Check out the ticker!

54% of our debt is gone! What a HUGE relief! Amazing! I am so excited. It seems like it has been forever, but at the same time, it's only been 7 months! Next month we will finish paying off college loan #1. That will leave us with just our last & final debt. We started out with 4 loans to repay & we're almost down to 1. Awesome!

Costco

Perhaps it was a breaking of the rules, but we got a Costco card this weekend. Why? Well, some of you may recall the Black Friday Fiasco of last year at WalMart. We vowed to not shop there after that (which is really hard when you live in a town that doesn't have much other than WalMart), but we still went to Sam's. Some. The last time I shopped there though I got a good dose of why I shouldn't shop there (refusal to price match what their website said was an in-store price!), so I was D.O.N.E.

A Costco membership is only $50 for a year (plus we got a $10 gift card for joining) & when I consider what we'll save on the few items we buy in bulk, it is a deal.

What else has been going on? Not much. We're not staying as on-track as we did the first 1/2 of the year, but we're getting there. We've thrown in a few exceptions to our original rules 'cause it really is stressful to live a year without. It's just not worth the complete stress. so by adding/bending a few rules we should be better able to cope.

Ticker has been updated! We're *this close* to being half way done!!!!

Crap.

I say I'm gonna get better about posting... then I forget.

So, let's see... Saturday, date night, we went out to dinner (& dessert), then we went & bought Luke a new pair of shoes. Well, 2 pairs. *sigh* Oh, and a soccer ball for Kasen, because he LOVES soccer, but has been improvising with a volleyball. He still had bday money, so we'll say that bought the ball. Luke's shoes though... well, everyone needs shoes, right?

That's about it for spending in the last few days. We're not as "on track" as we started, but we're still doing well. I don't go out & buy all kinds of crap at Target, Kohl's, or wherever else I feel like splurging. We don't eat out too often. We're learning to make do with a lot of things (take the "curtains" in our bedroom - they're black construction sheeting that I got for free at work... classy I tell you). We're hanging in there & hoping to hit our goals soon enough. -I still need to find out totals so I can update the ticker up there... Soon!

Nothing = good.

Nothing to report really. We're on track. There's a little unexpected blip on the radar, that may knock our plans off track a bit, but we'll still be okay. It will all still workout, it'll just take a little longer. Maybe.

I had lunch out this week once, which is okay per the rules.

Tomorrow night is date night for Luke & I, which is okay per the new rule I added.

Not much else really going on. Just paying bills, paying debts, & not spending. Yay!

Happy July 5th

I'm a day late on the wishes. Happy July 4th too, but that day has come & gone.

I bough groceries today. Back on the planning for 2 weeks of dinner boat. It does make shopping easier (and meal preparation). Tomorrow is Kasen's 2nd birthday. I'll spend money on donuts, then we'll go by the toy store so Kasen can spend his birthday money. The 3 of us will have dinner out, probably CFA so Kasen can play in their play area (unless I can think of a reason to go somewhere better... trust me, I'm trying!). That's what's up today & tomorrow. Exciting, huh?

Oh, as for me, (on an unrelated to finances note) I gave up dairy (for the most part) a few weeks ago. When I did that I decided maybe I'd eat meat occasionally, so I'd have some variety. Well, I've only eaten it a handful of times & chicken is NOT my friend. I thought I was fine with beef though - until I had some last night. We'll just say, I'm D.O.N.E. No more meat for me. Time to get creative with my food options now. I also heard about a doctor in Rockwall that I may have to go see. He sounds like what I've been trying to find, and he's close by - score! I'm suppose to go back to my DO in Sept to get my blood pressure pills refilled, so maybe I'll go see this guy instead. I keep pouring more & more money out to doctors, hoping one will have a solution that doesn't involve pills for the rest of my life, but I haven't been given a solution other than drugs yet. I'm still holding out hope, after all, I'm only 30!

Staying on track.

We're doing good still. We did Kasen's 2nd birthday pics (I made a trade with a wonderful friend), and we bribed him with ice cream/sno cones. When we left we had every intention of fulfilling that bribe by stopping at the sno cone stand (since it's on the way home). BUT, we decided to come home & give him one of the [free] popsicles I made. We done good. :)

Oops

I did say I was gonna get better about blogging, didn't I? Oops...

What to report? We spent some money on Kasen's birthday party, but not too much. We bought some cheese, drinks, crackers, & stuff for me to make a cake, there was also a pinata & the stuffings. He got 3 presents, (actually 4, but the 4th got left at the store & we didn't realize until it was way too late to do anything about it - boo!), none of which were overly spendy (I think there were all in the $20-$30 range). Mimi & Papa Wayne got a bounce house for the party, which the kiddos loved. I'm sure we spent more cooling the house for those few hours than we did on everything else. ha! Gotta love Texas. ;)
We're not being quite as strict as we were the first half of the year, but we're still not rushing out to buy stuff or going out to eat often. We've made huge strides (I need to ask Luke about the debt left so I can update the ticker), and it will pay off in the long run. -Even if it is really hard right now.

A wonderfully generous person gave me some birthday money, so I went to Sam Moon & bought a new purse. I really wanted a new one, but I couldn't buy it thanks to this challenge. Now I'm a happy lady! (Thank you kind soul.) I do need some shoes still, so I might break the rules for that... but I'm trying to hang in there.

I don't recall if I shared this early-on, but back in December I hid $100 (cash!) away to see if I could go all year without spending it. Guess what? It's July & I still have that money hidden away. Yay! (No ideas - you'll never find it.)

That's about it for now. I really will try to update more often. Really.