Layout:
Home > Archive: July, 2013

Archive for July, 2013

Mortgage paydown, monster project

July 14th, 2013 at 05:35 pm

Four freelance checks for work done in May June all hit the same day, so I managed to ruffle together an entire $1700 mortgage payment. Hazzzah! The balance is now a glorious $63,170.17. We might be on track to hit $57k by the end of the year!

On that note, I'm working on this nightmare monster freelance project. It pays $2,000 and is due Aug. 1. I almost regret saying yes because it's been hard juggling summer vacation with two preschoolers and this amount of work, but then I remember that all that money is going to the mortgage balance and I keep plugging away.

Come on Aug. 1!

That is also the day I feel my personal and professional life will actually benefit from the changes I've made the last few months. After this project is filed, my weekly commitments will drastically be reduced and I will have more time (in theory) to take care of myself and the children, and work on my own projects. Sounds like heaven.

We'll see how it shakes out.

First NSD in a long time

July 10th, 2013 at 02:45 pm

Holy cow. I just realized I had two no spend days in a row. It never happens!

Furlough care package

July 9th, 2013 at 03:14 am

My sister is a federal employee and her furlough and 20 percent pay cut officially starts on Friday. This has been a subject of much anxiety for her, to the point that she began having panic attacks.

She is single, and very much depends on all of her income. a 20 percent cut is going to hurt, even though it will only last three months.

I have helped her work through some areas where she could cut back in order to better prepare for this time, and she's done great with it.

Still, I worry. I am trying to put together a furlough care package for her, to help her stretch the dollars during this time. Mostly, by saving her on groceries and household items to free up money for bills.

I'm looking for more ideas on what would work best.

So far, I plan to include some grocery store gift cards.

I am including
-two large boxes of powdered laundry detergent
-two containers of oatmeal
-two peanut butters
-two apple butters
-two tubes of toothpaste
-two large bodywashes
-a large bottle of shampoo and conditioner
- a box of lady products (ahem)
-two large bottles of dish soap
-two boxes of spaghetti.

I pulled the above from my coupons stash. I was thinking of supplementing with:
- a large package of toilet paper
- a large package of paper towels
-microwave popcorn
-pasta sauce
-canned veggies and soups
-bags of coffee
-cooking oil
-sugar

but now I am out of ideas. Any thoughts? What would yo appreciate if you had to take a paycut for three months and we worried about making ends meet?

mortgage snowflakes, and epic vacation

July 7th, 2013 at 07:36 pm

As per my last post, the current mortgage balance of $64,050.20 is driving me crazy!! I want to get it under 64k so badly, I'm scraping up snowflakes. So far, I have found $22.80 in ebates and other rebate checks, and I plan to empty out the change in my piggy bank. After the bills settle and clear this week, hopefully I'll have $50 or $100 to send to the balance. fingers crossed!

***
In other news, we just returned from our first full-fledged family vacation. We went to visit our friends in New Orleans, and stopped at Mammoth Cave, Dinosaur World, and the U.S. Space and Rocket Center along the way. We were gone for about 8 days.

It was a very long and tiring trip for the parents, but it was also very fun and the kids for the most part were as good as they could be. Minimal complaining in the car, etc. Not bad for 3 and 5 year olds. It was nice to see all of our friends, but it's nice to be home though.

***
The garden exploded in size while we were away. The weeds and the plants shot up. The tomatoes and dill are almost as tall as i am, and I'm no tiny thing (5' 9" if you are wondering). we also picked the last of the onions and beets and let me tell you, nothing beats home grown!

***
In other news, August 1. I can't wait! It's the day I file my last big nightmare project / assignment, and I will have a break and my new life of less stress and fewer freelance projects will begin. I'll miss the money, but I think our lives will improve tenfold once I have less on my plate and can concentrate more on my own projects, the kids, and making our daily lives better. I'm amped. Now, just to get to Aug 1 with all the work that still needs to be done!