SgtPen91st's Personal Finance Blog

Hey y’all. Thought I would write a quick update and tell you how the weekend went. All in all, it was a fairly productive weekend, financially speaking. I paid $50.00 towards my Medical/Dental Debt and I have plans on paying this off by the end of the month.
I have been working on and trying to live by a budget the past few months.

I believe that this is the 2nd month that I have actually by “living” by the budget and, while it is slow going and there are many things that have needed to be tweaked, it is a very good idea (for me….and everyone I imagine). For example: My gas budget should be drastically lowered this month, but I really won’t know until the end of the month.

I live by the philosophy that we should always pay ourselves first. Aside from my contributions to my government TSP (401-k), I am also putting away money towards a $1,000.00 EMERGENCY FUND. I forgot to include that in my numbers when I posted last week.
So, here is what I have so far in that fund: $375.50. I am planning on putting in $200 dollars a month, so that would mean that it would be fully funded by December 2010. This money won’t be used except for emergencies only…..for those things when Murphy knocks on the door.

I also may have procured a second job as a Loss Prevention Officer for Kmart; but, I really won’t know until the end of the week. I went in and talked with the Loss Prevention Manager and he seemed pretty enthusiastic to have someone with my experience apply for the job. He stated that he is conducting interviews at the end of the week and he will let me know. It’s only going to be part time, but that will work out with my schedule because I am already working full time. My thought process is that all this extra money can be applied toward accelerating my debt payoffs.

Well, that’s it for now. I will keep y’all updated.

Hey y'all. So, here's my story. I am 32 years old and have had a few different careers before settling on the one that I will keep for the next 24 years. So, last year I was in an emotionally and financially draining relationship. I was making approximately $3,000 a month, but always had more month at the end of my money (reference to Dave Ramsey.....If you don't know of him, or haven't ever heard of Dave Ramsey, check him out). My bills far outweighed my salary and I was truly living paycheck to paycheck.

It wasn't until the beginning of Augut 2010 that I heard Dave Ramsey on the radio and just had to do some research as to why these "crazy" people were calling in and screaming, "WE'RE DEBT FREE!!!!"

Forward a few weeks and some research on the internet. I purchased one of his books and will be following his plan fully starting this month (October 2010).

Here is a breakdown of all of my debt:

Medical/Dental: $100.00
CreditOne Bank(CC): $119.71
Family Loan: $200.00
CareCredit(CC): $475.12
Verizon: $674.19
Aaron's(TV): $687.17
Citibank(SL): $2,819.98
CNAC(CarLoan): $2,829.33
RMS(Collection): $5,630.00
Judgement: $17,000.00
NelNet(SL): $21,556.91
SallieMae(SL): $55,776.91
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So, yeah...there you have it: A complete breakdown of my financial situation (or lack thereof). These are only my outstanding debts and does not include my household operating costs associated with mortgage payment, utilities, etc. CC means a debt associated with Credit Cards and SL is a debt associated with a Student Loan. So, all in all my outstanding debt is a WHOPPING $107,869.32. Wow, that shocks me even having to look at it on paper (and on screen).

I am hoping that, even if I do not receive any visitors to my posts, this blog will keep me accountable for paying down my debt following the Dave Ramsey Method.

Please check in and I will update you all as my debt dwindles down and down.