tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55564691098243062612012-01-29T13:58:25.694-06:00HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.comBlogger2531100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-18687147977650062952012-01-26T10:45:00.001-06:002012-01-26T10:45:04.853-06:00

A while back I did a post about redeeming Citi Thank You points. Last year we cashed in over $500 in gift cards from Citi just for using the card. A couple of people emailed me asking how I was able to get so many points. This morning I got the statement for my Citi Forward card and noticed we are close to getting another $100 gift card. As you can see it's all about the Bonus points: So

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-11522254095423726332012-01-24T09:43:00.001-06:002012-01-24T09:43:07.075-06:00

Quick update on the Discover Card, the balance now is only $700 dollars. It is nice to finally be under $1,000 on this account. Back in July the balance on this card was close to $4,600 dollars. If nothing crazy comes up and we don't have any emergencies, I should have this paid off the first week of February. If everything goes as planned then Best Buy will be paid off by March 15. That

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-24457309562235739972012-01-20T10:43:00.002-06:002012-01-20T10:43:41.896-06:00

We are now starting to look at baby furniture but can someone please tell me why everything is so expensive when it comes to babies? Every decent looking crib we've found is at least $700 to $1,200 dollars. Sure you can pay more and add all the extras so they can use it until they are older but I just feel guilty spending that much money on a crib. You don't believe me, take a look: I'm

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-91326446269018948032012-01-18T16:50:00.002-06:002012-01-18T17:01:27.575-06:00

Another great perk we got when we bought the new refrigerator from Best Buy was the rewards. Yesterday morning I received a certificate for $30 in my email, just for buying the fridge with them. I’m not a big fan of these certificates since they expire and you have to print them out but I will say I’ve cashed in close to $200 in rewards over the past year: The program basically

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-54728707389374164332012-01-18T09:48:00.002-06:002012-01-18T09:48:41.366-06:00

Millions of Americans oppose SOPA and PIPA because these bills would censor the Internet and slow economic growth in the U.S. Please tell congress NO, you can sign Google's petition to congress here: https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/ This impacts all bloggers! HS

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-67726199038318151892012-01-16T10:24:00.003-06:002012-01-16T10:26:47.530-06:00

This past Sunday I helped out at the 2012 Chevron Houston Marathon. I was part of the finish line team and we handed out medals to 30,000 people who ran in the events. The Houston marathon consists of 3 different races. There's a 5K race, a half marathon race and the full marathon. Below are some pictures I took of the event, you can click to enlarge the images. Here is the medal for the full

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-20471956085842482582012-01-10T09:48:00.001-06:002012-01-10T09:52:03.336-06:00

New year, new goals, new debt. Below is all our credit card debt for 2012. I'm hoping these numbers will only go down this year. I'm done playing the credit card game. I always think of all the things I could do with all that money I'm sending back to our credit cards every month. At the same time we rely on our credit cards for a lot of stuff. I think a lot of the baby expenses will end up on

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-74551257371072235862012-01-06T10:27:00.002-06:002012-01-06T10:28:12.185-06:00

I know the 2011 holidays were a total disaster when it came to debt and spending but somewhere in there I never lost focus on the Discover card. I got the latest statement this morning and I was proud to see that I made $560 dollars in payments for December: I'm also happy with the lower interest charged to the account for this month. If you recall on this post 

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-8806292678312867692012-01-05T10:01:00.001-06:002012-01-05T10:01:30.006-06:00

I need to be good this year, I need to get it through my head that I don't need stuff, I want stuff. Already last night I was surfing for items on the iPad, getting ideas and making excuses. I even tried giving myself a reward- pay off Discover and you can have x item. So, today I've decided to post my wants here to remind myself that these are things I don't need. New Television:

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-82690282839830930942012-01-02T00:01:00.002-06:002012-01-02T00:02:12.694-06:00

Happy New Year! 2011 was a very expensive year. I just added up the last 6 months of charges for our Citi Forward card and I’m shocked. Since the middle of June 2011 we charged $10,259. I was not able to look up the other 6 months of charges but I estimate we charged close to $20,000 in 2011. We have to change, we need a lifestyle change. The good news is we paid back most of charges. I think it’

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-23209069414035226272011-12-28T16:10:00.001-06:002011-12-28T16:10:51.782-06:00

We are now in Christmas Hangover mode. We are so glad the holidays are over. Whoever invented this holiday needs to be fired. I wrote last year that I hate it and this year wasn't any better. My Citi card balance is up by $2,000 for buying all kinds of crap. Wife's Macy's card is up to $280. Our checking account is drained. Next pay day is in 2012. I'm not even going to post all the

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-22071762091700266852011-12-23T21:56:00.001-06:002011-12-23T21:57:29.993-06:00

Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone. I will celebrating with my family on Christmas eve and hanging out with the wife's family on Christmas day. To all my blog friends and readers, I want to wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year! To all those paying down debts, hey we have all of next year to make progress :) I'll leave you with a little Zac Brown: It's funny

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-35536580554013471332011-12-20T10:45:00.004-06:002011-12-20T10:45:53.940-06:00

Below is the damage for the new refrigerator. I know some of you said fix the compressor, look on Craigslist or buy something cheaper but I think we got a decent deal at Best Buy so I had to add new debt. I also didn't want to stress about having something else go out on the old fridge or disposing of it if we got somthing used. Best Buy will come in, remove the old fridge and set up the new one

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-20920117827829921392011-12-19T13:09:00.002-06:002011-12-19T13:09:43.739-06:00

After a weekend of searching and looking for a new refrigerator we finally found our match at Best Buy. We decided to give General Electric a try and went with this model: We actually found this model at Fry's Electronics for $1,500 but they didn't have any in stock. We also found a Maytag we liked but it was also out of stock. Then we saw an LG that had all the features we

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-54230147586219082852011-12-16T23:08:00.004-06:002011-12-16T23:08:59.139-06:00

I came home a couple of nights ago and noticed the refrigerator was not cooling. I opened the freezer and everything was thawing. Our refrigerator just stopped working. We have this Samsung model below: Never never ever buy anything Samsung! The stuff looks nice but anything I've ever owned from Samsung has died on me. This refrigerator was a gift when we bought the house so

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-54435903713419997882011-12-14T10:22:00.003-06:002011-12-14T10:24:34.383-06:00

We continue to spend way too much money and more than we make. This is still an area where we struggle and to this day I'm not sure how to control it. Below you can see the date when I got my last Citi statement and how much money we've charged since then. Keep in mind we did most of our holiday shopping the week before Thanksgiving so I'm sitting here wondering where all this spending is coming

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-30144481366078293542011-12-09T09:22:00.001-06:002011-12-09T09:45:30.740-06:00

As much as I dislike interest charged to our Citi balance every month I do have a way of getting some of that money back from them using the Thank You network. I added up all the interest for 2011 and it came out around $600. I went to the Thank You network and added up all the gift cards we've redeemed in 2011 and they added up to $510 dollars! I'm not sure how we get so

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-55630201000355175402011-12-08T09:14:00.001-06:002011-12-08T09:36:56.808-06:00

I am eight days late but I met my goal to bring down our Discover card under $2,000. I can only say the momentum to pay down our debt continues. I would like to have this balance paid off by the end of the year but it all depends on the holidays. I think we're going to get a lot of cash from family and I'm hoping my wife gets a lot of gift cards from her students. Last year one parent even

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-27281392967964213222011-12-06T14:15:00.001-06:002011-12-06T14:30:14.792-06:00

It's that time of the year again. I think I write this post every year and complain about our HOA. This year is more special since our Homeowners Association people decided to increase the fee. You see that money below in our Accounts Payable? It is just sitting there waiting to be collected by our HOA: That's correct, it is $920 dollars. I know this is something most people pay but

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-40378458580657586472011-11-29T09:31:00.001-06:002011-11-29T10:03:27.402-06:00

'Tis the Season to Spend Money! The wife wanted to get most of the Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving so most of the purchases went on the Citi Card. She managed to charge close to $800, I had this card down to $6,000 just a few weeks ago: I had originally planned to do most of the shopping this coming weekend after pay day. I had also budgeted $1,000 for holiday expenses

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-43809811421006288222011-11-22T23:59:00.001-06:002011-11-23T00:33:39.607-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This coming Wednesday we will be going out of town to celebrate the holidays with family and friends. This means no going out or spending money. Just turkey, drinks and time to reflect on this past year. 2011 has been a great year so far. Every day I wake up I'm thankful for our health, our family and our jobs.  But this year is more special for us. This year I'm

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-76172174078957707452011-11-15T07:21:00.001-06:002011-11-15T07:23:49.113-06:00

Well it seems my gazelle intensity ran out of steam. There's a few expenses coming up and I may not be able to continue paying down the debt this month. I think November was a great month, I was able to pay almost $2,500 back to our credit cards but for now we must take a break... The Gazelle taking a nap on Discover... HS

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-81886941956623990062011-11-10T20:28:00.001-06:002011-11-10T20:36:34.333-06:00

Discover Bank is offering free $25 dollars if you open an online savings account. I have an account with them and I can't complain, the rates are decent and you can transfer money from your regular bank account. Discover Bank also has the same look and feel as Discover Card and when you call customer support you get to talk to associates here in the US. I hate it when you call a credit card

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-70723182839297778042011-11-09T10:09:00.002-06:002011-11-09T10:21:59.797-06:00

Quick update on our credit card debt. We continue making progress this month, so far in November we've only had one doctor bill for $35 dollars. The water bill was also normal this month, last month it was almost $100 so I called and complained and it went down to $66. We've been eating at home most nights and we're also watching our spending left and right. So far November seems to be a great

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-69096933262757154082011-11-07T12:39:00.000-06:002011-11-07T12:46:55.186-06:00

I apologize for more Discover card postings but November is the month I declared war on the Discover card. As you can see the balance went up, they added another 43 dollars and it was painful to see that this morning. That is a lot of money. That's 43 dollars more that I will have to pay back: Postings like this will hopefully remind me one day to be more careful with credit cards. There it

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-3919914109126786192011-11-04T22:27:00.000-05:002011-11-04T22:27:04.776-05:00

I don't have a whole going on right now, life is a bit boring at the moment. You already know that I'm in a lot of credit card debt and I'm working to pay that down. You also know that I make very stupid choices when it comes to money and spending BUT this picture below makes it all worth it. This is our Golden Retriever! She's was my first dog and has become like a child

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-76062156520220368602011-11-02T09:42:00.002-05:002011-11-02T09:43:21.047-05:00

Back on August 25th 2011 I posted about our Discover card balance being exactly $4,000 dollars: http://www.ourdebtblog.com/2011/08/discover-card-balance.html I was proud of that moment and even said I would attack this card with 'gazelle' intensity but two months later I feel like I've made no progress. Below is the balance on the account as of this morning: I've posted about interest

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-2800273243892255202011-11-01T09:39:00.001-05:002011-11-01T09:39:24.234-05:00

I can't believe today is November 1st 2011. I swear it was just July and I was complaining about how hot it was here in Texas. I can't believe I wrote the post below I guess I was just having a bad day but now I feel like I'm back to normal and ready to get back to life. As some of you know, we did IVF (In Vitro Fertilization) back in July and the bills keep coming in. This morning I sent in two

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-26849924139284714742011-10-17T10:19:00.001-05:002011-10-17T10:19:24.948-05:00

I can't take it anymore, debt is winning! The bills keep coming in, the expenses keep going up. This week we had a doctor bill that was close to $800 dollars. I went ahead and paid it, it hurt. Last week it was another copay at a new doctor's office, that was $150. Financial counselor there said expect to pay $150 per month for the next few months. Then we have prescription meds, they also have

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-47719151164953825932011-10-11T09:30:00.000-05:002011-10-11T09:30:10.802-05:00

As some of you know, I love to shop on Ebay and pay with PayPal. Recently I've seen a new feature where you can check out using Bill Me Later. Basically it works like a credit card but it's not really plastic and can only be used online. A lot of merchants also offer Bill Me Later at checkout and all you need is your birthday and the the last 4 digits of your SSN. Fast, simple and I'm not adding

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-28933992359032829292011-10-06T11:09:00.001-05:002011-10-06T11:09:10.588-05:00

I was very sad last night when I heard the news about Steve Jobs. This person was an idol, a hero and an inspiration in my life. I've always been the Apple person in the family and the one with the all the Apple stuff around the house. Let's see, 3 Macs, 2 iPads, 8 iPhones, 5 iPods, 1 Apple TV and plenty of accessories to go with all that. Think Different. "Your time is limited,

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-66342710341482655622011-10-04T10:22:00.001-05:002011-10-04T10:23:00.480-05:00

Today I'm going back on Body for Life. The 12 week Body-for-LIFE program consists of exercise and dieting 6 days a week and a free day with no exercise or eating restrictions. I think I struggle a lot with my weight. I see myself as 'overweight' but most people say I look great. I don't think I eat bad I just can't control how much I eat. I also have to constantly exercise so I don't put on a lot

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-68436580467181304402011-10-01T11:04:00.000-05:002011-10-01T11:04:20.219-05:00

Bank  of America is down!! This is not good! All of our accounts are there and I can't transfer any money or look at what cleared. I never thought this would happen, what if this is an emergency and I really need cash? Normally I would transfer  money over the iPhone app and just get cash at the ATM but right now I can't access any of our accounts! I just love seeing these:

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-31886346119675297952011-09-29T21:43:00.006-05:002011-09-29T22:05:51.732-05:00

This morning I saw a post on my new updated blogroll by Becky over at striving to live each day HIS way and she posted about having some money stress. Becky is an amazing person, she's a single mom raising two wonderful boys and working different jobs to make ends meet. I know sometimes things don't work out as planned so I figured I could step in and help out a fellow blogger.After reading her

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-75746316364080372652011-09-26T10:38:00.019-05:002011-09-26T11:08:19.203-05:00

I'm not a big fan of department store credit cards. The only store cards that we have are Best Buy and Macy's. Not sure why I still have Best Buy, I think it's more for the convenience factor, a lot of times I just show my ID and I can charge my purchases.The wife on the other hand is a big fan of Macy's. Unlike Best Buy, this card actually has some benefits, most of the times when we pay with

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-62234962236041706202011-09-23T11:46:00.003-05:002011-09-23T11:49:27.753-05:00

Time to update the blogroll on the sidebar. If you have a blog about debt or want to be included in the blogroll, please leave a comment. I'm looking for new, original content. I don't like sites with sponsored posts or with too many ads.Thanks,HS

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-55354528556611118172011-09-19T10:02:00.010-05:002011-09-19T10:41:55.489-05:00

This weekend I did the Tour de Pink. This is the first bike ride in Texas solely benefiting breast cancer. They have different rides and I chose to do 47 miles. I did the whole ride in a TREK mountain bike. Here is my picture during the ride, you can see me taking it with my phone and you can see my watch:The start line, everyone wears pink:I really enjoyed this ride and I will probably do it

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-33635833821486254102011-09-16T11:09:00.014-05:002011-09-16T11:25:19.822-05:00

From time to time I post past account summaries from our credit cards. The goal is to learn from past mistakes and hopefully gain some control over the spending. Below is the latest 24 month account summary from our Discover card:As most of you all know this is not a "live frugal" blog... reason why you see so many crazy charges from time to time. At the same time, notice the payments and credits

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-71106078676628021622011-09-14T09:27:00.004-05:002011-09-14T09:50:16.856-05:00

What do we have in common with the U.S. government? We love to spend money we don't have! Once again spending is out of control. I simply can't keep a handle on things and I think the wife starting to charge more here and there. Over the last month we've charged closed to $1,700 dollars on our credit card! yikes!Now, as you can see I'm paying most of it back and will be making another payment

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-29746068507244007212011-09-08T10:15:00.006-05:002011-09-08T10:28:47.838-05:00

I know this is probably not a huge milestone and this moment won't last long but we are under $10,000 in credit card debt:Discover Card:Citi Forward:I called the vet this morning and she quoted me $250 for the dog's procedure. This is money we do not have or saved for so this will probably end up on the Citi Forward credit card. The cycle never seems to end, I pay back money to the credit card

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-78755769018804331122011-09-06T13:43:00.007-05:002011-09-06T14:17:43.298-05:00

Well I survived the birthdays I talked about in my previous posts. I've had lots of fun and a lot of celebrating with family but now I have to come back to reality. The Citi Card took most of the abuse the past couple of weeks, I charged close to $700. Below are the top 5 most expensive items:All of the items you see are birthday gifts except for HEB and Walgreens, those would be living expenses.

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-32588603626422200372011-08-25T09:47:00.005-05:002011-08-25T10:08:03.222-05:00

We are making progress on Discover. The current balance on the account is exactly $4,000.00! This is the credit card that I plan to attack with gazelle intensity in the coming months. Back on July 8th this credit card was at $4,600 so I think we've made a lot of progress. I've sent close to $3,000 dollars back to our credit cards over the last couple of months. A lot of it went to cover the

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-44338592283664080562011-08-24T10:33:00.005-05:002011-08-24T11:06:33.068-05:00

This past weekend we celebrated the first of the birthdays I talk about in this blog. The birthday was for my dad and we went out to dinner with the family. His gift was a gift card from Macy's, mom said he needed new clothes. I spent $50 on the gift card, $4.99 on a card and $25.xx on a bottle of wine. The dinner was at a restaurant in Midtown Houston. The dinner party was six of us and my

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-68477511998131133442011-08-22T09:21:00.009-05:002011-08-22T09:59:10.238-05:00

As some of you already know, we had our first and last cycle of IVF treatments last month to try and conceive a child. Things went well, we retrieved four eggs but only three fertilized. Our doctor advised us to only put two back in and freeze the other one. Fast forward 3 weeks later and we have a positive pregnancy test. The HCG levels are very low so at this point we're not really sure what

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-37509908846150082232011-08-18T12:30:00.006-05:002011-08-18T12:51:06.242-05:00

The interest on my Discover card is killing me! I can' believe I've added $407 dollars to our balance this year. My APR is only 12.99%, while that sounds OK for a credit card, it adds a lot of money per month to our balance: I've been making the minimum payment of $100 dollars per month on this card. My focus is to try to reduce this balance down to $2,000 and transfer it to my Citi Forward

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-61332505247693680752011-08-15T22:32:00.006-05:002011-08-15T22:49:29.654-05:00

The Citi Thank You Premier Card is offering $500 in rewards if you spend $2,000 within 2 months of opening the account. The $500 can be cashed in for gift cards like the one I got for Walmart a few weeks ago. I know I don't NEED this but I want that $500 in rewards. I think I would redeem it all in Macy's gift cards and go on a shopping spree. The only issue is I don't have anything that will

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-6620352368750132872011-08-13T00:40:00.004-05:002011-08-13T00:45:59.762-05:00

I cut up the Citi Thank You card, it was painful but some of you asked for it. I swear I'm addicted to credit cards. Goodbye $23,000 credit line: I only had one card, I never added the wife to this account. She still carries the Citi Forward card, maybe that one is next to be cut up. Discover is locked up, haven't charged anything to that account in months. Have a good weekend. HS

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-57659873567540019652011-08-11T09:10:00.005-05:002011-08-11T09:41:51.392-05:00

It was really hard staying home and playing the frugal game the last 3 weekends but it finally paid off. I was able to send in the final payment to our Citi Thank You card for $1,500: This is the card I was worried about back in May when the balance was over $2,000: http://www.ourdebtblog.com/2011/05/were-in-debt.html The balance actually went down to $1,500 around July 8th: http://

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-58106879729984304262011-08-10T12:17:00.007-05:002011-08-10T12:50:54.639-05:00

As you can probably see, I have four minor ads on this blog. While I was bored at work today I thought I would go and check out the PayPal account for this blog. I have two personal PayPal accounts linked to two different bank accounts. One account is for personal use (eBay) and the other account is to handle any expenses from this blog which is mainly the domain name. The name for the blog is

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-63225333110556893812011-08-08T11:30:00.002-05:002011-08-08T11:49:04.411-05:00

I got an email this morning from Netflix that our credit card on the account expired: I must confess, I never use Netflix. I started Netflix back in 2005 and I really enjoyed checking the mail box and finding a movie but back in 2009 I switched to streaming only that's where I forgot about it. There's really no good content to watch. Last year I added my account to our parents TV and my

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-61293607603266414502011-08-03T23:49:00.019-05:002011-08-04T00:45:54.497-05:00

Quick update on IVF and infertility, we retrieved 9 eggs this morning and I had the pleasure to provide a semen sample at the doctor's office (awkward).... Wish us luck! The bad news is the receptionist said we owed another $480 dollars so that went on one of the Citi cards. Now, I know I talk about how serious I am about paying down our debt (Yes I just charged $2,000 for IVF) but I want you to

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-41059136229214264972011-08-01T09:55:00.006-05:002011-08-01T10:00:20.779-05:00

Another weekend is over and I think we managed to control our spending. I had no alcohol, no going out to bars and not a lot of eating out. Below are all our weekend expenses that went on our Bank of America check card:On Friday, the wife spent $25 on nails; it was actually $20 with a $5 dollar tip. Friday night we were too tired to cook so we had some Chick-Fil-A. We usually split one meal and I

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-75483000667575271982011-07-28T09:47:00.005-05:002011-07-28T10:05:43.745-05:00

We ran out of some fertility medications last night so we called the pharmacy to get a refill. The pharmacy operates over the phone and they informed us that our insurance is maxed out when it comes to the fertility medication we need. At first I was OK with paying for it out of pocket until I saw the prices below:Seriously?! who can afford this stuff??? we need 3 of these cartridges which are

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-64793673868001154762011-07-25T14:53:00.010-05:002011-07-26T09:20:04.285-05:00

Doxycycline, Estrace, Cetrotide, Menopur, Pregnyl, blood work, ultrasounds UGH! I hate fertility treatments and tired of hearing those words. Sorry! Anyways, since we did not plan ahead for the In vitro fertilisation, most of these expenses ended up the Citi Forward credit card. So far I've been really good about not touching the emergency fund but at this point anything else that comes up may

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-52219481818375448762011-07-22T09:38:00.009-05:002011-07-22T10:07:21.877-05:00

Believe it or not we have a lot of days where we don't spend any money. The wife stays home and doesn't go out for anything and I bring my lunch to work. But we also have days where we run out of things and we are forced to spend money. Example was last night, we needed some food to make it through the weekend so we made a list, budgeted $50 and headed to Target. What I thought would be $50

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-91664584149243302782011-07-21T11:18:00.003-05:002011-07-21T11:25:35.564-05:00

LBC Teacher said in one of the comments: You had the debt talk! I'm impressed and want to hear more about it!Yes, we had the talk. It was during one or our nightly walks. The wife and I try to walk four nights a week to keep the heart healthy and let the dog burn some energy. We were talking about all the fertility treatments and how we had just charged close to $1,400 on the credit card (more on

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-68010623777392029392011-07-20T10:05:00.004-05:002011-07-20T10:18:57.989-05:00

I bombed my job interview yesterday. I spoke with the IT consultant of the company so he had all kinds of technical questions for me. Trust me, you can be the most technical person in the world but when someone starts talking programming and you don't have a computer handy you will look like an idiot. Really? asking me to write stored procedures on paper? asking me very detailed questions about .

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-16792199978426684002011-07-19T09:22:00.005-05:002011-07-19T09:46:18.075-05:00

I have a job interview today with one of the top five oil and gas companies in the U.S. The position is to work with crude pipelines and commodities trading. I believe the salary is somewhere in the $90,000 to $100,000 range. This is also a chance to become an employee of this company. Right now I'm only a consultant, I get to work with most of the major oil companies in the world but I'm not an

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-90343048597756890632011-07-18T10:37:00.003-05:002011-07-18T10:41:04.369-05:00

I’m going to try start posting about stuff we are buying on a daily basis to see where I can cut back. For the record, I haven’t bought anything fancy over the last couple of months. No new clothes, no sunglasses, no new shoes, no golf equipment, no computer stuff, no Apple gadgets NOTHING! Remember I freaked out about our debt back in May and decided to take control of our spending.I’ve also cut

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-19622869992786399112011-07-14T20:19:00.009-05:002011-07-14T21:20:52.811-05:00

I'm serious about what I said last week, the time has come to pay down our credit card debt. I think I can add more money to the monthly payments by cutting out my 401k contributions. I'm currently setting aside 9% of my total pay and my employer kicks in another 6% (dollar per dollar match up to 6%) so this puts me in at 15% savings per year. I would love to save more but I also contribute an

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-6445425199923441692011-07-13T09:52:00.015-05:002011-07-13T10:45:40.170-05:00

There's not doubt we have a spending problem but remember that this blog is about "the struggles to have self control with credit cards, and the joys of paying them off". From time to time I go back and look at some of our credit card purchases. Below is a statement from March, as you can see someone decided to go to Las Vegas. There was another Vegas trip the last week of May (wife only) and

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-62095289682744991012011-07-08T09:13:00.009-05:002011-07-08T09:37:18.255-05:00

This morning I added up all our outstanding credit card debt. I am no longer in denial or making excuses, I'm determined to pay this back. Truth is, we've been spending a little too much lately so it's time to get serious about paying this down. So here are the numbers, actual screen shots taken this morning:Discover Card:Citi Thank You:Citi Forward:So after adding it all up, the numbers above

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com23tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-19210569509798865482011-07-01T11:07:00.004-05:002011-07-01T11:31:35.741-05:00

This morning I spoke with the financial counselor at the fertility clinic and she told me that our health insurance will cover most of In Vitro procedure. She was impressed with our coverage and even told us to "use it now, with Obamacare coming you won't have these kind of benefits in the future". This made me laugh, she was very young, probably no more than 25. Can you tell we live in a very

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-5258633358757321212011-06-23T09:42:00.007-05:002011-06-23T10:37:15.409-05:00

I think we are about to do something stupid. We are planning to have an In Vitro fertilization procedure done this month. As some of you know, the wife's biological clock is ticking and I really want a baby, boy or girl I really don't care at this point.The cost for this procedure is somewhere around $16,000 dollars!! Yes, that's a lot of money and money that, as you probably already know we

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com33tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-53635958130367705472011-06-13T15:38:00.007-05:002011-06-13T16:18:25.612-05:00

I'm officially 32! I celebrated my birthday on Saturday at a very nice restaurant in Houston. The restaurant is a steak house with a Latin twist. I invited 14 people and everyone showed up. Most guest arrived a little bit earlier and paid for their own drinks at the bar. The food and company was great, I truly enjoyed this birthday.I'm proud to say I'm the new owner of an iPad 2 16 GB in white:My

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-55624967121372471692011-06-08T17:56:00.007-05:002011-06-08T18:21:05.984-05:00

Well I'm turning 32 next week. It's a scary feeling since I never thought I would see 25 or 30 but now I'm well in to the 30's. I don't mind getting older I just don't want to lose my looks LOL.What I really want this year:An iPad 2 signed by all my friends and family. How cool would that be? I hinted to the wife I wanted one so hopefully she's getting money from everyone. I'm having a small

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-78052316461096584202011-05-31T00:06:00.002-05:002011-05-31T13:43:58.441-05:00

Not much to post after Memorial day weekend. The good news is we didn't spend a lot of money, only $100 all weekend! We spent 2 days at the beach house in Galveston TX with family so they took care of meals. Since I don't have much to talk about, here is a post about my car, I only owe 10k! I'm paying a little extra monthly so should have this paid off in a year or so.The Sports Sedan:"This is a

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-5571844909770655542011-05-24T14:57:00.011-05:002011-05-24T15:25:37.839-05:00

This past weekend we had a community garage sale. For the last couple of months I've been looking for stuff all over the house to sell. I probably had close to 400 items and sold half of that. Believe it or not I hate stuff so I tried to get rid of everything. Below is a picture of some of the items I had out there:I got up on Saturday at 6 AM and organized most of the stuff. I cooked breakfast

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-23170074326492308982011-05-18T09:01:00.008-05:002011-05-18T09:30:40.363-05:00

OK I'll admit, all of the sudden freaking out a bit... we are back in debt and things are not looking so good. This morning I pulled all the numbers and I don't like what I see:Citi Forward: $5660Citi Thank You: $2100Discover Card: $4,700I don't even want to add it up on here.... I'm afraid it will be over 10K.I'm stressed out, I can't sleep, I fear losing my job and everything I have. Anxiety

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-9433470364647817172011-05-13T14:47:00.004-05:002011-05-13T15:02:47.437-05:00

Anyone notice Blogger going on PTO for close to 24 hours?! I could not access my account to post or check some of the blogs I follow. Hmmm, another reason to dump Google? and maybe move to Wordpress? I'm more of an Apple fan and lately it seems like Google is trying to become Apple... Not very happy with them right now.Any thoughts? is Wordpress better? is it free like Google's blogger?UPDATE-

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-37698044125425872292011-05-09T14:30:00.005-05:002011-05-09T14:55:13.221-05:00

Happy late Mother's Day to all the mom's out there. This is another holiday I don't enjoy when it comes to money but I do love spending time celebrating with family. The wife and I are blessed to still have our mom's around but they both wanted to do something on the same day at the same time. Of course, what's a Hallmark holiday without spending? both mom's wanted some kind of gift so this year

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-30979348041300487962011-05-04T09:14:00.005-05:002011-05-04T09:32:56.903-05:00

Well today I have some good news. My wife got a new teaching position at a brand new elementary school in the district. She will be teaching Kindergarten all day in her new role. The school still under construction but everything will be brand new, the carpet, the desks, the walls, she is thrilled! She's currently teaching pre-K and she's split between two schools. We get mileage reimbursement

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-32463898061245275592011-04-29T10:53:00.003-05:002011-04-29T11:04:13.953-05:00

We had to get the wife the new white iPhone 4 last night. Believe it or not she had her 3G iPhone in her back pocket, went to pee and didn't realize it was there until she heard it fall in. She looked down and it was completely under the water, in a public bathroom. She got it out but it was too late, the phone is dead.The timing was strange, Apple just released the mysterious white iPhone last

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-68619784630360145322011-04-28T09:13:00.012-05:002011-04-28T09:53:06.888-05:00

A while back I did a post about our bank accounts setup. Today I'd like to revisit the topic, maybe other DINKS can comment or try our approach. We use Bank of America for most of our banking. We have a love hate relationship with them but their accounts are still free! It is also mostly love now since they got rid of their outrageous overdraft fees.We have 3 accounts with them, all of them are

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-81348607016958154872011-04-21T14:50:00.003-05:002011-04-21T14:55:29.826-05:00

So the blower on our air conditioning at home appears to be out... I hate this A/C unit, it never cools. If you read back, we replaced the outside unit a couple of years ago after Hurricane Ike but the upstairs unit is probably 10 years old by now. Options:1 - Replace upstairs unit, add $2,500 new debt?2 - Fix upstairs unit, live miserably through the upcoming Texas summer?3 - Do nothing and hope

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-18949552499253641392011-04-15T13:40:00.006-05:002011-04-15T14:04:15.708-05:00

My wife is a elementary school teacher at a public school district. The district she teaches at like most school districts across the nation is facing a budget shortfall. She's got some seniority but her contract could be terminated at the end of the school year. If we lose her income, we might as well lose everything else. I don't think she can find another teaching job in the fall and I doubt

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-19977177575179509202011-04-11T10:33:00.004-05:002011-04-13T13:29:20.695-05:00

Alcohol is killing me! I drink way to much and I'm starting to to think I might have a bit of a problem. This also relates to DEBT as I'm always charging all my alcohol purchases to my credit card. It's always been a problem. It started in high school, drinking to fit in and have friends. It continued on in college, everyone was doing it so why not me. It continues in life, every one I know

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-66713787907494986512011-04-01T16:25:00.013-05:002011-04-01T16:54:34.814-05:00

Wife calls husband at work, Hi honey I'm going shopping with the girls after work, husband, sure sweetie just don't spend too much money. Husband comes home and wife has a brand new Coach Poppy purse: Husband reaction: WOW... lovely! looks great on you! Quietly whispers, how much? wife smiles and whispers a number very close to $300 and puts on the cute smile... husband grins a little... OUCH!

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-9715366206908770122011-03-28T09:21:00.006-05:002011-03-28T09:39:03.786-05:00

Have you tried closing a credit card lately? I tried and failed. I called to cancel our Citi Premier Pass card and they would not let me close it. The Premier Pass card is going away and it will be converted to the new Thank You card. The lady was very generous, she gave me extra Thank You points, lower APR and 4 extra reward points for every dollar spent on purchases for the first 3 months. So

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-59173301024876153662011-03-21T15:53:00.004-05:002011-03-21T16:17:29.315-05:00

Alcohol killed my wallet over Spring Break! Last Monday, the wife and I decided it would be fun to leave town for a few days but it was probably a bad idea (credit cards). We both drank way too much and each bar we stopped at the average bill was $85. We went to a city with a lot of lights and gambling where the average price of a beer is $7 and mixed drinks $10. We came back Wednesday night and

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-15035039776812080242011-03-11T09:22:00.006-06:002011-03-11T09:44:19.324-06:00

Not sure if crazy is the right word to use for this post but when I pulled up my account history in Citi and looked at our past payments I coudn't think of a better word. Below are the past 8 months of payments we've made back to our Citi Premier Pass card:As I add this all up this is close to $8,500 dollars! YES we have a spending problem since I can't even remember what the $2,500 is for from

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-68849781722776404012011-03-02T13:15:00.005-06:002011-03-02T13:23:18.541-06:00

The iPad 2 just came out and it is simply amazing. This new iPad is thinner, lighter and faster. Check out just how thin and cool this thing is:I know I need to pay down my debt but I have to have this, I actually 'need' this. I can't think of a good reason at this moment but I must have one. They come out next week and I don't have the cash so if you see my credit card balance go up you know

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-73480366288280931162011-03-01T08:51:00.009-06:002011-03-01T09:52:29.016-06:00

According to our year end statement from Discover card, we charged close to $13,000 dollars in 2010. Below are the categories, as you can see we love to travel and be entertained. I haven't seen the numbers from Citi but I think we spent just as much with those cards. I'm not sure what to make of these numbers. I am probably the only debt blogger out there who still using credit cards, can't

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-68742990035607236692011-02-21T22:03:00.005-06:002011-02-21T22:19:16.127-06:00

This morning I completed our 2010 taxes at work. The wife and I file together as a couple and we itemize deductions to get a better refund. I been using TaxAct Online for the past 9 years for free but this year I had to pay $9.95 due to a large number of stock transactions last year. As soon as I clicked on the signature to file, I got an email saying the tax return was accepted by the IRS:Our

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-38026931043120897202011-02-21T14:23:00.006-06:002011-02-21T14:27:55.181-06:00

I would like to thank our new sponsor CareOne Credit services. They specialize in debt consolidation and financial counseling. If you are looking for help managing debt or for advice dealing with creditors, please reach out to them.HS

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-28054228186376163272011-02-18T10:48:00.012-06:002011-02-18T11:46:32.015-06:00

Happy Friday! Today is sunny and the weather is in the 60's. I'm at work at the Continental Airlines headquarters building in downtown Houston. I am in the 47th floor, Here is the view from my desk:The view you see is Midtown Houston with the Galleria area in the background. I got here at 8 AM this morning and I'm hoping to be out around 2 PM. That's my location update, here's a few more updates:

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-28477268973668247182011-02-09T11:17:00.008-06:002011-02-09T11:38:57.120-06:00

This is who I am! well the new me. I walked in to the bathroom at work this morning and for the first time in what seems like a very long time, I’m proud of what I see. I had to take a picture and show the world. I will blur out my face since no one knows about this blog and I’m ashamed of all my debt and money mishandlings. Anyways, this is who I am:Please keep in mind I used to be fat. The

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-34882953747961188102011-02-07T16:06:00.007-06:002011-02-07T16:35:20.595-06:00

I had a post about the wife's car a couple of months ago, you may recall we are almost done with that debt, I think we have $800 left. Unfortunately a paid off car also needs maintenance. This past weekend I was hoping to get the tires rotated so I could avoid spending money but no tire shop would do it. They all told me they had to be replaced. I tried Firestone, NTB and finally gave up at

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-84237414920955490632011-02-03T09:07:00.003-06:002011-02-03T09:23:12.505-06:00

The weather is going to be in the low 20's tonight with 2 inches of snow expected and everyone is freaking out! schools are closing, stores are adjusting hours and even our client sent a memo to go home at 2 PM today and stay home tomorrow.Now if you live up north you know 2 inches of snow is nothing to worry about but down here everyone freaks out! I love it, I get to stay home tomorrow and

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-53204227246524791482011-01-28T09:42:00.002-06:002011-01-28T09:47:05.097-06:00

Happy Friday! not a whole lot going on today. I'm at work. It's sunny outside with high temperature of 70 expected for today. I'm still waiting for all my tax documents to arrive so I can use that money to pay down debt. As you can see, nothing exciting is happening down here.This morning I decided to do a little gambling on the upcoming Super Bowl game between the Packers and the Steelers. I

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-45830386609638712592011-01-19T10:56:00.007-06:002011-01-19T13:50:57.077-06:00

Avoid using credit cards. Why? see below, credit card companies charge you interest. When I saw this number I was shocked! the number came from my Citi Forward credit card, that's how much they've charged me just for keeping a balance. Keep in mind this balance was never really that high, the average was $3,000 dollars. I still have this balance but I'm hoping the picture below helps me pay it

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-18370742536282593352011-01-10T12:46:00.004-06:002011-01-11T21:40:34.204-06:00

We started week 10 of our Body-for-Life program and it seems I've hit a plateau, the weight is no longer melting, in fact based on my belt I might have added some. Not sure what's going on, nothing has changed, I'm still working out 6 days a week and watching everything we eat. I think my body is confused, it wants to go back to the old me and I won't allow it.I started reading a new book by the

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-10418096765360175472011-01-03T09:22:00.005-06:002011-01-04T08:43:51.928-06:00

Happy New Year! This is my first post for 2011. 2010 was a good year but it was very expensive. We added close to $8,000 in credit card debt. I simply can't control credit card spending, I know I've had a few posts on that subject and ideas to control it but I'm just not there yet. We are spending way more than we earn. Hopefully 2011 will be the year of less debt and more income. I'm hoping to

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-2189767588496326232010-12-27T08:54:00.007-06:002010-12-27T09:18:35.501-06:00

Christmas a holiday we no longer enjoy. This year we didn't set up any decorations or lights. Our only decoration in the living room is a giant GRINCH sitting on the mantle. We told our friends we needed a new tree or that we had plans to go out of town (lies). In the end when December 25th came around it felt great. We woke up, had a simple breakfast, some coffee and we headed to my father in

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-21676974264929897062010-12-21T13:49:00.003-06:002010-12-21T14:14:50.918-06:00

Quick updates:Life- I'm down 17 pounds in my weight! the wife is down 20 pounds. We started our Body For Life transformation on November 8 and we can't stop now, we are addicted. The only down side is our grocery bill is close to $500 per month. We have to eat a lot of protein and vegetables so I've noticed an increase on food spending. I also need to go buy some new pants, I'm down 2 sizes. I'm

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-10405999276574840982010-12-13T15:23:00.002-06:002010-12-13T15:57:59.032-06:00

Another area of focus in our lives is health and weight. The wife and I started Body For Life a few weeks ago. At first it reminded me of those fad diets like South Beach and Atkins but after reading the book I realized it could work for us. Body for life is a 12 week program where you combine exercise, cardio and change eating habits. What we like about this program is you have eat every 2 hours

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-20303434209925824682010-12-02T13:16:00.005-06:002010-12-02T14:02:35.855-06:00

Well I didn't really want to have to do this post but it looks like I don't have a choice. We are having issues conceiving and I think I just need to vent. We have been trying to have our first child for over 2 years and no luck, we are officially way past the definition of 'Infertility' - describes couples who have never been able to become pregnant after at least 1 year of unprotected sex (Mayo

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-60620252244671059342010-11-24T08:24:00.003-06:002010-11-24T08:31:00.488-06:00

I wanted to wish everyone a safe and happy Thanksgiving! Be safe, don't eat too much and don't drink and drive. Things I'm thankful for: health, family, job and everything else in life. I am happy and I look forward to the future, hopefully I can pay off all my debts.I also wanted to let my readers know we don't be doing any shopping on Friday. We plan to stay home and relax. Best Buy does have a

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-17791427159887240542010-11-18T14:02:00.006-06:002010-11-18T14:26:57.879-06:00

I got a text message this morning from T-Mobile that my phone bill for November was ready. When I logged to see the balance, I was shocked! $269!! Apparently the spouse talked well over our 1000 minutes that we carry in our plan. I'm guessing they charged me .40 or .50 per minute extra. Either way, this one hurts:So I called customer support after my lunch break and spoke to the sales rep. He

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5556469109824306261.post-85057566625788446562010-11-11T10:41:00.004-06:002010-11-11T11:00:56.701-06:00

This is my first attempt to create a budget. Some readers have asked me what our bills are or what are monthly payments are. I'm hoping this will answer some of the questions and help me to better manage the money coming in each month. We have never really used a budget I usually just go by paychecks. Below is the breakdown of the bills, the left side is the first two weeks usually the 1st of the

HS @ Our Debt Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16131857251377260758noreply@blogger.com11