Positive Progress on the New Budget
Hundred Dollar Bill
With my online spending problem at Amazon and QVC under control, and my husband's spur of the moment travel jaunts pared back, I'm very happy to report that we have stopped the budget bleeding. We are no longer spending more than we're taking in. I have put everything back into our emergency savings that I had ridiculously borrowed from. With that fully funded, and a new budget in place, we are on track to live satisfactorily within our means on his firefighter pension. We still have one child in the nest, but she's through college and employed.
My goal is to put all of dear husband's modest second career salary toward paying down the principal on our mortgage. On paper it works out that we could be debt free in three years. One of my few regrets in life is that we were serial home buyers and refinancers. We should have had our home paid off before he retired from his first career.
Anyhow, I did talk him into disconnecting the home phone. We all have cell phones and the home phone was nothing but a loud ringing, loud messaging megaphone for telemarketers, surveys and once in awhile an irate mistaken identity caller to interrupt our day. Mostly mine, because I'm a stay at home mom.
Anyhow, the phone is disconnected. It was a joy to unplug and pack up the phones and answering machine. We'll save on electricity. By cancelling the telephone service, we are saving over $400 per year. Cox long ago stopped working with us on bill spikes. Only new customers get deals. They stick it to long time loyal customers with rate increases. Our TV alone is over $100 a month for one old DVR box and no premium channels!
We met with the DirectTV guy at Costco and he's sending a technician out Friday to see if we can get a signal. If so, we're switching. To both save money over Cox, and enjoy more state of the art services.
Once the TV is connected, I'll try to find a smart alternative to Cox's cable internet service. We're at the end of the line, the last house, and the speed has never been what we wish for.
I'm debating on what to do with the money saved from the phone and TV. It's not enough to make a noticeable acceleration in the time before our mortgage is paid off. I might use it toward enjoying ourselves within the monthly budget.
How are you doing? Are you living within your means? What are your financial goals?
With my online spending problem at Amazon and QVC under control, and my husband's spur of the moment travel jaunts pared back, I'm very happy to report that we have stopped the budget bleeding. We are no longer spending more than we're taking in. I have put everything back into our emergency savings that I had ridiculously borrowed from. With that fully funded, and a new budget in place, we are on track to live satisfactorily within our means on his firefighter pension. We still have one child in the nest, but she's through college and employed.My goal is to put all of dear husband's modest second career salary toward paying down the principal on our mortgage. On paper it works out that we could be debt free in three years. One of my few regrets in life is that we were serial home buyers and refinancers. We should have had our home paid off before he retired from his first career.
Anyhow, I did talk him into disconnecting the home phone. We all have cell phones and the home phone was nothing but a loud ringing, loud messaging megaphone for telemarketers, surveys and once in awhile an irate mistaken identity caller to interrupt our day. Mostly mine, because I'm a stay at home mom.
Anyhow, the phone is disconnected. It was a joy to unplug and pack up the phones and answering machine. We'll save on electricity. By cancelling the telephone service, we are saving over $400 per year. Cox long ago stopped working with us on bill spikes. Only new customers get deals. They stick it to long time loyal customers with rate increases. Our TV alone is over $100 a month for one old DVR box and no premium channels!
We met with the DirectTV guy at Costco and he's sending a technician out Friday to see if we can get a signal. If so, we're switching. To both save money over Cox, and enjoy more state of the art services.
Once the TV is connected, I'll try to find a smart alternative to Cox's cable internet service. We're at the end of the line, the last house, and the speed has never been what we wish for.
I'm debating on what to do with the money saved from the phone and TV. It's not enough to make a noticeable acceleration in the time before our mortgage is paid off. I might use it toward enjoying ourselves within the monthly budget.
How are you doing? Are you living within your means? What are your financial goals?
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