How am I doing -- February and March 2008

Happy Easter to everyone!!!!!

It's interesting how life changes. It seems that it was not long ago that our Easters were filled with visiting relatives, Sunday morning church service, Easter baskets and an Easter egg hunt, and of course, the big Easter dinner.

Both of my children work in food service. My son is a server at senior living facility and my daugter works at an upscale restaurant nearby. That means neither of them will be home today. The restaurant where my daugter works serves brunch, so my husband and I decided we will have brunch there today.

Anyway, I really want to talk about my finances during the last two months. February was a bittersweet month. I did mange to pay $835 on my credit card, which I am totally thrilled about. The sidebar includes the payments I've made in March too. I paid $1,370 to my credit card debt in February and March. I'm happy to say that my balance is in the single digits! On the other hand, I increased my overall debt by $3995, which is the amount of the loan I got to finance my car. That payment will be $97 per month.

My husband and I spent a lot of time on the weekends in February looking for a car. That means we spent a lot of time eating out. We probably spent $50-$60 every weekend eating out. Sometimes that would include bringing food home for C2 to eat. What's different is that we would pay cash--that's right, no credit card usage for dinners out.

My credit card paydown is my major definite purpose right now. My secondary goal is to be debt free by June 30, 2009. I'm a little off track of my goals right now. Especially with the addition of the car loan. My credit card has a variable rate, which right now is very low. I used the Bankrate calculator to help me figure out when it will be paid down to zero, based on my current interest rate. If I continue to pay $800 per month at the current interest rate, I'll have the credit card paid off in 13 months.

There are additional funds I could use to pay it down sooner, but we have a vacation planned. Rationally, I'd like to say to the family, no vacation, I'm paying down my debt. Emotionally, I think we should go on vacation because we haven't had a vacation in three years, and I think that a change of scenery will be a source of rejuvenation. It will also be interesting to see if we can go on vacation and stay on a cash basis. I think that when we return, I can add those funds to my debt reduction plan. I just increased the vacation fund to $150 per month. We're planning to go away at the beginning of August.

That's how I'm doing so far. Let's see what April brings.

10 little expenses that add up fast

MSN's money central posted a Bankrate article yesterday entitled 10 little expenses that add up fast. As I perused the list, I was pleased that I don't spend my hard-earned money on some of them, yet I am guilty of spending money on a couple of them. Here is the list, and here is how I stack up against the list.

Coffee. I drink a lot of coffee. Up until about a year ago, I would buy my cups of coffee on the way to work or at lunch time. Basically, whenever I wanted a cup of coffee I would just buy it. Then I realized that I was spending nearly $60 a month ($720 per year) on cups of coffee, so I started making it at home and drinking the free coffee at work.

Cigarettes. I don't smoke.

Alcohol. I only drink wine occasionally, and if I do I buy it and drink it at home with my husband.

Bottled water from convenience stores. Generally, I fill up my water bottles at home. I carry them in a cooler with an ice pack. I drink a lot of water.

Manicures. Only for a very, very special occasion. Manicures could become a habit.

Car washes. Are you supposed to wash your car?

Weekday lunches. I did this until I realized that I was spending approximately $200 a month for just a sandwich and chips.

Vending machine snacks. I bring all my food from home including snacks.

Unused gym memberships. I think the gym owner hates me because I use my membership reguarly, so he's not making any money off of me. Plus I go to Planet Fitness and the membership with tax is $21.19 per month. Going to the gym is like therapy for me.

Interest charges on credit card bills. This is a huge problem for me. I was charged over $160 this month in credit card fees. That's almost $2,000 per year! This is the one that I really have to get a handle on.

How are you doing? Do you have any of these as expenses? How do you stack up against Bankrate's list?