Man, oh man. Well, I have analyzed and analyzed our current situation, and two things just HAD to go. First, my XM Radio Subscription. I had pre-paid in April for 2 years of service, in order to get a discount on my monthly rate. However, I have decided that this is a LUXURY and not an NEED. (DUH, I know). Also, we have cancelled our netflix account. This amounts to about 30 bucks a month in savings. (The XM fees will be returned, without penalty for canceling.) Well, these are the types of things we must do to ensure our success.

Now, there are probably two kinds of reactions to the above:

First Reaction: Dude, I could never give up my movies or my entertainment, I need these things to survive! (IF this is your reaction, please note, I’m with you. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my XM, and am going to “suffer” without it for a few months until this debt is gone).

Second Reaction: Dude, what in the world were you doing with satellite radio and movie rentals WHILE TRYING TO GET OUT OF DEBT? You are a doofus, ncnblog. (IF this is your reaction, you are totally correct. I was being selfish and foolish with my money. I “wanted” these things, and pretended, for 4 months, that I “needed” these things. NO MORE… Be gone, ye debt re-payment hindrances, I need thee no longer!)

I shall retire to my un-entertaining side of the room and cry for a while.

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On Saturday, I met with one of the ELP (Endorsed Local Providers) from Dave Ramsey’s Site. He came to my house, and we sat down and talked for about 2 hours. He was very, very helpful, and explained, in great detail, the various retirement and savings options available to me and my family. He was not pushy, at all. In fact, he simply answered my questions, gave me some information, left his business card, and told me to call him when I was ready. Totally, NO PRESSURE at all. If you are new to mutual funds and investing, I strongly recommend contacting them. Oh, I am in no way affiliated with Dave, I just have used his program to get out of debt.

Mini-eBay Update: As of Sunday, we are up about 650 bucks profit, and I will be analyzing my situation for debt re-payment this Friday. I have great hope that I will be able to put a sizeable portion of my next week’s paycheck towards our 2nd Auto. Thanks to all of you who have left such positive feedback.

Check out the Carnival of Personal Finance over at Consumerism Commentary. One of my posts from a few weeks ago is featured, as are several other posts from various personal finance blogs.

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Well, the time has come. I must say goodbye to an old acquaintance. I have know this “friend” for 4 years, 8 months, and 6 days. Alas, while my farewell will be sad for this old “friend”, for me… IT WILL BE AWESOME. I say goodbye to my first debt…

Today, I sent the last (YES LAST) payment off to American Honda and I now OWN my Honda Accord. It is paid off! Yahoo!!! After much hard work, determination, and deciding to DO something about my debt, instead of complain about my debt, I have succeeded in paying off my car early. I am so excited, as is my wife. Yes, there were bumps in the road (haha, no pun intended). But, we did it. We paid off our car. Now, I know it is only four months early, but, I only started this in April. So, I actually paid 8 months of payments in 4 months. So, I am very proud of what we have accomplished. Now, I can put what I was paying towards the car towards our other auto. I should be done with it by the middle of September (maybe sooner?) and then we attack the zero interest credit card.

Even with this success, I am slightly bummed. (But, just slightly) I have managed to pay roughly 80 dollars A DAY towards my debt since July 18. My goal was 100 dollars, and I will HAVE to find more money if I am going to make my debt-free goal of 10-10-2005. BUT, even if I don’t (and I think I will), I KNOW that both of my cars will be free and clear by then. What a relief.

Here is the chart from my start until now, along with updated pie-chart at the top right-had column of this blog.

Account	April 16th	Paid So Far	08/06/05
Auto 1	2656.33	2656.33	00.00
Auto 2	3255.23	1679.77	1575.46
C Card	5598.66	100.00	5498.66
Totals	11510.22	4436.10	7074.12

Please note, I use the day I send the payment in to calculate these numbers. The check will not clear for a few days, but I count when the money is no longer available to me. Also, I sent in slightly more than the actual payoff quoted today, to account for the interest that will accrue between now and when the check is cashed.

Mini-eBay update: We are well over 500 bucks profit, looking for perhaps 300 more! Yay!

Thanks for ALL of the encouragement and positive vibe that I have received. Hope this blog helps you in some way, or at least, encourages you to really, really, really THINK about your finances.

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Well, first the sappy personal stuff. My little girl, age 5, just started school today. She is in kindergarten. She is very, very excited. Not to brag (he says, just prior to bragging) but this kid is ON THE BALL. She knows her stuff. It’s like she was born “well-adjusted” to life. I know she is mine, but she is just the most easy going, fun-to-be-around child in the world. Anywho… ON to the financial stuff.

What to do when there is no financial activity for THREE straight days? HMMM… I have auctions ending soon, but the past 2 days and today, there has been nothing for me to do. Bills paid and organized, debt-payment plan in order, have a meeting this Saturday with investment advisor (from Dave’s ELP list, no less). It is so weird, when focusing so hard on every, single, financial decision, to have a 2 or 3 day period where no money is coming in and no money is going out. I haven’t even written a check or used a debit card. Is this how it will feel to be totally debt free and have my auto savings plan in place? Will I just grow money without “touching” it every day. Right now, or at least until this week, I have been a very “active” participant in my “debt-free” journey. I wonder what it will feel like when I wake up, and I owe NO ONE. I guess it will feel awesome, or, it might just feel, well, the same as I feel now? I mean, with my plan coming together, it’s almost like I “feel” debt free already. Even if a few things go south for a few weeks, I still know that I will be debt free, sooner rather than later. This “knowledge” has already “freed” me. Cool.

Oh yeah, click on the links to the right for some really cool financial blogs, and a few other misc. things.

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Okay, for all of you financial wizards out there, please help me figure the following out. Suppose that I have a lump sum of money. 6000 dollars. If it is sitting in a bank, making 3.15% compounded MONTHLY, and I want to take out 500 dollars a month, how much will I have left at the end of the year.

6000 balance
3.15 percent compounded monthly
500 removed per month
= what balance at end of year?

Please give me formula for this…. thanks, ncnblog.

Also, what would the formula look like if I not only took OUT 500 a month, but put back say 200 a month. How do you compute this. Thanks again.

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