Today I paid $3000.00 to Debt!!! I rc'd a gift from my grandmother passing away and I am using it to pay off my credit cards. I really want to purchase my own home and I always believed that I would use any money from her to put a down payment on a home. It makes me a little sad and angry to have to pay off debt first. Let that be a lesson to you kids Dont get into debt! It takes Way too long to get out. I also increased my emerg savings to $948.00. It really calls to light that I want to be out of debt. My fiancee keeps talking about wanting new furniture. I asked him to wait a while. I want to pay down more debt first. He agreed. He also wants to wait until we move so we dont have to move furniture twice. I am sad about moving again. I really dont want to but after running the numbers today I know its going to be necessary to move and to get a second job. Sigh. Progress is slow when you are in way over your head.
I have also moved some debt around so that my payments are again under $1000.00. That allows me to put $34.00 towards the principal. Its small but its a start. I am really focused on paying off card #1. If there is ANY money leftover in Jan I will be putting the money towards that #1 card. Plus when I get my tax return from 2006 back I will also apply that $ 1200 to debt. Plus if the government does the refund I should get $900.00 and I will apply that to the debt. So all told I will have paid down $5100 on this card leaving a balance of 7008. Then there will be this years tax return which will be another $1000.00. Once I get rid of this card the snowball will begin to be effective and I will make much much more progress towards the balances. I dont want to borrow trouble though by ticking off things I plan to do you never know what may pop up in the future. For now I am happy I have paid down $3000.00 of my debt. Yahoo!
I can do it. There is hope. I have begun to look for a second job. Any ideas about working out of the house? I can do accounting and bill keeping but have a certain worry about ads I have seen online. Is there real work from home? Just wondering.
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, January 28, 2008
Time spent vs cost
Today I had a number of errands to do. I did not want to drive all the way to an office super store to send a fax. I tried the Drug store - no luck. I tried the post office - no luck. I then found a mail packaging store hidden in between a McDonalds and a HairCuttery. Score! It saved me 20 minutes and cost $ 5.00 to send the fax. I am sure it would have cost less to go to the office store... What is the cost of productivity? I would have lost 40 minutes round trip For my salary that would be more then $ 13.50. So Even though I paid more to purchase fax services I saved about $ 8.50 in time. Sometimes there are costs for doing things the long way & the cheep way. Now I have more time to spend on my job and working on the in box on my desk... Totally worth it.
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......
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, January 21, 2008
MLK Monday
how do you know when to stop? when you spill water on your desk not once but twicein 5 minutes. First the right side and then the left. Thats when it is time to take a break.
I decided today to work the GTD plan. I have been doing more reading. There is a lot of procedural information on the David Allen website. One thing he suggested was to buy a label maker. Done. Next create some file folders. I created the following:
Take action
Pending
To phone
Reference
To scan
To file
To read
Ornament project (Dont ask)
I processed almost every paper on my desk untill I spilled my water. I am not sure why all of a sudden my hands were so shakey. I made a MESS too. Water everywhere. It has been cleaned up and I have a lot more space on my desk then I did this morning. I did a B I G sort. I think the next step is to prioritize each of the action items. Right now though I feel that I need a break so what better thing to do then Blog...
It is MLK day and I have a bunch of finance dreams. The clutter elimination was important to me to start the 08 year with clear goals. Try and straighten out my financial life. I am very careful to pay my bills on time. I have let the other stuff go though. I have some stock from when I was a child. I have different retirement plans that need to be monitored. I took many steps last year towards that end. I was even able to track down a pension I am entitled to when I retire. Next step is to straighten out the 401k plan from the last employer. It turns out that if I am not fully vested so I am not entitled to the interest. I need to move those funds FAST. I don't have a ton of money but compound interest relies on time and I need to get time back on my side. Right now I feel I am fighting time endlessly. Hurry hurry hurry make it right. It took me 18 years of crazy finances it will take me a little while to untangle them. But now I have put the papers in order and I have a list to work through it will get done.
The thing that throws my finances most often is moving. We started talking about the benefits of a cheaper place. It is really important because we could save almost $400 per month. Less storage ($100) then divided by 2 because we split the rent. So the monthly savings would be $150. Sometimes I don't think its worth it BUT we are going to do the math and then make the decision. I have resolved not to rush in.
Actually I received a windfall this last week. I will update the plan in Feb. after month end. Right now I am very happy to say $4000 will really really help me. It was a gracious gift from my grandmother and my mom. Today I checked my bank account to see it twice! $1000 went towards the $500 deposit for college for my daughter. The other $500 went towards a few unexpected expenses. so I have $3000.00 to pay towards debt. Big big big!Hooray! I am waiting for the grace peroid to change before I transfer the money. I want the money to be applied in Jan billing cycle. Its financial balance.Its also going to show serious progress on my #1 goal. Eliminate the debt. Hooray!
I decided today to work the GTD plan. I have been doing more reading. There is a lot of procedural information on the David Allen website. One thing he suggested was to buy a label maker. Done. Next create some file folders. I created the following:
Take action
Pending
To phone
Reference
To scan
To file
To read
Ornament project (Dont ask)
I processed almost every paper on my desk untill I spilled my water. I am not sure why all of a sudden my hands were so shakey. I made a MESS too. Water everywhere. It has been cleaned up and I have a lot more space on my desk then I did this morning. I did a B I G sort. I think the next step is to prioritize each of the action items. Right now though I feel that I need a break so what better thing to do then Blog...
It is MLK day and I have a bunch of finance dreams. The clutter elimination was important to me to start the 08 year with clear goals. Try and straighten out my financial life. I am very careful to pay my bills on time. I have let the other stuff go though. I have some stock from when I was a child. I have different retirement plans that need to be monitored. I took many steps last year towards that end. I was even able to track down a pension I am entitled to when I retire. Next step is to straighten out the 401k plan from the last employer. It turns out that if I am not fully vested so I am not entitled to the interest. I need to move those funds FAST. I don't have a ton of money but compound interest relies on time and I need to get time back on my side. Right now I feel I am fighting time endlessly. Hurry hurry hurry make it right. It took me 18 years of crazy finances it will take me a little while to untangle them. But now I have put the papers in order and I have a list to work through it will get done.
The thing that throws my finances most often is moving. We started talking about the benefits of a cheaper place. It is really important because we could save almost $400 per month. Less storage ($100) then divided by 2 because we split the rent. So the monthly savings would be $150. Sometimes I don't think its worth it BUT we are going to do the math and then make the decision. I have resolved not to rush in.
Actually I received a windfall this last week. I will update the plan in Feb. after month end. Right now I am very happy to say $4000 will really really help me. It was a gracious gift from my grandmother and my mom. Today I checked my bank account to see it twice! $1000 went towards the $500 deposit for college for my daughter. The other $500 went towards a few unexpected expenses. so I have $3000.00 to pay towards debt. Big big big!Hooray! I am waiting for the grace peroid to change before I transfer the money. I want the money to be applied in Jan billing cycle. Its financial balance.Its also going to show serious progress on my #1 goal. Eliminate the debt. Hooray!
Monday, January 07, 2008
Dont hide your goals
Don't hide your Goals under your desk. Procrastination
The usefulness of having only one pile... There is a purpose in having on in pile. Its really good for me. I cant ignore it. I have piles all over my office. At some point you stop seeing all the many piles and they stop calling to you. We are planning to move next year to a smaller place. I need to limit the size of my office. I can argue that my desk is not at all efficient. The the zen of getting things done is really inspiring me. I have drank the cool aid. I want to not miss any bills I want to manage my money well and I cant do that if I have piles of stuff all over. Its the chaos I can control. Debt feels out of control to me It is so big and I feel like it will never shrink. But even there I have gotton on board with tracking expenditures, and paying attention to the little things. They have become important again and I am no longer as over whelmed by looking at the money spent on an item. you have to spend some money to eat and to live. Its just how you spend it and what choices you make that can make a big difference in the budget.
So today I have accomplished....
I placed the empty file box under the full one. That means I can get to the full one and start scanning magazines & things in it to throw stuff out. I removed my hidden dreams out from under my desk and I have brought them into the light. Hiding under my desk were the following: wedding planning magazines. A PMP certification book, and two books on personal finance. I think I felt guilty and not yet entitled to have these items as my goals. But I kept them physically close to me so I knew they were not ignored (And they weren't I never mixed those items in with any other pile.) So during the slow week over Christmas and new years I wrote down training I would like to pursue. and I prioritized it. Then I added the action to my master to do list. I have long been a fan of 1001 things in 101 days. I also believe in making lists. If I have action items on a list I wont forget the goals exist. There is a lot to be said for smart goals. But thses goals are also ideas. They are 5 year and 10 year goals. The next year will continue to be busy and I need to focus on the big things that are going to happen for us. HS graduation, college are among the list. Yet I also cant let too much time pass before I pursue things for myself. I want to have a better more accomplished job some day.
Hopefully I can get there by continuing to do what I do. Train when I can, read all that I can and pursue my dreams.
Guard your wealth - Don't hide your goals
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......
The usefulness of having only one pile... There is a purpose in having on in pile. Its really good for me. I cant ignore it. I have piles all over my office. At some point you stop seeing all the many piles and they stop calling to you. We are planning to move next year to a smaller place. I need to limit the size of my office. I can argue that my desk is not at all efficient. The the zen of getting things done is really inspiring me. I have drank the cool aid. I want to not miss any bills I want to manage my money well and I cant do that if I have piles of stuff all over. Its the chaos I can control. Debt feels out of control to me It is so big and I feel like it will never shrink. But even there I have gotton on board with tracking expenditures, and paying attention to the little things. They have become important again and I am no longer as over whelmed by looking at the money spent on an item. you have to spend some money to eat and to live. Its just how you spend it and what choices you make that can make a big difference in the budget.
So today I have accomplished....
I placed the empty file box under the full one. That means I can get to the full one and start scanning magazines & things in it to throw stuff out. I removed my hidden dreams out from under my desk and I have brought them into the light. Hiding under my desk were the following: wedding planning magazines. A PMP certification book, and two books on personal finance. I think I felt guilty and not yet entitled to have these items as my goals. But I kept them physically close to me so I knew they were not ignored (And they weren't I never mixed those items in with any other pile.) So during the slow week over Christmas and new years I wrote down training I would like to pursue. and I prioritized it. Then I added the action to my master to do list. I have long been a fan of 1001 things in 101 days. I also believe in making lists. If I have action items on a list I wont forget the goals exist. There is a lot to be said for smart goals. But thses goals are also ideas. They are 5 year and 10 year goals. The next year will continue to be busy and I need to focus on the big things that are going to happen for us. HS graduation, college are among the list. Yet I also cant let too much time pass before I pursue things for myself. I want to have a better more accomplished job some day.
Hopefully I can get there by continuing to do what I do. Train when I can, read all that I can and pursue my dreams.
Guard your wealth - Don't hide your goals
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......
Happy Customer Service
I do want to tell you that over the holidays I bought something from www.JCP.com I experienced a little frustration because I forgot to click the right link for the free shipping. So I called the 1-800 number. Customer Service told be I had called too soon. I needed to wait my order was not showing in the system yet please call back later. A day later I called again. The girl was helpful but could not really credit the shipping. I forget the excuse. With all the different things I had going on I forgot to call again. I looked at my credit card statement and $24.57 has been credited to my account and Shipping was indeed free. Thank you JC Penney. I was not looking forward to trying and get that straightened out and now I don't have to!
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......
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......
Balance transfer madness
I recently transferred two balances from 29.9% rates to 3.9% for the life of the balance transfer. It was totally worth the 150.00 transfer fee. I wanted to see it work in the numbers though so I looked for a way to explain it.... Two bloggers mevsdebt and gradmoneymatters gave me the bones to work this out.
Target Card #1
Balance: $5000
Promotional APR: 3.99%
Transfer Fee: 150.00
Offer end Date: Fixed for life of balance transfer
Standard APR 18.24%
Default APR: 29.99%
So I wanted to do the calculations to determine that transferring a balance $5000.00 was a good choice.
If you only paid the minimum, it would take you 6001 months, and cost you $9,356,167,615,686,400.00 in interest. Information I have never seen before. Thats lovely. Is that even real money?
2nd try with better numbers......
@ current rate of interest 29.9%. It'll take you 618 months (that's over 51 years) to pay back $5,000 if you only pay the required minimum of 3.00%. Over that period of time, you'll pay an additional $18,906.61 in interest.
If you could afford to pay an extra $10 a month towards your credit card debt, it would mean you'd repay it in 223 months (just over 18 years) and you'd save yourself $8,514.01 in interest. In fact, if you could afford an extra $25 a month, you'd repay it in 128 months (just over 10 years), and save $12,303.06.
--------------------------------
@ 3.99 It'll take you 233 months (that's over 19 years) to pay back $5,000 if you only pay the required minimum of 2.00%. Over that period of time, you'll pay an additional $947.62 in interest.
If you could afford to pay an extra $10 a month towards your credit card debt, it would mean you'd repay it in 129 months (just over 10 years) and you'd save yourself $238.20 in interest. In fact, if you could afford an extra $25 a month, you'd repay it in 87 months (just over 7 years), and save $406.29.
hmmmm 51 years vs 19 years. Yep it was a good choice. Of course I will not be doing the min balance forever I intend to step it up! over the life of the card the savings was $18906.61 - 947.62 = 17958.99 - that is 1/2 of a down payment on a $400.000 house. Now why on earth would I want to give the bank that much of my money? The answer is I don't.
Right now my balance on the #1 Target card (first card to pay off) is $12049.90. I will pay down $3000 when my mom sends me some cash. I will pay down another $1000.00 when I get the tax refund. Which leaves me with a balance of $8049.90. My goal is to have it paid off by the June 2009. I am going to get a second job. I will pay off my debt. I cant live this way. I want to own a home of my own. For the first time in my life I do believe it will happen. I have known for a while that this card was bad for me to have but making changes is much harder then saying you will make a change. I can do this though. I am determined.
Long term goal: I have 5 credit cards. I want to be out of debt in 5 years. I can do it. If I keep paying off $1000.00 on debt. I will be able to achieve debt free eventually. I thought it would be easier and I am realizing its not going to be that easy. It is going to be time consuming but I can do it.
The calculator I used is here.... http://www.whatsthecost.com/creditCard.aspx
UPDATE: I added the credit card to my side bar. This will be my focus for paying off this year.
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......
Target Card #1
Balance: $5000
Promotional APR: 3.99%
Transfer Fee: 150.00
Offer end Date: Fixed for life of balance transfer
Standard APR 18.24%
Default APR: 29.99%
So I wanted to do the calculations to determine that transferring a balance $5000.00 was a good choice.
If you only paid the minimum, it would take you 6001 months, and cost you $9,356,167,615,686,400.00 in interest. Information I have never seen before. Thats lovely. Is that even real money?
2nd try with better numbers......
@ current rate of interest 29.9%. It'll take you 618 months (that's over 51 years) to pay back $5,000 if you only pay the required minimum of 3.00%. Over that period of time, you'll pay an additional $18,906.61 in interest.
If you could afford to pay an extra $10 a month towards your credit card debt, it would mean you'd repay it in 223 months (just over 18 years) and you'd save yourself $8,514.01 in interest. In fact, if you could afford an extra $25 a month, you'd repay it in 128 months (just over 10 years), and save $12,303.06.
--------------------------------
@ 3.99 It'll take you 233 months (that's over 19 years) to pay back $5,000 if you only pay the required minimum of 2.00%. Over that period of time, you'll pay an additional $947.62 in interest.
If you could afford to pay an extra $10 a month towards your credit card debt, it would mean you'd repay it in 129 months (just over 10 years) and you'd save yourself $238.20 in interest. In fact, if you could afford an extra $25 a month, you'd repay it in 87 months (just over 7 years), and save $406.29.
hmmmm 51 years vs 19 years. Yep it was a good choice. Of course I will not be doing the min balance forever I intend to step it up! over the life of the card the savings was $18906.61 - 947.62 = 17958.99 - that is 1/2 of a down payment on a $400.000 house. Now why on earth would I want to give the bank that much of my money? The answer is I don't.
Right now my balance on the #1 Target card (first card to pay off) is $12049.90. I will pay down $3000 when my mom sends me some cash. I will pay down another $1000.00 when I get the tax refund. Which leaves me with a balance of $8049.90. My goal is to have it paid off by the June 2009. I am going to get a second job. I will pay off my debt. I cant live this way. I want to own a home of my own. For the first time in my life I do believe it will happen. I have known for a while that this card was bad for me to have but making changes is much harder then saying you will make a change. I can do this though. I am determined.
Long term goal: I have 5 credit cards. I want to be out of debt in 5 years. I can do it. If I keep paying off $1000.00 on debt. I will be able to achieve debt free eventually. I thought it would be easier and I am realizing its not going to be that easy. It is going to be time consuming but I can do it.
The calculator I used is here.... http://www.whatsthecost.com/creditCard.aspx
UPDATE: I added the credit card to my side bar. This will be my focus for paying off this year.
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......
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
Year End workup or work out
Well I really don't want to sum up for the year. I feel as though I have failed. My Budget was way out of whack in December. I made a budget but I had many impulse spending items. I didn't spend where it was as important and I spent money on items that seemed pressing at the time but as I look at the list I am a little sickened as to where the money is going. A second job is in the worx for me. I really need to SLOW down the money out goes and pay off a credit card. I did transfer some balances down and I am counting on getting $1700 from my 06 taxes. But its not enough to compensate for the random things that have happened.
So how did I do? Sigh......
The Christmas budget was $1000.00 for gifts. I spent $1163.68 so I went over by $163.68
The unexpected expenses were $650.00
Sigh. Yep now its out there.
All on credit cards. I know not to keep them in my wallet but I also feel I want to hide my shame of not having a lot of money so I spent where I didn't need to to hide it. Some of it was gifts my daughter gave to her friends. Some was wrapping paper and cards. There was even a trip to Target. Some was Art class for school. If I was not paying down so much on debt I would be able to afford these items. However, Because I owe so much to the bank every month I really cant to have a single surprise expense. Sad really. so I am continuing on my journey to pay off the cards. Its going to be a Great 08. I am going to continue to be disciplined about spending. Get back on the wagon and increase my income.
I did not make any resolutions. I already have them Get out of Debt.
Happy New Year
So how did I do? Sigh......
The Christmas budget was $1000.00 for gifts. I spent $1163.68 so I went over by $163.68
The unexpected expenses were $650.00
Sigh. Yep now its out there.
All on credit cards. I know not to keep them in my wallet but I also feel I want to hide my shame of not having a lot of money so I spent where I didn't need to to hide it. Some of it was gifts my daughter gave to her friends. Some was wrapping paper and cards. There was even a trip to Target. Some was Art class for school. If I was not paying down so much on debt I would be able to afford these items. However, Because I owe so much to the bank every month I really cant to have a single surprise expense. Sad really. so I am continuing on my journey to pay off the cards. Its going to be a Great 08. I am going to continue to be disciplined about spending. Get back on the wagon and increase my income.
I did not make any resolutions. I already have them Get out of Debt.
Happy New Year
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