Thursday, May 8, 2008

Financial Peace - April Update

Everything went smoothly this month except for our grocery budget. I can see a few changes in prices in the local grocery stores especially with wheat products and dairy products. I guess everyone is feeling the pinch. We'll have to tighten this a bit more but we also decided to increase our grocery budget by $100. Part of this increase is due to the fact we are eating a lot healthier. I'm really not sure what a family of 6 should be spending on groceries a month. I should research that a bit...we have two adults, two teen boys and two toddlers. Therefore, if you have ideas how to figure it, I'd love to hear it!

Our debt snowball is rolling a long and gaining some snow along the way. We're making some changes to our leftover credit card bills...mostly switching to lower rates. We're also calling our card companies and requesting lower rates because of our great payment history. Most are willing to lower them...those who aren't usually get culled out. I know...Dave says playing with them will get you bit eventually. However, we have switched one balance to a lower rate card and closed the old account...we're pretty diligent about closing accounts. Some companies just do not want to work with you.

Our Baby Step 1 emergency fund is still healthy...no problems have come up to need it and when there was a small problem, we absorbed it through working it out of our budget.

We've decided to put our stimulus package into a savings to replace our family van. We'll add to it over the next few months and try to find a great deal in the fall when prices are generally lower. Right before Christmas is a great time to buy a used vehicle. :)

That's about it for the update. Have you started your journey to Financial Peace?

Have a great day!

Mavis D.

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