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I had not posted about Week 4 of FPU because I didn't really get all excited about it. Here's the Updates on FPU Weeks 4 and 5. Today, was Week 6, but Spouse is traveling so it's just me. Week 4: Buyer Beware *small group discussion* Question 2: What was the last ting that caused that Red-faced grocery store kid inside of you to wake up and scream, "I want ONE"? Did you give in? Spouse: I think it was the FIFA game that I bought. Ho5wever, I did wait for the price to go down before getting it. It's not so much that I had to have it as soon as it came out, but I did want it. I waited until it was almost $20 off before buying it. Me: Unlike my wife, I did not really wait for my purchase. I wanted the FPU course with the DVD's because I wasn't sure if Spouse was going to actually do the course with me, so I figured that even if we didn't make it to a class, I would still have the DVD's so we could do it at home. I tried to wait for one of DR's sales.... but only the Online or class membership kits were on sale. I sucked it up and purchased it because "I wanted the DVD's." Spouse: I get more use out of my game than she gets out of the DVD's! Week 5: The Role of Insurance Me: That was really VERY informative! Spouse: Yes, except that I'm not sure DR understands how most HSAs work. At my job, if you don't use the money that you put in there by the end of the year, you lose it. Me: Mine too. People tell me that they buy unnecessary things just to use the money. My friend's dad bought the whole family 3 pairs of glasses each. Spouse: My co-workers go to Walgreens and buy a ton of medicine. Me: Yeah... lets not do that... I could imagine that we'd get to the point where we'd have too much. We would be on the streets going, "I've got Nyquil for $1... get your Nyquil!" Week 6: Retirement and College Planning Spouse is in Houston visiting her mom so I did this one by myself. I really enjoyed learning about the different types of investments. I REALLY enjoyed dreaming of the day I'll reach BS4 and about having a baby to have a reason to do BS5!!! What I still don't understand is HOW do you actually pick out the funds that you want in your 401K? My job gave me a booklet that gave me like 10 different plans. When I picked one, it was kinda based on how long you would be contributing to it before retirement. I have the 50 year plan or whatever they call it. I guess I'll wait until I get there and contact an ELP to figure that one out. Spouse and I will watch the DVD when she comes back (later this week) and do an at-home version of the small group discussion. ---------------------- Work Update: I got really bold last week and marched into the Big Boss' office. He has only been there for a few months and I haven't really worked on making sure he knows who I am.... Nevertheless.... Me: Do you have 3 minutes? Clay: Starting now... Go. Me: I applied for a position at another site. I am still waiting to hear from them, but the truth is, I don't want to leave our location. You don't want me to leave this location either. Every single month, my name or photo is on the wall because I have achieved Platinum status for the month (Being top 10 with overall metrics) and/or I am in the Top 10 for Save Rate (One of the most important metrics). My stats are amazing and they are a small part of the reason that this site is doing so well compared to the others. I "grew up" here and I would like to stay here, but there aren't any positions for Team Lead open and that's the position that I really want. I am more than comfortable going to a new location, but I wanted to give you an opportunity to let me continue to make this site the best that I can. I want the opportunity to apply for Team Lead. Clay: That position actually just opened up today. You can apply. Me to self: *Why didn't I check that before walking in here???* Me: Good. I'll get my application in tonight. Clay: Come back at 3:00 when I have more time. I went back at 3:00 and he kept me for an hour. It wasn't really an interview... It was more casual. He told me to be ready for my first of a series of interviews tomorrow. I feel like our talk went really well though. The next day, I had THE BEST interview with 2 of the managers! It went sooooooo well! They told me that they didn't have a timeline on when I would know if I made it to the next interview and said that it could be 6-8 weeks. Well, It was 2 hours later when Clay came up to me desk and said that I was to interview with him the next day! Well, some people from corporate came in the next day so, he had to cancel my interview. He said that they were going to be there all next week and that he would schedule me after they left the site. He also told me that he got an email from the other site that I had applied to. They were going to extend to job to me on the 27th! Well, that's great...... Now, I'm wondering if I kind of messed up... If I had just waited an extra week, I would be at a better position. My pay would have decreased because the other location doesn't have a commission components to it, but I would've stepped up in the company. This position will be more money, but it's a bigger leap. Most people that are applying for it are Trainers or Global Experts (the position I applied for at the other location). So, I have a LOT of work ahead of me if I'm trying to hop over the next stepping stone to reach Team Lead. One of the "preferred" qualifications is to have been in my current position for at least a year. I've been in it for 8-9 months and I haven't even made my 1-year mark at the company just yet. Although, that's coming up on Aug. 1st. The longer they drag out the interview process, the better it is going to be for my tenure there. One good thing that happened that day is that the people that were there from Corporate were there for "Base Camp." It's a program that my company does where they take the executives from corporate and teach them how to do entry level and other jobs so that they can keep in touch with what's actually going on when we interact with customers instead of just having them make policies based on reports. Well, my department deals with long-term customers. The people from corporate aren't allowed to actually talk to them because if they upset them, or give them wrong information, we could lose the customer. Instead, the just sit with us and listen in on the calls. One lady sat with me and by the time she was ready to leave, she told me, "You are sooooo good on the phones! I'm going to tell Clay to keep you on the phones! We can't afford to lose you." I'm thinking DON'T YOU DARE TELL HIM THAT! I'm trying to get some Minions of my own and not have to be on the phones as much! Instead, I say, "Thank you for that. However, I am applying to be Team Lead so that I can teach more people to be just as great as I am! *Jokingly* Tell Clay how wonderful I am!" Once again, wish me luck!

UPDATE: Credit Cards: Chevron $2,313 Capital 1 $3,959 Amazon $3,753 (down by $2,812 since May 26th update) Non-Card Debt Car $10,775 (down by $239) Phone $18 (down by $18) Student Loans Loan 1 $4,039 (down by $3) Loan 2 $4,962 (down by $2) Loan 3 $8,160 (down by $3) Loan 4 $5,547 (down by $6) Loan 5 $5,638 (down by $6) Loan 6 $4,517 (down by $7) Loan 7 $7,649 (down by < 50 cents) Loan 8 $4,441 (down by $7) Loan 9 $8,053 (down by < 50 cents) Loan 10 $3,474 (down by $2) Loan 11 $8,060 (down by < 50 cents) GRAND TOTAL (as of June 23, 2017) $79,209.75 That means that we've paid off almost $11,000 in principal in about 5 months... I don't know if this is "fast enough." I know that there is no way that we are going to pay it all off in 24 months with our income at $62,400 for the year, but it sure is faster than what we were trying to do before. The phone will be paid off by July 10th Amazon should be paid off by August The car should be paid by Feb, 2018 (1 year after we started). After that, it's just the loans. Our debt snowball sheet has them being paid off in 2021. THAT'S CRAZY

Here's the monthly update under storm cloud conditions. Credit Cards: Chevron $2,313 Capital 1 $1,879 (down by $120 since last update) Amazon $6,564 (down by $70) Non-Card Debt Car $11,724 (down by $472) Phone $54 (down by $290) Student Loans Loan 1 $4,043 (down by $3) Loan 2 $4,972 (down by $3) Loan 3 $8,167 (down by $3) Loan 4 $5,559 (down by $8) Loan 5 $5,651 (down by $6) Loan 6 $4,531 (down by $13) Loan 7 $7,649 (down by $1) Loan 8 $4,455 (down by $13) Loan 9 $8,053 (down by < 50 cents) Loan 10 $3,478 (down by $5) Loan 11 $8,060 (down by $1) GRAND TOTAL (as of April 28, 2017) $84,500.22 Which is a difference of $727.64 since the March 31st update It's not the best update but it really does give a new appreciation/understanding to cash flowing things. When people are doing their Debt Free screams and they would say something like, "We've paid off $XX,000 in Y months AND we cash flowed a wedding..." I used to just focus on the payment and the time frame. I mean, who cares if you cash flowed something? NOW, it amazes me because it's usually a pretty sizable amount! Cash flowing isn't easy. You do it to protect your BEF and your snowball. This month, We paid $942.45 in vet costs for Bubbles' diagnostic testing to figure out what kind of cancer we are dealing with (All the results will be in next week). While I "only" paid down the debt by $700 in the last month, knowing that we are taking steps in the right direction gives me a sense of calm. The clouds will pass and all will be well. -----------------------------------April 29th------------------------------------- On 4/29/2017 at 5:08 AM, kelvan80 said: Hey and your phone is almost done so you'll have that income back in your budget Yeah, but it's the MOST ANNOYING debt. Since that phone is Leased, Sprint won't allow me to pay it off early. I have to wait until July 10th when the last payment will be applied. It SUCKS! I keep looking at the bracelet that represents the phone and I get soooooo mad! I have to wait 3 whole months before cutting it off! They let me pay off the purchased phone but not the stupid leased one

I just made a payment of $801 to the Capital One card. That one extra dollar means that I reached my low end goal of getting the balance under $2000. So, here's the update! Credit Cards: Chevron $2,313 Capital 1 $1,999 (down by $1,921 since last update) Amazon $6,634 (down by $96) Non-Card Debt Car $11,724 (down by $236) Phone $344 (down by $24) Student Loans Loan 1 $4,048 (down by $4) Loan 2 $4,974 (down by $3) Loan 3 $8,170 (down by $6) Loan 4 $5,565 (down by $7) Loan 5 $5,657 (down by $7) Loan 6 $4,546 (down by $7) Loan 7 $7,650 (down by $1) Loan 8 $4,469 (down by $8) Loan 9 $8,053 (down by < 50 cents) Loan 10 $3,483 (down by $3) Loan 11 $8,060 (down by $7) GRAND TOTAL (as of March 31, 2017) $85,227.86 Which is a difference of $3,054 since March 3rd! Yay!! Let the countdown to $0 continue!

I am so exhausted after this week's overtime, It's time for a milestone update! I am $88K in debt! Still daunting, but doable. Here it is... in all of its treacherous glory. (I've rounded the change for the list, but the total includes every penny) Credit Cards: Chevron $2,313 Capital 1 $3,920 Amazon $6,730 Non-Card Debt Car $11,724 Phone $344 Student Loans *these have not changed since the first post. I only changed their order to mimic the disbursement order Loan 1 $4,052 Loan 2 $4,977 Loan 3 $8,176 Loan 4 $5,572 Loan 5 $5,664 Loan 6 $4,545 Loan 7 $7,650 Loan 8 $4,469 Loan 9 $8,053 Loan 10 $3,483 Loan 11 $8,060 GRAND TOTAL (as of March 3, 2017) $88,281.38 I'm pretty proud of us! In 31 days, we've managed to save $1000 AND Pay off Chevron's $2,266 + $47 interest! BOOM!! I have worked nearly 33 hours of overtime from Feb. 1st until today. I would like to increase this but It's not always available. My goal by March 31st is to get the Capital One card paid off! Two cards in two months?? Too much?? Ok. well, my "low end" goal is to get it under $2,000..... However, I am going to reach for the stars and throw everything I can at it!