Hey... um.. I quit smoking! So, it's been since Jan 19th, since I had a smoke... that's going to save me a few hundred bucks throughout the year....

that's awesome!

Cranky,

I'm new to these forums and just read through your journal. It looks like you are doing a great job. I was just wondering why you were not attacking the $23K auto loan a bit more agressively.

I'm not aggressively attacking it because it's a 0% interest loan for the entire term. I don't get any bonus points for paying it off early, instead I would rather put the money elsewhere where I'm either being charged interest, or into my bank account where I'm earning a small amount of interest on it.

However, every month that car loan does bother me....

Congrats, that will save you more than just the cost of the cigs, you'll save on health care costs, health insurance, life insurance, etc.

ARGGGG!!! Frustration post...

So, since last time I posted, I've still quit smoking, I have yet to relapse. However, my wife went in for her elective surgery and we did pay all $7,000 in cash upfront because I kind of felt like the finance company was slimy.

Since that time, our emergency fund is back to $4600.

ARGH THIS TAKES FOREVER BUILDING EM FUNDS! It's like you make 0 progress.

It seems that I can only post one response a day. Is anyone else having trouble logging in?

Look on the bright side..you had 7k to put down for bills and you still have an emergency fund. That's why you have that money saved. I finally broke down and called the AC repairman and it only cost me $150 to be cool. . I'm so happy I had the money in my account. Things aren't always as bad as they seem.

Your goal is 9900 by the end of the year. We're only halfway through the year. I bet you can find a way to reach your goal.

So we often talk about multiple revenue streams...

here is a trailer for something that is along those lines. I'm posting it here because this took a lot of work and, well, I want to show it off.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy_dEH2PYAI

Let me know what you guys think!

thats is a awesome little game, will have to find it CrankyBolt knowing that you created it

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/crazy-sh ... 80959?mt=8

Got approved for Apple...

Today is a happy day. At $1 a game... just need 1,000,000 to play it

Awesome news, Cranky!

That is so cool. I wish I had an iphone so I could use the app.
Great news!!

Alright, as of today, I officially have 2 months of net expenses saved up in emergency fund. $6,600!

I've been going pretty hard at it for a while now, so I'm going to take down payments significantly while I buy some new work clothes, redo my kids room, and a few other quality of life things. I'm still going to save $64 a week, just not the $250 a week I have been. When I get my shopping list out of the way which consists of:

New work clothes.
Room upgrade for kid.
Wife and I both have some Ink work we want to get done.
New computer.
2 plane tickets to Arizona for winter.
Halloween Costumes for the three of us. (We are HUGE Halloween fans, so we tend to go pretty elaborate but we attend lots of parties and really enjoy it. It's our favorite time of year.)
New Coffee Pot.

All of these things we have needed for 3 months or more. None of these objects is an impulse purchase in the slightest. It's not like we are going to stop saving, and all of these will be paid for via cash.

Probably in Jan I assume I'll go back to the $250 a week.

My personal goal is by the time I turn 30, (next may 15th), I want at least 3 months in EM fund, and less than $100,000 on my mortgage.

So, I'm at: $109,815 on Mortgage and $6,600 in savings. I'm extremely confident in my ability to pull this off.

Cranky,

Please don't take this the wrong way but is "Ink work" tattooing? It makes me cringe that something like that is described, even accidently/unintentionally as a "need" ("All of these things we have needed for 3 months or more.").

Yet at the same time I am the last person to say that you shouldn't do what you wish with your money, especially since you set aside two months of expenses.

So no, there's nothing wrong with "taking a break" and focusing on the now. I think you should consider listing your listed wants in order of importance and working on them one by one. Something like -

- (1) New Coffee Pot - likely one of the cheapest items on your list. Buy it and cross it off your list. Accomplishing goals is fun!
- (2) New Work Clothes - job expenses right? Sometimes you have to spend money to make money
- (3) New Computer - you seem to be a programmer / developer, so is this another job expense? If not, it moves down (beyond '5').
- (4) Halloween Costumes - obviously it's important to you and you've only got two months until All-Hallows-Eve, so might as well get'er done
- (5) Room upgrade for kid - Family. Could be a couple of hundred or a few thousand, but you know better than me.
- and then the question of whether "Ink work" or "tickets to Arizona" is a purely personal one.

But, you're probably already doing this, or something better, so good onya and best of luck!

H~

Haha! Alright Hendrake you busted me.

Ink work is Tattooing and it is clearly not a need. It's a want... just... a high want . If it makes you feel any better that is the lower priority area on the list!

Current list goes as such:

1)Coffee Pot (Per your suggestion, since it is probably the cheapest one)
2)Kids Room Upgrade (This really consists of a new bed and some paint and elbow grease.)
3)New Work Clothes. You are correct, you need to spend money to make money.
4)Halloween Costumes (Higher since October isn't to far off)
5)Tickets to Arizona for Holidays.
6)Tattoos.
7)New computer. (It's used only for internet and gaming this particular computer. I have my work computers separate and they won't do what I need for entertainment.)