Update! January marks 2 years in....

[IamOld]

MommyMC you are an inspiration!!!! And best wishes to your son!!!!

[SMMHILL]

MommyMC you're absolutely correct about staying poistive and stay on a BUDGET.

18 Jan 2012 will be my 4th year of my 5 year plan and life has been wonderful.

[tigergem]

Well I'll be darned, MommyMc. Congratulations! Now that I have noticed that you started this in 2010 lol. Three years now! Time to update! Is it all still good? This is my 2 year anniversary and it's all good here, so far.

[dmc-2008]

Yes pls update!!! This is the best thread!

[MommyMc]

Hi Y'all!!! Thank you for the nice comments and well wishes! LIFE IS GOOD! We are down to 15 months left!!! All is well! We've followed our budget every month. We travel (we drive, we don't fly), we eat out, we go to the state fair, we do live a fun life. But we budget everything!!!! We take the kids out to eat about once a month. Fast food is about once every week and a half. We never purchase drinks at fast food restaurants, we always go thru the drive through and we eat at home. My husband and I have lunch out together every Friday. Much cheaper for just the two of to eat out than to take the entire family of 6. We use coupons and discount cards. My son sold a discount card for a fundraiser for his football team, it was $10, but it offered by one get one 1/2 half at some of our local restaurants, the card is great and is good for a year! It's using discount cards and coupons that get us the fun stuff. My son went to the local watermark with his friend, befo he left I Googled coupons for that water park, printed them out and he took it long with him! We rent movies instead of going to the theater, but we do get to the theater 1-2 times a year...it costs our family of 6 about $80 to go to the theater... That's a whole lot of money!!! So we don't do it that often!
Stuff does come up, I had to have surgery and my 6 year old had to have surgery. So that added some medical bills, which I am still paying a year later. The medical facilities are more than happy to work out a payment plans, all you have to do is ask! and the payment plans are interest free!!
Now our kids are 15, 12, 7 and 4. They partake in sports, ballet, school activities, they are not hurting. They have learned to live on budgets and they know that can't have everything they want at the drop of a hat, yes, I tell my kids "no" when they ask for things in the check out line at the store!!
Life is good! I wish the best for everyone just starting out. I know it's hard, stay positive, hold your head up high and don't fall back into old spending habits!
I am more than happy to help anyone through this or answer specific questions, just message me!
Take care y'all!!!
MommyMc

[MommyMc]

Geez!! Sorry for all the typos! I'm not use to typing on my iPad!

[dmc-2008]

What typos? I didnt notice one, i was too busy reading your message! Wow! I love your attitude and so glad you shared yor experience! I have my 341 for 5 year plan on Nov 28 th! I am nervous!

[brandv1]

MommyMc - I was very, very worried about our 13. Your updates and attitude are a great inspiration and motivation for us to make ours work. I just hope we do as well on our plan as you have done on yours.

[MommyMc]

Hello Everyone!! I am so sorry I haven't updated sooner! Lord knows I have tried! I forgot my log in password and my attempts to retrieve it from this site did not work! Anyway, here I finally found it so here I am!

WE ARE DONE!! Our 5 years ended in January and we got the discharge letter from the courts in April!! WE ARE DONE!! We survived! When I last updated we still had 3 years left in the BK. Well, we stuck to our budgets and it all worked out. Every summer we went on a family vacation. My children continued to play their sports and my eldest (now 16) even traveled several times a year to play baseball with his team. 2 years ago he played in AZ over spring break so we loaded up the car and made it a family vacation! We went to Disneyworld in 2011 and are going again this July. Both of our car loans ended this past October freeing up a lot of money each month! As much as I want to run out and buy a new one, I am loving being debt free so I am going to enjoy this feeling for a little while longer. We will save some money so we can put a large down payment on it when the time comes.
Oh, man, so much has happened since I last updated. Last year I had 3... yes THREE... unexpected surgeries. We were very fortunate that by the 3rd one my insurance kicked in 100%. I am still paying monthly payments to my 2nd surgery. That should come to an end here by mid summer. Hospitals and doctors are very willing to work out payment plans and at no interest too!!
We have just begun the process to refinance the house. I was quite surprised to hear from our loan officer that our credit report wasn't that bad and that we did qualify! We are lowering our interest rate from 6.5% to 4.5%.
Now that the BK is over I am getting LOTS of mail and emails from credit card companies saying "your approved"... but we ARE NOT getting one. Maybe in a while, for emergencies, but not now.
Things are so good right now. If you are reading this and you are just starting out your BK, hang in there!!! IT ISN'T SO BAD!! You have to follow a budget! The first year was the hardest. It will be over before you know it! Just hang on and do everything like you are suppose to.
If you have any questions or want any advice on our experience just holler at me!

Thanks much y'all... This board was a lifesaver back when we started!!
MommyMc

[spidge]

Great news for sure. Good for you. I don't know how you were able to vacation, but again, good for you. It must be strange since you now don't need to make two car payments and the BK payment. It sounds like you have a plan and I do hope it works out for you.

[tigergem]

Way to go! YAY for YOU! I have 3 or 4 months left on mine, and can't wait to get it over with.