There is no May finance update.

Because of this...

and this.

The finances are going to take a major overhaul to prepare for not one, but two new additions to the family. The van purchase was already in the works, it just turned into a need instead of a want. We did our homework and got this 2008 Dodge Grand Caravan with 41K miles for almost $5K under blue book with a great loan rate.

April Finance Update

Bleh.

We've been spending money like it's going out of style. Why? Because there's money in the account. We got our tax refund in February and we haven't done anything with it yet.

We've been eating out a lot, which has made us all sick. Todd just left today for a three week training course in Los Angeles. Hopefully I can get the house and menu planning under control while he's gone.

Current Balances:

1. Timeshare Principal: $24,274.80
2. Star Card: $354.09
3. CU Credit Card: $0

Total Debt: $24,628.89

I would love to say that our payments will be increasing soon, but our plans to use our tax refund to pay cash for a bigger used car have been thrown out the window. Todd decided that if we're going to buy a newer vehicle, he'd rather spend some money and get a newer one with less miles on it. The plan is to finance 2/3 of the purchase price. We've been pre-approved through Navy Fed at 3.9% interest rate. My husband has almost perfect credit, which is pretty awesome.

If only we could refinance the timeshare at that rate. :/

Check out Budgets are the New Black for more Personal Finance Updates!

Reimbursement!

We finally got our money from the Navy for our change of station back in October. YAY! We were able to pay off the credit card and replace about half of the emergency fund. Buying new uniforms when Todd came back from deployment ate up a big chunk of that cash reserve.

Have I mentioned how much I *LOVE* that he had to spend almost $500 on uniforms that he wore for about 3 hours before being issued new ones? Seriously. He's in the Navy and last year he wore Army uniforms for 8 months, Navy uniform for 1 day, and is now wearing a Marines uniform. Sigh. At least I don't have to pay for the Army and Marines uniforms - just the Navy uniforms that sit in the closet or at the bottom of his seabag.

January Debt Assessment

Current Balances:

1. Timeshare Principal: $24,688.45
2. Star Card: $654.09
3. CU Credit Card: $711.85

Total Debt: $26,054.39

OUCH.

Since September we've paid the timeshare finance company almost $1500 and only $482 of that went to the principal. The maintenance dues also run us an additional $85 every month. Good grief we need to get rid of this loan.

The Star Card is what we used to buy the new computer (with a touch screen for our special needs son). We've already paid $200 towards the balance and it's not accruing interest until August, so we'll be paying that off before then.

Credit Union credit card will be paid off as soon as we get our travel money from the Navy. After two months of training and two weeks of medical hold, Todd checked in to his new command before Christmas and was able to file the claims last week. Hopefully we'll see that money *relatively* soon. That money will also replenish our emergency fund.

Our pay is still getting worked out since they screwed it up with this move... again. As soon as we know what the final numbers are, I can work out just how much we can throw at the timeshare each month.

A whole basket of suckage.

We've moved.

Luckily, we had some money in savings for a move, because Todd can't file a travel claim or file for dislocation allowance until he checks into his permanent command IN DECEMBER.

Yes, so not only did our monthly pay go down $600 (as much as I love having Todd "home", I'm gonna miss those deployment checks), but now we're paying for a move out of our own pockets while Todd is at a training command. They pretty much made us move. We were lucky that we were able to get housing because they usually don't let families move into base housing until they've checked into their permanent command. Thank goodness for Exceptional Family Member priority.

Barely treading water

This month we had a big "oops" happen to our checking account. A combination of our first non-deployment paycheck, the timeshare payment (which is about half of that paycheck), buying uniforms for Todd's new training battalion, a last minute trip to North Carolina to look into the housing situation and forgetting to transfer his uniform allowance into the checking account. Sigh.

A major fail on all parts.

Overdraft charges ensued. We couldn't transfer any of the money that was sitting in share on the same account. We live across the country from a physical branch, and Katie cried.

We called customer service and they reversed 5 of the 7 overdraft charges, but she couldn't make the transfer either. She was able to point us in the direction of a share branch that could do it for us.

Sigh.

It was a nightmare.

After this move is finished, we need to rework the budget and see how much money we can throw at the timeshare.

Here we go!

Welcome to my new blog. Welcome to our quest to get out from under our timeshare debt, live on one income and try our best to keep ourselves above water.



We bought our timeshare back in 2006. When we signed the paperwork, we had every intention of taking yearly vacations at their resorts all over the western Unites States. We were living in St. George at the time, and shortly afterward, we moved to Las Vegas. My husband was working as an LPN at a nursing home and rehabilitation center when we decided to enlist in the Navy. Our Navy pay is not anywhere near where our civilian pay was, but we also don't have the expenses such as health care premiums and housing costs.

We live in military housing and don't have a car payment, so the timeshare is the only debt that we have. It has become a bit of a pain. We love being able to use the resorts when we visit family, I'm just tired of paying the 12% interest.


Our current balance on the timeshare is $25,170.89.