Beginning of the results

I have started to see what effects this program is going to have for me. It's nice to change almost immediately.

With the last paycheck I got, almost all of it goes toward my mortgage. It's sad to see it go. However, it leaves me a little bit of money to do what I need to. With the extra leftover, I almost paid off all of my bills for the month as well. Since I was able to save little portions, I was able to take that money and pay bills. With the check that I get next week, I will be able to pay off some more debt.

The savings account has been created and I'm able to put money into that. The plan was to put the money from my tuition reimbursement in there, but I've started to dump money in already.

I've also started to try and sell some of my stuff that I don't need. eBay is usually a good place to do that. I've also tried using craigslist and ksl. If I can start to gather some money from some things I don't need, it can go straight to paying off debt.

Saving money in small ways

I started going through my spendings to figure out what I can spare and start to save from. These are small steps, but it's going to save me some money while paying off debts. I will review it again in the near future to save even more money.

1. Cancel my motorcycle insurance. Since I am no longer riding my motorcycle, I canceled the insurance to get my money back for the remaining amount. I had paid the insurance in full when I signed up, so a refund check will come back to me. This gave me $139.

2. Adjust my retirement contribution. I am currently contributing $205/month into my retirement. I am going to bring this to zero for the time that I am paying off my debts (minus my house). While you're paying off your debts, you should not be contributing to this. You're losing money off of interest more than you would if you didn't contribute to retirement. Once you pay off the debts, you should contribute 20% to retirement. Savings of $205/month and $2460/year.

3. Send back DirecTV receivers. I signed up with DirecTV and with it came a deposit for receivers. I canceled DirecTV and am sending the receivers back. This gave me $550.

4. No more fast food for lunches. I am still going to eat out for dinner every once in awhile, especially since I am dating. For lunch, I will always eat a standard meal that I brought from home. I estimate I will be spending $10/week on lunches at the most. Before, I was spending roughly $40/week on lunches. Savings of $116/month and $1392/year.

5. I've downgraded my Dish Network plan to save $10/month. This will be reviewed again in the near future.

These are the main things that I've gone through so far. I am well on my way to financial freedom. It's just a matter of time before I have everything paid off.

I currently have $1500 in credit card bills (from emergency trips) and an $8000 car loan to pay off. Once this is complete I will just have my house to pay off.

Introduction to my Pathway

This is the beginning of my journey of financial freedom. I got this idea from a friend (Joe England) who got it from Dave Ramsey. I am going to try and update my blog weekly to give an update of where I am.

The first goal is to get a $1000 fund into my savings account. In order to get out of debt, you need an emergency fund so that if you need to fix something on your car or in your house, you're not going right back into debt for it.

I am finishing school on the 18th of December. At that time I will get a tuition reimbursement from my company. That will go right into my savings account for my $1000 emergency fund and I will begin paying off my debts.

After that, I will need to work out my money situation in every little area to save as much money as possible.