Nanamom's thoughts Blog

I have been trying to get ahead but life keeps getting in the way (both ours and other peoples). My DH doesn't want me to get a job and I can see that I really wouldn't make that big a difference on bills doing it at minimum wage. However I am going to try the home party plan. If I can take one evening a month and do a party I can hopefully make a few hundred a month. I will save it and then put it on the bills as I get enough to pay one off. That way we will have an emergency fund or a moving fund and can hopefully pay off some credit cards.

We all, managed to get the credit cards down to "only" 3 with balances. The balances are scarey with one being almost to the limit. Another is over the limit but I didn't do that. Ah well I'll be the one paying it anyway. I am trying to stay within our means but it took a hit when the car died and we had to get a "new" one. We had to put the down payment on the card. The car company had us over a barrel and I'm still not sure we made the right decision We owed too much on the old one to have a lot of bargaining room. Now our payment is higher than the house payment, something I said I'd never do. Sigh. Still paying more than I have to on two of the cards in the hopes I can get it taken care of in a reasonable amount of time.

Writing things down seemed to help me get back on track. I have written down (roughly) how much we owe (big number) But this month (November) will be the second month in a row I have paid off one credit card. Next month a third will add to the paid off list. The last 3 will take alot longer! I am debating if I want to consider a 5 year consolidation loan or just do this myself. I think it would be better for our credit if I do it myself. It means some sacrifices I don't want to make (not traveling to see kids for awhile) but we have to get going on debt. My DH has applied for a transfer and there is no way we can afford to move if I don't get this cleared up without racking up more debt on a card. If this goes as planned I will have only 2 cards to pay off in 6 months (May 2011) I am going to try to find ways of saving money to build up the saving while we do this. I am paying an extra 500 a month on the credit card "du jour" every month to accomplish this and minimum on the big one and a 100 on the other (s). It would be easier if we didn't have to take short weekend trips every month (hotels and gas eat it up) However we'll make it. I just worry if this house doesn't sell (needs alot of work) when and if the transfer comes thru. I'm trusting the Lord to work things out on that. If he provides the transfer (which in the long run would save a mint) then he'll figure out the house thing.

Last year we rented a piano. We had planned on buying it when the year was up. The year is now officially up and we are returning it. I have enough day to day stuff to yell at my kids about without having to add practicing the piano. It was an expensive experiment. I spent $400.00 to find out they are not going to practice unless I make them. I'd rather find a free piano on freecycle for that. So now that the piano is going to be out of the way I think I will make that room it is in into something useable instead of a clutter room. I feel guilty to have a room that I don't have to use for something especially since it has an attached bath. I know many other people who have not enough space. Now to decide what to turn the room into. No one visits so don't need a guest room. Was thinking of a sewing/craft room or I could move the schoolroom downstairs and make that area something else but I just decorated it and really don't want to change. Can't move our bedroom downstairs, might not hear the kids if they need me in the night (and they usually do) This is a really fun "problem" to have.

I have been thinking of the idea of spending 30 minutes a day decluttering and 30 minutes a day cleaning a room. i tend to pick big projects rather than little bites then rest on my laurels for way too long. Maybe this would work better.
I have also been thinking of remodeling the bathroom downstairs on my own. Not sure I am up to it but you never know. Certainly can't afford to hire someone to do it!

Somehow I never seem to be real consistent with this blog. Lack of consistency is the story of my life!! i have been feeling guilty lately for all the time I don't spend cleaning. We recently had the chance to host an evangelist and chose to take him out. Well that isn't the only reason, being vegetarians we rarely invite people over to eat. There is no way I am going to invite someone over right now for anything. With DH still in recovery mode I just can't seem to get inspired to clean like I should. Not inspired to lose the weight like I should either. I am inspired to save tho! I am trying a method of paying off one credit card while making a bit above minimum on the others. As they get paid off I will add what I was paying to the next one. Should get us out of debt except for the house and car in a couple years. In the meantime I am trying to plan a trip across Route 66 and a couple visits to see grandkids and our great grandkid. Doctor's bills are slowly getting paid as well. As that goes away we have a bit more breathing room in our budget which makes it easier to stick with the credit pay back program.
I have always said that I want to move (and I do) because it is a 2 day drive to see family. i have lately been realizing how blessed we are to have a job where DH boss is understanding of his medical needs and where the mortgage isn't astronomical. I think I will start enjoying this house as much as I am sad to be so very far away from the kids.

I have been tweaking our budget. We need to stick to one better and eliminate our credit card debt. We pay a fourth of our income to credit cards every month and I want to eliminate that. We pay a bit more than the minimum but still I need to pay them off. We are trying to keep our bills down to our income but it is challenging. I have a new budget which should help. We are also going to try to save more every month so visiting kids doesn't run up our debt even more. We also have a mortgage and car payment. We pay a bit more on those every month too. I am getting worried about our 5 year old van. It has alot of miles and we still owe alot of money on it. The house is in an area where lots of houses are going up for sale so am a bit concerned there too. We want to move closer to the grown kids so it is less expensive to visit (and we can do it more) but not sure if the house would sell, if we could even find a job.
I wish I could come up with a way to make money to help with all this. I am a SAHM with no income. No idea how to make money here but with my semi reasonable amount of intelligence I should be able to.
Sigh

We did end up getting the credit card, I will pay 200 a month with no interest for a year and it will be paid off. Decided that made more sense than letting a card with interest continue to hold a balance. This way we can pay stuff off faster and pay less interest. Right now we look to be debt free (except for the mortgage) in the next 3 years. I hope I never get into debt again!! Actually this isn't as bad as all that. We are probably holding less debt than most people especially if you consider that most of it is the car.

It could be worse however!! I checked with a friend who does construction for a living and he said he wouldn't tear out all the cabinets and reinstall them for the pice I was quoted so I am happy there. I walked around Menards for hours the other day, picking out my kitchen. I bought:
dishwasher 289.00
Sink 178.00
Cabinets 1309.15
Countertop 138.77
wall panels 135.20
backsplash 161.82
outside door 149.00
storm door 144.00
door frame 10.99
adhesive 45.36
knobs 66.40
screws .28
seam tape 23.97
light fixture 39.98
door know 47.92
paint 15.97
rollers 8.03
for a total with labor (2500) of 5364.84
i will also have to pay for the plumbing materials to attach the dishwasher and the materials to install 2 more electrical circuits. Now to start moving stuff so I can paint (ceiling) before the work starts. The counter was the only thing not in stock and should take 3 weeks to come in. Should be an interesting April!! I also bought a mini wrecking bar (under 3.00) so my 6 year old can help take stuff out.

We are considering getting a credit card for the remodeling stuff because the deal is no interest for a year. I do have the discipline to pay it off in a year and that way I can pay off one of our other credit cards completely (which would reduce the number we carry a balance on to 1. We have one for auto payments and one for use that gets paid off every month as well) i get upset with us because of the balance on one of the credit cards plus the balance still on the van but really we are doing ok. If we ignore the credit card with the biggest balance and pay 600 a month we will have it paid off in 3 years. I did use it for DH birthday present but then I promptly cut a check for the amount to make up for it. We are only in month one of ignoring it,35 to go!! The car is going slowly but in three years I may add some of what I have been paying that credit card and pay it off faster. The rest will go onto the house payment. As the years go by I hope to have it all remodeled by the time the 35 months are up. The kitchen is the biggest. Next we will do small jobs like the living room ceiling or the painting. I have some outside work to do too. Someone offered to move the brush in the back yard for 40 dollars but I think I can do it and then put the 40 into the emergency fund. Our emergency fund took a hit when the part of the tree blew down and we had to have the rest removed. It isn't even a month right now but we do add to it every month automatically.

I am so excited, I get to go to Menards and get all the stuff(or order it) for my kitchen remodel. They came and measured yesterday. I can't wait!!!

It has been a bit shy of a year since my last entry. Life got real busy and facebook got real fun!!
As I prepare to remodel the kitchen however I decided to start blogging about the financial part of it. We are on a low budget for this as for anything we do. Our income tax check provided the money to do the kitchen and pay off one fo the credit cards we thought. That was of course before our DIL got stuck in AZ with her eldest and needed a bit of a hand. Ah well, at least it wasn't money earmarked for bills. So less of a budget and some rearranging of priorities. No regrets on how we spent the money tho. We are going to replace the cabinets, install a dishwasher, panel walls, put in a new counter, sink, faucet, 2 windows, back door, screen door, and paint the ceiling and replace the linoleum with a rug all for under 5500. Like I said small kitchen. I am going to take before and after photos too. I got two estimates. They were within 250 of each other. We went with the lower one because he is by far the more professional of the two. Besides he says he can put in a standard 32 inch door instead of my paying 600 for a "special" door. So 2500 is the estimate tear out what's there and install new. I am buying off the shelf cabinets although I am not staining them myself. i could save around 400 by staining them myself but I think doing that to 9 cabinets (with the help of a 5 and 6 year old) sounds like a nightmare. Besides the end goal is to sell the house so predone is probably a better option (my painting skills are a bit lacking). I am however painting the ceiling my self. I will post more as I spend more!

I have found some amazing facts lately. Rabbits can be impregnated on the day they give birth. I discovered this because when I went to feed the rabbits today I found myself flashing back to a month ago when I had first found baby rabbits in a nest. We gave them away last weekend (only 2 had survived). I had removed the male the day I saw her give birth. It was less than an hour I swear!!! Apparently she gave birth last night to 7 more babies. I removed "Dad" again. This time I am sure the nightmare is over. We had Dad fixed a couple weeks ago and had an appointment to have her fixed next week. The vet is going to laugh at me sooooooooo hard. Anyone need a baby bunny? They should be ready in late June!

We did really well at the garage sale this last Saturday. We found a wagon sans handle for free that we can jury rig a handle for the kids to enjoy. We bought 2 doors for $5 each and now there is a door on my bedroom and will soon be one on our upstairs bathroom. i have had those doors measured and looked at by professionals. They are a special size (read that old house) and cost a mint. All DH had to do was saw off a small pice at the bottom of each door. At the same place I bought jeans for DS2 2 pr for 75 cents and a dresser for him for $5.00. By now th ecar was pretty full but that didn't stop us. I got a set of pictorial history books of the US for 3.00 that DS2 loves, and the kids bought a couple toys for themselves with allowances. DH got some toy cars for geocaching (10 or so for $1) that are in great shape. I got a copy of a frames Biblical ABC for DD2 for $1.00. DS2 has one that his aunt gave him that cost her quite a bit more.
All in all a great day of finds. To top it off we made one more stop where I found the item of my dreams. A working spinning wheel for $75.00. I got it for $60.00. It is something I have always wanted and sells for quite a bit more. Now to learn to spin!

This Saturday is the annual community garage sale and I can hardly wait. I feel like I've been having a chronic case of cabin fever for weeks. I am planning to be very careful tho since I would really like to pay off everything we owe with the exception of the house and car. The thought of paying them off right now is overwhelming. I hope to pay off the credit bill and then we'll see about the car. I have been pretty good this month about putting money on the bill from Florida. It will be finished next month without a problem. Then we will owe 2 cards. Plus the one I use for incidental purchases. Wish I had a paypal card to use for that since I have money in my account.

We are a Karate family. In order to practice we have been considering a piece of equipment that costs around 200. We keep putting it off because of the price. Today we found one at a garage sale for only 20 dollars. We are thrilled! We got a couple other cool deals too, but didn't over spend. Two weeks to the community wide one we love. I hope to pick up a bike for DD2 there. I got a check for some ebay stuff and promptly sent the money to the credit card. I am being good! I knew the check was coming so I didn't worry about spending a few extra hundred when we were there. My plan is to pay it off this month or at latest next month. Our next trip East is just to pick up kids and bring them home. When we return them we will be taking the "scenic route" and that will cost a little more but not too much. We will be able to pay cash. So by the end of summer we will have only the "big " credit card bill. As soon as it is paid I plan on paying more on the car. I am a bit worried since they are talking about making the employees take vacation every month (like a week) till the end of the year and that means without pay for us. It will cut our income by 25% after August when we run out of vacation and may mean we have to cancel out trip East. The good news is that if they cut the practice out then we will have learned to live on less.

I am trying to do cash only to get in the habit and then cut the amount we spend. My DH has a good job but we have lots of bills. I want to pay off the credit cards and then go to the car. The emergency fund needs a boost too. So discouraging. Wish we could move closer to the kids in the East. Ah well time will tell. We got bad news today. No bonus. We were hoping to pay down the major credit card bill with that. So we will pay off the small ones first and then get to the others. At least our last trip East was planned enough so that we didn't get any further in debt. I need to start writing down what (or how much) I spend and how I conserve funds and save so that I can encourage myself. Maybe I'll start a blog!

We are heading out for a vacation. I have been saving so that we won't have to use the credit card or at least if we do for hotels and stuff we have the money to repay it right away. We are headed to GA to see family (eldest son and family) and then to Epcot. We will also see my sister there. We are going to NC to see our eldest daughter and her family and hope to see a couple people that I talk to online all the time. This will count as our visit to Florida and Georgia as the 50 states so we will be 3 down and 47 to go!! Later this summer we are going to go to Michigan and see a bit of Wisconsin. In the fall we will hit Ohio on our way East again.

I at one time had several "investment" accounts. Seems they were more like a round file!! I had several loans on prosper. Out of the 6 I had 2 are paid, one is paying, one defaulted, and two are in collections. I guess I pick poorly. The kicker is the ones who defaulted were the ones with great credit ratings. I had a sharebuilder account for the last 4 years. I lost alot of money there as well. I am reduced to a Ing checking (and college funds and an EF) and an Emmigrant savings. Ah well, live and learn I guess. I also have a thriving Kiva account with several loans that I keep reinvesting. i make another Kiva loan every month.

I am proud of my 5 year old. He told me today that I am spoiling him. We went to the store and I bought each of them a $5.00 surprise (without being asked of course). I also got them shoes (10 each) and him a coat for next winter for 7.00. Shoes and a coat seem a bit of a necessity so don't think that would count as spoiling. I was proud that they asked if they had enough money in their accounts for the things and when I said no never said another word about them. They didn't even know we were stopping for milkshakes on the way home when he told me I was really spoiling him. That made me feel good. He wasn't complaining and never does, when he doesn't get to buy stuff. He just says he will save his allowance. His sister (age 4)is picking up on that and learning to ask less. I felt a bit spoiled myslef cause they stood quietly and let me pick out a new purse and wallet (the old one was falling apart) without complaining or even squirming.

What a nice surprise to wake up to! Our IRS refund came in. Promptly put 4K on the credit card bill. I hope to get all credit cards paid off by the end of the year. I got a bill for a card in my name for the yearly fee and I am tempted to cancel it rather than pay it. I haven't used it in years. Have it as an emergency. If something happened to DH I need credit in my name till everything is cleared. I do have another one but both are low balance cards. I'll talk it over with DH when he has more time. For now I am excited that the one card has a balance I can pay off this year if I am careful.

Hurray!! I looked at the bank balance and the tax money is there!! The state tax money anyway. The majority of the money goes to credit card. We promised the kids we'd get them a game for the Wii when the tax check came in. DS2 want Tales of Desperaux and DD2 wants the Build a Bear game. Not sure what that one is but it should at least build hand eye coordination. Can't wait for Federal so I can knock the credit card down to size!

We left around noon for Mall of America and waymarked our way across Wisconsin and into Minnesota. We went there for dinner after checking into the hotel. We stayed at a Ramada because they had an indoor pool and a couple fun packages. We took one package for one night that was called Shop til you Drop. It included a Mall of America booklet of coupons that sells for 9.95 and two free breakfast entrees. The other package we did for the second night has the booklet, 2 entrees, and two free tickets to the aquarium. We bought two more for only ten dollars each. DH took the Monday off so we ended up staying an extra night. That first night we went to the Mall for dinner. We ate at a place called Tucci Benucci's and used our coupon for a free dessert. The kids had baked spaghetti (as did DH but his had no tomato) and ravioli. I shared theirs. For dessert I had a couple bites of their chocolate pie. Was more bitter than I liked but DH liked it a couple days later. It was a hard fudge consistency so we saved it. He had a apple dessert that was great (he shared). The kids had ice cream. Back at the hotel we had to practically threaten the kids with going home to get them to go to sleep. They go to bed so nicely here and so horribly away. Guess it is better that way than reversed though! The next morning bright and early DH left us to go waymarking. The kids and I went to breakfast (mostly free) and then looked at the pool and some of the statuary around the hotel. It was mostly Native American art or art depicting Native Americans. Really nice. When nine oclock came along we got on the hotel van to ride to the Mall of America. DH left me the boosters so they could ride safely. DD2 pointed out that i wasn't in a seatbelt on the way over of course! At the Mall we rented lockers to store said boosters in until it was time to use them again and then we went exploring. I had made a board with pictures on it of things for them to look for in the mall. I promised a prize if they found all the stuff. They had fun with that and gave me a chance to look around. It was volunteer day there so there was even more stuff to look at. About eleven they were tired and so was I so I rented a double stroller and off we went again. By then we had done a little shopping so I stowed the stuff in the lockers and had hands free again. We explored the Nickolodean playland (didn't do any rides yet), Lego store and stopped to play for a bit, Build a Bear and Build a Doll, (made plans to come back there) and lots of other places. They said they weren't hungry but i was so I stopped at the food court and grabbed some lunch. They decided they were hurngry (no surprise there) and we all ate. After lunch it was time to let them spend the money they had been saving, and find out what was on another floor. DS2 bought a lego set and we explored some more. I called DH several times (usually when one or the other kids misbehaved) just to make sure he was having fun! Around 2 we had to take a cookie break and listen to a Christian group that was singing. They were part of Volunteer day. We walked past a shop with an amazing sign up. Seems they had Wii's in stock! I called DH who said to get it. I bought a Wii and a Wii fit and asked them to hold them till DH got back. Around 4 we got in line at Build A Bear. I was sooooooooooo disgusted with myslef for not letting her just do it the first time we were there since they had just opened and there was no line. I had told her we'd come back and that she needed to think about what she wanted in case she changed her mind (she didn't) So we waited in line to pick up a pink monkey and watch someone shove fluff into it for around 40 minutes. WE then waite din line another 15 minutes to pay for it. I had a coupon and she had been saving so it was pretty painless to pay. DH got back around 5 and we made plans to have dinner there. First of all we had to go on a few rides, well they did not us grown ups. They gave us a pass so I could hold her on the rides (brace on a leg doesn't make ride workers feel real secure) and we got free all day ride passes cause we'd bought the Wii. in fact we got 3 of em!. After an hour of rides I was way too tired! We ate at a place called Kokomo's with a free appitizer and free dessert coupon. Again I shared. We got key lime pie for dessert. We crawled back to the room planning to put two sleepy kids in quick. the best laid plans and all that. DD screamed and cried till finally I managed to quiet her and rock her to sleep. DS went to sleep sooner but not happily. The next morning we went to breakfast (mostly free) again. They managed to mess up DD2's order as well as DH's so we told them to forget it. It had already taken way too long to get the wrong food. DS2 shared with DD2 and I shared with DH. We had the last two coupons so paid very little. Off to the Mall we went again. This time we were headed to the Aquarium. We went thru the "tunnel" and watched the sharks and rays swim over us. It was cool and I hope i got some good video footage of it. We paid extra for a behind the scenes tour and it was awesome. WE got to look down into the tanks. We also saw where they prepare food and were shown some fo the food that the sharks eat. We did a bit more shopping and then realized it was five o clock! WE went back to the hotel and ordered pizza. I took my 4 year old down to "help" pick it up and found out I had to go into the bar to get it so returned her to her Dad and went back down. The desk clerk laughed at me for not taking her into a place that served alcohol. Pizza and a movie for dinner and then bed. i rocked an unhappy little boy to sleep (he wanted time to build his lego set) while a good little girl put herself to sleep with her new pink monkey (she hadn't been allowed to play with it all day because of how poorly she behaved the night before) Day three we woke up stiff and sore (again) and spent a relaxing time in the room for a bit. Then we went swimming. I chickened out and headed for the hot tub. Actually I hobbled to it. Everyone joined me there shortly although the kids could only put their feet in. DD requested that she be allowed back in the "cool pool" and DH pulled himself to his feet muttering "I love my children, I love my children" He hobbled over to the pool and stood waiting in the cold water for her. She walked halfway over and said I want Mommy and came back to me. He stood in the pool shivering and incredulously said you mean I did this for nothing!!!??? Both kids decided to take pity on Daddy and get in for a few more minutes. It was really funny. WE went back to the room for breakfast (cold pizza and poptarts) Start them early on that college fare! Finally we built his lego set and gve him an hour or so to play while DH mapped out our route home. We decided to stop at the birthdplace of Laura Ignalls Wilder so the route he'd originally planned wouldn't work. He found lots of new waymarks to do so was pretty happy with the new plans. We checked our around 1130 and went on the way. WE visited the house and then picked up some literature about the area. I saw an Eagle Education center in it and we decided to stop. It was the best part of the trip. WE saw 4 live Eagles. One Golden and the rest Bald. WE watched two of them eat a dead rat and got our picture taken with one. It was really cool. Then we ate at an old four mill converted to a pizza, chocolate, coffee place. I shared with the kids again. It was a great trip. DD slept almost all the way home after that. When we got home I carried her in and set her down. I sent her to the potty and then to take off her shoes and brace. She fell asleep again taking them off. I am giving them a day off school tomorrow. We are all too tired. I am dropping off as I type. I think the only thing keeping me awake is the pain in my ankles and feet! The bottom of my heel is one big blister and there are multiple others on the foot! My ankles are so swollen I can't put my shoes on. Oh well they'll recover. Maybe the Wii fit will help with that!

They are done and sent!! I am so relieved! We are getting half the big credit card bill back! It will go straight on it as soon as it come in, which should be in 2 to 3 weeks. I was expecting the one amount but the state also owes us over a thousand. Our finances will be much better by April. I am saving for the trip I am taking then so it will be paid for too. The best part was paying for the tax work right there instead of charging it. The worst part was how much they charge. I need to think about taking a tax course and doing taxes at night or something! We couldn't even itemize and our bill was over 200 and that was with a coupon.

At least at our house it is. Today we do our taxes. We have a 6 PM appointment to have them done. Then we have to decide how much we will need to have withheld over the course of this year. I will miss having the adoption deduction!

On another note I have been reading a book about a woman with 18 children and one DIL. She and her husband use no credit. I want to reach that point. No not the 18 children although if they were all as nice as hers I'd have to consider it! The no credit state. I have sold a lot of stuff on ebay (actually I had it sold for me, seems to go better that way) and I still have more to go. I want to strip us to the bear bones and see where we are then. If I could figure out a way of making money on online I would but so far no go. So back to saving everything I can. Seems hopeless sometimes to think of getting out of owing on a car and on a house. Guess I should be content if I can get that far. One step at a time. For now I want to get to the point where we only owe one credit card and the car and house. Then we'll work on reducing the credit card debt while still visiting the grandkids East.

Tax time is Thursday for us. WE should get back everything we gave them plus a bit for child credit.

Unfortunately it wont cover our credit card bills. Ah well at least the bills arent getting any bigger.

will wipe out about a third of it
which is better than nothing. I will cut us down to no cards since I now have an ing account that has a debit card I can use for online purchases! and never use the card again unless there is an emergency!

We made it through the month without adding t the credit card debt. If I had to buy online I used the card with a low balance that we pay off every month. We are trying to find out if we have to get naturalization papers for our daughter before we can file for a social security card for her or not. Would be nice to be able to claim her this year! Actually it is imperative that we do. I do not want to owe money to the IRS. Have to pay property taxes too.

One of the items sold for twice what I paid for it!! I like that.

We had good news. DIL doesn't have a tumor after all so I don't have to fly down to take care of her. i am glad she is all right but I would have loved seeing all my kids and grandkids.

I am selling some stuff on ebay. Actually a friend is doing it for me cause I may have to drive south at any given day to help with my DIL's household while she undergoes treatment. Today I went through the playroom and rearranged quite a bit of stuff. I have a large pile of things to sell. Not sure if I will do it or give them to her to sell. She takes 20% but then I don't have to worry about being here when they close. Some of it isn't worth ebaying so I will save it for this summer's garage sale. What this has done is make some room in the playroom for the kids desks. They don't use them for schoolwork which is why I bought them so they may as well go to the playroom. Then I can have some space in the dining room. I need to find some bookshelf space somewhere. The books are outgrowing their area. I put some toys up in DS2's room cause he is old enough to trust up there most of the time. I am paring down the number of toys around here. My toys too. I am giving up stamping and going to sell off most of my stock. Probably ebay that too.
The money is going to go for credit card payments. I plan on eliminating them form our use this year. I will still need to occasionally use one online but that one gets paid in full every month.

It is only the beginning of January and already his check is almost gone. It is amazing to me how fast his paycheck can disapear. I am well aware however that a thousand of it is going to credit card bills. I need to pare them down fast. My goal is to pay off all but the Am Ex right away and then sock money onto it but not use it for the rest of the year. I will be putting the tax refund on it as well. It will probably take me till April to pay off the other. There really is only one that carries a balance but there is another that I use when I buy online. I am going to stop using it too. Now if I can keep DH from buying anything!