Traction and Ideas

I have paid off $5496.21 of my credit card debt. this brings up my total to 13.81% paid off. I am so proud of me. I feel like I am learning to breathe.

There are ways I need to improve though.
I need to build up my savings consistently over the next 9 months. I am pregnant and I will need to pay for my credit cards while I am on maternity leave. I am going to count on dear fiancée to handle rent and some other expenses. Day care scares me and it may be that we have to handle debt repayment differently for a while. We'll see. I have it calculated that I have about 5 weeks of paid leave sick & vacation. I only have to cover another three for an 8 week stay out of work. I'd love 12 but we'll see what happens with fiancees own finances. He and I are talking more about money and I am so proud of him for that.

So Traction...

Given this new information I have set a goal of card #1 to be paid in full by Dec 2008. The current balance left is $3060.41 and I am going to pay $405 today. I will also apply $200 of the economic stimulus to the card and possible 150 left from some travel expenses I had. all together that is a payment of $755.00. Quite impressive. This will leave $2305 to be paid by the rest of the year. I think I can do it. Just the fact that all the minimum payments are all lower now with the different balance transfers I feel more confident that we can swing stuff while I have this baby. Phew. What a difference having a budget has made. I can handle it vs Oh My god this will never end! Big difference - big big difference.

Secondary goal is to continue to build the savings account. I need to put at least $130 into the account each month if not $165.00 Otherwise I am going to have more Murphy surprises that I do not want to handle. This month I did not put that amount aside as I was trying to recover from the March madness. Now however with all the tax refunds and extras that I rc'd this month I feel confident that I can put 165 into savings. That would bring the account balance to 1200
about 1365. So keep on growing little savings. Keep on growing.

March left me $537.81 over budget. In April I gained $580.39 which puts things at a wash +42.58

May is going to be tough with graduation coming up. We have to plan what to get my beautiful daughter for her graduation present. Not sure exactly what its going to be yet. It somewhat depends on her dad and what he gets. It also depends on the budget.

I am applying for college loans. I know what Dave Ramsey says but it is the only way she is going to college and she is going! We have to work with her dad to make sure he can fund his share and then My share will shrink in January because My employer is going to pay a portion for her tuition. So in the spring semester I will be responsible for 2000. and for the fall I think I have to raise about $6,000. I also feel like I can get it paid off before she graduates. So I don't feel too bad about taking out the loans. We'll see though.

Incremental progress. I feel the traction this month so I feel good. One day at a time.

Every Windfall has a name

Why Debt Stinks: Every Windfall Is Already Spoken For

I read Paid twice every day and she often inspires me. Today Her topic really hit a nerve. It is the main reason I chose to get out of debt. My grandmother passed away last summer. My mom started talking about giving us some of the money she will inherit. It was a very generous offer but something about it nagged at me. Mom said wont it help you get out of debt? Gulp, it left such a sour feeling in my stomach. Something just wasn't right about spending my inheritance on debt. Stuff that is already long long gone. I wanted it to help me have a down payment on a home. I do not want to pay for my stupid tax. I wallowed in different plans for a while. I said I was getting motivated but I did allow new charges on my cards I thought I could make progress that way. HA! In Jan I started hitting the plan hard. New real commitment. I gathered steam and decided no more credit card charges. To this point I have paid off 12%. I wanted to give myself inspiration and I was not able to show progress yet. It is still a little too early in the month. Since I cant tell myself how much progress I have made lately. I decided to check the budget for a mid month check. We are mostly on track to recover in April from the additional $537.81 we were in the hole. There were actually $1094 additional expenses but the tax refund covered the majority of that. This month the money flows continue... She needs a dress, she needs shoes to match the dress she is attending two proms. UGH it goes on and on.

My windfalls saved my emergency fund last month. I have to brush myself off this month I have to say hey girl you fell down last month but you can do this. I have been worried about what am I going to do when the child support ends (Next month) and Big news I am pregnant. How can I afford this baby and still pay off my debt. I am determined to pay off this debt. I will not bring another child into this world in debt. I am going to get out of debt.I want to be lean goal oriented performer. I am on the plan. I am on track but I want to make more traction. How do I do it?


The $600.00 from the gov is going $400.00 for vacation and $200 to debt

My Original plan was to put all of the tax rebates $431 & 141 & 600 towards debt. By using the windfall to recover from march madness I miss out on putting a dent in the debt. But wait... I can hear my mom's voice saying don't beat yourself up look at how far you have come. Look at what you have been able to do in 3 months. That progress wont go away. Take a breath and know that God is with you on this journey.


I feel like a trader... I am trading this debt for the Fed return I am trading this debt for the state return and I am trading the emerg fund for the $600 rebate. All windfalls I could have used to get more traction with. I guess its allowing me to stand in place and not slide backwards but still I want some traction!

Things to say when you are grumpy about money...
Unless you have the money I am not doing this, or buying this.
I am 41 I can say no.

Bottomed out

The bottom out point was $582.85 to my checking account. That was the lowest balance I hit. I'll have to pay a service fee for it going below the minimum but still. Not too bad all things considered. The minimum balance is $800.00 I round it up and keep $1000.00 so its easy math. Also for really bad months like march. I'll finish the budget and and post this weekend. Fiancée has been so Awesome. Because I had a bad month last month I have yet to have paid a single dollar to the grocery store this month. What a sweet guy.

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......

Follow through

One behavior I have learned (by paying stupid tax) is to follow up on a balance payment. For some reason one of the banks I have a card with always messes me up with its payment schedule. I have learned to send the minimum payment even though I just made a balance transfer. This particular card has been a thorn in my side. The Credit Card company raised my rates for no apparent reason. Then they lowered my limit. (I never made a late payment on any of my cards.) So as soon as I could I transferred all my money off those cards and waited. Well Don't cha know within 6 months they offered me a 4.99% transfer rate until the balance is paid. I crunched those numbers and saving $1000.00 is in my interest. I know Dave Ramsey wants me to feel like I am making traction but I am tracking that in the over all total not card by card. (Current paid to date is $4789.57 - see my NCN Chart.) Frankly it feels Awesome to have gone from $ 12,049.90 to $ 2,943.06 even if the progress is in reduced interest not over all amounts.

So follow through... I double checked the card that was getting the paydown. Monthly payment rc'd - Check. I double checked the card that I was adding the balance to. Balance transferred. Check. Now this card had a $ -83.26 balance. When I transferred a balance from this card previously there was an additional payment that crossed in the mail. I have been waiting to pounce on that negative amount for 4 months. I am quite a program running some actuarial table somewhere that said "nope no change in the rate"... So I waited... "nope dont drop the rate"..... so I waited..... "nope dont drop the rate"... so I waited. Ahhhh then the offer and I pounced. Of course if the rate were to change at any moment I would YANK the balance off this card and move it somewhere else. I hate this card that much. Just so you know I dont recommend this method for everyone. The fees do add up and despite the fact I have just moved two balances recently it is not something I do on a regular basis. I wanted to use that $ -83.26 to pay off my debt. And it did help me. The balance transfer for this card cost.... $ 6.74 ($ 90.00 - $ 83.26 = $ 6.74) Hooray me. I will also make the first payment before 04/22/08 (the closing date on the statement). That way I will be ready to roll when the beginning of the month rolls around again. So the balance on card #7 is $ 3,006.74

Don't panic all you Ramseyites. I am working the debt snowball. I am not putting any new charges on my cards. I just wanted to take advantage of the credit card shuffle to save myself some money. I know just because I finally can move things around does not mean I can spend money. Believe me I get it. I want out of debt as fast as I can git. I am even trying to plan to get a second job and pay down more. On a positive note I also got my State tax refund today. Its staying in the checking account helping to fight back from the deep deep deficit of spending in March.

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......

Daughter lessons

Murphy came to visit my beautiful daughter. She lost her iPod Friday. She was so upset. She also got $200.00 from her dad as spending money. You know she wanted to run right out and spend that cash but this mean old mom wouldn't let her. This mom said she had to complete paying for her trip which she had already promised to pay for. She has $200.00 left to complete the trip. Then she can put money towards the iPod. Stuck to my guns I did. Oh boy getting out of debt stinks and hopefully she will realize why I am making it so tough on her now.

March Wrap up

Well as predicted March was a hard budget to balance. I have some scary new expenses coming and I think I have them covered but phew am I going to be glad when May rolls around because April is going to be TIGHT

Travel for my employer and fronting them the money puts an additional burden on me that I was not planning to have.

I also found out Saturday I am going to have a few more expenses before the end of the year so I am not too certain about getting a second job. BUT I have a plan. First tonight I talk to future hubby about the future. Then we map it out together. He likes plans he can stick to. Sept 2011 feels like a long way away. I am hoping for a second job this summer to ease the transition for no longer having child support. I am not sure that it is going to be possible. Trying to take that slow.

So I recalculated my debt snowball based on this months numbers. It is still Sept 2011 but the final payment is lower. So I am making progress. Currently I have paid down $4789.57 towards my debt. Last month I paid $691.60 to principal. This month will be much slower because of all the travel. The many hits to the "uh oh" fund and car insurance. But still I managed to keep my head above water.

While I was talking with my mom about how I did it there are probably a couple of things she asked me and I thought I should share with you.

Quick emergency cash....

I keep a $100.00 bill in my wallet at all times. Mostly so I don't get stuck in the city if something comes up. I don't want to need to use my credit card for an emergency. Which is also no longer in my wallet.

I also have kept $1000.00 in my checking account as a buffer. It is a condition of free checking. I probably dipped into it this month, we'll see when the fiancée clears the rent check. It will also depend on when I get the child support. Timing of all those things might be tricky. But I will not bounce any checks or run out of money. I currently think I am down to about $600.00 So I have to replenish that money. I will use the expense reimbnursement check that is $350.00 and another pay check. I should have it covered. I didnt have to dip into savings for the car insurance at all! That to me is the most impressive.

I am also trying to build up a $2000.00 emergency fund. Right now the savings account is at $1200. I do put $65.00 in every month for car insurance so I can take it out and save a little on the monthly vs every 6 month payments. So far I have been able to cash flow the insurance when it comes up. I have not needed to dip into savings. I am not sure this month that I will be able to put much aside though. I think I might have to use those funds to replace all the crazy funding I have had to do in March.

All in all, even though I got bitten quite hard in the month of march with expenses I was not expecting to pay, I was still able to recover. And I am ready for whatever April has to bring. I think. I don't want to tempt fate. I really have had enough of those Murphys' and they need to knock on someone else's door.

I feel have made a lot of progress in my life. (My mom agrees... LOL) Here are the things I have done today:

I checked a balance on line with a credit card company and discovered my credit had improved. So I was able to transfer a balance to another card. This takes one additional month off the debt payment plan. So the new date to be debt free is Aug 2011. I am so so happy. I feel like I am really making inroads on this debt. I have paid off 12% of my debt. This is BIG! At weight watchers when you reach 10% weight loss you get to stand up and cheer. So here is me I have lost 10% of my debt and I am cheering! Hooray!I will save approx $1700 in interest by transferring the balances. Heck yea 1 month earlier and $1700 less in interest. Go baby go. Card # 1 which started at $12,049.90 is down to 6378.06. Less the payment of $435 I made today Less a balance transfer of $3000. SO.... The new balance is $2943.06 . Now that is before interest next month. And the reason I focused so hard on this card is because it is currently 27.99 interest. GAG ME! I updated the Progress bar for card #1 to be 52% although in reality tracking the individual cards when you are transferring the balances is a mis-nomer. The real progress is reflected in the $39,804.12 number. I have paid it down 12% to date and I made the monthly payments today so we'll get new numbers for the end of April. LOL I actually get geeked out about doing my bills now. Its exciting to see the progress. I have become the cheapest mama on the block!

March Money Madness

Well it has been a long road this month. I will do a budget recap probably this weekend. Today I want to talk about graduation and college insanity which took place this past week. There were two forces at work on me last week. One was work and one was my family. I have never been able to travel for work in my life. When I was offered the opportunity to attend training I was excited to go. I knew pretty far in advance and gave my travel dates to my daughter and fiancée. It was not too big a deal she is a senior in high school and the pair get along most of the time. We created a plan. I was to travel to the training. On Thursday I would meet them in NC and we would then go together to a freshman registration weekend at the college my daughter is planning to attend. Great. I felt confident leaving things in my fiancée's hands and I felt my daughter would have the chance to have a little fun too.

Monday I flew to the training location. Fiancée had hurt his back. Oh boy. I was already wishing I could turn around and go home to be there for him. Tuesday he let me know that there was no way he could travel down with the daughter for the college weekend. Drat. Okay, So I hopped on line and found a cheep airline ticket for her to meet me at the airport and we would drive together to the college event. Hmmm... but wait... how would we drive? Well my dad lives not to far away... Oh no, the beloved basketball team is playing tonight. Drat. and I am going to need to get from the hotel to the college. Okay rent a car.

Now I should interject here that I have not put a single new charge on my credit cards since January. I am RESOLVED to be out of debt. So I did not take a credit card with me on the trip. I had enough coverage in my checking account to handle the trip. I have been holding a small sum waiting on the car insurance to tell me how much the insurance would be. So as I went off to training I thought I was covered. I was really resolved not to put any new charges onto plastic.

Oh but Murphy's law..... when something can go wrong it will go wrong. And so Murph dog came to visit me. First the additional plane ticket. Plus the planned expense of the hotel for the college weekend. Then the rental car. The freshman sign up weekend cost me are you ready..... $770.48. Oh its true. GULP where on earth am I going to get funding for that?

The travel out of pocket costs are $360.58. This money I will get back but companies are very slow to pay, which is why I did not want to put it on a credit card and have to front the interest. No thank you. So I have not yet figured out if March comes out even. I will pull all the numbers together.

On a side note. I had been missing listening to Dave Ramsey on my laptop while I go to sleep. (I like to listen to the archives) As I was catching up yesterday he had TWO callers ask about credit cards for traveling. He unequivocally stated that NO, you do not use credit for travel. Build up a small reserve and let it fly. Man am I glad I had that small cushion this week. This is why my goals for an emergency fund are $2000.00 not $1000.00 I just need a little more cash flow then the average bear with a teenage daughter.

Well I am really proud of myself this week. I was so nervous about needing to use the plastic. But I did it I stuck it out and I resisted the temptation to use that crutch. Yea HOO!

Feb Budget

The numbers are in... First I am updating my side bar. Every other paycheck I try to put 10% into savings. I was paid on the 15th. This means my savings is now $1209 so I have contributed 60% of my emergency fund. That is really exciting! After I have reached my goal I will start saving for my masters. I will create a bar after I have completed savings. I have a plan but I am maintaining my focus.

Budget.

I am still trying to get a handle on what we can really afford. Keeping the eating out low and the extras to a minimum makes a BIG BIG difference in our budget. Last month (February) I had an additional $341.00 left over. Now, I would put that towards debt but I also have Car insurance coming at the end of this month. I have to take care of the immediate and necessary first. With a new driver in the house it makes a world of difference to be able to know we would be sort of covered in case something happened. I have also noticed that my fiancée has been buying more groceries. That seems to make a big difference in what I am spending and what we are able to do. I also think it helped that Feb was so short. And my daughter was sick quite a bit I did not spend as much on lunches as I usually do. That should teach me to bring my lunch to work!

So there it is I actually sat down and did calculate all our spending. I have updated the budget spreadsheet and I am working on where the money really goes. It is a huge step forward in my financial maturity. I am acting like a grown up not a kid. Sigh… It’s about time.

Focus and Trust

I have some time management choices and some financial choices to make. This week I went to an information session about getting a masters degree. I have been thinking about it for a while and I wanted to be sure it was what I wanted to do. My time line was to apply for enrollment for the fall 2009 semester. I had in mind that in Sept. 2008 after my daughter goes to school I will have more time in the evenings and weekends as a result I would be able to get a second job. I would crank on my debt snowball while she is in School and I might be able to pay a large amount off before Sept 2009. The date it is currently set for. As long as I snow flake and keep going the way I have been for the last 3 months I will definitely have it paid before that.

My time line plan was to study for the next few months Take the GMATs in the fall and apply in Jan 2009 for fall of 2009. Here is the bonus... They might wave the GMAT because I have over 10 years of progressive work experience. If they were to wave the test I could probably pull the paperwork together by July and start taking classes this fall. Here is the wrinkle with that... I would not have as much time to get a second job and accelerate the debt snowball.

I read "How to Make the Time for Your Personal Goals" over on Zen Habits. I poured over it because one of my short term goals I have set is to read one hour a day. I mean to read a book for one hour per day. I seem unable to find time to accomplish this. I seem to spend A LOT of time reading blogs and not books. So as soon as I read the title I zoomed over to see if there was some insight into my life I could glean to help myself accomplish this goal. And I was brought up a little short by number one... “One goal at a time”.

It is hard for me to focus on one goal at a time. I have many balls in the air and to keep a balanced home I am always juggling something. I am also been a big fan of Dan Allen GTD. Trust in the system. If you don’t trust the system then you won’t feel confident in your minds ability to keep track of the goals. The gerbil running “gotta go… gotta go” in my head spins and spins.

I keep a running list of goals. I also track a running list of “to do” items. I use the site http://www.netvibes.com/. I make lots of little web notes into a very large list and I cut and paste based on priority. This way the list follows me where ever I go and I can jot things down before I forget them. I have so many things on my “to do” list I could not begin to get the list down to one item. I mean if you have a goal of retiring with a fully funded 401k how does someone accomplish that goal? Break it down into smaller tasks. Okay then what? Do a little bit every day or every month. But then I would have a lot of time left in a month to do other stuff if I only had one focus.

Perhaps it is a matter of while you are doing the one task stay focused on that task until you accomplish it. Don’t start doing the dishes until you have finished the blog entry. That part I can understand. I get so many interruptions per day staying on track for any given project is a real challenge. But then am I robbing myself of accomplishing my goals because I have to multi task or is it a matter of style?

There are two really big items I want to accomplish in the future. The first is getting rid of the debt I have. The second is getting a masters degree. I will not melt if I never start to read a book for one hour per day. But if I never start on the Masters I feel I will be 50 before I am finished. I will not accomplish my goals. I am determined to keep blogging about debt. I am determined to continue on the journey to be debt free. I have made Major strides in working this plan. The question is could I do both?

Ah… wait there is another factor… the cost. I have committed $ 1,000.00 of my monthly budget to pay down the debt. I cannot waiver in this commitment. I do get tuition from my employer for classes.

Evaluating the cost…

		Employer	$5,250	Me	Credits
Fall 2008	3630	$1,620			6	2
Spring 2009	3630	$1,620			6	2
Summer 2009	1815	($195)			3	1
Fall 2009	3630	($3,825)		$3,825	6	2
Spring 2010	3630	$1,620			6	2
Summer 2010	1815	($195)			3	1
Fall 2010	3630	($3,825)		$3,825	6	2
Spring 2011	3630	$1,620			6	2
Summer 2011	1815	($195)			3	1
Fall 2011	3630	($3,825)		$3,825	6	2
Spring 2012	3630	$1,620			6	2
Summer 2012	1815	($195)			3	1
Fall 2012	3630	($3,825)		$3,825	6	2
Spring 2013	1815	$3,435			3	1
Fall 2013	1815	$1,620			3	1
				$ 15,300	72	24

When I become Debt free the cost of $4000.00 per year is very manageable. It will cost over $16,000 to get the degree. BUT the average salary of someone after they complete this degree is double my salary. Getting the MBA makes it easily worth the investment of money. I would earn back the cost of school in one year.

The Challenge...

Start grad school this year? Or work for 1 year to pay off debt and then have enough progress on the snowball that would allow me to go to school.

Trust….

I trust the math. I believe in the numbers. I believe I will be debt free on or before Sept 2011. If I postpone my start of school I will be MUCH better off than if I were to start now. I came across a budget I created in 2000 to pay off a credit card. The payments were unrealistic and I remember not doing it at all. After much debate today I have come to the conclusion that I should maintain focus on debt and the degree will come next. It is the price I must pay for the poor money choices I have made in the past. And what is a year really? Time for fiancée and I to enjoy one another alone. Not a bad choice at all. Maybe if I got a job at the gym they would give me a discount. Hmmm… It is food for thought.

So In conclusion. I think short bursts of focus are good. But you have to keep balance and the big picture in mind. Of course I travel a road less traveled and so maybe my choices are not for everyone. But that has made all the difference in my life. It has made me the person who I am today.

If I could turn back time....

In my reading this week I came across this post. It made me realize that I am grateful for the knowledge and wisdom I have acquired over time. My worst financial purchase was a service called network direct. I was a senior in college and a sales guy made a presentation to us. All I remember hearing was that you could purchase jewelry directly and save a lot of money. Can you tell what I was thinking. Engagement.... Stupid girl. I was hoping that my long time boyfriend would ask me to marry him. What a poor choice that was. I still remember him taking us to the bar afterwards and buying a round. I should have suspected something then. I even tried to use the coupon clipping service when I ended up living over seas. I think I paid $1200 for the membership. And I still dont know what I got for it except bills. It was so long ago. I am so glad I was not that girl any longer.

* Getting credit cards and not understanding them

I also came across a budget I had created in 2000. I was trying to pay off my Credit card. I had the idea right but the "payoff" amount was just too large per month. I should have known right then I was drowning. I don remember realizing that if I paid as much as I could close to the $300 I would be better off. If I could tell my old self that I wonder if I would have gotten out of debt? I think it was not until we moved in 2006 that I really felt enough pain that I have resolved to be debt free and live my life that way. It is a big change for me and I am very proud of myself.

* Not being serious enough about school

This one gets me too. I was not at all interested in what my grades were in college. I was reveling in being independent from my family and happy to be away from home. I wish I would have taken my grades seriously. Or gone on for more school right out of college. I didn't know what I wanted then. I hated competing and I was afraid to allow myself to shine. I wanted people not to notice me and then I didn't understand why no one really knew me. I skated through college with minimal study time. Now I am going to go back for my masters because I really do know what I want to do.

I don't regret my past I took the road less traveled as always. :-)

Debt snowball choices

Having a greater focus on when I will be debt free is very comforting. October 2011. I have a plan. So when I received a letter from a card which has no money on it to transfer a balance I said why bother? I am on track. I have a date. I can get out of debt without them. Then I thought about the debt snowball. I thought about being out of debt sooner. 4.99% is much better then 27.99%. How much of a difference would it really make? Well, Having just used the debt snowball tool, I decided to run it again. I wanted to see if I transferred $2000.00 to another card would I get out of debt any faster?

Here is the breakdown....

Without a balance transfer I will pay $7,173.00 in interest. And I will be debt free in October 2011.
If I do transfer the money... I will pay $6,181.00 in interest. And I will be debt free in September 2011.

$7173.00
$6181.00
_______
$ 992.00

BUT don't forget the balance transfer fee. For 2000.00 It should be $60.00 or 3% of the transaction. So I actually gain $932.00 Is it worth making 6 payments instead of 5? Oh yes, for me it is. I am able to be debt free a whole month sooner. And In truth I will be cutting that time shorter and shorter because I did pay just a little extra to a few cards because I like round numbers in my payments $100 vs $94 is $6.00 that I don't have to pay interest on. I also intend to snowflake any reimbursed expenses I receive from work to the debt. I will also be applying some of my tax return towards the debt. While that does not make a huge time difference I think over the next few years it will. I have also started a what have I paid down already. My highest level of debt grew to $39,804.12. I have paid off $4097.97 as of the end of Feb. That is fantastic. I am on my way. I have also funded 50% of my emergency fund. And this month it was not a struggle to put money in there. Hooo rah. I am on the journey. I actually look forward to tallying the numbers. I no longer get the sick feeling in my stomach that something is horribly horribly wrong.

Today I have to complete my taxes so that I can apply for financial aid at my daughters school. That should be a trip. so I will be getting my refund sooner then I was expecting. And we will also be getting the financial incentive in May? That money will be applied towards the debt. I am on my way..

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......

Murphy and being prepared

Today was a day that will live in the family lore for a very long time. I am still not over how well I was able to handle it. Really living on "No Credit Needed" and "No more debt" was put to the giant test today. I am proud to say I passed. And maybe BECAUSE I passed things turned out so well for us..... Here are the details. you decide...

This morning my daughter took her drivers test. She did not pass. It was a devastating blow for her. She was torn apart. She had been flying high all weekend. She was so excited she offered to get up at 5:00 in the morning to drive me to work. LOL Like I want to be there that early! I knew when the tester swapped spots with her on the exam course that she was going to explode. On the whole I tried to be the rock for her. I tried to have peace in my heart for my baby when really all I wanted was to go and fly swat that guy. Parallel parking did her in. Poor thing. We rescheduled the test for next Monday. She declined to drive for the ride home. (She cried the entire trip.) So I got into the drivers seat. The check engine light was on. Now you don't know me but car maintenance really stresses me out. I mean over the top you do not want to chat with me on a day I am having my car worked on. In the past a large part of that is because I know I cant afford to have anything go wrong. I can not afford a single thing to happen to that car. And I love my car. I got a very very reliable car that would have minimal maintenance issues. I have been taken advantage of by many many mechanics and I do not enjoy the ride. So As I am getting older I have begun to be just a smidgen wiser... This time I would NOT take the car to the dealer behind my home. I am taking it to the dealer where my fiancee bought his car. I called ahead to see if they would have time to work on the car today. The mechanic explained it would be a $104.00 charge to diagnose the problem. The light had been on before and my fiancee had turned it off. He is an excellent guy to have around in a pinch. We had discussed that if the light did come back on again it would need to go into the shop. So there I went. It is a intermittent problem and the dealer could not reproduce the problem. My fiancee talked to the manager and explained the day we were having. He had also just had his car there for repairs. They waved the fee to diagnose the issue. They looked at the car and could not see anything obvious wrong with the car. So..... they waved the fee.

The whole drive over to get the car looked at I just kept telling myself to be calm. I even stopped at the house to gather some relevant paperwork. I thought about putting the credit card into my purse "Just in case". But I was strong. I chose not to. I thought I will use my emergency fund if I have to this is what its there for. And God smiled on us. I did not need to use either one. Murphy has been politely asked to leave. Now if I could just catch up on all the things I need to do for my work. sigh.....

Total cost for the day $0
Effort to build up emergency fund and have it just in case... Priceless!

Finance Goals

I have a date. A get out of debt free date. Here it is.... are you ready??? October 2011. It seems so so so far away. But I am ready. My daughter will be a Senior in college and I will then be able to attack that college debt! I will be able to pay CASH for her 22 birthday. If I take a second job I will be out of debt even faster. I love having a date and hope. I love that I have hope again. If you have hope then you have it all. Oh baby, oh baby, oh baby! I just want to be out of slavery. I want to work for freedom. I want to be debt free. I can do it. We have a plan. I have a budgeted amount. Plus a few snow flakes... Hooray!!! I have hope again. I used the snowball calculator here to figure out the debt. I will be done with CC#1 Dec 2009. I am going to do my best to make that happen sooner. I hate that card with a passion. I hate that I have depended on it like a crutch. I hate paying 27.99% interest. What a sick sick sick choice I have made. But I now have a concrete plan. I have removed the card from my wallet. If I do not have the cash I do not spend money on things. It sounds easy but it is not. It is a struggle when you are surrounded by people who have stuff. But my dream is a home of my own. My dream is to buy a home of our own. And now I have hope that we'll be able to buy a home before I am 50. Hooray!

We also had some great financial news. My daughter gets her license Monday. My daughters car insurance is a LOT less then I imagined it would be. Good good news. So I am using the 2006 tax return I just rc'd to pay for the bill of ~600.00 From the 7++ return. The remaining $1++.00 will go into the emergency fund. I want it to be at least $2000 because I know my daughter will need contacts eventually too.

So... balance is the answer. To live a balanced life. To balance my dreams. Once the emergency fund is fully funded. (It will take about 7 months.) I will be setting aside the $130.00 I put away every month towards those planned expenses (Contacts and car insurance) After I budget correctly The rest will go towards Debt. Debt free by October 2011!!!
Hip Hip Hooray!

Dump the Debt

Its Money Monday. Today I am creating a plan to Dump my debt. I already have been working towards it but not as aggressively as I could have. I have been listening to Dave Ramsey all weekend and I am dumping the debt. I have new resolution to sell as much stuff as I can.

My CC#1 is the first to go. I am dumping them as fast as I can. I read this blog today and I can totally relate! My CC#1 company when I told them I wanted a lower rate responded by telling me I was using this as long term debt. It was to encourage me to get rid of them as a card. So the interest rate is 30%. Needless to say I am looking for balance transfer offers but my number one choice is PAY them OFF FIRST. Why a big balance first you ask? Well isn't 30% a disgusting enough reason. It is no longer o.k. with me to work for a bank. I want to work for myself. I want to be debt free.

This morning I transferred Cash from Checking to savings. My Balance is now $1078. Hooray! I also transferred $200.00 from reimbursed funds I rc'd. Typically my checking account would just absorb that money. But I am making a thoughtful focused effort to make sure any extra money I get goes to that stinkin' debt!

I also spent time this weekend with some final scanning and I have scanned the last 10 years of my takes. Done :-) It feels good. And yet I find myself looking around for more. I am on an organizational high!

Tell all Tuesday

Well I usually work from home on Mondays. This week my daughter needed some Mom transportation so we arranged for my day to be switched. I LOVE work from home days.

I spent some time computing my spending for January. I was feeling very happy that I was very close to my food budget. Then I looked at a few other categories and I feel that I have some improvement to do.

Here are a few expenses....

Rent $ 850
Cell phone $ 80
Groceries $ 631 ($ 6.00 over)
Eating out $ 168.70 ($ 170 over)
Gas $ 138.59
Credit Cards $1160 ($ 160 additional :-) )
Cable $ 187 ($ 17 over)
Cash $ 154
Misc $ 69.77
Bank Fees $ 4


So you can see I did very well on my grocery budget. We went over my usual payment for the cable because I have no allowance for renting movies. January is a cold month and I can accept spending money on inside entertainment. Eating out to lunch is something I need to improve. Also the Bank fees have to stop. I would also like to take out less cash. Most of that money is for my daughter. It goes to a meal while she is working or for an outing with friends. She has started working on her own so I should be able to cut that to about $100.00.

Overall for January I feel we have made a lot of positive changes. I want to work on making a little more progress on the eating out and bringing my lunch phase. I would also like to cut the grocery budget because I think it is high for three people. We could do better in that area. We have some challenges there but I just read "
How Would You Like to Spend Only $100 per Month on Groceries?" from Single Ma and I think it time to try a few of those suggestions myself. Anything I save can be gathered to the debt.

I am also listening to different podcasts online. I think when you are trying to work towards a goal it is important to surround yourself with people who share the same goals. So.... I am reading blogs every day and I listen to others for some inspiration. I am getting my website up to snuff so I can take in some additional income and I have decided to study for the GMAT in order to apply for my MBA to begin Fall of 2009. I think we can do it. it is ambitious but all I have is today.


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......

So As a result of paying off a very big chunk of change.... I have updated my side bar to have Credit card #1 @ 71% Hooray! Today's balance is $8,638.80. Of course there will be interest in the next billing cycle but this month I was able to pay down $3036.00 to principle. That means next month the min payment will be smaller. And I will be able to pay MORE to principle. I have not yet received my 2006 tax refund. The information I got stated it would take 6 weeks plus so that money wont be here until March. I will have another $1200 towards the #1 Credit card. Then of course there is the incentive money which I will send also directly to the #1 Card. The snow ball continues.

I have been very stressed by work and I am feeling intensely the burden of Debt. I am working today on my portfolio site and I will be putting out my shingle for more moonlighting work. I need to pay down a significant portion of my debt before I can move forward.

I have 3 things I can focus on.
1) Paying off DEBT
2) Taking the GMAT
3) getting into MBA program
(I would not even consider it until fall of 09
But it takes time to get ready and accepted)


My work would cover most of the costs to get the MBA. So as long as I can continue to pay down my #1 Card I should be able to moonlight less after one year. And take on school instead. Once my daughter is in college the day to day need for my attention should be lessened and I should be more able to study. I am finding I really enjoy my apt when it is quiet. Of course I always want the daughter with me but they do have to fly the coop sometime.

I had a long talk with the fiancee about getting my masters, and that it might effect things on the home front. He was very supportive and wants me to Go for it! so I am going to start studying. If anyone has any links or resources they would like to share please pass them on!

Side Bar Updates

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......

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......

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!

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......