I must say, I am very excited!! Usually I'm the only one who thinks about our finances, where's the money going, who are we paying, who are we not paying, etc. Well, I've been really bored at work today and have been reading other people's blogs, and I was very inspired by one of them that I think will help my husband and I actually put money away, even though my original goal was to pay off debt. But I guess you can do both at the same time.
So, I called my husband because I was absolutely amazed that this particular person was able to save a little over $20k in one year, and she only started off with $20. So, as of tomorrow, my husband and I are going to start our new challenge.
Every time I save at the grocery story, I'm taking that cash and putting it in a jar. Everyday that I don't buy a coffee, I'm putting $2.00 in a jar, every change I find, goes in the jar, any unexpected monies that come are way, in the jar--you get the picture. I doubt we'll reach $20k like that person did, but anything right now is better than what we have. And the more money I save, the more I can pay off--and then start all over again with the saving. It's just a vicious cirle, but I'm really excited about all of this and hope that we can stick to it!

And again, any helpful tips are very greatly appreciated!

P.S.--I've only spent $2.00 on coffee so far today, and my husband $15.01 on gas. I know those totals are going to change by the end of the night because we have to get takeout for dinner, and off course, hubby's beer!! lol

So, I just started this blog yesterday and already I've received a lot of great tips on ways to save and get rid of debt. thanks to all!!
But, so far on my first day of tracking my daily expenses, my first thought was ouch!!!!! Here goes:
diapers--$13.48 (buy 1, get 1 50%-CVS brand)
gas-- $20.00
smokes-- $5.12
car wash-$8.00
coffee-- $2.00
Vit. H2O-$1.49
TOTAL----$50.09

Husband
lunch--$2.00
coffee-$2.00
beer---$3.00
TOTAL--$7.00

My husband did a lot better than I did. So, I determined the unnecessary spending, on my part anyway, were the cigarettes (time to quit), car wash, coffee, and Vitamin Water. It's definitely going to take time, but I will definitely be making an effort to cut down on the extras.

Wish me luck!!!

This is pretty cool....I read about financial blogs in our local paper and how people basically counsel themselves in getting rid of debt and eventually actually putting money away. So, I thought I'd give it a try and see how it works out.
My husband and I are in major debt. We recently lost a 3-family to foreclosure and that put is in the hole--big time. So, my goal for this coming year is to pay off atleast 10 of our smaller bills so that way I can concentrate on the bigger ones after.
So, here goes!! These are our debts.
credit cards--$9,829.21
$12,105.06
$186.01
$233.10
$450.95
car loan $900.00
overdraft $1,493.01
medical bills-$363.95
$132.48
$310.00
$302.42
$262.20
$237.96
home equity $58,000.00
grandparents--$5,500.00
mom $1,500.00
Total--$91,806.35

OUCH!!!! It hurts to see that figure. So, my goal is to pay off all the medical bills, car loan, and the 3 smaller credit cards. And hopefully when I get my taxes done (eventually), I can pay my grandparents whatever I can.
So how's that for debt!!! I'm really hoping this works because I hate to know that all our money goes towards bills and not savings.