Wednesday, April 30, 2014

ebay



So, over the past week I've listed 31 items (books, blu-rays & xBox games).  I've sold 9 items in a week.  I've "earned"  $93.93, but after shipping, ebay & paypal fees I'm sitting around $53 profit.  Which I think isn't too bad.  I still have 2 days left on my unsold items.  I'll be searching the house for other ebay worthy items that I think I could make more on ebay than in a garage sale.  I'll add the $53 I've made so far in our "what we've sold", however I won't be able to pay toward a debt account yet because it's still sitting in my paypal account for now.  

Tax Preparation and Refund

We've already received our tax refund for the year.  I surprisingly had all of our things turned into the accountant in February, which is record timing.  Our federal refund this year was a whopping $333, however we had to pay the state $329.  BUMMER!  I'm just so thankful we aren't paying quarterlies.  

Our taxes are a bit complicated because hubby has his own business (2 actually), he also has a full time job.  We own 2 rental properties and then 2 of our kids are employed family members for the businesses, so our tax preparation are a little too complicated for me to do.  We got our bill in the mail today, it actually is $100 less than last years preparations.  Nothing has really changed much over the years, we've always paid and arm and a leg for tax preparation and hubby and I both agree it's probably well worth every penny, but, YIKES, that $1,100 bill that came in the mail today still stings!


  We also paid $1000 to one of the OD accounts today, so the ball is still rolling!  Praise God!

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Our Credit Scores


We recently requested our credit scores/reports and today our credit scores came in the mail.  I was curious what they would be with our high outstanding debt.  Here's the scores:


Mine- 703

Hubby's - 697


I was googling to see what the numbers meant and here's what I found:


680-740: Good credit. Scores around 700 are considered the threshold to “good” credit. Borrowers in this range will almost always be approved for a loan, and be offered very good interest rates. At this credit score, lenders are comfortable with the borrower, and the decision to extend credit is much easier. According to FICO, the median credit score in the U.S. is in this range, at 723. Borrowers in this range are only delinquent 5% of the time.




Monday, April 28, 2014

Keep the momentum going


Image found on Pinterest

This is one of my favorite sayings.  It does make me sick to think about some of the things we have bought with money we didn't technically have.   Yesterday I listed about 30 things on eBay and hubby listed a few more on Craigslist.  In a 24 hour period I sold 6 items and hubby sold 4.  Making our total of items being sold to $3715 in just a week!  We are hoping to make another payment to the OD account in the next few days!  I'm praying we keep the "sellingitallbutthekids" momentum going, because I'm LOVING the results!  Who wouldn't?

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Sensational Sunday

This weekend has been productive in the digging out of debt journey.  We spent the weekend listing and selling things, creating the blog, going to church and other misc. things done outside in the yard.  We are really starting to feel good about the debt snowball method.  I am praying that we keep on keeping on and get this done!  Today we sold 2 more things off Craigslist.  Hubby really loves to collect things, either buying used to getting freebies that need fixing.  We got a few more things on Craigslist and I listed some things on eBay.  I leave you with one of my favorite verses about debt, also mentioned in FPU.

Proverbs 22:7

New International Version (NIV)
The rich rule over the poor,
    and the borrower is slave to the lender.

Our Dream House

Since purchasing property in 2011 M & I have gone back and fourth on ideas.  One idea was redoing the old farmhouse over time.  However we both felt this would take too much time & the foundation is in such poor shape, that we really would like a basement.  The next idea was building.  This we know would be more costly, however, maybe be a little faster in the long run.  The next step was agreeing on a house plan, M loves the idea of a 2 story with a wrap around porch.  I love the idea of a small & simply ranch.  As you can foresee we may have a little difficulty with building, as we have a little bit of different tastes.....stay tuned for that step ;)  So as of now, 3 years later, we have agreed on a small & simple ranch, a plan we found a Menards.  I hope and pray that he doesn't change his mind, which he is famous for!  We are planning to tweak a few things and buy the blue prints.  A few things we will be changing as of today are:  making the garage bigger & possibly either doing a mirror image (so the garage is on the right) and/or turning the garage doors so they are now facing the side, making the laundry room a little bigger for a utility sink, and possibly adding a desk, office, command center somewhere between the garage entry and kitchen.  Obviously we haven't started and have quite some time to decide. 

Our plan, once our debt is paid is to sell our current house.  We plan on living with my parents while we build.  We do plan on taking out a small loan to build the house, materials only, as hubby is planning on doing about 90-95% of all the work himself w/ the help of myself and our kids (ages from 16-7) and family & friends on occasion.  We do plan on being a frugal as we possible, even buying some materials used.  I plan on buying used appliances, sinks & bathroom vanities, light fixtures, etc.  We already have some things purchased for the new house.  One of the biggest expenses is kitchen cabinets, hubby bought those used for $200 and I plan on painting them and making them work.  They are high end cabinets, that still have a lot of use let, I just don't like the color.  We may need to buy a couple more new cabinets to paint just to fit the layout of the kitchen, but having the majority already will cut down greatly on the amount we burrow from the bank.


Selling it all, but the kids

In Dave Ramsey's plan to pay off our debt with his debt snowball technique, we are "selling everything we can, so that the kids think they are next".  (A quote from his program)  We are going to keep track of what we sell and of course a running total.  We will be listing things on Craigslist, eBay and having a garage sale.  

We will keep a list of our current amount we have made selling our things & what we have sold here:

April 2014

$50 chain saw
$65 table saw
$500 gas tank
$2100 enclosed utility trailer
$25 pressure washer
$70 snap on tool cart
$50 outdoor swing

$2810 GRAND TOTAL

Our Current Debt

Our Current Debt


Our starting debt listed from lowest balance to highest.  These balances reflect our April 2014 statements.  Our balance and % of interest on that account.  We will also update these on a weekly basis as we pay down the accounts.


Kohl's Card - $187 at 15.24%
4/24/14 PAID IN FULL

Over Draft Protection account  #1 - $402 at 20.99%
4/24/14 PAID IN FULL

Over Draft Protection account #2 - $403 at 20.99%
4/24/14 PAID IN FULL

Menards Card - $1213 @ 20.24% 
4/24/14 PAID IN FULL

Over Draft Protection account #3 - $2506 @ 20.99%
4/24/14 PAID $470 - BALANCE $2036.41

BP Gas Card - $3710 @ 15.24%

US Bank Loan - $5688 @ 11.75%

US Bank Visa Card - $9166 @ 23.99%

US Bank 2nd Mtg- $15,114 @ 7.24%

That is a GRAND TOTAL of $38,389

Hello blog world!

Hello blog world!  We have decided to document our journey of digging our way out of debt before digging a foundation on our new house.  In the past week we have come up with a plan and have starting working and getting our "ducks in a row".  We are also learning the blog world and hoping to document our journey.  Not only for us, but also to help inspire others.  We will just be using our first initials to keep our identity private for now, this may change later.  Now, for a little background info:

Hubby, M, and myself, A, have been married for 17 years.  We have 4 kids.  Hubby has a full time job, plus runs his own business on the side.  I work part time in the public schools.  Over the years, we have accumulated various credit card debts and a second mortgage on the home we live in.  Once our debts are paid, we plan to sell our house and begin to build.  We have been making mortgage payments on the land (which has an old farm house, out buildings and 3 acres) where we will build.  We purchased this in March 2011.  We also still own our first home, which we have been renting out, successfully, for 10 years now. 

Hubby and I have taken Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University class at our church and believe in his system.  Which is the technique we are using.  We already have $1000 in our emergency fund and are now paying down debt by selling it all, but the kids ;)

In my next post I will list our debt we have to pay.  And then we will begin to document how we are paying if off/what we are selling etc. 

So, I hope you pull up a seat and join us on our journey.  We hope this will encourage you to become financially free, because that is our goal also!