Right now, my top priority is my credit card debt.

I’ve got a lot of it again and it’s weighing me down.

Anyway, a long overdue invoice came in on Friday.

As it was for something I billed back in October of 2010, I wasn’t really counting on ever receiving payment anymore but since it was a $6k bill, well, I hadn’t forgotton about it either.

My first reaction to seeing the check was, “Wow — I can’t believe they actually paid… FINALLY.”

And then I started to think about how perhaps I’d just sold those I-Bonds for nothing.

But then I thought about how much of a dent I could put in my credit card balances on top of all of the money from the I-bond sell-off.

Holy 5-figures, Batman!

But I did nothing.

Instead, I sat around and waited for Hurricane Irene to arrive… and started to think about all to cool stuff I could afford to buy…

And just as I was about to buy something stupid online this afternoon, I kicked it into reverse and instead scheduled a $6000 credit card payment for tomorrow.

Woo-hoo!

A few months ago, MoneyBeagle wrote about clearing out the spiders from his gas grill.

Don’t worry, this isn’t about spiders in or on my fridge.

But his advice couldn’t have come at a better time for us.

We don’t use a gas grill — opting for the old school charcoal method instead — but I was having an issue with another food related appliance at exactly the same time.

The fridge.

My ice cream wasn’t as cold as it should have been. My house-brand grape soda was luke warm.

We’d seen this before.

I’m on my fourth refrigerator since I moved into this house 9 years ago so I was kinda shrugging my shoulders and thinking, well, the streak continues…

(I’ve always thought it was a wiring issue in the house that kills the fridge but haven’t bothered to have it checked out because I’m always of the mindset that we’ll get the entire kitchen totally re-done before this fridge dies…)

Anyway, with the daycare bills crushing my finances and all of the auto trouble, and did I mention that I had to buy a new computer too yet?

Well, anyway, purchasing a new refrigerator would just add insult to injury.

Like I said yesterday, when I pretended to be an auto mechanic, this time I put on my appliance repair man hat.

First attempt was just to jack the coldness setting up in both the freezer and the fridge.

Sometimes it’s as simple as that but after a few hours, well, things were only getting warmer.

It was at this point that I remembered the reading about the spiders in the grill…

Maybe I just needed to clean out that plastic vent/grill thing at the bottom of the door. I know that when I clean the air filter on the lawn mower that it runs better. Maybe it’s just too dusty for the fridge to do its thing.

After a few more hours, I thought the coldness factor was a little better but still far from where it should be.

Somewhat stumped, I decided to dial the coldness dials back to their original position.

But I couldn’t.

They wouldn’t move.

While trying with all of my might to turn one of the knobs, I pushed on the back wall of the inside of the refrigerator for more leverage and heard the sound of cracking ice.

Well, duh?

The knobs were now frozen into place.

After pushing on the back wall here and there I concluded that there was probably so much ice built-up back there that the vent opening that cools the fridge from the freezer was probably totally blocked.

So I pulled the whole thing away from the wall, unplugged the beast, left the doors wide open, grabbed a hair dryer, and some towels.

After an hour or so of hair dryer action (the first action the hair dryer has seen in at least a decade), we loaded the fridge back up and plugged it in.

My ice cream is hard as a rock now; just the way I like it.

And sometimes, the Tang on the top shelf of the fridge even gets a little slushy. Mmmmm…Tang slushie…

Thanks MoneyBeag!

Your spiders saved me a fortune!

We’re fortunate (or foolish?) enough to have 4 cars in the household so when one goes down, we’ve got plenty of back-up.

Or so you’d think…

My BMW Z3 hasn’t been out of the garage for over a year. Over the past two years, it’s driven maybe 30 miles. I couldn’t get it started months ago and didn’t even consider it as my back-up vehicle while the Rover was in the shop.

So, instead, I hoped in my wife’s Toyota Tacoma, turned the key, and heard the fabled “click-click-click-click” noise.

I’m no gear head but I do know that that means the battery is dead.

We hooked it up to the Scion (our only functioning vehicle) and it started right up.

Phew!

We let it run for an hour or so, you know, to charge the battery before shutting it down.

The next morning, I went out to take it for a spin, turned the key, and got nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Battery must *really* be dead.

And then a lightbulb went on!

Hey, maybe the only problem with the BMW is the battery?

Hmmm…

Needless to say, I went out to AutoZone and spent almost $300 on a couple of batteries and then spent an afternoon pretending to be a real auto mechanic.

For real, I looked like one of those guys who’s always working on his Trans-Am with the bird on the hood.

(I realize that changing the battery is a simple task — I have some great ideas on how this century old system should be modernized though…)

Three hours later, I had two more running vehicles.

How about that?

I stumbled across the old post by chance while trying to dig up that old chart for yesterday’s entry.

Anyway, since then, I’ve gotten out of debt and then right back into it again…but let’s ignore the second part of that statement for now.

So as I neared the end of my original debt paydown, I listed out a number of things that I wanted to do once the debt payments were no more.

This is that list:

• Quit my extra job.
• Start a family.
• Take a real vacation.
• Have the entire first floor of my house remodeled. We’re talking the works. New floors, walls, ceilings, electrical work, plumbing…
• Buy an all new living room set with a sectional couch so we can both sleep comfortably when football is on.
• Have some trees removed and then have other areas landscaped professionally.
• Tear down and build a new garage.

Reading it brought a smile to my face.

I quit my extra job — a few weeks before I even wrote the list. After 18 months off, I’ve since taken it back on but with a lot less on my shoulders so it’s no longer as maddening as it once was. It *is* however like being in the dentist’s chair when it comes to being paid in a timely fashion. Yep — they’re over 90 days behind. Again.

I started a family. Duncan was born in May of 2009 and we’ve got another on the way at the end of March.

Take a real vacation? Well… We did take one hell of road trip in the summer of 2008 but I’m not sure I can classify it as a “real” vacation. By “real”, we’re talkin’ about a Wheel of Fortune prize type of vacation. We’ve yet to take one of those.

We had the first floor of the house remodeled in 2010. I still need to have the kitchen done (and the associated plumbing) but everything else was done.

And at the conclusion of the renovation project, I bought a huge sectional couch for our living room back in October!

We had trees removed in July of 2009. And while we haven’t had any professional landscaping done, I’ve had professional landscapers rake my leaves for me since April of 2008.

And we still haven’t gotten to that last “wish” but I think I pretty much accomplished what I wanted to do when I got out of debt — and getting out of debt was the only reason that I was able to accomplish as much of it as I did.

Now to start putting together a new list, you know, as something to look forward to.

It was enlightening and kind of disappointing too. I mean, there weren’t any negatives listed in the report and it was cool to see how many accounts that I actually had (and forgotten existed) but it never actually told me what my credit score was — you know, that magic number that’s calculated in total secrecy kinda like how college football rankings are set.

It’s a meaningless number that, for some reason, holds a lot of weight.

Well, while the defensive financial move we made earlier this week hasn’t really gone anywhere just yet — still signing all of the paperwork — the bank did provide us with our credit scores.

Now, I don’t keep track of my wife’s finances here on PIAC but I’m pretty sure she won’t mind me sharing here credit scores as well as my own:

Experian: (Range of Possible Scores: 340 to 820)
   ·Brainy – 821
   ·Wife – 792

TransUnion: (Range of Possible Scores: 300 to 850)
   ·Brainy – 809
   ·Wife – 804

Equifax: (Range of Possible Scores: 300 to 850)
   ·Brainy – 809
   ·Wife – 810

So, if you look closely, I’m apparently “off the chart” on the Experian one…

It’s probably a typo — the paperwork sent to us to sign was littered with them — but, either way, we’re perfectly happy with those scores.

Who wouldn’t be?

The one thing that I did notice listed under my scores is something that I think may have actually hurt my score a tiny bit.

All three credit bureaus listed “No recent revolving balances” and/or “Lack of recently reported balances on revolving/open accounts” as key factors for me but not my wife.

What’s the big difference between me and my wife?

Well, she’ll carry a credit card balance from time-to-time. I haven’t for the past 2+ years but based on this, well, maybe I should.

Or not — I’m still happy with the scores.

I mean, it kind of reinforced what I said earlier — right now we’re quite possibly in the best financial position that we’ll ever be in. Let’s take advantage of it.

Here’s to hoping that it’s enough to make the re-fi happen without a hitch…

Balance is now $99,623.76.

It feels like a weight off of my shoulders even though it’s a pretty meaningless milestone and, really, still a pretty staggering number too.

Even still, from my experiences wiping out credit card debt, every milestone reached seemed to bring me more and more momentum.

I’m not exactly attacking this balance quite as aggressively as I did on the credit card balances but I’m comfortably (relatively) on pace to have my mortgage paid in full sometime in 2014.

So, while I envisioned the day my credit card balances reached $0 as the day I could spend freely (and to a degree, I almost have, though under an unwritten no-debt-incurred rule), with this new 5-figure balance, I’m feeling that much closer to the day when I can obnoxiously spend freely.

Yeah, I know it’s 5 years down the road but I’ve got momentum on my side…

- – - – - – - – - – - – - -

PIAC Post Extension:
Yes, an entire year after breaking that 22% threshold (which is apparently a law with a TON of loopholes), I’m *still* paying PMI… Ugh.

Ouch!

So much for the budget!?

Last month, I *so* wanted to increase my savings by $1000, decrease my mortgage balance by $1000, and somehow manage to pad my checking account with another $1000 too…

Doing the math (while keeping regular monthly expenses in mind), technically, that doesn’t even seem to be possible. But, man, I came darn close in May.

So far, the new baby isn’t costing us anything more than we expected or could handle.

Of course, with child care looming in the future, I’m well aware that that’s going to change in a hurry so I’m going to do my best to put the biggest dent in the mortgage that I can while I can still afford to.

So, this past week (I’m already one payment in!), I increased my weekly additional mortgage principle payment from $75 all the way up to $230.

Wow, Brainy! How can you afford $230 per week extra?

That’s a great question, and really, if you asked me if I could afford to send between $920 and $1150 extra towards my mortgage each month, I’d immediately say “No freakin’ way…“

That’s why weekly payments are the only way to go.

You can afford to deprive yourself of more than you think you can.

Doesn’t Suze Orman say something like that?

I’m pretty sure it’s her.

She’s right.

Though I’ll just be scraping by, I somehow can afford to send $230 each week to CountryWide, or Bank of America, or whatever they’re called this month…

While making this budgetary change, which all but ensures that my mortgage balance will fall by over $1000 each month, I decided to make sure my savings account balance would grow by at least $1000 per month too.

It just seemed like a good time to go all out.

Five minutes on the computer and another modification of weekly auto-transfers — an increase from $165/per week all the way up to $250 per week.

There are always at least 4-weeks per month, so I’m guaranteed to increase my balance by $1000 plus interest.

That wasn’t so painful…

So, putting it all together, I essentially increased my weekly outflow by $240.

Considering that I was totally accustomed to my previous outflow, this almost feels like I’m eliminating $1k worth of debt and amassing $1k in savings for just $240 per week.

That’s a pretty good return.

I know it’s not as simple as that — it’s actually costing me double — but it certainly feels like I’m getting a great deal.

The only spot that I’ll tank each month will be in my checking account. I can live with that.

Now I know what some are saying, “Must be nice to have a 14-figure salary… I could do that too if I made as much as you…”

I’ll be the first to admit that $240 per week is not a small number. And it’s certainly not an amount that everyone can afford — and that’s okay.

I started with a $25/week auto payment to Countrywide back in June of 2007.

Twenty five bucks.

At minimum wage, that’s just a half day’s worth of work. You smokers out there probably spend more than that on cigarettes each week. Think about it.

Point is, $25 is do-able.

And it makes a difference. A HUGE difference — see for yourself.

Whether it’s for debt repayment, savings, or even investments. Automatic weekly (not monthly) payments and transfers are the way to go.

- – - – - – -
PIAC Factoid: Setting the record straight, I don’t make a 14-figure salary.

I may be a multi-thousandaire but I got there on a 5-figure salary…

I should have been more specific but, even still, I’m happy to report that my expenses for the month totalled exactly $2500.00.

I’ve put my wallet away until Friday so this is where the number will stay.

Here’s the breakdown for the month April:

• $1653.90 : Mortgage
• $153.59 : Natural Gas
• $124.01 : Business Expenses
• $112.91 : Electricity
• $109.26 : Cable/Internet
• $99.99 : Frivolous eBay Purchase
• $66.05 : Phone
• $66.04 : Gas
• $47.67 : Smurf Dolls
• $40.00 : Cash
• $26.58 : Grateful Dead T-Shirt

So, after just three months of paying attention to my spending, I’ve taken my expenses (that were previously an unknown grey area) from $4133 all the way down to $2500.

That’s a difference of over $1600!

Basically, I was blowing $400 per week on non-essentials… and thought I was doing a great job.

And really, even this month, I *still* managed to “blow” roughly $175 on Smurf dolls, some eBay junk, and a tie dye t-shirt.

That means that there’s still room for improvement…

It’s amazing how much things can change in the short span of two years, not just from a financial aspect, but all-around.

For now, though, I’m going to stick with the financial stuff.

When I started, I had $7215 in credit card debt, owed $4014 on a high interest personal loan, and I still had $9700 to pay down on one of my cars.

Total non-mortgage debt was $20929.

Though I said then that I could see the light at the end of the tunnel of debt, now, I can’t fathom how I was so comfortable with my finances.

My head was apparently in the clouds…and had been for quite some time.

Just a few months later, though, my credit card debt alone would swell to over $20k.

Talk about moving in the wrong direction…

But this site kept me in line. Just posting the numbers each month, even if no one was reading them, forced me to hold myself accountable so I kept at it…

Amazingly, at the one year mark, I was well on my way to being 100% non-mortgage debt free and proclaimed that by this anniversary/birthday, I would be.

Guess what?

I am.

Let’s hope that year three brings even more success.

And that I continue to feel shame everytime I overspend on something silly…

At the time, I was in 20-something thousand dollars in credit card debt and seeing updates like his — how his finances were on the up-and-up each and every month — really inspired me not only to start Pants in a Can but to get my own finances in order and start really keeping track of not only of my finances but my progress too…

I also felt that I could relate to his situation (and many others too) as it seemed that we were all in the same boat. A decent income, a nice retirement plan already in place, and some HUGE debts.

It got to the point where I started to think, hey, if so-and-so can knock down $XXX off of their credit card balances each month, why can’t I?

Just weeks later, I was doing the exact same thing — following their lead — and it took less than two years to wipe all of my debts off of the table. It was an awesome exercise.

Another blogger’s net worth that I’ve followed pretty closely for the past couple of years is Flexo’s over at Consumerism Commentary.

He’s been doing the net worth updates since 2003 and really started from scratch with a net worth bouncing around the $20k mark for the first few months.

That has to be pretty relatable for those just starting out.

His whole journey of building wealth from that $20k mark has been really amazing — each month he just kept plugging away.

It’s also been quite motivational, giving me the feeling that, hey, I can do that too…

Until recently…

You lost me at $21k…

See, Flexo’s last two monthly updates have listed “other income” of over $21k for each month. That’s in addition to his salary.

Yes, in February and March, he brought in over $42k of “extra” cash.

Our net worths aren’t that far apart but I’m not even close to having made even half of that this entire year — including my salary.

I can’t relate.

Now I’m not knocking Flexo’s site or even his success — it’s downright amazing and I’d like to shake his hand — I’m just saying that I can’t “personally” relate to his situation anymore and I’d bet that that’s the case for a lot of readers out there.

I mean, I’ve had a few great months here and there where I’ve brought in over $10k in the span of a month but… $21k consecutively? In a down economy? (I can’t believe I just said that…)

He’s doing something right, that’s for sure.

It just doesn’t feel like it falls under “Personal” anymore. More like, “Small Business” or something…

I dunno, maybe it’s just me.