Freedom!!!

As of February 1st Pete and I are officially out of credit card debt.  The last payment was made and we are DONE!  It’s kind of, um… exhilerating!!  I’ve struggled for a long while with keeping my spending in check, using credit wisely, etc.  I’ve never been too far in over my head but I could see the debt creeping up little by little.  Over the past year or so, Pete and I – well, mostly Pete – have been working on getting a budget together.  It hasn’t been without setbacks but it’s been working pretty well.  The key was finding a piece of software called You Need a Budget.  It’s allowed us to learn to spend only what we’re bringing in.  Kind of obvious, I know, but easier said than done!

Now that we’ve got that piece of debt squared away, our sights are set on some savings goals (i.e. wedding, house, car for me (the Jetta is going to die sometime), etc.) and chipping away at student loan debt.  I’ve been reading two personal finance blogs that have helped me put some perspective on things – Get Rich Slowly and The Simple Dollar.  I highly recommend both of them.

We still have a lot of work to do to get us to where we want to be in the future but for right now it feels like we’ve achieved a major milestone!  Don’t get me wrong – we still use a credit card on a regular basis.  We have an AmEx that gives us cash back.  We use it for everything we can – gas, groceries, household stuff, etc. – and then pay it off in full each month.  That way we earn the cash back but don’t have to pay any interest charges or anything!  Because we use it for our daily expenses, it looks like we might get as much as $500 back this year.  Nice!!

Okay, now I’m rambling so I think I’ll sign off.  Just wanted to share the good news! 

Update from 2/18 – I meant to mention a movie that I watched recently that is relevant to the discussion.  It’s called “Maxed Out” and it is about the credit card companies.  It goes into detail about their policies, how they make their money, etc.  As Pete said, it clearly has it’s agenda.  However, it makes a lot of interesting points.  It also made me want to stick it to ‘em in any way I can.  I fully plan on continuing to use the AmEx, happily accepting the free money they’re going to give us, and continuing to pay it off in full every month so they don’t get any interest or fees from me.  (They still get fees from all the vendors where I use the card but there’s no way around that.)

On second thought…

I really couldn’t get used to calling the cat Tonks.  I tried; I really did!  It just wasn’t working for me.  So, to continue the Lord of the Rings theme in my life this year, we’ve decided on naming her Eowyn with the understanding that she’ll probably be called “Winnie” most of the time.  You can learn more about Eowyn here.  (I actually like Eowyn for a child’s name but figured I’d never get Pete to agree to that!    That’s okay, now we have Eowyn the kitty!) 

Update from January ‘08 – Okay, the cat is still called Winnie from time to time but we changed the root of it.  We were still kind of tossing around what to call her up until the time when we took her to get fixed.  Figured we had to give the vet a name for her so we better decide on one!  Her official name is… drumroll please… Fred.  Yep, Fred.  She’s named after a character from “Angel,” a spinoff from “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”  The character is Winifred Burkle – smart, quirky, a little strange, fun to have around.  That pretty much summarizes the cat so we figured the name fits.

A name for the kitten and we’re moving

After nearly 2 weeks of debate we have finally decided on a name for the new kitten. 

INTRODUCING….

TONKS.  Yep, like the one from Harry Potter.  (Don’t know what I’m talking about???  Then you’re missing out on some great books!)  I actually have to say that I don’t love it but it’s growing on me.  We went around and around and around and around on a name for this little kitten and I finally “caved” and Tonks it is.

On to the other family news…  Pete and I will be moving in the coming months.  He has been working from home 3 days a week and going into the office 2 days a week for a while now.  However, the work environment in his group and with his job is changing so that’s not going to work any more.  Because its 1.5 hrs one way to work, commuting from here just isn’t a possibility.  So we’ve made the decision to move to the Yardley/Newtown area.  This means that it’ll be about 30 minutes for him to get to work and 45 – 60 for me, depending on where exactly we end up.  This is okay with me.  We’re actually hoping to buy a place but finding one in that area in our price range will be tough.  Good thing we’re persistent!! 

New family member

Last Sunday we found a sad looking little kitten on an adjacent property.  She was hungry, dehydrated, and starved for attention.  After some discussion, we brought her in, fed her, treated her for fleas, and she promptly decided it was time for a nap.  We were told that she had been there Saturday as well but we’re not sure when she actually was dumped there.  (Since she’s good around people we think she had experience with them before ending up alone.)  She loves sleeping on people.  Here is one of my favorite photos from her first day:

We were debating whether to keep her and made a half-hearted attempt to find her a family.  Alas, no one else wanted her and we don’t have the heart to send her to a shelter… well, okay, we kind of like having her around too.    The same can’t be said for our bigger cats just yet.  Willow’s almost warmed up to her but Rodney still has his cranky pants on about the whole thing.  Hissing… growling… it’s not pretty.  Oh well – he’ll get over it!