I requested a payout from my Global Test Marketing account about a month ago. The amount was $50.75! It arrived in the mail this weekend. This was my first payout from them, I was glad to see that it worked out smoothly.

I'd like to send it to the home equity loan, but for the moment it is sitting in my second checking account because funds are getting a little low there.

I also received a $3 Pinecone check.

I love checks in the mail!

I just finished paying bills. I scheduled an extra principal payment of $672 to our home equity loan to be paid tonight!!

New Balance = $7,987.70

That puts us under $8,000!! I can't believe how far we come in such a short period of time. A concentrated effort definitely pays off.

Our goal for 2009 is to pay off at least $7,000 to get us to a balance of $7,000. Therefore, it looks like we are only $987.70 away from meeting that goal! Yippee!!

I may have mentioned this previously, but we feel that we can actually get this loan paid off in full by the end of 2009. That's a day I look forward to. Stay tuned!

I made our regular payment to the home equity loan. The principal portion was $65.30. This is the first month that the principal amount was more than the interest!! That is a milestone to be celebrated right? Interest was $52.71.

New HEL Balance = $8,659.70

There will be more additional payments this month due to some craigslist and ebay sales, as well as extra funds from today's paycheck. Those amounts will be posted later. I'd love to get this loan below $8K this month.

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There will be a brief break in this blog, while we take a weekend trip! Have a good one.

I have decided to stop some medication I'm taking with the consent of my doctor. I'm thrilled, since there have been a few unpleasant side effects.

Savings: $22/month

Just so you know and don't worry...this was entirely a health decision, not a financial one! The savings are just a bonus. I hope to pass this on to that home equity loan payoff!!

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I took my mother out to lunch yesterday for a wonderful mediterranean meal. We spent $28. Yummy!! She treated me to a new organic cotton shirt from the Life is Good line. It will be a great shirt for spring. I will wear it today since it will be about 70 degrees!

Make it a great day everybody!

I'm really motivated to get this home equity loan paid off this year. It can be done. I REALLY like looking forward to mini milestones, such as nice round numbers.

We just surpassed the $9,000 mark. Now that I'm there, I'm focused on getting as close to $8K as I can by the end of the month. Then after that I will be looking at $7K and so forth.

In order to get under $8K this month, I need to be careful with spending as usual. I need to be aggressive in finding things to sell. This will also require convincing my daughters they no longer need their My Little Ponies and other such toys they no longer play with!! That can be the most difficult part.

I hope that my Global Test Marketing check for $50 arrives this month,too. That would sure help a lot. I have almost accumulated $25 in debit rewards and should be able to redeem those by the end of the month, too.

I have a queen metal bed frame hanging out in my basement that would bring $10-$15 if I can get it listed on craigslist.

I already have 1 bid for an item on ebay. There are still 8 waiting for bids with a few of them being watched. They don't end until Sunday.

When I think about all the monetary possibilities out there, I feel pretty confident that we can meet this months goal. A big portion of it will come from the next pay check in about 10 days.

I'm sure I'll spend the month scrounging around to make a few more dollars here and there. I just love this, stuff!

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Just a side note: I'm finally back on the exercise bandwagon. Two days in a row at the gym. I do feel better.

I made a principal payment of $75 towards our home equity loan. I know...I just can't stop, can I? It's kind of addictive!!

The money is from selling used books, my two gold rings, ebay sales, a half.com sale and a Pinecone check. A little here and there adds up!!

New Balance = $8,725

I'd love to get this balance below $8,000 by the end of March. Think I can do it?

I made a principal payment to our home equity loan today in the amount of $615! This is extra money we have available this pay period to apply to the loan.

The new balance of the loan is now under $9,000!!

New Balance = $8,800

My original goal was to get this loan under $7,000. I think we will actually get it paid off at the rate we are going. That makes me soooo happy!!

Next week, I will send in my ebay challenge money!

We spent $66.67 on groceries this week. That is really good. That is for all four of us, too! We had several things in the cupboards and freezer that we can make for dinner.

I made the girls friendship bread from a starter I had in the freezer. This is a replacement for prepackaged preservative laden sweets. They will take a slice in their lunch each day this week.

Only 5 more days until payday! We have about $60 left. I will need to use a bit of it for a haircut! It just can't be put off any longer.

I'm going to use the rest of the week to start looking ahead to March. We have a birthday, school spring break, and a small out of town trip planned. I may also be purchasing some living room blinds since they are now on sale. These things will effect how much I send in to the home equity loan at the beginning of March. I'm sure I can get the balance under $9K!!!

to the home equity loan. I sent in $504.27 today! I think that will be it for February.

New HEL Balance = $9,415.00

Total Principal Paid in February = $3,437

What a month!

I expect things to slow done a little for the next few months. There's a birthday, and spring projects that will take a bite out of our extra income. But there will still be progress!

How are the rest of you doing on your extra mortgage payments?

Our regular home equity payment posted yesterday. The principal portion of the $118.01 was $57.73! Last month the pricipal amount was only $37. So, we are making progress in the interest department.

Old Balance = $9977.00
New Balance = $9919.27

I expect to make one more extra principal payment for the month of February.

Oh, and we have nearly paid $3K toward the principal this month. Amazing!! Most of this was due to our tax returns totalling nearly $2K.

Yep, I did it. I made ANOTHER payment to our home equity loan!!

The payment was $610, which was the amount of our federal tax return. All the money went to principal reduction.

Old Balance = $10,587
New Balance = $9,977

Did you notice we now owe less than $10K? That's only four figures of debt rather than 5!!!

We are making quite a bit of progress on our home equity loan this month. I just made a payment of $915 to shave the principal balance down a bit! This money comes from extra funds in our checking account this pay period.

Previous Balance = $11,502
New Balance = $10,587

So far, in February, we have made extra principal payments totalling $2,265!! This is fun! And there's more to come next week...stay tuned!

It looks like my Federal refund is pending to be deposited tomorrow...just as expected! That's another $610 that will go to the home equity loan.

Our water bill went down by $7 this past month. Apparently, we are not showering as much or doing as much laundry! Maybe that's not a good thing.

Our electricity usage went down as well by 181 kWh's. That equals a savings of $15. We did intall $50 worth of CFL bulbs early in January and I stopped using our desktop computer as much (it is just too slow). So, I hope that trend continues. That $50 in for the CFL's was a gift...so $0 out of our pocket.

Next week, DH is out of town. I usually save money when he is gone, since all of his expenses (i.e. coke addiction) are paid by the Army. He also won't be driving to work for a full week and one less mouth to feed!

That's all of the tidbits for now!

I sent our state refund of $1350 to our home equity loan!! That is a huge one time payment. Kind of scary to send it out, but I did it.

The new home equity loan balance is now under $12K, in the amount of $11,502. And guess what? I'm not done yet. There will be more money sent in this month!

This is fun!!

This past Monday night I e-filed our state and federal income tax returns.

Today, I see a pending deposit for our state refund. Wow! That is fast. So, by Monday it will be available in the account. That's technically less than 7 days from the time I hit the submit button. Amazing!

I wonder if it has to do with filing so early? If so, get those taxes done this weekend, if you have your forms. No reason not to wait...well, if you owe there is!!! LOL

Next week I will be sending in some big money to that home equity loan! I'm so excited.

I noticed on campfrugals side bar a link to a site called whatsthecost.com. It has a place to calculate and save, if you so desire, a payoff for your debts. It's a snowball calculator.

I input some of my numbers for our home equity loan and our van loan. We owe over $24K on the van that we bought in May. But if we snowball our payments we could have both loans paid off by July 2010! Wow! That's about all I can say. Wow!

Check it out

I sold my first item for 2009 on ebay today!! A pair of girls jeans for $4.95! This could be my total for January. I have one other item that could sell early. Out of the four items left, two are being watched.

The other challenge? Mooshocker has started at 2009 Mortgage Payment Challenge to see who can pay the most towards principal. I'm in. We are paying extra on our home equity loan already. The minimum we will pay off is $7,000. But we just might pay the whole thing off. Wouldn't that be cool!!

I will track the extra principal paid each month on the sidebar. Good luck everyone

It's true. We can't refinance. Would I like to? Yes. But we can't. We can't because we would lose money.

We have lived here for a little over two years. The Army could move us anytime between now and 2 1/2 years from now. DH thinks the latter.

Our primary mortgage is at 6%. That is still a pretty good rate. In order to get the lowest rates possible, we would need to pay points. But paying points or any closing costs is a couple thousand dollars. We would only save about $100 a month. It would take awhile to recover the costs associated with refinancing.

We just can't refinance. So, we will continue our home equity payoff. That loan is at a crazy 7.25% rate! Ugh. Once that is paid off we will have increased the equity we have to put towards the next house.

What do some of you other military families do? Rent, or buy? Fixed rate or adjustable?

By the end of February, or before, I hope to pay the home equity loan down to under $10K. I should be able to do this easily. I needed to put it here, so that I avoid spending the money on a new couch. The wants are getting in my brain...help!!

I have estimated our tax refund to be about $2K. I also have over $1500 from February paychecks that could be allocated to the loan as well. I just need to stay away from the furniture store!

Another milestone met! Our new home equity loan balance is under $13,000. Yippee!!

Yesterday, I made our regular payment. Only $37.66 went to principal. Today, I made a principal payment of $410.34 to bring our balance to an even balance of $12,852.

In January, a total of $1047 has been applied to principal. I feel a deep sense of gratitude that we have been able to hit the loan hard this month.
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Please take a minute of your time to click on the hunger site to help those less fortunate than us. There other tabs to click on for literacy, breast cancer, rainforests and a few other causes. Come back everyday!

My regular home equity loan payment will be posted today. About $40 will probably go to principal. I will update the ticker when the new balance is posted.

After all other bills have been paid it looks like I can send in an additional $410 to the home equity loan next week. That will definitely put the balance below the $13K mark! I'm looking forward to it.
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I joined the 2009 Ebay Challenge, but other than listing a couch on craigslist, I haven't listed anything else. Part of my problem is that I sold off so much stuff last year!! I'm sure there are things to sell, they just aren't as obvious. Time to dig deep!

I can see DH's paystub online for next week. I now know the net check amount that we can expect twice a month. It increased $139.95! So each month we will have an additional $279.90.

I'm thrilled. Any type of increase or cash flow makes me giddy!!

Guess where the money is going? Home equity loan paydown. If we lived without the money last year, we don't need it this year.

Off to do more crazy calculations...I'm weird that way.
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Made it to the gym. I worked out on the elliptical today. I burned another 500 calories, lifted the same weights and sat in a crowded sauna.

I just made a great salad for lunch. I added apples slices leftover from DD's lunch, half can tuna, red onion and poppy seed dressing. Yummy!!

I was curious. I looked back at our check register to see when we received our income tax refunds last year.

Federal Feb 8, 2008
State Feb 13, 2008

Obviously, we e-filed both returns with direct deposit. That's only about 4-5 weeks away!! I should be able to have our returns this early this year,too, since DH will get his W2 on January 23rd. I can have everything else by the end of January.

I'm just a little excited about this since the money will be going to our (drum roll, please) home equity loan payoff!!

My rough estimate is to expect $499 from the federal government and over $1300 from the state of Iowa. I can't seem to get them to withhold any less...crazy!

We have a 2002 Ford Taurus. We bought it used a few years back for $8,000...I think. It was a quick purchase, because of an unexpected car accident. It has been a very disappointing car. My gut knew better, too!

In 2008, we spent $2K on car repairs. Yesterday, we started a new total for 2009. We had to have the rear wheel bearings replaced on ONE side. Total cost $239.

This is going to eat into the cash I can send into the home equity loan. Darn American car!!

Happy New Year!

Today was payday! I paid the regular bills and made a large extra principal payment to the home equity loan. How much you ask?

$599!!

Okay, I could have rounded up, but this amount leaves a nice even balance of $13,300 left to pay. Boy, this payoff stuff is going to be fun!!

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We will spend today taking down our holiday decorations and watching a football game on TV. Hopefully a NSD!!

In my previous post, I mentioned that we have $100 left in our checking account. Payday is tomorrow.

I have just made a $100 principal payment to the home equity loan. This brings the beginning balance for 2009 to $13,899.

Once we are paid tomorrow, I will pay all bills and schedule another principal payment to the HEL. I expect this to be about $600!

We have decided to accelerate the home equity loan payoff by using money we previously had allotted for college funding. This doesn't mean we won't save for college this year. We will simply do it later in the year!

All extra money from surveys, interest, cash back from the debit card and ebay sales will also go to paying this debt off!!

Tomorrow is payday and we seem to have made it though the pay period with $100 left in the checking account! I think it will go to the HEL, but I'll report that when it actually gets done!

We went to a movie yesterday on a $30 Visa gift card we received from friends. We still spent an additional $12.50 out of our own pocket at the concession stand for the four of us! I don't usually do this, but we splurged since the tickets were paid for!

While we were at the mall, I found some candle pillar holders and a large picture for our family room. I used my birthday money to puchase these. The candle holders I've been looking for and I got three for $15. The picture is large,about 3' x 3'. According to the tag it was marked down to $50 from $70. It rang up for $39.98!! We have already put it on the wall and it looks great. Now I need a new couch!!

So, maybe you have already sneaked a peak at our 2009 financial goals on the sidebar...but here's the official blog entry of our goals!

1) Save 15% of gross income for retirement.
We max out our Roths at $5000 each, in addition to 4% to my husbands TSP.

2) Save $2000 x 2 for college
We send in $166 for each daughter monthly.

3) Pay down HEL loan by $7000. Beginning balance $13,999.
This will require an average of $533/mo in extra principal payments. Regular payments are $118.01. Total per month $651.

4) Take a vacation with cash, location and amount to be determined.
Approximately $1500-$2000. May use tax refund towards this goal.

We will need to be the most disciplined with the last two. I plan to send in $266 on the 1st and $267 on the 15th of each month to the HE loan to get the $533 extra accomplished. Since we will most likely use tax refund money for vacation, we will need to pick our destination and spending according to the available cash!

The first two are already part of our financial goals from this past year...so those will simply be continued. How are your goals coming along?

At the beginning of the 2008, I just had hopes of sending some additional funds in to our home equity loan. Read that again: I didn't have a plan...just hopes!

As I look back, I know why I just had hopes. First, our income was lower at this time last year, we didn't get a raise until March. I put specifics on other goals that were more of a priority to us. Those priorities were investing for college and retirement. So, my mind set was to meet the priorities first and hope to do something about that HEL I want to pay off.

We met those priority goals with flying colors. We funded our Roth IRA to the max at $5K each. My husband had 4% withdrawn automatically to his TSP. This resulted in a savings of 15% of our gross income. We also consistently sent in $167 to each daughters college fund to meet our goal of $2000 invested for each of them.

The hope goal of sending in additional money to the home equity loan was less than stellar, in my opinion. In 2008, we paid an additional $1,456.44 to our home equity loan.

Why do I think it is less than stellar? It is less than 10% of the original balance. That is just not going to cut it if I want this thing paid off two years from now. The math just doesn't add up. I think I also know that we could have done better with how we spent some of our money. It could have gone to the HEL!

Okay, I'm not going to get too upset about my hope goal. I do realize that the additional money I paid averages out to over $121 per month extra. That is a whole extra payment per month! I actually didn't start sending in additional funds until June of 2008. That would bring my average per month quite a bit higher.

So, my "hope" goal did get me somewhere. I did get ahead, but it didn't get me where I thought I would get. My goal wasn't as flushed out as it could have been.

Next year will be better. I will define the end result I want to attain in as much detail as possible. More on those details later!! Really.

How did your "hope" goals work out this year? Are you going to improve those goals for next year?

I did get out yesterday to buy gifts for DD's with my MIL gift money. I picked up two $10 items for each from Build a Bear. I used the rest of the money to purchase each of them a pair of pajamas, and a long sleeve shirt from Old Navy.

I will spend today inside because of the very cold temperatures! I will wrap the newly purchased gifts, clean, exercise and hang out with the family. It looks to be a no spend day!!
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We have an amazing $320 in our checking account after purchasing a weeks worth of groceries. Prior to Christmas I can think of only $15-$20 in items that will need to be purchased. Not sure where DH stands on gas for his car, so that is a possible purchase.

On Christmas we will travel two hours away, so we will need fuel for that trip. By the 29th, I will need to purchase more groceries. It sure would be nice to have some cash leftover at the end of the month. Does anyone hear home equity payoff bells ringing? I think I do!!