A Time For Everything

Last night DH, DD and I watched Sonshine get inducted into the National Honor Society. I'll admit I was surprised because while he's smart enough, he's not always diligent enough in keeping his grades up. But hey, if they want him, so much the better for college applications.



In the last couple of weeks, we've also attended the Band Banquet and the Spring Concert.




We're on the downhill slide toward the end of the school year and we're all very glad.

In other news, the plants and flowers I planted are doing well! Nothing has died on my watch, so that pleases me. In fact, the Gerbera daisy my daughter gave me several months ago re-bloomed. That surprised me because that one just looked like it was going to wither up and die on me. But with a little TLC--okay, just regular waterings--it decided to stick around.



They don't look so great, but hey--it's alive and blooming. I'll take it. An aspect of flower beds and gardening I'd forgotten about and hadn't taken into account: weeding! But I've managed to stay on top of it despite all the rain we've had and all the watering I do. I need to get after the stuff growing beneath the bird feeders now.

In years past, when DH and Sonshine go work the fireworks, I've taken on projects around the house. Don't you know it's just easier to get it done without the men around asking questions and just generally getting in your way? I've got a couple of projects in mind: re-organizing the master bedroom closet or adding a shelving system to the living room. I'm really leaning toward the closet just because the need is greater. Believe it or not, DH has way more clothes than I do and they're smushed together on his side of the closet.

My proofreading is going well so far and I've gotten another awesome project creating a series bible for two different series for an author friend.

It's been a while since I talked about getting out of debt, but most of the money I'm earning from my new "career" path is going to go towards paying off debt. I mentioned a specific credit card a few months ago and that bad boy will be paid off at the end of June. I'll roll its payment over to another debt. Anyway, I'm so excited about this. It feels good to be able to truly actively work at this, rather than just pay monthly and wait for things to get paid off in due time. Speaking of paid off--we'll also make the last car payment in June as well. Of course we're going to need to put some $$ into the all the vehicles soon. Now I just wish I knew something about investing. Something else to learn in due course.

And that's all for now...time to get Sonshine out of bed and off to school.

How are YOU???

It's been on my mind of late. More so than usual, though I'm not sure why. DH and I reviewed our finances at the end of 2011 and re-did our budget in an effort to put money aside both for emergencies and for retirement. The chances of Social Security being around when it's time for us to retire are slim and none, so we need to ensure our own ability to support ourselves.

Last year, 2012, was better than 2011. While our retirement fund holds exactly the amount it should, the emergency fund does not. But that's what it's for, right, to pay for life's surprises. Try telling DH that. He gets upset when we spend from it, but it's there so we don't get off the budget. It's there so we can pay the regular bills when we can't get our regular paycheck.

We did a minimal amount of paying down debt last year. Instead, we focused on establishing the two safety funds and making them a part of the monthly budget. Although, we did receive a health insurance rebate check towards the end of the year and I did, in fact, pay off a gasoline credit card. I took the payment from that credit card and rolled it over to another credit card, increasing the amount I have been able to pay toward it.

This year, my goal is to focus more on debt reduction, now that the safety funds are established.

A few weeks ago, I received money from the bank that holds our mortgage. That went towards this next credit card. I also filed some AFLAC forms for annual doctor/dentist visits and got money back. Guess where it went? Yeppers, to this same credit card. In the last month, I've been able to cut the balance in half. I have one freelance editing job in the hopper and when I get paid, that money will go straight to this CC as well. I should have it paid off no later than June. Woo hoo. That really makes me happy.

Once I've paid it off that money will roll over to the next credit card with the lowest balance. Unfortunately, with just this additional money, it's going to take fourteen months to pay it off. That's a bit more daunting, but if I get the Final Line Editor position with Samhain Publishing, then all that income will go towards eliminating this debt as quickly as possible. (My goal would be December2013 or January 2014 (as the due date is early in the month)).

After that, well, you get the idea.

I know there are other things I can and need to do, but I need to figure out what and then how. Any suggestions would be most welcome. (Just FYI, while we haven't cut them up, we rarely use our credit cards anymore. Mostly minor online things. Like my RWA membership.)

Sad to say, we exceed the average debt amount. And I'm trying to change that.

Wish me luck!