Getting out of Debt

So this post is yes about our family and financials but also a little bit about how I plan on us getting out debt and some of the knowledge I have learned from my previous experience with lots of debt.

So most of you know that Cody is military- so that covers 100% of all of our bills. I have broken down a budget on what we spend on our every day things, bills that remain relatively the same and then I took our max on the floating bills and inflated them a little so we have some wiggle room. The only thing that I didnt put in our bills under his pay would be the child care expenses and extra gas (since I work these are the bills that my money goes towards, if I didnt work they wouldnt exist). I, Jessica, also work full time and make a pretty good salary, that pays for child care, car expenses and other fun things that we get to do.

Luckily we have been pretty good with our money (some financial set backs before we got married but we took care of them with a hit to my credit). When Cody was in training we lived with family so we could save money there, I also put away as much as I could so that we had money to move and get settled with. The military will pay to move you, however you have to pay all the money upfront and they will reimburse you at a rate... so depending on how frugal you are you can end up making some money for it. All of the "extra" saved money that we had after being paid off we splurged a little but we made certain we had a savings account for emergency money.

Once I started working the budget got a little more loose, however more money was being put away/paying off debt. Our financial statement is that if we dont have the money for it, we dont buy it. We have 3 credit cards, one with the military and 2 with our bank. However only one of them currently holds a balance. We will not allow our selves to put anything on them that we can not pay off if we have to. Our savings account has grown and is looking pretty good, we are half way to our goal, not too shabby. I want us to have at least 3 months of living expenses, how we currently live, in our savings... so roughly $10,000.00. Now some may think that's a lot of money, when you have rent and food and all your bills it goes very quickly when no money is coming into the house.

The only "large" debt we have is Cody's car payment. So now that we are down to 1 credit card balance around $300.00- easily payable, we can start to make double payments on the car.

For the longest time I thought that having a running balance on a credit was good, I could show that I could make the minimum payment every month and I would be fine. The problem with thinking this way is that you get another card and say oh well I can pay the minimum on this one too.... Then the interest charges occur, what some done understand that you get charged interest on the card which makes the balance go up, you next interest fee goes off of the current balance... now you are paying interest charges for the previous interest charge. Something so little can take so long to pay off due to interest and minimum payments. The best thing to do is to pay what you can over the minimum payment, if you pay an extra 5.00 on your minimum that will go towards the interest that you owe. If you can pay off the card/loan at the end of every month so that you dont pay any interest.

Our new found philosophy about living with in our means, means that we have more money to spend. No we arent making anymore money then we were but we are always cutting the bills out that we dont need and in return we have more money. Its easy and simple, yes credit cards and loans are easy to fall on when you are stuck in hard times. However they shouldn't always be there for your every day needs.

I broke our budget down onto a spread sheet. I has on it what bills are paid which paychecks and what will be remaining. That way when payday comes around I immediately go and pay all of the bills for that check, mark them off on the spread sheet and what is left over is what we have to spend for our every day needs. If we want something that we can not afford that paycheck we save it and say next paycheck we should have more left over and wait until we have enough (with out taking from savings) and make the wanted purchase. 

Now that our family is living with less debt we feel a lot more free to splurge on the things we want over having no money left over in the end... It was hard at first to tighten down the budget and stop spending on the cards no connected to our bank account. However if you want to it is possible.

Thanks!

I know it has been a little while since we have posted.... Here is an update:

Cody is doing well, he is currently on gate guard duty (which sucks for Jessica) and he has been working a lot on his car lately. He is replacing old parts and parts that he wants to have perform better. He will hopefully be getting ranked up sooner then later, hello more money, he still currently have 3 years left on his Army contract and then who knows where we will end up.

Jessica is holding everything together with the extra hours Cody is working plus her work. She has to have surgery June 5th due to some cysts that have formed on her ovaries and will pretty much on bed rest for the better part of a week. Thank goodness for friends and family coming to help out during that time.

Kaiya is fully potty trained. She does wear a diaper at night so we dont have to wash sheets every/every other night. She is still doing good in school, Jessica and Cody and wanting to switch her to a different center due to some incidents that have happened recently. She is still the vibrant typical 2.5 year old who thinks she knows everything.... We have a feeling that this will not end anytime soon.

Ellie is relaxing around the house as always. Barking at every known sound ever made.

That is our little family,
Blessings and love,

The Schlotfelds

Wonderful Weekend

We are all so blessed in many ways. This weekend was just another way of showing how hard work and dedication pays off.

On Saturday, I (Jessica) got to go shopping. Since we had to go to the Mall an hour away to pick up my ring from repair and we also had some left over money from the wedding, so Cody decided it was time to "update" my fashion-less wardrobe.... Holy Moly has anyone over the age of 25 seen the latest fashion trends to buy? I am pretty sure it is the exact same fashion from 10-12 years ago.... Only if I was a teen again... Anyways, it was fun to get to spend the day with Cody and Kaiya going from store to store and getting what I wanted/needed and picking up Panda Express for lunch (no we dont have one close to us so we get it occasionally).... We also bought Cody some new shoes and Kaiya  few things from the Childrens Place.

On Mothers Day we got to spend the day just hanging around the house, going out to lunch and being a family. It was nice, we took Kaiya for a bike ride and walked the neighborhood a few times and truly enjoyed each others company... As we were walking and talking I couldnt help but feel truly blessed. We all know at times we dont have it easy and that relationships, parenthood and work can at times be stressful, I realized that all the hard work and effort that we put into our daily lives does pay off eventually... It may take some time but it is truly worth it in the end.
I am a blessed mother of 1 child and 1 dog and I couldnt be happier with the way my life has turned out.
Love, Peace and Happiness
Jessica

Early Mothers Day Surprise!!!!

So as I am in the Kitchen making one of our favorite weekly dinners (cheeseburger macaroni) in walks Cody. He comes straight into the Kitchen and hands me a plastic bag from the PX (post exchange). So I ask him "what is this", he replies "your mothers day gift"... Yes I got it early. So I begin to open it up and and I automatically see one of my most favorite things.....

Yes he picked it out all by himself, as I pulled the large bag out of the plastic bag I knew it was coach. I kept saying "how did you do this with out me knowing" he replied "don't worry about it and keep going their is more". So I opened the large bag to find the matching wrist let wallet inside, I said "you shouldn't have" he said "keep going there is more on the side pocket". I open the side pocket to find a tanning gift card. 

I couldn't have been more surprised last night that he took the time and effort to pick this gift out for me. All along I thought he had a late formation and would be home soon, part of that was true, his formation ran late but he also went and picked out my mothers day gift and gave it to me early. He knew he wouldn't be able to hide it in the house and he didn't want to keep it in his car. I don't care what day it was given to me on, it is still amazing and special. I am one lucky wife and mother.

Happy Early Mothers Day to all Current and Future Mothers!

The Wedding

Most of you know that my amazingly best friend of 10 years got married this past weekend. I couldnt be more happy that she found such an amazing guy. Here's the story....

Lindsay and I met 10 years ago at a church camp (surprisingly neither one of us still go to church... all that often) anyways.... We have never lived in the same state, yes this is true. The phone and internet have been our constant contact with one another and the occasional hey I am coming to visit.

10 years later I found myself giving the Matron of Honor speech at her wedding, I truly winged it since I left my thought/typed out speech at the hotel. I couldnt believe that my best friend was married, as am I. It didnt seem that long ago we were at camp hanging out late at night, texting on our cell phones and having friends sneak into our room at night with pizza... These memories I would cherish for the rest of my life.

The wedding was amazing, she looked stunning. I was shocked to find out that I would be the one to get her dressed in her amazingly fitted and stunning gown and to have the privilege to see her first in it, to take pictures all teary eyed with her and seeing the wonderful women she has grown up to be. I will always have that with me as long as I live. No amount of rain that we encountered or freezing cold wind could stop us from having a good time, and the awkward noise Cody made and he blubbered out his vows to Lindsay. Lindsay and Cody's family welcomed me with open arms and embraced me as one of their own family members for the weekend. My parents came into town to help me with Kaiya at the wedding and I couldnt have been more blessed since she was totally out of her element and my own husband could not attend with me.

I am truly great full that Lindsay and Cody have found each other and that they have a love and passion for one another that is undeniable.... Cheers and toast to them for a happy life they will live together... I love you both so much.