Happy 4th of July!

I hope everyone had a happy and safe 4th! My boys went to stay with family and it was just my husband and I again. So far this summer we haven't seen our children hardly at all! But they are enjoying their time off so that's good. Our oldest son just finished up summer school and passed both classes. His teacher said he received the highest grade on the final and was a hard working student, I am so proud of him, I just wish he would do that during regular school days. Also this summer has been slow going, we are spending more than we should and racking up alittle debt again. Oh why is it so hard to keep things under control? On the bright side we did get some credits toward our cell phone bill this past month, due to the bad reception we always have over here and a few other things they billed us for that they shouldn't have. So it is always worth it to try and call for issues or concerns. In this case we it worked out and issued us some credits.

So I'll work on doing what we can to keep spending down this month, but honestly, I'm not to hopeful. Sometimes I can't wait for the school year, much easier to keep on track.

Medical Bills

My husband went in about 2 months ago for his scheduled blood work, etc since he completed his chemo last year. I received 3 different bills (why can't they just consolidate bills?) Anyway, I just paid the first one, but just a reminder to everyone, make sure you as for discounts! Even if you have insurance, as he does I always ask for discounts. The doctors usually give me 10% off if we pay in full, which is the bill I just paid. The other two are from the hospital and they usually will give me 20% off if I pay these in full. These discounts add up quick, so make sure you ask. These are the bills we pay against our deductible, your insurance company still factors in the total amount they are billing you for against your deductible, but you are paying 10 or 20% less. As things are getting tight these days, every bit helps!

Monday again

Well it's Monday again, actually had a nice day today, went to lunch with an old friend, then did some training, although I must say it's slow going with the training. My husband is helping me with some of the training since he knows all about computers and he's even building one for me to practice with. Hopefully, he's going to do some of the training with me, and maybe take the tests as well. I paid some bills this Friday, and everytime I pay the house it just hurts me! We pay so much for this house, that I just wish sometimes we could get rid of it. I do love it, but don't love the payments. Oh well, another 4 years and maybe we can rent this house out and move to something less expensive since it will be just me and DH. In the meantime, making payments and trying to make the best of it.

I'm still working out, lost maybe 2 pounds, it fluctuates, but I'm feeling better and stronger. I just did the kickboxing class tonight and now I feel great. It is also gettng me out of the house, giving me something to do in the evenings and sometimes I go with a friend in the mornings. I must say, getting started was and still is the hardest part but once I get there and get going it's great. So I suppose I'll just keep at that. In other news, I get to go to Tampa, Fl!!! I'm so excited! I'm meeting my two co-workers/friends that I went on trips with last year. Anyway the vendor is paying for my flight and 2 nights hotel, so a free trip! Well almost free, I can't wait!

One of these days I'll update our debt status as this is suppose to be a debt reduction blog! But after everything we went through, to be at this point where I don't have much to blog about is awesome!

: ) Until next time!

Where is summer?

These past few weeks our weather has been so up and down. Rain, thunderstorms, cold and chilly one hour, and warm the next not like summer weather at all. Right now it's cold outside but I'm still planning on walking this morning with some friends, weird to have to bundle up when it's suppose to be summer! I suppose I should just enjoy it, as it means it's not to hot to get out and go walking or get things done. I am making some progress, here's my weeks update:

I started my training to get A+ certified. This is slow going and I'm trying to get in an hour or two each day to work on this. It's sometimes boring, but since I'm in the computer industry (sales, program management) it's not completely foreign to me. The time in completing the training has slowed because wouldn't you know it, once I made my mind up to do this, my work day got busy again. I've done some training during the day, and a little at night. I'll just keep at it and see how long it takes until I feel ready to take the certification.

Working out - I have finally lost a few pounds! It is SLOW going, but I feel a bit stronger and better knowing at least I'm doing something! I went to a boot camp class last night, it kicked my booty and I'm so sore! Today I hope to do some walking and maybe another class tonight. With this classes offered at our local recreation center, I have found them reasonably priced with great instructors. I push myself more at the classes and get out of the house. If I can build up to 3 - 5 times a week I'll be in shape in no time! I really do enjoy them and it's nice to have something to do in the evenings instead of sitting on my butt.

My son's have been sort of busy this summer so far, staying at friends house's, having friends over, staying at grandma's, and their uncles and my oldest with summer classes. He just finished up one class, so now he will only have to go to summer school until 11 am. Although I'm glad he's getting this done, I have noticed we are spending more $ in gas with taking him everyday to summer school and my working out classes. After June our gas expense should drop and bring us back in line with our budget.

Everything else is still on auto, paying bills and using extra funds to apply towards taxes. I haven't heard anything from our last 2 CC's that are in collections, so once again no news there.

My goal this month is to really make some progress with my weight and get alot of the training for my A+ cert completed. So back to it!