Well, while the entire is bracing for a recession, I'm in the process of vigorously paying down debt as soon as possible. I have managed to pay down about $4,802.78 for the month of January, I have cut every expense that I had some control over it.

The credit cards that are left are

Brooke Savings at $4516.75
Home Depot Improvement Loan at $3126.95 and
Lowes at $1488.00
for a total of $9131.70

Hopefully I can continue this momentum into February and by April be CC Free!!!!

I have also started contributing to my Roth IRA on a weekly basis as an automatic deduction from my paycheck.

See everyone next month and you guys are fuel that keeps me going. Thanks again for the comments.

December was overall a slow month for me, I took a week one vacation on the beginning so I was not able to pay more debt that I wanted. I did meet my goal to be under $40,000 in total debt.

This month I need to finish paying off Lowe's which the free ride expires and start tagging on Home Depot which I should be done by end of February. The only one left then in credit card will be Brooke Savings which according to my trajectory I will be done by May or June and its all about the Home Equity then.

Goals for 2009.
1. Pay off All Credit Card Debt
2. Pay off HELOC
3. Fully Fund Roth IRA
4. Start paying off Car Loan and be done by mid 2010

November has been a good month for me overall. I managed to decrease my debt by $3657.04. I am starting to feel really good about ending 08 being under 40k, maybe even in the low 39s.

My AMEX is totally gone. I have zeroed and only using for budgeted expenses including cell phone/gasoline charges because it returns 5% cash back as statement credit everyone.

Chase FreeDOM has been gone for a while and only using for groceries and other budget expenses. It gives me 3% back plus a 25% bonus when i reach $200.00. This year I have received back $500.00

Lowes/Home Depot Charge Cards are my next target, my 0% expires in Feb, so I need too seriously destroy it by then. Home Depot is on a fixed 7.9% for the full length.

HELOC is on a variable interest based on prime, since it has gone down significantly, i am paying 4% on this and since we are going to be on this slow-growth for a little while, i am sure the interest rates will be down also until the inflation starts kicking in.

I have 27 months left to pay off all my short-term debt including CC/Auto Loan.

I'll see you guys next month.

I am finally getting my wheels rolling again, this month i was able to do beans and rice and rice and beans. Traded in my expensive BMW gas consuming 6 cylinder twin-turbo for a Toyota Hybrid SUV that does an average of 30 MPG. My gas consumption went down 60% in October alone.

My Year End Goals still hold:

* Pay off AMEX Completely - No longer carry a balance.
* My Chase Freedom is already on a spend only what can be paid at end of month and my bill is due usually on the middle off the month, so there is usually a balance on it that gets paid every bill cycle.
* Make a serious noticeable dent on my Home Depot Home Improvement Line and Brooke Savings Visa.

I want to start 09 under 40k.

Well, here goes another month and i finally finished reconciling the month of August and the results was a little under of what i expected, I was going for $5000.00 as this was a busy month for business wise. Lets hope september gets to be a great month and i am almost where i was before my wife's surgery so far so good..

Looking into crushing Amex this month and star tagging Brooke Savings Visa this month.

2008 Year End Goals
Pay off Amex
Pay off Brooke Savings

Hello Everyone,

July has been an outstanding month Spending wise. Monthly expenses was down because of alot of cutting back due to wife's surgery. August & September will be good months also spending wise because not alot of time to go do grocery shopping and buying extra stuff. we will pretty much eat whatever we have until it totally runs out and this is good so i can pick up some steam again and be back where i was in June.

I have attacked mostly the Amex Debt because of the high interest rate at 12.9%. Hopefully i can elimate that this month. The next goal is Brooke Savings Visa where most of the medical costs went. Half of the debt is tied to prime rate and the other half is at 12.15% so i need to tag team that bad boy before rates start going up.

Anyway, i'll see you guys next month

I'm picking up momentum in this debt thing and have surpassed $10,000.00 in debt paid off this year. My next bench mark is $20k and hope to have that in another few months.

My Chase Freedom is on a Use/Pay system. I am using to purchase groceries as i receive 3% back in form of rebates + 25% bonus when reaches $200.00

I have knocked about $2400 from AMEX alone, hopefully this month I CAN FINISH IT!!!!

I am GAZELLE INTENSE and the more I pay, the more i want to pay to be done....

This was a month that i tried to save as much as I can and not let temptation lead my way.

For the first time in a long time, i am now under $50k in debt. Hopefully if i can continue this track i'll be somewhere around $30k at the end of the year.

I am now attacking my American Express Card like there is no tomorrow and want to have that paid in 2-3 months time.....

I have manage to pay another two credit cards.

I have paid the Juniper and Best Buy.

I have another $1000 to receive from my rent payment will will probably send that to the Lowe's with this weeks salary to pay off the lowe's.

I have also taken the emergency fund to pay off the card. Since I want to tag every possible little income to pay off my debt ASAP. Every time i have 1000, i'll send it to pay off the card.

Funds
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I have started to streamline my financial life.

I have combined my Funds to one big EF/LT Fund. I have transfered all the balances into an EmigrantDirect acct that is paying a misly 2.75% APR.

The total amount I have in the account is $909.01

Real Estate
------------
I received my bi-yearly tax bill remainder for FY08. A whooping $1972.00 which I have been putting away.

Water bill went down from $230.00 to $185.00 for the quarter. This is the lowest i have ever received for a water bill. I have managed to go from $400.00/quarter to half of that. Little things come a long way.

I have spent the day on my front garden putting some top soil and re-seeding my lawn so i can have a decent lawn this summer.

CC#1 is completely paid off. 1527.34 with fin charges... Next Target is CC#7...

I am so proud...

This month ended very well for me. I had about 28% of my total income left for me to do whatever which equaled about $3356.23

I contributed
$15.79 to my Emergency Fund (0.170%)
$18.78 to my Short Term Fund(0.199%)
$64.18 to my Long Term Fund (0.691%)
for a total of (1.060%). I hope to be able to this every month. I figure i calculate a little percentage then it seems like its a TAX.

About $900.00, I left in my Cash Reserve acct at Etrade. and the remainder i sent in to blitz CC Debt... Hopefully i can do this every month...

Woohoo, one more credit card paid... I am on a roll, hopefully next month i will be able to cancel the balance on my AMEX Blue which is $2663.10....
The way i am working is i am using MS Money to plot out based on Interest Rate...

Next Month,
Amex $2663.10
Juniper $1367.47
BBuy $794.88 ( No Interest Plan )

Cheer for me... heh

Finally, E*Trade got my application right, after 22 days, I finally spoke with someone that knew what she was talking about and got it done. After trying to speak their CSR dept over-seas which I rate (substandard) to what a bank should have, doesn't matter if you have no branches or branches, you should have people that know what they are talking about. But anyway, i finally can have my Max-Rate checking for my DBA for checks I have outstanding which i totally love, before i used to have 9-11k on the acct average every month and no interest, i least now i can earn a little bit....

After playing around with some numbers. I have set some goals for my Emer Funds.

For my Cash Reserve i want to have $24,000.00 - I'm almost half way with $11,315.44. about 47% there.
For my Emergency Fund(Household Maintenance/Car Maintenance) I have set $12,000.00 with $104.87 in acct for that( it will be Keep the Change Transfers + Whatever is leftover on my household Budget. and Rainy Day/Vacation Fund is set at $6,000.00 with $184.45 - This is everything that I save with Coupons, Credit Card Rebates (ie. 5% cashback on Gas, Cell Phone Bill through AMEX SimplyCash) (3% on Groceries through Chase FreeDOM) and 1% on everything else. I opted for cash instead of points because Cash, i see everyday, points, it takes an eternity to see any thing relevant that can be done... I'll post an update on this next month to see how i am handling this agressive goals. My Debt is as follows

$ 54,514.07 - Unsecured Debt
$410,289.85 - Mortgage

I been doing some research into store insurance on merchandise and on the back of my head, this idea has been bothering me. I'm thinking of setting up my own Mini Insurance Company. Take the money that the store charges for insurance. ie. New Laptop ($149.99), take that money deposit into this insurance account(ing/emigrant works great), then another product and etc... I have been attacked at all these stores trying to offer you extended coverage (very profitable) and I am about to chip away at their profit since I buy alot of electronics in general. I remember paying $300 to insurance my Plasma TV for 3 years a few years back. The TV is still Humming and there is no holding back. I could have taken that money in put at these online savings acct and have around 330-340 with the interest compound... The product breaks down, i have a insurance..

I have an acct with BofA which I use mostly for house expenses.. Taxes.. Insurance.. Mortgage because of the Ease of Access to Deposit the money I receive from my Renter + plus a part time I Job I have. Buy groceries with the Debit card and recently signed up for the KTC, I think that is a very clever idea. You figure, you are chipping away cents here and there and it builds up. I'm already at almost $100.00 just with little change + the 10% match that BofA does (you have to take everything your bank gives) and this will be my official Rainy Day Fund/Gifts fund. Lets see this holds up 12 months from now. I figure its an easy non-intrusive way to save.

What terrible csr dept that e*trade bank has. I have spoken with about 6-7 diff people from diff locations(accents) and everyone tells me something different than its on the web site. I'm thinking of parking some cash for my operating account, just because, their checking acct is paying 3%, more than what BofA is paying 0.01% which, come on, is unreliastic. and while payment is in transit, i can earn a little here and there.. Counting the pennies guys, counting the pennies... thats where it starts...