Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Our Journey to Debt Freedom

We have begun a journey to a different way of life around here! 
Here are the top 10 ways we have begun to re-order our finances:
1.  We SOLD  our nice but expensive truck (we will save on monthly payments, insurance and excess fuel) !
2.  We SOLD our Terry Camper Trailer bringing in extra funds to pay for necessary household maintenance such as painting the trim and touching up the house paint, reroofing the outbuildings etc. 
3.  We have begun to sell other items like unused tools and sports equipment.  We are almost ready for a big yard sale too, getting back to basics!
4.  We have changed our health insurance policy to a HSA Plan that allows us to take advantage of more tax credits and reduces our monthly payment by $423!
5.  We watch our grocery budget carefully and shop between Grocery Outlet, Costco and Safeway buying items at the lowest comparable price.
6.  I have been keeping "short accounts" of our checking balances and watching the pennies very carefully!  Finding new places to save and planning where each dollar can best be applied!  Using the Dave Ramsey worksheets!
7.  We paid off our credit cards and closed the accounts! 
8.  We are now debt free except our home loans.  This is the next step!!  Our first goal is to pay off the home equity loan on our house as quickly as possible (now that we don't have any other debt) and either refinance or sell.   
9.  This one actually goes against one of my other "being thrifty" posts but I have actually been avoiding yard sales!!!  I realized we don't really need anything else right now! 
10.  We have been more creative about finding free or inexpensive entertainment instead of paying for a day Miniature Golfing or bowling ($50 a day) or something else - we take advantage of the things already around us!  Such as a membership to a community center & pool we only pay for a family of 6 $73 per year!


So that's about it, so far, although I'm sure there will be more to come! 

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wife & mother of 4 beautiful children, 2 girls & 2 boys. small business co-owner; catering and a restaurant/alehouse, writer, gardener, lover of freedom and humility found in christ, small town enthusiast, book reader, admirer of noble truths, beauty and love

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