Monday, October 29, 2007

Money Monday

Magazine update 4 3 LEFT!!!! I am not the only one who archives stuff this way... http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2007/10/27/preserving-the-things-that-money-cant-buy/

Getting things ready to sell is a lot of work. I hate that it is so time consuming to prepare something to sell. Why I just want to get something out of having all this JUNK! otherwise it would be soooo much faster to just give it to the salvation army.

What would I do today if I HAD no debt? Max out 403b contribution. You can contribute up to $15,500 per year. Right now I am putting away $5500. I could still invest DOUBLE and be much better off for retirement. I want freedom options not just to be comfortable! College. A few new pants. I have been desperately putting off buying any clothes. And a down payment on a home of our own. New laptop for fiancee would not be a bad thing either.

Tread & re-tread

I have to re fill out a form that someone did not date correctly. Its not a lot. But its time consuming. I have trouble with forms. (I know they serve a purpose and people who don't have forms are even harder to work with...) but I seem to resist the formality of being trapped by a form. When I have to re do steps I have already taken I fear things may go wrong. But in truth they already did and I am correcting it. Why do I fear so much? Why does it take so much COURAGE? Why does it take so much effort to be correct. Attention to detail. I flubbed that one two weeks ago. If I had checked the form when I was standing in the office I would not have to re do this extra set of steps.

On a plus note. I get to update my Savings today! I will pass the $840.00 mark. I am sooo happy about that! 42% complete.

October Budget.......

I kept my food shopping in line. Eating out was high but It is good to see where the hemorrhages happen. Cash is a huge issue. Eating out and child lines blur there. I have to have some cash though... I cant just give my daughter my debit card. I always need to have a little something to be able to go out to the movies with friends or make sure she has back up money on a date with a boy.... Anyone else have a daughter they give money to? I always tell her its nice if the boy pays but you have to be able to take care of yourself. Independence. Otherwise you never know what may happen right??? So I make sure if she is on a "date" then she has some money with her. I rarely see it come back.

Speaking of independence.... I keep $100.00 in my wallet folded and hidden in case of emergency. I used it for a urgent haircut Saturday and I went to the bank today and replaced it immediately. Do you think that counts towards the emergency fund? I keep the money there in case I get stuck somewhere (Out to dinner with friends and they want to split the check....) I guess it doesn't count towards your e fund. Your emergency fund is for unexpected expenditures. This is for surprises. Maybe they are different.

It is also time for open enrollment in my health care. I have decided to go with a more expensive health plan. I have a very very hard time paying lab fees and Dr fees after the insurance does not cover stuff. It kills me. I cant plan to use all the "medical spending" because I never have any idea how much I need to spend and you loose the money if you don't spend it. What good is that? I hate dealing with health care. So I have decided what is right for me to do is go with the more expensive plan. Because I will stop avoiding going to the doctor. I avoid going to the Dr totally. Not because I am afraid of going but because I am afraid of the bills. If I am not taking care of myself. It is not a savings. And It only took 7 years for me to figure that out. The difference in dollars is $1200 per year or $50.00 per pay period. Which is essentially my raise for next year which I will see in Jan when the new benefits start. So. I think its a wash. Its a little frustrating that I cant teach myself new habits. Maybe I will re-evaluate when digging out of debt is done because I will then be out of debt and I should have more cash in a medical fund therefore I will be able to cut costs. So see what debt does it costs you more everywhere. SIGH.....


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......

Monday, October 22, 2007

Clutter update

I can see my desk. Well half of it anyway...

Magazine De Clutter tally and some thoughts.... 8 left in this pile (What??? there are more piles?!) Yes. Like credit cards I decided to take small bites out of them so I don't feel overwhelmed!

These mags were my friends when I lived in Spain. I was so lonely at that time. Not only did I struggle with my first husband but I was so isolated and far away from my friends and family. Don't get me wrong there were a lot of positives from that time too. But the reason I hold on to the magazines is just in case... If I feel that isolated and alone again I will have my cross stitch friends. I should realize I am 40 now and my skills with friends have come a long long way and If I am lonely I just need to reach out. Still its why I scan the magazines before I throw them out I am afraid of letting go without a safety net. The scans are the safety net.

The first magazine I scanned has a project I made for my cousin. It was 19 years agp! I think I have held on to this stuff for too long! I was finishing up my last semester of college. It was over the summer and no one was on campus but a few other bums and me. Man was I lonely and moody! I had WAY too much time on my hands. All the times in my life when I have felt that low. I always turn to cross stitch. I miss having the amount of time I had then to keep working on the projects I love to do now. I still stitch every chance I get but the time slips away from me. And with a sceond job that time will be even more rare.

So even now there are..... Only.... 7 left in the pile YAH!!! progress

I always tell my mom If I ever get stuck in a hospital or prison slip me a needle so I dont go insane. I can do cross stitch. (Is that nuts already??)


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......

Financial fitness checklist

After reading A Complete Framework for Financial Planning I wanted to see how I was doing....

1) Set Up a “Budget” and Make Saving Automatic

* I try to set aside a little money into the Emerg fund Every month. It usually happens on the mid month paycheck.
* My percentages are out of wack. But I am getting better. I am not outspending as much every month. I have also created a Food budget. I am working at sticking with it. A little hard this month with lots of travel.

2) Pay off debt

* Mortgages/student loans - I do not have either. I only have HIGH BAD Debt. :-(
* I am working on paying off as much debt as possible. I am also looking at second jobs. I found some new resources thatnks to Boston Gal and I am looking at that further.

3) Establish/Maintain an “Emergency” Reserve Fund

* I have tons of unexpected things come up. I do see the value and I have begun building a balance. Based on my History I think I need $2000.00 saved. See side bar.
* Where? I have a savings account attached to my checking account. Once I have $2000.00 Saved I will begin saving in my Credit Union Account. It has higher interest.
* How much? Keep 3-6 months worth of expenses... This is very very hard. If I were to lose my job I would have to temp to maintain & fill in the gaps. This for me is a longer term goal.

4) Save for Retirement

* Why? Obviously, no one wants to work forever! I went to a retirement seminar last week. I am behind BUT not so badly that I cant make it back. The good news is that I have 25 years or so to work. My 401k from NC needs to be moved into my 403b. I will work on that in Oct/Nov.
* Where? I have a 403b through my employer who contributes 12% without my contributing anything. That is AWESOME!!!
* How much? Once the Debt is gone My goal is to contribute5% to the 403B and 5% to my 3-6 months savings. Until I have 3-6 months savings then I will put 10% into the 403b. Its do-able.

5) Establish Funds for other Goals

* Short term goals: I am adding to my emergency fund. And paying off debt.
* Long term goals: Down payment on a home. $40K (possibly 50k)
* Special goals: My daughter will be in college next year so a 529 is not possible. However, I want to help her pay off as much of the student debt as I can so she does not start off life in debt.

6) Additional steps to take:

* Establish good credit; I have decent credit and I continue to maintain it.
* Maintain excellent insurance coverage...
* Health - I need to upgrade my health ins.
* Work covers disability insurance.
* I have life insurance that will cover my daughter's college if anything were to happen.
* Car ins is paid for the fall, as well as rental.

*** I need to have a will ***

* Give generously; I gave to my school this year. it made me feel really good. Education is important to me and I wanted to give something back. So I did :-)


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......

Monday, October 15, 2007

Magazines

Courage - getting rid of clutter

Saying good by to friends - My magazines I started this morning with 19 in a pile. Now I am down to 12. It feels good. I guess it is some strange representation of my life that I need to get rid of all the magazines. Somehow it represented a good quality life. If My life contained one Positive thing from those glossy images (living or real simple, Cooking light, Country living) Somehow then My life would be successful. I have come to realize that contained in those pages are snippets of a moment in time but to have a well balanced life I need to do less not more, I need a clean home not a cluttered home. Financial security is more important to me then those images. They are in a studio and dont show what is behind the scenes to have a home look like that. I have a well lived life. I can be happy with that. And all the cross stitch projects that await me? well one at a time, take em one at a time.


Creating a want or designing a life with inspiration...

Twelve months from now, what five specific things would you need to have accomplished in order to feel you have made great financial progress in your life?

1. I want my financial aid paperwork submitted to my daughters schools of choice (And right now there are 8 schools) I want her to be in school by next October.

2. I want to have a working monthly budget. That I can live within

3. I want to have completed getting my financial house in order
I have started this one and I am well on my way...
- I tracked down a pension that I had from a company I worked for 8 years ago.
- I have gathered all my banking information in one place. Soon they will all have my current address.
- I have mailed one 401k plan of my new address I need to follow up to see if it was changed.
- I would like to change the distribution of my contributions in my 403B to a more aggressive mix.

4. I would like to have paid down my credit card debt by 5000.00 With an achievable plan to do more.

5. I want to live a debt free life. I want to own a home. I think I need to be free of debt before I am able to save for a downpayment...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What de-cluttering teaches me...

Even though you are getting better and you can see the end there is still work to be done.

Small thins can be valuable.

Space is a personal thing. It is ever changing just like the person who uses the space.

Small bites makes a big task manageable.

Perseverance does pay off

Ideas come from many places

Keep up your inspiration it will keep you on track when you dont "want" to do the work

Learn from others expertise

Enjoy the sense of peace that comes with a job well done.

Reward yourself

Saturday, October 06, 2007

September Spending

Mortgage or Rent 850.00
Telephone
80.00
Groceries 1119.00
Eating Out, Lunches, Snacks 64.48
Gasoline/Oil 123.42
Credit Cards 1070.00
Cable TV/Videos/Movies 165.33
Miscellaneous Expense 261.10
Cash Withdrawals 300.00

Well there it is. I have not analyzed my spending in 8 years. It was easier to do then I thought. I went straight down my bank statement and filled in the categories based on the withdrawal amounts. I used a basic spreadsheet from About.com and filled in amounts. It was pretty easy. The next step is guessing what the budget should be. I exceeded my income this month. But I also received back child support payments so I knew I could afford to do that. I also paid medical expenses which I had planned to withdraw from my emerg. fund but ended up not needing to because I had the support payments. I am going to set up a budget based on the book.... Girl, Get your credit Straight by Glinda Bridgforth. She has some pretty common sense approaches that I like.



So how did I do....


Well on Housing I am under the 35% guideline - SAFE
Other Expenses are WAY out of whack Almost double what they should be!
Transportation - under 15% - SAFE
DEBT WELL.....almost 2.5 times where it should be but thats why I am blogging about getting out of debt so duh
Savings - Well because I spent so much this month 0 - FAIL.

I was able to preserve the 700 I have set aside for car insurance coming in Oct and Medical. So balance wise where I needed the most work is Food. It was bothering me this month but I am a little surprised how far out of whack it is. I have really been struggling with food. We are all picky eaters in the house and on any given night one person will be out of luck. My fiancee is going through the most changes. He is allergic to milk. It is very very hard to have a casserole for someone who cant have milk. I have been looking for acceptable substitutes but it is expensive! Plus I have noticed we usually share some of the shopping and this month he did not share any of the food bills. I guess we will have to talk about some solutions.

This is the fist day and the budgeting day. The mountain is huge but I believe we can get out from under.