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New Numbers are Up

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I’m excited to report the $1100 in the Emergency Fund but really wanted to show $2,000 total paid so far.  That didn’t quite happen and I have avoided doing my shell game thing to make myself feel better.  What I COULD have done (but it would have been wrong) is to deduct a payment I will be making in a week or so that would have brought that total paid to the $2,000 mark I really wanted to hit.  No, no, no…keeping it precise and honest is the way to go.  And I can look forward to the good numbers on June 1.  Since I was figuring out how I wanted to update and have agreed with readers that once a month is best…June 1 will be the first month that shows a true full month’s payments on debt.  $500 more and we will have hit our $1600 Emergency Fund goal.  At that point–between the small amounts freed up by the small debts being extinguished….and the amounts we’ve been putting in savings…and the amounts we are saving with new lifestyle choices…we should start seeing some momentum building.

You may or may not notice that the lowest balance credit card increased since last month.  That is a card in DH’s name and thanks to this blog and the new habit of keeping an eye on things…we discovered that some random $19.99 charge hit.  I googled the name of the charging entity and sure enough it appears to be a scam!  We are working with the bank to have that charge removed and then stopping it from being charged again.  Stinks that it happened but I’m feeling good about keeping our eye on things b/c in the past it would have taken us much longer to even be aware of it…so that’s a good thing.  When I was googling and finding info on it I noticed that a lot of people said they had looked back and the scam charge had been showing up for months and they had not noticed!

So there you have it–farewell April, hello May.  Here’s to keeping the focus, finding ways to cut even more and having fun while doing it!

 

 


13 Comments

  • Reply Shannon |

    Good for you!! Just because I’m very visual, is there a way you could tell us what you started April with and then how much you put towards it and then your final number? The numbers on the side are a running total, so I can’t really see how you did for a particular month. I like to see the breakdown. I might be the only one though..

    • Reply Claire |

      Hi Shannon—I will try to do this starting this month. It is a good idea and it is info that I have in my personal spreadsheets. I will include it in the post but it won’t show up on the right hand side info. Since May will be the first full month of all payments showing with the June update (I was updating at more frequent intervals before now…just to make myself feel good!) this is the perfect time to start.

      • Reply Dream Mom |

        Yes, I’d like to see that too. Good job on the emergency fund. That has to feel great.

  • Reply Adam |

    this seems to be a new trend. charging people for a small amount and hoping they don’t notice.

    it happened on my debit card recently and it was only $9, I didn’t even call about it (tsk tsk).

    great job on the emergency fund! the funny thing about it is that you’ll start to question exactly what is an emergency because you don’t want to touch that fund! we recently had to replace a car, and of course you can never find something that works for the budget the insurance co. gives you, and even after an accident we refused to touch that money!

    • Reply Ivy |

      So true, Adam! I recently started the same journey that Claire is on and have run into that very problem… when to dip into the emergency fund!

      I’m so ecstatic about actually having a little bit of cushion in my account for the first time in years that it’s become kind of untouchable to the point that I almost bounced my account a couple weeks ago trying not to touch the emergency fund!

      Claire, so glad to see your “0” balances starting to accumulate… gives me hope 🙂

      • Reply Claire |

        Ivy–I know that cushion excitement! I find myself logging onto the credit union website solely to look at the savings account! 🙂 I’m glad to know you are on this journey with me…we’ll get there!

    • Reply Walnut |

      I’m the exact opposite with my emergency fund. I see the cash in there and get such a thrill out of draining it to pay off a debt.

      I guess I’m better at sinking funds than I am at emergency funds. In the back of my head, I could always drain my Roth IRA in a serious emergency. It would have to be major for me to touch an investment account.

  • Reply This Aggie Saves |

    I’ve had charges added to my phone bill that tried to sneak by but I noticed them and got them nipped in the bud!

    • Reply Claire |

      Woo Hoo Aggie…always nice to catch the bad guys. Oh! And thank you for using “nipped in the bud” properly! How many times do we see that one butchered?!

  • Reply Diane |

    You are doing such a great job!! So happy to see that emergency fund increasing and the debt going down. Keep up the great work.

  • Reply scarr |

    Yay for more in your savings! Debt payoffa are your mission but practicing good saving habits can only help you on your journey! Good job and keep up the good work!

  • Reply Terry Lange |

    You have made great progress. Just a little while longer and it looks like Credit Cards 2 & 3 will be gone and then you will be able to really attack the larger debts!

  • Reply Mari |

    Always report charges to your credit card or bank account, no matter how small. In some cases, thieves do this to see if the account is still good and when they get the money, they’ll go back to that account for a much bigger chunk, often draining the account.

So, what do you think ?