When I saw the tax refund pending deposit yesterday, I went ahead and made a principal payment to the truck loan. It was the exact amount of the refund: $442.

So today, the new principal balance of our truck loan is $2033.15. We are getting so close to another milestone of less than $2K.

I expect to be making another payment on or after payday on March 1. This loan is going to be gone soon!!

Our regular payment was processed yesterday. We paid just $10.28 in interest. The principal applied to the balance was $318.85.

This brings our new truck loan balance to $2,475.15!!

It's nice to be under $2500. I don't have it all firm yet, but I hope to have this loan done by the end of March. I hope that comes fast.

I mentioned that I sent in $300 to the truck loan on Friday after I paid bills. The payment is scheduled for today and I will see the update tomorrow.

The payment brings our principal balance on the truck under $3K, to $2,794.00. Nice to see it getting lower!

Our regular payment is posting today as well, so I'll be back tomorrow with another update and a lower balance.

Finally, I was able to complete our taxes correctly, after using a fourth online software program. You can look back at earlier posts to get an idea of the problems.

Thanks to Looking Forward's suggestion, I used FreeTaxUSA.com to complete both our Federal and State returns. Federal is free. State is $9.95. I wanted free, but I less than $10 is very reasonable. I had no problem with this program, but did have to manually input our sales tax deduction information from the IRS website, which other sites were calculating for me...one them wrong unfortunately!

We are even with our state, no money owed, no refund. This is because my husband's military is exempt from taxes in this state, which I love! We are getting a $442 refund from Federal, primarily due to paying a VA mortgage premium this year with our new loan. If not for that we would have owed $271.

The refund will be going towards the truck loan when it arrives. I would expect to have it by the end of the month. I also have scheduled a $300 principal payment on the truck, which will not arrive until Tuesday because President's Day. I'll update the loan balance when it hits the account.

I was able to cash in my Swagbucks last night for a $25 deposit in my Paypal account. I have earned $50 in gift cards and cash since February 1. I sure appreciate those of you who are my referrals for helping me earn more Swagbucks in the last couple days.

Several months ago, my husband traveled for work several different times. His expenses were less than the reimbursement. We ended up with $132 and change. I set aside in our cash fund.

It dawned on me this week, that I should just throw that money at the truck loan. It was really a snowflake. Not sure why I held on to it. Luckily it didn't melt!!

I sent in $132.02 towards principal to bring our new balance to $3,094.00. Our regular payment process on the 17th, but probably will be delayed until the 19th because of the long holiday weekend.

I also expect to have some extra funds from today's paycheck to throw at it too. Before I pay bills, I'm am going to try another software program for taxes. Turbo Tax indicated they would help me download a program for free to correct the math error I'm getting using their online program. Unfortunately, I'm not getting a timely response. I'm moving on!

Is today payday for you? Do you have less debt? More savings? I hope so!!

I sent in a big fat principal payment of $480 today. That brings our truck balance to $3226.02. We are getting closer to that next milestone, which will come mid February when our regular payment posts.

I mentioned how I've been contemplating just paying off the balance in our cash account and then paying ourselves back. Most of you thought we should just do it. MonkeyMama's gut says I will pay it off once it gets under $2K to $3K. I think her gut is right! You know me too well. Once this next payment hits I'll see how it feels to send in a lump sum and be done once and for all.

There is no major risk to taking this cash out. We have plenty on hand for major emergencies. If it were to drain us in a big big way, I would not even consider it.

Less debt on payday always makes me happy!

This thought has entered my mind several times in the last two weeks: We have enough money in cash that we could pay off the truck today. It would still leave us with plenty of cash for other emergencies, too.

I think the thought comes from impatience. I want to be done with the loan. I spend too much time making calculations as to how soon I can pay it off. I'm annoying myself!!

The pros: We own the truck free and clear. We pay no more interest on the loan. I don't have to make calculations and record the loan. We still have plenty of emergency fund money. We will have only mortgage debt.

The cons: We have to use emergency cash. We lose interest on the cash (although it's very little). I have to focus on paying ourselves back...which will require calculations, too.

I suppose I would need to consider any risk to this payoff scenario. I did read on USAA's website, that with the fiscal cliff negotiations looming, there is a higher probability of a government shutdown. This could lead to a delay of pay for the amount of time it takes. It might be nice to have that truck loan cash on hand if that occurred.

I won't decide right away. Payday is later this week. I expect to send in close to $450 to the truck loan at that time. Once mid month rolls around I expect the loan to be under $3K in a very short time.

I'm off to do more calculating. What would you do if this option was open to you? Pay off with cash on hand, and repay to your savings? Or just keep working to pay it down and off fast?

ETA: Interest rate is 3.39%, balance is $3706.02, regular payment is $329.13, and we have about $900 extra a month to send to the loan.

Our regular payment to the truck loan was processed yesterday in the amount of $329.13. We paid only $13.67 in interest; $315.46 went to principal.

The principal is now under $4K, with a balance of $3,706.02. Yipee! More progress. Always makes me happy!!

On a side note, I remembered a frugal happening from last week. I used the ends of the bread to make my toast. I hate to admit I often throw these out. I have saved them in the past to make bread crumbs, but we don't really make anything that needs bread crumbs anymore. Do you eat the ends of your bread? If not, do you throw out or reuse?

Yesterday, while I disconnected from the internet, Chase kindly closed our statement for the month and award our account with the promised $400 in rewards!!

Our rewards balance this morning was 43,852, which included previous rewards, regular spending rewards and the bonus rewards. Those rewards equal $438.52 in cash. I decided to apply the rewards to our card as a statement credit, since the card does have a balance in excess of the reward amount. The remainder balance will, as ALWAYS, be paid off before the due date so that we don't accrue zero interest.

Now that I don't have to send in $438.52 to Chase, that money is sitting in our checking account. What to do? What to do? Of course, I sent it in to the truck loan! Are you kidding me? That has been the plan all along.

I actually sent in $478.52. The extra $40 is because of my husband's pay increase. Much of the pay increase went to increase our Roth IRA investments so we can meet the new $5500 limit this year. But the leftover, will go to debt.

The new balance on the truck loan is $4,021.48. After tomorrow's regular payment posts the balance will be below $4K!! Thanks Chase for the rewards bonus or as we like to call them here on Saving Advice...the snowflake.

Did you send a snowflake to debt this week?

I did the same thing last year. I procrastinated on making our yearly goals. So, right now this is what I'll say our goals are:

1) Save 15% to retirement, which will max out our Roth IRA's and put the remainder in my husband's TSP.

2) Pay off truck loan...only $4500 to go!

3) Snowflake a Free Christmas, goal again is $750.

4) Save for college, minimum $500 for each daughter. However, I'd prefer $1500 each. Still working on the math for that.

5) Pay for new intermediate flute with cash, about $1500.

6) Save $2K for vacation. Not sure where we might go, so that is a pretty vague goal at this point!

7) Landscaping and furniture purchases. Pay with cash and decide on a limit!

I guess it isn't really the goals that I'm stuck on as how to approach the goals. One at a time? Get the flute, pay off the truck then attack the savings goals. Or do it all along the way? I'm so focused on that truck payoff that it is hard to not make it a priority. I'll get it figured out by the next payday and generally these are all flexible, so I can change things up if I need to.

Here are the goals we had for 2012, along with how we did. We did very good considering the first half of the year involved DH living on the east coast and then we moved this summer.

1) Complete 2011 Roth contributions. Used tax refund money. Deadline April 15, 2012. Complete!

2) Pay off tires. Remaining balance $600. Use $300 Chase rewards and $160 tire rebate. Remaining balance out of pocket $140. Deadline March 31, 2012. Completed

3) Contribute 7% to TSP. This was on autopilot and easily accomplished.

4) Contribute maximum amount to our Roth IRA's for 2012. Preferred deadline December 31, 2012. Final contributions made last week. We each contributed $5000.

5) Contribute something to college. $500 each minimum. Also completed last week.

6) Save for a Free Christmas. Goal $700 or more. Saved up over $1400 out of non income sources, called snowflakes on my blog. Spent over $900 on gifts and sent the remainder to the truck loan!

7) Increase emergency fund by $3,000. Or at least end the year with the same amount we started the year with. We started the year with $17K in our emergency fund. We dropped below a few times this year, but when I look at our cash accounts and money I set aside for furniture, we actually have over $20K. So in some ways we have met the goal, but in reality some of that money may get spent. We definitely didn't back track in a big way, so for that I am counting this complete!

8) Pay extra to truck loan. Get the balance under $8K would be ideal! Yep, we did get under $8K. Current year end balance is $4500.

Goals really do help you accomplish big things. I know without some sort of road map for our finances we wouldn't be where we are today. How did you do with your goals in 2012?

Our January 1 paycheck has arrived in our bank account, so I have paid bills and made an extra principal payment to our truck loan.

I planned to send in $291.40, but rounded up to $293.00, to make our year end balance a nice even $4,500.

We began the year of 2012 with a balance of $12,412.06 on this loan, which means we have paid off $7912.06!!

Darn...didn't realize I was so close to an even $8K in principal payments, otherwise I might have added in some more.We WILL pay off this truck loan in 2013. Hopefully really, really soon!

How much debt (include mortgage if you want) did you pay off this year?

We had a terrific three day vacation out of town with relatives. We were blessed with useful gifts. I notice as I get older the gifts aren't really that important. It is the time with family that is the best part.

I checked online this morning and found out the BAS rates have been established for 2013. My husband is an officer. That rate will be $242.60, which is up $2.64 per month. The enlisted member rate is $352.27. Also only up a couple dollars from last year.

We have met our $3000 spending requirement on our most recent Chase credit card. The statement doesn't close until January 14, so we will have to wait until then to get our $400 bonus. Now back to cash/debit card spending!!

I will be doing financial planning for 2013 in the next week. I expect to do some posts along the way about our plan to pay off the truck, and other savings goals. I will also be estimating our taxes again.

In January, if not before, I am going to see how much money I can make selling things on Ebay and Craigslist. There are several of us on the blogs here that are going to be participating. As I start rounding those items up, I will be setting items aside to take to Goodwill just before year end. It doesn't hurt to have that extra tax deduction.

As a few others have stated, I love this time of year for goal setting and decluttering. Are you with us? Are you going to be looking into your financial plan for the the next year? Any tips you want to share about how you approach your goals?

Our truck loan balance is lower this morning after our regular payment of $329.13 posted. The interest portion was $17.29. The principal balanced was reduced by $311.84.

The new principal balance is $5,266.67!

Happy with less debt. I'm looking into ways to get this loan paid off faster. This will definitely include the raise my husband will receive in January, and might include money we generally invest monthly. I would simply prioritize the debt payoff for about two months and make up the difference to investments in later months. I'm still running the numbers and possible scenarios, but I will let you know more details soon!

The 2013 BAH calculator for military was released today. You can find the calculator

here.

Basic Allowance for Housing is non taxable for US military members and is to provide for those of us who do not have access to housing on a military post or chose to live off post. The average increase was to be 4.2% over last year.

In our case, our housing allowance increased 14.67%. That is the first time our increase has ever been that high. In dollars it is an increase of $170. We are actually receiving less BAH in our new town as compared to our old one because housing is less expensive here.

With this new information on our housing allowance I can more closely estimate our paychecks for next year. We will definitely see an increase. I plan to put some towards meeting the new Roth IRA maximum contributions, which for us will be $83.34 each month. The remainder I plan to put towards that truck loan until it is paid off!! Right now that looks to be about $112.

I did base my paycheck calculations on the assumption that the payroll tax holiday will expire and increase our social security withholding by 2%. Not pretty, but at least we know what to expect there!

If you want to estimate your paycheck, look at at PaycheckCity. Have you estimated any changes in your paycheck for next year? Is it good or bad?

Frugal in Texas was right I did decide to put the money we received from USAA yesterday towards the truck loan. I added the $48.78 to the planned $61.35 extra principal payment for a total payment of $110.13.

For those who haven't been following, the $61.35 is the amount I expect our payroll tax to increase as of January 1 when the payroll tax holiday is expected to expire. I figured if we aren't going to have it in January then it really isn't money we should have available to spend until then. Thus it goes to the truck loan payoff!

Our new truck loan balance is $5,578.51!! Look for another update next week when our regular payment of $329.13 is processed.

I do hope that I can get this loan down under $5K by the end of the year. I think it is possible. I just need the Christmas spending to stop so I can see how much extra I have in the cash account. This sure will far exceed our goal of being under $8K by the end of 2012. Feels good!!

A few hours after I made the principal payment on the truck yesterday, our first Chase rewards check arrived in the mail. A nice fat check in the amount of $539!

Today, I'm depositing it into our checking account and modifying the original payment I made yesterday. The payment is still pending so might as well increase the amount while I can.

The truck loan balance is now $5688.64!!

For some reason I'm still amazed by how fast this loan is going down. At the beginning of the year I just hoped to be under $8K by December 31. We will definitely make it under $5400 by then. And I can definitely see that this loan WILL be paid off in 2013!!

Today I made another principal payment towards our truck loan! I sent in a total of $291.40, with $61.35 being the amount I would expect our payroll tax to increase in January. Might as well not throw it away this last month. January 1 it is going back to the government. In our case this will first show on our January 15 paycheck.

Our new truck loan balance is $6,227.64. Hooray!!

We are waiting for $539 rewards check from Chase which as I've mentioned will go straight to truck principal. We will have one more regular payment this year of which about $310 will go to principal. And after I'm done Christmas shopping the excess snowflakes are getting sent in too! I'm hoping for several hundred from that.

Our regular payment on the truck was processed yesterday. We paid $20.57 in interest. The remaining payment of $308.56 was applied to the principal balance.

Our new truck loan balance is $6,519.04!!

Later this month, I expect to receive our rewards check from Chase in the amount of $539. It will, of course, be applied to the principal balance. That means by the end of the month we will be below $6K. A milestone I wasn't expecting when the year started.

It's amazing where you can find money for debt when you think outside the box and explore options. Will your debt balances be up or down by the end of the year?

We met our $3000 threshold for spending on the Chase Sapphire card in my name about two weeks ago. The statement finally closed and credited us 40,000 bonus points this morning.

I quickly paid the card off. And then went to redeem the points for cash. Actually outstanding points was 53,900. Part of the points came from saving up points from earlier in the year on a Chase Freedom card and of course actually points earned from spending. The check will arrive in about 10 days in the amount of $539.00!

That $539 will go towards the truck loan, which allows me to confidently say we will be under $6K by the end of the year on that loan!

The Oops? Since the credit card balance was over $900, I should have redeemed the points first as a statement credit, paid the remaining balance and then used the cash I was expecting to use on the credit card to pay down the truck loan, which I could have done today. Instead I need to wait for the check. Lesson learned there. I will definitely use that method on the next rewards bonus!

I suppose I could still make a big payment knowing the check is coming, but I think I'll wait just to be sure. Expect a truck loan update tomorrow, as I expect our regular truck payment to post tonight.

Any other reward redemption tips?

I sent $61.35 to our truck loan yesterday. This brings our principal balance to $6,827.60. Yippee!

Since the payroll tax is likely to increase 2%, back to 6.2%, I figured this money is extra for now. That extra should do something productive while it can. For us that is just another three pay periods.

Our regular payment will likely process on Monday, bringing that balance down even more! Can't wait!!

I redeemed enough

Swagbucks for $50 cash to be sent to my Paypal account. I should receive it in another week or so.

This is the first time I have redeemed for cash over gift cards. I almost have too many Amazon.com gift cards for my Christmas spending. And not everything will be purchased on Amazon. A little cash will be very helpful.

I am adding this to the Christmas Fund balance, which as a reminder, I will use extra at the end of the year to put on the truck loan.

Tomorrow is payday and I will be sending in a principal payment in the amount of $62. The amount is equal to 2% of DH basic pay. The amount the payroll tax will increase on January 1. I figured if we are going to lose it then, we can afford to not have it in our spending now. It will help us get used to the new amount.

Has anyone else considered how the payroll tax increase will affect you on January 1? Are you prepared? Currently, you should see 4.2% of your gross pay taxed for social security/payroll tax (FICA). That rate will increase back to 6.2%. Do the math and you will see the change. This rate of 6.2% is the rate we paid prior to 2011 and it is likely expiring at the end of this year!

Just a quick thought...the payroll tax is likely to expire at the end of the year. Right now it is 4.2% down from 6.2% at the beginning of 2011. I was thinking as a way to prepare for the change, I should take that 2% and add the money to our truck loan. It's extra now....and in a few months it will be off to the government.

For us that looks like another $122 a month. Seems like a lot! Are you prepared for the possible and likely change?

Our debit card rewards have amounted to $100 this year. I redeemed them a couple days ago to be deposited in our checking account. Today, I sent that $100 to our truck loan!!

The new balance is $6,888.95. Our next regular payment is just 11 days away, so the balance will be going down again. It's nice to keep making progress.

What are you making progress on? Anything financial? You do have goals right? I'd love to hear!

We are nearing our $3000 spending on the Chase Sapphire card we opened in my name, thanks to putting several of our utility bills on the card this month. I think we have another $130 left.

Yesterday, we applied for another Chase Sapphire card in my husbands name. We will have 3 months to spend $3000 on this card and earn another $400.

The rewards we earn from opening and spending on these cards is going to pay down the truck loan. We are only spending on things we would normally be buying with cash we have on hand...nothing extravagant or out of the ordinary.

Don't forget to vote! It's your privilege and right as an American citizen.

It's payday!! Who doesn't love payday? As a result, I am able to make our new regular principal payment to the truck loan. That amount is $230.05. That brings our principal balance to $6,988.95!! We are under $7K for the first time.

I checked our money market account today. We earned $36.09 in interest for the month of October. We save our interest each month, that way we can earn more interest on the account!

I redeemed some Lean Cuisine Delicious Reward points today towards one movie ticket (Fandango) and two microfiber dish clothes. I think they will all be given as gifts.

We are getting very close on our $3,000 spending on our Chase Sapphire card. We have another $300 to go. I expect gas in our two vehicles, a grocery run, and a Red Cross donation will get us there very soon. That will mean earning 40,000 points to be redeemed for $400 (which will go to the truck loan).

That's the news from here today. I really hope those of you on the East Coast know we are sending hugs and best wishes your way, while you deal with the changes Sandy has brought. Check in when you can!

I found some extra funds for the truck loan. The paypal proceeds from the last four sales for $107.55, and an excess in our escrow account for auto expenses of $33.50 are making this happen.

I just sent a total payment of $141.05 to the loan, which will bring our principal balance to $7,219.00! I will have another regularly scheduled payment after payday on the first of the month, which will bring the balance under $7K!

Things are moving right along and the little amounts do add up and make a difference. I can't wait to see how fast we can get this loan paid off.

I added up the purchases we have made on our Chase Sapphire card. We have spent $1,591.85, which puts us more than halfway to our goal of spending $3000.

Chase Sapphire will give us $400 in rewards for reaching that amount. We will definitely be putting that $400 bonus towards our truck loan payoff!

It looks like I just activated this account at the beginning of October! Geez...that is a lot of spending, but we are putting EVERYTHING on the card, including utilities, hair cuts, auto registrations, gas, and food. I will actually be running a couple errands today and putting more money on the card!

It feels odd to be promoting spending, but we do spend anyway, so the cash bonus at the end is a great incentive to get our loan paid off. I have a feeling I will have my husband apply for this card after we reach this first goal.

And by the way, for those of you who also have the Chase Sapphire card, what do you think that card is made of? It seems heavy and a bit like metal! It feels different than any card I've ever had.

Our regular payment of $329.13 was applied to our loan yesterday. We paid $22.11 in interest and for the first time ever paid over $300 towards principal. Actual principal reduction was $307.02!!

The new balance of the truck loan is now $7,360.05.

I'm getting excited at how fast things seem to be moving on reducing this debt. The recent things I sold on ebay will be applied once I have the cash in my bank account. I'm also considering another lump sum that we don't currently have allocated to anything (although it is tentatively set aside for furniture). I also think the rewards we have earned from credit/debit card rewards may also be applied to the loan. I have lots of ideas! We'll see how they play out in the next few months.

Roth IRA Contributions: We didn't contribute in the first half of the year, so I'm now playing catchup. I started the regular contributions of $416.66 each in July. Those automatic payments will add up to $2499.96 by the end of the year. This leaves us short of maxing out our Roth IRA's for 2012. Today, I authorized a purchase for each of us in the amount of $850. I will make more lump sum purchases in November and December to get us up to the $5000 maximum contribution limit for the year.

Snowflakes: Surprise! I have accumulated more snowflakes for the Christmas fund. So far this month, I have earned $48 in gift cards and cash. I really need to get some craiglist items up!!

Chase Sapphire: We have started using our Chase Sapphire Card. Already we have charged $1,018.27 towards the $3,000 spending limit. Auto registrations and utilities have been the bulk of the spending so far. All just regular stuff! I can't wait for that $400 bonus.

Truck Loan: Payday is Monday, so watch for our regular payment to post soon after and see the balance go down for the second time this month!

Groceries and Meals: We had company at our house for four nights over the weekend. I think we spent over $200 stocking up for guests! Turns out we over bought. And my husband did say, "Don't you think this is too much food?". Not that it is an excuse, but I think my desire for fall comfort foods kicked in and I bought them all! It seems like we have a nice variety and plenty of things to eat. I just look in the pantry, fridge and freezer to determine what should be made. I think there is enough on hand to last through Monday!

Charity Contributions: I wrote a check to charity today. We are actually participating in a Walk N Roll for Spina Bifida later this month. A good friend's daughter (and our former neighbor) has this disability and we are walking to raise awareness.

Very thankful for all that we have including our health. What are you thankful for today?