New Goal

I'm going to try harder at earning money online via Pay for searches, Surveys, etc... I'm going to track my progress here. I'll create a seperate page for listing all the sites I am particpate in and document my progress.

~~~~CAPITAL ONE IS PAID OFF~~~~~

Goodbye Capital One!

As of today, December 2nd, 2009 that debt is gone!!! My total debt payoff is now 6.4%!!!! Yea-hoo!!!!!

Savings and Debt Updates

Its almost December, already! I began paying off the debts in October. In less than 2 months, I've already reduced my debt by 5.2%!

In November, I started the Christmas Savings Fund for 2010 and the Emergency Fund.

Christmas Fund---I've saved 13.8%

Emergency Savings Fund---I've saved 19.5%

I really am hoping by this time next year, I'll be at the 50% mark for Debt Payoff and 100% for the savings funds. I'd like to increase my savings in other areas, as well as hit my debts more agreesively.

Arby's $5.01 Giveaway

Arby's $5.01 Giveaway

Posted using ShareThis

I just ordered 50 photo christmas cards for only $3.19 for shipping! Amazing!

Check out Kingdom First Mom's post!!!

http://kingdomfirstmom.com/2009/11/see-here-free-custom-photo-ornament-50-free-photo-cards.html

How to Create a DEBT FREE PLAN

Creating a Plan of Action

You first need to know your debts. 

Take out all your credit card statements, Student Loan statements, Car Loan Statements, everything! You also may want to get a copy of your credit report. This is something you should do at least once a year, if not more.

For me, I do order it at least twice a year. Last June, I got a copy of my credit report and I was very alarmed to find a ton of stuff that wasn't mine. It was for the most part derogatory items. I found out that somehow another womans social security number was ONE DIGIT different than mine, and therefore all her information somehow got on my credit report. It took MONTHS of  Online Credit Disputes and letters to get all that information removed. I did get it all removed, but it took a lot of time and effort. So, my point is---Order your credit report, and order it often! You never know what you will find!

Set Your Payoff Goals

What is your goal with paying off your debt? Do you want to be debt free in 1 year? 2 years? What do you want to pay off? What do you want to pay off first?

Get It On Paper and Organize it

You need to get all your debts listed.  Find an order and list it all and the amounts due. Maybe you want, to pay the little stuff first... Maybe you would feel better paying the bigger stuff first. Some people want to pay off the debt with the highest interest first. 

How Will You Accomplish your Plan?

Do you have enough funds coming in to help facilitate your payoff plan? Do you need more money coming in? Do you need to take a second job temporarily to help get your debt down? Do you need to cut down on some areas of spending?

In my situation, I decided I needed to take on a second job to help pay down my debts. Its not always easy, but I am working toward being debt free, so it is all worth it!

So, You Wanna Be Debt Free????

You are swimming in debt? Stacks of Bills? No Budget?
Where to began, right?

There are several steps that have helped me began my journey to be debt free.

1. Make a Plan
2. Stop Adding to Debt
3. Set up an Emergency Fund
4. Lower Your Interest Rates
5. Debt Snowball
6. Create a Budget
7. Learn tricks to Saving Money and Reducing Spending

~~15% Off At Payless Shoe Source~~~

Right now they are having a BOGO 1/2 off sale. Plus, if you register at: http://www.payless.com/store/ they will email you a coupon and you can get 15% off in addition to the BOGO!

Happy Shopping!!!

~~Free Online Printable Coupons Links~~

Some of my favorites sites to print free coupons are:

Coupons

Redplum

SmartSource

I've been so busy!

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to post much lately! I started working a part time job plus work my regular job+ being a wife and mother! Its a lot!

So, I'm working almost 60 hrs a week. Its tiring but It is all for paying down our debts and to get us closer to our goals!

Walgreens .30 OOP!!!

This is how I am rolling this week!!!

1 Halls Refresh (1.00)
1 Chapstick (2.99)
2 Russell Stover Halloween Candy ($.78)

Total: $4.77
-.75 coupon for Halls Refresh
-$4 RR
=.30

Will receive 1.00 RR for Halls,3 RR for Chapstick

Putting Your Budget Into Action

I have posted links to help you get started creating a budget. So, once you write down all your bills, your next step is to create a system so that you can keep track of paying bills. You may pay them online, through the mail, in person, that is fine. But, for me what worked for me was creating a spreadsheet of each bill and the amount and due date. Then right before the start of the month, I write all the checks, put them in the envelope and on the outside of the envelope I put a sticky note on when to mail them. But for me it is very helpful having a list of seeing what is do, the amount and what is the due date. Here is a sample:Monthly Bill Schedule. Now, that is an example, I do have a lot more bills than that!!! lol

I think it is very helpful to see what is due every month and have it to refer back to! I print it and put it up on a board in my office at home. If you have any questions, feel free to email me .

Creating a Budget Worksheets

This page I will list all the links for creating a budget.


http://www.momsbudget.com/printables/householdbudgetprint.html


http://www.daveramsey.com/media/pdf/fpu_qbudget.pdf

http://www.smartcredittips.com/budg.html



http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/business/pdf/BudgetWorksheetPost.pdf


http://www.spreadsheet123.com/ExcelTemplates/excel-personal-weekly-budget-spreadsheet.html


http://www.betterbudgeting.com/budgetformsfree-basicbudgeting.htm


http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/TC010233421033.aspx?CategoryID=CT101172321033&ofcresset=1

Walgreen Trip #2

This is my 2nd trip of 4 total for Monday! Here is what I got this time:

1 Oral B 123 Toothbrush (Sale Price: $3.00-$1.00 Manufacturer Coupon)

1 Chapstick (Sale Price: $2.99)

Then I had to get some Filler Items ... So, I got:

1 Reese Peanut Butter (.69)
1 M&M's (.50)

I used 1 $4 RR from the Theraflu and $2 RR from the Herbal Essence Shampoo

Total with Tax: $.62!

Then,  I received a $3 RR for the toothbrush and $3 RR for the Chapstick!

Its a Walgreens Week!

This week, I've been having fun shopping at Walgreens! I will share my trips! I've been getting some great deals!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Monday Trip #1

2 Boxes of Theraflu Cold and Cough (On sale for 2/$8, plus get a $4 Register Rewards, and I used 2 $2 coupons found in their Healthy Savins Booklet)

1 Herbal Essence Shampoo ( On sale for $2.99, I used a $1 coupon, and received a $2 Register Rewards)

1 La Cross Smoothing Block (.99)

1 Camp Rock Activity Book ( Clearance-$.74)

1 Walgreens Childrens Activity Book (Clearance-$.25, which I bought because therer are some good coupons in there!)

Total:$8.44
Used $5 Register Rewards

Paid $3.44 Out of Pocket

Plus, I received $4 RR for the Theraflu and $2 RR for the Herbal Essence!

My CVS Trip

It didn't exactly go as planned, but here it is:

I initially purchased:

1 Toothpaste Aquafresh (2.99-$1.00 manu coupon=1.99)
3 Dry Idea Deoderant (2.29x3=6.87-6.00 manu coupon=.87)
4 Kleenex (.97x4=3.88-1.00 manu coupon)

Well the above is what I intended on purchasing. However, after I got home, I realized that I got charged $2.29 for each Kleenex!!!!! Needless to say, I went back to return them! However, because of me using ECBS, I could only get back what I paid in cash.So, I returned 3 kleenex and got cash back=7.60+ the manager let me take the other kleenex home since I couldn't return it. So, truthfully, I didn't pay anything, as I got my cash back.

End result=$5 ECB for my next purchase!

So, I believe I did pretty well!

CVS 9/20-9/26 .70+tax oop

This is how I am rolling this week:


1 Aquafresh Iso Active Toothpaste
3 Dry Idea Deoderant
4 Kleenex Facial Tissue

$6.70 total
-$6.00 ECB (From last week: listerine+colgate total)
=.70+tax oop

Plus: I'm getting $5 ECB back! :)

CVS DEALS 9/20-9/26

You can get some good deals at CVS for Free or Almost Free!

Some things to Keep in Mind:

• Manufacturer Coupons are taken at Face Value
• You can combine Manufacturer Coupons and CVS Coupons
• Part of the good deals is that they give you Extra Care Bucks which can be used on a future purchase

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This week's Good Deals:

Crest Pro Health Toothpaste 4.2 oz or Crest Pro Health Rinse 250ml
Sales Price: $2.99-$2.00 ECB=.99
If you have a manufacturer coupon, you can possibly get it for free!
Limit 1

KLEENEX Facial Tissue
Sales Price: .96
Use $1 off 4 boxes manufacturer coupon that expires 9/30/09
.96x4=$3.84-1.00 coupon=2.84
Final Price Per Box=.71
Limit 4

Dry Idea Deoderant
Sales Price: 2.29
ECB $1
Limit 3
Use $2.00/1 Printable coupon
$2.29x3=6.87-6.00 Printable Manufacturer Coupon=.87
Plus you will get $3.00 back in ECB you can use for a future purchase! :) All in all, you are making $2.13 for purchasing these!

AquaFresh Iso-Active Whitening Toothpaste 4.3oz
Sales Price: $3.99
ECB:$2.00
Use $1.00 Printable Manufacturer coupon
$3.99-$1.00 Manufacturer Coupon=2.99
Then you will get $2.00 back in ECB!
Final Price: $.99

Remember, Each week you can use your ECBS for your purchases, so your Out of Pocket is very small! :)

Creating a Budget

I would say creating a budget would be the first step to getting a hold on your debt. It will start the process to change your spending habits and really make you take a look at your spending. It will allow you to be accountable and see everything on paper.

The first step in order to create a budget is to write down all your bills. You can just grab a notebook and write it all down, or you can use a printable such as:

http://www.momsbudget.com/printables/householdbudgetprint.html

http://www.daveramsey.com/media/pdf/fpu_qbudget.pdf

I believe seeing everything listed on paper will make it more "Real". You need to know where you money is going or where it is supposed to be going. Having it all down on paper will lead you to the next step which is cutting back on your expenses! This will be especially helpful if you are like most people who are in debt and attempting to be DEBT FREE!!!!!

I personally create a monthly budget each month. I update it weekly, as our incomes are weekly and bi-weekly and do fluctuate. I do keep a seperate worksheet for our debt and update it monthly,as well.

Welcome

I have begun this blog to share my journey to be debt free, as well as to help other achieve the same goal.

I will share tips on creating a budget, Paying off debt, Saving Money, Using Coupons with Sales to maximum savings, and much more!

Welcome to To Be Debt Free!