A few months ago we knew we were headed into “negative” territory on our bills.  A perfect storm of events were happening and we could see what was going to happen.

In our efforts to work with our credit card companies, we started by calling Chase - please don’t laugh… we didn’t realize at the time we were taking on the stupidest credit card company in the world, and I am not exaggerating.

Chase refused to work any hardship with us - we simply requested a lower interest rate and a temporary lowering of our payments (we did not request any reduction in principle).  Instead, they told us they couldn’t do anything and refused to work with us.  They told us our only option to work with them was through Consumer Credit Counsel Service (you know, that “credit counseling” company paid for by the credit card companies - the same one who’s focus is making sure the credit card companies get paid, 4-walls be darned?!).  They didn’t care that we were already working with a financial counselor through all of this.

Well Chase, this month will be the first of several months you won’t be getting paid.  You refuse to work with us so you’ll just have to wait in line behind others who are willing to work with us.

So, knowing what a nightmare our first attempt was, hubby called Merrick Bank today.  The 1st call didn’t go so well… however, she hung up on hubby so he called back again… and got someone nice - yes, I said nice, and helpful!  Those are oxymoron’s in the credit card industry.

So, Merrick bank is very willing to work with us.  We have 2 credit card’s with Merrick and they were wonderful on both of those cards.  We told them we don’t have any money this month, however due to our efforts at selling things and bringing in extra income, we anticipate having the ability to repay again beginning next month.  In otherwords, we will miss 1 payment on both cards.  They said just call them to make the arrangements they agreed to which was dropping our rate to 6% and eliminating any late fees that accrue once the accounts go late.

Imagine that, a credit card company that actually wants their money and is willing to work out something temporarily with us.

Spurred on by the success of that phone call, hubby went on to Juniper Bank (we have 2 accounts with them as well).  They won’t do anything, period.  We can work through Consumer Credit Counseling and that is our only option with them.  No lower of rate, no temporary hardship, nothing.  In fact, they tried to sell hubby “credit protection” - yes, just what we need: to increase our debt with you when we are telling you we are not able to make the payment this month?!

So, Merrick Bank and our credit union are first priority on our “debt snowball” list and Juniper Bank and Chase are last priority.  Unfortunately, it looks like we’ll be going 4-6 months late on payments to them (unless something drastic changes in our financial situation in the very near future) which means likely charge offs… which means the companies aren’t likely to get even the principle amount owed to them as they’ll have collection agencies collecting for them.

We tried - over and over we tried. We asked simply for temporary abatement, not a hand out.  It’s no wonder people just give up and file bankruptcy (we will not).

We’ve also done this with every single card (including my coveted Macy’s Elite card)…

I’ve been “coupon” stockpiling for a little over 2 months now.  HOWEVER, I have always been someone who stocks up at Costco on things that I never want to run out on: toilet paper, paper towels, deodorants, food items we eat regularly, etc. With that said, I usually always have a 2-4 week solid stockpile in our home.

Now that I’m couponing so intensely again, all that has changed.  I will now stock up on something as much as I am able to buy at the pennies or free price.  For example, we currently have 41 boxes of kleenex (well we have more, but I’m speaking about the ones I got free) because they are free.  Today is the last day to take advantage of this deal so I’m going out and getting anywhere from 12-20 more depending upon the stock the store has available.

Anyway, here are some pictures of my stockpiles, with explanations of what you are seeing within each picture.  Enjoy!

View 1 of my main, near my kitchen, pantry

The top shelf back in the corner has 20+ boxes of cereal… the edges of the pantry extend pretty deeply beyond the doors (sort of annoying when trying to utilize said space!!).

View 2 of my main, near my kitchen, pantry

Again, top shelf has another 30+ boxes of cereal back in that corner.  My pantry stockpile here is actually somewhat low right now.  I haven’t been through a full cycle yet of sales/coupons (takes about a year) so there are things I haven’t stocked up on that we were using regularly.  Now however, we’ll use what I’ve been able to purchase at steep discounts.

View 1 of my laundry room pantry area.

My laundry room is nice and spacious.  However, we recently moved in and I don’t have anything really built in yet.  In another picture you’ll see some shelves we did put up - with supplies we already owned.  Now the quest  begins to find things free to better utilize this space.

View 2 of my laundry room pantry area.

I can’t wait to start taking advantage of Walgreen’s and Rite Aid sundries sales… my coupon stockpile is pretty solid right now so BRING IT ON you two!!

View 3 of my laundry room pantry area.

See what I mean about utilization of space??  I’m desperate for shelves, counters, etc.  I’m excited for the day this room will really function well.

View 4 of my laundry room pantry area.

As I said before, I did have some shelves and brackets so we put them up.  I really want to extend this whole thing towards the right… someday!!

FYI, 90 boxes of “helper” meals, all found for 62c a box.  Capri Sun’s were free, so were crackers.  Soups were 30c can or less, bars were free to $1.00 box.  Kraft Mac and Cheese was 30c box or less, cereal is 75c/box or less, etc.

View 5 of my laundry room pantry area.

Extended view of the last one… bin of snack size chips, bin of school supplies and 44 bottles of joint juice (free).  Oh, and the lovely cat box (sorry!!).

$3.48 for 12 boxes of kleenex, 1 bottle of shampoo, 3 reeses cups

This is a combined Safeway / Walgreen’s purchase (6c at Safeway for the kleenex and $3.42 at Walgreen’s for the shampoo and candy PLUS, I have $6.00 oyno at Safeway and $2.00 oyno at Walgreen’s from this purchase).

Here’s my 21c Walmart deal… 2lbs Velveeta (specific for a recipe), 2 jalapeno peppers, 1 bunch green onions, 24oz sour cream, 1 can black beans, 1 lg. can diced tomatoes with green chilis = 21c.

We recieved a $10 gift card a few weeks back from a manager due to a stocking issue on a product (this was a FIRST), so I used it today :D.

21c + 62c tax = 83c oop

Although this trip isn’t as impressive as some others, it’s still great!  The Progresso soups came out to 30c each (regular price around $2.50+) and the rolls were 79c each (regular price $2.99+).

How did I do it??  Albertson’s had the soups on sale $1 each.  I had coupons for $1.10 off 3, plus the Albertson’s doublers.  Bought 12  cans of soup, had 6 coupons and 6 doublers.  The rolls were on sale for $2.79 and I had $1.00 off coupons, plus the Albertson’s doublers.  Bought 4 packages, had 4 coupons and 4 doublers.

Now, if you know Albertson’s, you know you can only use 3 doublers per transaction so I had to ring up 3 different transactions, which is no big deal for me!

$6.76 plus 92c tax = $7.68 oop

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.

This is just funny and at times appropriate… in the goal to live as inexpensively as possible in order to not waste resources, to get out of debt and to save money for the future, this video is a hilarious reminder that pride is found in all situations!

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.

Maybe it’s the summer heat. Maybe it’s the fact that summers are busier, and the last thing I want to think about at the end of a long day is cooking. Or maybe it’s the fact that we haven’t been planning our meals. Oh. Yeah that last one is it!

When nothing sounds good, you’re tired, and it’s a little hot out, those are great times to default to indiscriminate spending on eating out. This is how we got into debt in the first place. Giving in to laziness and poor planning is not a good way of living in general. But this kind of behavior affects our physical health, as well as our financial health.

So the solution? Hate the fact that we got ourselves into this mess, and love the idea of getting out if it more!

I was racking my brain the last several days trying to find a way to fill in the gaps in our budget.  I’m certain that what I found isn’t going to happen to everyone, but I imagine that many of you will have “lost” funds that fall into this same category.

I remembered that about two years ago I prepaid for come chiropractic visits because my chiropractor at the time was offering some pretty good discounts to do so. After that, I got very busy, kept forgetting to go, and the problem I was going for seemed to go away on it’s own.

Flash forward two years or so, and I remembembered that the money was still there. I called the office and now have a check for around $500 on its way to me. I wouldn’ t recomend using this method as some sort of odd “savings account,” as some business might have a no-refund policy. But there it was when we needed it. Makes me wonder what else I might have forgotton about…..