Just popping in to Merry Christmas! (If anyone's reading ;) )
I feel fortunate to have off today. I'm spending this morning with a present to self, a refurbished Wii ($99.99) and Guitar Hero ($69.99). I'm getting addicted. I will be running some errands and feasting with family today. I love this holiday :)
Friday, December 24, 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monthly Update
Pay off car loan - 95% (Up .2%)
Pay off student loan - 14.9% (Up .2%)
E-fund 2 - 69.8% (Up 1.1%)
The two new ones..
Put $2500 back into house fund - 63.8% (no movement)
Put $768 into Roth IRA - 10.4% (no movement)
Yikes. Not much happening here. Still recovering from last month's blow. I'm hoping for good things in December. If nothing else it's a 3 pay check month. Yay :)
I just canceled my Scorewatch subscription. It's a cool product but I really don't need it anymore. I accomplished my goals, credit-wise. The only thing that will help now is time, since some of my accounts are still new. My main goal was to have my score where I needed it to get the best rate on my mortgage. Mission accomplished. As of this week, my Equifax FICO is 769. I have no idea where the other two are at. Experian is not available and I haven't bought Transunion for awhile. Maybe I will check TU soon.
Hope any readers had a great Thanksgiving! I imagine everyone is gearing up for Christmas now.
Pay off student loan - 14.9% (Up .2%)
E-fund 2 - 69.8% (Up 1.1%)
The two new ones..
Put $2500 back into house fund - 63.8% (no movement)
Put $768 into Roth IRA - 10.4% (no movement)
Yikes. Not much happening here. Still recovering from last month's blow. I'm hoping for good things in December. If nothing else it's a 3 pay check month. Yay :)
I just canceled my Scorewatch subscription. It's a cool product but I really don't need it anymore. I accomplished my goals, credit-wise. The only thing that will help now is time, since some of my accounts are still new. My main goal was to have my score where I needed it to get the best rate on my mortgage. Mission accomplished. As of this week, my Equifax FICO is 769. I have no idea where the other two are at. Experian is not available and I haven't bought Transunion for awhile. Maybe I will check TU soon.
Hope any readers had a great Thanksgiving! I imagine everyone is gearing up for Christmas now.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Late Monthly Update
Pay off car loan - 94.8% (Up 9.3%)
Pay off student loan - 14.7% (Up .3%)
E-fund 2 - 68.3% (Up 4%)
The two new ones..
Put $2500 back into house fund - 63.8% (Up 4.3%)
Put $768 into Roth IRA - 10.4% (Up 5.7%)
Wee. We got an award from work. I threw most of it at the car loan that's on a credit card. It feels so good to have some extra breathing room on that one. I took $100 toward my pup's surgery, however I have to come up with the other $500 from that ordeal this coming month, so progress will slow in November. At least we got some good news from that one (tumor's benign :) )
Now that we're nearing the end of the year, and the rest of it goes so fast with the holidays, my thoughts are starting to turn to what I will do with my tax refund. So exciting. So many more options now that I own my (fixer-upper-ish) home. I would like to save for a house project (windows, driveway, fence, the list goes on). But I think the refund should cover the $$ I owe to my savings/Roth IRA and cover the last of the car loan. That would be like starting the new year with a clean state. Plus there might be a couple of hundred extra to buy the linen cupboard I've wanted for my bathroom for the past year. Hm, decisions. Well, still a few months to think about that one.
Pay off student loan - 14.7% (Up .3%)
E-fund 2 - 68.3% (Up 4%)
The two new ones..
Put $2500 back into house fund - 63.8% (Up 4.3%)
Put $768 into Roth IRA - 10.4% (Up 5.7%)
Wee. We got an award from work. I threw most of it at the car loan that's on a credit card. It feels so good to have some extra breathing room on that one. I took $100 toward my pup's surgery, however I have to come up with the other $500 from that ordeal this coming month, so progress will slow in November. At least we got some good news from that one (tumor's benign :) )
Now that we're nearing the end of the year, and the rest of it goes so fast with the holidays, my thoughts are starting to turn to what I will do with my tax refund. So exciting. So many more options now that I own my (fixer-upper-ish) home. I would like to save for a house project (windows, driveway, fence, the list goes on). But I think the refund should cover the $$ I owe to my savings/Roth IRA and cover the last of the car loan. That would be like starting the new year with a clean state. Plus there might be a couple of hundred extra to buy the linen cupboard I've wanted for my bathroom for the past year. Hm, decisions. Well, still a few months to think about that one.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Cheap Hypoallergenic Dog Treats
If you follow my blog you may remember me whining about vet bills. Turns out all that scratching was due to food allergies. We're still deciding which foods. I've found one culprit but there appears to be another. In the mean time we are carrying on with our limited diet. "Hypoallergenic" dog treats can be quite pricy. Often they'll use meats like duck or salmon or sometimes they'll use things as simple as sweet potatoes and you find yourself paying twice as much for treats. My dog is very food oriented so I like to have a variety of treats around. Here's a super easy recipe. Even if your dog doesn't have food allergies you can appreciate the simplicity and the healthy ingredients.
1 cup of peanut butter mixed with half cup of milk
1 cup of mashed potato flakes (read ingredients, skip the packs with additional ingredients like garlic, etc) - add to mix above
Keep adding potato flakes until you get a dough that's fairly easy to work with. Then you can do whatever you want. Roll them and cut them into shapes, drop them onto the pan like drop cookies. I roll into little balls and flatten between my hands. Bake at 375 degrees until done. This is 16 minutes for flattened cookies about the size of a quarter. Longer for drop cookies. These store for a few weeks. I keep some in the refrigerator and put the rest into the freezer until I need them, just to be sure.
1 cup of peanut butter mixed with half cup of milk
1 cup of mashed potato flakes (read ingredients, skip the packs with additional ingredients like garlic, etc) - add to mix above
Keep adding potato flakes until you get a dough that's fairly easy to work with. Then you can do whatever you want. Roll them and cut them into shapes, drop them onto the pan like drop cookies. I roll into little balls and flatten between my hands. Bake at 375 degrees until done. This is 16 minutes for flattened cookies about the size of a quarter. Longer for drop cookies. These store for a few weeks. I keep some in the refrigerator and put the rest into the freezer until I need them, just to be sure.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Monthly Update
Pay off car loan - 85.5% (Up 8.2%)
Pay off student loan - 14.4% (Up .4%)
E-fund 2 - 64.3% (Down 3.2%)
I'm adding two more this month -
Put $2500 back into house fund - 59.5%
Put $768 into Roth IRA - 4.7%
It was a good month. I bit the bullet and paid off one of the credit cards which has some of the car loan on it. That's why there was a good bump in the car loan. I didn't really have any influx in cash so I borrowed it from the money I was going to put in my Roth IRA. That's why I have the new item above. And the other new item is the $$ I used from the emergency fund to refinance. Did pretty well this month, and the stock market had a nice improvement.
Pay off student loan - 14.4% (Up .4%)
E-fund 2 - 64.3% (Down 3.2%)
I'm adding two more this month -
Put $2500 back into house fund - 59.5%
Put $768 into Roth IRA - 4.7%
It was a good month. I bit the bullet and paid off one of the credit cards which has some of the car loan on it. That's why there was a good bump in the car loan. I didn't really have any influx in cash so I borrowed it from the money I was going to put in my Roth IRA. That's why I have the new item above. And the other new item is the $$ I used from the emergency fund to refinance. Did pretty well this month, and the stock market had a nice improvement.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Monthly Update
Pay off car loan - 77.3% (Up 1.2%)
Pay off student loan - 14% (Up .5%)
E-fund 2 - 61.1% (Down 1.4%)
Overall a pretty good month. Last month I mentioned re-financing. That went through and the closing costs were less than I expected. I may not put all of the money back into my e-fund and instead opt to put the money in my Roth IRA. I've had a change of heart as well about making the same payment as before. Seeing as the interest rate is what it is (4.25, yay!) I think I will just make the required payment and put the extra $40 or $45 into the Roth IRA also. Financially that makes sense, even though it's really exciting to think about having a home I own free & clear.
I re-vist the same struggle fairly often with the student loan. I would love to hammer that one and take it out but it really doesn't make financial sense since the interest rate is so great (3.75, tax deductible, yay!). So for now it stays for another 15 years..
On that note, I was really planning to have my car loan completely gone by the end of 2010. As I look over the next 4 months, I just don't see it happening. From the impending vet visits to the yearly furnace inspection to the car maintenance recently, I just don't think I'll be scraping up another $2300 :) Of course, I got de-railed by many other things. Some which weren't necessary at this time (new floor in spare room, new fan, new light fixture). Some which were necessary (sick cat, getting to bottom of dog's allergies). Overall I'm not too disappointed because the balance that won't be paid off by the end of 2010 has zero interest until the end of 2011. It will be gone by then! Barring more unforseen circumstances..lol. Life has been good to me the past year and I'm grateful for what I have.
Pay off student loan - 14% (Up .5%)
E-fund 2 - 61.1% (Down 1.4%)
Overall a pretty good month. Last month I mentioned re-financing. That went through and the closing costs were less than I expected. I may not put all of the money back into my e-fund and instead opt to put the money in my Roth IRA. I've had a change of heart as well about making the same payment as before. Seeing as the interest rate is what it is (4.25, yay!) I think I will just make the required payment and put the extra $40 or $45 into the Roth IRA also. Financially that makes sense, even though it's really exciting to think about having a home I own free & clear.
I re-vist the same struggle fairly often with the student loan. I would love to hammer that one and take it out but it really doesn't make financial sense since the interest rate is so great (3.75, tax deductible, yay!). So for now it stays for another 15 years..
On that note, I was really planning to have my car loan completely gone by the end of 2010. As I look over the next 4 months, I just don't see it happening. From the impending vet visits to the yearly furnace inspection to the car maintenance recently, I just don't think I'll be scraping up another $2300 :) Of course, I got de-railed by many other things. Some which weren't necessary at this time (new floor in spare room, new fan, new light fixture). Some which were necessary (sick cat, getting to bottom of dog's allergies). Overall I'm not too disappointed because the balance that won't be paid off by the end of 2010 has zero interest until the end of 2011. It will be gone by then! Barring more unforseen circumstances..lol. Life has been good to me the past year and I'm grateful for what I have.
Saturday, August 7, 2010
Monthly Update
Pay off car loan - 76.1% (Up 1.1%)
Pay off student loan - 13.5% (Up .3%)
Pay off student loan - 13.5% (Up .3%)
E-fund 2 - 62.5% (Up 5.5%)
Yay for another good month. Slow and steady..hehe. Somehow in July I didn't make the progress I expected but at least there was still progress in the right direction. E-fund 2 got a nice boost due to the market, not me putting much more in there. Next month won't be much for progress either. I'll be refinancing my house and it will be coming from the emergency fund for now so I'll have to boost that back up a bit. I snagged an awesome rate and I'm pretty sure I'll never have the opportunity again.. I'm still debating how I will balance out repaying the money I use from savings for closing costs but yet I would like to make the same payment I was making before so I can pay the loan off in less than the original timeline. We'll see.
Yay for another good month. Slow and steady..hehe. Somehow in July I didn't make the progress I expected but at least there was still progress in the right direction. E-fund 2 got a nice boost due to the market, not me putting much more in there. Next month won't be much for progress either. I'll be refinancing my house and it will be coming from the emergency fund for now so I'll have to boost that back up a bit. I snagged an awesome rate and I'm pretty sure I'll never have the opportunity again.. I'm still debating how I will balance out repaying the money I use from savings for closing costs but yet I would like to make the same payment I was making before so I can pay the loan off in less than the original timeline. We'll see.
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