Student Loan Update

We've paid down our loans some this month. I can see why I put this off some. It will be a slow but steady process. We did not pay off as much as I planned because we did not get our stimulus deposit from the government. When it arrives, we'll have an additional $1800 to put towards the student loans (big dent)! Maybe we should lobby for another stimulus check. If sending a family of four $1800 is good for the economy, imagine how much we'd accomplish doubling it!!!

Ken's loan: Paid $254 in principle
Tamra's loan: Paid $137 in principle
Total Paid of $700: $391 Principle and $309 Interest

Why only $700? We've been adding to our savings accounts. With a baby on the way, we need extra money on hand. It actually does not cost much to add to our savings. The money will be applied to the student loans if nothing comes up and I actually earn .03% more on my savings account than I pay in student loan interest (pay 3.25% earn 3.28% at IGoBanking).

One Week Retreat in July

Tamra has been begging me to sign up for a one week retreat in July (I must have become real ornery;) ) at the Francis House of Prayer. I've been telling her over and over that a week straight with the kids and being pregnant would be tough. She insists that she thinks I would enjoy it and that she would be fine. I finally gave in and signed up. I've never been on a retreat before, so I am looking forward to a new experience! It's been four years since I've escaped.

Next Step: Savings and Shredding Credit Cards

In continuation of the post I started earlier about our journey out of consumer debt, our next step was to establish a savings account and then agree that we would no longer add to our debt. That meant eventually shredding all the credit cards.

We opened a savings account at ING. It pays well and we're so happy there we also have an interest bearing checking account. Now, it's funny to think that Tamra and I, after not having a savings account, were not comfortable with Dave Ramsey's recommendation of $1000 in the bank as a short-term emergency fund while you get out of debt. We finally agreed on $1500 and put it in the bank. We accumlated the $1500 very quickly by selling, through Amazon Marketplace and Ebay, everything we could get our hands on. I also cancelled all are magazine subsrciptions and put the checks towards the emergency fund as well.

Once we put our $1500 in the bank, it was time to shred the credit cards. We shredded all the cards, except one at first. Tamra's first card had a picture of the University of Florida on it and she was attached to it (even though it had $0 balance because of the high rate). When we shreded the cards, except the UF card, I really never would have thought we would have had all that credit card debt paid off by February of the next year. Also, Tamra got over closing and shredding the UF card the following month!!!

Net Worth Tracking Website

I found a neat website to track your net worth. They'll send you an email every month to update your information. If you're shy, you can keep your profile private. I added the badge to the right hand column of my blog. It's nice to track the effects of our decisions (whether positive, negative, or neutral).

The graph goes from December of 2006 when we discovered Dave Ramsey's book, The Total Money Makeover. I also entered in February 2007 data from when we paid off the credit cards which freed us from consumer debt. Lately, I've been feeling like we've lost focus and that we haven't been getting anywhere, but it looks like we have, so that was nice to see.

More detailed net worth information is available if you click through the graph or my name across the top. That will give an idea of the categories they have for you to fill in. Clicking their logo at the bottom takes you to their home page.