2005 Chevy Trailblazer
Dark grey exterior
Beige fabric interior
63,000 miles
A/C
CD/Radio
Roof rack
Tinted windows
Very good to excellent condition
4 wheel drive
Clean title

LOVE this vehicle but Dave Ramsey say’s SELL
$10,995 + our contribution pays off the credit union and it’s yours

KBB.com private party value
Excellent condition $11,290
Good condition $10,615

We received money due to us from the IRS (had to go through a tax return review since MAY!!) today and we were able to pay off several things and get current on all of our 4 walls. YEAH! Our baby emergency fund is back up to $1,000 and lots of small medical debts from this summer are all paid in full.

I feel so much better now!

I was trying to be too strict, too rigid in our budget.  I desperately want the debt GONE.  However, I’ve been told that I also have to LIVE while we are eliminating it!

Therefore, we now have a “blow” category in our budget.  Mind you, it’s $20 total (basically a movie or a take n’bake pizza… however, it’s still a blow category.

Love you DH!

I just updated the “our progress” section…  hoping to do this on the 1st of every month.

Looks like in the last 2 months of being focused, we were able to eliminate $2,328.62 in debt, which is an average so far of $1,164.31 per month.  With an average of approximately $1,000 per month of debt payoff, it’ll take us approximately 43 months to get rid of auto loans, credit cards and taxes.

That’s entirely TOO LONG.  We’ll keep plugging away at finding any money in any way we can to pay off this stuff.  We want it done by Christmas 2010.

Years ago I used to do this every week… however hubby and I changed our food consumption to literally only meat, fresh veggies and limited fresh fruits. We pretty much ate nothing else. Not too many coupons available for those limited items so I quit even bothering to look for coupons, although I’d watch for meat sales.

However, we are now a family of 6 with 4 boys that have ginormous appetites and they are only getting bigger. So, our diets have changed and for now, that’s going to have to be ok. Our diets will be dictated by our budget. Our “healthy” eating will simply be that we do not eat at fast food places or restaurants. We will have some version of protein at every meal and it will be very plentiful.

Anyway, the first trip this week was to Albertsons… I used their circular and coupons that I found on coupons.com. I spent a total of $64.00 and this is what I came home with:

• 20 dozen eggs
• 4 boxes general mills cereal
• 2 gallons whole milke
• 1 loaf white bread
• 5 half gallons of minute maid brand limeade/lemonade
• 10lbs chicken thighs
• 8 lbs cheddar cheese
• 2 one and a half quarts breyer’s ice cream

This is just one trip and not everything we need for the week, nor is it things we always eat each week.  Because of the coupons and discounts, I was able to take advantage of a few things we don’t normally eat such as cereal, the drinks and the breyer’s ice cream.

As I said I am not concerned about organic or “perceived” healthy foods (ie: low fat, lean meats, etc.)  I am concerned about getting as much “balanced” food for my family as possible, with the lowest price possible.  In fact, our current grocery budget is $500/month but my goal is to get our grocery spending down to $300/month on average.

I supposed I should have mentioned this earlier… we completed Dave’s baby step #1 which is to put $1,000 aside as our temporary “baby emergency fund” while we are snowballing our debt.  We are keeping it in our local credit union savings account - interest is not important at this point.  I want the money accessible but no so easily accessible that we can squander it.  It’s current location requires us to physically go into the bank to withdraw it.

What’s an emergency?  Dave defines an emergency as not being able to financially fund your “4-walls” because something truly unexpected happens.. ie: job loss, accident, fire, etc.

I’m not overly comfortable only having $1,000 but like Dave says, this is temporary and only while we are paying off our consumer debt.

I’m an optimist… but even optimists fight off nagging doubts once in a while.  I’m fighting mine off right this very minute. I am definitely gung ho about following Dave Ramsey, 100% to a T, even to the point of being fully mortgage debt free.

My nagging doubt? The fact that we have more student loan debt than anyone on earth (ok not literally, but it sure feels like it) and the fact that we are going to have to do baby step #2 in 2 stages… the first by paying off credit cards and auto loans, then splitting the step in half and saving a bigger emergency fund, then paying off the student loans and personal loan we have.  Yes, our student loans combined are approximately double our annual salary.  The personal loan we have is just slightly under our current annual salary.

I know we can pay it all, it will take time, I just want to make sure we are doing it right.  For now, we are putting $2,000 into our emergency fund.  $1,000 just makes me nervous, especially with questionable appliances, a questionable car and some potential medical expenses coming up (suspect braces for at least 2 kids, suspected glasses for another, etc).

Anyway, just about done with baby step #1 (saving the initial emergency fund - which I upped to $2,000 from Dave’s recommended $1,000).  Can not WAIT to get into paying off the debt again (yes, we’ve been credit/auto debt free before).