Sian's Money Matters

I've just received great news from my roommate. She's been staying with me for a while but only paying a couple hundred because I only have one bed. But my great news is this.

My roommate has decided to make it permanent!

This means I'll need to get a 2-bedroom apartment but it also means that I'll pay about $200/month less.

I'm really excited because now I can put more towards savings/debt payoff.

WHOOHOO!!

Today I just remembered something that I've literally forgotten. I have approximately $2,000 coming to me.

While I was overseas I had the option of putting my money into an Savings Deposit Plan (SDP). So for nine months I put in $250/month into this account which stops when you come back from overseas.

As of my last paycheck I have $2,345.34 in this account. So it's earned at approximately $95 in interest at this time.

So at this point I'm not exactly sure what to do with the money. I could put it in a Roth IRA, CDs or just deposit it into my savings account to help boost my emergency fund.

I'm just upset with myself that I actually forgot about that much money. It was coming out of my account automatically so I didn't have to think about it but that's the flip side. You may truly forget about it and not even realize you have it especially if you have beneficiaries.

I've finally input everything into YNAB except I need verify three account balances, but I won't be able to do that until Monday. Goodness me, it's so disheartening to actually see the amount that I still owe. But I have to keep in mind how much I've paid off even though my net worth is in the negatives.

Of course everyone's goal is to have a net worth that is in the black! But for those that haven't achieved that, some people are closer than others, not even I.

I literally have VERY close to $50K in debt. I have VERY few assets. But this just wants makes me want to be debt free all the more. It's really the student loans that are killing me. I'm hoping that I can make a large dent in the before I get my degree.

Overall I do like the look and feel of YNAB. Although I wouldn't mind a few changes to the app. Such as being able to change the budget directly from the app. But the app is FREE so that's a nice change!.

But it'll just take discipline and hard work. I'll get there, especially with the support of friends, family and the people here on SavingAdvice.com.

I haven't been saving for retirement like I should have. I'm currently 36 years old and I need to get on the ball.

Well I've looked over my mail and realized that I did have a 401K with my old civilian job that I thought I had rolled it over to an IRA account. But looking at the paperwork I realized that it stated "401K" at the top of it. So I contacted my old job (which happens to have been with a bank) and called Human Resources.

I didn't want to be penalized for having kept it as a 401K plan because I literally went from one job and the next day to the other job (I worked it out that my leave would end the day before I started the military so that there wasn't a lapse in employment).

So after speaking with them I learned that I have three choices:

1. Cash it out
2. Roll it over to an IRA
3. Keep it as an inactive 401K as long as it's at least $1,000

So I chose the third option. This means that I can't contribute to it BUT I can have the dividends re-invested. So it'll eventually grow on it's own. I do need to go through it and re-do the allocations. I just looked at it and realized that leaving it alone for 19 months have left it at a very imbalanced allocation. I currently have 94% in just stock alone. I don't like that so I'll stop contributing so much to stock and re-allocate to the other funds.

But as I was talking to the banker while I was at the bank, she asked me how long I was with the company. I told her that it was almost 10 years and she stated that I would have had a pension started for me on my behalf during the first few years.

So I called human resources again and learned that yes, I do have an inactive pension. I don't need to change it or anything, I can keep it there and it'll grow inactively.

So I opted again to just leave it there. I don't want all my money in one place anyways.

But I'm glad that I've at least started on it and therefore it'll be a good stepping stone. But again I'm glad to add this to my portfolio. I just need to clean it up a bit!

For the past 18 months my parents, mainly my father, has been taking care of my finances. I had joined the military about 19 months ago and have been in training and deployment during that time.

I have become detached from my finances in the meantime.

Shame on me.

So I'm turning to social media. I have to tweeter accounts:

couponing: https://twitter.com/coupon2live

debt reduction: https://twitter.com/siansmoney

At this point I've almost completely put in all my finances into YNAB (You Need a Budget).

I'm hoping that I haven't missed anything but in the long run I'm hoping this will jump start my involvement to debt free.

I know that I've done things here and there to help my budget but it's not really the financial involvement that I believe that I should be doing.

But I'm now looking forward to this because my objective is to make if fun because I like games and numbers. The objective is to have a lot of treasure in the end (my money).

So we'll see how it goes!

Today I did something to that I've been wanting to do for at LEAST 6 months.

I went to my bank to see if I could refinance my vehicle...

My loan info:

current balance: $8,461.02
interest rate: 11.5%
months financed for: 63

My goals:

1. lower rate
2. lower payment
3. get parents removed as co-signers

So I went with both my parents because:

1. I can't drive since I've just had surgery
2. I may have to have them co-sign on my loan again if I can refinance.

So in we walked and I met up with one of the bankers. He asked me if I knew my credit score an I stated about 660-ish (I know that it's come up a lot in the past 10 months).

So he stated off-hand that if that's what the credit report pulled then I'm looking at a 9.5% interest rate. Well that's a LOT better than what I had so I went ahead with it.

He pulls my report and it says 675!

So he starts writing up the paperwork as I'm watching the computer screen.

He says my interest rate is 7.1%! WHOOHOO goal 1 accomplished!

He says my payment is down to $202.91! WHOOHOO goal 2 accomplished!

Then I sign all the paperwork and he says that's it... I asked "My parents don't need to co-sign?" "Nope", he says.

GOAL 3 ACCOMPLISHED!

So these are the great points I accomplished with the refinance:

I refinanced for 48 months. I had 50 months left on my original loan so no matter what I'll be paying off this loan 2 months earlier than planned.

I've already paid approximately $1,100 in interest so far but with the refinancing I will pay approximately $1,200 in interest over the life of the new loan.

I had gap insurance before which I decline to get this time around. I didn't know that when I did this, I get a pro-rated amount back which they'll deposit automatically in my savings account for me.

So all in all I'll be saving approximately $2,100 over the life of this loan compared to the original loan! And the only thing I did was just refinance...

So this time next year I'll be back in there again when my credit is even better and I can get an even lower rate then as well.

I'm so ecstatic! Even my parents are happy! Although they weren't worried about co-signing it because they know that I pay my bills, but is was just one less thing that I wanted them off of. Hopefully this means that I'll never have to have them co-sign on anything else again!

YAY ME! =D

So I did it, I bought a motorcycle!

I paid for it fully up front so the only thing I'll have to pay is maintenance and insurance. Of course I need to pay for the initial registration/titling but that's to be expected.

I currently have it in storage. FOR FREE. A friend of mine is storing it in his garage for me as long as I let him use it for the motorcycle safety course that, as military, we are REQUIRED to take.

I don't need to purchase a helmet since the person I purchase the bike from included that. I do need to purchase safety gear which would only be a motorcycle jacket, which can cost me as little as $60 but as much as $300 but I technically have everything else. As long as it has armor and keeps me cool in the summer and warm in the winter, I'll go for the $60. (as long as it's NOT pink...)

I did find out that the motorcycle safety course is free for me so I'm even golden there.

The bike gets about 50 miles to the gallon and it only costs $12 to fill up the tank. So I can actually visit my brother for less than $24 a trip! $24 would only fill up about half my tank in the SUV...

I also do need to purchase a motorcycle permit which will later turn into a motorcycle endorsement on my license. But again that was expected.

My residential state doesn't have vehicle state inspections so that's not an expense that I have either.

I do need new tires but I knew that when I looked at the bike.

Also my auto insurance had gone down earlier about $30/month. With the motorcycle it went back up $30/month. So that is a wash.

But overall I'm happy! I'll save money overall on gas going to and from work and sometimes it will save me some cash on trips to certain places also!

My twin grandchildren were born earlier this week!

A boy and a girl! Both weighing in at 5 lbs. 8 oz.

So as of this week I have a total of FOUR grandchildren. Two girls and two boys! YAY ME!

On another note, I'm recuperating from surgery well. Today would have been the first day without pain pills but some women decided to kick my foot while I was sitting in the waiting room. Everyone else went around or stepped over me but she had to kick my foot. HARD! Yes I have on a HUGE brace (from top of the knee to my ankle) and crutches.

Other than that I have been doing my physical therapy at home and the current goal is to bend my knee to 90 degrees (it's still quite swollen).

So all in all this week is a good one for me. Four healthy beautiful grandchildren and finally on my way to recuperation for my knee.

AWESOME!

Last month I informed everyone that I would be getting surgery on my knee due to an injury that I received downrange (Afghanistan). They eventually told me that I had a torn ACL that needed to be repaired (of course after 4 months of my knee not healing I knew that it would need surgery and that it was more than likely a torn ACL).

This past Friday (two day ago) I went into surgery. I came out without any complications. There was also a small meniscus hole about 1 cm that was also fixed.

I'm glad that part is pretty much over with.

Tomorrow I start physical therapy. My parents are helping me out a lot by allowing me to stay with them for about a month. Then I'll go back home and continue therapy there.

I'm excited that I'm not on my way to recovery!

In case you haven't read in my previous postings, while I was in Afghanistan I fell off a trailer (while getting off the trailer...) and injured my knee. This occurred in late Nov 2012. I've been having issues since.

I've received physical therapy for approximately three months. Both in Afghanistan and in the states. I was informed that when I arrived back at the states that I would get an MRI.

I never did get an x-ray until I arrived back in the states but it still wasn't until the beginning of April 2013 when that occurred. I finally received an MRI which I had been requesting since January 2013.

I have been officially diagnosed as having a torn ACL....

I have finally been scheduled for surgery to fix this. My surgery is scheduled for the beginning of June 2013...

So by the time I've had surgery I would have been injured for a total of six months.

Awesome...

I'll have a month of intense rehab after the surgery and will be laid up for some of that time probably. But at least I know that I won't really be buying anything at that time (such as groceries) since I'll be living with my parents during recuperation. Then back home because actual rehab lasts about nine to eighteen months.

Wish me luck!...

As of right now, I have a beautiful grandson that was born just a few hours ago! I'm very happy that my child and grandchild are doing very well!

I can't wait to visit them VERY soon! I knew that she was going to give birth in May! LOL! And just before her own birthday as well! =D

Happy Birthday my sweet beautiful grandson!

I bought a new cell phone today, for my parents that is.

I've actually been wanting to do this for years but have never had the means to do so. But today I purchased a new phone so that not only will they have their first smartphone but they'll be on my account.

I like the fact that now I will be able to get in touch with my parents whenever I actually need to at anytime.

They will only pay me either what they were paying before on their previous bill or whatever they want. They didn't have texting on their cell but now they will. So this is something that they'll need to get used to but I know they will. My mom is really excited about it.

I'm so proud of my parents going from flip phone to smartphone. It's a very large step for them but I'm very proud that they have made it.

My parents rock!

P.S.:

It only adds an extra $20 per month to my account so it's not really a big deal either. And that's with an increase in the data package!

I am currently looking at my credit reports and scores from all three bureaus. I am doing this for a number of reasons:

1. clean up report of anything incorrect
2. check to see if it looks better
3. looking to purchase a home within the next 6 years
4. check my credit scores

When I pulled my three scores from all of them, I was pleasantly surprised. I have just learned that not only did my scores come up A LOT, they are actually high enough to purchase a home!

I haven't had scores this high in a long time, but I'm glad that it has finally happened. What this truly means for me is that I no longer NEED to work for my goal which has been reached. But now I have a new goal.

700s HERE I COME!

I have a new challenge for myself. Every day that I workout I put a dollar in the jar.

My only dilemma is to either put the money in savings or use the money to do something special for myself such as a massage or some other type of treat like that.

I believe that I will do that instead of savings. It's not often that I get massages and I haven't had one in soooo long right now. I may go for one this Saturday but that's because I haven't had one in almost two years and my knee desperately needs to be massaged. My physical therapist recommended it.

This is something that I'm looking forward to but it won't start til next month.

I'm also starting a weight jar. I'll have a jar filled with pebbles or something that will be the same amount of how many pounds I want to get rid of. With each pound gone I will transfer it to another jar that will be for the pounds that I HAVE gotten rid of.

I need a visual representation for what I want in order to have a goal to work towards. If I can't see it then it doesn't exist.

But I like these ideas (I did get them from somewhere else just can't really remember where).

As of the end of this month, all my interest rates in all but the loan will be a maximum of 6&! YAY ME!

This means that my interest rates went from 17% for the timeshare to 6%! That's a HUGE savings for me. I'm glad that it's now down.

I will also guarantee that the ex's student loan is down to a 6% maximum because I'm in the military. Since we're still "married" then I can use the Service Members Act for that as well. It is currently already at 6% but this will stay that way.

Also the credit card interest rate will be down as well.

I will cancel the Capital One eventually. I need to check my credit report before I do that though. I know that cancel has adverse effects but this card has an annual fee and the adverse effects are worth it.

Two good things happened this month:

1. Paid off the Emblem credit card. YAY!!

2. Auto insurance decreased by about $20.

So now I have to readjust the budget. I haven't set anything in stone yet and wasn't coming out with an actual budget until May.

I've also submitted the paperwork for all but one company to get all of my interest rates down which happens to be the credit card I just paid off. I'm going to start calling them this week to verify if I'm unable to verify it online.

But so far this is a good month. Looking forward to how things will go next month. I'll put up a budget later and see if I come close to that for debt repayments.

I have several accounts where the interest rates are on the high side. So I contacted one of the student loans and they stated all I need to do is submit paperwork that I'm active duty and they'll lower the interest rate. Even though the actually have a copy of my orders stating that I was in Afghanistan they actually need another set. Go figure...

I am unable to get the car loan lowered but hopefully that'll change later on.

I haven't contacted the Emblem card people yet but they are next on my list.

The one that I was most surprised about was the timeshare people. All I have to do is submit paperwork then I can get the account interest rate lowered. THANK GOODNESS!

I am currently looking for a copy of my original orders (I'm unable to bring it up on my computer...) and then I will be faxing like a speed demon today!

I'm just ecstatic that the interest rate will be lowered from 17% to at LEAST 6% interest rate on the timeshare. That will help out immensely. Then I can actually go about really getting down that debt.

I'll do the credit card company as soon as possible so that they too can be lowered. I'm going to end up keeping that one and getting rid of the Capital One card because of the annual fee.

Well off to find my orders and to the office for faxing! YAY ME!!! =D

Well a funny thing happened to me yesterday....

I had to get a new hard drive last month because mine was dying. So in it went.

I had to also re-install my genealogy software. Genealogy is more a passion than a hobby.

But when I first purchased this software 2 years ago, it came with a 6-month free subscription to Ancestry.com which I used. And this is why I purchased it anyways. Now I would need to purchase it for an annual amount of $155 or semi-annual of $77 which is what I was going to do anyways.

Well when I re-installed it yesterday it asked me to register. Which I dutifully did. Right when I registered it stated that I have received the 6-month free membership.

HUH?! But! UM! UGH! I can't tell it that I have already done this so NOW I get another subscription for free.... So I just saved myself $77 without even trying. LOL

OH well, this allows me to save up for when the subscription renews. =P

I've recently looked into unloading my timeshare that I have. Unfortunately, even for me to donate it I need to pay it off first. So it looks like I'll be keeping it for a while longer... It has one of the higher interests rates to begin with as well. UGH!!!

I moved into my new apartment earlier this month. To me it's incredibly small so I have to be almost OCD-ish about organization. Fortunately my bed and couch (it comes furnished) are high enough so that I can put things underneath them.

I've also just went grocery shopping so that I can take my food with me for lunch and whatnot. I'll get organized sooner or later but it seems to be taking a long time. I want everything done by the end of this month.

My parents gave me a small digital TV so I don't have a need to purchase one anytime soon. It just depends on how long this one lasts.

I'm going to have a facility next week to have them file my taxes for me. And there are still other things that I need to do this month but I knew that would happen. Clothes and all kinds of other things... (I didn't have any clothes when I left for basic training in 2011 since I had lost so much weight and haven't really had an opportunity to purchase any when I had graduated before my deployment.

Bought a small calendar so that I can keep up with my bills/appointments/events instead of always glancing in my financial software.

I'll keep ya'll informed but it's been a busy time...

Before I left Afghanistan I went into a website (this is no longer available) in order to receive a Blood Glucose Monitoring System. I didn't think that this would actually happen, especially since I didn't pay for any shipping.

I don't need it but I figured that somebody would.

So today I go to my mailbox and there's this package. You guessed it, it's the monitor! It also contains 10 test strips and discount card for the strips.

I'm going to donate it to a retirement center or to another place that would need them. I wanted to look at the cost of the monitor and the strips just to get an idea.

The monitor costs and average of $20 and 50 strips can cost $20 - $25. So this is going in my donation box for the retirement center.

I've already started my donation box to the humane society. How you ask? The local newspaper company is mis-delivering my newspapers. I asked for just Sunday/Wednesday delivery and I'm receiving it everyday.... Go figure...

I'm going to call them and let them know what's going on so that I'm only paying for what I requested.

I still haven't gotten my taxes done yet but I've made an appointment for next week to do so. This will more than likely be the only year in which I'm not doing it myself which is my normal course of action.

But this is starting off my couponing for me (the monitor). I'm also receiving my extra Sunday coupon inserts already. So I really do have to go through all of those (I pretty much have a small box of just couponing items that I need to put together...)

I just remembered that I have also requested to receive something else for free but I can't remember. Maybe I'll get that in the next few weeks.

Well I'm finally home from Afghanistan! YAY ME!

First thing I did when I arrived at my brother/sister-in-law's place was eat some chinese takeout! =P

I have also installed YNAB (www.youneedabudget.com) onto my computer and have started inputing my budget. I've gone over certain things with my parents and I'll probably be doing this over a month but next month all the bills should be settled as to what I'll be paying.

Good news:

My parents told me that ALL of my medical collections have been paid off except for one which happens to be the biggest one. I also have leftover fees to pay to an apartment that I'm no longer at.

Bad news:

That's an extra $30/month that goes towards debt repayment.

Good news:

The WF student loan that my ex has that I'm currently paying on went from $110/mo to $106.82/mo.

I'll pay the minimum because of the snowball debt repayment plan that I'm incorporating this month. I'll need to re-calculate some information because the original plan was to have the car loan, timeshare, Sallie Mae paid off by September 2017. Now I will recalculate both the old apartment and medical collections into it to see what the NEW pay off date is. My ideal plan would be to have all of those paid off in five years. I would throw any extra money that I had at it as well but wouldn't be able to count that as a gaurantee since it's just extra money.

I'll put up later what my actual budget is. YNAB should be able to actually list directly what I'm doing and need to do.

But I'm glad that I am home. I'm really looking foward to not having to have a battle buddy EVERYWHERE I go...

I'm finally home and I'm loving every minute of it! =D

I'M SO HAPPY! =P

I've been thinking lately to purchase a motorcycle. A cruiser. NOT A NEW ONE. A used vehicle that I will pay for outright.

The reasoning is mainly gas. Although I'll pay for it in insurance and property taxes, I believe that it'll pay for itself in the long run due to utilization of gas. I currently have a 2004 Kia Sorento which uses about 20mpg/hwy and 18mpg/city.

If I get a motorcycle then it'll be about 50mpg/hwy and 45mpg/city.

If gas costs about $4.00/gallon then would it benefit me to have a motorcycle for "in city usage" and use the SUV for traveling?

The motorcycle has a 4-5/gallon tank and the SUV has a 20/gallon tank. It would take $16-20 to fill up the motorcycle while getting 180-225 miles a tank (city) and the SUV would cost $80 to fill up while getting 360 miles a tank (city).

It takes me 16 miles to drive to work so that's 32 miles daily. Using the motorcycle I would still be on that first gallon where as the SUV would already be ending the second gallon.

I will not be paying more than $2,0000 for this vehicle because I want it used and I'm not wanting to spend a lot of money on it.

But I'm still thinking that maybe it'll save me money in the long run if I have the second vehicle.

What do you think?

I have what I consider consumer and student loan debt. My student loan debt is A LOT but I more than likely won't be able to pay it off for a while. Unfortunately I didn't take the Military loan re-payment offer so I'm stuck with it... UGH!!

So currently this is my consumer debt as of 19 Feb:

Emblem credit card - $1,647.60 - 18.99% - $36.23/mo
Car Loan - $9,036.84 - 11.5% - $213.55 (bi-weekly)
Timeshare - $7,235.38 - 17% - $132.80/mo
Wells Fargo student loan - $5,922.01 - 6% - $110.00/mo
Sallie Mae - $9,657.02 - 6% - $0 (til Nov 2013) then $190.01

This amount adds up to $492.58/mo until Nov 2013 then it's $682.59/mo when I start paying on the Sallie Mae loan.

I have a total of about $705/mo to put towards my debt repayment plan. According to an app that I have, it'll take until Sept 2017 for me to pay it off. That's 55 months which is about five (5) months shy of five (5) years.

So my goal would be to pay it off earlier. So I'll try for Sept 2016. Which for me is VERY likely because I actually stop paying alimony by Apr 2016. So that would be an extra $600/mo going directly into my debt re-payment plan.

But since I can't add future payments to the app, I can only go on what it shows me.

I can't believe it...!

I made a few calls last night because I wanted to get some information about some of my debt. I wanted to know why my student loans were still more than 6% because they're currently deferred due to my military deployment (but I'm also in school as well).

They stated that I needed to submit paperwork specific to that in order to get the rate down... whatever.. at least they'll back-date it to when I joined the military full-time....

I also called the timeshare people. I wanted to know the balance and interest rate. I found out that I have to pay maintenance fees yearly which is currently $312.50. That comes out to about $24/month which I can budget for next year. It's due July 1st so it'll get paid. Good thing I have the funds for that!

But this is what I'm really upset about...

I knew that it was gonna be about $7,000 and I figured that the interest would be about 12%. Bad but I could deal with that..

The balance of the mortgage is $7,235.38 so I wasn't too far off. No big deal b/c I'm thinking I can pay that off with monthly minimums, which are $132.80, in about 10 years maximum because I'm going to pay this off last. I'm going to try to get rid of it.

But the interest rate is 17%! I can't believe it! That's horrendous! I can't believe that I signed on for that... Now that I know what the interest rate is I'm at a crossroads to either pay it off NOW or what...

I have five things that I consider consumer debt right now. My ex's Sallie Mae and Wells Fargo student loans, the car loan, the timeshare and my last credit card. After that it's just student loans.

I can have those five things paid off by August 2017 if I snowball them. But If I don't pay off the timeshare then I won't be rid of it til about 2020...

If I end up keeping it, I DO have access to the facility year round because it's a year round resort...

So now the question is AFTER I pay it off do I keep it or get rid of it because it still has maintenance fees. If I don't get a renter for that week that I have (I can't remember at this time which week it is but I believe it's in October) then there isn't a way to even recoup those fees.

To keep or not to keep? That is the question. I no longer believe there is a question of paying it off anymore. But at least I'll no longer be beholden to the monthly payment...

Last night I learned some good news for me personally.

When I received my leases the manager had stated that the first lease will end July 31st because all the leases in the community do. When it renews it will renew at the lower rate for the next term. So I was expecting $809 for five (5) months and then $779 for the subsequent months. It's only a $30/month difference but that's an extra $30 that I can put elsewhere. I've decided that I will be splitting it between my Wallet Fun Money and Debt repayment. The majority going towards debt repayment. (I put this in detail in my previous posting).

So imagine my surprise when I received both leases stating that my rent amount would be $779!! This amount was handwritten on both leases so I knew it couldn't have been a mistake. I'm really excited because now I can put that amount immediately towards my debt instead of waiting five (5) months to do it! YAY ME!

This could be the difference of paying off Sallie Mae in three (3) years instead of four (4) years. I'm planning to write down what I currently owe and seeing how long it'll take me to pay it all off completely. My plan is five (5) years but we'll see.

I'll do whatever I can to make it five (5) years instead of more. For some odd reason I'm thinking that I can have everything paid off in seven (7) years. I'm not sure why that number keeps popping into my head. I haven't even done any of the math yet. But we'll see!

DEBT FREE HERE I COME!!!

When I get back I know pretty much what my expenses are going to be but I'm not sure if they'll change...:

Ex's Student Loan 1: $110
Insurance: about $150
Netflix: 8.55
Time share: 132.80
Car Loan: 213.55
Cell w/insurance: 82.49
Food/Gas: 400
Coupon Inserts: 55
Rent: 809 (this includes water/trash/sewer/electricity/high speed internet/furniture) - upon renewal lease will decrease to $779 (technically this is more than the original place that I looked at ($705) but that didn't include water/electricity)

(I do have a credit card but I will pay that off when I get back with my savings)

The other student loans are on deferrment/forebearance:

Sallie Mae: 190.01 - forebearance til Nov 2013
Direct Loans: deferred til Sep 2013
ACS: 75.96 - deferred til July 2013

I'm not worried about the Direct or ACS loans because as long as I'm in school I can defer them. But that stupid Sallie Mae loan is what I really hate.

My net will be about $2,305.77 (according to calculations)
Bills: -$1962.82
Which equals $342.95 left until Aug which will then be $372.95 left. Then in Nov because I'll have to start paying the Sallie Mae again. Then that'll leave only $182.94.

I'll contribute the leftover as such at first:

Roth IRA: $25
DebtL 230 (and whatever else comes my way)
Wallet: 50 (fun money to do with whatever I want with)
Savings: 50

in Aug it'll change to:

Roth IRA: $25
Debt: $250
Wallet: $50
Savings: $50

in Nov it'll change to:

Roth IRA: $25
Debt: $60
Wallet: $50
Savings: $50

Now the thing is this. I can pay something down about $2,400 before Nov but I won't be paying anything off with it. So I've decided to actually start my debt repayment by paying off the Sallie Mae loan. That way I can continuously pay $250/mo to it. I know that it only has 6% interest and my car loan has 11.5% interest.

So it would seem to make sense to pay off the higher interest loan first but after Nov I would only be able to contribute $60/mo to it. But I think it makes more sense to keeping paying on the Sallie Mae and that way it'll only take me about three (3) years to pay it off

Your opinions and suggestions are appreciated if you have any.

My youngest (21 years old) is pregnant with a little boy and my oldest (24 years old) is pregnant with... yes you guessed it. TWINS!!! Both a boy and a girl. So by the end of this year I will have two granddaughters and two grandsons. I'm both scared and excited. I'm worried that my daughters will have extra to take care of when they are still learning to take care of themselves.

I've actually (recently) offered them a budget software. My conditions are that they must go to the website and download the 34-day free trial (www.youneedabudget.com) and if my girls with their significant other uses it then I will considered purchasing it for them as a gift so that they can get their finances together. This is software that I will be using myself.

Recently YNAB is also offering a workbook to go along with the software, and I would also purchase this for them (i'm actually going to purchase the workbook for myself as well. I starting a new life for me when I get back and I'm goin to arm myself with as much tools as possible. And I want my family to be well armed as well. I've even offered it to my ex-husband. The more finanically stable he becomes the more he won't rely on the alimony that he receives.

My plan to help out my children and myself is that when I get home to start immediately start working on ourstockpiles. I want a six (6) month stockpile for all of us but I'm thinking that it'll take about three (3) months to do this. This will allow for them to be able to get their finances in order to be able to set themselves up in a better financial situation.

I just don't want them to learn what they need to know in order to be financially stable by the time they're m age. It's frustrating if they wait to long. Hopefully the will learn quickly but I'm hoping the software will also help them. I just wish it was around when I needed it at their age.

But I'm SOOO looking forward to seeing all my grandchildren.

HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY you lovely beauties! =D

Although the babies are due in June and July, I have a feeling that my grandbabies will be all arriving in May. This means there will probably be a slight change to my 2013 goals. In fact I believe that I will change that to just 'GOALS' instead. They will include both short and long term goals but it'll be an overall instead of a yearly. I'd prefer it that way. It's not really rushed and I won't feel as if I didn't accomplish anything if I didn't complete my list by the end of the year.

But I'm definitely excited! I'm already wondering what they will look like but as long as they're healthy I don't care. I already love them! =D

I had been hoping to get an apartment for $600/month which included furniture, internet, and cable (with HBO) with a private bathroom. Water was to be $10/mo and I had to pay my own portion of the electricity since the property would be student type living (roommate). But I wasn't able to get the deal that I was promised so it would now be $705/mo (that's including the water).

So now I'm looking at different places but WITHOUT a roommate. If I'm going to be paying that much I'd rather live on my own. Albeit I'll have to purchase my own furniture since I don't have any but that's okay. I only want a new bed with mattress, a table with chairs, sofa or loveseat, coffee table and a nightstand. I'd buy the bed/mattress new but the rest I'd get second-hand. My parents would actually give me one of the tv's that they have that has a DVD player on it. They just purchased a new tv and it's no biggie. haha!

But on my own I'd have to pay for electricity, water, and internet. I don't need cable because I have Netflix. I WAS hoping to find a place where I can pay $600/mo maximum for everything, but that probably won't happen.

I have two reasons that I want my own place.

I've NEVER lived on my own.

I went from my parents, to marriage, to a roommate when I become legally separated, to the Army, to deployment. Especially the last three years...

The second reason is just that I'm just over having a roommate.

I want to live on my own, be by myself and not have to consider someone elses feelings if I put something somewhere...

Whenever I get into another relationship I want to have that experience of just taking care of me. Technically I have been for the past three years but having to live day in and day out with several other people constantly and not being able to take a breather is just grating on my nerves!

So I'm aware that it may take me more gas than I had budgeted for but I'll just have to reduce my grocery budget. I wasn't planning on using the whole thing anyways. But I'll still put the rest towards bills of whatever is left over.

But that's life. To take what it gives you.

Just to let you know I've taken in consideration that I may not be able to find a place just for me. Which means that I WILL have to go the student type living. I've looked at another place where I would pay less than $600/mo. Private bathroom, water, internet and cable are included in the rent. But I would also have three other roommates. But it would allow for me to pay some things down and in a year I'd try another route.

Wish me luck!! =D

I am excited! As you know I'm here in Afghanistan but I'm excited because I'm almost home. What I mean is that this year in 2013, I will actually be going home to the states!! YAY ME!! We got here in 2012 and this is what we've all here been looking forward to (even if it's not happening anytime soon). 2013!!!

I'm REALLY excited because it means that I'll be able to take control of my finances instead of having my parents do it for me. It means that I will be able to get a debt pay off calendar in the works. It means that I'll be able to drive my own car. It means that I'll be able to wear jeans. It means that I'll be able to use a bathroom without having to get completely dressed in the middle of the night and having 5 "neighbors" right beside me. LOL!

It means that I can finally have a room by myself instead of three to twelve roommates. I can have my laundry room and have my clothes done in an hour or two. I can eat what I want instead of eating what's available. I can actually take control of a lot of things instead of relying on someone else to do it. I can actually be able to wear my hair down!

To all of you that haven't been deployed, you have no idea it is to be restricted in what you can and cannot do on a personal level. Everyday we work. There is no "off" time. It's 24/7 here. And it gets even harder if you get injured here which is the current position that I'm in. I had a previous injury that healed when I came here (fractured foot) and at the end of Nov I injured my knee. I've literally have not been injured for about one month (no pain and able to actually walk/run without any adverse effects).

I've been trying to lose weight since I've been here and have only managed to lose 6.4 lbs as of this past Saturday. Yes it's all about my diet mainly but it's almost virtually impossible to count calories or carbs here. It's about portion control and that's the reason that I was overweight in the first place (248 lbs at my heaviest before I joined the military).

Right now as long as I can pass tape I'm good to go. But I'm working on passing weight which might be something I may not be able to do. Why? Because after doing a body-fat percentage on myself, I have 143 lbs of lean muscle mass. For me to make weight I need to weigh 154 lbs. I need to actually LOSE muscle in order to make weight. So my plan would be to keep the muscle I need and lose the muscle I don't need (do you know how hard it is to do push-ups?!).

In fact I can't even do standard push-ups right now because my knee gives out when I put weight on it. Just kneeling on my knees is difficult. (I injured my knee when I fell of a trailer, I believe that I hyper-extended it at the time. Right now the P.A. believes that I don't need surgery and that the ligament was torn. So it'll be a slow recovery. I believe that I need physical therapy which I've asked for but I haven't received it as of yet). I will do push-ups on a stability ball so that I can at least keep up with it. My idea is muscle fatigue for push-ups then try doing them with a weight on my shoulders. I want to be able to do 50 standard push-ups with no issues.

At least I have no issues with doing sit-ups as long as no one is holding my feet. So I do 100 of them with a 6.6 lbs medicine ball and will work my way up 13.6 lbs. My goal is 80 sit-ups in two minutes (I currently do 61 because I keep stopping).

There is nothing I can do for the running right now. I will start walking/biking again next week as long as my knee doesn't swell up like a balloon again...

I just can't wait to get back into things in the states! I REALLY want a subway sandwich! HAHAHA!!

Appreciate the little things in life people, you never know when those will be taken from you. Then you'll realize how much you miss being able to call/visit your family whenever you want to. Or even go to the grocery store. You have no idea how much I want to just go to the grocery store just because I can. And I HATE to shop. LOL!

See ya when I see ya!!! =D