Our temp to perm budget

We did sit down and hash out the budget last night.  We were tired, but pushed through.  There were bills to pay and 2 months of reconciling to do, as well as planning, etc.

There is not a long term plan as of yet - there is too much up the air still - closing on house, finishing with the builder, receiving the inheritance, the holidays, the yard, etc.

As of now, we plan on hitting CC#1 immediately.  We paid a little over $2,000 toward it last night, but held off putting all the savings toward it because of closing on the home.  We are waiting for that first and foremost.  They are in the final underwriting, so hopefully we close this next week.  I think we may lose our locked in interest rate, but we will see.

OK, that is the first step.

Second step - Waiting for the bonus and inheritance money to come in.  We decided to pay the 401(k) and CC#4.  CC#1, #4 and 401(k) are all the largest cash flow items and would be best to pay off as soon as possible.  We are not going smallest to largest, according to Dave Ramsey, because of the large amount coming in at once.  We decided to go with what would make the biggest cash flow impact.  We would like to have all three gone by the end of the year, but that would be VERY, VERY tight, so we will see.  I am done with Christmas gift buying, so it just may happen.

We did not go further really because we need to see how the rest of this year pans out.

However, we began saving for irregular expenses - which makes me feel so much more secure.

These include:  EZ Tag (toll roads), Home Maintenance/Repair, Medical, Birthdays, Homeschool, Vacations, Car Insurance, Christmas, Electric, Propane, Car Repair, Pest Control, Auto Registration/Inspection, HOA dues, Hair cuts, Clothing, Beef, Trash, and Summer Camps.

With these, we typically can cash flow most everything that comes up. 

Our budget will change heavily for a while since living in the country has different types of bills than in the city.  Auto gas is a little more, but we have no water bills or septic bills.  But, septic must be cleaned out every now and then and I have no idea how much that costs.

So, we have a budget now - feels terrific!  A plan for slashing the debt.  A beautiful place to live.  We are truly living the high life.