What's it Worth to You?

Getting out of debt! What is that worth to you? What are you willing to do? What can you do? These are the questions we ask and are still asking ourselves weekly. What more can we do and are we truly doing enough?
I have to laugh at our craziness. We have a timeline on a bill that needs to be paid. We can't use credit, so we are left with cash. Well, we have no spare cash to put towards this. SO we once again looked around the house. What can we live without? Here's a reminder..... Everything we have is a material item. We need our beds so those stay. We need our kitchen table and appliances so those stay. We need the washer and dryer, stay. Couch? Hmmm! I think we can live without the couch. We do have two nice little chair things we can sit on that are already a part of the living room. So we agreed on a price and put the couch, actually a very GINORMOUS (complete understatement) sectional from the La-Z-Boy Furniture Gallery up for sale. I looked online and discovered the exact couch is new for 2,599. Yikes. That is over double what we pd. I then looked at the couch in detail and noted the things that were wrong with it and posted in on the local Craig's List. We had it sold, the people showed up after renting a uhaul and decided they didn't want it because it was not a solid brown. Downer. I was flooded with emails in response and hit the few that said "we want it no matter what. Have the cash and can pick up asap". So we went to the next and it was sold. Again. We delivered to them today and to my surprise they obviously did not measure like I said they needed to do. Sure enough the sectional was way to big for the living room there but they said they will make it work. LOL! So I walked away with the money for it. I was pleased.

Once you sell that first item it's easy to feel great and think, "Now what can I sell?" So we are selling our stationary bike and whatever else we find in storage that we have been living without for the past 7 months. I will keep you posted.
Just remember that if we can sit on the floor for a few months while watching tv, which we shouldn't be anyway, plus it's summer, than so can you. Well, I am not saying go sell your couch, but find things that you have around your house that you CAN LIVE WITHOUT. Sentimental things, heirlooms and those things passed down keep for obvious reasons. NO complaining until you have tried everything you can. Try your best to sell something before running to someone to borrow money. You will feel so empowered. Any feedback? Do I have any readers? I guess if you quit posting people quit reading. If I'm not suggesting realistic things for realistic people then there is no point in putting this out there. I will anyway, even if for one reader. If anything for my own documentation of our journey.

So what's it worth to us? Being debt free! Bottome line!

Have a great summer selling things on the Internet, at garage sales and however else you can. Clean house, less clutter and less debt. Go sell!!!!!

Avoidance!

I think I have been avoiding this blog because I am not really sure what to write about. On top of that I know that I have a few family member that follow and a few friends. I knew that I went out on a limb when I followed my own blog as some of us tend to click on others our of curiosity. Or nosiness. ;) I'm not that one though. LOL Warning, this is a info post and a full blown vent at the end. I have bottled it up and am just going to let it out! (((ROAR)))

We have waited for over 5 years for stock $ from a job my husband had several years ago. He was automatically vested into the company and after his job change we knew we would watch it grow and have a certain amount of money in the end of a waiting period. We have come to that time where we have had to decide what to do with that money. Since we are huge Dave Ramsey fans we definitely know that we need to pull enough to become as close to debt free as possible. Knowing this made us a little lazy in being totally frugal. We have researched and know that we will make more money off not paying all the interest on the credit cards and line of credit we have then to invest or roll over the portion to gain money. When looking at our interest and how long we technically will be paying for these debts, it was way more outrageous. Remember our biggest financial success is from our income. So we know that we will be taking out enough for that. So in the next few months my blog will be saying we are SO close to being debt free. I know that this isn't an opportunity for many, we are blessed. With this I remind anyone who could even be reading this that we started taking baby steps and still are, and we have paid off almost 20 grand in 16 months. That is huge for a family of 6 that lives paycheck to paycheck.

We have had a lot of things come up that are not in our budget lately. ER visit for severe headache/migraine= strep, Urgent care visit for stitches on the back of head, several as in 12 dr visits at $20 per visit just in co-pays, ER visit for medicine reaction, ENT surgery and visits = $400 for dr/surgery center bill, ER visit for high fever after surgery that wouldn't come down, a baby shower for my sister, and a few expenses out of pocket for things for the school. These are areas where we did not include into our budget and KNEW that once we took them out we would regret it. We have no emergency fund. But we manage and know that at least the bills are being paid and on time. We are keeping our credit afloat.

I am not really sure why I blog about money. It's such a taboo to talk about and it's a risk to put it out for all to read. I think that there is a part of me that is not embarrassed because I know we are SO NOT ALONE. There is that other part of me where I have been so encouraged by others blogs that I wanted to write it all out myself. I love being on the computer typing away all my thoughts. I have been judged because I have done it but I really don't care. We are doing something about it and have worked SO hard for 16 months. We are too prideful to put others out and borrow from others. I think it's tacky when you keep making stupid financial choices and spending and every month are needing to borrow from people it's time to find another route. I know people who so this and it really bothers me. Lack of responsibility and maturity is everywhere. I may be too hard on some, we are no better, we just borrow from strangers call credit. But we vowed we would NEVER put out family or friends to rescue us because of our bad choices. I get so irritated when elderly, yes my grandmothers are used for borrowing money. I don't care who does and if they pay back but it's tacky. If you can't pay for something DON'T BUY IT with others money!!! If you need money every month, GET A JOB, get a second job. My husband did and it works. He's had 3 jobs at a time three times and two jobs almost constantly. I love my family but the more I hear the more angry I get. Especially when they are going out to eat, buying coffees, fast food, clothes and drive nicer cars and have new things. It's irritating. I am totally venting and willing to reap whatever comes out of this vent.
I know that we all hit hard times, and I am not opposed to borrowing from family or friends if needed for a last resort once or twice. I just think when it's abused its not ok. I have seen this too much. And truthfully, I never have done so, so maybe that is why it's easy to "judge" if that is how it's coming across.

So on a positive note, I am enjoying shopping for meals each week. I intended last time to jot that down. Not sure if it's to give you 3 ;) ideas or if it was to keep me accountable. So here I go with that:
Mon: leftovers
Tues: freezer meal- pasta primavera
Wed: crock pot chicken, rice a roni
Thurs: hot dogs, party potatoes
Fri: Left overs
Sat: misc
Sun: Dinner with family ??

Welcome Summer!!!