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Archive for May, 2016

3 New Dietbets!

May 31st, 2016 at 03:47 pm

After reviewing my goals for the year in the last post, the only one I have not made any progress on is losing weight. My goal for the year was to lose 40lbs, and I have instead gained 10-15lbs.....terrible. No reason really, I just have not been sticking with any kind of plan for eating right or working out, just eating terrible food and lots of it. Now we are down to about 14 weeks till our cruise...and I am out of time to start over again.

So starting tomorrow (6/1) I am all in, no more excuses or starting over, no more cheats and lack of planning ahead.

MO and I are signing up for 3 (Yes 3!) dietbets, 1 for $100, and 2 for $35 each.

We have set up one of our extra bedrooms as a workout room. We moved our elliptical, a TV, all my P90X DVDS, yoga mat, some free weights, etc. into the room. MO is going to hookup my Wii and a DVD player today so that we are ready to start tomorrow. I think this is the thing I am most excited about it to actually have an area dedicated to working out and not have to be in the middle of the living room.

I am going to do P90X every morning except Wed (I have early morning meetings on Wed) and possibly on the weekends IF we are out of town. I will also be doing a ten min ab video (my biggest problem area) on my 15 min morning break from work. If we are out of town then I will be doing some type of other workout (running or swimming at the lake, or softball are usually the only reasons we will be gone this summer).

I also play on softball teams 3 nights a week (Tues, Wed and Sunday) so that will be an additional workout, and I will also be doing the elliptical and Wii Dance Games to supplement too.

Food - I made a calendar for dinners for June (I will make July and August when they get closer). It gets a little tough with us being gone 4 nights a week between the 2 of us for softball. But the nights we are home we have a plan for healthy dinners. When we are gone if we go out to eat I will be having grilled chicken, fish or salads. Lunches I am going to make cabbage soup (which I love) and I also have salads, steamed brussel sprouts, eggs, tuna, Shakeology. Breakfast will be Shakeology, 0% plan Greek Yogurt, cottage cheese, breakfast sandwiches with whole wheat English muffins etc.

No pop or alcohol. I don't have a problem with no alcohol, the no pop is much harder for me. But I know I can do it. We have an event in 2 weeks that I will be drinking at (been planned for a long time), but that is the only time I plan to drink till the cruise. It can be hard to not drink with having 3 nights a week of softball, but I am ok with it. My BD is in about 3 weeks and I am not even going to drink at my BD meal. I have already picked out where to go, and what I want to eat, that I will only eat half and that I will be sending my leftovers home with my Mom.

Planning is key to make sure I succeed!

Rewards - MO and I are challenging each other and I am confident I am going to beat him...lol! We are on casino hiatus since we bought our new vehicle, so we are going to make some casino/fun rewards for when we can go again.

We plan on doing dietbets for June, July and August. For each month we individually make our goals, we will each get $250 per month goal made. So a possible total of $750. Then if we made all 3 months, we get a BONUS $250, but only if we make all 3 months. Then which ever of us has the biggest loss percentage on 8/31/16 wins.....and gets an extra $1000 to do some high rolling! So the stakes are very HIGH! We will probably not cash in on these rewards until October or later since we are busy and this isn't the type of money we would bring to our local casino, only on a special trip. I think this will be good incentive, but mostly I just want to feel good in my bikini on the cruise.

We should make some pretty good money if we win all of our dietbets. I want to update on here at least once a week to track my progress.

I am ready to do this!!

Midyear Update to 2016 Goals

May 28th, 2016 at 04:57 am

Here is a midyear update to my 2016 goals. Pretty happy with progress so far. Definitely need to improve on some things, specifically losing weight. Can you believe 1/2 of the year is over!!??


2016 Goals

Savings
-Pay in cash for trip to Laughlin - DONE
-Pay in cash for cruise - We have to pay this in 2 weeks, we will put it on our Discover Card to get the cash back rewards and then pay for it in full when the bill comes so that we don't pay any interest
-Keep savings at/above $5K by end of year

Debt
-Set aside money to payoff Appliances Card - DONE, we decided to just pay it off to get it done with
-Payoff Mom Loan #1 (Balance on 12/31/15 $13,741.64) - DONE
-Store Loan (From $13,013.05 to $10,094.05) - Currently at $11,785.20
-HELOC (From $28,830.17 to $25,330.00) - Paid Off/Consolidated to Mom Loan #2
-Rental #1 Mortgage (From $158,190.00 to $154,500.00) - Currently at $156,600.00
-Rental #2 Mortgage (From $88,051.53 to $86,000.00) - Currently at $87,196.11
-Our House (From $255,775.94 to $250,000.00) - Currently at $253,943.88
-STRETCH GOAL Total Debt Balance down to $525K or less. That is down $35,502.33 for the year. Balance on 12/31/15 $560,502.33. - Currently at $537,525.19

Retirement
-Continue contributing 6% to 401K DONE
-Research and review allocations of ROTH and make appropriate adjustments Nope...

Health
-Be positive and thankful for what I have Feeling really good about this. XH texted me randomly again a few days ago. I didn't respond and didn't dwell on it nearly as much as I would have before. Feel better mentally everyday!
-Lose 40lbs before cruise (Sept 2016) I actually gained 10lbs Frown UGH Starting over again on 6/1/16 with new workout and eating plan.

Home Improvements and Rental Updates
-Finish unpacking/organizing at new house House is done, still working on garage
-Complete minor repairs at Rental #1 (hole in wall)Nope
-Find renter for whole house at Rental #2 - DONE
-Complete minor repairs at Rental #2 (porch step, landscaping) - We worked on the landscaping, still need to do a few minor repairs
-Plant garden at new house - Waiting for tiller to be repaired, should be done any day now

Debt Update - 5/27/16

May 28th, 2016 at 04:38 am

TGIF ladies and gents! Excited for a 3 day weekend, even though it probably won't be too relaxing, have a lot of house and yard work planned, and a Memorial Service on Monday. Hopefully we can get some things done that we have been putting off.

We will be working on getting everything moved into one of our extra rooms now that the extra roommate moved out. The room is very large and has wood floors so will be great for a workout room. We are moving our elliptical, weight machine, misc workout equipment and a TV into there tomorrow. It is also in our basement so will be nice and cool. I am re-dedicating myself to my health again on 6/1/16, starting a new dietbet, making a healthy dinner calendar and workout calendar, so I am excited to have an area dedicated to working out. I think this will also help MO a lot as he hates to workout in front of anyone and right now the elliptical is in our living room.

Very boring update, only down $284.42 in the last 2 weeks....but they can't all be whopper updates...and still going in the right direction! I can't wait to finish ONE of these races...

Our payments on the Mom Loan start 6/1 and then we will start seeing some serious progress again as the payments are $600 a month.

Celebrations for this update:
-Total debt went down $284.42 in the last 2 weeks!
-I just told MO "Ugh I don't even have any celebrations for this update" and his response "You can celebrate loving me" What a ham! So that is what we are celebrating this update! LOL

Student Loan $0
Payback Savings $0
David's Bridal $0
Scheel's Card $0
Total Rewards $0
LOC - US Bank $0
Ring Iddeal $0
Best Buy $0
HELOC $0
Store Loan $11,785.20
Mom Loan #2 $28,000.00
MO Mortgage $87,196.11
My Mortgage $156,600.00
Our Mortgage $253,943.88
Total = $537,525.19

Down $284.42 in the last 2 weeks!!

Starting total was $587,351.27
$49,826.08 paid off since 6/19/15 (including downpayment on house).

We have $160.00 in a savings account to pay off the Mom Loan, so the amount we still owe that is $27,840.00.

$20K Update

May 28th, 2016 at 04:30 am

Nothing too exciting here....just a payday update. We have had a few bites on selling our old fridge so hopefully that will pan out soon. That would be an extra $800!

Current Balance $1,900.00
+$25.00 MO Payday to Our Savings
Balance $1,925.00

Local Savings $105.00
GC Savings $105.00
Capital 360 Savings (US) $300.00
Capital 360 Savings (Mom Loan Payback Account)$160.00
Capital 360 Savings (Rental Deposit Account) $1255.00
Total Savings = $1,925.00


52 Week Challenge (I know we have more in this now, but I don't have it with me right now)
2016 - Week 13 $66 (total) + $12 +$13 (deposit)=$91
(Weeks 46-52 are also paid already $343)

CVS Deals Week of 5/22/16

May 26th, 2016 at 10:47 pm

Now that softball has started up in my hometown again, I am trying to get back into my CVS deals since I will actually have access to a CVS twice a week.

Here are my deals from this week. Was fun to get back into it! Everything was free on CVS gift cards.


Colgate Total Advanced Whitening Toothpaste 5.8oz (Bought 2)
Regular Price $4.49 each
-$1.00 Sale Price Each
-$2.00 CMC ($2.00 off 2 Colgate Toothpastes)
*Received $2.50 EB on each
Final Price = $.15 each after tax
(Marked $2.50 each for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 2 for $2.50 each on FB on 7/24/16
Profit = $4.70

Colgate 360 Total Advanced Toothbrush (Bought 4)
Regular Price $5.99 each
-$2.50 Sale Price Each
*Received $2.50 EB on each
Final Price = $1.22 each after tax
(Marked $2.50 each for rummage sale)
*ETA - Sold 3 for $2.50 each at 9/23/16 rummage sale
*ETA - Sold 1 for $2.50 at 10/1/16 rummage sale
Profit = $5.12

Skintimate Shave Foam 2-7oz, 2-8.4oz (Bought 4)
Regular Price $3.29 each
*Received $3.00 EB for buying 2
Final Price = $2.00 each after tax
(Keeping these - They only had 2 of the bonus size or I would have got more of those)

Lawn Chairs (Bought 2, not pictured)
Regular Price $14.99 Each
-$14.99 BOGO Free
Final Price = $7.98 each after tax
(Keeping these - Our chairs are shot so we really needed new ones)

Everything that I bought to sell in this entry has been sold! Total profit = $9.82

Time off and Apts.

May 23rd, 2016 at 09:40 pm

My birthday is in June and I previously had always taken off the whole week. It's nice to have the time to relax and also to get stuff done around the house, etc. But this year MO has to work so I don't want to burn up the whole week of PTO when he won't be around to enjoy it with. My BD is on a Tuesday, so I decided to take off the Monday-Wednesday and go back to work for Thurs-Fri.

For that Monday I am going back to my home town an hr away and I made a rt eye apt, yearly exam, and a haircut. My rt eye exam and yearly exam will be free under my insurance so good to get those out of the way, and I also have an allowance for glasses to use at that time too.

I am hoping I will also have time to go to lunch with a friend and take my nephew to do something fun. He is going to be turning 6 and his BD is the day after mine. Smile

Then on my BD I will go get my free lunch at a yummy local Mexican restaurant and have softball that evening.

Wednesday I can sleep in and relax before going back to work.

Excited for some time off!

$20K Update - Paid for Jeep

May 23rd, 2016 at 09:02 pm

We took most of the money out of savings to pay for the Jeep Liberty. We will pay the last little amount on the Jeep once we receive rent for June.

I really hate having savings this low! Can't wait to get going back up!!

Current Balance $6,020.00
-$4200.00 Paying for Jeep Liberty
+$25.00 MO Payday to Our Savings
+$25.00 My Payday to Mom Loan Payoff
+$30.00 To GC Savings to keep minimum balance
Balance $1,900.00

Local Savings $105.00
GC Savings $105.00
Capital 360 Savings (US) $275.00
Capital 360 Savings (Mom Loan Payback Account)$160.00
Capital 360 Savings (Rental Deposit Account) $1255.00
Total Savings = $1,900.00


52 Week Challenge (I know we have more in this now, but I don't have it with me right now)
2016 - Week 13 $66 (total) + $12 +$13 (deposit)=$91
(Weeks 46-52 are also paid already $343)

"Extra" Roomate moved out....shoooooot!

May 23rd, 2016 at 12:04 am

We have had a young man living in our basement for about 2 yrs now. When he moved in shortly after MO and I started dating, he was an employee and friend of MO's, since then he has gotten a new, higher paying job, but continued to live in our basement and pays a flat $400 a month. About a year ago the first guys cousin got placed up here by his job and moved up here, he was supposed to only be here a few weeks and it ended up being around a year (I can't remember exactly when he moved up). He was also paying $400 a month for rent. This was great extra money for us, and we always treated his rent as extra income and put it directly into savings or towards debt. Yesterday the cousin was laid off of his job so moved back to his home city till he gets his next assignment. Shoooooot!

That was super easy extra money and was a huge help in meeting our goals.....oh well. We are planning on making that extra room into a workout room as it is very large in the basement so it is cooler, and also has hard flooring so easier for working out. We will move the elliptical, total gym and weight bench in there soon.

Going to try to get back into FB sales to try to compensate for that missing income.

We bought the Jeep Liberty!

May 20th, 2016 at 08:47 pm

Well we have a new vehicle! We discussed it thoroughly and I think we made the best decision for our family. I really love it!



So we got this 2004 Jeep Liberty. Per Kelly Blue Book the value is $6460, the dealer had it priced at $5900, and we were able to get them to go down to $5200. We tried for $5000, but they couldn't go down that far, however they did through in a free car starter which is definitely a great bonus here in ND!

I really think we got a great deal. The biggest factor that pushed me towards the purchase was thinking about when one of our other vehicles does die, will I be willing to spend $15K-$20K for an SVU type vehicle? No I wouldn't. I just think that is way too much to spend, even if I can afford it and I already have the money saved up, I just can't spend that much on a vehicle for myself. So the fact that the type of vehicle I want is available for only $5200 is something I didn't want to pass up after I weighed the pros and cons.

We have a two stall garage, but each of the stalls is double depth, so we can fit 4 vehicles in there. So MO cleaned out the back corner and parked his Cavalier there, and cancelled the insurance on it. We won't be driving that car at all at this time. We then parked the new Liberty behind the Cavalier, and we will be driving that sparingly (trips, car pools, when we need 4WD etc.) We plan on mainly driving my Malibu to work for MO, softball, errands etc. Once that car dies then we will put the insurance back on the Cavalier and start using it again. (Yes we will make sure it still gets oil changes, tune-ups when needed). Cancelling the insurance on the Cavalier will save us $200 per year, which will cover about 1/2 of the insurance cost for the Liberty. We did discuss selling one of the cars, but the small amount we would get for them really wouldn't make sense. They are worth way more to us as drivable vehicles, then they would be to sell them for $1000 or less.

We will be taking the money out of savings to pay for the Liberty, so no new debt. We also discussed that we will not be going to the casino until we have our savings back to the $5K it was at before we purchased the new vehicle. We should be back to where we need to be by the mid/end of summer, and then full steam ahead on bulking up savings!

Debt Update - 5/13/16

May 19th, 2016 at 06:38 pm

Here is my update with the Appliances and the HELOC paid off! Even though the HELOC is just "moved" it still feels great to see it at $0!


Celebrations for this update:
-Total debt went down $2,563.86 in the last 2 weeks!
-Appliances Loan is paid off!
-HELOC is paid off!
-Store Loan went under the next $1000 mark!
-Our Mortgage went under the next $1000 mark!
-Total debt went under $540K!

We were in need of a tiller and were shopping around, my MIL had one that she said we could just have as she has a lot of medical issues and doesn't do much for gardening anymore. She owes MO $450 that she borrowed from him last year. I suggested that even though she was willing to give us the tiller for free, to just say that it was an even trade for the tiller to pay off the loan. So now we have a tiller and we don't have to worry about that loan anymore (she had only made one payment on it in the whole year and it was causing some anxiety/awkwardness, so I am glad we don't have to worry about it anymore). The tiller was only 2 yrs old and still had a tag on it for $750, so I think it was a good deal for all.

We plan on lumping our savings in our Cap360 Savings to make a big payoff to the new Mom Loan on 1-2 yrs. In the meantime we will just be making regular payments on everything for now


Student Loan $0
Payback Savings $0
David's Bridal $0
Scheel's Card $0
Total Rewards $0
LOC - US Bank $0
Ring Iddeal $0
Best Buy $0
HELOC $0
Store Loan $11,897.25
Mom Loan #2 $28,000.00
MO Mortgage $87,368.48
My Mortgage $156,600.00
Our Mortgage $253,943.88
Total = $537,809.61

Down $2,563.86 in the last 2 weeks!!

Starting total was $587,351.27
$49,541.66 paid off since 6/19/15 (including downpayment on house).

We have $135.00 in a savings account to pay off the Mom Loan, so the amount we still owe that is $27,865.00.

$20K Update

May 18th, 2016 at 01:22 pm

Current Balance $5,395.00
+$600.00 Casino Wins
+$25.00 MO Payday to Our Savings
Balance $6,020.00

Local Savings $2305.00
GC Savings $2,075.00
Capital 360 Savings (US) $250.00
Capital 360 Savings (Mom Loan Payback Account)$135.00
Capital 360 Savings (Rental Deposit Account) $1255.00
Total Savings = $6,020.00

52 Week Challenge
2016 - Week 13 $66 (total) + $12 +$13 (deposit)=$91
(Weeks 46-52 are also paid already $343)

My husband has the new car bug!

May 17th, 2016 at 09:35 pm

My husband has gotten a wild hair about getting a new (to us) vehicle. I don't even know where this came from..... I really want to continue to focus on getting things paid off.

We currently have 2 cars and 1 truck. All 3 are 2002s, 14 year old. All 3 have well over 150K miles (my car has 191K, not sure exactly what the other 2 have, but I know it's over 150K). And honestly that doesn't bother me at all. They get me where they need to go. As long as I have heat/AC and hopefully cruise control I am fine. They all have minor (and a some major) cosmetic issues, but otherwise fine. I don't mind spending a few $100 a year for tune up issues, you spend those on newer cars as well. Also we have no kids, so we don't have to worry about space issues for day to day or trips etc.

The vehicle he wants us to get is a 2004 Jeep Liberty. It is $5900 and 99K miles. He thinks they will go down on the price. As far as the miles, yes it is a lot, but it is also almost 100K miles LESS then what I am driving now. It looks super nice, we are going to test drive it tomorrow. I almost hope I hate it. MO wants me to have a nicer vehicle with 4 wheel drive (we live in ND and an hr away from the closest city) and also thinks it would be nice to have something bigger as whenever we carpool with anyone we always have to ride with others instead of driving since we have small cars (Malibu and Cavalier). Since we live an hr away from anything we do carpool frequently. We would not be trading in any of our current vehicles as we need a truck, and both of the cars are worth far more to us then they would be as a trade in.

Like anyone else, of course I would love to have a nice, new to me vehicle. But I want to get rid of all this dang debt! I told him IF we do like it and are considering it....#1 He needs to show me where we are fitting 4 vehicles in our garage. #2 Explain to me why 2 people (one of whom works from home!) need 4 vehicles #3 We will not take out more debt, so we would be draining savings. #4 How much will insurance be on the new vehicle #5 NO CASINO

Seeing it typed out makes it pretty darn clear to me that this doesn't make any sense. I will have to work on him. I feel bad saying no as he works so hard and doesn't ask for much, and our vehicles are soooooo old, but I really just think this is an unnecessary want right now.

I ran this by my WIR friends and they had a good suggestion to get him past this want of rather then getting this "moderate" upgrade now, save up and when one of the cars does die, get something we REALLY want and we can have for a long time. I like that idea. I guess we will see how the test drive goes, but definitely leaning towards waiting as long as possible.

Paid off HELOC! New Mom Loan!

May 9th, 2016 at 07:09 pm

Well we just paid my Mom Loan off last month which put us down to the Appliances Loan ($2K), Store Loan(12K), HELOC ($28K), and then 3 mortgages ($87K, $156K and $254K) (2 rentals and our primary home). We pulled money out of savings last week and paid off the Appliances! YEAH!!!!

We were deciding what to do next as the rest of the debts are quite large amounts. I was talking with my Mom about our options and what we were thinking for our next move towards eliminating this debt....and she offered...again....to loan us money at a low interest rate! This will help us to have the lower interest rate, and help my Mom by providing her a little bit of side income.

Sweet!

So she loaned us $28K at 2% interest for 4 years. Our payments will be $600 per month. I think we can pay it off early again like we did last time, I am thinking 2 years would be a good goal. MO went to the bank today and paid off the HELOC, which was at 3.5% so we will be seeing a little savings in interest overall.

Feels so good to have that HELOC paid off, even if it is just "moved". Smile Now time to attack savings!

$20K Update

May 9th, 2016 at 05:39 pm

Here is the damage after paying off the Appliances Loan. I am super happy to still be over $5000. Now we should be able to just concentrate on savings for awhile and go to town on it. The next bug expense we have to pay for is a cruise we are going on in Sept. We will be paying for it in June, but on the Discover, so won't actually have to take out of savings until July. Hoping to be back over $10K by the end of the year! (By the way.....holy smokes this year is flying by already!)

Current Balance $8,710.00
+$160.00 Reimbursed for Garth Brooks Tickets
+$250.00 May Property Management Pay
+$.12 Cap 360 Interest
+$24.88 Even Out Amount
-$2950.00 Payoff Appliances
-$800.00 4 Weekends in a row out of town
Balance $5,395.00

Local Savings $2305.00
GC Savings $1,475.00
Capital 360 Savings (US) $225.00
Capital 360 Savings (Appliances Payback Account)$135.00
Capital 360 Savings (Rental Deposit Account) $1255.00
Total Savings = $5,395.00

52 Week Challenge
2016 - Week 13 $66 (total) + $12 +$13 (deposit)=$91
(Weeks 46-52 are also paid already $343)

$20K Update

May 2nd, 2016 at 07:42 pm

Savings update is still skewed due to taking out large amounts to pay on the Appliances Loan. We should be paying that off in the next week or so, so then we can update savings with the total taken out.

Current Balance $8,310.00
+$400.00 Rent from extra guy in the basement..lol
Balance $8,710.00

Local Savings $1945.00
GC Savings $5,225.00
Capital 360 Savings (US) $180.00
Capital 360 Savings (Appliances Payback Account)$105.00
Capital 360 Savings (Rental Deposit Account) $1255.00
Total Savings = $8,710.00

52 Week Challenge
2016 - Week 13 $66 (total) + $12 +$13 (deposit)=$91
(Weeks 46-52 are also paid already $343)

Debt Update - 4/29/16

May 2nd, 2016 at 07:24 pm

We are making aggressive payments on the Appliances Loan (mostly taken out of savings) and we should have it paid off by next update! I also got our old fridge cleaned out and will hopefully have it posted for sale either today or tomorrow. We are asking $800 and that would be a great chunk for debt payoff or savings!!

Celebrations for this update:
-Total debt went down $1,332.66 in the last 2 weeks!
-Appliances Loan is now under $2K!
-HELOC went under the next $1000 mark!



Student Loan $0
Payback Savings $0
David's Bridal $0
Scheel's Card $0
Total Rewards $0
LOC - US Bank $0
Ring Iddeal $0
Mom Loan $0
Best Buy $1950.00
Store Loan $12,009.22
HELOC $27,832.96
MO Mortgage $87,368.48
My Mortgage $156,900.00
Our Mortgage $254,312.81
Total = $540,373.47

Down $1,332.66 in the last 2 weeks!!

Starting total was $587,351.27
$46,977.80 paid off since 6/19/15 (including downpayment on house).

We have $1350.00 in a savings account to pay off the appliances, so the amount we still owe that is $600.00.