00.000-04:002006-06-04T09:51:46.496-04:00

Another two books sold on Amazon last night. Those things are goin' like hotcakes! That brings my grand total of book sales to $175 & change. Sweet!

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1149356439248308302006-06-03T13:27:00.000-04:002006-06-03T13:40:39.273-04:00

Well, our garage sale pretty much got rained out. Oh well. BUT, we still managed to make about $20. And that's 20 bucks more than we had when we woke up this morning.On the brighter side (no pun intended), I did sell two more books on Amazon overnight. That's another $30 or so. I'm becoming a huge fan of book selling on Amazon. It's easy, it's quick and it's free to list! Can't beat that.

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1149296704913918602006-06-02T20:48:00.000-04:002006-06-04T17:42:47.253-04:00

Admittedly, The Great Debt Payoff has been going very s-l-o-w-l-y as of late. Whereas I was significantly more focused earlier this year, now all my time and attention has been focused on our new baby. But he's 5 weeks old today and a routine seems to be emerging. With routine will (hopefully) come a more concerted effort toward The Great Debt Payoff once more.Speaking of which, we are having

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1148238672854256042006-05-21T15:11:00.000-04:002006-06-04T09:18:44.166-04:00

Well, if you're ever in Scottsboro, Alabama, you might want to check out the Unclaimed Baggage Center. Word on the street is that you can find some pretty sweet deals there. I've traveled a fair bit in my life, but I never stopped to think about the final destination of all those unclaimed bags. Well, lucky for us, if we can make it to Scottsboro, not only can we visit that mysterious final

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1147999521231014642006-05-18T20:45:00.000-04:002006-06-04T09:19:13.410-04:00

Now I know this blog is about saving money, not spending it, but I couldn't not mention this. I'm sure I'm the last one on the face of the planet to find out about Eyes.Lips.Face. and all I can say is, WHY DIDN'T SOMEBODY TELL ME? The big deal is that all their cosmetics are exactly $1. Which of you knows about this? Somebody's been holdin' out on me.

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1147898071618696082006-05-17T16:23:00.000-04:002006-06-04T09:19:41.690-04:00

It's been a while, but I think I will slowly be able to get back in the swing of things again. Our third baby was born at the end of April, so it's been a bit of a crazy month around here. But we're back home and slowly getting into a new groove.Well, I can't say a whole lot has happened debt-wise in my absence. Obviously we were focused on other things, however we did continue to chip away at

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1144554929289437672006-04-08T23:43:00.000-04:002006-06-04T09:20:08.003-04:00

Well, I'll be jiggered. That darn book sold...in less than 12 hours. What a trip. Either my book was a hot seller (although who wants a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV?) or I'm just the beneficiary of that thing called "beginner's luck." Whatever it is, I receive it. And wouldn't it be nice if this happened every time? If so, I HAVE CLEARLY MISSED MY CALLING.Now I'm

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1144544855374853332006-04-08T20:58:00.000-04:002006-06-04T09:20:30.583-04:00

Well, I went ahead and put my first book up for sale at Amazon.com. I figured I might as well go for it. If the book sells, I have to ship it within 2 business days. No problem...unless the book sells at about the same time I give birth. If that happens, I'll have to find someone to ship the book for me I suppose. But we'll cross that bridge when we get there.Getting set up was relatively

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1144464496075877252006-04-07T22:11:00.000-04:002006-07-20T21:24:28.296-04:00

Well, since one of the original goals of this blog was to come up with ways to make money online, I figure I'd better start writing about ways to make money online. Up until now I've been trying to organize our current financial situation, but it seems like we're finally in a groove, so I'm ready to move on to finding ways to increase our income. Having said that, I'll warn you now that this

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1143853982079766832006-03-31T20:07:00.000-05:002006-06-04T09:21:37.520-04:00

So I'm listening to my husband talking on the phone to Discover. He's canceling our card. Of course they ask him why we want to close the account. This is his response:"Well, first of all, we don't like having to pay an annual fee. Second, we want to get rid of all our credit cards. And, have you ever heard of Dave Ramsey?"Apparently the first customer service rep he talked to replied, "Oh,

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1143780873701874462006-03-30T23:44:00.000-05:002006-03-30T23:54:33.713-05:00

By the way, perhaps you've noticed the (unexciting) changes in the look of the blog. I'm doing a little experimenting but mostly I just decided I wanted something different...as is my standard operating procedure. I'll continue to tweak as time goes by.If you're wondering where I'm tracking our progress, the numbers are now in the right column so check 'em out there.

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1143780013523899082006-03-30T23:37:00.000-05:002006-06-04T09:21:58.773-04:00

Well, we've decided to keep the house (as of today at least). Our house payment is only 30% of our take home pay (as opposed to Dave Ramsey's suggested 25%), but we've decided to find other areas of the budget to cut back on instead. You know what they say about real estate: location, location, location. Our home is in a great spot and I'm pretty certain we'd regret it if we sold. So, we're

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1143253040350213692006-03-24T20:57:00.000-05:002006-06-04T09:22:18.776-04:00

I'm a mom of two. I take care of a third. I'm also 8 months pregnant. Diapers are a way of life. Therefore I was stoked to find a $2 off coupon for Luvs at Target. (If the link doesn't work, click here for the page at dealcatcher.com where the coupon is listed). The deal is sweeter since Luvs happen to be on sale at our local Target through tomorrow. (FYI...you can check your weekly Target

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1143157973994879502006-03-23T18:44:00.000-05:002006-03-23T18:52:53.996-05:00

Well, now the stakes have been raised.Dave has a rule of thumb about a house. He says your total monthly house payment (and I'm pretty sure he includes taxes and insurance in this figure) should not be more than 25% of your monthly take-home pay. After 20 years of counseling people, he's determined that it's very hard to get ahead financially if you're spending more than 25% of your take-home

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1142694093037110312006-03-19T10:01:00.000-05:002006-03-21T08:42:02.276-05:00

As I mentioned in this post, I have now become a Dave Ramsey fanatic. I listen to his radio show religiously and I especially love Fridays because there are all kinds of people who call in, screaming they are debt free. It's very inspiring.One thing he talks about a lot is selling stuff. Consequently, we are now seriously considering selling one of our cars. We have no car payments, so it's

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1142692519297554492006-03-18T09:35:00.001-05:002006-03-18T10:10:38.673-05:00

I know this is an old story, but if we're talking about ways to make money online, here's an idea. This woman was $20,000 in the hole (too much shopping at Bloomingdales she said) and thought that if she could find 20,000 people to each give her $1 or 10,000 people to give her $2, etc., she could beat the debt pretty quickly. I suppose she felt so overwhelmed, she figured she didn't have

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1140189444690978232006-02-17T09:49:00.000-05:002006-02-17T10:20:35.430-05:00

Well, we're $877.39 closer to being debt free! (By the way, my running total is up at the top of this page.) The last few weeks have been all about scrounging up every spare penny to throw at our debt. At the start, I didn't think we could come up with even $100 extra bucks a month. I'm shocked we found almost $1000! I guess that's what happens when you've got a plan...at least that's what

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1138384491086060372006-01-27T12:52:00.000-05:002006-06-04T09:27:35.726-04:00

We’ve got a LIFE group (midweek Bible study, home group-type thing) that meets at our house once a week. We’re going through the book of James and last night we happened to be in Chapter 2. We got on the subject of giving money to the poor which led into a specific discussion about people who ask for money on the street.Personally, I’m always conflicted when I’m at a red light and there’s someone

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1137211076298377082006-01-25T19:57:00.000-05:002006-01-25T20:25:27.206-05:00

Not that I intend to die soon, but I think the following article, How to Plan an $800 Funeral (MSN Money) is extremely informative.It provides some great money-saving tips for that oh so uncomfortable subject of death—a subject none of us should ignore.It also offers a bit of levity. My favorite line: "Skip the caskets with special seals that can raise a casket’s price by several hundred dollars

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1137462712980379832006-01-16T19:45:00.002-05:002006-01-16T23:08:15.806-05:00

So, I just spent the last I-don't-know-how-long typing this post about allocating extra funds. I laid out all my plans and my reasons for those plans. As I was reviewing it (before publishing), it totally disappeared. Just like that. And no matter what I've done, I cannot find it anywhere. I have no idea what happened to it. So, after a loud gasp (because posting always takes me forever and

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1137212518040245202006-01-13T23:21:00.000-05:002006-03-04T12:27:37.703-05:00

Occasionally I think they make lame choices, but check out Forbes.com's Best of the Web for their picks on top websites for various areas of Personal Finance & Careers. From 401(k) Advice to Time Management, you might find some websites you like.

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1137204477134992332006-01-13T20:55:00.000-05:002006-01-20T19:22:43.616-05:00

Before I buy something online, I try to find any coupons that might apply to my purchase. I do this by going to Google and searching for a coupon code for the online store I'm about to buy from.Here's an example:Let's say I want to buy a pair of jeans at Gap.com. Before I place the order, I do a Google search using the terms "gap coupon code" or "gap coupon." If I find a coupon code that

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1137188998128832412006-01-13T16:00:00.000-05:002006-07-20T22:01:11.050-04:00

This blog is my attempt to keep myself on track as I work toward getting our family debt free. But it's not just about that. My hope is that you will also benefit from the process by gleaning useful information along the way which can be applied to your own situation.I am no expert. I have no degrees in finance, accounting or anything of the sort. I do, however, enjoy researching things,

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1137034690345674452006-01-11T21:49:00.000-05:002006-01-13T20:55:11.860-05:00

The next thing on my list after checking our credit reports and FICO scores was to set up a basic budget.Here's what I did:Figured out where our money went last year.I ran a basic report on our trusty Quicken software to find out how much and where we spent last year. I divided the annual amounts in each category by 12 to figure out the average monthly amounts.If you're starting from scratch, I

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1137032134427176622006-01-11T20:18:00.000-05:002006-01-11T21:45:14.496-05:00

So, my first order of business was to check our credit reports. I wanted to make sure they were accurate and up-to-date. If there were any mistakes, it could really wreak havoc should we decide to make any big changes to our financial situation this year (like refinancing our mortgage for example).I took the advice of this article at MSN Money to figure out how to go about it. Lucky for us (

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1136994902713612692006-01-11T09:50:00.001-05:002006-07-20T21:51:25.390-04:00

We're $25,000 in debt. I've psychoanalyzed myself about how this all happened and what it all means, blah, blah, blah. Enough of that. Now I'm ready to move on to the bigger and more practical question of how to get out of this mess. In other words, how in tarnation will we pay off this debt?To start, allow me to give you the numbers. As of this day, here's what we're dealing with:My student

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20760039.post-1136871598787668192006-01-10T00:38:00.000-05:002006-01-11T11:11:12.440-05:00

...there was a whole lotta debt. Someday I'll reach the end.

Amyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03931147036659011590noreply@blogger.com0