Rest

I took today off from working out. Michael didn't have to be at work as early as normal so we both slept in an extra 30 minutes or so and I skipped my workout.

I'm so glad.

After reading everyone's comments on my last post, I also decided to take Saturday and Sunday off. I honestly can't remember the last time I had a day off from working out- it's probably been 3 weeks. As diligent as I normally am with my workouts, and as intense as I am, I do not feel bad at all that I'm taking 3 days off in a row.

I'll get right back into things on Monday and hopefully not skip a beat!

Since I don't have a workout to blog about, I decided to put on my money cap and talk about finances!

With Shitty bank out of my life, I'm now working on slowly chipping away at my $11,350 student loan from ACS... Oh! And I decided instead of referring to the company as "ACS", it will now be known as POS (Piece Of Shit for anyone not following along...)!

As I was saying, my last remaining loan is $11,350 with POS. This was my very first loan ever! I've had it a long time and my payment is so low (only $106/month), I must have chosen a 30-year repayment period or something! I honestly don't remember but it's from my undergraduate degree so when I got my Master's, it was deferred... either way, we've been together a long time!

I sent them $1,000 yesterday so my balance is $10,350 and my debt payoff is at 83%! My payoff amount has now surpassed the $50K mark too! We've paid off $50,602.03!

In two weeks, I'll be sending another big check to them and I can't wait! We'll be in the SINGLE DIGITS!! Less than $10,000 left to payoff baby!!! I can't wait!

One thing that has been a motivator for me is to compare our budget from November/December 2008 to now. Even if we weren't getting out of debt, we've really learned to control our money better than ever and our expenses have drastically decreased as a result. Although all of our extra income is going to debt, I know that once the debt is gone, all of that "extra" will be going to our goals, to our dreams, to ourselves ... I love that we have more "extra" each month now than we did last year... soon, it will be more for US!

In November & December, for example, our budget was $4,000/month which included a car payment, student loan payments, personal training, and an average of $200/month in entertainment or fast food! $200 in Entertainment! I can't even believe that! What the hell were we doing? I don't remember our lives being any more fun at that time yet we were spending a heck of a lot more on "entertainment."

Our budget for the month of July is $2,900 and that amount even includes some expenses that are unique such as an extra $150 for utilities (it's the summer in AZ so our A/C runs non-stop), an extra $150 for groceries (5-week month for us), and an extra $75 for our renter's insurance due this month.

How much are your expenses each month? Is there anything you can eliminate to decrease your monthly expenses and free up more of your income?

I've said it before, but if you are not using Mint.com, you need to! It's AWESOME! I love it!

When you first register, it does take a little while to set up your accounts, so don't do it if you're rushed, you'll just get frustrated. I'd recommend giving yourself 30 minutes or so to just sit down and be patient while it accesses and downloads all of your activity.

But once you register your accounts, it's simple, easy to use, and totally worth the time invested to get it set up.

Until tomorrow,
Kelsalynn