The interest rate on my husband’s truck loan is 3%. I think that is low (not as low as mine though – 0%  ) – but we are at a point now where the pay-off amount is something we could really get aggressive on and pay it off within 12 months.

We owe $10,336 on the truck. Currently his monthly payment is $608.44.

If we upped the amount paid each month to $1,000 ($391.56 more than what we currently pay), we could have this truck paid off in 10 months.

We will be keeping this vehicle for a very long time Husband has a 10 minute commute to work and everywhere we go in the truck is within a 15 mile radius – not to mention we usually take my car – he has extremely low mileage. Plus, we want the experience of not having a vehicle payment for a long time again (we kept his last truck until it was approaching 200k miles and had been paid off for 5 years).

I need a tangible goal right now. Something I can really focus on. Tangible goals have been missing in my life for a bit – it happens, right?

So – my goal is to get this truck paid off within 10 months – striving for 8 months.

This will make me actually look at my other expenses and make some cuts to make this a reality.

I already cancelled my ancestry membership. I know that’s only $240 a year – but its $240 I can put towards that truck!

My statement for charges in September 2019 has posted - I am trying to use this credit card for as much as possible for the travel rewards (Husband and I want to start traveling more - and if we are going to be spending the money anyway - might as well get some rewards back - of course we pay the balance every month).

In September, my husband and I took a trip to Hawaii. While the majority of the trip was paid for well in advance (flights, hotel, activities) - incidentals and food weren't. So September numbers are skewed higher in certain categories. (The money was already saved in the travel account so no worries about paying for them)

Here are the categories/amounts for September (which are discretionary categories):

Eating Out: $735.73

Entertainment: $314.92

Gasoline: $122.01 (Category is lower as we were out of town)

Gifts: $724.38 (this includes my anniversary/birthday gift from my husband)

Groceries: $340.35 (Category is lower as we were out of town)

Hair: $160 (I don't age gracefully, it appears)

Misc: $276.47 (I know what these charges are for - they don't just neatly fit in another category as they are a mixture of purchases)

United Airlines: $590 (Roundtrip ticket for me to go see my parents at Thanksgiving)

Since I just got back to blogging, I am interested to see how these categories move going forward - I just can't use the month of September as a basis as we were actively on vacation for 2 weeks of the month.

The past week has been crazy in the Luva household... mainly work kicking me in the butt! I haven't been able to post in about a week - but tonight I did find time to sit down and add up all the numbers for my end of month net worth calculations....

Total Net Worth: $32,668.90 (up by $5,927.95!)

BreakDown:

Investments: $13,701.55
Checking: $2,237.35
Assets: $65,940 (Only including vehicle and house)
Debt: $49,270 (including the mortgage)

I am pleased with my progress for the month - but there is still room to do better. Back to the spreadsheet to figure out exactly how my money will work for me during the month of March!

Before I met the man of my dreams (hubby) I was married to the nightmare of my life.

Ok, that is probably not overly fair to say - so instead I will say that I was very young (19) and thought I had found the man of my dreams (ex-husband). We had two children together, and they are the most amazing things that ever came out of that relationship.

My ex-husband is an alcoholic. One of the reasons for the divorce. We have been divorced for 10 years, and in those 10 years, he has basically ignored the fact that he had any financial or emotional responsibility to his children.

During this time, he had no bank account and got paid under the table. The only support we received was the 2 years he filed taxes and I received his tax return.

Around last August, he finally went to an in-patient treatment program and has gotten sober. He also filed for VA disability benefits and was awarded 20% disability. In order to receive his disability, however, he had to open a bank account.

So, after 2 years of not even speaking to this man, I get a message that he needs to speak to me. The conversation basically informed me that he had opened a savings account, went to rent a red box movie and the machine wouldn't take his debit card, so he called to see why. His savings account has been frozen and reads that he has an available negative balance of $76,000.

He would like for me to call the state and have him absolved of his debt.

Is he crazy? Or am I crazy for even contemplating it for a second?

I realize that it will take until the end of time for me to receive that money from him. However, he has a responsibility to his children and his past poor behavior shouldn't be absolved. At the same time, this is a huge mountain for him to stare into and I fear that it could cause a setback to the progress he has made to better himself and get a grip onto his own life.

I have decided that I am not absolving anything. Instead, I wrote my ex mother in law and laid it out for her - what the situation was, so that she could possibly help him either financially or by getting him some financial education. I felt very uncomfortable writing her - although we have maintained a relationship all these years. But we never talked about her son or that he wasn't paying child support - so to bring it up now was very uncomfortable.

Perhaps I made the wrong decision - but it has been made and done, so not much I can do about it now.

Just another example of how poor financial choices from years past can come back to possibly destroy your future. Its best to stare those debts in the face and do what needs to be now rather than wait a decade to face the music.

Here is an overview breakdown on my financial picture (since I haven't posted it yet):

Investments: $13,595.10
Checking/Savings: $1,149.38
Assets: $61,720 (House/Vehicle estimates - no personal goods)
Debt: $49,876.38 (including mortgage and vehicle)

Total Net Worth: $26,588.10

Further breakdown of Debts:

Mortgage: $26,594
Discover: $2,122
Providian: $5,391
NMAC: $8,591
Old Republic: $2,636.38
Target: $2,075
Walmart: $389
AAFES: $595
Masters Degree Loan: $1,483

I was in an interesting conversation with another person - (contrary to when I have conversations with myself) about charitable giving.

Now, I have not yet posted my total debts and whatnot on this blog (will be getting to that shortly - I do have it all in a spreadsheet!), but I do have some debts.

And even with the debts, I budget charitable donations each and every month.

This other person basically started lecturing me about how I could use that money to get out of debt faster.

I responded (as politely as I could), that personal finances were exactly that - [bPERSONAL[/b]. And while yes, the money I budget for charity could assist me in getting out of debt faster, I personally feel a sense of obligation in charitable giving.

For the record, I am not giving a record breaking amount. My charitable donations this year are projected to be $650. Broken into 26 pay periods, we are looking at about $25 a pay period.

I personally feel that even with my debts that my family and I are extremely blessed. My children have never felt the pangs of starvation, the uncertainty of where they will sleep, or any of the other discomforting and sometimes horrifying things that occur in this world. We have more than we need and that $25 a pay check is not going to take food out of their mouths or get us kicked out of our home.

And while the amount of money I give every two weeks may not change the world, it assists in comforting 13 people every two weeks with a warm meal, a safe place to sleep, and medical attention here in the United States.

I have a financial plan, and I want out of debt. But I don't think I should stop helping my fellow man completely simply for the reason of reducing my debt 1 to 2 months earlier than projected. At some point, your own values have to come into play and isn't the point of budgeting to prioritize what is important to YOU and YOUR family?

What do you guys think about charitable giving while paying off debt? Is it something that you continue(d) to do - or something that you put off for the short term?