Good progress so far

It's been a little while since I've updated the debt counter in the right hand column of MSB. Last week we received the majority of our statements and I've compiled a list of what's been paid in full, what's been reduced substantially and what's been knocked out of the park.

I've also reexamined some of our more crucial finances for my own benefit. While I don't believe this is a catch all and it isn't exactly a super detailed look at the world of our personal finances I believe it sums up the recent past, present and near future fairly decently.

• The Cards:
  
  
  • American Express: Amex is no more. The two accounts that have given us the most hardship and heart ache are now a thing of the past. Over the spring and summer we funneled well over $3,000 at our two previously delinquent American Express accounts. They are now paid in full and we have canceled our memberships.
    
    Good riddance.
    
    Our experience with Amex was a weird one. We were first contacted in regards to our Green card account. These ruthlessly trained outsourced folk in India with strange accents and very white names. They were extremely pushy, manipulative and very obviously trained to deal with deadbeats. We refused to deal with them, opting to ignore their calls and make out payments directly to Amex online.
    
    Amex blue was a wholly different story. Maybe because it's a better card, or our balance was substantially higher. We were contacted by a very polite gentleman 45 minutes away. He explained our options, what he could do and allowed me to feel like a respectable human being. Needless to say we made extra efforts to pay off this debt as soon as we could. Two completely different sides of the same coin. But I'm glad they're out of the picture.
    
    
  • Macy's: The Macy's card was a relic from our last spend happy Christmas. I used it to purchase a beautiful sapphire bracelet (that was subsequently lost) for the missus. This was paid off immediately after American Express was put to bed. It was our lowest balance account and allowed us to feel like we were really on a roll.
    
    
  • Lane Bryant: Our next lowest balance credit card. This will be the next one to go as soon as we can scrape together enough money to blow it out of the water. The balance is only a puny $238. We could in theory kill it anytime we want, but with winter coming we prefer to err on the side of caution and allow our bank account to remain fat, at least until the first snow.
    
    
  • Bank One: Our next lowest balance credit card. Standing at around $1,000 it probably won't last very long once we focus our attention on it. While the interest is fairly small in comparison to say, our Bank of America account we'll be happy to see it gone.
    
    
• The Banks:
  
  
  • The Old: While our old bank offered the staple services that typically keep every day users happy (online banking, relatively plentiful branches and ATMs, etc) their customer service department handled an issue quite poorly and as such disenfranchised us as happy clients.
    
    Long story short it took an absurdly long time for a check to clear. Due to a web interface that was hardly clear, a single small check was bounced.
    
    The bank was kind enough to swallow half of the bill because of their murky web interface. But this occurred on an especially tight week. We have little to no margins. Their inability to reimburse us the full amount caused a chain reaction of bounced payments to rack up, leaving us with a lovely +$300 fee.
    
    Unsympathetic customer service representatives who refused to budge an inch on anything drove us off.
    
    The account is still active, but we've since moved to another bank. Once we're satisfied all is quiet our relationship will be terminated.
    
    
  • The New: We found lovely little credit union to handle all of our business. Their web interface is more secure, clearer and while their branches are relatively scarce they're not too out of the way for us.
    
    
• The Funds:
  
  
  • His: I've experienced a raise in pay of about $4,000 to $5,000 from this time last year. I'm working a bit more, but it's for our best interest. We ultimately want to purchase our own home, so it's doubly important for me to remain focused on the prize. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) this additional income will be immediately funneled toward our outstanding debts.
    
    
  • Hers: The missus has made substantial career advancement and will make another in the new year. It's forced her out of the house the majority of the week and her job requires frequent air travel. But it's a thousand fold better than her previous occupation. Both in terms of enjoyment and monetary compensation. This increase in income should more than double the speed at which we pay off our debts.
    
    
• The Cars:
  
  
  • His: We had to put some energy into it lately for it to pass an inspection. But thankfully the problem was due to a factory recall and it was fixed free of cost. We're at around 30,000 miles. Which means I've put about 23,000 on it in the two years I've had it.
    
    It's running fairly well. It gets decent gas mileage and gets me where I need to go. Payments are modest, but still have a long way to go.
    
    
  • Hers: We had to pump $400 into it not too long ago, due to a shot alternator. While this car is substantially older than mine, it's also much closer to being paid off. We're looking at paying it off within a year from today. This will free up $3,000 the following year, pending additional repairs.
    
    
• The Future Bumps in the Road:
  
  
  • Taxes: There are only two things you cannot avoid in life; death and taxes. The only bump in the road that I can foresee is tax season.
    
    Due to my occupation I am required to pay my own taxes. This is great throughout the year as I receive my full paycheck with no Uncle Sam horning in on my action. This is bad in tax season, as I typically have to part with what I believe is a substantial amount of money.
    
    Last year was fine. I was only an independent contractor for a small portion of the year. What I had to pay was almost immediately off set by the economic stimulus package. This year will be a bit more difficult. I've worked a lot and made a lot.
    
    So Uncle Sam is going to be asking for a lot. This could reset our finances a substantial amount come tax time. We'll have to work at rebuilding our checking account so we can absorb the punch.
    

So, in short things are puttering along. We're moving at a respectable speed. Looking back on the progress we've made I'm proud of the amount we've grown and the sacrifices we were capable of making. Already we're far more responsible, fiscally conservative adults than we were just a year and a half ago. While it'd be nice to win the lottery, I'm no longer depressed about money.

It's just something that takes time, patience and a keen eye.

My return to MSB, personal finance, general penny pinching

I've returned to the minus sign blues after a fairly long (3 month) break. While I can't exactly come up with a fancy pants iron clad excuse for my long absence from the personal finance blog-o-sphere, I have to say that I'm returning fairly motivated to share my research and musings with those who may share my unfortunately predicament once again.

In short, I left partly because of time constraints and partly because I had less of a need to write. I started and maintained this blog for so long simply because of the fact that writing helps me organize my thoughts and logically arrange my emotions. It's a type of therapy for me. The warm summer air (and lack of heating bills) made my debt situation a bit more bearable. So I was able to enjoy life a little more and keep those unsightly invoices tamed.

That $500 a month reserved for kerosene went a long way to improving our quality of life and our checking account.

My little summer off was pretty productive. Both American Express cards bit the dust and their sky high interest rates are no longer of my concern. Several other low balance accounts were also terminated with extreme prejudice. Although I wish I could have earned more to put several others to rest, I'm happy with the progress we've made thus far.

But the leaves are beginning to stick to my windowpanes and more and more blankets are finding themselves piled on top of my bed. A recent examination of our finances reveals that once again because of the impending winter we must button up and live a bit less comfortably and a bit more frugally.

This means a serious return to personal finance research, penny pinching and staving off winter-mopeyness. It also fortunately means a return to blogging.

Expect to see some neat things here in the coming weeks and months. I have many things to read and write about.

One down, ten to go.

I'm quite happy to report that our American Express green card is now not only canceled, but completely paid off. Yesterday's online payment of $711 knocked it out of the park for good. This line of credit originally had one of our highest balances. This will free up an additional $700 a month to be used toward our next target, our American Express blue card.

Which will end all of our interactions with the soulless corporation known enigmatically as Amex for good. I intend to never take out another line of credit with them again. The way they manage their clients and their predatory card pushing practices has left an astonishingly bitter taste in my mouth. Granted, any person who is forwarded to collections is going to have a couple of nasty words to say, but in comparison to the rest of my lenders they are the bottom of the barrel. Even when I was able to pay my balance in full every month.

The game plan is to squirrel away another grand or so into our savings to build up a bigger emergency fund before bringing the hurt down on our remaining debts.

You're next, Blue Card. Get ready for the wood chipper.

A festival of fail: The IRS

I have a morning routine. It involves a nice cup of coffee, a home made muffin (this week is Strawberry) and some TV time before the long, painful commute to work. Sure, the walk from my living room to my home office may seem short to some people. But several times I've stubbed my toe on the coffee table. Have you ever stubbed your toe? Time slows down and it hurts.

Before I get to work I typically check my RSS reader like an old man would read the morning paper. I subscribe to a number of personal finance blogs and it just so happened the headline of "Don't forget to sign your tax return!" jumped out at me yesterday morning. Why? Because indeed I do not recall signing my tax return. My accountant flavored missus did all the nitty gritty paperwork for me and I mailed them. But I never even saw the thing outside of an envelope, let alone sign it.

After some frantic research I discovered that it was okay, that the IRS would simply send me a request for a signature in a couple of weeks. It's just take longer to get my return. Which is totally acceptable under normal circumstances. However, due to my rocking job I am required to file as an independent contractor. So I have to pay Uncle Sam a cut of my income from the year.

And if my check is not postmarked with the proper SIGNED paperwork prior to the 15th of April, I'll have to pay interest until it's processed. Which totally sucks and totally my fault.

However after some quick thinking and a trip down the street to the post office, I was able to file an extension for the return that I mailed two weeks prior. On the very last day. Even though the extension will be received well after my tax paperwork, it'll cover my ass until they mail me back my inappropriately filled out form to sign.

So no fees or fines, I'll just be receiving my refund adjustment a little later than I should be. Which is an acceptable punishment, I think.

Funny thing, though. I check the balance on our checking account daily. Yesterday morning I had one or two things waiting to clear. This morning Uncle Sam took out his money. But it didn't have the normal clearing period of 1 or 2 days. It was immediate and brutal. Good thing I didn't count on the slowness of the USPS and slack off on depositing the require funds. I now have $60 to my name. Whew. Close call.

So the lesson for today is: Don't trust the USPS to take it's time, read your RSS reader on tax day and ALWAYS REMEMBER TO SIGN YOUR RETURN.

News: Below 30,000 in the hole!

A short time ago you may have noticed a momentary lapse in my blogging. This was due to my not having time to eat or sleep, let alone manage a personal finance blog effectively. I was essentially busting my hump at one of my jobs. It's the time of year for inventory at Bed Bath and Beyond, so my services as a sleep deprived counting money were required for the good of the company. It's okay, there were only four snow and ice storms while we were commuting 2 - 3 hours at a time.

I ended up working an enormous amount of overtime and scoring quite the spicy check. As such we were able to throw a little bit extra at our debt last Sunday. And despite a timing war with our checking and savings accounts, causing a couple of overdraft fees we managed to throw a full extra thousand dollars at our American Express green card.

That'll shut the credit collectors up, I think. Let "Sarah" in New Delhi mull that over next time she decides to call and bug me.

Which brings us to roughly 29k in the red. That's quite the improvement from our original figure of 35k a relatively short time ago. There should be an even more drastic reduction in two months time. And beyond that my income will hopefully be increasing two fold, due to the busier spring real estate market.

So here's to busting your hump and having only a pretty pay stub to show for it!

Tax Rebate Calculator

I subscribe to a great many financial advice blogs through my RSS reader. This morning while reading my daily allotment of news and recent happenings I came upon J.D.'s post at Get Rich Slowly in regards to an economic stimulus tax rebate calculator.

I've gathered that a lot of people are curious as to just how much money they're going to receive from this little piece of legislation. Heck, more than half the hits I've received from Google in the past three weeks have been people searching for more information about the topic and what, precisely is the deal with all this money potentially coming this way.

As far as I'm aware this is probably the most accurate calculator to determine how much of a refund you're going to receive. If anyone has a better one, please feel free to share.

Taking your car the extra mile

When I read this article I immediately was reminded of the old Married... With Children episode where Al's trusty Dodge's odometer rolled over the million mile mark to zero. The joke was that Al's much beloved car was all that he could afford, so he ran it ragged forgoing all comfort, "common sense" and repairs. This sounds pretty in character, considering his son Bud often described on how to live frugal, such as making a hearty soup from the remains of an M&M found under the fridge.

While I don't think I'll ever let myself reach that level of destitute, and with all comic relief aside, Mister Bundy's logic seems to have played out well in reality.

About a month ago I blogged about what a steady discipline can do when it comes to buying and leasing new cars and the kind of money someone can save if they simply buy a car and go against the popular trend of buying another one immediately after paying it off. Sure, I'm absolutely certain that Frank Oresnik had to put his fair share of repairs into the '91 Ford pick up that he so loved. Heck, he had so many oil changes (300+!) that the plug on the drain pan had to be rethreaded a number of times.

But the pick up served him well. It's maintenance costs likely never exceeded what it would have cost him for monthly payments on a newer model. It really does to show you what kind of abuse, wear and tear many automobiles are designed to really take before shutting down altogether.

Refund Adjustment: Now pretty much a reality

President Bush and Congressional leaders reached a surprising bipartisan agreement today in regards to the economic stimulus package that has been floating around for the past couple weeks or so. While I do have a great deal of invested interest in this whole thing getting up in the air and moving (i.e. I need free money really bad), I still don't agree with the over all logic behind the whole thing. It's yet to completely pass, but the president is expected to sign it in sometime in the middle of February. No one expects anyone else to suddenly flip out and paper clip a proposal to deep fry any puppies or anything.

Both parties have butted heads together and seemed to have come up with a compromise that screws over the poor and the rich equally. While I can say I'd rather the democrats have gotten their way in full, it's a pretty fair compromise in the end of things, I think. I'm quite surprised at the speed at which they come to an agreement, though. There are a great deal of things that both parties get all hot and bothered about, but finances seem to irk pretty much everyone, from democratic representatives to republican over lords.

Which goes to show you that a lot of people pretty high up on the food chain are getting really antsy about the possibility of a recession setting in. Or the one we're in right now entrenching itself even further, should my belief be vindicated.

Republicans dropped their proposal to have this refund adjustment contain some language that'd allow businesses to reclaim taxes they've already paid. While this doesn't really affect the common Joe directly, I think in some indirect way it will. They've have been shouting for more benefits within this package that'd increase the capability of businesses to hire new, decently paid employees. While it doesn't concern me what so ever as I have two rather stable jobs, I do think this compromise will dent their plan, if only slightly. And when it comes to the economy, it doesn't matter how many people are out there buying stuff, if no one is there to sell it the whole thing goes caput.

Democrats surrendered their terms in regards to their desire to increase food stamps and unemployment. I would have really liked to see this squeak in under the wood work, not because I qualify for either, but because in a bad economy a significant portion of people do and it'd be nice to know they're doing a little bit better, especially considering their refund adjustment is going to be rather puny in comparison to someone pulling in six big figures a year.

So what does this mean in the end of things? The package has been balanced out to such a degree that businesses don't have a tremendous incentive to hire new, decently paid employees. Which leaves a fair quantity of people unemployed, who are getting boned on unemployment assistance and food stamps.

Okay, so maybe I'm exaggerating just a little bit. But you probably get the jist of what I'm trying to phrase. Everybody wins, so everybody loses.

The package will provide up to $600 to millions of wage earners, and up to $300 for each child dependent on a wage earner. Which isn't terribly shabby at all. If it gets into the works as quickly as it is expected we should be seeing our checks in the mail in time for 4th of July barbeques.

I'm going to funnel every single penny of mine straight at my credit card debt and not look back and think of all the pretty things I was supposed to spend it on. What do you plan to do with your adjustment? Will you put it into your savings account? Maybe put it toward a small CD? Or will you do something a bit more ambitious and use it to buy some shares of stock? Or will you be a good American and do what we all want to do the most, go shopping?

Refund Adjustment: A reality check

The news is crammed full of naysayers and political pundits all talking about the strength of the U.S. dollar, or lack there of. Whether you're listening to the radio, television or reading financial news on the internet there's an elaborate picture being painted by everyone with access to a microphone and a throat lozenge. And it ain't too rosy of a picture, either. The economy is essentially a stuck pig. We're furiously bleeding precious life all over our snorting neighbors. (Sorry, Canada and Mexico. We hope you're not squeamish) And all the squealing and thrashing in the whole world isn't going to help.

I'm talking about a recession. Not about the one that a lot of naysayers say that can quite possibly happen in a year or two, but about the one we're in now. We have a serious problem and there is very little we can do about it if we're simply denying the problem has ever existed.

What's interesting is that a significant amount of people who at shouting at the top of their lungs, saying that there isn't that big of a problem are suggesting another round of tax refund adjustments, calling it a "boost to an inherently strong economy" and a "shot in the arm, to prevent a downward trend in the future." Problem is, there isn't a possible downward trend. It's a flaming death spiral and it's happening today. There's a point where sticking to the grind stone just looks foolish.

Too young to remember the last round? Or maybe you weren't qualified to receive one? It's a very simple, easy to understand process after it's all been boiled down. Essentially a tax refund adjustment is the U.S. Treasury cutting you a check for "free money" in the hope that you'll spend it on something to stimulate the economy. Something like a television or a new diesel swilling, CO2 coughing heavy duty truck. Complete with cup holders large enough to accommodate the fattest and thirstiest soda sucking American.

There's a huge housing crisis and while real estate agents and brokers involved in the REO industry are doing pretty swell, the average American Joe is left with a crazy expensive dwelling that he owes more on than what it's worth. Gasoline and heating fuel costs are sky rocketing like nobody's business, which is in turn driving food and consumer goods prices up and up.

Not to mention the fact that a good percentage of energy produced in the United States is fossil fuel based. So energy rates are on the rise, too. Their twisted, obtuse logic is that nobody has money to spend on stuff. Give them money for stuff and the economy will somehow fix itself through sheer will power.

I'll be the first one to admit that I'd love a refund adjustment. I can think of a hundred things to do with it without really getting into the nitty gritty aspects. There are so many diverse ways to deal with a check for $500, $1,000 or more. Sure, there are going to be a lot of people who get their check, cash it in and run to Wal-Mart to buy a nifty new fishin' boat. But there are some underlaying problems that make this plan essentially moot, however great it sounds.

1. The third world is going to benefit more. The United States doesn't produce a whole lot of consumer goods these days. But we sure as heck buy a lot of them. This leads to a trade deficit with countries like China, Japan, Korea and Mexico. An energized consumer market in the U.S. may help the economy a little, what with retailers charging markup and states imposing sales taxes.
   
   But the real winners are going to be the major manufacturing nations out there, our biggest trading partners. Because whether or not we like it, the lower middle class folk like to shop at Wal-Mart. And Wal-Mart is China's third largest trading partner.
   
   
2. People are hurting, bad. I'm not sure about you, but if I received a check for a free $500 I'm not about to go out and buy something, much less American made. Why? I'm dirt poor. And because of my previous lack of responsibility I've been thrown through the fire. I know what to do with the money, oh yes. But I'm not going to spend it on anything that's going to help the nation.
   
   Here's a short list of potential candidates I've drawn up.
   
   
   • Rent
   • Groceries
   • Gasoline
   • Kerosene (for furnace fuel)
   • Credit card debt
   • Car loan debt
   • A savings account (in case I lack money for the above mentioned in the future)
   • A certificate of deposit
     
     
   None of these will help the U.S. economy. I need rent money far more than a new toaster.
   
   
3. The IRS is busy as it is. Tax season is coming up and the IRS is going to be as busy as ever with tax returns and figuring out how much they owe you or you owe them. Giving them an additional thing to do will not only delay normal tax returns, but amount owed as well, for those folk lucky enough to owe Uncle Sam something.
   
   
4. It's the wrong time of the year. Sure, a fair number of people go out and buy junk in the early spring. But it pales in comparison to the amount people spend in late fall and early winter, due to the encroaching holiday season. Giving people money outside of a spend happy season only leads to them saving or squandering it.
   
5. When it's the right time of the year, it'll be too late. The economy is tanking right now. If a supposed solution is delayed until a time where people will likely spend it on consumer goods, the economy will be even worse off. This'll increase the chances that the Average Joe will opt to be responsible and either save it, or pay off some of the accumulating bills.

This isn't by any means a partisan attack. I'm not attacking "spend happy" Democrats or "tax breaks for the rich" Republicans. I'm attacking the policy that many support, regardless of party. Would I be angered if I received a refund adjustment? Absolutely not. Will it be best for the nation if I do get one? Absolutely not.

We'll just have to wait and see what Uncle Sam approves.

Arming ourselves for the new year

We've made it a weekly ritual, sitting down in front of the computer with our budget spreadsheet, checkbook and mail pile on Sunday evenings just after dinner and The Simpsons. We've been very good about discussing our future spending habits and how we're trying to remedy our current crisis. I'd like to think we've both learned that we can trust one another now with the checkbook.

We've learned a lot over the past several months. It's been a very difficult time. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't often depressed about the status of our bank account at the end of the week. But we've studied our trends, the subject we've gotten ourselves into and our capabilities and I must admit that we're now a lot more prepared.

I've torn through quite a number of blogs, personal finance sites and books on the subject matter.

I'm convinced that we're capable, both mentally and financially to begin to really attack our debt on a very aggressive level. Up until now we've been tolerating our situation and dealing with it on a day to day basis. But it's been mostly a defensive stance, only taking on each blow as it was thrown at us.

We've drawn up a rather ambitious plan to get ourselves back on track so we can reach our ultimate goal, qualifying for a home mortgage so we can finally have a home, instead of just a place to live.

We've crunched the numbers and we've come to the conclusion that it's possible with a lot of hard work and conservative living it's possible to have more than half of our debts paid off within 1 year's time. After that things should fall into place a lot faster, some estimates putting it at another half year. This is a far cry from the three year estimate I scribbled on the back of a piece of scrap paper three months ago.

I'll be elaborating a bit more on some of these subjects in the coming weeks, but I think I'll outline the basics of our plan. Do you have some advice? Constructive criticism? Post in the comments and I'll link back to your blog in my next post!

Here's the low down in more or less sequential order:

1. Clear the battlefield: Our nonprofit Credit Counseling Service has served us pretty well during the past three quarters. They've managed to get all but two of our creditors off of our backs, they've lowered our interest rates and they've greatly reduced our finance charges. We're no longer scared to answer our telephone for fear that it's American Express looking for their monthly dues.
   
   However, they're taking their own cut of our monthly payments and while it's a mere drop in the bucket compared to the over all balances they've been paying for us, we can use that money to better ends.
   
   Furthermore, they've created a buffer between us and our finances. This was absolutely the plan in the beginning of things, they were a great shield when things were very hectic. But now that we're ready to begin to rain the hurt down upon our debts, they're only going to get in the way.
   
   My experience with them leads me to believe it's a good solution, but only if you have no better alternatives and only for a short period. This will put us in the right position to launch a full scale assault.
   
   
2. Gather ammunition: We currently have two jobs a piece. One that's fairly tolerable and brings in the money (desk jobs) and one that sucks, but helps pay the bills (service jobs). We're going to continue this trend to the best of our abilities. And while it may mean a couple of sleepless nights, it'll mean we're that much closer to our goals.
   
   Conservative number crunching reveals that they will provide us with an extra $9,100 if we keep them for one year. That's just under a third of our current debt.
   
   We're also aggressively searching for a new vocation for the missus. She has a dual major in education and accounting, so she's capable of earning a significant amount more than she's currently pulling in with her primary occupation.
   
   We're also on the look out for even more sources of income. I have a couple of leads and plans, but they need to be investigated and finalized.
   
   We received a huge tax refund check in the mail a couple of weeks ago. We're planning on putting most of it into our savings account so we have some sort of safety net should be slip and fall, but it'll go a long way toward our end goal.
   
   
3. Arm ourselves and attack: We've discussed the matter extensively and we've opted to employ the "debt snowball" approach in our efforts, as devised by Dave Ramsey. I've heard nothing but good things about this approach from my fellow debt laden bloggers and the over all plan seems quite simple.
   
   I like simple. Occam's razor rocks.
   
   
   
   Essentially, the plan is that once we gain direct control of our finances we'll pay everyone their monthly minimums and focus our efforts on the lowest balances instead of those with the highest interest rates.
   
   The underlying logic is that we'll see results immediately and it'll give us specific one-at-a-time goals. It'll give us direction. Which makes sense, because we had no goals, direction or results when we originally found ourselves in our mess.
   
   
4. Rebuild: Our credit score has suffered in the wake of this mess. Once our remaining balances reach a yet to be determined critical level, we'll begin the process of rebuilding our credit scores.
   
   We will accomplish this by:
   
   
   • Obtaining our credit reports and finishing off any missed creditors and disputing any false claims.
     
   • Aggressively paying off one our cars (likely mine) to eliminate a monthly payment.
   • Possibly taking out a small, secured loan.
     
   • Canceling all but one or two credit cards, opting to keep the very best after all things are considered.
     
   • Using the credit card(s) heavily, but responsibly. This means never carrying a balance.
     
     
   I know I've sworn up and down about how horrible they are, but I believe it'll go a long way to rebuilding our credit. The literature I've read seems to suggest that simply having one or two cards with zero balances will do its own fair share, too.
   
   The plan is to stick to a tight budget and funnel every dime into our checking account, even after we've eliminated most of our shackles. We will then make our purchases (groceries, gas, et cetera) and pay off the balances IMMEDIATELY through use of online payment options.
   
   Since we'll never carry a balance, we'll never have to pay interest. This will have to be monitored very closely, as to not repeat past mistakes. But I feel confident we're capable of it.
   
   
5. Planting the flag: After everything is said and done, it'll be time to shop around for a mortgage plan and find the nice home we've been dying to have for such a long time. I'm employed in the real estate industry, so this likely won't be very difficult at all.
   

Is a year and a half too liberal of an estimate? I don't seem to think so, especially if we stick to our budget and play it safe. We make a significant amount more than many of our peers and our expenses are considerably lower as well.

Here's to my celebration post in July '09!

Blog News: More visitors equals new design

Encouraged by the large quantity of individual hits I've been receiving (both one timers and repeated subscribers) as well as the number of ad clicks that's been charged to my Google Adsense account I'm proud to announce the redesign of - the minus sign blues.

I've installed a whole new look to the blog, and added a more detailed debt counter within the navigation menu. You may have caught a hint of this in the recent past, but now it's come into being fully, and it's here to stay.

By simply visiting this site you're helping me work myself out of this ugly situation. This project started as a place to organize my thoughts and provide some sort of therapy. It's become so much more than that.

If you've enjoyed my writing thus far and feel the need to contribute something back, please feel free to spread the word. I'm here to help.