End of January - Goal Update

DH's other payment has not come through yet (its been approved, he's just waiting for the payment to hit the checking account). So we didn't get the loan paid off yet but we should in February :) 
 

Overall debt balance 1/1/2013: $62,300.13

Overall debt balance 1/29/2013: $60,555.65

Difference: $1,744.48

 
Nice progress! Especially considering last year we were doing good with $700-800 per month in totals. February is nice since it is such a short month. And then in March comes my bonus (maybe), and in April we get DH's quarterly payments. This should keep the ball rolling for at least the next several months. Keep growing that snowball and attacking these debts.
 
No news on the baby goal yet. One more week to wait to see if we got it this month or not. We've had some more scary things going on in the neighborhood that make me a bit leery of having another kid right now but I can't put this on hold forever. I can't wait to move to another neighborhood.

2013 Goal - Update

Second payday of the month brings a new update :) Things are looking pretty good right now:

 

Starting balance: $24,500.00

1/3/2013: $24,103.51

Current balance: $23,300.24

 

Difference = $1,199.76

Not going to lie - it does bug me a bit that I didn't notice the extra $.24 in time to round up a payment. We cleared out the smallest credit card so now we are down to five debts instead of six. Keeping my fingers crossed that we can knock out one more this month, but it might have to wait until February. We did a rough calculation on our taxes and we could end up owing a significant amount due to the fact that DH actually made money last year (YAY!). Definitely a good problem to have :) But it means we have to hold some money in savings instead of knocking out debt.

 

I went last night and purchased all of the food for our meal plan, plus breakfast and lunch foods. The total was $120 for two weeks which didn't seem bad at all considering we got food for 3.5 people (babysitter is here 2 days a week). Now that we have meals planned and lots of fresh veggies and meat that need to be used before they go bad, hopefully the temptation to go out to eat won't be as strong.

Wow!

We moved office locations last week. Somehow I scored a window spot on the 30th floor of one of the highest buildings here. To say the view is spectacular is an understatement!

This is the view from my desk. WOW!

I am trying out OPKs (ovulation prediction kits) this month to see if we can't figure out what's going on. I am not exactly the most regular person ever. So it is nice to have a clue as to when the most optimal time is to be attempting. Seems like last month I actually ovulated around CD 18. This month, if the tests were right, it was more like CD 9!! Oh well. I am charting to keep track of things for future reference, but still hoping that this month is the one where we get our positive.

A friend and I started running (jogging) again a couple weeks ago. We are set to do at least one race, and hopefully three this year. Tonight we did 3.75 miles in 45 minutes so that feels nice. We have lost some ground but we are making it up well. The race in April that we are definitely entering has heats based on qualifying times. We hope to get into the 35-40min 8k heat (the first one after the heats that require actual qualifying times from other races). My real goal is 32-36 minutes. Last year it was 42 but I feel that I could have pushed it more. This year my goal is to have no regrets and know that I gave it my all.

DH had some good news too. He got paid on some big cases, and we will be able to pay off two big debts this month! Debts that represent $250 in monthly payments. YAY! That almost makes up for the $450/month cut I just took due to the increase in city taxes, parking at the new building, increased gas costs for the longer commute, health insurance increases, and SS tax increases.

We are getting there. Slowly, but surely, we will get there. (I think that has been my motto forever. And it is so true!)

CD1

At least we know. But I am excited - if we get pregnant this month we will get a baby for our anniversary. What a great gift to celebrate our marriage! :)

Since I am a nut, I already bought OPKs and HPTs. Now I am just waiting for them to show up. And I got some mucinex too (Walmart has a great $.88 generic!). If that doesn't work then we will ramp up the efforts even more.


And now I can have a couple glasses of wine and relax for a few more days. Cheers!

Late

3 days late, still BFN tests. The interwebbies and the few real studies I was able to find tell me I either mis-calculated or its not going to happen this month.

Either way, I just poured myself a nice glass of wine.

My HPTs and OPKs are coming soon - just ordered them off Amazon. For anyone else trying, Amazon had great prices! 75 total strips for $15 with free shipping. That should do it for the next several months.

If we don't get pregnant by March we will put it on-hold until August. Mainly due to insurance and how we have to pay our deductibles. A baby due from Jan - April would cost us about $5,000 more. Since that's enough to cover our maternity leave it is worth avoiding if possible.

Good news, DH calculated what he should be bringing home this month (on cases already closed, just in processing to pay out soon). We should definitely be able to pay off 2 of the debts in full :) Excited to see what this month does as far as debt goes. At least there's something to be excited about.

2013 Goal - Update

I get paid on Monday, but I've set up payments to happen as soon as my check hits the bill-pay account. So I am going to go ahead and update our progress now :)

 

Starting balance: $24,500.00

Current balance: $24,103.51

 

Difference = $396.49

 
The snowball is rolling. Slowly, but it will get there. By the end of the month we will be below $24,000. Hopefully we can knock out at least one debt, if not two, this month. Just depends on when DH closes his cases and gets paid. First quarter is usually good to us with DH's quarterly payments, potential bonuses, and tax refunds (if we get one this year). Hoping to gain some good momentum here to carry forward into the rest of the year.
 
I have the eMeals plans all saved and ready to go. Now I just have to go grocery shopping. We've been on a mission to eat healthier meals so this will help both our wastilines and our budget. And I've already logged two workouts this week! I am extremely sore, but its a good hurt ;)

TWW - is it over?

Seriously, this has been the longest two weeks ever. So funny how waiting for something makes you analyze every ache and twinge. And makes you truly crazy. I started testing at 8 dpo (days past ovulation), but all I got were BFNs (big fat negatives). Not even a hint of anything. With DD I got my BFP (big fat positive) at 9 dpo so I was hopeful for an early result this time.

Nope. Nada. Nothing but stark white tests.

I broke the tests apart, held them up to the light, took pictures and tweaked the files to see if I could even find the slightest hint of pink. Its a good thing the dollar store sells tests (quite accurate, surprisingly). I think I used 7 of them!

Finally had a meltdown on Monday. I was just so sad and emotional...really just a hormonal wreck. DH couldn't take it any more and told me I was not allowed to test again until Friday. That's officially 3 days late, so if I make it to then we might have a good shot.

So now I keep waiting. And finding things to distract myself with. I started the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred, doing a 6 week challenge with a few friends. So far I have done 2 of my 5 workouts for the week :)

If you haven't guessed by now, I hate waiting. I am not patient. I want to just know one way or another.  Guess we will soon enough.

Ughghghghghghghghghghghghg!!!!!!!!!!