We made a payment of $186.32 yesterday to our home equity loan. That brings the new balance to $13,999!

The goal was to bring the loan balance to under $14K by the end of December. We did it.

For anyone else paying off debt, I think it is incredibly important to look for baby steps to meet while getting your balance to zero. Your baby steps may come in increments of $10, $50, $100 or even $1000. Pick a reasonable amount you think you can meet and go for it. Then see if you can exceed it!

Oh, I have big plans for paying off much more of this loan in 2009! I can't wait to tell you about it.

We made our regular Home Equity loan payment yesterday of $118.01. The principal portion was $32.11, bringing our principal balance down to $14,185.32!

The goal before the end of the year is to get the balance under $14K. That leaves me a little over $185 to go.

I expect to make a payment that will help us meet this goal sometime this week. Stay tuned for an update!

The 2009 BAH rates were added today. Here is the

The goal for December is to pay our home equity loan down to under $14K. I have scheduled a payment of $561 for today!!

The $61 is from the recent ebay sales. The other $500 is from our regular income. I normally wouldn't have this much extra in December, but by coming up with holiday funds outside our regular income it's there! What better way to use it right?

So, after today's payment the new balance will be $14,217.43!! At a minimum, we only have $217.44 to go before the end of the month.

In all honesty, I do expect to meet this goal...DH gets paid again on December 15th. Unless, something unexpected comes up, we will make it.

Wow! I hit the jackpot with ebay sales this weekend. I had 8 items up, many of them girls holiday dress wear. All 8 items sold, with many far exceeding my expectations.

Gross sales: $72.11

I am thrilled with the outcome and look forward to adding the net sales to our home equity loan payoff goal later this month.

The principal payments on our home equity loan are small...since we are still near the beginning of the loan.

The regular payment is $118.01. Only $28.55 went to paying down the principal in November. The new balance after the regular payment is $14,778.43!!

My goal is to get the balance just under $14,000 by the end of the year. I only need $750 to meet this goal, since I expect December's principal payment to be a little more than November's. Why does that number seem familiar....

Oh, yeah, our holiday account goal is $750!! Still working on that one. The focus will remain there until Christmas shopping is complete.

Two goals to meet in such a short time...wish me luck!!

We received notice yesterday that our mortgage payment will drop by over $22 per month beginning in January. The escrow payment rose by less than a dollar. Because it is a fixed mortgage, our P&I payment are also the same. So, what gives?

It appears that that the reserve requirement has dropped. That's nice...I really don't want them holding on to more money than necessary.

I expect that the extra money will now be applied to our home equity loan. That's an extra $271.44 per year ($22.62 x 12)!!

These are the goals we set for 2008:

1)Save 15% of gross salary - retirement
2)Save $2000 for each child - college
3)Save down payment & purchase newer van
4)Begin to payoff home equity loan

The college and retirement investments are on track to be completed as planned. Automatic payments on the retirement plan sure help there!

We did save money for our Honda Odyssey purchase back in May. We are paying nearly $500 a month for a loan that has a 3.9% interest rate. I am pleased that over $400 goes to principal every month.

We have made extra payments on the home equity loan this year in the amount of $709.12. This is far less than I thought we would send in, but the year is not over.

We did have a car repair in this last month that took away some extra cash I was hoping to send in...but I'm sure I might be able to come up with more cash by the end of the year.

I'd be happy with at least another $300, but love to find another $800+ so I could get the loan under the $14K mark. Wish us luck!!

We have our gas and electricity billed together. I just checked our bill for this next month and received great news!

First, we have a $200 credit going into winter. Second, they are lowering our monthly budget payment by $39/mo! I'm thrilled.

I hope to put this money towards that pesky home equity loan starting in November.

I've sent $400 towards the principal on our home equity loan!! It feels great to have the balance fall below $15,000.

The next goal is to get it below $14K. I hope to do this by the end of the year.

I'm going to just keep stomping on it.
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Updates:

Getting ready for the garage sale that starts on Thursday. I don't have a lot, but helping my neighbors get rid of their stuff is fun!!

The reason I don't have much for the garage sale is...I'm selling most of it on ebay. The return is a little better. My paypal account has over $120, with more sales ending this Sunday.

In the process of moving our emergency fund savings to another online bank. I'm going to try FNBOdirect. It is affiliated with our old bank, so I feel confident it will work out well. The rate is 3.5%!! That is almost double what I've been getting with our primary bank. Why did I wait so long? I'm looking forward to seeing larger interest payments.

September has only seen 2 days with air conditioning...also no heat. Wonderful. That means the bill next month will be even lower than last. Yipee!!

I'm still reading the blogs...even though I don't take time to post myself. I hope to be back more after this garage sale.

I received a $3.00 Pinecone check in the mail. I'd forgotten all about it!

I also realized that I didn't record the principal payment on our home equity loan. So, our new balance is now $15,261.17...about $26 lower! I do hope to send more cash in towards principal at the end of the month...should be about $200 or so.

Just can't wait to see what kind of luck awaits me today! Have a good one.

This months goal was to put $385 towards home equity payoff. I will be short because of unexpected expenses.

Today I made a payment of $207.50 towards the loan. This is my biggest extra payment yet, so I can't get to upset at myself.

I will try again next month.

I really want to make an extra home equity loan payment of $385 this month. I think it will be less. As of now, I only have $100 in our regular checking account. I need to buy groceries for the next 8 days for 4 people. It seems other things could come up, too.

The $385 is there...it is even in another checking account. I may need to use some money from it to cover the rest of the month's needs. These needs primarily being groceries and gas.

Good news, I will be helping my sister with her garage sale the first weekend in August. I will take a couple of bins full of stuff to try to sell. I also need to get moving on some ebay sales. Now is the time that people are looking for school clothes.

My girls are set on backpacks and school supplies. Next month we will get sneakers, haircuts and a few school clothing basics. We only have 4 weeks left of summer.

Other good news, it looks like I can have the A/C off most of the day today! I think that is at least the 5th time this July! Amazing weather.

I don't know why I titled it that. I'm adding a little more cash towards the home equity loan payoff.

I received a mysurvey check for $10.00 and the Lowe's paint rebate check for $15.00. So, I'm making an online payment tonight for $25.00. This will bring our new balance below $15,500!! Every bit counts right?

I expect to make a larger extra payment by the end of the month. Can't wait to see it get below $15,000!! We'll see if I can get there this month.

On another note...

We live in the NW corner of our city and DH drives 30 minutes to the SE corner. He usually takes the interstate. Just seems to be the quickest way. Tonight he experimented with his route by driving through the city. The time was about the same, but he cut the miles in half. Instead of 30 miles on the interstate it was 15 miles through town!! Wow, that might save us at least $30 a week in gas. I'll try to keep you updated on this, too.

Yesterday, we went to Radio Shack to get the DTV converter for our 2nd TV, that we have in our bedroom. I had the $40 coupon and it would have expired today.

So, the converter was originally $59.99 minus the $40 coupon. It should have been only $19.99. However, I fell for the 1 year replacement for another $5.99. My husband said we didn't need it. My brain was thinking that if it stopped working in a year, I would have to pay the full $60. But really, how often do these things stop working? (I mean the converter, not my brain!!)

I think I will see if I can get it refunded. If it does go out in a year, I will probably put the $60 on a newer digital TV instead...or even go with out our 2nd TV. I have cash for these things, I really don't need insurance on a little box I paid $20 for.

I must be going crazy!

On another note, I made our regular home equity payment today. The total amount that went to principal was $24.10! That is up $0.60 compared to the amount that went to principal from last month's regular payment.

UPDATE: Radioshack did refund my money for the replacement insurance because I was within 30 days of purchase. Yes!!

I sent in $9.62 to the home equity loan yesterday. Our new balance is $15,543.42.

The money is a result of a couple dollars left in the checking account before payday, a small amount of interest ($0.11), and atm rebates.

Because our bank is not local they reimburse us up to $15 for any atm fees we incur during a month. We have found a local convenience store that we can obtain cash from without any fees. This month we did a little traveling outside of town and ended up with $7.50 in fees.

Nice cool day here in the midwest after some days in the 90's with lots of humidity. We will have the A/C off all weekend!!

Yep, I'm kicking the home equity loan with another $12.00. This is interest from our money market account for this month. Can't wait until rates go back up!!

I also sent away for another $10 mysurvey check. It will be here in a few weeks. It will also go to the loan payoff.

My daughter turns 8 on Saturday. This means a $1 increase to her monthly allowance. The girls receive $1 for every year old they are. So, starting this month I pay out $19.00 instead of $18.00! I should teach them to save their increases...hmm, I wonder if that would go over?

I'm fired up!! I made another payment to the home equity loan today in the amount of $5...yes, $5.00.

Why such a small amount? It's my Pinecone survey check I received in the mail yesterday. All survey money is going to the home equity loan.

In the last 7 days, I have made three extra payments to principal on the loan. Two for $25.00 and one for $5. My regular payment on this loan is only $118...so I've almost made an additional half payment.

I'm so excited to get moving on this, even if it is just a small dent at this point. Having paid off some debt in the past I know that the small payments make a difference, too!!

Some of our goals for 2008 are:

1)Save 15% of gross salary - retirement
2)Save $2000 for each child - college
3)Save down payment & purchase newer van
4)Begin to payoff home equity loan. (Really would like to pay off by May 2010)

We are on track to meet goals 1 & 2. We make contributions monthly to meet our yearly goals. Retirement is automatically. I do write checks for the education accounts...same time every month.

Goal three was accomplished last month with the purchase of a 2007 Honda Odyssey. We've been waiting over a year to make this happen.

I began working on goal 4 as of last week when I made my first extra principal payment of $25. Today I sent another $25.00 payment towards the loan. By the end of June, I hope to be able to send over $350 extra per month. I also intend to put any extra money on I make on ebay, craigslist, garage sales, and surveys toward this loan as well.

I did go to Aldi for my first time yesterday. I took my girls. They loved that you had to put a quarter in to get a cart. We didn't actually get a cart, but the liked the idea. My daughter even brought her own quarter to use!

We picked up 3 things. Baby carrots, bag of red onions and ice cream bars for the girls. My total was $4.29. The woman ahead of me had a cart full of groceries. Her total was $79! I was very impressed with many of the prices. I'm sure I will be back.

This morning we traveled to our downtown farmers market. We bought 1 quart of strawberries for $5, a quart of sugar snap peas for $4 (later saw these for $2 at another stand), a dutch letter for the girls to share for $1.50, and romaine lettuce for $2. Parking was free as was the poetry reading, the music, the view of the river that is finally beginning to recede but is still higher than normal. We saw a three month old puppy, cool art, and many pretty flowers.

I really would love to make this a regular Saturday event for my family. It is just a good time. I think I need to go just a bit earlier next time, so that it is cooler and the crowd is not as thick.

We received $25 rewards from my debit card the other day. This is the extra money that I sent off to the home equity loan payoff. I expect to get a little interest on our money market account and some funds from ebay sales...all will go the home equity payoff.

Today was the sign up for dance and tumbling classes. I paid for the year in full in cash...$730. One daughter decided not to take dance because we expect she might be a bit busier in middle school with homework. This saved me from spending another $300. Love that!! I will hold on to it, in case we did to make a payment towards braces.

I reworked out escrow account today, too. I decided to start saving for dance classes for next year. Turns out instead of my previous monthly amount of $124, the new amount will be $200. I will split this evenly between the two checks we receive each month.

It was a good money day. Tomorrow I must grocery shop because my dearest soldier husband is coming home from three weeks of training. Can't wait to see him.!!

If you don't know what ETE is...read my post from yesterday. I did great with it today!

Some of you may have noticed that my goal of home equity payoff is going very slow. So far, I have only made regular monthly payments. As a result, I'm only paying about $23 towards principal each month.

Today I have made an extra principal payment of $25. I know it is a bit small. I'm a bit out of shape with debt payoff. The last debt I paid off was about 4 years ago. It's hard to let go of what I feel is extra money...money to hold in my savings account or even spend on something else.

The $25 that I paid today is a symbolic of my desire to really pay off this home equity loan. Did you hear that home equity loan? I'm coming to get you. You are not going to survive my extra payments for long!! There are more to come.

With the recent van purchase, our debt has increased. We have two loans now other than our primary mortgage. The home equity loan is the smaller of the two, and sits at 7.5% interest. The van loan is larger at 3.9%.

Our home equity loan needs to be paid off in about 2.5 years or December 2010. Or at least that is my preferrence to have that money ready for the next home we purchase. It is very likely that is when we will need to move a few months after that.

It looks like if I add another $435 to the regular payment we can meet this goal on time. I will also put all extra income towards this loan as well.

I have another $1K, that I'd be willing to put towards the loan, but I'm holding off. DH needs new clothes...really he's now a size medium after our weight loss, but he's wearing Large shirts...he's just swimming in them. We bought the girls bikes and we would like them also. The van would then need a bike rack.

I really should hit the garage sales for these things...so that I can put more towards the home equity.

It's really amazing how an increase in income after a long time of sacrafice can put one in a spendy mood. We're still saving and investing on top of all the spending...so I can be too upset at myself. I need to get back into the debt payoff mode!

This has been a fabulous month for me with Pinecone surveys. I have completed 5 surveys for them. I received a check yesterday for $5.00 that I will add to the challenge.

New Balance = $168.42

Our regular home equity payment of $118 was posted yesterday. Only $23.22 went to principal. There will definitely be more money hitting that account in May. We are just waiting to pay for a few large dollar items before we start kicking in down.

I just realized that I did not add in the April ebay funds to the challenge. So that creates a new total of....

$520.86

Our focus has been to save money for a down payment on a new to us Toyota or Honda van. Now, we are changing plans.

The new plan is to pay off our home equity loan as soon as possible. I estimate it will take us at least the rest of the year to do this.

We really need to hold on to some equity as we move around the country with the Army. It looks like we will have at least two more years here. When the time comes, I would like to have that loan paid off so the money can be used as a down payment on the next home.

After the loan is paid off, we'll save some more for the van down payment and then finance the rest. The van we are replacing is a 1997 Dodge Caravan with over 120k miles. Right now it needs new tires and power steering pump replaced. We will take care of those things in the next two months with cash.

We were really looking forward to getting a newer van. In some ways, we are disappointed, but we know it is the right thing to do. Finally, we have our heads on straight!!

If anyone, has any thoughts or inputs I'd be happy to hear them.