HELOC & Chase Card #2 updates - August 2010

HELOC -
$280.16 paid. New balance = $71,095.60


Chase Card #2 -
$20.17 paid. New Balance = $2,531.02

Capital One Update - Aug. 2010

It seems hardly worth posting such tiny progress. But I'm trying to get my focus back. I even listened to the Dave Ramsey radio show yesterday afternoon looking for motivation to keep fighting the fight.

$10.81 paid. New balance = $986.97

Very late with the July Net Worth Funding update

Maybe it's a good thing this blog is around. Otherwise, I think I could so very easily slip back into total avoidance mode. Out of sight, out of mind is kind of where I'd like my finances to be at the moment. But I know from past experience it just gets worse especially when I'm not paying attention to the spending.

So here is a catch-up post showing the July progress. The worst month so far this year except for the month I had to take that big withdrawal out to pay the property taxes on the rental. And *BIG SIGH*, I won't be surprised if August is even less progress. I just gotta keep from getting us further in the hole.




All tickers at the bottom of the page have been updated with the July payments even though I didn't post individually about all of them.

I spoke too soon

in my last post when I said nothing major had happened.

Okay...it's only semi-major, but yesterday morning I found a puddle of water in the laundry room. Turns out this morning we are getting a new hot water heater to the tune of $600-ish. It was a 1992 model, so it's time for the water heater. Just not the best timing for us!

If you don't have anything nice to say

you should keep your mouth shut, right?

I'm blaming my ultra-negative view on all things financial for my blog absence. Nothing else major has happened. I'm just tired of feeling like a hamster on a wheel that keeps getting the wheel spun faster by outside forces.

Health insurance premium increases are going to take $42 of the $73/month raise I got a few weeks ago.

And then I got to thinking about what the expiration of the Bush tax cuts are going to do to our budget. I started quantifying it over the weekend, and barring a Congressional act (literally), we'll be paying at least $2k more next year. And we are FAR from a high income family. Check it out for yourself....the elimination of the 10% bracket is $835 more off the bat. Then if the child credits go back down to $500, that's another $1,000. Eliminate the preferential rate for dividend income? At least another $120. That's without taking into account the changes in Flexible Spending accounts or wondering if the deduction for state and local sales tax will be extended.

All this in an economy where average Americans are already stretched, struggling to hang onto their jobs if they are lucky enough to have one. It just doesn't seem like good sense to me. Hopefully, someone will knock some semblance of sense into Congress before it's too late!

I know. I know. It could be tons worse. So what if I can only pay down $6,000 of debt next year instead of $8,000. I guess in the grand scheme, things could be much much much worse. We have income, we have a home, we're pretty darn healthy. I was just hoping to see a little more forward progress on the financial side by now.