Vacation Pics!

In random order, and just a small percentage of the number actually taken:

Finally: Vacation

It's the 3rd of July and all is well! I started my vacation today - no more work for 11 days! Wahoo. I am so excited. We are packing and cleaning - preparing for our trip to San Diego. I know it's last minute, but we need to purchase our Sea World tickets. I think we will check out Costco's prices today. That will be our one big splurge.

I think I will also need to get an umbrella stroller for our little monkey. Our normal stroller is too large - and he's still small enough that he may not be able to walk for miles on end, gazing at the fishies and stuff.

We are doing our 4th of July celebration today; Kentucky Fried Grilled Chicken and a ton of sides + swimming + fireworks = fun! This is my favorite holiday. Next year, hopefully we will be in our own house to celebrate it (and to decorate for it of course).

So, busy day planned... I am sure I will fill you in more before we actually leave on Monday morning at 0'dark thirty.

If you know of any fun, cheap things to do in San Diego, leave a comment. I will take all the ideas I can get!

Booked Our Vacation

We just booked our vacation to San Diego!! :) We are going for 3 days, leaving on July 6.

We were going to do a staycation but decided that Nic was ready to meet Shamu. Plus, we've worked so hard paying off all our debt, we deserve a little break, doncha think?

Sides, it will be an all cash trip!!

Here's a pic of our hotel (got it on HotWire...4 Stars, $89 a night!)... It's called the Hotel Solamar - it's in the Gaslamp District!!



I promise to take tons of pics... =)

I am sure you've heard the old saying...

"Don't count your snowflakes before they fall..."

I am too excited NOT to! I am waiting on two major snowflakes this month! Those, including my snowball, will eliminate all but ONE final creditor.

Here's the breakdown...

Snowflake 1: $4165
Will melt away American General [$2400] and Kay Jewelers [$1169]

Snowflake 2: $1470
Will melt away Orchard [$680] and Capital One [$727]

Snowball for the Month: $1190
Will kill Best Buy MC [$690]
Will pay off a bill that came in this month [$142]
Trip to Hoover Dam & 1 Night in Las Vegas [$350]*

Once those all clear, we will only owe $2400 to Dell. DID YOU READ THAT? That motivates me so much! We will spend July and August paying off Dell. I am due another snowflake of $1470 at the end of August, so I KNOW it will be a goner by then for sure!

* Every year, for vacation, we got to Mexico for a few days. It's close, it's cheap, it's the BEACH! We decided to save some money, and take the kids to Hoover Dam, and then stay in Vegas for a night. We, as a married couple, totally agree on the fact that it's NEVER to young to start teaching children how to gamble. Okay, I am kidding about that part. We actually found a hotel that doesn't have a casino inside. Crazy, but true. We haven't been to Hoover Damn since the older were younger [much!], and we thought Nic would love it! Or, at least, we'd love it for him!

What's after Dell, you ask?!
Well, I have to admit... we have a few medical bills that are in collections. As I think I've mentioned, Nic was born 3 months premature, and while most of his bills were paid for, I was in the hospital at least three times following his birth. With our other bills about to be paid off, I went ahead and pulled our credit reports [scores up an average of 60 points from 3 months ago!] and created a spreadsheet of our accounts that need to be paid.

With one last scheduled snowflake of about $2200 coming in, plus Snowballs for Sept, Oct, and November - we will really be done. Kinda. :)

We will have the Van payment and my Student Loans [which are deferred].

Starting in Jan, we will put money away for the house down payment, as well as pay an extra $400 - $500 on the Van each month.

See what I mean about counting snowflakes - it gets me ahead of myself. So, as long as we stick to the plan, and so does the rest of the world [no surprises, thankyouverymuch] - we will be sitting pretty by New Years!