What Happens When You "Own" Two Jobs

This is what happens.... you become delinquent on every single responsibility and hobby you ever had at home.  This includes your blogs.

I've worked a solid month, December, with only one day off.  Yep.  No kidding.  Today is the 2nd day of my first weekend off since, um, I don't remember.  Sometime in November I guess.  Between the turnpike (weekends only now) and the hospital (weekdays), I have little time to spend on my blogs.

So here's the financial update:

• Having two jobs allows me to pay my bills - on time.  This is huge after being out of work for the better part of 2 years.
• I was forced to buy some decent office environment clothes for my new hospital job. I kept my buying to a minimum, not wanting to encourage new debt. 
• I'm paying off Macy's first - where I got most of my new clothes.  The rest I put on my American Express, which is paid in full every month anyway.
• I've been tackling my Discover card first, because the interest is the highest there.

My Discover card limit is $6600.  My balance since last spring has hovered just a few hundred dollars below my limit.  Groceries and gas have been charged since I've been out of work.  In December, I paid $200 on my Discover card.  I recently paid $250 for my January payment.  It's not a ton, and it's not going to get my Discover paid off fast, but it's better than making my minimum payment of $124, with $108 going toward interest!!!  I'm hoping to increase each month's payment to Discover.  Paying off Macy's this month, and not using my American Express each month, will allow me to make a bigger payment to Discover starting next month.

I'll keep y'all abreast of my progress with my Discover card.  Remember, that's just the tip of the iceberg.  I have 3 other charge cards to tackle once I get the Discover card paid off.  :-(  I have also reinstated my savings account at my bank.  To date, I have $275 in my "new" savings account.

I would also like to start another savings account at SmartyPig.  This one will be earmarked for the week long country retreat we're sponsoring in June for our kids.  SmartyPig is a pretty cool savings option - check it out when you have a minute.

I don't like working 2 jobs and losing my home life.  But I keep reminding myself that I don't want to be a slave to debt.  At some point, I will have to decide between the two jobs.  Goodness knows I can't work every single day forever without eventually becoming severely depressed.  I'm trying my best to maintain a positive attitude and not snap at the hubby or the dogs.  LOL

My long-term goals are to help the hubby with his debt, once I've gotten mine under better control.  If something catastrophic were to happen to us, we could easily lose the house and the property.  No savings, way too much debt.  Not good at all.

I'd like to use SmartyPig to help me save for some of our rural needs... say, a tractor.  In the future, I'll be using my savings instead of my charge cards to buy what we need.  That's the way our forefathers did it, and it's the way we should do it.  At the same time, I'll keep building my regular savings account at my bank as an emergency fund.

I can't wait til I can get these credit cards paid off and then close the accounts!

I'm determined to get off the debt bandwagon.