Oh happy day! I just realized that January is the month of three paychecks! (Since there are 5 fridays in the month...)

This means a big fat "snowflake" toward the car loan! In February we'll be able to pay it off. Woo hoo! What a wonderful Valentine's Day present!

Hooray!

Thanks for posting, because I didn't realize that either!

We've been really really good this month!

The new car loan balance is:

1,852.98

I can't believe this! Its so crazy to see what we can do when we really work. We've both been working overtime, saving, scrimping, and its really paying off. We have a new goal. I think we can pay it off by February 15th. I've listed a few things on eBay.

Then our sights will be set on the big emergency fund, and the new floor in the house.

So! I'm back. Its been a little while, trying to get into the swing of things. We are in the midst of facilitating the Dave Ramsey course at my BFs church. It has had the unexpected benefit of bringing me closer to some of the ladies there! Yay. I needed more responsible friends, haha. Now its "Can you drop by for a cup of coffee?" instead of "Meet me at Starbucks".

I sold an ugly bridesmaid gown I had on eBay. I also sold a buckeye necklace, and the same lady wants three more! Our credit union gave us a $15 dividend. The BF worked a bunch of overtime. And we managed to squeeze a bit more out of our food envelope.

Its amazing how lucky we've been. And I know its not all luck, its hard work and determination, too. But we have been lucky, as well. Money seems to be just floating around us now, instead of flying by at the speed of light. We used to sit and wonder what we were doing wrong, or why bad stuff always happened to us (i.e. flat tire!) Now we are truly grateful for everything we have. The greed seems to have been squelched. We are SO lucky we both have jobs. We are truly blessed to have great friends and family.

And soon...We'll also have the title to a great little Mini Cooper!!!

Big plans coming soon. My dad's 50th birthday dinner is tonight. We're having at a relatively casual place, and we've budgeted our portion so it will fit right in to the regular budget.

Next week we will have my car paid off! I can't believe it happened so quickly. And we haven't even gotten our tax refund yet! We are going to take my parents out next week again to thank them for cosigning my car loan. (We did the same for BFs parents when he paid his car loan off) For us, this is a super great way to say...LOOK MA! We're doing it! While recognizing the help they gave us in the process. I hope some of this mentality rubs off a bit, too.

For Valentine's we are using a gift card we received for Christmas (saved for this occasion!) I have also schedule my very first massage...I'm using my BLOW money from Jan/Feb to do this. Its incredible! I never thought I could live on a budget, save money, etc, while still doing things I've never had the money to do before! This is what its all about, I finally realize. We cut out the stupid stuff, to pay for the good stuff! And I couldn't have imagined the added benefits, besides the money. Eating healthier by greatly reducing fast food, more time we can spend together, and just the peace of mind that things are paid for, planned for, and our relationship is moving on the same path, with the same goals.

Look for an update Tuesday...when I hope to transfer the final balance from the savings to the car loan.

Hip hip!!
Doesn't it feel great to actually know that you have a tax refund and it's not already designated to pay for something that you have already spent the money on. Now, you can actually decide how much is going where, and YOU get to make the decision.

I'm really happy for you. Your parents will be happy to go out to dinner to celebrate the car loan being paid off.

Enjoy your good feelings.

********CAR PAID OFF*******************

I officially own my Mini... JD would be so jealous...

Whoo-hoo!! Great job!

So! I've had my massage, it was so wonderful. $75 never felt so good.

This weekend we are going to our fave place for the Valentine's Dinner...$50/couple was a bargain we couldn't pass up. Its a 4 1/2 star restaurant, and we have actually met the executive chef who is amazingly talented and passionate.
(hmmm....maybe we'll get married there....)

Anyway...we have begun saving for the fully funded (6 months of expenses) emergency fund. (We are skipping the student loan for various reasons.)

Our goal is $15,000 total. As of today we have $2,500. Month 1 down! 5 to go!

Congratulations on paying off the car! I understand what you mean about suddenly having everything fall into place. We've been on the DR plan since June, but with one thing after another hitting us, we didn't start Baby Step 2 until December. We did save $2,000 EF and put $4500 into sinking funds in 2008, but it didn't have the impact that paying our student loan $1,000 every two weeks has had over the past two months. Suddenly, the loan balance has dropped from $11,000 to $8,000 with another $2,000 expected in February and it doesn't feel like we've changed anything since fall. I expect we'll be working on the fully funded EF by mid-summer.

Congrats! I just paid off my MINI and just got the title yesterday. What a great feeling!

I got our tax refund direct deposited into the money market today.

Current EF: $ 5,200 !!!

What a boost! Two months down, four to go!

I'm bummed I don't actually get the title. My bank sent me a letter saying that the title had been electronically filed, and electronically 'released', and if I wanted a copy I had to go down myself and pay for one. LAME.

Oh well. At least its still mine, with or without the actual title.

Current EF: 6,400

Getting there!....by the end of March it will be three full months. Then we're going to install the flooring in the dining room/ living room. (bamboo...its gorgeous!) This is a need and a want. We don't have any floors at all, but we could have cheaped out and done linoleum. I think it will be a good investment, though.

After the floors (May/June)...we will finish the EF to six months. I still hope it will be completed by December.

Then we will begin to save for the wedding...Summer 2011? lol...Seems like forever away.

Today EF Total: $7,600

Yay! This completes our 3 months of expenses. This is more money than I have ever had in my life.

Next week is our 3 year anniversary. We have a $50 gift card for a very nice restaurant so hopefully most of the meal will be free.

That's great! Congratulations on your success so far!