Weekly financial update – 12/26/2008

December 26, 2008 · Posted in About Us, Personal Finance

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I know, it’s been more than a week, but it’s Christmas! Time to break things down:

Category	Current Balance	Overall Change
Loans (includes mortgage and student loans):	-$160,442	$18
Credit card debt:	-$29177	-$166
Savings:	$2123	$51
		-$97

Oh no! Despite making one student loan payment and putting $50 in savings, our interest accrued on our other student loans (bringing down our $80 payment down to $18) as well as one of our credit cards. I also am including the $115 we picked up in American Express charges for the $180 in Walmart gift cards, since this was an extraneous purchase on a credit card we don’t normally use. When all is said and done, we are actually almost $100 MORE in debt. Yikes!

Things aren’t looking so great right now, but we do have a couple of things to look forward to. First, I was fortunate enough to receive some money for my birthday, so I’ll be depositing that soon. I also got a $15 rebate check in the mail. Most importantly, however, will be my husband’s raise and yearly bonus that comes at the end of next week.

In terms of our “immediate future” finances, we really want another computer, and we were considering using part of the bonus for a new one. However, after our truck scare, I would feel much better if we had some more money in the emergency fund first. Time for a family discussion!