That feels good. I have just completed a $1,250.00 payment towards the lowest credit card balance. We tripled the minimum payment then added $1,000.00 from the stimulus check provided by GW. That should knock the balance owed in half. Another 5 payments of $250.00 will have that debt paid off never to look back again to Dell to finance ANYTHING. My goal is to have the Dell account eliminated by the end of Summer and not settling on 5 months.

It has been almost 90 days since my wife and I began our Total Money Makeover. I have honestly lost some of the gazelle intensity, but worked from new learned behaviors and new skills of discipline. I read on another PF blog recently that a purchase of want should have a wait time factored in.

Here is the example. I have been itching to replace my 2-year old cell phone. The cell phone that I wanted would have cost me $200.00. I have taken on the discipline of placing 1 day of wait for every $10.00 of the wanted purchase. So, rather than spend the $200.00, I divided $200.00 by 10 which is 20. I then decided that I would wait 20 days before making the purchase. The 20 days have not finished yet and I have already come to the realization that I don’t need a new phone.

So far so good. Another help has been to read other PF (personal finance) blogs. I found a good one last night over at From Mike. This blogger is a young 30 something dad raising 2 girls. His posts are personal, open, and honest. He caught the Dave Ramsey gazelle intensity and has shared his short journey to this point. His recent post is raw and shows a back slide based in part on a couple of personal loses. His readers have commented to his post. The PF community is very supportive. Now on to a long Memorial Day weekend and a family budget meeting tomorrow before we leave the house.