From the archives: Paying off Debts

As I often do, I bring over a blog entry from my myspace blog so I can keep them all together. I thought this would be a good one to bring over now because I just paid off my 2006 Honda Civic, less than two years after purchasing it (and I had a 6 year repayment plan). I got the Civic when the Altima got a damaged engine due to a defective catalitic converter damaging it. I was already in the process of getting a new car when I found out Nissan would cover it due to the emissions warranty (8 years, 78,000 miles - the car already had over 77,000 miles on it). I decided to go ahead and get the new car, and sold the Altima to my brother. I love my car, but I loved that Altima, especially the sound from the Bose speakers and the seat warmers. If I had kept it, I'd have a paid off car with a new engine and could be saving money over the last two years for its replacement. Oh well, do I love my Honda! I mean, it's blue! What else could you want? And the console looks so cool.







Oh, and I did pay off my student loan, and luckily, even with the downturn in the real estate market, my condo's worth more than I owe.

Friday, February 24, 2006

Paying off debts Current mood: happy Category: Goals, Plans, Hopes
I just sent in my last payment for my car. I bought my Altima in 2003 and financed for five years. About a year and a half ago I realized that if I just put in an extra $170 each month, I could pay it off in three years. So I did. It feels good to have that paid for and taken care of.In addition, I just got my tax returns back from federal and state and decided that I would devote a lot of it to pay off credit card bills. Now, I don't normally charge a lot on my credit card bills, but a combination of a fantastic Disneyland trip last September and my dog dying in October (and all the expenses that came with that), and a spending spree I went in I believe to get over my grieving process, I found I have a couple thousand on my cards. I've been paying them off since then, but with my tax return I was able to pay them off completely.And I used a little bit to help pay off most of the remainder of my student loan debt. I should have it completely paid off in two to three months, thus making my 15 year payment plan debt paid off in 7 years! Why post this on a blog? I just feel so great to be basically debt free. I only owe the remainder of my student loan and my mortgage (and of course my mortgage won't be paid off anytime soon - but since my condo's increased in value, it almost doesn't matter - I still have positive equity).Be careful of debt. It's really so freeing to know I'm not in debt. Now of course the big thing is to make sure I increase my savings. I hope that I take good enough care of my car that it lasts me several more years and that I can then save up enough to buy its eventual replacement outright, without financing. Our country is going to be in big trouble soon. Most people are heavily in debt and have absolutely no savings. My own savings aren't anything to be excited about right now, but I plan on working on it. I plan on staying free.
Currently reading : Like a Fire Burning (Work and the Glory, Vol 2)By Gerald N. LundRelease date: By January, 2001
3:55 AM
Dragon_Fire
Wow that is impressive!!!! I'm hoping to be able to say that by the end of this year, now wouldn't that be nice...
You are an inspiration to us all...
Posted by Dragon_Fire on Feb 24, 2006 11:05 AM

Ukiah, Melodie, and getting ready to take the train

I haven't posted since Father's Day. I've been busy trying to clean up my place, driving up to Ukiah for Youth Conference, and being a temporary mom to one of my Young Women. It's been busy.

Last night I went to my friend Melodie's bridal shower. Her fiancee is being transferred to Virginia, so rather than get married in April like they planned, they prayed and are getting married Saturday. I don't know if I could do it. Still, she's 33 and never been married, so it gives me hope there's some great guy out there just waiting for me! (Thanks for the pictures, Joan!)

This weekend I'm heading to Utah to visit my brother for the 4th of July holiday. I'm also going to visit some friends of mine, including my former bishop and Leslie and Jill, who just started at BYU after graduating two weeks ago.

I always love taking the train. I don't always have time for it, but figured I did on this trip and originally planned on driving. I'll save on gas, don't have to stop at a motel if I get tired, and the ride is beautiful (at least through the Sierra Nevadas). It's always such an experience.

Father's Day at Pismo Beach

This weekend I drove a little over four hours to visit my parents who were visiting Pismo Beach with their RV club, the 'Weak-End Warriors'. My nephews Nathan and Dillon were there as well. We had a lot of fun! It was great to spend some time with my nephews. I don't get to spend as much time with them as with my sister's kids, so we had some great bonding time. Both Nate and Dillon are kind of quiet until they get to know you. They both opened up a lot to me. Dillon is so expressive in his face. It's so fun to be around them. Nathan kept saying 'Kirsten' this and 'Kirsten' that. Besides the beach, they loved the ship at the Pismo Sands RV Park.

Dillon looking through the port hole of the play ship at the Pismo Sands RV Park.Grampy and Dillon spending some quality time. Nathan enjoying the sand at Oceano Beach Nathan and Dillon waving at the planes that drove by, either offering flights or advertising ATV rentals. Cars can drive along the beach there.Dillon says the hot tub was 'too hot!' That's all he'd say 'That's hot!'Dillon looking so darn cute!Chloe was enjoying the beach as well! Jewely was snuggling up with Mom in the Ridgeline.

Weird states after taking a nap

Last night I got home from work, took the dogs out to do their business, then was on the couch watching some TV when I got really tired. I decided to take a nap, but not on my bed and not in the normal position on the couch. It was kind of a weird way of sleeping. Anyway, I fell asleep for a couple of hours and when I woke up, I had that weird feeling people (well, at least me) get sometime after waking up from a nap - like something's wrong but you just can't figure out what it is. I thought about it later last night and figured it's kind of a feeling that everybody in the world has gone somewhere else and you're the only one still there, and time and space are totally turned around. It's so weird. It's got to be some imbalance in equilibrium or something. I just remember having almost a panic for about a minute, trying to get everything in order.

Jugfest 2008

The local country radio station around where I grew up (KJUG - the best country radio station) had a country music festival this past weekend, and as I was there already for my niece and nephew's graduations, I went with my mom and our friend Colleen. http://www.westcoastbroadcasting.com/jugfest2008/index.htm The first six acts were all acoustic performances. I didn't really see any of Adam Gregory and only heard most of Emily West's performance, but I did see the Lost Trailers, and got autographs of them (oh my, the lead singer is hot!), and I saw Heartland (I Loved Her First) and Jeff Bates (the Love Song). It was a lot of fun, but it was really hot. My mom even bought me a $5 hat to wear to keep the sun off of me, but my arms got a little burnt. I should have had more cash with me, but it was a lot of fun.

That evening the headliners performed, starting with Paul Overstreet. Paul had a singing career over ten years ago, with such songs as 'Daddys Come Around to Mommy's Way of Thinking' and some other songs, but he's most well known for being a songwriter, so he sang some of those hits, including his biggerst, 'Forever and Ever, Amen' (Randy Travis), 'Some Beach' (Blake Shelton), 'When You Say Nothing At All' (Keith Whitley), 'She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy' (Kenny Chesney).

After Paul, Clay Walker was up. I love Clay Walker, and he was the main reason I was excited about the whole concert. He hardly had any gaps in the songs, just going from hit to hit. That's not to say he didn't have fun with the audience, but he was there to sing! His songs were great and upbeat. Playing 'Then What' with tons of huge beach balls is always so much fun! Our seats for the evening performances were awesome! I was in D19, just four rows back. It was so awesome! I didn't even have to look at the screens to see the artists up close.

Gary Allan was the headliner and last performer. He was great, but my ears were ringing all the next day. His songs are more rock than country, and many of his songs are depressing, mostly due to the fact that his wife committed suicide a few years back. It really was such a contrast with the upbeat Clay Walker (who's dealing with MS). Don't get me wrong, it was a great concert and I really enjoyed hearing Gary sing. I probably wouldn't go see him on his own, so it was great to see him. He sang my favorite song of his, 'Right Where I Need to Be' without his band. It was interesting, as this song is very... guitary on the radio. It's funny, because he and Keith Urban don't rock out my favorite songs by them, but prefer to do acoustic versions of them (my favorite Keith Urban song is 'I Wanna Be Your Everything').

It was a fun day and great to spend all that time with my mom. I'm looking forward to Jugfest '09

Graduations!

I went home last week to attend my niece and nephews graduations. My nephew Timothy graduated from Golden West High School on Tuesday night, followed by Kristina's graduation Thursday night at Tulare Union (yay, my alma mater), and a graduation party Friday night. I got to stay in my parents new 5th Wheel, which is really cool. I get to go in it for real (not in my parents yard) this weekend when I go visit my parents and nephews at Pismo Beach for Father's Day!