The Monthly Bills/Balances-April 2009

Rent (Rent has replaced the Mortgage): $1524
Truck: GONE
Car: GONE
Discover Balance: $0.00-and this is the way it's going to stay!
WAMU Balance: $0.00-nothing but wholesome goodness here!
AMEX Balance: $0.00-still a big fat goose egg!
MB Balance: $0.00-most excellent!
Gasoline: GONE
Electric: $30-this is a give or take estimate as we have yet to receive an actual bill
Heating: No longer applies
Groceries: $300/mnth-this hasn't changed at all, our food budget is pretty straighforward
Water/Trash: FREE!
Transportation: $86/mnth-I have to buy a train card every month to get to work
Savings: $1140 in the EF at the moment, but being added to at a rate of $3k/mnth
Fun Money: $100 each and $200 for the eating out pool (which I may abstain from this month since I'm trying to get into shape at the gym that's onsite at our new apartment)

Back On My Own Two Feet Again

Well, it's been 3 weeks since we moved back to the city and it's going swimmingly! However, I have to note, we haven't heard from the mortgage company after mailing in the house keys and I can't get the car companies to come pick up their vehicles! Yikes! I've had to call both car companies multiple times now to see if they are ever going to repossess the cars. Sounds to me like they are slammed with requests other than mine. However, we are saving TONS of money right now and it feels good to not stress over the bills anymore. We still try to live frugally, but not out of necessity, only out of a conscious effort to be less "stuff" oriented. It's working out beautifully. Even if the hubby loses his job, we are A-ok and that's a fine feeling. I can't believe we ever let ourselves get caught up in the consumerism so much. We were pretty good about our finances before we moved to Chicago, and then with a large boost in income, we suddenly needed to buy buy buy. How depressing. I feel like we are "going back to our roots" with this transition. It's sad that our credit will suffer for it, but maybe we needed a kick in the pants to get our heads screwed on straight. For now, I'm living stress-free and loving it!