budget update

Oh wow, what a headache.
Christmas is always rough on my budget, because nobody gets sick over Christmas. I miss a lot of work because there are no patients in the hospital.
So needless to say, my budget got shot. I hadn't had time to build my emergency fund up enough yet, and we blew right through it.
But we had a good Christmas though, and I don't have any regrets. But now it's time to get back on track.
After the Christmas holidays, the car repairs, the missed work, and the anniversary, it's time to pay the piper. My debt, not counting car and student loans, stands at just a hair under 13 thousand dollars.
That's not too terrible. I thought it would be higher.
So if I plan to put my income tax refund into the debt hole and divide the rest out, it comes out to 13 paychecks on my current budget, give or take.
Getting paid every two weeks and considering that there are three paydays in March (5th week) that would put it to the end of June.
After that, it would take just under ten more paydays to pay off the car and then another ten to pay off the student loans. But I will cross that bridge when I get there. I refuse to add the debts all up. It would be over 40k all together. But I can handle 13k.
If I only pay my regular payments on the student loans they will be paid off in a couple of years anyway, since I am paying almost 900 a month on them as it is.

So I made a chart on a piece of paper with thirteen little boxes on it and then below that I made ten more, and then ten more below that. Then I stuck it to the front of the refrigerator. I made all of my payments and then marked off the first box with a great big 'X'

Wish me luck. I'm off and running. Five and a half months, twelve little boxes, and $12,242 left to go.