Day 7,791

Ok this is really day one of blogging but day 7,791 of my financial life. Now you could say it started much earlier with my first allowance or the money I received when picking up leaves from my parent's yard(a penny a leaf, definitely not worth it!) But really I associate my financial life with getting my first "real" paying job at the age of 16. I took the job so that I could by all the things my high school life required, like cute clothes and shoes. My parents took care of all the other stuff, car, gas, insurance, food, shelter and any activities that I partook in. I got my first credit card when I turned 18 and I believe it was a Bon Marche card(now Macy's) and soon after my Nordstrom card. Wahooo a girl in heaven. I could buy things on a whim and it was fun!! I used my parent's credit card, with their permission, to do my school clothes shopping. I was always given a limit, but really what's $50 or $100 over? That's where it started.

Now I need to say that these are MY debts. My husband has always been a firm believer in cash. He and I maintain separate accounts with him "giving me" a certain amount every month. And as I stated earlier, "really whats $50 or $100 over?" This has lead to numerous arguments over money. All of that said, where am I today? I am a total of $17,787 in debt, including my car, a 2007 Honda Odyssey EX-L.

cc#1-$87.60

Line of credit-$266.05

cc#2-$1,102.67

cc#3-$1,230.31

cc#4-$1,296.67

Auto Loan-$13,806.54

Total-$17,787

Where do I want to be? I want to be debt free and have an emergency fund.

How am I going to do this?

I am going to follow the steps lined out in Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover.

Thank you Chris for becoming a fan of Dave's on Facebook. I just happened to look at his posting and wanted to know who Dave Ramsey was. Little did I know it would inspire me to take control of my finances.

I am someone who has always felt overwhelmed by money and felt like I needed to recreate the wheel when it came to managing my money, which just lead me further and further in debt. "I think I will consolidate" would be my motto and then I would feel the relief as if I had just paid it off. Imagine I was surprised when the bill came the next month.

Well no more! This is about my journey to becoming debt free and have my beginning emergency fund. I have $85.00 in my e.f. with a goal of $1000.00 by the end of May.

I currently receive $2000.00 per month. Here is the break down of that:

Groceries for 4-$1000.00(yeah it's high, I will get into that later)

Auto-$400.00

My misc. money-$600.00(this covers anything I want or need for myself or the children, i.e. kindermusik, ice skating, dining out, clothes. . . you get the picture)

Ok so groceries are so high because I shop at a great grocery store called Central Market. Their selection of organic produce is amazing! I believe in buying organic and local when possible. And out of convenience I purchase things there that I probably should buy at a big box store. Very rarely will I shop, at what I like to refer to as "the Evil Empire". Unless I know for sure they have what I need and I cannot find it at another store.