Archive results for “April 2009f 2009”

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Where Did They Go?

I’ve been blogging over three years now. In that time, I have watched many personal finance bloggers come and go. It’s hard, especially when you are really into their story or maybe you just love their style (the Bizarros come to mind – they always cracked me up!).

Sometimes a blog is just abandoned with no new posts. Sometimes a blog is taken offline. Sometimes there is an explanation. Sometimes there is none.

In any case, it’s hard to see them go.

Family Man at Another Day of Life recently decided to stop blogging. His blog is still online, but he wrote a post about what happened…

I am not walking away, just stepping away. Not saying good bye, but also not promising a daily post, or X number of posts each week. For now I need to lay the groundwork for Another Day of Life, my life, my family’s life and build tomorrow for all of us.

I think Family Man is right on the button with thinking that time is a big factor as to why some bloggers have stopped blogging. Then there are bloggers that are forced to shut their blog down (like what happened to JW at Need to Be Debt Free). Whatever the reason, it is sad to see them go and you wonder how they are doing.

The great thing about the blogosphere is that there are so many views…so many people writing about their thoughts and life. I have found so many useful tidbits of information from other bloggers. I have also found inspiration or was led to an “ah-ha!” moment, like this one from Basil Bizarro the day he and Bianca signed off from their blog…

The one thing from this amazing experience that resonated with me deepest is this: gratitude. Look within your lives, because everything you need is right there. And for the most part, free.

I love finance books and I have read some great ones about debt reduction. But bloggers have that personal connection that isn’t normally found in books. I think that’s why I’ve found it so hard when the blogs I used to follow shut down or go on hiatus. At the same time, I understand.

Thanks to the reader who sent me an email about Family Man’s post!

Posted by Tricia on April 15, 2009 at 11:23 PM in Blogging Buddies | 7 Comments »
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A Big Welcome to Rebekah!!

If you haven’t yet, make sure you read this post from Rebekah – the new Blogging Away Debt blogger. No, we haven’t paid the rest of our credit card debt off yet – but we’re almost there. Beks and I will be blogging side by side for a while as we work to finish off the last of our credit card debt.

It feels very weird having someone else blog on here. At the same time, it’s very exciting! My dream for this blog was to have it do exactly what is happening – it will always have someone blogging away their debt – someone starting and then finishing their debt reduction journey.

I think all of you will love Beks and I know she will love all of you. You have been amazing, and even intuitive at times. When I happened to be down, I’d get an email that would help lift me up. Words cannot express how very thankful I am. I have been very, very fortunate with all of you.

Welcome aboard, Beks!!!

Posted by Tricia on April 15, 2009 at 8:36 AM in Blogging Buddies | 2 Comments »
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Beginning My Blogging Away Debt Journey

My name is Rebekah and I guess I should tell you a little about myself right? I am 27 years old and have been married to my fabulous husband for four years. We live in sunny San Diego California where we purchased our first home over a year ago – on an interest only loan. We lived in blissful ignorance of our snowballing debt problem until I wrote yet another check to a credit card and realized our payment wasn’t even making a dent in the fast accumulating balance. If we continued to spend, we would hit all our credit limits in less than 6 months. This terrified me… especially since it only took us four years to get here.

Before my husband and I married, his wise grandfather sat us down to share what he thought was the most important marital advice we would get, “Always live below your means and never, NEVER buy anything on credit. Save a little each month and pay cash for everything.” As young 20 something know-it-all’s, we married and immediately financed two cars, purchased a home even though he begged us to wait, and continued to use our credit cards. My biggest regret is the fact that I ignored the true wisdom of a man whose sole goal was to help me. I couldn’t be sorrier.

My husband and I started to attend a financial counseling course and felt that, for once, we may have a debt free future. Unfortunately, a week after starting the course, the company I worked for closed and our world took a tailspin. Suddenly those bills we could easily pay in the past looked unreasonably daunting. On top of everything, three large corporations in San Diego conducted major cuts and flooded the market with job seekers.

In searching with intense fervor for jobs in the past, a deep sense of defeat hung over my head and I couldn’t help but feel that I was a failure when I wasn’t able to land them. BUT, there is a light at the end of the tunnel! We buckled our budget, worked odd jobs and long hours, and we not only paid our car payments and credit cards…we paid our mortgage payment too! Even when I am without a job, somehow we’re surviving!

I know what it’s like to feel overwhelmed. I know what it’s like to cry every single day. I know what it’s like to cringe at the sound of a mail carrier bringing another load of bills. I know what it’s like to feel as though I will never break free from the heavy thumb of debt but…

I know I can do it.

Posted by Beks on April 15, 2009 at 12:19 AM in Debt Updates | 22 Comments »
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Simple…Yet Very Nice

The weather yesterday was absolutely beautiful. Instead of being in the house the later part of the day cooking a big ham meal, we decided to head out for a picnic. We still had ham, but it was with crackers and cheese. Instead of sitting at our kitchen table to eat, we sat in the car to eat (a little too chilly to eat outside) and enjoyed a lake view.

The rest of the day included making a sand castle, watching wildlife, playing ball and well…just spending some nice time together.

I have to share something our son said. In Michigan, we have a can/bottle deposit of 10 cents. There was one summer where we went walking along a few roads and picked them up to make a few extra dollars and get some exercise. Spring is the perfect time to do it since you find a lot after the snow melts.

We were driving down a road and saw a few cans on the side of the road. Then another…and another. My son said, “They are like Easter eggs…we can go walking and see what we can find!” I thought it was too cute. It was getting late in the day, so we didn’t do it. It probably would have paid for our gas money for the day but we did make 30 cents just from what we found when we stopped at a few parks.

A simple Easter…yet very nice

Posted by Tricia on April 13, 2009 at 11:33 PM in Life Experiences | 1 Comment »
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Easter Spending

Easter spending this year in our household is more practical. Gone are the Easter baskets that you only use once a year and in are the plastic containers that can be reused for many, many things. That meant no Easter grass as well (that has an additional bonus of not finding it around the house for weeks after Easter). Every component in the basket we made for our son was carefully thought out.

I made a boo-boo, though. I waited until the last minute to get things ready and I couldn’t find our plastic eggs. They weren’t where they should have been and now I’m starting to wonder if they were sold during one of our garage sales. I had to take a special trip to get some.

I hope everyone has a wonderful day tomorrow!

Posted by Tricia on April 11, 2009 at 11:58 PM in Spending Money | Comment First »
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Unexpected Discount

I mentioned earlier today that we had a little bit of help with our latest debt payment. You may recall that I withdrew $400 from our savings account to make sure we could pay in full for some medical expenses that our health insurance wouldn’t cover.

They knew that our health insurance wouldn’t cover the expense and they ended up giving us a significant discount. It blew me away. I wrote out the check and gave a heart-felt thank you.

A decision had to be made on what to do with that extra money that we withdrew. Should we put it back to our savings or should we use it towards our debt? In my mind, the money was already allocated to medical expenses. Sometimes I take a while for me to shift gears and it took a few days to make a decision. We decided to put it towards our debt and included it with this latest payment.

Now it’s time to see how much more we can pay off without touching the $3,400 we have in our savings. It’s already the 10th! Yikes!

Posted by Tricia on April 10, 2009 at 10:10 PM in Life Experiences | 7 Comments »
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Credit Card Debt Update – $1,649

Just popping in quickly to give a credit card debt update. We were able to pay $850 more towards our debt and our total is now at $1,649. I actually updated the total this morning but ran out of time to write a post before work.

I will be writing more tonight about where a portion of the $850 came from…

Posted by Tricia on April 10, 2009 at 1:19 PM in Debt Updates | 10 Comments »
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About This Site

My Debt

Original Debt: $38,495.86
Added Debt: $1,781.50
Total Debt: $40,277.36
Paid: $36,084.36
Remaining: $4,193.00
Broken Down
Auto Loan 1: $0.00
Credit Card: $0.00
Student Loan: $4,193.00
Auto Loan 2: $0.00
Vet Loan: $0.00

Blogging Away Debt

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