Campfrugal's Personal Finance Blog

Yes, it does; and at a bad time of the year.

I went to the doctor last week because I had a sore that just wouldn't heal. I thought it was still a part of the shingles that just wouldn't go away.

No, no, my doctor looked at it and put me in his outpatient surgery room and removed it that same morning and sent it to Pathology. Well, it came back as a Squamas Cell Carcinoma or "skin cancer". He believes he got it all, but would like me to see a specialist. Okay, but I don't have insurance and this is going to cost me, but I realize it needs to be done.

Also, the filling over my root canal is gone. Now, when did that fall out. I will have to call the dentist and have it replaced with a new filling. He wants to put a crown on it, but I just can't afford to do that right now. And, it is in the back, so you can't see it.

Plus, my marriage is struggling. I just don't know how much more mental and emotional abuse I can take. So, I really need to see a divorce attorney.

Oh, where do I begin, cause it is that time of year when Christmas is lurking and two of my children have birthdays in December.

I just need to get on the phone and make some phone calls to get an idea how much those big ticket items are going to cost me, so I can get them in the budget.

On a positive note, my Christmas shopping is going great and my Birthday children already got their presents for their birthdays. Just need to cook their favorite dinner, bake them a cake and celebrate on their birthdays.

Starting my "Passive Income" category.

$6.99 - Rebate check

I will keep a tally on my sidebar.

So, I found this ad:

http://detroit.craigslist.org/okl/cto/1450409108.html

I actually think this would be a great room to have around my home. I have a spot for it. I could re-decorate it and put the PS2, Guitar Hero and other games in it, along with snacks and have a great place for my kids to hang out. My home is kind of small 1600 square feet, so it needs to be kept cleaned up so it doesn't look clustered. I mean it is only $700. This would be a great family Christmas gift. I already have a trailer plate for it. In my state, if it doesn't drive, you don't need to insure it, just put a trailer plate on it.

Just think, with a little landscaping, like evergreens in pots, strategically placed, it would be kind of cool. Am I crazy or what.

Another blog brought up how much food costs these days, so I thought I would do a post similar to hers in response.

Last year (2008) I spent 6,240 in the "food" category or roughly $520/month. I thought that maybe I could give myself a challenge this year (2009) and cut that amount in half, or $260/month. It seemed simple enough, but after looking at my totals, I apparently didn't do very well. I looks to be about the same both years. We buy mostly all organic items (which costs more) and my food category includes all household items, like toiletries, batteries, lightbulbs, water softener salt, etc.

I have kept all my receipts and figured it would be a January project going through all those receipts to see just how much is spent on food, how much on household and how much spent on water softener salt.

I have stockpiled more this year and had a garden so that I could can, freeze or dry some of our own food. We also cut out pop and bottled water. I have been learning and doing things like making our own bread, sauces and cooking more from scratch.

I am hoping that all my efforts in the past few years will help get my food bill down in 2010. I really would like to be very self-sufficient in this area. And, I would also like to know how much water softener salt, shampoo, toilet paper, laundry soap, etc., we are using.

Can't wait to dig into those receipts.

I have created a new category. I am going to see how much passive income I can make in the next 12 - 14 months, starting with now (November 09).

I will be opening a new checking/savings account somewhere where I can get a sign-up bonus.

It is kind of like the $20 challenge, except this will not be from using coupons to save money on everyday expenses like groceries and such, but any actual monies that come into my hands that I can actually deposit into a seperate account. (i.e., rebates, sign-up bonuses, cashbaq.com money, ebay and craigslist sales, etc.)

Oooh, I wonder how much I can make. This will be a fun challenge.

November is here, I can feel the crunch of loosing half my income. I was a little grumpy yesterday. Probably because I paid the bills, but money also went to my long-term savings goal.

Anyways, I paid another $600 on my debt.

I listed quite a few items on ebay and craigslist. Hoping to generate a little extra cash in the Pay Pal account for X-mas and birthday shopping.

Bought my husband a black suit for his brother's wedding. Cost $90.00. I think that is a awesome deal and he looks great in it.

Went through my coupons this morning for today's grocery shopping excursion.

My youngest child - baby boy (soon to be 15 in December) started driver's training yesterday. Ugg. He was so scarred, he was shaking. First he said, come in with me until he seen all the kids standing around, then he was like, umm, nevermind. It would probably be embarrassing if his mom walked him in.

Also went through baby boy's clothes yesterday with him so I can get an idea what he needed. He grew up so fast.

Washed and changed over all the bedding to the heavier stuff - flannel sheets, down comforters and extra blankets.

Off to shower and then grocery shopping. Hope I find some good deals.

Before the end of the year, there are just stuff that needs to be done before I loose half my income.

*My husband needs a suit because he is best man in his brother's wedding. I did find a good deal at Target, if I can find the right size jacket.
*We really need new mattresses. Ours are so worn down that we wake up feeling like we have been run over.
*I would like a new comforter. Ours got tattered and worn, so I put a duvet cover over it, but now it is very tattered and worn.
*Christmas shopping. Need I say more.
*Two of my children's birthdays are in December.
*Finish some painting on the exterior of my home - basically doors, before the snow flies.
*Of course, keep paying down my debt as much as possible. I would like to start the new year with as little debt as possible.
*My main bathroom needs to be re-done. It has some mold. Needs new drywall, a better bathroom vent for taking out the moisture, a new sink and repainted. I will probably have to work on this come the new year.

I did re-write a budget for the new year. It is going to be tight, but if I remain aware of our spending and watch for deals, I think we can manage. My new budget will be posted the end of December.

So I thought I would start keeping track of the Free stuff I receive. This will include items I receive in the mail, Gift cards and cash.

I use different sites for different things.

Mypoints.com. I use the click thrus for points and then redeem for gift cards.

Cashbaq. Used for buying items and receive cash back.

Winster.com. Game playing to receive coupon codes for different items. My latest was $8.00 off a Papa Johns Pizza

Inbox Dollars. Used for cash back.

Pincone Surveys: Cash for doing surveys.

Hot Coupon World. Used for freebies and just plain ole good advice for using coupons, rebates and sales.

So far this week, I have gotten Free:
*Gardening Bag from The Nature Conservancy
*$8.00 Papa John's Pizza coupon code (We are getting pizza tonight for dinner)
*$25.00 Gas Card from Mypoints
*$13.00 redeemed from Cashbaq.
*$6.00 from Pincone
*$5.52 sitting in my Inbox Dollars

Waiting to receive:
*Silver key chain
*DVR for switching from ATT to Comcast
*Doggie sleeping bag
*Reusable Shopping Bag
*Marlboro T-shirt with my hubby's initials
*Snugi Blanket

That is all I can think of right now.

I love to look at fashion/clothing catalogs like Newport News. You can also look at them online, but if you get the catalog, you can rip out the look you like and take it with you when shopping.

It also helps me when I go into my closet and make something out of what I have without buying. Or, I can go to a Salvation Army type store and look for fill ins. This is a great way to save money on clothes.

It helps keep me trendy. For example, I bought a really nice black sweater dress about 16/17 years ago. Well, wouldn't you know, they are back in style; and you can bet, no-one has one like mine.

Also, if you buy quality and take good care of your clothes, they will last so you can use them 100 years later.

Here is a link for the 10 items, 10 ways look. Every time a catalog comes out, there is a new 10 items, 10 ways look.

http://www.newport-news.com/shop/category_splash.aspx?gp_coll_id=9&gp_cat_id=1649&nav_cat_id=9782&category_id=10121

Love it.

Well, there will be no raise for me due to the deflation of our economy from COLA (cost of living adjustment), so the new base income I will be living off of in the year 2010 will be $18,900.

Thank goodness my husband has been working steadily and I have my summer job.

We used to just live on my income and try to use whatever my husband gave me for savings, paying down our debt and restoring our cottage.

We have made changes to our lifestyle over the past year to accommodate the loss of half my income, but I will be sitting down very soon to work on a new budget for the New Year, making goals and priorities.

I used my summer beach job to pay for my property taxes. This past year, I made enough at my beach job to pay the taxes, take two mini vacations (one to Mackinaw Island and one to Chicago) and buy all the paint and landscaping needs for my cottage. Next years beach money will be allocated for taxes and Christmas.

Just a note to fill you all in on my happenings this summer and revelations throughout the year.

I have been working on elimating my debt and now have it down to just over $9,150. My debt was around $23,596 in September 2008. I have paid off $14,446 in a year.

My summer job at beach is now over. I made enough money from running the club to pay my property taxes, buy most of what I needed for repainting my home and needed items for my gardens/landscaping, took a vacation; and still have a couple hundred dollars left to take my kids to Chicago this month. It always leaves a little sadness in my heart to close the beach.

This summer, I completely repainted my cottage to color match the new section and added cedar shake to the outside of the new foyer, along with laying the wood floor in the family room, adding a deck, worked on landscaping, added some raised gardens and grew our own food, all with cash.

This was the year to work on simplifying my life and living a sustainable and self-sufficient life. We chose to reduce our waste, reuse or recycle what we could, started a compost pile and stopped buying pop and bottled water. I set out to teach my children that our food doesn't come from the grocery store. We grew potatoes (red and white), tomatoes, corn, raspberries, grapes, apples, herbs, asparagus. We use local providers for our strawberries to make jam, went apple picking and put up apple pie filling in the freezer. We baked delicious and wholesome food from scratch and made extra for the freezer or canned for the pantry. Just yesterday, we made three large batches of stuffed cabbage using local cabbage, organic hamburger and rice and made our own stewed tomatoes to pour over the top.

We will be adding chickens for eggs and will sit down and make a plan on what else we would like to do to become more green and self-sufficient. This has been an awesome adventure for all of us.

I started a Farmgirl Chapter from Mary Janes Farm http://www.maryjanesfarm.org/ and am looking forward to learning new skills from my new found, like-minded friends.

In keeping with the Farmgirl theme, I started a new blog to document mine and my family's simple, self-sufficient and sustainable life. You can find me at http://www.urbancottagefarmgirl.blogspot.com/

I do come back to read others entries every so often here at saving advice, but realized over the summer that my heart is not into making sure I have enough money to retire on, but instead to retire living a rich and full life and teaching my children how to supply their own needs, remain debt free and be happy and healthy.

Here's to being green, self-sufficient, self-sustaining and debt free (in the very near future).

Dave Ramsey's Baby Steps:

*Step One: $1,000 Emergency Fund
*Step Two: Pay off all Debt
*Step Three: Three to Six Months worth of expenses saved
*Step Four: Retirement Allocation Plans
*Step Five: College Funding
*Step Six: Completely Mortgage/Debt Free
*Step Seven: Build Wealth, make my money work for me.

Mine:

*Step One: Freedom Account Fund. This is the place where I add money to every month to pay for things like taxes, insurance, doctors/dentists visits and have my emergency money. I also keep cash stashed at home.

*Step Two: Pay off Debt: Oh, I have been working on this diligently. I started last September with $23,596.64 and am now down to $9,292.54 one year later. I have paid off $14,304.10. Wow, that is almost half of my income that went to debt. I really haven't done the snowball method. I have just paid what I could each month and used my income tax return and any extra amount of money I received from selling stuff, rebates, etc. to pay those debts down.

*Step Three: 3-6 Months Savings: Well, if I could pay off over $14,000 in debt in a year. I should be able to accomplish some savings once my debt is gone. I do have an ING account that automatically gets a deposit every month.

*Step Four: Retirement: This is a hard one for me. I don't trust other people with my money; and the more money you have saved making interest, the more taxes one has to pay. Of course, I can't predict the future, but I would like to work as long as possible making a living, instead of living off what I have saved or should be coming to me from social security. If I have no debts, I shouldn't need a lot. I will have to re-visit this one in the near future.

*Step Five: College: This has been accomplished. Each child has/had $20,000 in a savings account for college. One has graduated, one is just starting and my youngest will get his money in three years.

*Step Six: No Mortgage: This is in the works. I re-financed my mortgage from a 30 year fixed at 6.75% interest rate to a 15 year fixed at 4.5% interest rate, saving me a ton of interest, which I have been adding extra money to. My goal is to have it paid off in 10 to 12 years, when I am somewhere between 58-60 years old.

*Step Seven: Build Wealth: I think this is along the lines of Retirement. One should be able to live off their retirement, which means I should have built wealth over the years to make my money work for me. But this is something that I think I could get creative in -in different areas. Any suggestions.

So that is my plan in relation to Dave's Plan.

I got to thinking the other day, when one of my kids asked if I would like her Christmas List.

Which brought on this thought. My daughter mentioned we needed a DVR, so that she could record certain shows while she is at college; and my youngest (starting 9th grade) would like a laptop or computer for gaming for his room.

There are also some services that need to be changed around here or items I might need to purchase in the near future.

So my thinking is: I could get a free DVR or Dell Netbook if I changed around my tv/internet/phone provider to a different one.

At one point, Art Van, was offering a Free HDTV with a purchase. I do need new mattresses for myself

If I open a certain checking with a different bank and stick to the terms, they are offering a Garmin nuvi 1200 GPS. This would be a great gift for my oldest child.

So, my thinking is to see how many great gifts I can get for free, just for using services or buying items I actually need.

I will keep you posted on how I am doing.

I was able to find another credit card that would transfer the balance from my highest interest rate card and give me 0% interest rate for 6 months, 10.99% after that and no transfer fees. So here is saying good-bye to my Chase Visa with a 23.25% interest rate, who didn't want to deal with me, even though this is my longest standing card I have had for years. I won't close it, but I won't use it. Here's to me being DEBT FREE a little sooner.

When my mom was growing up, my grandma and grandpa knew they only had somewhere between $1500 to $2000 to live on for the year. They lived in Kentucky, did tobacco farming and a had a blacksmith shop, along with 10 people living in a small house. They gardened, cooked from scratch, wore hand-me-downs, didn't incur debt, etc. to make ends meet. This is how I am looking at my budget come January 2010. I am calling it "The Hannah Project".

There are four months left before I loose half of my income. I am looking at going from $37,800/year to around $19,500/year.

But, there are a few things I have been doing to prepare for the difference.

1. Paying down all of my debt. As of September of 2008, I owed $23,596.54. I now owe a little over $10,000, which consists of 2 credit cards left to pay off. I cannot wait to be DEBT FREE.

2. I have made a list of wants/needs and have been saving for them or working on them tirelessly.

*New Mattress/Box Spring set
*2010 Graduation Party for my daughter
*Finish siding/painting the exterior of my home, along with finishing the landscaping.
*Finish small projects inside home.
*Re-do family bathroom.
*Blacktop or poured cement driveway
*Savings for a new vehicle. Mine is a 2001 Jeep that I am going to drive for as long as possible.
*New larger shed
*Hot Water on Demand tank (this is definately just a want, want want).

3. I have been canning, freezing, working my garden, cooking from scratch and trying to stockpile certain items to help with the grocery budget.

4. I have been keeping track of certain personal and household items so I can fit them into my budget in a certain category. (i.e., water softener salt, toilet paper, laundry soap, shampoo and conditioners, school supplies, clothing allowance, etc.) and learning to make my own, hitting garage sales and sewing.

Also, when a lightbulb burns out or battery dies, I have been replacing them with CFL's and rechargeable batteries. The chargers and the batteries have been the best investment. I had a coupon for them.

5. I have done a "preliminary" budget on the $19,500. This way, I can cut back in certain areas and start living on that "preliminary" budget for the next four months, so that I know I can live within my means when the time comes.

6. I have cut services and items from the budget this year and we haven't missed them.
*Garbage pickup. Since we have been composting and recycling, I don't have very much garbage, so I just take the bag I have to work with me.
*Bottled water. We changed over to a Brita and bought water bottles. We have not missed buying bottled water.
*Buying Pop. It took a couple weeks to get over the urge, but now we don't miss it and I have lost some weight.

I do have two other areas of income, but I am hoping to not tap into those, so that I can use them for other savings categories.

I transferred money from my ING account to pay off a credit card, but don't ya know that my Jeep broke down instead. It is such a long story, that I just don't want to go over it again. But, I did end up with a rental car. I was going to keep it for 4 days, but it was so totally filled with marijuana smoke that I returned it the next day and made them give me my money back.

Went with my 17 year old daughter to take her Road Skills test for her driver's license. I have never been able to ride with her because the lack of control makes me ill, but had to be the one with her for her driver's test. Yes, she passed, but I failed. I was sick and at one point almost passed out. I think the instructors should give parents a sticker that says "I survived my teens road skills test". Oh, yes, I would have worn it all day.

During the vehicle breakdown, one of our cats needed to be groomed due to her long hair being so matted. I bummed a ride from a neighbor to get her there, then walked home. I have had to walk quite a few times in the past week, which I don't mind, cause it is good exercise. And, thankfully, our weather was good.

I also had my husband's birthday to celebrate on Sunday, so we went out to dinner and made it a dinner to celebrate my daughter passing her test my husband's birthday and the fact that I am not in the hospital with a nervous breakdown.

After the dust settled, I sat down yesterday to pay all of my bills and tally up the damage from the past week. To my surprise, I was still able to pay all of the bills and pay off a credit card.

Whew, thank goodness. I really thought the past week would put my goals a couple months behind, but I am still on track.

I use a couple of online sites to earn money back or points.

mypoints.com
ebates.com
mrrebates.com
Pinecone

Just yesterday, I joined a new one. Cashbaq.com. I was able to get the Entertainment Book for my area at the 7.99 price on 2009 books. Shipping is just $1.99, total cost $9.98. I get back $8.00, plus $5.00 for signing up, a total of $13.00.

If anyone is interested, here is the link for that:

http://www.cashbaq.com/?refer=492996

Sorry for the mix-up, here is another link. I hope this one works.

http://www.pineconeresearch.com/signup/ds552Referral1.asp

PineCone Research is growing. They are offering select members the opportunity to recommend membership to a friend or relative who is NOT a member of their household, so I thought I would see if anyone is interested here.

Below is a link to signing up.

https://www.pineconeresearch.com/Signup/Signup_Form.asp

A month or so ago, I refinanced my home from a 30 year to a 15 year. Well, I just did some calculating and if I make $1200 a month payment, I will have it paid off in 10 years, which is my goal.

Now, I need to figure out how to live off the remaining amount. Of course, when I am totally debt free from CC debt (which will be within 6 months to a year), it will be a lot easier.

So, here is off to figure out how much to make per month/year to cover my other expenses and save a little. Of course, this amount will change throughout the years as things in my life change, like kids growing up, moving out, technology changes, and cutting/adding other costs, etc.

So, I have enough in my ING account to transfer back to my checking account to pay off the MK Visa. I still have two other accounts with money in them for emergencies. So, should I or shouldn't I. I think I should, it just makes me nervous. But, I know I will feel better having one more debt paid off.

I owed $23,596.10 in September 2008 (not including my mortgage). I am down to $12,305.71, which would be down to $10,127.33 if I payoff the above CC. I have come a long way in 10 months.

So yesterday morning I went and picked Strawberries. It was a beautiful morning.

I got 9 jars of strawberry jam, a one gallon bag of frozen strawberries and had a large container left over just to enjoy.

This year I planted a garden. I have corn, two kinds of potatoes, 6 different kinds of tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, carrots and pumpkins. I also have a mama deer hanging around that wants to eat my plants. It is a daily event to keep chasing her away.

Everything is growing really well, but we will see what I end up with, seeings how I have a pet deer that thinks I planted the gardens for her.

Next on my list for canning and freezing are raspberries and blueberries.

So, our bill came in the mail from when we got sick a few weeks ago. For both my daughter and I, it was almost $2,200. On the letter it states that if you can pay the bill in full within 21 days to take off 50%, which brings the bill down to $1,100. Still more than I wanted to pay.

Anyhow, over the Holiday, I was talking with my SIL, who works at this certain Emergency Center and told her about my bill.

She told me that that is the main Hospital's amount and that the clinic I went to has other billing practices and to call that clinic's specific billing lady and let her know about my bill.

Well, I did and sure enough, she reduced it down to $492.50 for the both of us. We only had to pay $100 for each of us and half of our ancilaries.

Well, that is a relief and I wrote out the check and will drop it off today to her.

But, if I wouldn't of said anything to my SIL, I probably would have paid the $1,100. It pays to make phone calls and to talk to other people about your debt.

So, I have been working on my retirement plan. I am 48 years old and really need one.

I re-financed my home from a 30 year fixed loan at 6.75% interest to a 15 year fixed loan at 4.5% interest. This saves me a whole lot of interest, plus my goal is to add extra to each payment to have it paid off in 10 - 12 years.

I have been paying off all of my debt to get back to being debt free. I am down to three credit cards left. I had nine debts and since September 2008, I have paid off 6 of them totalling $11,165.43.

I have different savings accounts.

*Long Term Account - ING. I have money automatically deposited into this account every month.

*Freedom Account - this is for property taxes and schooling costs that come up twice a year; along with $1000 extra for emergencies. Money is direct deposited into this account every month to cover what that cost would be.

*Secondary checking account at a different banking institution. I put all of my checks from my second job, rebates and such into this account. This account covers Christmas, vacations, birthdays, weddings. What is in this account is what I have to budget for.

*Need to open a different savings account to be able to pay cash for my next vehicle. I will drive mine into the ground right now. I figure I can get at least another 5 years out of it.

*My goal is to keep working as long as I can, pay off the rest of my debt, including my mortgage within the next 10 years while saving as much as I can.

I am going to stay on track for not buying things I don't need (which I am pretty good at anyway);

Keep my grocery costs down. I would actually like to be like the woman whose grocery budget is $800 year by using rebate cards, ECB's and such. Grow more of my own food, do some canning and freezing.

Save for my next vehicle.

And, just live Life to it's fullest, while on a budget.

Trying to keep the whole family involved in being frugal and taking care of what we have is sometimes so daunting.

I woke up this morning not being able to type on my keyboard without getting a bunch of other stuff, like a 7 for an O, I mean come on, what happen after I went to bed.

Well, I turned off the computer and restarted it, still the same thing, then I did a System Restore, thinking it got a virus. It wasn't until after I picked up the keyboard, that I realized that someone spilled their water on it. HELLO. I know the culprit.

This same culprit also has worn out his shoes in about two months. He is so hard on shoes, socks and just clothes in general. He is 14, my youngest. He is a sweet child, but he just doesn't get the money thing, or is it just the fact that he is "14".

Other items added to my every growing list.

Youngest son, teeth cleaned, new shoes.

D daughter - *College entrance exam, pick classes and pay for them.
*Rent a car, take driver's test to get her Driver's License, so she can drive herself to college.

My Jeep - I paid it off, but now things are breaking. Passenger side window won't roll down - the inside snapped, transmission is leaking, front brakes/rotor needs tending to.

Transfer money from ING account to pay off recent trip to Emergency room.

Eee Gads.
I need to re-do my budget.

My daughter is a cancer survivor and we were invited to attend the Celebration of Life event given by our Children's Hospital at a very well-attended and busy restaurant with lots of fun stuff to do.

We went and had a great time, but unfortunately ended up very sick and my husband had to take us to the ER. Diagnosis - food poisoning.

Well, the bill came yesterday and our little trip to the ER cost me $2,139. It does state on the bill that if I can pay it off within 21 days, I only have to pay 50% of the bill. Well, that is a savings of over $1000, so, of course, I will, but why don't they just give me a bill for that amount. It's ridiculous.

Quite the expensive Celebration of Life.

Sorry, I haven't been here in awhile. Summers get really busy for me with running a beach club - ya know, its seasonal.

But, there is a lot going on. Lots of things I need to get done, but come with a price.

For Example:
*Get tires rotated and front rotor/brakes fixed so they are not squeaking.
*Clean carpet in bedroom.
*Finish flooring in all bedrooms.
*Finish living room flooring.
*Youngest son needs new shoes, shirts and socks.
*New mattresses and bedding for my bedroom.
*Piano needs tuning
*Need new computer monitor. The one I have now only works once in a while.
*Rent a car so daughter can take driving test to get her actual driver's license.
*Buy cedar shake siding for new addition and get it put on.
*Finish patio outside new addition.
*Need gravel poured in driveway.
*Replace front entry door.
*Get gutters back up.
*Go through youngest son's room, re-arrange and pack out stuff not being used, outgrown clothes and toys, etc.
*Cat needs to see the groomer.

At that is just off the top of my head. Now, that some of it is down on paper, I can get started tomorrow.

Would you take a cash advance from one credit card to pay off another credit card?

I am not sure what I would do, but it seems like an interesting option.

I have been recently getting letters in regards to raising my interest rates on all my credit cards.

I have the option to keep the card open and have the interest rate raised or keep the rate where it is, but have the card closed. Well, I guess you better close the card. Now to get it paid off.

So I decided yesterday to pay off my Jeep loan and don't ya know, it gets better gas mileage.

I contemplated putting that money on a credit card or freeing up another $305.15 per month to put towards the credit cards in future months.

So, bye bye, Jeep loan.

This is what I still owe:

Total CC Debt: $12,430.67

cc1: $5,429.67 - Chase Visa 23.24%
cc2: $4,800.32 - WAMU Visa 15.05%
cc3: $2,200.68 - M.K. Visa 18.24%

I am going to put the extra $300 a month towards the highest interest rate card first and snowball my way on down.