The title is my debt free scream since I doubt I will ever make it on the Dave Ramsey show to do one. I made the last payment to Mom on the Monster Mom Loan and we no longer have even a bitty bit of debt to our names! I am excited. This feels like such a huge accomplishment after all these years. I feel like I can sit up with straighter shoulders, because nothing is pushing them down anymore. And I don't have the boulder that is my mother hanging over my head anymore, she can't hold it over us anymore. It was so great filling in the last payment on our spreadsheet. It's like I was only breathing at half capacity and now I can fill my lungs with sweet, cool air. It is wonderful!

$1000.00 Balance Forward
-1000.00 Final Loan Payment
--------------
$0000.00 Debt Paid in Full

Now I have to make up a chart for my EF and one for the House Down Payment Fund. And fill in the last section on my debt chart. And update my sidebar. And make up a new budget template without this payment in it. I am geeking out now. It is the degree in accounting. It gets me every time! It feels like life has suddenly opened up before me again and the world is my oyster! We did it, we did it, we did it, yeah, we did it! (Yes, okay, I am singing the song from Dora the Explorer, but it fits, okay?).

WE'RE DEBT FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DH had some overtime on this paycheck so we had $361.93 extra in take home pay. Part of that went to keep the tithe at 10% and the rest to the medical fund since it is getting quite low. We have hit the out of pocket max now, though, so it is just a question of building it back up again. There was about $127 left in checking, just some carry over which will stay in there for next payday.

$354.86 Tithe
_500.00 Utilities
_400.00 Grocery Envelope
_300.00 Medical Fund
__75.00 Household Fund
_280.00 Chiropractor Family Plan
_115.17 Internet
__36.00 Garbage
_100.00 Car Maintenance Envelope
_100.00 Gas Money
_100.00 Spending Money Adults
_120.00 Allowances Kids
1000.00 Monster Mom Loan
-------------
3481.03 Total Money Out

$2000.00 Balance Forward
-1000.00 Payment Made
-----------
$1000.00 New Balance

One more payment to go and I am debt free, ya all!

$3000.00 Balance Forward
-1000.00 Payment Made
----------
$2000.00 New Balance

$4000.00 Balance Forward
-1000.00 Payment Made
-----------
$3000.00 New Balance

This will be all we will be paying on the loan this month. No extra even though DH is still working. We will be saving the extra we would have paid in two weeks to go into the EF. Even if life goes back to normal in May, we could be shut down again in October. The extra will be a cushion. Either way, as long as DH is working, this debt will be paid off by the end of June since May is a 3 paycheck month. It would have been paid off in May otherwise, but that's only the difference of a couple of months.

$5000.00 Balance Forward
-1000.00 Payment Made
-----------
$4000.00 New Balance

With the amount of overtime DH is getting, I think we will have this paid off in April, instead of May or June like we had figured at the beginning of the year. He got 15 this week which will be on the next paycheck and will get at least 10 this coming week, maybe 15 again, which will also be on the next paycheck.

I really hope the overtime continues for a while after that, too, because then we can get our three month's of income saved up for. We are about $1600 shy of one month's income. I know some people save for expenses, but I would rather have income. So that is $14,600 we need to save, which I will just round to $15,000.

With 20 hours of overtime per paycheck and keeping our takeout budget under control, we could save $1500 a paycheck, or 10 paychecks until goal. Without it, we could save $1000 a paycheck, or 15 paychecks. Either way we would have it this year, either by August or the end of October. And then we can finally start seriously saving on a down payment for a house, while slowing working towards getting the EF to six month's income.

And DH may get a raise in July. I don't know. When he got his last raise they said he wouldn't get another one before July of 2020, which would be 18 months from his last one. That doesn't mean he will get one, but his boss told him they wouldn't be able to ask the higher ups for one again until then. I am hoping there will be one, since he's really made himself invaluable. His boss says so and so does his boss's boss.

I will be glad when we can move out of here, but it will take a couple years of hard savings, so maybe by the end of 2023 or start of 2024. My eldest sister is going to move in when we move out so mom won't be alone. And so might one of my middle sister's sons. Actually he might move down here for a job and take up residence in the attic, which has two bedrooms and a storage area long before that. It has no heat, but he can use a space heater. The internet doesn't reach up there and it is only wired for 2 prong outlets and not very many, so it is not ideal, but beggar's can't be choosers.

I was still able to make a $1000 payment this payday despite blowing out the takeout budget. I just didn't add anything to the clothing envelope or the laptop envelope this payday. That means we have paid of $2000 this month.

$6000.00 Balance Forward
-1000.00 Payment Made
-----------
$5000.00 New Balance

$7000.00 Balance Forward
-1000.00 Payment Made
----------
$6000.00 New Balance

$8000.00 Balance Forward
-1000.00 Payment Made
-----------------
$7000.00 New Balance

We were indeed able to make $2000 worth of payments this month. One payment two weeks ago and one today. It feels so good to watch that balance drop so much this month. If we can keep this up it will be paid off May 1st. Maybe sooner depending on our tax refund. It will feel so good to have this debt behind us for good.

$9000.00 Balance Forward
-1000.00 Payment Made
---------
$8000.00 New Balance

I had expected to pay $800 this payday towards the Mom loan, but I ended up paying $1000. I had forgotten that since this was a 3 payday month that the last paycheck of the month would be bigger as they don't take any medical out of it. So that extra $200 went towards this loan instead. That means a total of $1500 was paid on the loan this month. By the end of December the loan will be down to 4 digits.

$11,500.00 Balance Forward
-_1,000.00 Payment Made
-------------------
$10,500.00 New Balance

I have rejiggered the budget again and think that as long as we keep our eating out spending under control we can continue to pay $1500 a month. I just have to keep telling myself that I'd rather be out of debt than to buy a pizza. It doesn't always work, but it works more often than not. I have all the ingredients for making pizza. I do not need to buy one from a restaurant.

Plus I have started back on a diet yesterday, and eating out always makes my weight go up, so that is another incentive to stay out of restaurants and cook at home. I would like to be under a certain weight by my 50th birthday mid-February. I think I can do it if I stick to no restaurant food.

I am thinking about doing a dietbet once I am a few days into eating better again, but I don't know. I am still doing my physical therapy exercises and need to get back to walking. The weather turned beautiful but cold again, so since it isn't raining, I need to start again. Just lacking a bit of motivation.

I was only able to make a half payment this payday, but the other half will be next payday. I usually like to do it all on one payday, but because this is a month with three paychecks and because I am fully funding the Holiday/Gift Fund for Christmas next payday, I am breaking it up. $1000 is the minimum I will pay in a month on this loan. So $500 now, but hopefully $800 next time is the plan. It will be $500 for sure, but I am going to try to squeak a little more out this month. If we keep our eating out to a minimum, than I think $800 is what we can manage.

$12,000.00 Balance Forward
-__,500.00 Payment Made
------------
$11,500.00 New Balance

$13,000.00 Balance Forward
-_1,000.00 Payment Made
------------
$12,000.00 New Balance

It's getting closer and closer to debt free.

$20,200.00 Balance Forward
-__,500.00 Loan Payment
------------
$19,700.00 New Balance

It is so nice to finally see a 1 starting the remaining loan balance. I had hoped to pay $700 this payday, but had an unexpected doctor's bill turn up, so that didn't happen.

I need to go to Winco and pick up a bag of oats for the rabbits. The feed stores have been getting corn in their oats the last several times we have gotten them and the rabbits can't eat corn. It has been a real pain in the butt to deal with. So I am hoping that oats from Winco will be clean. Since they are for human consumption there is better quality control. It's a little more expensive this way, but I'd rather that than risk killing my rabbits.

I've been on the Enbrel for a few days now and I continue to improve. The swelling in my legs has gone way down. It used to be a constant. A large part of my pain is gone throughout the day, though by evening I do have some that comes back. It is not as bad as before, though. I get a little queasy in the mornings, but haven't thrown up after the first morning post injection, and it seems a little less each day. I am starting to feel like a semi-functional human being.

I still haven't quite shaken this cold, but I am getting there. I'm able to do all my indoor chores again. I haven't tried to do my outdoor stuff yet. Seasonal allergies have piled on top of it, though, so there is just a lot of nose blowing going on still. I didn't sleep very well last night or the night before, which doesn't help with getting better. I keep waking up too early. I've tried going to bed earlier to compensate, but then I just lay there not sleeping until the normal time I fall asleep. Very exhausting.

I am looking forward to payday as we will be able to make some more progress on the loan. I'm not sure I'll be able to pay as much as I was hoping. We've got a couple things that have come up that need to be taken care of. Isn't that always the way? I'll still be able to make an extra payment, though.

The paycheck hit the account early. Usually it isn't in there until eight a.m. So I went ahead and did the budget for the end of March (and what I didn't do out of last time's paycheck because I was sick) and then closed out the budget for the month. After that, since this paycheck did have the new amount with the raise on it, I changed my budget template to account for the increased money and then I set up the April budget.

So it looks like we will have $1177.54 more in each paycheck. Now some of that will go to increasing the tithe amount to keep it at 10%, but the rest is all going to be thrown at the monster mom loan. If we are careful, I should be able to make payments of $700 the first payday of each month and $1300 the second payday of each month. At least barring any unforeseen circumstances.

I would have actually been able to make a $1000 payment this time, but I doubled the clothing budget as DH ripped out yet another pair of pants. He does this by getting down on one knee and then stretching forward to pick something up. I tell him not to do it, but he keeps doing it. And it always rips outside the seam so it can't be repaired. So he needs to get a couple of pairs of pants, DD needs a new cardigan (she gets called so easily even when it is warm out), I need a new cardigan and possibly a couple t-shirts. I need to go through my closet to be sure, but I think I need at least two.

I paid off the credit card (which I do monthly), but it was high this time because of all the take out while I was super ill. So if not for that I would have been able to make a $1300 loan payment this payday.

I am feeling a lot better. I still have a runny nose and a cough, but I have been able to sit up all day for 2 days running, and I was able to make dinner three days in a row now, so there should not be anymore take out, except for the weekly meal that MIL pays for if we choose to have it.

I am still not super hungry. The flu really killed my appetite. I've lost 17.4 pounds total since the 6th. Not on purpose, but I'll take it. I am up to one meal and one snack a day, but will try to get up to one meal and two snacks tomorrow. But eating is still a chore. But I really need to make sure I am eating at least 1200 calories.

I went grocery shopping today. Just one store and I used up the rest of last payday's grocery budget. I will do more shopping tomorrow with the new grocery budget. I figured it would be easier on me to just do one store today and one store tomorrow, than try to do two or more stores in one day. I don't have the stamina for it. I did make it through the shopping without having to use my inhaler, so I've vastly improved since the last shopping trip.

So at Haggen I spent $192.43 and bought:

Aspargus
Green cabbage
Scarlet carrots
Daikon
Red grapes
Oranges
Green bell pepper
Red bell pepper
Strawberries
2 beef chuck roasts
3 family sized packages of sirloin steaks
1 pork shoulder roast
1 package chorizo sausage
1 sliced ham chub
1 sliced turkey chub
Popcorn
1 loaf of Naked bread
1 package of Naked hamburger buns
4 jars of Classico Alfredo sauce
4 jars of Miracle Whip

The last two items were on super good sales, but you had to buy 4 to get the sale price. That's okay, though. The MW will last us until the next big sale and at $2.99 it was half price. The Alfredo sauce I use at least twice a month for Chicken Fettucine Alfredo and at least twice a month for the kids' pizzas (DD can't eat tomato sauce anymore). I make them a chicken parmesan bacon pizza with Alfredo sauce. It's honestly just like the one from Pizza Hut only no tomatoes. The kids say it is actually better. Probably because I cook my crust to crispy, unlike PH.

I still have to make up a meal plan for next week. I will be making pizzas tomorrow, burgers and jo-jos on Saturday, and pot roast on Sunday. I'll work on next week's meal plan after I've finished all the grocery shopping.

$21,000.00 Balance Forward
-__,800.00 Payment Made
-------------
$20,200.00 New Balance

Next payday that first digit will be a 1. So close I can taste it.

I forgot to post that I made a loan payment to the monster mom loan from the last paycheck.

$21,500.00 Balance Forward
-__,500.00 Payment Made
-------------
$21,000.00 New Balance

Friday should be the first payday with the raise on it, assuming no one screwed up in payroll. Then I should be able to start making some serious headway on knocking out this loan.

$22,000 Balance Forward
-__,500 Payment Amount
-----------
$21,500 New Balance

$22,500.00 Balance Forward
-__,500.00 Payment Made
------------
$22,000.00 New Balance

That's $3K knocked off this month.

Mom went through all the utility bills for the past two years and realized how much she has actually been overcharging us for utilities. She has given us a reduction on the loan of $2500 to make up for it. She has also reduced the amount we need to give her each month from $500 to $400. But $2.5K! That is 10 percent of the remaining loan balance. And we will be making a payment on payday, so January is getting us way ahead of the game on knocking out that loan. I needed this win right about now.

$25,000.00 Loan Balance
-_2,500.00 Loan Reduction Amount
------------
$22,500.00

Woo Hoo!

Well, when everything was said and sifted, I had a spare $500 left this month, so I made an extra loan payment to Mom today. And that brings me to a milestone goal of getting the loan down to $25K! I didn't think I was going to accomplish that this year, but we are squeaking in just under the wire.

$25,500.00 Balance Forward
-__,500.00 Payment Made
$25,000.00 New Balance

$26,000.00 Balance Owed
-__,500.00 Amount Paid
---------------
$25,500.00 New Balance

$500 to go to hit the next milestone! Looking forward to that one.

$27,500.00 Beginning Balance
-__,500.00 Payment Made
------------
$27,000.00 New Balance

We won't make as much progress this month due to the lack of overtime, but I am hoping to squeak out another $500 in two weeks time.

We were able to throw another $1000 at the Mom Loan this payday.

$28,500.00 Starting Amount
-_1,000.00 Payment Made
--------------
$27,500.00 Total Remaining

I was able to throw $1000 at the loan this pay period.

$29,500.00 Starting Balance
-_1,000.00 Payment Amount
-------------
$28,500.00 New Total

I like to imagine taking a flaming sword and hacking away at this evil Monster loan. Today I took out an $800 slice. And that first digit has dropped at last from a 3 to a 2! That makes me very happy. We were able to pay off $2400 this month. Normal budget would allow for $500 payments, so the 60 hours of OT allowed us an additional $1900.

$30,300.00 Starting Balance
-__,800.00 Payment Made
------------
$29,500.00 New Balance

$30,900.00 Starting Balance
-__,600.00 Amount Paid
--------------
30,300.00 New Balance

$31,400.00 Starting Balance
-__,500.00 Payment Amount
-----------
$30,900.00 New Balance

Next week we should be able to pay $1000 so the first digit will change to a 2. I am so looking forward to that!

$31,900.00 Starting Balance
-__,500.00 Payment Made
-----------
$31,400.00 New Balance