Debt: Pay off at least $2200 of debt.
Balance as of 11/1: $386,334
Goal balance: $384,134
I hope to make my next-to-last payment on the personal loan this month.
Savings: Save at least $720 ($120 for AS's retirement; $600 for Xmas fund)
Progress: DONE! $776 saved
We have to pay the management company of NT's UK rental flat, so there will be little, if any, leftover money to put aside for the baby/EF.
Creative/crafts: 1. Participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). 50,000 words in 30 days; wish me luck! I've started, but never finished, about 4 times.
Other: Help AS with couch reupholstery. Her mom sent us the fabric, so now it's up to us to save our bedraggled couch!
Other #2: Begin to contact daycare options we've collected. We need to start getting a sense of prices and availability for next year.
November 2009 goals
November 1st, 2009 at 06:43 pm
November 1st, 2009 at 07:56 pm 1257105377
November 1st, 2009 at 07:56 pm 1257105385
Do you mind a personal question? If AS is unemployed and your family can manage on two incomes, is it an option for her to stay with the baby? I only ask this as someone who has been asked to watch potential niece/nephew and potential godschidl on two different occasions (brother and wife about ten year ago when they thought they had an "oops" moment/and then about 2.5 years ago when best friend thought she had an "oops" moment.)
November 1st, 2009 at 07:58 pm 1257105532
November 2nd, 2009 at 02:30 am 1257129034
momcents, we have thought about one of us staying home. For the time being, we're opting for AS to try and find employment because A) once her unemployment compensation stops, we'll be able to get by but we won't have a lot extra. We want to make sure we can accelerate debt repayment and savings as we have so far to go just to catch up to where we should be. And, if the baby ends up costing a lot more than we think, we don't want to go into further debt to give it whatever it needs. Also, B) on a more selfish level, we're not sure any of us is cut out to be a stay-at-home parent. That said, one thing we've talked about some is eventually getting reduced work weeks so some of all of us can spend some days at home with baby and it spends less time in day care. I don't think it would be inconceivable to work something out with our current employers or even look for different employment with more flexible hours. But we would love to catch up more on debt and savings before we explore these options. On the good side, if AS gets the job we're hoping for and it starts out part-time, we think we can stretch parental leave between us out for 5 months!
ccf, that's a good idea about before-and-after and in-process pics. I'll try to remember that when we get started (hopefully next weekend).