Chimbleysweep's Journey to Debt-Free Living

I had some time to kill yesterday so I stopped in this thrift store I'd never been in.

I found the cutest pair of jeans. They were brand new and from Lane Bryant, so I tried them on and they fit perfectly! The price tag said $5, so I was thrilled.

Then I found a pair of Abercrombie and Fitch shorts for my husband and they were $3.

When I went to the register, I found out it was 50%, so my total purchase price came to $4!!!

I would never have paid full price for these items. I know jeans at Lane Bryant are about $54 and shorts from Abercrombie are about $30!

DH's boss bought tickets to see Dave Ramsey in May.

I've heard mixed things from him. Anyone love him? Hate him? Should I be nervous or excited??

I won an award at my company that recognizes associates for going above and beyond! They gave me a gift certificate to Amazon.com for $250!!!

I bought a backyard composter, some garden tools, and about 12 books I've been itching for! (I can't help it, I'm a bibliophile!)

Exciting! I love getting things for free!!!!

Guess what?! DH told me that his paycheck this week will be almost double what it normally is! Apparently he hit some threshold that he gets rewarded for, so I have some extra money coming my way!! I think we're going to put it on one of the credit cards; it should be enough to completely pay it off.

I paid our bills last night. It's interesting to see that by STICKING TO MY BUDGET, I'm not coming up short when it's time to pay the bills. I'm following my debt snowball plan, threw some in savings, and still have enough to buy groceries! It feels good not to worry!

I want to plant some veggies now that I have my own backyard. I am willing to listen to any and all advice! I want to grow:

Onions
Spinach
Tomatoes
Carrots
Rosemary
Basil
Garlic
Cilantro

I want to try corn, beans, and potatoes, but I don't want to be too ambitious. Baby steps, right?

Wow! I've gone over 24 hours without spending ANY money! Woo-hoo!

Today has been really relaxing. DH and I watched 'The Godfather', took down most of the outside Christmas lights, and mainly vegged out.

I made beef stew for dinner and fresh, home made bread. Nothing beats that on a cold winter day! We took our dog for a nice long walk (and froze our buns off, but it was fun!)

We also measured the sides of the house. I'm going to a rain barrel workshop later this month to learn how to harvest water from my drain spouts for my garden! I am all about new ways to use free water!!

I'm so inconsistent with this blog. Time, it seems, just keeps flying away from me. We bought our house in April and it seems so much harder to just sit down and relax. My husband and I both work full time, and my job requires a bit of a commute, so I don't get on the net as much as I used to.

The good news is that I have hubby on board for really buckling down on our budget. We have some serious savings goals, and I'm so glad he finally agrees with me.

Yesterday we spent $47. We bought a package of compact-fluorescent light bulbs, and some groceries. Some people thinks that CFLs are expensive, and I do agree that they cost a bit more than incandescents. But I am an environmentalist. It's worth it to me to pay more and use less energy.

Anyway, I will try to be more consistent in blogging here. I think it makes me more accountable!

I quit my part time job to try something new with my full-time company. It's going to get me about $6000 more per year, which will go a LONG way into getting this mountain of debt off our backs.

Our hard work has been paying off, though. Our FICOs have gone up about 30 points since the last time I checked, which was in July.

I've been thinking a lot lately about the footprint I've been leaving on the earth, and how I'd like to try to live a cleaner, greener life. I'm looking into starting my own compost and growing my own vegetables next year. Does anyone have any experience with either?

Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving!

I went to the library tonight and got the following books:

Gardening 101 (I want to have a vegetable garden in the spring!)

No Need to Knead: Handmade Italian Breads in 90 Minutes

The Tightwad Gazette III

Living the Simple Life

and

Unshaken (by Francine Rivers, an amazing Christian author)

Off to read!

Last week, I paid off an $800 debt. This week, I paid the ending balance on one of my credit cards, $227.43. So that's two debts gone in two weeks! I feel tons better even though I still have a long way to go.

Baby steps, right?

On my paycheck last week, my overtime was on it! That was about $350 extra, which gave me enough money to pay off one debt in full. Now I can focus on the others!

I've been working on correcting small behaviors that are hurting me financially. Every day I used to stop at the gas station to get a cup of coffee. (Which I suppose is better than stopping at Starbucks, like I used to!)

$1.09 x 5 (days per week) = $5.45

$5.45 x 4 (weeks per month) = $21.80

I bought a 36-count box of Folger's coffee-in-a-bag for $6.85 and a bottle of peppermint mocha creamer for $1.99, which should last me all month.

$6.85 + $1.99 = $8.84

This is a total monthly savings of $12.96

I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but $12.96 x 12 = 155.52 (provided I stick with it!)

There was a 12-Hour Meat Sale at the Apple Market store in Peculiar, today, so after I got off work, I stopped in.

I spent 47 dollars on meat. This is what I got:

2 4.5lb whole chickens
1 3.3lb pork tenderloin
1pkg 8.8lb pork chops (16 chops!)
1pkg 4.4lb pork shoulder steak
1pkg 10lbs ground turkey
1pkg 10lbs ground turkey

I did the math, and I saved $57 dollars, going by the full price of these items when they aren't on sale. This meat will easily last us 3 months.

Gosh, being a grownup is hard.

I'm still here. Still working part-time. Still carrying the burden of $15000 in credit card debt. Trying not to be depressed.

I bought two new rugs for the kitchen today on clearance. The total was $3.22 for both. Not too bad, I didn't feel guilty spending the money.

My part time job is really great. I work for a grocery chain in their gas station. They do something really neat -- they give discounted gas.

If your grocery receipt is for:
$0.01 to $50.00 you get $.05 off per gallon of gas

$50.01 to $100.00 you get $.10 off per gallon of gas

$100.01 and up you get $.15 off per gallon of gas

As an employee, I get $.05 off per gallon normally, but I had a receipt for $68 dollars so I got $.10 off my purchase. I saved $1.27 (which doesn't seem like a whole lot) but essentially I got my gas for $2.74 instead of $2.84!

Things elsewhere are going along all right. We've got a few minor home repairs to take care of but we've been saving for it so I don't anticipate any disruptions to my new budget system.

I haven't quit yet. I'm still here. Still figuring it out. Still kind of bummin' that it's not perfect yet, that I'm not in the black yet, but it's getting easier.

I know that each step I take is for a larger goal, one that will reap rewards not just for my sanity but for my whole financial well-being.

Next paycheck I am paying off a credit card and saying goodbye. I don't need it. I'm snowballing my debt and hopefully in a few months I'll be able to post a success story.

It feels good to be in control. Today I made coffee and breakfast at home instead of spending $6-8 to have the people at Starbucks do it for me.

Baby steps, folks. Baby steps.

Have you ever had an epiphany? A shining, pure moment where you realize something that changes you forever?

I had one of those experiences this weekend.

I was feeling stressed (which isn't unusual) about the bills I have to pay with this coming paycheck and I just blanked out. I thought 'there has to be a better way'. And there is, of course, but the change has to start with me.

I downloaded You Need A Budget because I've tried everything else and this looked the most painless to me and so far, I really love the way it's laid out.

It was really painful adding up exactly how much money we owe on our credit cards and our car loan, but the truth hurts and now I at least have formulated a plan. Since we are new homeowners, I recently took a second job to help cover some minor expenses, so I think I will stay on at my second job until our debt is more manageable. We make all our payments and no one calls us or anything, but we carry a balance every single month and I'm tired of it!

So here I am, world. I'm ready to learn, ready to listen, and ready to change my financial life.

-Lindsay