Tons Of Debt

Awesome Budgeting Finance Software!

Ben — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 21:36:38 +0000

Three words – I LOVE IT! It’s called YNAB (you need a budget) Pro. The only down side is the cost, but so far I feel it’s worth it. I paid $49.95 for it, which I thought was on the high side. I have been a life long Quicken user (remember the 3.25″ diskettes?), but lately it’s not cutting the mustard for me. The budgeting end of it just isn’t user friendly, and is a pain in the rear end to manage.

YNAB has been super easy, and I love the feature of carrying over your budget shortfalls to the next month. I didn’t budget for a couple of this months expenses, so it deducts from next months’ expenditures. Kind of like a built in savings system! I need all the tricks I can find to start storing some cash.

We are also starting Dave Ramsey’s baby steps, so this is a major change for us. Budgeting and watching our money…who would of thought?

The World’s Best Cinnamon Rolls!

Ben — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 14:11:31 +0000

Super easy to fix…try them!

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Too Much Month, Not Enough Money

Ben — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 23:26:35 +0000

Today is payday, and like so many other Americans (at least that is what I tell myself), it’s already spent! Of course, not all of the bills were paid either. I just have to put off the ones that are of lesser priority, and hope I can pay them out of the next paycheck.

I am not even able to put anything into savings. Am I going about this the wrong way? I read all of these other blogs and they say to pay yourself first. I want to, but when the rent and the power bill have to be paid – what other choice do I have?

Our first budget went really well. With the exception of the mishap, a monthly charge to our debit card that I forgot about, we budgeted right down to the penny!

I only had one mishap and paid one NSF fee over the last two weeks, though. I suppose that’s a bonus. Heck – it’s better than the 5 or 6 at $28.19 each that I was paying before!!

Toodles.

We Sold Our House!

Ben — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 06:01:40 +0000

It’s really kind of bittersweet, but our house has been sold. We bought it in September of ’06 for $157,900, and put it on the market in June of ’08 for $167,000. We opted to move closer to family. Of course, had we known the housing market was going to completely implode and the bubble burst, then we probably would have waited.

To make a long and dramatic story very short, we sold our house yesterday for $95,000! We have been blessed in such a way that the program our lender (USDA) offered us a few months ago pays any shortfall, plus gives us a rebate of $1,500.

Our house is a NICE home and the new buyer is getting one heck of a deal!

This is the bitter part! Iowa’s biggest University, U of I, is located very close to our house, thus rent and real estate is egregiously overpriced. We made a rookie mistake and bought at the height of a seller’s market, and sold at the height of a buyer’s market. HELLO!

As I have said before, the past few years have been one mistake after another, and it is as though we are just waking up from a VERY bad dream.

Our Net Worth

Ben — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 06:01:47 +0000

I know this isn’t entirely accurate, but I am working on it. It’s going to take a few days, or weeks, to find every bill that we have stuck in a corner, or wait for new ones to arrive to see the total picture. This is what I have so far.

Assets	This Month	Last Month	$Change	%Change
Cash	$ 60.00	$ (301.76)	$ 361.76	603%
Stocks	$ -	$ -	$ -
Bonds	$ -	$ -	$ -
Retirement	$ -	$ -	$ -
Car & Vehicle Value	$ 3,060.00	$ 3,460.00	$ (400.00)	-13%
Real Estate & Home Value	$ 135,000.00	$ 155,000.00	$ (20,000.00)	-15%
Other Real Estate	$ -	$ -	$ -
Total Assets	$ 138,120.00	$ 158,158.24	$ (20,038.24)	192%

Debt & Liabilities
Credit Cards	$ 5,100.00	$ 5,100.00	$ -	0%
Car Loans	$ 4,500.00	$ 4,690.00	$ (190.00)	-4%
Home Mortgage	$ 164,000.00	$ 164,000.00	$ -	0%
Student Loans	$ 31,000.00	$ 31,000.00	$ -	0%
Tax Liability	$ -	$ -	$ -
Total Debts	$ 204,600.00	$ 204,790.00	$ (190.00)	-1%
Total Net Worth	$ (66,480.00)	$ (46,631.76)	$ (19,848.24)	193%

Our bank offers a “complimentary” overdraft service where you can write checks up to $350 in the whole for the bargain basement price of $28.19 per item. OUCH! Let’s just say that we have spent close to $1,200 in bank fees for 2009 and it’s only March!

I am proud to say that those days are over! We are NEVER going to go negative again!

You might notice that our vehicle dropped in value a full $400 in one month. Well, I hit a deer. Our insurance deductible used to be $1,000 as a way to save money, but it is that way no longer. We simply couldn’t come up with the $1,000 to pay the deductible, so I am driving around with a bent up hood. You might say that might have been the catalyst for change. You see, I am a proud man. I am about keeping up a appearances, and quite frankly, it’s pretty embarrassing to drive around town in a car with a huge dent on the hood and broken grille.

Just in the few posts that I have made, you will see that our past is full of total financial mismanagement and now the “cows have come home”. Change is in the air, and it’s high time we take the steps we need to so that we can provide for our family!

Stay tuned, I am sure it’s going to be a wild ride.

Just The Beginning…

Ben — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 21:13:14 +0000

Lately, my wife and I have gotten very frustrated at our lack of financial gain. Granted, a new job with a 50% pay cut hasn’t helped, but even after 7 years of marriage, we have nothing (financially) to show for it. We have decided to take control of our finances and reign them in.

After years of no accountability, and borrowing from whomever would lend, we are taking control.

I have a general idea of the debt we have, but I don’t have any idea of what the total dollar amount is. I know there is THOUSANDS of dollars out there that is owed to companies that don’t bill us anymore, since we never paid.

Yes, we are financial losers, but we intend to change that! I am starting this blog as a way to keep us accountable and a place to track our progress.

First things first. We have to set goals.

My first goal would be track down all of our bills and categorize them.

Monthly Bills:

Rent: $495.

Car Payment: $182.

Car Insurance: $90.

Propane: $100.

Electric: $88.

Phone: $75.

Cell Phone: $106.

Water Bill: $35.

Trash Bill: $60./quarter

Total Monthly Expenses: $ 1,231.

Total Monthly Income: $ 1,540.

I know I am forgetting some things, but that is the reason I am beginning to write it all down.

We Are Learning To Budget

Ben — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 22:29:58 +0000

We are learning to budget. I am the spender in our family, and my wife is the semi-saver. Time and again she has foregone things for herself and instead bought things for the family. She is the bedrock of our family, and works very hard to keep all of us happy. So, instead of telling me that she needs something, she will let me buy whatever it is that I “need”, just so I will be taken care of. Ugh. I love her for it, but at the same time it is upsetting to see her in shoes with holes or hair that has long needed to be cut.

We started our budgeting journey on the last paycheck, and with one week down, we are still positive in our checking account!! Woohoo! It’s the small victories that count, right?

I have been waiting for over a week now for the micro-deposits from ING Direct to show up in our checking, so that I can activate our version of the envelopes budgeting system. I read about it on Christian PF.com, a great new blog that I found. Our bank is usually very slow about processing deposits and debits, which works out in our favor more times than not.

It’s going to be VERY HARD for me to keep my debit card in my wallet and spend a buck or two here and there on silly little things that I know that I don’t need! Alas, I am devoted to improving our families financial situation!