Income tax'd with a bonus!

Spendings (over next month)

1. Register Car (IT) - 200.00


2. Pay off Nordies Card (IT) - 200.00


3. Pay off corp. card - 200.00 (IT)


4. Pay off EZ Loan - 2000.00 (B(1600)+IT(400))


5. Pay off 401(k) loan - 1032.00 (B)


6. Fix brakes - 200.00 (B)
   Total Spendings: 3832.00 (with 100.00 just for me!)  

 

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Savings (per month)

 

 

1. N/A 


2. 25.00


3. N/A


4. 60.00


5. 40.00


6. N/A
   Total Savings: 125.00

 

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Added to??

SIG Loan: 10.25%
Current Payment: 9 months @ 461.00
Added Payments: 7 months @ 561.00

Car Loan: 4.45%Current Payment: 32 months @ 302.00
Added Payments: 24 months @ 402.00

 

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So - it seems to make the most sense to add that extra hunnerd to the SIG loan - that way, by August (if I'm even still here) I'll have almost an extra 500 bucks a month to work with - and that will trim the car payment down to nearly zip. That SIG loan is the last of what's left from my college/post college credit card madness - finally, only 5 years later, I'm going to have them ALL paid off. And despite how tempting it is on a REGULAR basis, I refuse, refuse, to ever get a credit card again. I hate those little deceptive bastards. The amount of money that I have paid on those credit cards at this point have turned that 40.00 dinner at Ruby Tuesday's sophmore year into a 300.00 luxury three course meal. Bastards. 
 I'm more or less ignoring the student loans - those are the lowest rates and have the longest payback period - and you can get those deferred for hardship if need be.
I could ignore the 401(k) loan (how sad is it - and how bad a sign of my money management - that I can't even remember what I pulled the money out for in the first place? - I think it might have been for oneof the overseas trips) but - if I leave the company, they want that paid back within 60 days, otherwise it goes into foreclosure, and really, I'm trying to cross that bridge when I know that I'll have the money to cover it. That damn EZLoan has been a blessing, and a bane - it's basically an overdraft account with a 2K limit that I can withdraw from - that account more or less paid for the wedding - so finally (and before our anniversary if I remember the bonus date right) I'll have paid that off, finally.

Looking at these bills is actually kinda odd, since they are through the Company, so the money to pay them get's pulled out of my paycheck before I even get it - and I'm puzzled why according the the IRS I'm making so much - yet when I break down my paycheck to cover my life it seems like so little. DEBT! It's a curse I tell you. But - as I get out of debt, I start to make more money - at least more money to take home anyhow.

 

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Read a throughly depressing book a few days ago - Wednesday, maybe? - called 'The Two Income Trap' or something like that which talked about how dual-income households with children were claiming bankruptcy left and right because they felt the 'need' to become house-poor in order to give their kids access to the best school systems. *sigh* It was quite depressing actually, and made me seriously consider if I EVER want to buy a house.  Cheap house+ expensive private school might as well be the same as expensive house + free public school. Ohhh look - yet another reason to homeschool - cuz cheap house + cheap excellent school sounds like a heavenly match in a one income household.
One thing that I read puzzled me though - the pressure to put kids in preschool. Now - if both parents are working - I understand - it's just a new level of daycare - but if one parent is at home - why wouldn't you teach your child yourself?
Speaking ofwhich - a brief *pHHHHHHHHHHFBBBBBTtttttttttttttttttttt* to the makers of those horrid LeapFrog things. Reading should be a communal business, dammit. Some of my best young young memories are of learning how to read WITH my mom, and then reading to her or having her read to me. I don't understand how a electronic buzzing gizmo can possibly beat that kind of connection. But then, I don't understand why most people still seem to believe that formula is a worthy breastmilk substitute, so.......
Back to my topic at hand - homeschooling seems to make perfect sense to me as a way (IF there is a SAHP) to prepare your child for school. Not only are they learning, they are learning how to learn - unfettered by a rigid curiculum that is a good fit for only 3 kids out of a class of 12. I mean -when you homeschool - it's all about customization - it's not about being easier, or being simpler (cuz heaven knows it ain't) it's about making sure that the little tyke gets precisely the attention s'he needs, in precisely the right manner, at just the right speed.

Boy - from taxes to debt to education - this would be a point at which a logical seque would be to the lovely new Presidential budget plan - but, nahhh - I'm not even going to GO there.