Savings-Free Money is always the best money

To help me get started building a savings, I have found several helpful promotional offers. Did you know that banks actually offer free money for signing up with them? The following are links to some of these offers.

LaSalle Bank-$100
You are required to sign up for their checking and savings account and have an initial deposit of $250. You are also required to make a purchase with your debit card. All in all this is a good deal. Fill out some forms and make a $10 purchase with your debit card and you are $90 ahead. Not bad for about an hour worth of work.
http://www.lasallebank.com/checking/landing.html

Citibank-$50
This one is a bit easier. Just sign up as a first time Citibank deposit account customer. Account must be in good standing for 120 days.
http://direct.citibank.com/cbol/07/usa/crosssell/default.htm?Promo_ID=C2M2&BTData=402107B716B61775F524B4BBBBEB0AEAC95948490FFFCF5ECEAC5C2D672A6D72&BT_AS=8&BT_CON=116&ProspectID=CF3D9AA9768E49F28CD29E5398463202

Well I just signed up for the Citibank offer and I might take advantage of the other one as well. The downside is that I dont really like a lot of checking accounts. So at the very least I just increased my savings from $40-$90. Its not very much but I am on the right track. I hope you take advantage of this as well.

First Things First: Expenses

Okay, the first thing I need to tackle in my quest for no debt is my expenses. The following are my monthly expenses

Rent
$1,350.00
Car Payment 1
$ 450.00
Car Payment 2
$ 219.00
Car Inusrance 1
$ 130.00
Car Insurance 2
$ 145.00
Health Insurance
$ 350.00
Food
$ 500.00
Electric
$ 55.00
Gas
$ 30.00
Fuel Expenses
$ 250.00
Childcare
$ 540.00
Satellite
$ 70.00
Internet
$ 40.00
Cell Phones
$ 120.00

This all totals roughly $4250.00/month in mandatory expenses. This does not include the nearly $200 I spend on coffee and cigarettes each month. As of today I have decided to stop smoking and for the most part stop the coffee(I will just cut out buying this at starbucks everyday). I plan on putting all of this toward my sky rocketing credit car debt.
I have decided to take $900/month from the remaing $1400 that I have left after paying mandatory bills and put it towards credit card debt. At this rate I should be able to pay off all of credit card debt within 8 months. This will be tough but it will be worth it once I am credit card debt free

About Me

I am 29 years old, married with two children ages 5 and 7 and a serious underachiever in regards to saving and accumulating wealth. If one were to look at our combined income we would be placed in the middle class category. However if one were to look at our total net worth we would be considered poor. I am well below my peers when it comes to savings and investments. To show you how sad it is: I do not own a home, both of our cars have yet to be paid off, I have $40 in savings, I do not have any retirement savings (401k, IRA). Most of the time we are living month to month. It is a hole that we cannot seem to get out of.

Financial Summary:
Credit Card Debt: $6,875
Car Loan 1: $925
Car Loan 2: $24,000
Personal Loan: $9,000
IRS: $600

Total Debt: $41,300

Income:
Combined Take Home Pay: $5700/month
Assets: We really dont have any of these
Savings: $40


Like so many americans, we have accumulated a great deal of debt. My goal of this blog is to try to change our spending ways(I figure if I write it down and put it in front of the worldthat I might actually try a little bit harder), and I would like to share some of the things we learn along the way so that hopefully it can help some of you. I will be posting frequently as this is not something you can tackle on a monthly basis. You have to tackle it daily and continously revise your strategy until you find something that works.