Update on debts

Okay, here is our total debt paid off since February 5th: $2395.11!!!! I got my REWARD check in March and was able to use it to finish paying off our Napa bill, pay our 2011 real estate taxes, and pay our 2011 Oklahoma income tax. Here's the list of what we've paid since we started Financial Peace University in February:


As of March 30th:
$150 towards student loans
$118.02 + $75 towards our Napa bill (PAID!!!!)
$107.78 towards our 2007 tax bill
$150 towards one credit card
$345 towards one credit card (settled in full-so PAID!!!!!!)
$50 towards one credit card
$100 towards one credit card
$200 towards our Bass hospital bill
$18.80 for a doctor bill
$407.15 towards our house
$333.36 for 2011 real estate taxes
$340 for 2011 Oklahoma income taxes

For a total of: $2395.11

Next week I'll be sending payments for our 2006 and 2007 tax bills and I'll update the list again then. Still no word on the 2006 tax situation, but I'm going to go ahead and start sending them $'s so they don't send it to collection while we're waiting on them to fix it.

Update to tax situation

As I told you in True Confessions #1, I have not paid our state taxes in several years and we got letters about 2006 and 2007 back in December. Since then we've been working on getting the situations remedied.

We got all the paperwork requested turned in for 2007 and have a payment arrangement on it. We made our first payment on it in February. Next one is due on April 11th (they send out billing statements every 45 days. I know, kinda random, but...whatever works for them I guess. LOL).

2006 has been a different story. First I couldn't find the w-2 for that year, so I printed off a copy of it from our computer tax program, but they wouldn't accept it. So Tom went in and talked to someone in his office and got another copy. I faxed it in the first time February 9th, again March 7th, and again yesterday. We got a bill for 2006 (first one we've got for that year) last week and they hadn't taken the 2006 amount we had already paid in off so it's over $1400 with interest and penalties and they want a $240 payment by April 11th. When I called about having sent the papers in last week, I was told that I needed to go ahead and pay and not wait for them to fix it because it would be sent to collections if a payment wasn't received.Apparently 2011 stuff is taking priority right now and they won't be processing the stuff I sent them anytime soon. Even though I've sent in everything they asked for. I know that we're in this mess because of me and my ostrich tendencies and so now I'm really trying to face it head on and get it taken care of. But oh my goodness, that is so frustrating and upsetting!!!!! After talking to several different people and being told different things, I finally burst into tears with the last one. She asked me to fax the stuff to her and she's going to try to push it on through.

At any rate, I feel a peace that God will work it out for us. Would appreciate prayers about the situation though.

We do owe for this year, but I am planning to pay that out of the REWARD check I'll get this month and Tom has adjusted his withholding so hopefully we will not be in this situation next year.

Big oops!

I meant to post these on this blog, but accidentally posted them on the coupon blog, so here are the links, LOL

$320 from the Lord

Debt Update March 20th

In the Desert

I am sure most of you have heard the story of how God led the people of Israel out of Egypt. Then how when they got into the desert, the people complained against God, thinking He was going to let them starve, even after all He had already done for them (parting the Red Sea, etc.).

The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the LORD’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.”

Exodus 16:3

I used to feel real superior when I read that story and think to myself "How could they doubt God after all He had done for them?" Then one day, I had an epiphany when I realized that I do the same thing all the time myself.

Take today for example. Yesterday was an amazing day. I had a phone call from a creditor that I had sent a $25 payment to last week. They offered to settle the account for $320 (it was around $575) AND accept $25 a month on that amount. What a huge blessing. I really felt like God was blessing us for our efforts.

Then this morning, I get an e-mail from a parent who may want to take their child out for the summer so he can stay with his brother at grandma's. Now, don't get me wrong, I totally understand that. But our budget is very precarious right now and it threw me for a loop for a little bit. Instantly, I went into pity party mode: "Why me? Why do things go wrong as soon as they seem to start going right?". Then I realized...God will take care of us. He will provide a way. I may not see that way yet, but it's here. I already know of another family who may be looking for a spot just for summer for their child, so it will all work out. And I do have in my policy that I will charge a fee to hold a spot open. So if they do want to hold the spot, then I will at least have that income coming in.

God is in control!

Debt updates

Okay, well we've been in Financial Peace class since February 5th, so it is time for some updates. For now, I have decided against posting a complete list of our debts. Suffice it to say, it is well over $100,000 (a vast majority of which is student loans). However when I look at that big picture, it scares and depresses me. So I've decided to focus on small bits at a time. Reminding myself constantly that God is in control and HE will get us through this if we are faithful and follow His plan.

So, since our first Financial Peace class on February 5th, we've paid:

$100 towards student loans
$118.02 towards our Napa bill
$107.78 towards our tax bill
$150 towards one credit card
$25 towards one credit card
$25 towards one credit card
$50 towards one credit card
$100 towards our Bass hospital bill
$18.80 for a doctor bill
$72.09 interest payment on our house (it was time for the balloon payment and refinance last month).

For a total of: $766.69!

Additionally, we have $205 in our Emergency fund and we paid two cell phone bills and two house/cable/internet bills in the last month to get completely caught up on those. Our electric bill got paid on time in February so no late fee. That's probably the first time since last spring that it's been paid on time. After the horrible, horribly high bills last summer, we had a terrible time getting caught up. Our gas bill was behind, I made payment arrangements on that so we're working on that.

We have a March budget done and so far it's going pretty well. I had a certain amount budgeted for groceries/Wal-mart shopping last weekend. I really wanted to go to United's double coupon event last weekend, but after getting what I needed bought, I only had a few dollars left. I decided not to even tempt myself by going in there. I figured I'd find something I "needed" and blow my budget. Sometimes the best thing to do is avoid the stores. Plus I wanted to save a few $'s to send with Tom today to get some great deals at Jumbo's (canned vegetables for 25 cents a can with coupons and salsa for 50 cents a jar with coupons).

So...keep sending those prayers up for us. And I have an interview on March 20th to fill a spot with a newborn in mid-May so please pray for God' direction there. Thank you!

Gazelle Intensity

If you have been reading my blogs a while or attended a Financial Peace University class by Dave Ramsey, then you've heard of Gazelle Intensity. That is what our class on Sunday was about. It comes from this passage in the Bible, where the writer is basically saying if you owe money, work at getting it paid off as if you were running from a predator. I printed this passage and picture out today and I"m going to hang it up somewhere in my house to remind us. Most of the pictures I found have the gazelle getting eaten by the cheetah, but since I want to get away from the cheetah (or debt), I didn't choose one of those. LOL.

Proverbs 6:1-5


1 My son, if you have
put up security for your neighbor,
if you have struck hands in
pledge for another,

2 if you have been trapped by what you said,
ensnared by the words of your mouth,

3 then do this, my son, to free yourself,
since you have fallen
into your neighbor’s hands:
Go and humble yourself;
press your plea with your neighbor!

4 Allow no sleep to your eyes,
no slumber to your eyelids.

5 Free yourself, like a
gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

Bitter or Better?

One of the things that the speaker at the conference on Saturday mentioned was how everything we say, everything we do, the people we spend our time with, the texts we send, EVERYTHING either makes us Bitter or Better. I found that thought to be very profound. It is so true!

She mentioned how she avoids watching the news too much because it will just drain you. How true is that? Watching the news can just depress me within 5 minutes.

What about the people you spend your time with? Do they make you bitter or better? We've all had those friends who just suck the life force out of us. Shoot, at one time or another, we've probably all been that friend sucking the life force. LOL. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying abandon your friends who have problems, but be careful. Are they taking way more than they give? Sometimes a friendship can be unhealthily lopsided.

What does all this have to do with getting out of debt? Well, when you are struggling with debt, it's easy to feel bitter. It's easy to let yourself sink into that pit of feeling sorry for yourself. That "Why me?" attitude. Trust me, I know, I do it all the time. LOL. How instead can I be better? I am not sure yet. Part of me thinks that I just need to get angry enough with the debt. Or maybe a better word is determined. Instead of feeling that there is no way out of this hole, maybe it's time to JUST DO IT! Rather than focusing on the whole number, focus on one area at a time. When you need to do a big job, looking at the whole thing can scare you and paralyze you into doing nothing. So how do you deal with that? Well, you just start. You pick one thing and just do it! Then you go on to the next. And just do it. Flylady teaches people that they can do anything for 15 minutes at a time. When I'm feeling overwhelmed and paralyzed on a task, I set a timer for 15 minutes and just do something! That often motivates me to do more. Dave Ramsey teaches us about Baby Steps, just taking one step at a time. So instead of looking at the whole number, we need to be looking at one step at a time.

So today, I choose to be BETTER rather than BITTER. What do you choose?