A Dime at a Time

Navigating life and finances

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Back to Work

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It’s back to work for me tomorrow.  The 80+-year-old secretary asked me to cover for her.  Working for her on Fridays has become a bit of a norm, and I’m thankful for the hours.  I think she enjoys having a three day weekend and she has more than enough vacation time on the books to take time off every week.  Sadly, she says she can’t afford to retire.  Based on how often her grown son comes into the office to “borrow” money from her, this could be partly true.  If there was ever a case for needing to set boundaries, this is it!  I wonder what her grown son will do when his mother is no longer around to sponge off. [Read more…]

Digging out is hard work!

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I survived the snowstorm but am still digging my way out.  Adding to the 20+ inches that fell was a lot of blowing and drifting.  Our snowblower had a mishap in that I hit a downed branch causing it to lock up.  Unfortunately, I hadn’t gotten very far with the clearing when this happened.   I wasn’t able to dislodge the branch, so Hubs will try when he gets home.  If he can’t, thankfully the warranty does cover this sort of thing.  Getting someone to come out and plow was a no go.  Ugh!  So, this means I’m spending a couple of days digging my way out the old-fashioned way.   [Read more…]

Update Time 4-15-18

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Hey Everyone.  Good news-I still have power and internet.  With this current storm, it’s hard to say how long this will last.  Figured I’d better write a financial update while I still have the chance!

April has been a fantastic month for our war on our debt.  Hubs has been putting in a crazy amount of work which has really helped our efforts.  Of course, I also try to do whatever I can to further the cause.

As for the numbers:

1-1-2017     $55,749.69

1-1-2018     $46,408.39

April 1-2018                                           April 15-2018                            Interest Rate

cc #1       $2,100                                    Paid in full!  Woohoo!             Was 0 %

cc #2      $7,000                                    $7,000                                          0% (expires 6/19)

car           $7,031.40                               $6,740.98                                 1.99%  (fixed)

cc #3      $9,747.57                                $9,599.24                                 5.99%  (fixed)

cc #4     $11,950                                    $11,950                                      0%       (expires 11/18)

Total     $37,828.97                              $35,290.22

The difference so far this month?  $2,538.75!  Not too shabby!  Looking at our starting number from 2017, this also puts us at over $20,000 in debt paid off!  Wow.  That is a HUGE amount of debt eliminated!

Looking at the rest of the month, cc #2 will get the minimum of $105, and cc#4 (Discover, aka “the beast”) will get at least $250.  As I’ve mentioned before, we are shifting gears for a bit to focus on “the beast” before the zero percent interest rate expires.  Gloves are on, and I am ready!

With the way the wind is picking up, I’d better hit publish while I still can.  Before I do, how has your month been going?  Are you meeting your goals?  Paying off debt is anything but fun, but it will be so worth it to have financial peace!

 

Waving my White Flag

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…WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 2 AM SUNDAY TO
8 AM EDT MONDAY…

* WHAT…Heavy snow expected. Total snow accumulations of 10 to 19
inches, with locally higher amounts expected, especially in YOUR AREA…Grr

* WHEN…From 2 AM Sunday to 8 AM EDT Monday.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS…Travel will be very difficult to
impossible. Winds gusting as high as 40 mph will cause areas of
blowing and drifting snow, sharply reducing visibilities at
times.

Nooooooo!!!!!!!  I give in.  Can’t you see me waving my white flag?  Probably not since I’m still all but buried under the last round we had only two short days ago!  Sigh.  As I type, the wind is steadily picking up.  Yep, it’s coming.   [Read more…]

Money Talks 4/13/18

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What’s happening in the world of A Dime at a Time?

Honestly, not a lot!  Pretty much the same old same old, working and paying off debt!  Of course this past week I was thrilled to see the ZERO balance on our smallest debt.  I won’t miss that bill one bit!  While I would prefer to close the account, we won’t do so just yet.  I’m hoping we will be able to pay off the biggie (Discover) we are tackling next before the zero percent promo rate expires in November.  If we don’t, at least we have a card for transferring any remaining balance.   [Read more…]

Oh, that uncomfortable feeling!

By: 11 Comments

“Step one is the baby emergency fund. That is the one I am talking about, while people are trying to get out of debt(not mortgage). Dave wants you to be uncomfortable. If you are happy and comfortable then you are going to take longer to pay off your debt. That is why he says to sell everything. Once you pay off your first debt you get a “high” which makes you work harder to pay off your next debt . And it just keeps going. If you are putting some in saving and some in retirement and some towards debt it will take you 3 times as long. His plan really works. It is HARD! It is UNCOMFORTABLE! That is the point. You will never want to go back into debt.” ~ Marybeth

The above quote is from a comment left by Marybeth on the blog post regarding how much to keep in a starter emergency fund. The part about “It is hard!  It is uncomfortable” struck a chord with me as I feel this can apply to other steps of the Dave Ramsey plan, too.  In our case, it is baby step two. [Read more…]

Paper or Plastic?

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How many of you remember when grocery stores would ask whether you wanted paper or plastic?  Surprising as it is, I now live in an area where most of the local stores still ask this question!  I choose paper 99% of the time as I can, in turn, crumple it up and reuse it as dunnage for inventory I send to Amazon.   [Read more…]

After much deliberation…

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Who would have thought there would be so many different thoughts on what debt we should tackle next?  I thank every one of you for taking the time to share your opinion.  Trust me when I say this wasn’t an easy decision to make, but ultimately it came down to how we can best keep pushing forward with getting rid of our massive debt.   [Read more…]

Snowflakes and Interest Rates

By: 24 Comments

We are currently getting hammered with the white stuff.  So much, in fact, that the preemie’s mom told me not to come today.  She did ask me if I could watch the baby all day on Monday, so at least the white stuff isn’t going to cost me the green stuff!   [Read more…]

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