February Review- Car Loan Paid Off!

The month of February included the following financial highlights:
Almost staying under budget (we spent $1203)
NOT using a credit card all month
Putting more money toward paying off debt
Dealing with a medical expense without resorting to credit cards
and Paying off the car loan (we now own both cars!)

Yesterday, the loan note on my husband's car read $0.00 Such a great feeling! Granted, the car is 13 years old and cannot pass an annual inspection without more repairs that cost more than the car is worth, but we own it...and we paid off the loan 7 months early! :)

This past month was really tough, we stayed within the budget until February 29th, when I realized I forgot to put something in the checkbook and went $3 over our budget of spending money outside of the bills. Oh well, that's the closest we've gotten to being within the budget in months!

I also made about $175 in extra income selling things on Craigslist and Half.com and that went toward paying off the car loan. I am just about out of items to sell, but I should see another $40 or so from Half.com in March. My husband also made extra money for a programming job he did through his home business.

My daughter had a minor operation (tubes put in her ears) at the beginning of February. The doctor's bills have started to pour in- fees for the surgeon, the surgery center, the anesthesiologist, the follow up visit, etc. The total without insurance would have been $6000. Because we have health insurance, it cost us about $700 out of pocket, but for once we had the cash to pay for it, and didn't have to use a credit card! It is still amazing that a 9 minute minor day surgery could end up costing so much.

The debt is starting to go down a little- we now only have 3 major debts outside of the mortgage: the student loan and 2 credit cards...and now it is time to work at the credit card with the largest balance ($11K) and the highest interest rate (13.5%). It will take a while to get rid of that card...but we're moving full speed ahead.

I'm not sure if we'll do as well in March because we have some much needed landscaping expenses to deal with. We'll see how it goes.