Well I made some small payments to each credit card last night. Plus I paid on my student loan and put over $200.00 in savings. AND we put back the money my husband took out for his travel. So I'm pretty excited. AND I started a tire fund. I'm going to have to buy at least 2 tires here pretty soon, so I thought it would be a good idea.

And my work is letting me work some overtime this weekend, so I should have some extra money next Friday.

I feel like I am making a little progress on this uphill battle.

As sad as it sounds, I find myself hoping and fighting to not make the financial mistakes that my parents have made. I don't want to be 60 years old with no house or savings or retirement. I want to leave something to my step-daughter when something happens to me.

My husband has such finacially responsible parents. His dad had life insurance, savings, paid for burial arrangements, gift trusts set up, etc when he passed away. My father had nothing. My mother does not own a home, has no retirement, no savings, no assets. His mother has 100+ acres up north with very little debt. I'm not saying his parents are "better parents", because I love my parents and I think they were always very suppotive and loving. I just wish my parents would have been a little more prepared.

So as I inch closer to my 30th birthday, I realize how important it is for me to be financially secure. And how scared I am of being a failure.

Ok....so if I were going to grade myself I would say I probably earned a C- this week. And that may be with a curve. I made some small credit card payments, but only $40 worth. And I realized that one of my starting balances was wrong. But on the upside, I realized that I had $67.00 in an IRA that I forgot about. And I have an automatic transfer from my payroll to take $10.00 out and put it in a savings. My thought...out of site, out of mind.

I have to keep in mind that this is my first week really trying. And its been hard because my husband is out of town for work and unfortunately I want to shop or go out to eat when he's not there.

Keep your fingers crossed folks! There may be hope for me yet!

Credit Card 1: $798.26
Credit Card 2: $595.13
Credit Card 3: $288.65
Student Loan: $4,113.59

Total: $5,795.63
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Savings: $1,570.38
Retirement: $201.97
New Account: $17.20

So I am trying to think of ways that I can work to come up with extra money. We are going through our house to come up with items for a garage sale. I am considering doing some Personal Chef work on the side, although I am not technically a "chef" I am working towards that goal. But I would like to think of other things I can do besides getting an actual PART TIME job. Any ideas?

I would love to beef up my Savings amount and Debt repayment.