Blogging Away Debt

My husband and I both know there is some padding in our checking account. Paying overdraft fees is a pet peeve of mine so I try to make sure we have a little more than we think. This month, we both used the debit card a few times and before we knew it, the padding was gone and we were well over our budget. I had to do a pricey and frustrating balance transfer from our savings to avoid an overdraft.

I am very disappointed.

This event led to the following changes:

1. More involvement by both of us. Often in relationships, one person manages the finances. When things don’t go well and money is too tight, this person feels the stress, the pressure, and the responsibility for the mess. We have both decided to dedicate and hour each week to review each transaction. Now we have more checks and balances on each others spending – otherwise, we’ll have another bad month.

2. We are refocusing our goals and setting rewards. Our next payoff is still a ways away and we’re getting frustrated and bored. We decided to give ourselves something to look forward to after our next payoff. It’s nothing huge, maybe a dinner out or a trip to the theater, but rewards between payoffs has become something we need to stay motivated.

3. Reconsidering our numbers. We went back to make sure our numbers were working for our ever changing budget. We’ve been underspending on gas and overspending on miscellaneous necessities (car repairs, house repairs, etc.). We decided to adjust our numbers and perhaps pay a little less on our credit card so we can stop panicking when things aren’t balancing. Leaving the numbers the same would be great, but it’s obviously not working and it’s causing frustration.

4. We have decided to spread our focus. It’s easy to let finances consume our thoughts and lives. Rather than let this stress grow, we decided to let ourselves enjoy other things in life. Running, swimming, yoga, gardening groups, and organizing the garage help to keep our mind free of the finance clutter in our brains.

When there are long distances between payoffs, it’s important to work at what is frustrating you. You can’t solve everything, and it will be painful, but taking steps to at least reduce stress will help to prevent burnout. I’d rather take things a bit more slowly than give up entirely.

What have you done to motivate yourself and prevent burnout?

Life After Credit Card Debt – June was a Frustrating Month

by Tricia

Hi everyone! Tricia here. Two months after paying off our credit card debt, I feel like we are hemorrhaging money and it is frustrating.

One of the big things we did after paying off our debt was to get all of us into a good doctor. We got some of the bills last month, but we got the biggie bill this month. Beks just talked about health and finances. They are definitely related when you see the bill! I had mentally prepared myself for the moment I opened the envelope, but nothing really prepares you to see a bill approaching $1,000.

Thank goodness we do have the money and we get a 10% discount if we pay within 30 days. I’m also very glad we have been shelling out the money for an individual health insurance plan. That bill would have made me faint without it (it covered 70%).

It’s money well spent, though. We know that there is nothing seriously wrong with my husband (he had an expensive test done), our son is feeling better and I’m slowly starting to feel like myself again after taking supplements for vitamin deficiencies. While we were in debt reduction mode, we put a lot of that off. We shouldn’t have. I see now that we may have been too aggressive with paying off our debt by cutting spending that we shouldn’t have cut. But, you live and learn.

I discussed last month that our car was playing with us with the check engine light. Well, it wasn’t playing and I ended up jinxing myself. After shelling out almost $300 for what the mechanic thought was the problem – it still isn’t fixed. With all of the computers in cars, you’d think that if something was faulty the computer could tell you exactly where the problem lies. Instead, our car just notes that it is a general problem that could be a number of things. I have no idea how much this will cost to finally fix, since it’s a matter of fixing one thing and if it doesn’t correct the problem you fix the next thing on the list.

So money is flowing out freely right now. It’s frustrating. On the bright side, we haven’t had to put anything on our credit cards. So we still are credit card debt-free. Too many more months of financial hemorrhaging and that may not be the case.

I guess even though we achieved our goal of paying off our credit card debt, there will still be the bumps in the road that I talked about a few years ago. We’ll get through this rough patch and then be on our way again with increasing our financial health.

The road isn’t easy, but it will get easier. That’s what I’ve been saying to myself this month. Hopefully things will improve in July.

Blogging Away Debt Blogging Away Debt follows real people on their journey to debt freedom — with tips on the debt snowball, budgeting, cutting expenses, and staying motivated.

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Life After Credit Card Debt – June was a Frustrating Month