I get drowsy at work and drink energy drinks to stay coherent – though I use the word ‘coherent’ loosely. It’s normal to randomly start singing ‘Jimmy Crack Corn’ at work right?

I counteract this sleep loss with sleeping pills. Makes sense right? OR, I could ‘theoretically’ stay awake after taking the twice the recommended dose of sleeping pills and then find myself suffering from the world’s worst sleep hangover known to man.

This is usually the start to a vicious cycle where I don’t sleep due to stress and then stress about not sleeping which causes me to not sleep at all. My doctor finds this cycle amusing – but maybe it’s because last time I sang ‘Oops I did it again’ in the waiting room and played hopscotch in the parking lot with tongue depressors – and tells me I need to reduce my stress levels.

Thanks Captain Obvious.

And then, unfortunately for you, I write posts that make sense to me… but uh… probably not to you.

Today I exercised, avoided caffeine, alcohol, and sugar, and tried to think of butterflies and rainbows but alas… it’s 2 AM and I’m here… awake.

So here’s the question of the day what are your secrets to sleep?

Thursday I went running and felt a painful pop in my left knee. I fell, sat on the concrete for a bit, and then wished I hadn’t worked so hard to teach my dogs not to pull on their leashes. I was hoping to sprawl out on the ground and have them pull my limp body home like sled dogs. Who knew well behaved dogs could be the bane of my existence?

I was feeling generous – so I gave myself 36 hours to recover.

Saturday morning, the weather was far too amazing to stay inside. I grabbed the dogs and took them to the dog park. Our park has big, beautiful trees that shade a running path. Apparently I overcompensated for my faulty knee… and pulled a groin muscle on my right side.

As if it’s not bad enough that my dogs can’t double as a Siberian sled team, both injuries happened about 3 miles from home. Why? So I could spend an hour each time dragging myself home while learning a life lesson about pushing too hard.

Focus can be great. But too much of it can be dangerous.

For all you type A personalities out there (*waving my arm*)… take a break.

When I get moderately stressed, the skin around my ears bleeds from an odd rubbing habit I’ve had since I was a kid.

When I get really stressed, my body goes into a self-induced coma.

This job loss has me REALLY stressed.

It’s not a big deal, I just don’t think I should operate any heavy equipment or walk in high heels. In fact, it’s kinda nice. If I ever require surgery, just tell me I’ve got to figure out a way to pay cash for the doctors and I’ll pass right out. I could save a fortune on an anesthesiologist.

My husband is dealing with it exactly as I expected – with a huge smile on his face. I married the eternal optimist. Some people are blessed with the ability to see only the positive in situations, and he’s one of those people. He’s been active in his job search and has been an all around very pleasant person.

It’s annoying as hell.

But at least I get to sleep through it.

Kidding!

It was always about who dated first, who dated most, who was the skinniest, who was the most tan, who traveled the most, who could annoy mom and pop the fastest…and on and on.

I thought that since ten years has passed since we lived together, we perhaps…

actually grew up.

Hah.

As we sat at my brother’s wedding, my sister said, ‘How’s your debt snowball? I think I might be done in late fall of 2010. I’m winning!’

To which I immediately responded, ‘You are soooo immature. This isn’t a race. We aren’t 12 anymore.’

Needless to say, I secretly went home, looked for anything and everything to sell and re-adjusted my budget in an attempt to somehow pull a payoff date of EARLY fall.

Just a heads up – when it comes to relationships between sisters, you never grow up.

He’s been dealing with a constant barrage of advice from his divorced co-workers – all telling him he’s making a mistake getting married. Not because he’s marrying the wrong girl, but because they think marriage in general is a mistake.

To my brother,

I remember how nervous I was on my wedding day. I wasn’t sure if my marriage would work. I was scared to fail at something so big.

Five years later, I can tell you this…

It’s worth it.

The laughter, the fun, the tears, the fights…

It’s all worth it.

Chris sent me a text today that said, ‘After almost 5 years of marriage, I love you more today than I did when we first started this adventure.’ I picked a great guy and I’ve been fortunate to have an amazing five years. I am so so very blessed with marriage.

You picked a great girl. You’re in for a great adventure.

Happy Wedding Day.

I’m still sick.

My doctor says she can squeeze me in on Monday.

If I’m still sick by Monday, I’ll shoot myself and save her the trouble of an insurance claim (totally kidding folks, it’s the fever talking).

I was able to drag myself into work today. I completely forgot about the pre-scheduled site visit between me and oh… 25 or so other people.

Hmm. Perhaps showering would have been a good idea.

I scrambled to meet the project manager who took a look at my shoes and said, ‘Thank God! A woman with sense. Thanks for wearing closed toed shoes. Whenever we go on job walks, all the women wear open toed shoes and it’s very dangerous.’

I did not see the necessity in mentioning that my sick nauseated 5 in the morning haze prevented me from finding my cute pink strappy sandals… or even a hair brush for that matter.

Seven hours of 100 degree heat and ‘Yes’, ‘No’, ‘Maybe’, and ‘That’s only legal in Thailand’ later, I was allowed to return home.

Sorry no financial updates. My brain is a blob and I plan on spending the next 48 hours under my big fluffy comforter.

Have a good weekend.

One of the guys who attended the bachelor party in Mexico got the entire bachelor party sick. Once home, they quickly spread the flu to their spouses… myself included.

Currently, I’m sitting with a napkin up my nose (I ran out of tissue about 3 hours ago) and I haven’t showered. Fortunately, my husband pretends not to notice.

Sorry but I’m going back to bed. I thought you weren’t supposed to get sick in the summer!!

Thursday’s post made me realize how silly it was that I didn’t know how, and in these boring months between payoffs, I find myself needing a distraction.

I learned a few things:

1. Bikini tops, though amusing to community pool staff, are not conducive to learning how to swim.
2. It takes an aquaphobic person 17 minutes to be coerced into a 3 ½ foot lap pool.
3. My husband is a very patient man.
4. Swimming, biking, and running on the same day with untrained muscles will cause pain that rivals injuries sustained in a roll over car accident.

As I walk with a limp today, I can’t help but compare this pain to the pain I felt when starting my journey toward a debt free future. It’s painful now and it will continue to be painful in the future. It will never be easy. If it were easy, everyone would be debt free and physically fit.

Pain is a sign of growing, learning, and taking responsibility for the future.

What is my worst financial pain? Not being able to travel. I don’t miss my credit card balance, but I miss the yearly trips that came with it.

What is your worst financial pain? What do you miss the most?

I don’t know how to swim.

I won’t drown, I’m simply limited to a doggie paddle and as it turns out, that won’t get me very far.

Even worse, I SHOULD know how to swim. My father set a state record in competitive swimming. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I married a competitive swimmer who also played water polo.

Unfortunately, I realized that three of the six weeks before the triathlon are blacked out for wedding events and will severely cut down on my preparedness – and I have yet to stick a toe in water. I turned my friend down but now I’m looking at the next one in March and… I think I can do it.

My first summer out of college, I flew to visit my sister living in Ireland. I had no money and no job, but this was my first opportunity to see my sister who I hadn’t seen in a few years.

We drank pints of Guinness in dodgy bars, ate Irish/Chinese food, explored the entire island, and somehow crashed her car into a fence. We sat on the edge of the Cliffs of Moher while David Gray sang ‘This Years Love’ from our cheap speakers. I had just started dating someone new (I later married that same fabulous man) and couldn’t imagine a world happier than mine at that moment. I had the most memorable trip of my life… and my MasterCard footed the $1,500 bill.

I know there are many more memorable trips in my future (trips I will save up CASH to pay for) but I don’t regret that ‘foolish’ spending. As I’m paying down my credit card, I try to remember that at least part of that payment is going toward one of the best times in my life. It takes a little bit of the angry bite out of those payments.

Is there something you don’t regret pulling out your Visa buy?

…
So who’s to worry
If our hearts get torn
When that hurt gets thrown
Don’t you know this life goes on
And won’t you kiss me
On that midnight street
Sweep me off my feet
Singing ain’t this life so sweet
…

My Top 5 Reasons Why Living Within Your Means (Especially While Broke) is Totally and Completely Awesome

#1) For once in my life, I’m not all that concerned about a purse snatching. The days of credit cards in my wallet are long gone. If a thief can profit off my purse containing only a Costco card, a snotty tissue, and a pair of tweezers… more power to him.

#2) My husband and I get to try ‘experimental’ cuisine!

The old me used to take grocery lists to the store with silly items like: Expensive pre-cooked chicken, organic herbs, fine chocolate, $3 avocados…

Now my list reads: Anything on sale.

If anyone knows a good recipe for pigs intestine, Safeway brand peanut butter, and Ragu pasta sauce, please pass it my way.

#3) When solicitors come to my door peddling everything from magazine subscriptions to pest control, I can say, ‘We can’t afford it at this time’ and for the first time, it isn’t a bold faced lie.

#4) I finally have a sense of value. I value everything I have worked for….

And I think about how much I could get for it on EBay.

If my husband comes home tonight and all the furniture is gone…

I didn’t auction it off, we were robbed. Or at least, that’s my story.

#5) My husband and I are forming a tighter bond in our marriage. No, we aren’t ‘holding to each other during these trying times’ or whatever romantic notion you have, we simply cut back on our cable tv. Since neither of us are fans of the Public Broadcasting Telethon nor the 50,000th re-run of Everybody Loves Raymond, we are forced to…

Talk.

After 15 seconds of that garbage (wink), we warm up the Nintendo and shoot the crud out of each other in Contra.

Bonding I tell you, Bonding.

Hmm. Maybe this optimism thing isn’t so bad. What do you have to add? What makes you smile about living within your means?

Financially, the smart thing would have been to keep my family a one dog family but every time I came home and saw my remaining dog mope around the house, I knew I couldn’t leave things the way they were. When he stopped eating and whined constantly, I was reduced to tears on a daily basis.

I spent a week searching shelters but couldn’t seem to find a dog that fit our dynamic. I don’t believe in buying dogs for short term commitments and knew bringing home anything but a perfect fit would be a bad idea. I decided to stop at one more, knowing if I didn’t find the right dog, I’d simply give up.

Then I met Hutch.

I was still in the habit at crying at the sight of dogs and sat on the floor thinking I’d never find another I could love at much as my last. Hutch took one look at me, crawled into my lap, and promptly fell asleep.

Needless to say, he came home with me.

Financially, I made a mistake. A dog is a financial responsibility – even if he is replacing another. Physically and emotionally, I did what my heart (any my other dog) needed.

If you see a redhead jogging down the street with two wagging tailed dogs and a grin the size of Texas… that’s probably me.

The size four dress arrived for wedding number one and it fits perfectly… which of course means…

I’m in trouble. Sure, I can get the size two dress on, but it presents the very ‘minor’ problem of the inability to breathe.

So I have two options. Lose weight OR pay a small fortune to alter the dress for wedding number two. In light of my financial situation, I thought it best to lose some weight.

I have dieted exactly one time in my life and the diet lasted 4 hours before I broke down and ate a large order of carne asada fries. And it’s not that I haven’t needed to diet. I gained 20 pounds in college and kept the weight on for three years. But… self control isn’t my strong suit.

I’ve been using the Lose It! program I recommended in an earlier post and have been carefully monitoring my caloric intake. By dinner time, I’m left with a dismal 300 calories and my debate is usually a toss up between a green salad with goat cheese and a balsamic vinaigrette dressing or two glasses of wine. It’s not a tough guess as to which one regularly wins.

It’s been a week and all I can think about is food.

But I’m sticking with it…. at least for another four hours.

Great. I’m going to fail this review – I thought

‘When you first interviewed with us, I told the committee that I could see you had a bright future. I put my neck on the line for you…’ he said.

And…

‘And I’m reaping the rewards. Your performance has been unparalleled. Never, have I given a probationary score this high’ he said while smiling.

There are five Rebekah’s in this department. Obviously you’re confused.

‘I have never seen such a high level of organization…’

You call it ‘organization’, my doctor calls it a case study in obsessive compulsive disorder

‘…You are well liked by your peers and HR has only praise for you…’

You’d be amazed at the power of homemade cookies and good old fashioned gratitude to others

‘…and you are always willing to put in extra time to get projects done.’

You fired someone… IN FRONT OF ME… if that doesn’t put a fire under someone’s pants, nothing will

In an environment of so much insecurity, it was nice to get a pat on the back. I didn’t think he had noticed – and was pleasantly surprised to realize he had. This review doesn’t guarantee my job (no one is guaranteed a job) but I’m glad to hear I’m doing something right.

Whew!

When my brothers (John & Mike) and I were 13 and 15, one of my dad’s oh so responsible employees showed us how to build a potato gun – because everyone knows the combination of pipe, potatoes, a bottle of WD-40, and a flame tool are landmark in safety and you should share them with teenagers.

We spent our afternoons launching the potatoes into targets… *cough* the pool deck… *cough* the new trees… *cough* the house siding… (sorry ‘bout those dents dad)

On a particularly hot day, John filled the chamber up with a combination of Rave hairspray and WD-40. The fumes filled the air as he quickly spun the cap on and pulled out the matches. He touched the flame to the side and a loud BOOM exploded into our ears. Mike and I looked down to see John on his back, his shoes smoldering, and the lawn burst into flames.

He hadn’t spun the cap on tightly and instead of launching the potato, the force rocketed the cap and the flame onto John’s shoed feet.

Responsibly… Mike and I laughed hysterically at John.

We laughed so hard, we overlooked the fact that the lawn was still on fire. About 60 seconds of laughing at John’s smoldering blackened shoes went by before we suddenly became aware that the fire was growing. If mom saw the fire, she’d never let us shoot another potato again (though I’m not sure she ever truly ‘approved’ it in the first place).

Mike ran for the hose while John stomped out what he could.

Fortunately they got the fire out (hence the reason they are such good firefighters… they started young) but there was still a huge problem…

There was a black spot of charred lawn directly in front of the screen door that mom surely wouldn’t miss. We couldn’t think of a believable story for the burn spot and we certainly weren’t going to tell the truth sooooo…

We dug out the lawn, tossed it across the fence, threw on some fresh dirt, then went inside and told mom the dogs had dug a patch of the lawn.

As for John’s shoes? ‘Pssshhh. Mom, that’s a fashion statement. Don’t you know style?!?!’

My best summer vacation memories were never about where we stayed or what kind of expensive things my parents bought, they were always about the fun times with my family.

Sure, we aren’t going somewhere nice this year, but we’re going together – and that’s the best part.

I love my bike. I’m like a five year old with a new toy. I’d love to stick streamers in the handles and playing cards in the spokes but my husband said that wasn’t an ‘adult’ decision.

Whatever.

My husband just paid his tuition at college…

And I went for a 28 mile ride.

I’m not a competitive person. I don’t care about first place – which, I guess, is why I wasn’t that great at sports. But when it comes to cycling…

I’m suddenly Lance Armstrong in the Tour De France.

I find myself racing people who… um… aren’t racing me. I crank up AC/DC on my iPod and cycle as fast as my poor legs can go. My heart bounces around like an out of control ping pong ball just looking to get out and take a break from my ridiculousness.

You can bet that when I get home, finances are far from my mind…

But that’s usually because I’m icing muscles and bandaging various scraped body parts.

In short? A lot!

A few benefits of exercising (tip of the iceburg)?
Reduced blood pressure
Reduced feelings of depression and anxiety
Helps to control weight
Helps to build and maintain healthy joints, muscles, and bones
Reduced risk of diabetes

What do these have to do with finances?
Have you had to pay for doctors and medication recently?!? Ouch!! Also, exercise helps you sleep, puts you in a better mood, helps your self confidence, and gives you energy – all very important things in the work world where your paycheck comes from! Plus, people with a BMI of less than 22 get sick less often and miss less work.

I’ve been fortunate to have been physically active and healthy for most of my life. Running a marathon is just another way to push myself and stay active. Sure my sore legged walk makes Frankenstein look like a graceful ballerina but it’s important to encourage you to gain control in your finances AND in your health – they are closely connected.

Tomorrow is Saturday, take a walk with your dog, play with your kids, or ride your bike. Take a break from staring at that checkbook and balancing numbers to get some fresh air.

It’s good for you.

Some free sites to help you out?

www.Mapmyride.com
I use this site to calculate mileage and read elevation changes on my bike rides/runs.

www.Mypyramid.gov
This free site helps to guide you on better eating habits.

I’m warning you… these sites can be ADDICTIVE!!

What is your favorite FREE health related site?

10 years later…

I do not feel graceful, powerful, excited, or focused.

I ran for 45 minutes this morning and looked more like a stumbling 3 legged dog than a sophisticated runner. But then again, that’s how I felt when drafting our first budget. I’m always a little awkward at first.

Still running, still budgeting, still pushing.

Patient, wise, brilliant, loving… he’s an all around great guy.

He encouraged creativity and made me feel like I could do anything. Now that I’m striving to become debt free, he is one of my biggest supporters. We I get frustrated, he is the voice of reason. When I get stressed about life, he brings things into perspective. When I get confused about the finance world, he knows all the answers.

I think he secretly has Google software in his brain because no one should know THAT much.

Thanks for being such a great dad.

I love you.

I’ve been in perfect health for more than 6 months – not even a sore throat to annoy me. Now that the cold and flu season is over… I’ve come down with a nasty bug. Heaven forbid I get sick when everyone else does. Now I’m the freak show who’s sick in JUNE.

I got sick yesterday afternoon. I felt awful at work and before leaving, I told my boss, ‘Hey, I’m not feeling very well. I’m going to drink some tea and get to bed early. Have a good night.’

Everyone knows the cardinal rule of making two day weekends to three day weekends… fake sick on Thursday afternoon and call in sick on Friday. Er… so I’ve heard.

Terrified that my boss will think I’m lying, I’m forced to go to work this morning even though I feel like I’ve been hit by a giant rotating ferris wheel…multiple times. I’m not one of those people who look adorable when I’m sick. My eyes get red and puffy, my skin gets itchy, my nose turns pepto bismol pink, and I’m embarrassed to go out in public.

Fortunately, this should work well for me in this particular situation. I’m going to work… and I hope to be back home and in bed within an hour.

Friday, I wasn’t ‘feeling it’. Late nights paired with high stress had me pooped by Friday and I hit the snooze button far more than I should have.

I rolled out of bed, threw my nappy unwashed hair into a pony tail, and put on my uniform without ironing it. I caught the train to work and arrived my usual 45 minutes early – 30 of which I should have spent getting ready and ironing at least my shirt. I sluggishly walked into the elevator, hit the floor button, and leaned my sleepy head against the wall. Just as the doors started to close, a hand slipped through the doors and in walked the equivalent of the company CEO.

I’ve met the guy approximately 2 times in the 6 months I’ve worked there.

He gave me a slow once over – and it wasn’t because I looked smoking hot in my uniform. He looked at my crumpled pants, my against policy un-tucked shirt, and said a very crisp, ‘Well… good morning.’

I heard ‘No Scrubs’ by TLC blaring on my brain radio.

I’ve always been told to dress for the job you want and not for the job you have. I’m fairly certain I will be demoted to janitorial staff by tomorrow.

Never again folks. Never again will I dress like that.

What happened to the good ol’ days of Nintendo and Sega glassy eyed kids? Now they are dancing, singing, and playing instruments. It’s as if the Wii transformed our family into a modern day Brady Bunch band. Ugh.

I rented the Sonic vs. Mario Summer Olympics game from the library. I’m pretty sure I would have expelled less energy actually competing IN the Olympics. Real swimming isn’t nearly as difficult as Wii swimming. Trust me… I can’t use my arms today.

And with the invention of Rock Band, I can’t just sing Aerosmith, I have to sing Aerosmith AND play a guitar. My voice has joined my arms in the ‘not usable’ category.

I think these games were secretly invented by parents who would like to temporarily disable their children. You can’t talk back after losing your voice to Paramore – or maybe that’s just me.

I wish I could say my nieces and nephews suffered from the same painful muscle strain I have today but… I had so much fun playing that I didn’t exactly let them play. When they started crying about the unfairness of it all, I could only say, ‘Back off shorty! Aunti Beks has to finish the last rift of Salt N Pepa so she can win a new tour bus for the band.’

The best things in life are free.

I’ve been debt free before.

There was a moment, for about 3 days, in college when I had no debt. My car was paid off, my credit card had no balance, and I didn’t have a mortgage.

Then, I came close again after we closed on our house. We had been saving for a year and the money returned to us from escrow was used to pay off my husband’s credit line.

That credit card debt freedom lasted a few weeks before we decided to remodel our master bathroom and take a trip to Hawaii.

My finances are like a yo-yo diet. Sure I’d love to eat healthy all the time but rolled tacos with Mexican guacamole? I can’t resist.

Just like weight loss, a diet is silly. The only real option for permanent results is a lifestyle change. Staying thin requires eating less than or equal to what you need – staying financially healthy means spending less than you make. Sure it looks easy on paper, but only those who have suffered through it (and continue to suffer through it daily) know how hard the struggle can be.

This is the longest I’ve been on a financial diet – and I know I’ve got what it takes to keep the ‘weight’ off.

Yeah, the change is lame – but the results… those are what I’m grinning at each month when the credit card statement arrives.

One day… it will say…

$0

Which is harder for you: Losing weight? or losing debt?

Whenever someone on the show says something clever, an elevator in the background dings. Not a big deal… unless you work in a building with elevators. Now every time the elevator dings, I act like Pavlov’s Dog and wait for someone to say something clever.

I’m onto you Executive Producer Betsy Beers. Thanks to you, TV watching has caused a semi-normal person like me to live in a complete state of confusion for 10 floor dings up… and 10 floor dings down each day! But while you’re out creating chaos in the world, I was wondering if you’d take some precious time from your schedule and somehow work your Pavlovian magic on my finances. I’d like to be completely numb to the charms of the evil ones, ie… Target, Macy’s, and their best friend Nordstom.

Come on Betsy! A little help please!?

DING!

No, I am not going to reveal my housing costs. Asking a San Diegan to reveal her mortgage payment is like asking a New York housewife to reveal her age. The only thing likely to happen is a giant string of lies.

I’m also not going to reveal our charitable giving amounts. What we decide to give is a very personal decision and it’s not an amount I’m willing to change just to pay more on bills.

Savings: $50
Electricity/Gas: $105
Cell Phones: $100
Cable/Internet/Phone: $100
Grocery: $300
Gas: $260
Laundry: $10
Toiletries: $11
Clothing/House Repairs/Animal Care/Spending Money: $200
Water: $70
Trash: $18

All remaining money is used to pay our mortgage, our credit card, our student loans, and my husband’s truck.

So. Am I normal by the numbers? What does your budget look like?

Realizing my planting skills barely rivaled a 4th grader, I sought planter packs designed for small children. I spent $10 on supplies, read the directions (twice), and gently planted the seeds.

According to the seed packets, sprouts would appear in 10 days.

2 weeks passed and there was no green in sight.

After another long week, I finally gave in after day 24 and threw the sproutless pots into the green recycle bin.

A few days ago, while trimming some hedges, I opened the bin, tossed the branches, and noticed something funny…

Every single pot I had angrily thrown away was sprouting with life in my recycle bin. Plants are safer in my trashcan than they are with me.

I can’t afford a landscaper… but my husband is hereby the official garden keeper in this house. I’m sticking to what I’m good at – cleaning!

Stupid Plants.

But I guess that’s part of a journey.  It can’t be all fun right?

I worked a tough job for a ‘big box store’ to pay the bills while applying for any decent job available. I finally landed a great job in December. 

I’ve struggled with unexpected expenses – like a monthly $150 property tax hike and a 1% sales tax hike…

I’ve made lifestyle changes – the biggest one is my use of public transportation…

I’ve struggled with monotony…

And I paid off my car.

Here is where I am on my debt journey.  Somehow, we’ve squeezed $10,000 toward our debt – $30,000 to go.  Sure I’d like it to be more, but $10,000 isn’t a bad number.

I can’t wait to finish this journey and finally become…

DEBT FREE!!

Jaime asks:
I remember at one point you were going to give more details about your side business. I’ve always wondered what you are doing and how it is going. I love it when you say things seem to be going well with it, and I just want so much more information about it!

If you care to share that is!

The thing about our side business is that it is in such a small niche. That prevents me from giving more details then the generic ones I have given. I tell a few more details in response to Anonymous Reader’s question below.

Sharon asks:
Hi Tricia, I’m curious if you’ll continue to become totally debt-free at the same intensity as you did with becoming credit card debt-free.

And last, once you’re totally debt free, do you want to stay and live in the same area where you are now? I think you’ve commented before that you’d like to be closer to family but couldn’t afford to right now. I love when you talk about buying your future “cabin”. Congrats on all you’ve accomplished!!!

Now that we have paid off our credit card debt, our rate of debt reduction will slow down. There is some spending we’d like to do in regards to our home. We’ve put off a few repairs so we had more money to put towards our credit cards. We are also going to concentrate on filling many baskets (see this post for more info). For my regular paying job, I’d rather not say what that is.

We do love where we live. We fought hard to live here and make it work. I do miss my family like you wouldn’t believe. The goal is to have a lifestyle and income that would allow us to travel more to visit them.

Thanks for the congrats!

Jim asks:
What do you focus on now?

Many, many things LOL. I detailed them in this post (written after your question).

Anonymous Reader asks:
It might be helpful to share a few details of the business – how you selected the idea/product, how long it took you to set it up, what it cost to set up, how much revenue it has generated and when, and how much you net from it now. If you see the business as replacing one or both of you job incomes in the future, how much revenue and net profit you expect from the business and how long until you make the change?

I have really enjoyed reading your blog and watching your ideas and attitudes evolve over the last several years. The quotes from your son demonstate how much you have changed. I hope you will continue to update your readers on your progress in paying off the remaining debt and increasing your income.

With our business, it was the result of finding a small niche that needed products we could provide. It took a lot of our time to set-up due to laying down the infrastructure and creating products. But it didn’t cost much to get the ball rolling (less than $3K). It is forecasted that the business profit will surpass my husband’s income next year.

All of our income from various sources went towards our expenses and the extra went towards debt and savings. An exception would be the capital that we initially invested in our business.

As of right now our student loans are roughly $29K. Our mortgage is at $33.5K. The plan is to concentrate on our mortgage and pay extra money towards that (I gave some reasonings in my responses to questions yesterday). For our son, I mentioned some time ago that he will not have money given to him for college. I have changed my perspective on that a little bit. He may have some help, but he has to work towards it as well. We will not advise him against student loans, since they may be necessary depending on where he goes to college (if he chooses to go). But he will understand the full ramifications of what taking one out means and I hope everything we teach him the next 10 years will prepare him for making sound financial decisions.

I am glad you have enjoyed reading my posts. I will still be writing on here although not on a regular basis and I will give more details about that tomorrow.

Thank you everyone for your questions!

Pat asks:
Hi, Tricia. I wondered what you felt were the 3 most important things you did to have more money to put toward your debt? I also wonder what you feel is the best route to take to make more money in order to pay off debt faster? Thanks!

P.S. I’m a stay-at-home mom and have already cut back on groceries, no cable, cars are older and have been paid off for a while. We eat at home and the kids/husband brown bag lunches.

There were so many things that we did that contributed to the extra money to put towards our debt. Boy, it’s hard to think of three that were the most important since I think everything came into play. By golly, you stumped me LOL. So, I’m going to modify your question a bit and list three things that I think were helpful that most people could try.

Stopped going to stores as often. I can look back our spending (pre-debt reduction) and see debit card charges almost every day of the week. We went to the store way too often to pick up a few things. It all adds up so quickly and most of the times things were purchased that we didn’t need. Stores are very good at encouraging impulse buys. By curbing our frequent visits to the store and replacing them with thought out occasional visits, it cut our spending.

Decided that stuff is stuff. We had too much stuff and most of it didn’t serve a purpose. Our multiple garage sales really showed that. I haven’t missed anything that we sold. With that in mind, I really think about something before we purchase it and make sure it will get used and if we really need it.

Tracked our finances. We use financial software to do it, but you can also do it with pencil and paper. The important thing is to keep yourself accountable for your spending and to add up all of those receipts. Tracking your finances also is helpful to get an idea of how much you can pay towards your debt since you will have a better understanding of your finances overall.

As for making more money to pay off debt faster, if you can, look to your current employer first. Can you get a raise? Can you work overtime? If that’s not possible, can you get another job? I say that hesitantly because you do have to be careful. For me, I am an emotional shopper and when I get stressed I think about some retail therapy. The last thing you want to do is find yourself going on a shopping binge or deteriorating your health to the point where money doesn’t matter. You can try to push yourself, but find a healthy balance.

Regarding your P.S., if you haven’t already, make sure you check out WAHM.com forums. I’ve found a few work at home jobs there

L asks:
I was wondering how old your son was? You talk about him a lot and he sounds adorable.
And….WHOO HOOO on paying off the credit cards!!!!!

Thanks for the Whoo Hoo! Our son is approaching eight years old, although sometimes it seems like 14 LOL.

Marie asks:
I’m wondering if your student loans bother you and if you could tell us what % they’re at for some context. Are you going to accelerate your payment on these or are you content to pay as agreed.

We have no consumer debt no car loans even, just a mortgage and student loans. Our student loans don’t bother DH but they drive me crazy – all are below 2% interest though.

Good question Marie. To think of it, I’m not sure if I even noted the interest rate on our student loans at all on here. They are all a little over 5% right now. While I’m not happy about the student loans, I do like that we can deduct the interest on our tax returns. We are unable to do that with our mortgage. We are not planning on paying extra right now but I will be looking into changing the payment plan. We are currently on a graduated plan which gave us a longer payment term and a lower monthly payment. I still need to dig into that, though.

Maria asks:
Hi Tricia, I have a question for you- I’ve noticed that there are certain times in the month when you are able to pull out extra money for debt reduction and or savings but how do you determine when that time is? Is it more towards the end of the month when all of the monthly expenses are paid or at the beginning? What is your cash flow like? Do you keep a few dollars in your checking account? How does that work? Thank you in advance.

I know how much we can pay off at any given time since I project cash flow in real time. It’s hard to explain, but I have three months of future regular expenses (overestimated) and income (underestimated) entered into our financial software. I can see by entering a transaction exactly what a payment of $500 would do to our future cash flow. If I see us going into the red anytime in the next three months we scale back the payment. If I see a healthy balance, I increase the amount. I tried to keep a buffer in our checking account for anything I may have missed (filling the car with gas, urgent trip to store for medicine, etc.) but for the most part we ran things really close. I do plan on keeping a better buffer in our account going forward. We had some very close calls over the past three years.

Debt Free Dan asks:
Now that you are credit card debt-free, what remaining debts do you have and what do you plan to do about them?

What are your future plans for credit/credit cards? Are you going to swear off of them or keep them around “just in case”?

We still have our mortgage debt and our student loan debt. Our plan is to pay extra towards our mortgage right now. It has the highest balance and we are unable to deduct the interest on our taxes. We can deduct interest for our student loans. There were also other things that contributed to that decision as well.

We are not going to swear off our credit cards. In fact, we have been using one for purchases to earn cash back. But we have rules in place, like never charging when we do not have money in our checking account to turn around and pay it immediately. We will also keep them around “just in case” at least through the shaky economic situation the US is currently in. After things look brighter, we will start closing some cards.

Michelle asks:
I have only been reading for the last 6 months or so. So what I would really like to know is all of the strategies you used to eliminate your debt – and to be as specific as possible. A kind of “how I did it” post. Love your blog. It’s already been a big help.

I’m glad my blog has been helpful to you As for that post you are looking for, it is in the works! I wrote way too much the past three years – but I’m almost done with a recap post. Here are links to the recap posts for 2006 and 2007.

More answers will be coming tomorrow! I also did an interview at Ask Mr. Credit Card in case you would like to read the questions and answers over there.

You can also ask other questions that are maybe not related to debt. The first place I visit when I go to a new blog is the about page. I love learning more about the blogger themselves.

I can’t guarantee that I can answer every question. Some may be too personal to answer and I’m not sure how many questions I’ll get. I’ll keep this open until end of day Monday and we’ll see what happens.

Do you have any questions for me?

I’m not 27 as stated in my first post…

I’m 28.

I don’t lie about my age because I want people to think I’m younger. I lie about my age because I can’t remember how old I am. I honestly forgot I was 28.

Isn’t this supposed to happen MUCH later in life?

Why does this come up? My co-workers talk about my age a lot. They all assume I’m 21 or 22 and they act shocked when I break the news that I’m 27… er… 28. I guess the assumption is natural. I work for slightly above minimum wage and I’m surrounded by 18 year olds.

It could also be because, thanks to the greasy hot dog burner, I’m breaking out like a pubescent teenager.

Is it just me or does everyone feel 21 regardless of the emerging fine wrinkles and stray gray hairs?

It’s this mentality that continues to make me struggle financially. It’s OK to make stupid financial mistakes in your early 20’s. It’s not OK to continue those mistakes for the next 8 years. I guess I’ve always felt young so I always assumed that I’d live forever – and conveniently, that’s how long it would take to pay off my debts… including those club cover charges… from my freshman year in college.

But the reality is, if I want to retire before say… 2078, I need to take care of my responsibilities. I need a sense of urgency.

My financial class gives me that sense once a week but I find it wears away after a few days. By the following Tuesday I’m debating the necessity of Enya’s greatest hits or a discount cashmere sweater (fortunately I decided those were both non-necessities… for now anyway…).

Any ideas on how to keep that urgency? Other than someone poking me with a stiff cattle prod whenever I pull out my debit card?

How do you stay motivated?

This blog has been so very valuable for keeping me motivated. If I stopped, I have a feeling things would have kept constant like with how things went when I went on hiatus with Blogging Away Fat. This blog helps to keep me motivated to pay off our credit card debt.

That in itself is one problem with my blog. It is here to document our journey to pay off our credit cards and at some point our journey will be over. Then, it will be like…”What’s next?”

We will still have debt when our credit cards are paid off. There will be about $30K in student loans and our mortgage of $34K. Perhaps I’ll keep blogging while we pay all of those off. But then again, after three some years of blogging about debt and being in debt, perhaps it will be time to move onto something else.

I guess it all depends on where we are in our life when that day arrives. But I do know one thing for certain…I am going to keep blogging until every last cent of our credit card debt is paid off

I think this weekend there will be an update over there.

Here are some articles that caught my eye this week:

One year…$12,000 in debt…gone!. Congrats Starving Artist!!

DebtKid gives some tips on how to find peace during financial turmoil. Sometimes it is tough to ease your mind when things are tough financially (I’m still an ear wiggler!)

LuLuGal wanted some dirt on me and asked me some questions. Thanks for the opportunity!

Lastly, a blogger who was a huge inspiration for me is back to blogging!

I tend to sometimes have a short attention span when it comes to projects. I like to start things and then finish them and move on. If a project cannot be completed in a relatively short time frame, I often move on to the next thing and leave the first thing unfinished until I come back to it months later.

That hasn’t happened here. Almost every day I come on here and give an update or write about something on my mind. Very rarely is anything written far in advance, so you are being kept as up-to-date as possible. I like it that way – it’s more like a diary. But then again I’m letting everyone read it so I guess it’s more like an autobiography written in real-time.

In any case, two years of my financial life are on this blog and very likely another year or so more of my story is yet to be written. I don’t know what life has in store for us but I do hope there will be a happy ending.

We are getting closer:

Over $22,000 of our credit card debt is gone and we have a little over $15,000 left to go. I didn’t do this alone, though. All of you reading had a large part in our success so far. You have helped to keep me going and to keep this project fresh and vibrant. You make me want to see this all of the way through until the final chapter is written when the last few dollars of our debt is paid off.

I may not have a fancy car, a huge TV or a lot of money in the bank…but I am a very rich person. I cannot thank you all enough!

Here’s to another year of Blogging Away Debt

Here’s the rule for this meme:

1. Link to the person’s blog who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. List seven random and/or weird facts about yourself.
4. Tag seven random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by posting on comment on their blog.

Ok, here are seven random/weird facts about me:

1.) I can wiggle my right ear, but not my left ear

2.) Less than a year into our relationship, and before we were married, my husband and I combined our finances and I’ve been in charge of them ever since.

3.) I’ve never stepped foot in the following stores: Starbucks, Nordstroms, Gap, Old Navy, Costco, Trader Joes, and probably many others if you ask me (feel free to quiz me in the comments below).

4.) My favorite store to shop at was K-Mart but then it left the area

5.) I lost the diamond on my engagement ring in a store. I searched all over the store since I wasn’t sure where I lost it, and after a little bit I frantically called my husband. He found me in the store still searching for it and I explained what happened. For some reason I looked at the floor right then and saw something shiny. It was my diamond.

6.) I have a tattoo. It was a high school graduation present from some people I worked with at the time.

7.) The common reaction when I say I have a tattoo is, “No way!” I guess it surprises people.

Now it’s my turn to tag seven other people. I hope none of you have done this…I’m a bit late with completing this since Kevin tagged me way back in January! It’s been on my To-Do list and now I’m getting things done

Fellowes at Dollar Buy Dollar
Erasing Our Debt
Dump the Debt
Debtfretter at So Sick of Debt
Cynthia at Debt Marathon
Wealthy_1 at Collecting My Cash
bjeffreies at Over 40 In Debt and Overweight

A commenter thought that maybe we were in Toronto or Seattle. Now, those are some towers! I guess the one I was in may not be very high to some, but it sure was to me!

The tower I was in was actually in Michigan and it is 210 feet high. Originally built by a Catholic Church as the Shrine of the Missionaries, the church later cut the project and now it houses a little museum on the ground floor and you can ride an elevator to some observation decks. We decided to pay the $12.00 fee and check out the view. The view was great, but my land legs didn’t do so well.

I almost freaked out. I started feeling my legs giving out from underneath me. It was a windy day, and this tower is just that…a tower. It’s not a tall building that has offices or even has anything between the ground floor and the observation decks (if it did, it would be more stable in my mind). Not to mention it’s pure concrete. The more I thought about the structure I started worrying more about how stable it was and the more scared I became.

I was very ready to go back down on the elevator. By that time, I was near meltdown and even the elevator ride started to get me nervous. What if the cable broke? What if we plummeted to the ground? The only thing that kept me together was my son right there next to me. I know I would have lost it if it was just me and my husband.

Sometimes I really don’t understand my fear of heights. I mean, this tower visit really showed how scared I am and I probably will not go in that tower again. But, some of you remember that I like small airplane rides. Adding to that, one of the things I want to do when we are better off financially is to go parasailing. Just goes to show how complex the mind can be, I guess.

Writing this post made me think about financial fears and whether I have any. I actually do have one, and it’s one that probably holds us back financially. I sometimes have a hard time getting the words out when I write posts like that, but I’ll try to explain my financial fear this week.

1.) I have had an iguana as a pet. We were his third owner. The first owner neglected/abused him, the second owner treated him well. When we got him he was still fairly wild. While I was pregnant we decided to give him away to someone else because I was afraid to have him around my son because he could whip around his tail and really hurt you.

2.) I have had rats as pets. It started off with two boys (according to the pet store). Actually, they were boy and girl and two rats turned into 16. We were able to find homes for 6 so we had 10 rats for quite some time. Believe it or not, they are great pets.

3.) My favorite pet was a guinea pig that was named Kitty. She was a doll and I loved the way she squeaked when the lettuce bag rustled. Unfortunately, I started having severe allergic reactions to something and upon testing I found it I was highly allergic to guinea pigs. I had to give her (and another one I had) away.

4.) If I had the money to buy any toy that I wanted, I would want to buy one of those radio controlled helicopters. There’s a cheaper one at Walmart that is 6 directional and the last time I went there was only one left. I always think of hiding it on the shelves so maybe someday I can buy it.

5.) If you’ve ever watched Big Top Pee-Wee, you’ll know what I’m talking about when I say I want one of those harness things in my backyard (that circus performers use to practice on). It looks like so much fun!

6.) I am afraid of heights but I like airplane rides. It has to be small planes though, not larger planes. I’ve only been on a plane twice in my life.

7.) When I’m older and well-off financially, I’d love to get an ultralight. I saw one once at our mall on display and I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. One of these days…

8.) I love to drive hilly roads where you can drive just fast enough (but not speed) to get that weightlessness feeling in your tummy. I have a road by me that is perfect for that and I have been known to go over a certain section, turn around, and go back and do it again.

Next up, I get to tag someone, and I am going to tag Basil and Bianca. Those two debt-fighters crack me up so their answers should be interesting.

As Claudia mentioned, I started this blog more than a year before Blogging Away Fat. This blog has kept me focused and motivated to pay off our debt and I hoped that blogging about my weight would help me do the same. So far, so good…and I’ve lost 13.5 lbs.

I do find many similarities between losing debt and losing weight. While different goals, they both require that you have motivation and a committment to changing your lifestyle. Tackling both is not easy, but blogging about it is keeping me focused.

Here’s a few tidbits about Blogging Away Debt:

1.) I post monthly where my money went, and share what we are doing to try to keep our spending down.

2.) I post monthly how much we make. We currently make around $36,000-45,000/year (depends on if my husband has work available), but I am always trying to bring in more income.

3.) I post almost every day and usually it is personal finance related.

4.) You can bookmark this site to keep updated, or if you have a feed reader you can Subcribe to my Full Feed. If you have an email address, you can also Subscribe via Email. Every day that I post you will receive one email with the posts that I wrote for that day.

5.) I love comments and I love the interaction with readers. Some of the best information on here is when I post something and then my readers give suggestions or tell about their own personal life. That’s the beauty of blogs!

As for where to start, here’s a recap of 2006:

A Reflective Look Back at 2006 – Goodbye to $13,000 of our Debt

And here’s something I wrote that highlights my frugal posts of 2006:

My Top Frugal Posts of 2006

I’d like to give a quick shout-out to the other money and health bloggers mentioned in the article:

Lazy Man:
Lazy Man and Health
Lazy Man and Money

NCN:
No Calories Needed
No Credit Needed Blog

Thank you for stopping by, and feel free to stick around for a while

My husband’s temporary job is actually a pretty good job and he makes as much per hour as I do with mine. He is supposed to have more work per his boss, but his boss is super busy and hasn’t handed off the next project. He is waiting for that project and there is even talk of possibly another one after or at the same time as the other one.

My husband also has another job lined up for next month. It will bring in around $1,000. Then there is a separate project that will bring in around $400.

I won’t lie. It’s rough to have feast or famine jobs, but these jobs are career-focused and the networking value is immense. It’s the right market to be in for what he wants to do with his career. From a future earnings standpoint, trying to secure these “gigs” is a much better thing to do than to work minimum wage jobs. My husband has been working near minimum wage jobs for some time now for me.

Yes, he did that for me. He’s worked those jobs so I could get my career going. I have something now that I like to do and he let me get to this point. He takes care of the house and our son and helps out so I can excel with my career. Now that I am settled and our son is in school, it is his turn to focus on his career. That’s what this income lull is letting him do. It gives him time to devote to that.

Marriages are complex, and mine is no exception. There are times I want to yell at my husband to go get a job…any job…but I bite my tongue. I sometimes have to remember how he let me work through the ranks to get where I am now. There was a period of time before I started this blog where I took a leap of faith and quit my job in pursuit of a better job. It took about four months of intense searching until I found it. All the time my husband was working full time and I was working whatever jobs I could find that allowed me to work at home (some tutoring and writing) and bring in a little bit of money.

Probably by the time we pay off our debt, you’ll have a better idea of how everything came together to bring about this blog. I think it’s a good idea to provide some tidbits about our past so the current picture is clearer so I plan on doing that. The first post should probably be the reason why we will not move to find better employment (that’s a common suggestion I receive). Some things are worth more than all of the money in the world.

It’s been 14 months since I started Blogging Away Debt. In that time, blogging about our finances has really helped us to get motivated to pay off our debt and get our financial house in order. There is also the therapeutic factor of being able to discuss our finances openly. It feels good, because our debt is no longer our dirty little secret.

If interested, feel free to stop on by over there as well

Checking my Site Stats – I like checking my Sitemeter stats, not necessarily to see how many visitors I’ve had, but to see where everyone is clicking to leave my site. I like seeing that the things I’ve posted here are useful and interesting.

Reading Other Blogs – I spend way too much time reading other blogs and keeping up with things. I’m getting better at remembering to note articles I liked to then highlight on here but often times I still forget to do that.

Working With Quicken – My Quicken file is pretty darn detailed and I like to keep track of all money to the penny. If I was the only one making purchases and keeping receipts, I would probably even track soda pop can deposits as a separate account. But, I’m holding myself back from trying to do that.

Big Trucks – Here’s where the tomboy in me surfaces. Some people’s heads turn on a dime when an attractive person walks by. My head turns when a truck with a four-inch lift drives by. I’ve never had a big truck, but someday I hope to.

Some Old Obsessions – Trying to come up with this list was pretty difficult. A lot of things I would consider being obsessed over are no longer obsesssions. So, I thought I would mention a couple of my old ones: collecting bald eagle figures and items with bald eagles on them, playing Tetris and collecting McDonald’s Happy Meal toys.

Now it’s my turn to tag a few bloggers:

Basil and Bianca Bizzaro at The Bizzaro World Debt Elimination Freak Show

Jeremy at Generation X Finance

Henry at Binary Dollar

Lazy Man at Lazy Man and Money

JW at Need to Be Debt Free

- First, go to their podcast page.

- Click on Hour 2.

- I was on around the middle of the hour and I’m on for maybe 15 minutes or so.

I was scared to listen to it, but I did. Unfortunately, my fifth grade teacher would not be proud! She drilled into us not to say the word “um” when thinking of what to say next. Since she lives in Michigan she probably didn’t hear the radio show, so I’m okay. Whew.

Overall, I think I kept my nerves at bay somewhat and I think I made sense talking. I wouldn’t say that I’m the best person to interview, but I don’t think I’m the worst

I thought I’d give you a few tidbits about my site:

1.) I post monthly where my money went, and share what we are doing to try to keep our spending down.

2.) I post monthly how much we make. We currently make around $36,000/year (because my husband is currently out of work). I am always trying to bring in more income so our income does fluctuate month to month.

3.) I post almost every day and usually it is personal finance related.

4.) You can bookmark this site to keep updated, or if you have a feed reader you can Subcribe to my Full Feed. If you have an email address, you can also Subscribe via Email. Every day that I post you will receive one email with the posts that I wrote for that day. For more information about subscribing and what it means, click here.

5.) I love comments and I love the interaction I have with my readers. Don’t be shy, feel free to leave a comment or contact me via email.

As for where to start, here’s something I wrote that highlights some of my more helpful/interesting posts of 2006.

A Reflective Look Back at 2006 – Goodbye to $13,000 of our Debt

Or, feel free to browse around by month or category archives (which can be found on the right hand side). Since this is a blog, the most recent entries are here on the main page and the earliest posts are found by going to the archives.

Thank you for stopping by, and feel free to stick around for a while

At first, I wasn’t so sure about doing it. After all, I’m a pretty shy person in real life and I really do not talk all that much. I’m usually a listener. Writing for me comes much easier. But it sounded fun to talk about finances with a group of gals so I said yes!

I am very nervous about being on their radio show because it is live. I hope my sentences make sense and I hope I don’t start talking like an auctioneer. If you are interested in listening, I will be on around 9:30 a.m. Central Time this Saturday morning (tomorrow). You can stream the show by going here and then clicking on the button near the top left that says “Listen Online.”

As a bonus, if you visit their website you can see my mug shot. The picture was taken only a few days ago so that is my latest and greatest haircut. I think you’ll agree that it doesn’t look too shabby.

Now, if you think I look like someone that you know, I probably do. I have a very simple look and I think so far I have been told I have at least 10 “twins” out there. I guess that’s what you get when you have longer straight hair, big cheeks and glasses LOL.

If you happen to miss the show on Saturday, they do have a podcast that you can listen to. It will be available for about a week after the show.

Oh my…just writing the above is making the butterflies in my stomach flutter around. Wish me luck!

Anyways, a few tidbits about my site:

1.) I post monthly where my money went, and share what we are doing to try to keep our spending down.

2.) I post monthly how much we make. We currently make around $36,000/year (because my husband is currently out of work), but I am always trying to bring in more income.

3.) I post almost every day and usually it is personal finance related.

4.) You can bookmark this site to keep updated, or if you have a feed reader you can Subcribe to my Full Feed. If you have an email address, you can also Subscribe via Email. Every day that I post you will receive one email with the posts that I wrote for that day.

5.) I love comments and I love the interaction I have with my readers. Don’t be shy, feel free to leave a comment or contact me at bloggingawaydebt [at] yahoo [dot] com.

As for where to start, here’s something I wrote that highlights my frugal posts of 2006.

My Top Frugal Posts of 2006

Thank you for stopping by, and feel free to stick around for a while

Many of the things that we do, I don’t necessarily think about as it being frugal until it comes up in conversation. Some of it is “normal” for us and I don’t think of it as extraordinary. A while ago, I was emailing with someone and I discussed how I decorated our son’s room for very little cost. I didn’t really realize how frugal I was being until I started talking about it.

If you have any questions to ask, feel free to ask away in the comments. I’ll go through and reply to them. The questions do not need to be finance-related, either. If you are curious about my favorite color, then ask

Throughout all of the tests, I remained hopeful. The last test they did, the ultrasound, left me staring at the ceiling hoping beyond hope that perhaps the technician would declare, “Would you like to see the heartbeat?” and turn the monitor towards me. Just like how it was when we first had a glimpse of our son in my womb. It wasn’t meant to be.

The whole day yesterday felt so surreal. Walking from test to test I felt like I wasn’t even walking. I felt numb. When it was time to say goodbye to the doctor after he gave me the results of all the tests, he said that he was glad to have met me but he wished it was under better circumstances. I thanked him for fitting me in his schedule and giving me so much of his time and I started balling. I had been fighting it earlier because I wasn’t prepared to give up hope. The goodbye was it. There was no more hope to be had.

I wiped my tears and went out to my son and husband in the waiting room. I had one more thing to go through, and that was to get a shot of RHOGAM since I am RH negative. All I wanted to do is go home, but the disorganization of our health system made a single shot take over 45 minutes to complete.

When I told my mom yesterday, she reminded me that everything happens for a reason. I know I often say that myself, but sometimes you forget when you are in the midst of something very sad happening in your life. It was nice to be reminded of that for I do find it comforting.

I retired early last night and I spent a good time thinking about what happened and why our beautiful gift was so suddenly taken away. I know in my heart there is a reason and given time I’m sure I will begin to feel better and heal after this loss.

The grandparents have been notified, so now I am excited to share the news with all of you! I’m pregnant

Yes, having another child will have many implications on our debt reduction progress. But I can’t think of anything else that can be so worth it!

My husband and I always wanted two children. After the birth of our son, we wanted to wait at least 3 to 4 years until we had another child, to help space out college and such. After waiting that time, we knew we couldn’t afford another child because we didn’t have health insurance. Well, in December we finally obtained health insurance and my son is already 5. We still aren’t financially secure by any means, but we are in a much better position than when my son was born.

I’m actually not entirely sure how far along I am. I first became suspicious in February because my monthly cycle was absent. I ended up thinking it was probably stress-related because that’s when the New York Times article came out. I took a pregnancy test and at that time it came up negative.

That occurance made my husband think that perhaps it was time to try for another. We both are not getting any younger and I had decided that some time ago that I did not want to have children after I was 30. Perhaps now was the time so we let our guard down a bit and decided that if it was going to happen, it was going to happen.

Another month passed and a few days ago I began having some other pregnancy symptoms. I took another test yesterday and it was positive. Sometime soon I will make an appointment with the doctor and I’m sure they will be able to pinpoint a due date.

We are very excited about this addition to our family, and it will mean many, many changes for us. There is much to talk about from a financial standpoint from working to increase our income to cover new costs to saving money with the new baby. I haven’t given up hope with still meeting our debt payoff goal date of May 2009

Oh, and tomorrow will be my first attempt with quitting cigarettes cold turkey. Wish me luck!

I thought I would take a moment to welcome you and to repond to the Editorial.

My general feeling about my credit card debt is that we alone are responsible for it because we were living beyond our means. However, some of their practices (like the Editorial suggested) are downright shady. The universal default clause is a horrible practice and I am so glad that Citibank did away with it!

Our credit cards gave us plenty of rope to accumulate $37,000 worth of credit card debt with credit lines that were more than our yearly income! Again, I do take responsibility for our use, but if you think about some of the practices that credit card companies employ to keep you in debt and keep you paying interest…it is saddening to say the least.

I am one voice on this blog, but what I am finding out is that there are so many others out there struggling just as we are. I have learned that I am definitely not alone with our debt burden and prior financial mistakes. And that is what my blog is about – I am working to make things right and get our financial house in order.

I have a year’s worth of posting on here so feel free to browse around. A good place to start is by going to my archives on the right hand side of my blog.

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Thanks for stopping by

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy everyone visiting and I love the comments. I just have to get a little used to it. I lead a very quiet life, and the activity here is really spicing things up. I think I’m overwhelmed. One thing about my blog is that I rarely write things in advance. I’ve tried to do that before and it doesn’t work well for me. I’d much rather write in the moment. Usually that means I write something the night before and then the next day quickly look at it to make sure it makes sense and I spelled things right. Then I post it. Then there are times I may go on a little rant and I post something immediately. I guess it depends on how I’m feeling and what I’m thinking about.

I think the timing of my sickness hasn’t helped either. I am feeling better today, although still a little weak.

Rest assured, I should be back to normal posting shortly