Well today is payday and I have dived head first into the bills. The first bill paid was the electric company since that bill is due March 14th so I'll knock that one off the list.
Payday: $3500
Electr: $167
Remain: $3333
The next bill paid will be the minimum payment on Card 1 for $319. I was hoping the B/T would've applied before the due date of March 12th but I don't really want to take the chance of being late on a payment and the good thing about the B/T is the min payment should be significantly less next time since the balance is significantly less. I will have to make a minimum payment on another card (where I b/t'd the 4k) but at least the 4k will not be kicking me in the shin with a higher interest rate. In fact it'll be one of the lowest APR's I have at 5.82. So let's take off the min payment of Card 1.
Balance:$3333
Card 1: $319
Remain: $3014
Next we have a couple of cards due 3/18 but I'm going to skip them for a minute because they will come into play later. I'll explain it in a later blog post.
So now we come to the cleaning service on March 20th. I'm going to subtract it NOW because I know it's coming.
Balance: $3014
Cleanin: $133
Remain: $2881
We get paid again March 21st but remember the bulk of that paycheck is going to the mortgage. I really have two ways of attacking this. I can save half of what I need to pay the mortgage from this check and half from next check (so I would set aside $1250 from this check and $1250 from the next check) OR I can pay down debt with the bulk of this check and use the bulk of 3/21's check to pay the mortgage. I'd like to hear your thoughts on this...I have an inkling of what I want to do but I haven't committed either way yet. Ah time to ponder!
Oh the wife has about $100 in cash left from our $300 (since we wrote a check for the cleaning service...remember I had a birthday gift of $403 and used a part of that to cover it) so I'm going to give her $200 and refill the cash to $300. We'll revisit that next week to see where we're at. We thought about waiting til the money was gone before refilling but balked on that idea. So we can subtract the $200 from our total.
Balance: $2881
Week $$: $200
Remain: $2681
It's a snow day today for the kids as school is closed. We didn't get a lot but the roads are atrocious right now up here. We did make it to work and we're not taking lunch (I have started bringing granola bars to work for snacks...instead of wasting $.65 to $.85 on a snack in the machine!) so we can leave early today. I really love payday. 
Payday and snowday!
March 7th, 2007 at 05:57 pm
March 7th, 2007 at 07:12 pm 1173294733
You are very nice to comment on and compliment every person's suggestions; however, you don't have to do that with me because I'm going to mention something that you've already said you won't do. But I can't resist:
If you eliminate one house cleaning per month and one snow removal (see? I've ventured into the "non negotiable" items) and you also put that extra $300 per month toward debt reduction instead of into your investment account, then you're looking at a $6228 reduction by next year with those items alone. It would be like getting an $8500 per year raise (you'd net in the ballpark of $6228 after taxes).
I promise not to mention this again, okay? I am really enjoying following your story. I have been there, but I guess I was a little more freaked out by my situation than you are.
Whenever I find a way to add money to my account--for example by raising my deductibles on auto and home owners insurance, thus lowering my payments-- I like to think in terms of how much I'd have to earn on a paycheck to NET that much more money per month.
Okay, 'nuf said. Good luck and keep working at that budget!
March 7th, 2007 at 07:25 pm 1173295523
I do appreciate ideas...I may not always apply them
March 8th, 2007 at 02:32 am 1173321138
I read that your wife gets $300 a week for groceries and non-essentials. What are the non-essentials that this allowance would cover (just my curiousity here)?
Do you put away money in advance for quarterly or annual expenses or are you going to pay these from your pay as they come up (as you did with the electricity bill)?
Are you putting anything into savings (other than retirement accounts)?
Sorry, I know I'm nosy but I'm really enjoying reading the way you are going about attacking your debt. Feel free to tell me to 'bugger off' if you like
March 8th, 2007 at 04:03 am 1173326634
Nice to see an Aussie! One of my best friends is from Queensland (he worked for our company for a couple of years here in the US before moving back to AUS about a year and a half ago. It would be nice to visit!