Happy Third Blogiversary to Me!

Today is my third blogiversary.  And...HAHAHA....our current debt level is actually just under $300 MORE than it was when I started!!  HAHAHA.  I did a "reset" of the numbers on May 7, so I really should use that as my new benchmark for looking at the debt, but I couldn't help but notice how close our debt is to where it was 3 years ago.

For posterity....today's numbers are:

Retirement Loan -$35,135.52
Student Loan -  $27,064.43
Car Loan -$11,358.75
Credit Card - $468.56
Medical - $2,903.16

As of today....I have 170 "followers."  I remember getting my first follower...and was amazed that someone was actually reading my dribble.  This is my 774th published post, and will probably hit 1000 before my NEXT blogiversary. 

So what is different now than when I started:

Layout.  I have played with this many times, and it still isn't right.  One day I would love to hire a professional to fix it, but it just isn't in the budget.

Retirement.  When we started this blog, we were still contributing to a retirement account.  Per the Financial Advisor (who was fired shortly after I started this blog), we stopped so we could increase our cash flow.  I soooo wish we didn't do that.  I know that the debt needs to go down, but I don't think that this was the best decision.  We are toying with starting up again...even with the current debt load.  You learn to adjust to the numbers.  And G-man gets a match from his employer up to 5% that we have lost out on for 3 years now.  Plus, we had a retirement loan when we started this....paid it off....and took another one (the LAST of them).

How we "save."  We used to "save" whatever we had left over...which usually was nothing.  We didn't save for upcoming purchases per se, nor bills.  We now save ahead for all of those things.  Christmas, personal property taxes, camp, just to name a few.  Yes, it takes more out of our paycheck each time, but we no longer have to "hope" we have enough, or rely on "third" paychecks.

Interest.  When we started all of this....our CC rates ranged from the 9's to the high teens.  We were paying HUNDREDS of dollars a month, just for interest.  Now we pay very little.  The highest rate we pay is 9.24% on the CC, BUT, we haven't paid interest in several months due to some small changes.  Our largest debt has a rate of 1.63%.

And what hasn't changed much:

Car loans.  We had a loan on G-man's car when we started, and that was paid off in 2011.  My car was paid off, and has since been replaced with a newer car, so we still have a car loan.

Medical.  Until Bossy doesn't have a feeding tube, and until we have decent Dental coverage....this is just going to be a fact of life.  I would really love to be able to keep up with this stuff, but right now it isn't an option.  We keep paying, but each month more gets added.  The Dental....I almost want to cry.  $2000 for my dental work really hurt this year.  It would have gone so far in paying other stuff.

Home Dynamic.  G-man continues to let me steer the ship.  While he does weigh in some, it really is all on my shoulders to figure out the best options.  

I love blogging and have no plans on going anywhere.  I really hope that a year from now we are MUCH better off than where we are now.  Maybe in the low 60's????  *sigh*