tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2764185135826321632012-02-16T13:56:22.551-06:00FrugalWorkingMomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00831527499261881811noreply@blogger.comBlogger31100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276418513582632163.post-20642995310133670142009-07-01T09:05:00.002-05:002009-07-01T09:09:58.227-05:00Yay! I just put a check in the mail to pay off our car loan! It felt like the day would never come. In two years we've paid off $27K in debt. Now we can start attacking our last debt-the mortgage-and we are going to keep making the car payment to ourselves to save for our next car (and hopefully pay cash).<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/276418513582632163-2064299531013367014?l=frugalworkingmom.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>FrugalWorkingMomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00831527499261881811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276418513582632163.post-31479404886882873112009-06-25T09:16:00.004-05:002009-06-25T09:22:48.065-05:00I graduated from college in May 2006 with a degree in accounting. I went to a great university in the Washington, DC area on a full academic scholarship and I’m so thankful to not have any student loans. We then moved back to Texas and I quickly found a job. We decided my husband would be a stay-at-home dad to our then four year old daughter. Since I had never worked (outside of the home) before, I took a fairly low starting salary. We then proceeded to buy a shiny, red car (with a $450 monthly payment). Of course, we were upside down on our previous car so we started out with a loan for far more than the car was worth. We also had about $10,000 in credit card debt, but, hey, everyone does, right? Looking back, I think we actually thought that at the time. <br /><br />Then, I started really looking at our finances in October 2006. I tracked all of our spending for the month (in a spreadsheet) and was shocked to see that we had spent $1,000 more than I brought in. We were just charging everything. We didn’t have internet or cable and our rent was only $485 a month, but we had a hefty car payment and, since I work for a small company, our health insurance was almost $700 a month. Our rent, car payment and health insurance combined were almost $20K a year.<br /><br />Ahhh, what to do? I became a spreadsheet-maniac, tracking everything, and looking for ways to cut costs and save money (to be detailed in future posts).<br /><br />Fast forward:<br />We paid off the credit cards in August 2008.<br />We bought an affordable house in April 2009 (with a great interest rate).<br />We will have our car paid off any day now when we receive our first-time homebuyer’s credit.<br />We have an emergency fund.<br />My salary has increased almost 50%.<br /><br />We have made so many mistakes in the past (did I mention we’ve had three leased cars?), but we’ve tried to learn from them and can hopefully help others by sharing our story.<br /><br /><strong>What financial mistakes have you made and how have you recovered from them?</strong><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/276418513582632163-3147940488688287311?l=frugalworkingmom.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>FrugalWorkingMomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00831527499261881811noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-276418513582632163.post-55108791850336572962009-06-25T07:29:00.003-05:002009-06-25T08:26:21.578-05:00<span style="color:#330033;">Welcome and thanks for stopping by! With this blog I hope to detail our road to attaining financial security, our current financial goals, lots of frugal tips we've picked up, and a few fun things like easy (inexpensive) recipes. I look forward to hearing all of your money-related stories and frugal ideas, too!<br /><br />Why do some many people think that saving money can't be fun? I enjoy the challenge of it and hope we can teach each other how to be better stewards of our money while stilling enjoying life.<br /><br /><strong>Are there any topics you would like to see discussed here?</strong></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/276418513582632163-5510879185033657296?l=frugalworkingmom.blogspot.com' alt='' /></div>FrugalWorkingMomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00831527499261881811noreply@blogger.com0