I would REALLY love to get out of debt. This is something that is most definately in the foreseeable future, and I know I have to take a good long look at my expenses to be able to accomplish this. SO, I decided to slightly twist the $20 challenge a lot of you all do to fit my needs.
I know a lot of people are going to start on Jan 1st, but ... I am taking a leaping head start of a week and a half. From now until Jan 3rd, I'm booked. Completely booked. Since this is my last day off for about two weeks, I picked today to sit down wit myhandy dandy budget and work everything out.
My second savings account is where I am going to be keeping all of this money. It is at a local credit union, and it really won't be hard at all to make a weekly pit stop here to donate funds.
I know this money is supposed to "grow" but lets be honest, the amount I am being charged in interest on my debt will make any grown man cry. These debts need to be tackled as quickly as possible. So, my take on the challenge will be that every month, I will withdraw this money from said savings account and pay extra to my creditors. I am going to start throwing money at the so quickly there silly little heads will spend. YAY!
My rules of the challenge are:
$1 will be put into the challenge:
* I have a no spend day
* Whenever I write a check
* I bring my lunch to work
* When I hit 10,000 steps on the pedometer
* When I loose one pound.
Each week, when I go to the local credit union, a check will be written out to hit these totals. I will keep track of this in my little calendar I bring with me everywhere. I figure if I do this weekly, the money will seem less to me, than if I did it once a month.
Also included in the challenge are:
*all change collected over the course of a month
*any "extra" dollars. This might not make sense to some, but what I do with my tips is round them down to the nearest tenth, so any "extra" dollar is shoved into my change jar. This money adds up QUICK.
*any grocery savings. I know this is debated by some people as actual savings, but when I see what I "saved" after coupons and special deals, it's usually a bit of money. I am going to pay myelf back with it.
*any rebates
*all survery money and any mney from paid sites
*anything that I sell on ebay, or in garage sales or at the consinment shop
* and the BIG one ... all of my paychecks from Cracker Barrel are going to be funneled into this account. I pick up my check every Thursday (they don't have direct deposit) So every Thursday I will be making a nice hefty deposit into my credit union.
Can it be done?!!? I think so. I really hope it can be done. I need for it to happen. So, I am going to make it happen.
My take on the $20 challenge
December 20th, 2007 at 04:18 pm
December 20th, 2007 at 04:35 pm 1198168551
December 20th, 2007 at 05:45 pm 1198172752
December 20th, 2007 at 06:27 pm 1198175241
I really need a new keyboard, seeing all those typos. ACK!
December 20th, 2007 at 07:34 pm 1198179281
December 21st, 2007 at 05:07 pm 1198256859
Good luck!