Nov 1st Debt Update – Time to get serious!

Current Debt: $32,530.32 with $3610.00 in savings and $979.61 on the business credit card.

Okay, folks.

Debt went up (both personal and business) and savings went down. Granted, numbers did not increase or decrease by astronomical amounts – but still pretty much a failure. We had the business card paid OFF, (!) but then landed some orders and had to make another bulk order for bamboo. It should last us over the holidays and hopefully a profit where we can start paying for materials IN CASH very soon. *knock on wood*

I’ve tried this my own way for months – trying to keep track of spending, trying not to not use credit cards… tricking myself into thinking I had some sort of system. It obviously was not working. So, I listened to your advice – and I decided not to be such a stubborn mule.

This month is NO EXCUSES November.

I signed up for Mint.com – It took a little while to set up all the bills, accounts, loans, assets, etc – but I made sure I understood how it works and that it was updated by the first of this month so that I can REALLY see what is going on in my financial world. It’s been REALLY helpful so far with goals, budgets, bills, etc. It helps not having to log into each one everyday!

We are trying the “Dave Ramsey(ish)” debt payoff. At first, I hated the thought of paying lower interest things off first just because they were lower total balances – all the while watching balances with higher interest rates accumulate and exponentially increase. But in reality – we were putting small payments on the larger accounts (still accumulating interest anyway) and not making a dent in anything else. We already used this method to pay off my cap 1 from last month. And, I admit, it does give me a confidence boost to see something totally OBLITERATED off the list. We still have our savings to figure out where to put that or to keep adding to it for our future… but we haven’t agreed on that yet so it is staying put (yeah, I know) for now.

We put our credit cards somewhere, um – safe – where we cannot reach them unless it is an emergency where we cannot pay for it with our emergency cash or get help from somewhere else. We thought about freezing them, but it made me nervous putting that information available and then having everyone know where they are…Plus, we have people over a lot, and I’d rather not have that on my mind.

We made a budget and meal plan! Finally. Food was our WORST category every month – and our new plan should make it one of our best. We took the food we had in our cupboards at the end of October and used what we could to make bulk meals that could be frozen (chili, spaghetti, etc). We should already have enough to hopefully last us at least this week!

I have a great feeling this is going to work a lot better than how it’s been. I’m excited to see what this month will bring for debt payoff, business, and life!

So thanks everyone for your advice, consistency, and encouragement!

**Fitness is also a no excuse factor for me this month – Woke up yesterday and did over 6 mile walk/jog! 🙂 Then took a nap (hence the red arrows…haha)