Clutter

I feel really good today. I had to stay home from work in order to prevent everyone from getting my cold. It was a doozy. I have been feeling grumpy. So I read my blogs today. I decided to step by step catch up.

Yesterday I was grumping about the health insurance. Well I have resolved ONE of the three things I needed to do. I also started to track down my old financial information from a company I used to work for. I have some documentation but not enough information. And I have a TON of useless information I don't need. It will take me some time to track it all down. I am not sure where to start looking but I have begun the hunt. One blog I read had a post Applying GTD principles to your personal finances It was very good. It made me really stop and think. So I began to accumulate data from the past which lead right into finding my old folder where I had kept the benefit information. It is only partial but head and shoulders over health care info I had and did not need.

I was also able to clean off my desk. I took every single paper that was on top of the desk and either threw it out or found a home for it. I feel so much better. The room looks much more peaceful too. I want to develop a positive attitude about my bills. I want it to be a freeing experience. Stand up and be free from debt. I want to feel good when I pay down the card. And mostly I do. Some days the grumpy turkeys get me.

I have developed a better system. A system needs to be logical and one you trust. Something I have been lacking is trust. Today I know where all the current bills are. I know what needs I have pending. I know I need to create a budget.

I have been reading Girl get your credit straight by Glinda Bridgforth. She has some basic ratios for budgeting. If I had known about these before I might have pulled the credit cards sooner. Questionable. But it turns out I am a very good budgeter and spender. I am under her percentages in all categories..... Care to guess....... Yep that's the one... Credit cards. I pay DOUBLE what average debt is manageable to carry. What a big honkin' hole. So I suppose that is the purpose of these exercises. I am struggling greatly this month. The number of extraordinary expenses is mounting and I feel overwhelmed. May should be better and June will be the summer program for my daughter. She is so excited. We finally got the acceptance letter in the mail today. No financial aid though. How can they do that? But with help from Grand parents she will be able to go. Way to go kiddo! I still have hope, but I am daunted by how hard it really is to cut back. I brought my lunch to work today. I will again tomorrow and Friday it is being provided. So I will maintain low cost for the end of the week. Good thing too as my funds are very low.

More to come...

I am not a financial professional. If you are looking for financial advise you should seek it elsewhere. If you would like to join me on the journey, walk with me for a while and be my friend......