The Debt Diet Challenge Week #3: Our Participants Weigh In

Penny

This is the third week on the program and I continue to track my spending. I have had a few surprises come up. One was a car repair that was unexpected, but needs to be done. My husband does not know a lot about repairing a car, so we asked a friend if he would help. He agreed to help, so we bought the part and will save on labor with our friend’s help.

I also bought a small (700 watt) countertop microwave. I have been putting this off because I wanted a microwave above our stove. We have been without a microwave for about four months now. My husband and I talked about just getting a small one because we really can’t afford a bigger model. There is also the additional installation cost to have it installed over the stove. We mostly use it for thawing out food or reheating leftovers. Our kitchen is small and there is not a lot of room for a larger countertop microwave. I spent $65.00 on the microwave and maybe could have saved more by shopping around. I made some additional money last weekend, so that is what I used to buy the microwave.

I also visited the doctor this week with sinus infection. I have health insurance and the doctor advised me to get over-the-counter medicine. That saved me some money, as well.

I continue to work on the debt diet program online and have learned some valuable lessons which I am sharing with one of my friends. My friend and I had a garage sale this past weekend and we were discussing credit cards. She thought it best to pay down credit cards that have a low balance; she said she had heard that on TV. I went on Jean’s website and showed her the value of paying the highest interest one first. I explained what Jean had told me and she was very interested. She hasn’t really ever pulled her credit report and I showed her the correct website to use and how to get it free for the entire year. I’m glad to say I sold most of the items I had and will be putting most of the money into savings. I did eat out with our friends, so I kept some out to cover what I spent on eating out. I am trying to only use what money I have in my purse and when that is gone I am out. That is something I learned from the program.

Jean and I also discussed overdraft protection this week. I currently have it as an emergency, and I try really hard not to use it. I wanted to find a better way to cover a check without the large service charge. I talked to my bank about different options and I am glad to say that I chose an option that is the lowest way to cover overdrafts. I opened a savings account and when/if I have an overdraft, it will only cost $5.00 to transfer the money from savings to checking. I am a little concerned that I can save money in there for that reason, so I hide the account online. I feel if I can’t see it, I won’t spend it. This was another joint decision with my husband. We are really looking at this opportunity positively and I am so happy.

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