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.