About Me

ceejay74

I'm the CFO of a three-adult, two-child, two-cat household. There's me (CJ, age 44), my husband (NT, age 44), my wife (AS, age 39), and our kids AA (age 7) and SL (age 5). Oh, and the cats are named Whiskey and Clue.

Until July 2007 we hadn't been serious about financial stability, but then we started focusing on paying down our massive debt, building an emergency fund and saving for retirement. In October 2010, we finished paying off all of our credit card debt--over $70,000! Adding in student loans and mortgages, we've paid off more than $250,000 of debt so far. In June 2015, we used a windfall to pay off all our remaining non-home-related debt!

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2018 Goals:

Creative - get a novel publishing-ready. Step 1 (Jan): online class--done
Step 2 (Feb) create a plan for rest of year--done

Creative - learn guitar. Step 1 (Feb): private lessons @TwinTown (borrow guitar)--done
Step 2: buy guitar and continue weekly lessons/daily practice

Health - limit drinking on everyday nights.
Jan: 1 day a week of 0 glasses. DONE!
Feb: 2 days a week-- Done!

Health - limit screen time outside of work.
Jan: 1 night a week of no computer/phone use after work.
Feb: 2 days a week--done

Health - Try relaxation/destress tactics on nondrinking/no-screen-time days--tea? Meditation? Reading?
Jan: Used tea and reading.
Feb: Also used guitar practice

Pragmatic - emergency preparedness. Research on cdc.gov, ready.gov & dps.mn.gov. Make a kit, make a plan, get informed. First aid training, e.g. CPR.
Jan: researched kits, plans and classes; bought some preparedness supplies for kit; cleaned out basement to make room for eventual emergency kit.
Feb: no progress

Work/professional development: Look for class on Agile; see if work will pay for it.
Jan: No progress
Feb: No progress

Work/professional development: Start to limit social/personal internet at work.
Jan: No personal internet/phone at work one day per week. DONE!
Feb: 2 days per week--done

Financial: Retirement assets to $475K (Starting point: $390,774). Net worth to $650K (Starting point: $581,608). Bump NT's 401(k) up 2%.
Jan: Retirement at $404,682; net worth at $596,482, bumped NT's 401(k) up 1%.

Financial: Kids' savings up to at least $1K per year of age. (SL: $6,000. AA: $8,000.)
Jan: Balances SL $3,081.60, AA $5,921.32

Home: Full kitchen renovation. See what other improvements we can save up for after that.
Jan: Savings at $21,075

Vacations: UK family trip after Xmas. Solo trips for adults. Weekend at lake. CJ family reunion in June/July Niece's wedding in Va. in August.
Jan: some planning, nothing booked
Feb: time off booked for June/July and August trips

Big picture goals:

$512,564 in retirement assets by March 2019
Balance as of 1/31/2018: $404,682
Ultimate goal: 8x annual income by retirement

Explore selling UK flat and buying a rental property in Minneapolis

Completely debt-free by age 65 (2039)

My Pages

Personal loan payment hit!

November 7th, 2009 at 09:05 am

Yay, they DO process payments on Saturdays! $1382 went to principal. So we're at $2115 of debt paid, $85 to go on the November goal.

The personal loan is down to $1732. It's going bye-bye next month no matter what! I'm super fired up to burn off as much debt as I can before baby comes. I hope this is the right way to go versus padding the EF more. Getting rid of this $623 monthly payment certainly can't hurt our post-birth budget, and paying off my dad like a grownup before I become a mommy will just be a big psychological boost.

Posted in Uncategorized | 7 Comments »

7 Responses to “Personal loan payment hit!”

Kris10leigh Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 09:31 am

Good for you! You have some lofty goals, but with a lot of effort and a little frugality, you can do it!
creditcardfree Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 09:46 am

That is great!! You ARE going to beat me. I'm very proud of you.
KellyB Says:
November 7th, 2009 at 02:04 pm

You have the right mindset. The $623 will become the EF fund/baby use account, and I like how you said paying off your father before becoming a mom yourself will be a grownup thing to do, and a psychological boost. I'm sure your dad will admire that!!!
homebody Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 06:21 am

Great news!
Rosa Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 07:05 am

Hello!

I'm currently conducting research for an article proposal involving people who blog on the topics of personal unemployment, debt, and the recession in general, and came across your blog. I am wondering if you might be interested in participating in said article if it comes to pass.

Please let me know.

All the best,
Rosa
rosa@rosajurjevics.com
frugaltexan75 Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 09:07 am

That's awesome! Way to go on getting it paid down ... and off soon!
Petunia Says:
November 8th, 2009 at 08:10 pm

Can't wait to do the happy dance with you next month when you get this paid off!

Ceejay74's Personal Finance Blog

A blog to help me document my journey out of debt.

Personal loan payment hit!

7 Responses to “Personal loan payment hit!”

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