Happy Veteran's Day. . . .

Sending out a big thank you to all of our servicemen and women who have fought so valiantly, whether in our recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan or in any of the previous wars in which our country has been involved. Much as I hate war and love peace, I recognize the sacrifices that soldiers and their families have made in the name of freedom.

I'm also posting (hopefully) a 'seize the day' graphic that I came across recently, and which makes me stop and think every time I see it. Notice that nowhere does it say that happiness lies in the amount of money or 'stuff' in our lives. . . . Enjoy!



Have a lovely day, all, and stay tuned for a post about my Next Big Thing (for after I've conquered my debt, that is!)

New developments. . .

Wondering where Finally Frugal has been lo these many months? Well, I've just snagged my third part time job (making four jobs total: one full time, three part time). So as you can imagine, I'm just a little busy these days. The month of October was really tricky and I wasn't sure I was going to survive it, to be honest.

In an effort to pay off my second mortgage (which will help me to build some equity rather than remaining "underwater" in terms of what I owe versus how much my house is now worth), I've added a part time teaching gig (at a local college) as well as a part time online teaching gig in addition to my online research position. The full time job remains the same, in spite of my graduation with a second master's in June. I'll probably stay there until I've met my next financial goal, and then after that, who knows?

My very, very, VERY optimistic plan is to have the second mortgage (all $30,000 of it) paid off in a little more than one year. As I say, that's incredibly optimistic - I'm not making THAT much at my three jobs. But I want to aim high, rather than succumbing to the idea that I can't do it. It's tough having all these jobs, but also challenging (in a good way), and hey, I can do anything for a year, right?

I'm also chipping away at the student loans ($60,000) although a recent death in the family that resulted in an inheritance (not to me, however) may result in a bit of that debt going away a little quicker than I anticipated. Maybe I WON'T be paying that off until I'm 90!!

Later this week, I'll post a little secret plan that I've been fantasizing about. I've not shared it with any of my friends and family, but what better place to let the cat out of the bag (and maybe get some objective feedback. . . .) than my trusty blog?

I can't promise daily posts (did I ever post on a daily basis?) but if my plans come to fruition, I'd like to renew my relationship with the Finally Frugal blog - it (and my faithful readers) helped keep my sanity while I made the transition from a credit-card carrying shopaholic to a frugal gal who actually THINKS before making purchases (and in cash, these days!)

More to come!

A blast from the past. . .

My current flash drive is full, so I'm moving some school stuff over to another drive that I own, and discovered an Excel spreadsheet showing my credit debt in 2005 (see below). As you can see, I owed almost $25,000 total; and I made less than $40,000 a year. I paid all of this off when I sold my first house (back in the days when homes had equity - sigh).

Of course, I immediately started running up NEW credit card debt after moving and buying another house. But it's interesting to see just how much I owed - for STUPID stuff. I have no idea what I bought at Mervyns (which doesn't even exist anymore) or the Gap (I owed over $1,000!!!! That is INSANE).

By the time I finally came to my senses a few years ago, I think I owed almost $5,000 again - these days if I run higher than $300 or $400 on my credit card from month to month I start getting antsy.

I guess the lesson to me in finding this old accounting of my credit debt is really that I have little to nothing to show for all of that debt. I have my car, which accounted for $4,000 of the $25,000, and a computer which is outdated and rife with computer viruses (and therefore unusable). And that's about it. So the next time I 'have' to have that little item, or those shoes, or that t-shirt, I hope I'll consider all the money I've already wasted in my lifetime on frivolous items. Maybe when I've paid off my student loans and at least my second mortgage (waaaaaay in the future) I can do some frivolous shopping (with cash), but until then I've got to get 'gazelle intense', as Dave Ramsey would say.