I have listed the five debts to the right individually, so I can keep better track of what is being paid down.

My goal is to have all the credit cards paid off by November 15, 2007, before any interest sets in, except for the loan, which already has interest attached.

This is going to take some creative working my monies, as I still need to get through Christmas with cash (fingers crossed) and finish up my teeth.

You guys probably think I have such horrible teeth. I really don't, I am just maintaining them and changing over 30 year old fillings which are loose and replacing them with white fillings.

One tooth completely broke off because of the filling being 30 years old and moisture got underneath the filing and made the tooth weak, causing it to break, which in turn costs me a couple thousand dollars to fix.

It seems that whenever Thanksgiving rolls around, I am in a hospital for one reason or another. Not usually for myself, but either my daughter's cancer, my mom's cancer, my dad, etc., etc., etc.

Well, all of that is over now and as I was cooking the Turkey and fixings throughout the day, we were talking about past Thanksgivings. I had mentioned that this will probably be the first Thanksgiving in 11/12 years that I am actually home and things seemed relaxed.

Well, just as I was carving the Turkey, I sent my husband to go get our 11 yo ds from his friends. It was a warm day here in Michigan, so they had their bikes out. DH rode his bike to get DS and decided to show (or show off) for all of DS's friends with a Wheelie.

The bike flipped backwards and my DH landed on his right side, on top of his arm. He made it home, but we went to the Emergency Room at our local clinic to get an x-ray. Sure enough, he fractured rib no. 7. They wrote him for three RX's and sent us home. We filled the RX's at Kroger. Cost $30.00, but got $60.00 in free food with a coupon I had.

The worst part, the next morning, the radiologist called and said we should come in for another x-ray, that he was suspicious of his right lung. Another x-ray confirmed that his lung was 40-50% collapsed. They sent us to hospital, where they surgically inserted a chest tube into my husband's chest. Apparently, when he hit the ground, he also punctured his right lung which was releasing air, blood and fluids into his chest cavity.

Well, he is still in the hospital. Our hopes are that his puncture will heal on its own and we will not need further surgery to repair the puncture. Things look good. The doctor shut the machine off today to see if the lung will stay inflated. If it does, they will hopefully remove the tube in about 12 hours and maybe release him tomorrow.

They have treated us with great care, because they were negligent in sending my husband home with a collapsed lung. The clinic and hospital are affiliated and haven't been charging us with much of the expenses. We will have to see just how much our bill comes to. I know the second x-ray, the doctor wrote "NO CHARGE" on the file.

But it goes to show how easily and fast you can get hurt. We will try again next year to stay home all day on Thanksgiving.

Please pray for my husband's speedy recovery.

So I looked at my list of expenses to pay each month and thought I would take a stab at what I could lower or eliminate. Here is what I have done so far.

AOL is now free if you have another means of connection (i.e., cable company) saving me $14.95 per month or $179.40 per year.

Got rid of one cell phone saving me $84.80 per year.

Went from SBC to Talk America saving me approximately $120.00 per year.

Approximate Total Savings Per Year $384.20

Added one senior citizen account $60.00 per month, $720.00 a year to my income.

As posted in a previous entry, I mentioned that my income was going to be cut and eventually gone in 3 and 6 years.

First of all, Thank you for all the great suggestions, but here is what happened.

I do have total trust in the Lord that he is going to help me figure out my delimmas. In the past 11 years, I have taken care of my daughter (cancer), my father and my mother, who both passed away within the last 3 years.

A lady at church approached me and ask if I could help her out. You see, she is elderly and needs someone to help clean her home (laundry, change sheets, bathrooms, etc.) and do some grocery shopping for her. Of course, I took her up on it, which opened the doors for other elderly needing help.

So that is my new job, assisting the elderly. It is a win/win situation. They get the things they need done and I get an income. Plus, the gratification of helping the elderly is so much more and they get a couple hours of socialization.

My Aunt (my mom's sister), who is 81, and I help her out every week, thinks it is the best job I could ever do. She is so excited for me and I feel a great sense of peace.

So, in three years (Jan. 2010), I will loose half of my income. After that, three years later (Jan. 2013), I loose the rest of my income.

I just called on my Jeep payment to find out when it matures. The lady says 2016 and then laughs (everybody is a comedian). No really when does it mature. She finally tells me it is 7/16/2010. I will pay it off before then.

I will be debt free from my $9,402.68 debt come November, 2007; and I am adding to my ING account and my savings account every month; so

That leaves me with my Mortgage payment and everything that goes with owning a house.

Now, it is figuring out how to replace that amount of money I will be loosing in 3 years and what to do after it is all gone in 6 years. I do have a couple degrees (one in law and one in interior design), but they do not interest me.

I will need to get creative and find something fun to do. I am sure something will come up. I will probably start working with my husband and buy and flip houses. That is the goal.

called me this morning. I was looking at my insurances on-line, when I noticed my mom was listed (she is deceased), so I e-mailed that she should be taken off my policy.

Anyhow, as I was getting things all figured out with Dennis, a few items came up. Mind you, I have had the same insurance guy forever. He has been my one and only insurance man.

I found out today that I am not paying $305.00/year for homeowner's insurance, but instead $630.00/year. Really, how did you get that extra $300 without me knowing.

Then, come to find out, I am not even listed with a discount for having all of my insurances with him. Hello, Dennis, you are the only one. Could ya fix that and get me a discount.

Lastly, my credit has built substantially from the last time checked, two years ago, could you re-run my score and get me a better all around rate.

So, here is the low down. I am paying $2,043.36 so far this year on combined insurances, I paid $300 dollars more than I knew of, and I am not getting a combined discount.

Dennis said he would work on my file and fix it all for me today. Love that guy.

That is the cost of investments just sitting not making any money over the years.

Up North Property, paid $4,600 and another $1,000 out of my pocket to cover the costs of taxes, association dues and the water bill over the last 2.5 years. We don't use it like we thought we would. I do have a potential buyer for $3,200, but he is dragging his feet. It is a beautiful area, just not the area we visit very often, so I need to dump it. If the potential buyer backs out, I will list it with a realtor come January.

My Online Christian Book Store. I paid $580.00 for it, but it just cannot compete with online stores like Christian Book Distributors. I did not research this one enough before investing in it. I have made back $50.00, but now they are changing the way the bookstores work and it is going to cost me $10.95/month to keep it up and running. It is not worth the return.

My Vacation Package. I paid $3,394.00 for 10 weeks vacation to use over the next 5 years at plush resorts all over the world. Great if I could get there. I thought we would travel, just have had no time. My kids' schedules are intense (their choice) and keep me very busy. Plus, I just got a bill for $99.00 Annual Service Fee. I am able to sell some of my weeks to make back some of my money. I have my oldest son going away this year on a week around Christmas, and a couple scheduled for a week early next year (Jan/Feb) to Mexico or the Carribean (they need to decide). Plus, my two youngest kids' Odyssey of the Mind teams should be using up 2 weeks next April in Traverse City for State Competition. I haven't added up the return on those 4 weeks, but it will bring back some of my investment.

Bad Investments:
Property/maintenance $5,600
Vacation Package $3,394
V.P. Annual Service Fee $495
Book Store $580
Total Loss Money $10,069

So just like some earlier posts that Broken Arrow was talking about, we do make some bad decisions and we need a plan. That is what I trying to do, make a better plan. The bad investmetns do keep me on my toes and helps me stay creative on how to make them better investments and reap back some of my money. Wish me luck.

I will show my good investments on another day.

To write a check or not to write a check, that is the question?

Let me explain. As I was checking out my purchases at Home Depot, I was writing a check. The Cashier says "Wow, I have seen someone write a check in a very long time". My reaction "Oh really, then how do you get paid?". Cashier - "People usually just use a card through the machine". Me - "Well, I like to keep a record of my purchases on my carbon copy and write it down in my checkbook register, so I know how much money I have left".

So, okay younger person, are you calling me old, cause you better step outside.

Well, anyways;

Should I be setting up all my debts to have automatic debits for things like my mortgage, car payment, insurances, etc., etc., etc.; and

Should I be using my debit card to make purchases and forget the checkbook.

I am only 45 years old. I didn't feel like I was not keeping up with the times. Maybe, it is my youthful appearance that made the Cashier think that I shouldn't be writing a check, but, instead using a card.

Do people still write checks, or should I let mine run out, not re-order and, like I said before, have auto-deductions every month. My paycheck is electronically direct deposited into my Checking and when I write checks, some come through as an electronic debit on my statement, so did I miss the Sign of the Times Class, cause I think I did.

Paid a little over $400 to my debt area

Prev. Balance Owing $9803.22
Paid $400.54
New Balance Owing: $9402.68

Added $2.78 to the Change Jar
Added $200.00 to my Savings Account
Added $50.00 to my ING Account

All Expenses are PAID, just working on a cash Christmas. So far, so good.

But, Come January, I will reveal my new venture, where I am cutting back and how I am tackling my debt. The PFBlog.com really got me excited about becoming wealthy. I am going to have to arm myself with a sword to keep the kids at bay. Ahh, Matey, look out.

My oldest son, Jonathan (21), never has any money. He is still in college getting his Associates in Music. He already has a degree in Digital Engineering. As you can tell, music is his life, but, that is why he has no money. He can't stay off of Craigs List or Ebay and keeps buying musical instruments and recording stuff.

He is always calling me asking if I want to make $100. In order for me to make $100, I have to lend him money first, then he will re-sell an item and pay me back with an extra whatever the item can make. But, once he gets the item, he likes it so much, he never re-sells it.

I am very supportive of his music career and believe one day, he will make it big. His band has won two battle of the band contests, a recording contract and his voice has won many regional contests and taken him to states. That said, here is my idea for his Christmas Gift.

I usually spend around $400.00 on him. I am going to purchase certain gifts and wrap them in a layered manner in the order below, with a note attached to each layer.

First Layer: Rich Dad Poor Dad for Teens: The Secrets About Money--That You Don't Learn in School; and

Second Layer: The DVD set of Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money--That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not, both by by Robert T. Kiyosaki.

They both cover different areas of finance. The second one I have listened to in my car, and it is awesome.

Read the first one first, then listen to the DVD's in your car while delivering pizzas.

The Third layer/item is a $100.00 bill; and the

Fourth layer/item will be an ING account, which I will open with the minimum $250.00, so he will get the $25.00 bonus and I will get the $10.00 bonus. I am also going to fund $25.00/month for the next year, which also goes towards his gift for next year.

Then, I will ask his dad to get him a digital camera or gift certificate from Circuit City for a digital camera, so that he can take pictures of his items to re-sell without having to borrow one from somebody.

The idea is for him to gain knowledge, other than music in college, from the book and DVD's, use the $100 for his investments, books, etc., get him to help fund his ING account and use his digital camera to get items listed to make some money and add to his savings. Otherwise, he is going to need Music Anonymous or an Intervention, and I am not kidding.

I hope he likes it.

Love Mom.