My credit card debt is well above average, no doubt about it. I’ve been asked how it got this high. This sounds bad but I’m not really sure how it got this high. Other than the two credit card checks I used last month ($3,000), I really haven’t used my credit cards in YEARS.

Here’s some things I know we charge in the past 13 years and the approximate purchase year. Most of them seem like stupid needless purchases now and I regret most of the purchases.

$4,000 Master bedroom set - 1998
$4,000 Computerized Sewing/Embroidery machine - 1998
$2,500 Tires and Rims for a vehicle we no longer own - 1996 (regret)
$2,500 Tires and Rims for a vehicle we no longer own - 2002 (regret)
$3,000 Tires and Rims for a vehicle we currently own - 2005 (regret)
$5,500 Tires, Wheels and adaptors for a vehicle we currently own - 2006 (regret)
$2,000 Tires and Rims for a vehicle we currently own - 2005 (regret)
$1,200 Quilting machine with frame - 2001 (regret)
$1,200 Treadmill - 2002 (regret)
$10,000 (guess) for various trips/short vacations - 1995 to 2005 (regret)

Those are all the major purchases I can think of right now. They add up to $35,900, that’s far short the $41,000+ I owe right now. I’m thinking the majority of the other purchase were for gasoline. I guess I’m still paying for gas I burned 12 years ago. That’s really dumb.

I think the biggest reason why we are have accumulated so much debt is because for the first 10 years of our marriage, my husband worked overseas. When he’d come home on days off, I wanted him to have whatever he wanted, I really couldn’t tell him “no”. So we’d spend with cash and then when he’d go back to work I’d try and sort it all out. If I came out short, my credit cards where there to help me out. While my husband was at work he had a horrible eBay habit that was costing me literally $1,000 +/- a month. To compensate, I’d sell stuff on eBay and the more I sold the more he spent.

Okay, let me have it!

I don’t get paid to post any of these freebies. I LOVE getting free stuff and just want to pass on the savings.

Printable coupon for $10 off $30 purchase at Walgreens - good only Friday 5/30/08

Free Keyboard brush.

Free sample Gillette Men’s Body Wash.

Free 2 load sample of Snuggle.

Free sample of 100% organic Garlic Gold.

Free Subscription to Elle magazine.

Free Subscription to Metropolitan Home magazine.

Free Subscription to Cycle World magazine, Car & Driver magazine, OR Woman’s Day magazine.

Free (digital) subscription to VIBE magazine.

Free sample of Folgers Gourmet Coffee.

Printable coupon for a FREE bottle of Ensure.

Free sample of Purex.

Father’s day coupon for FREE beer battered onion rings at TGI Fridays.

Free sample of Aveda Green Science Lifting Cream.

Free Bracelet.

I don’t think a day passes without me dreaming about getting rid of all my crazy debt. I can’t believe I let our debt get so far out of control. My debt feels soul crushing. I know I’ve made progress since starting my debt reduction but every time I look at my total credit card debt, I can’t help but feel hopeless.

A few weeks ago I found some old credit card statements and old credit cards, still attached to the paper they came with. I guess I’ve been playing this losing credit card game for at least 13 years! To tell the truth, I don’t really remember doing that but I saw it in print and plastic so there’s no denying it.

Lately I’ve been wondering if getting out of debt is like dieting.  They say loosing the weight is the easy part, maintaining the weight loss is the hard part.

What if becoming debt free is easy and staying debt free is the really hard part?

Sharon wanted to know what adult guinea fowl look like. LOL, it’s not pretty! They sure think they are pretty though and LOVE to look at themselves in the mirror or glass.

My four adult guinea hens look like this:

The Guinea Roo looks like this:

Based on the newly hatched keets marks, I think the keets will end up looking like this:

On Friday my oldest daughter was awarded an $1,100 scholarship for a JC about 35 miles away. She’s changed her mind about moving to Chico and attending a local JC there. I’m not sure if she was looking for a way to opt out of moving to Chico or not. Maybe she actually put a budget together and figured out that she can’t afford both rent and eating. Now that she’s received this scholarship she’s decided that she needs to live at home. I’m not really sure what to make of her change of plans. I’m relieved and at the same time I’m hoping her staying doesn’t have anything to do with leaving her boyfriend.

The scholarship should pay for her unit fees and all her books for a whole year. She’s pretty excited about receiving it.

Now for the bad stuff. The JC that the scholarship is good at is about 35 miles away over twisty mountain roads. It actually takes an hour to drive so she’s looking at a two hour round trip commute on school days. In the winter there are days when chains are required, there are also days when there is extremely heavy fog on the mountain. There’s also the added mileage/wear & tear to her car and of course the ever increasing cost of fuel. I’ve decided to just stay out of it and only offer my motherly advice if I’m asked. You know what they say - pick and choose your battles.

I have to admit it, I’m thrilled she’s not leaving home. The thought of her moving out, being broke all the time and taking on unnecessary debt didn’t sit well with me at all. I also feel as though she’ll have a better chance of actually getting her RN if she can go to school full time and work part time.

The new Guinea Fowl are here! We had a great hatch! Our hatch rate was 83%, this early in the egg laying season, I was thinking I’d be lucky if we got 50%. We ended up hatching 13 keets. Aren’t they cute? If all survive, I’ll end up having 18 guinea’s. They are the best guard dogs ever and they eat gophers and snakes too.

Last night my husband BBQ’d some steaks. I had bought a whole chicken on sale for $0.88/# and I had him BBQ it. I then skinned it and shredded up the meat, added some BBQ sauce and now my kids are going to have BBQ’d chicken sandwiches for the next few days. I got the buns on sale for $1 a pack. So for about $7, plus stuff I already have on hand (tortilla chips, carrots, etc.) I’ll feed all four kids for three days - that’s about $0.58 each lunch. I’m so excited and they are all thrilled to have such a great lunch!

I’ve been blogging about my debt and life in general since February 19, 2008. Now I’m going to give an update, the good, the bad and the ugly, you are going to see it all.

If you are a regular reader of my blog you’ve probably noticed that I haven’t updated my Credit Card debt for over a month. There’s an a reason for it, as I’m sure some of you have guessed.

Last month I came up short. Yep, I even bounced a few checks (the bank honored them). I ended up using two credit card checks. $1,500 for my property taxes and $1,500 to bring my checking account back into balance. I’m totally embarrassed to admit this, as I’m sure you can imagine. The total of $3,000 is locked in at 3.9% until the balance is paid off.

Today my total credit card debt stands at $41,501. That’s a $901 increase from when I started tracking it back in February. I’m not happy at all with myself, I know I can do better. Other than using the two convenience checks I haven’t charged a single thing.

Now for the good news. I paid off my state taxes as of February the balance was $9,276. I also paid off my husband’s truck. Back in Feb the balance was $4,459.

All together I’ve paid down $12,834 since February.

My oldest is on her way down to Disneyland right now for grad night.  She worked in the JV Football and basketball concessions stand and the whole trip only cost me $50, what a deal!  This includes the bus ride to and from Anaheim, admission, and a shared hotel room.  It doesn’t include the $105 that we gave her for meals and fun.

High school seniors from all over California, Nevada and Arizona come together for Grad night at Disneyland.

I was reading the paperwork and “no water bottles allowed” was mentioned over and over.  I didn’t get it - lol I guess I’m a little slow.  I was talking to my husband about it and he said, “Duh, its so the kids don’t sneak in alcohol.”  Duh is right, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that myself.

I’m cleaning most of my house today, the floors, bathrooms, all of it! Well, technically I’m cheating, my friend Rosa comes over every other Wednesday and helps me clean for $60. I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned this little splurge I give myself twice a month. $60 cleans 3 bathrooms, 3 bedrooms, the living room, dining room, and the kitchen OR master bedroom. For me it’s worth it to have all the toilets and microwave look like new.

I’ve debated letting her go and throwing an additional $120 a month at my debt. She’s worked for me for over 5 years and she helps me out with my animals when I go out of town. Having her come to clean is my one splurge. I haven’t even had my hair cut in over 2 years, I cut my husband’s and son’s hair, all my clothes come from Walmart, yep, Faded Glory is my brand! I clip coupons and make all four kids lunch everyday for school. I’m always looking for ways to cut back.

My husband tells me I’m crazy. I get up early on cleaning day to pre-clean the house. Rosa tells me most of her clients clean before she shows up.

Now I’ve revealed my dirty little secret. I guess I’m trying to justify the $120 a month I spend on cleaning.

This is a great three minute video. The video demonstrates how you can have “free” cars every five years for life. I think it’s a must watch.

I found this video on Sharon’s site, Paid it Down. Thanks Sharon!

Oh this is a good one.  A few nights ago I was telling my daughter that back when I was a teenager living on my own, I used to have to pay 50 cents to wash and 50 cents to dry my clothes and I had to buy my own detergent and fabric softener.  I told her since she’s moving into her own apartment in July that I thought it would be a good idea if she started paying me the going rate to wash and dry her clothes and she should start buying her own laundry detergent and fabric softener.  Or even better yet, she could take her dirty clothes down to the laundry mat and do a few loads just to see what it feels like to pay hard earned money to wash dirty clothes.  She didn’t like that one bit and quickly shot down the idea.

Then her father told her, “Those Doritos you are eating they cost money too, what are you going to do about buying food so you can eat?”  Wow, that little question got her fired up.  She yelled back, “Well I’ll deal with being able to afford food when the time comes!”

Can anyone that’s reading this believe this comment came from a 17 year old getting ready to live on her own?

The girl has a WHOLE lot of growing up to do.  It also sounds like she’ll be going on a crash diet come July.