Thank you all again for the advice on what action I should take on which debt to pay off first (post of 7/13).

I have decided to put all extra money toward the personal loan that is at 6%. I like the fact that it is not revolving debt so once it is gone it is really gone. While we are not using the CC at all and have not been for a long time there is still the possibility hanging there.

The other factor that decided me was that I also realized that if I can get that personal loan paid off by January 2009, I can always get my credit union to grant me another personal loan to transfer the balance that remains on the CC which is currently at 0% through the beginning of February 2009.

So, I will keep the ticker running on the 0% CC, but I will be adding one for the Personal Loan since that will now be my new GOAL. The personal loan is not due to be paid off until the end of 2010, so I am hoping to pay this off 2 years early. *fingers crossed*

First day at the new 1-day-a-week office. Not great, but it's a paycheck that will go entirely to the debt.

It wasn't a terrible office, but it still made me appreciate my 3-day-a-week office even more than I already did. Little stuff like they only give out toothbrushes and no extras like floss, proxybrushes and endtuft brushes to patients who have special needs. They keep the toothbrushes at the front desk which makes me think I am not expected to teach home care to my patients. That's not cool. That is one of my most valuable and important skills.


The office seems "cheap" as far as supplies go also, which is also "not cool" since they were explaining that the doc does not want me to use a new mask for every patient...um, not gonna happen, sorry. That mask is to protect my health and the health of my patients and I definitely will not compromise on that stuff.

We'll see how long I last. I may jump ship if my specifications are not met, or they may fire me because I have specifications!

I would really appreciate feedback from all of you. I know there are many more financially savvy individuals here than practically anywhere else, so I know I'll get great thoughts and suggestions from you all.

I have been putting all extra money toward the CC you see to the left which is at 0% until February 2009. I was hoping to have the entire balance paid off by the time it returns to a higher rate. At this point I am not sure if that will happen or not. Right now I have about $600 to put toward my goal, but I am holding on to it until I get some advice from you guys.

Now that I am half way to the 0% offer's conclusion and have only paid about 25% of the balance off, I am wondering if I should change my plan. I am thinking maybe I should put all the extra money I was putting toward the 0% card instead toward the debt with the smallest balance (a personal bank loan) - $3300 at 6%, or to the one with the highest interest rate (another CC) - $4600 at 10.51%.

We are trying to pay down our debt now by throwing all extra money toward it, then save for a down payment on a home. I would love to be able to buy a home within the next year while prices are still down, but right now our debt/credit limit ratio on the CCs is still very high at 38.6% (down from 41.2% in January) and our minimum monthly payments are high at about 27.5% of our monthly gross income.

If we pay off the bank loan we would lower our monthly payments to 24.3% of our gross, and if we pay off the 10.51% CC it would be about 25%.

We've never bought a home before or shopped for a mortgage but I think those are things they look at during the mortgage process. Do any of you who know about mortgages and home-buying have any insights for us?

Any and all thoughts are welcome!

A very successful CVS run today. I really planned everything out so that I could spend the very least amount possible out of pocket (oop). That perfect plan didn't quite work out, as it would have had me paying about $2 oop, but I still did extremely well.

Here is what I got:
(10) Dawn dish liquid
(2) CVS pantiliners
(1) Playtex tampons
(4) Sure deodorants
(2) Always pads
(2) Pert Plus shampoos
(1) Trident Xtra Care gum
I think I made out like a bandit this week. What do you guys think?

Wow. My first time using a Target coupon. It made me never want to shop there again. I had a Target store coupon from a couple weeks ago that was $5 off 3 items from specific manufacturers, J&J, BandAid, Playtex, etc.

First trip to the register, I have 2 Johnson's detangling products and 2 Johnson's buddies products so that I can also use 2 printable coupons I found online. No go. "The bottles have to say the word baby on them" according to the cashier. Okay, no problem. I put those back and grab some that say baby on them.

Second trip to the register, I have 4 buddy soaps (to use the 2 printables), 2 baby shampoo and 1 baby powder (to use the $5/3). Cashier (different one) gives me the most evil look like I am trying to STEAL from them, looks in the bag where she has already put the items she rang for about 5 minutes then looks back at the coupons, then in the bag, etc. Sees the 2 shampoos and tells me the other products don't qualify. I show her the baby powder. She puts the $5/3 coupon through. People behind me are now giving me the same evil look as the cashier. Tells me I can't use the other 2 buddies coupons because the total will be zero and they can't have a zero transaction...if that even makes sense. I understand her to mean that the 4 buddies bars are only 94 cents each and they total less than the coupons. I ask if she can adjust the coupon down - no. I ask her if I can buy another bar so that the total is more than the coupons. Yes.

I pay for all the other stuff and walk away, look at the register tape and realize they overcharged me for the baby powder. I sent my husband over to CS to get my 35 cents back.

Third trip to the register, I go back to the original cashier who is at least nice to me. Buy 5 buddy bars using the 2 printables, and it takes her forever to figure out that the register is WRONG and that the products do indeed match the coupon. I pay and get the heck out of there.

Is it always this frustrating shopping with coupons at Target? Are the coupons always denied? That is what it seems like to me since each and every coupon was denied by the register and had to manually be accepted by the cashier.

Anyway, after all of that I did make out pretty well:
(5) Buddies bar soaps - $0.94/ea
(2) Johnson baby shampoos - $2.79/ea
(1) Johnson baby powder - $2.09
(1) 5pk Kandoo refills - $8.99
Total - $21.36

Redeemed:
(1) $5 off of 3
(2) $2 off of 2

PAID: $12.61

I went yesterday and again today to 2 different stores.

Yesterday I didn't do as well, but here is what I got:

Revlon brush $5
Revlon hairclip (my DD has been begging me for this pretty butterfly clip) $6
2 Coppertone Sport sticks $10.60
2 bags Lifesavers BOGOF so $2.19
1 CVS facecloths $3
Redeemed:
$2 coupon
$2.19 BOGOF Lifesavers coupon
$3.49 ECB
Paid: $20.83 oop and received $15 ECB

Today I bought:

2 Softsoap bodywash - BOGOF so $4.49
2 Coppertone Waterbabies sticks $9.98
Redeemed:
$1 softsoap coupon
$8.49 ECB
PAID: $5.19 oop and rec'd $10 ECB

So, these 2 transactions kinda even each other out, since I spent $26 oop and got back $25 ECB.

I've gotta get better at finding coupons to go with the ECB deals, so that my oop is lower. I tend to get very confused when I walk in the store and distracted from what my "plan" should be.

I did find out that the store that is all the way across town has the coupons from the "Reinventing Beauty" magazine hanging for customers to take which is super nice since I ended up buying this mag yesterday just to use one coupon. Now I will know to get the coupons from the other store.