So, it's uh, been a while......

I forgot about my non-blog!!! Can you believe it?! I got so wrapped up in the deals and yard sales, and selling stuff, and paying off debt that I forgot to write about the deals, and the selling stuff, and the paying off debt. Not out of sight=out of mind. Go figure. Anywho.....sold some more stuff online, and put the amounts on the debt. We are now sitting at, drum roll please.......................................................$45,001. $1 measly little dollar from under 45. Man we're so close I can taste it!!! I've been doing a lot of deal hunting as well. Winter is coming (if you can call it that in South Texas) and so I've been scouring the yard sales looking for winter items for my littlest one who is almost two. This past weekend at a yard sale I found her a pair of pants, a top, a pair of shoes, and a winter jacket for the grand total of $1.25!!!!!! Holy crap, that's some cheap stuff! I was so excited. This weekend our community is doing their quarterly yard sale, so I'm going to go see what else I can find for super cheap. I'm trying to find new blinds for the house without spending $40 each at the hardware store. I have gotten two pairs of blinds for $5 before, so I'm hopeful it will happen again. I have 10 more windows to fit! Today I went to Walgreens and bought 9 bottles of shampoo for $1.31. THAT right there is the power of coupons. I love coupons. I lust for my coupons. I'm having an illicit affair with my coupons. We rendesvouz every Sunday morning. The Husband knows, but he's not jealous. He knows I'll always come back to him. After all, the coupons sometimes get attitude with me (excludes trial size, sheesh!). Looking forward to this weekends CVS deals. Think they're gonna be good! Also, we found out that The Husband will be getting a raise starting NEXT MONTH! An additional $375/mo (before taxes) to go to the debt snowball. Dave would be so proud................ I'll keep you updated!

MIscellaneous spending and saving.

So, I've been doing this "cvs-ing" thing and holy cannoli I've saved a ton. I have almost everything The Husband needs for his deployment (toiletry wise) for almost free from cvs-ing. It's unbelievable the savings. I've gotten free toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, shower gel, razors, shaving creme, and makeup (not that The Husband will need much mascara in the sandbox). Every penny saved is another penny for the debt.

We've also been selling knick knacks, unneeded furniture, and other miscellaneous things on ebay and craigslist and put all those earnings on the debt. As of right now our debt is down to $45,030. I should get more this weekend from a craigslist sale, and then I'll scrounge around for more things to sell to all those deal seekers. Will keep you updated!

More ebay!

Got more ebay payments today! Straight to the debt, bringing the total down to $45637!

Craigslist sales!

Another craigslist sale! $50 from the little one's winter clothes from last year! Brought the debt total down to $45,657!

Ebay sales!

Man, people will buy *anything* off ebay! I sold a powercord to a laptop, a tshirt, a food scale, and a software disc. I received some of the money today, put it on debt, and brought the total down to $45,707!!!!! It seems like almost every day I can find money to put on that debt, it's so amazing!

Daily summary 9-2-08

Paid a payment of $75 from various craigslist and ebay sales. Brings the debt down to $45734. This is amazing!

More craigslist awesomeness!

Dave Ramsey says to keep $1000 in a baby emergency fund while you wipe away your debt. In order to set up the savings account we had to have a recurring deposit (every payday). We already have the $1000 so each payday when the recurring deposit happens we take that amount back, plus interest earned for the month and put it on our credit card. Today was $51.92! That brought the total of debt down to $45,809!!!

In other news we moved the baby to the big girl bed. We already had the bed and the mattress, and the sheets, so we only had to purchase the pillow and the blanket. We bought the cheapest ones we could find. In doing this we were able to list our crib, crib mattress, and mattress protector on cragislist, and it sold in 1 day to a family with a new foster baby! That's another $60 for the credit card. I can't pay it until the banks open tomorrow, so I will update the total with my ebay winnings as well tomorrow. Gazelle intense baby!!!

I puffy heart craigslist

I sold two things on craigslist today for a total of $35. That money goes directly onto the debt bringing the total down to $45,884. Craigslist is the poop!

Ready......Set......Blog (or not)!!!!!

So, welcome to my brand spankin' new blog. I'm not a blogger. I know it may look like I'm blogging, but I'm not. This is like the silly little pink diary with the flimsy little gold lock that I kept under my bed as a child.....but virtual. This is my diary, I just happen to type a lot faster than I can write, besides, I'm completely addicted to the "internets" anyway, so why not be diary-ing online. So, that explains the blog that isn't a blog and the Redsonja that isn't a blogger. Moving along. My blog that isn't a blog is accountability. It's intention. It's motivation. It's the thing that forces the truth and displays the excitement. So, here goes:

My husband and I have a lot of debt. Like a lot a lot. We started in December 2007 with $63,000 and some change in debt. Half of that is my student loan. Some of it was an adoption loan, some was a car, and the rest was dinner at Chili's and a trip to Europe. Most of it was stupid, but the student loan debt was a graduation with honors thankyouverymuch. Regardless, it was debt and it was killing us. I stumbled upon a fellow named Dave Ramsey and the fire was lit under our behinds. We couldn't do this anymore we said. We can't retire like this we said. We can't teach our daughters this we said. So, we said "NO FRIGGIN MORE!!!!!". And there was no more. We cut up all but one of the credit cards (kept the one for emergencies and have not used it). We got a big whiteboard and listed all our debts in order from smallest to largest, and we went for it. It was almost nauseating to see how much we owed and how little we had to show for it, but isn't that what they all say? In December we decided that we would not buy presents for each other, just the kids, and we would set a very small limit on the extended family. We stuck to it. We decided that every extra penny we would find would be earmarked for debt, and we mean every penny. We have made payments of thousands of dollars (tax refund and job bonus) and of pennies (.99 cent sale on ebay). It adds up, and fast! As of right now, we have $45,919 in debt. We have paid off $17,081 in 8 months. It still seems like so far to go, but we are bound and determined. We see people all around us living the life they want but can't afford. The life we had. We don't want that anymore. I don't want Citibank or Chase to own me, I want to own my money. I do not want to be at their beck and call, they should be at mine. So, I've started this blog that isn't a blog to post my journey, and maybe if you have a journey you want to take to financial freedom, you can come along and we can help each other. So, welcome!