Focusing on what I want most.

http://frugalbabe.com/2010/03/10/focusing-on-what-we-want-most/

Inspired by the link above...

Focusing on what I want most.

My priorities
1) my daughters college degree
2) I would like to be debt free
3) I would like to own my own home in which I can retire mortgage free
4) Surrounded by my loving family who I love in return.

What I want vs what I want right now.

Right now I want to go back to bed. But That could cause me to loose sick time and take away from maternity time I am planning to take in October.It is important to me to have "bonding time with my new baby so I will stick it out here at work.

I recently had a conversation with my DD. She was making a stew out of everything going haywire in her life. I tried to help her refocus on only what was important to solve for today. I asked her how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. Keep a smaller focus in order to truely achieve your dreams.

She understands but is often surrounded by girls who do not share the same long term perspective. She gets frustrated by the fact they want to be soccer moms and drive a mini van. While she is looking forward to her career. It is often still a choice, despite more equality in the workplace, to have children vs a career. I was often of the Mrs degree. I still think I would like to smack that 20 year old child in me and say you are going to have to work for the rest of your life. Make sure you like what you do. focus on the work part because the marriage and kids is the easy part. Sigh... I knew so little. Yet as life journey continues I like where I am in general. I have a few sources of discomfort I want to be debt free. It causes me a lot of stress. I want to live in my own home instead of paying rent forever. But when you pull back from the details of day to day living I am happy with my Husband and family. I am proud of my DD,and DS and look forward to a second DD on the way. Most days I think I am utterly insane for being pregnant again. But I know I want to have children around me for a long time. My husband wanted to be a dad so crazy as it is, it is done with love. Who knows how it will turn out but I too want to live until I am 90 and so I must act as if that will come to pass. And take steps to ensure it will take place.

Some days I get the money I wants. I want a higher paying career, I want my masters degree, I want the super-sized McMansion. None of those things is unreachable, I just need to make them a priority. Yet I tend to fall back to the simple top 4 listed above. The first is almost achieved. Once it is accomplished I will turn to debt and a home search in a more intense way. I let myself fantasize about the McMansion. If you don't enjoy a good daydream whats the use of envisioning something? But when I envision the details of the dream most of the time I see happy children running in the back yard while my husband and I enjoy a glass of wine with each other or with friends. The location is less important then the scene I paint. Perhaps it comes from my family home which was a large colonial in the suburbs. Where we live now is just costly. We could get a LOT more house for less if we lived in another part of the country. But my#1 choice is where my brother returned to last year in June. He has just become employed after one fill year of unemployment. The prospect is not appealing. We will stay where we are for a while longer.

CREATING THE NEW YEAR

Well its new years so I like many others feel compelled to create goals for myself. Of course its obvious to me my top three.

Here is what I am focused on:

1. Pay off 28,077.53 amount of debt, or this year about $9000.00. That equates to $750.00 per month. I am budgeting about $800.00 to debt but some of that is interest. So we’ll see how I do.
2. Lose 20 lbs
3. Learn to be a SharePoint developer/programmer

I am starting a new blog for #3. I think it helps to keep me on track and focused. I like blogging. Lets see if I can make a little additional income and get some referrals for technical work by putting it out there. I am not going to blog about #2 because from my observations people who are on a debt diet then start talking about a real diet never seem to come back to the debt blogging. And really getting out of debt is more important. It makes me feel like I have lost my friends when bloggers go away. I really am missing I've paid for this twice. She was really inspirational in my focus. Of course I also like NoCreditNeeded. But he blogs much less often and his journey is less about debt and more about skills after the debt. I need and want those skills but I need to remain focused on my own goals.

As I write this blog entry I received in email David Allen's productivity tips email. You can subscribe to it yourself here... http://www.davidco.com/productive_living.php

I Love how he re-frames New Year’s resolutions...

CREATING THE NEW YEAR
What would you like to be your biggest triumph in 2010?
What advice would you like to give yourself in 2010?
What is the major effort you are planning to improve your financial results in 2010?
What would you be most happy about completing in 2010?
What major indulgence are you willing to experience in 2010?
What would you most like to change about yourself in 2010?
What are you looking forward to learning in 2010?
What do you think your biggest risk will be in 2010?
What about your work, are you most committed to changing and improving in 2010?
What is one as yet undeveloped talent you are willing to explore in 2010?
What brings you the most joy and how are you going to do or have more of that in 2010?
Who or what, other than yourself, are you most committed to loving and serving in 2010?
What one word would you like to have as your theme in 2010?

So Here are my responses:

CREATING THE NEW YEAR

Love the positive language that I can create the year I want to have.

What would you like to be your biggest triumph in 2010?
Having baby #3 we are attempting it, but have not had success there yet. Second biggest triumph will be to get the debt back under control. For the last six months things have been a little (a lot) crazy.

What advice would you like to give yourself in 2010?
Have persistence in paying off your debt. Perseverance and diligence these are the skills that will accomplish getting rid of debt. Towards the end Oct, Nov and Dec stay focused on the goals instead of dithering away on auto pilot. Make allowances for the fact that it is a busy time and try to put away extra before the fall to compensate for the time you know you will have more demands on yourself.

What is the major effort you are planning to improve your financial results in 2010?
Increase my income, decrease expenses basic but HARD
Learn to be a SharePoint developer to increase my income.
We are giving up cable to decrease expenses further. And as I type this the thermostat is set to 65!

What would you be most happy about completing in 2010?
I would like to read more books. I have not been able to focus my attention for long enough on any single book. I just look long enough to read the answer I need. I would like to learn the information in a textbook really commit it to my skill set.

What major indulgence are you willing to experience in 2010?
Ahhhh chocolate comes to mind. Then Cross-stitch, But also it is an indulgence to learn a new skill. To dedicate so much time (which I have little of) and focus (which I find harder and harder to obtain) is a luxury and therefore an indulgence. So I plan to dedicate 2 hours each week to reading about SharePoint development.

What would you most like to change about yourself in 2010?
The back sliding. I know it happens but I find it so frustrating. It is exactly these circumstances for which Dave Ramsey has you create an emergency fund in the first place. I have dipped into it a lot recently. I want to put back. (I will post more about this in a further blog)

What are you looking forward to learning in 2010?
SharePoint development
Better budgeting
Making a SharePoint Blog produce an income.

What do you think your biggest risk will be in 2010?
Having another child is a very expensive choice. But I am too old not to try to take action right away.

It is also a risk to learn programming. In two years will I be able to leave my job and take a contracting position to do development. I like security. We will see.

What about your work, are you most committed to changing and improving in 2010?
1) Learning tract for SP development
2) Be a better teacher
3) Working towards preparing my team at work for the next version of SharePoint that is coming out.
4) Encouraging users them not to be afraid of the new tools.

What is one as yet undeveloped talent you are willing to explore in 2010?
Undeveloped talent… My first thought is leadership. But what I really want to develop is the skill to lean something by reading and doing. I want to be a self learner. In the past I have learned very well by taking classes and reading blogs. Now I need to strengthen the ability to take what I read and turn it into a doing action. I need to retrain my brain.

What brings you the most joy and how are you going to do or have more of that in 2010?
Joy... My children, my husband and cross stitch. These are my biggest pleasures. I would like to spend more time with each of those things. I need to remember when I am spending time with each of those people how much I appreciate them for who they are and how much they support me and bring me happiness.

Who or what, other than yourself, are you most committed to loving and serving in 2010?
Family, my children, my husband, my brother, my parents.

What one word would you like to have as your theme in 2010?
Progress

So those are my answers, what are your goals? Feel free to comment.


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......

Fun Friday

I got to work from home today because of a Dr.s appointment. So I am reading and catching up on information I have not had tome to take a look at. One of my Favorite blogs is No Credit Needed. He wrote a post on his Savings account allocation. Wow. I really admire his commitment to not ever using credit again. Currently having diabetes and not having sugar is a tough commitment and sometimes I slip. To plan for the future so you do not have to use a bank. NICE. I really admire his persistence, and planning. So using a little inspiration from his own post I have added new categories to my budget. I have set aside $3500 for a down payment on a home. This is mixed in With my fully funded emergency fund. I have been sweating how to move the money to a money market account at another bank because I was afraid I might touch the money. Or I might confuse what category I was pulling it from because it is sitting in one lump sum in a savings account. The answer is so obvious TRACK IT. Duh! So By creating a break down and tracking the money I spend if I need to I fight the demon to spend from the house down payment. If I need to use money from my emergency fund I have it available. I know exactly what I need to pay back and what is allocated to a Home down payment. This way I am not going to rob my future for some crisis I am having today. I have done that enough in my life I stole yesterday from my today and I am mad that I made those choices. Compassionate with myself but I wish I had looked harder at solving the issues sooner. I don't regret the cards. They have taught me a valuable lesson and It is painful enough I am committed to not using credit cards in the same way again. My goals are along the line of NCN's I want to have enough cash in my bank account that if I need to use it I can. I expect this to take me about 10 years to accomplish given good times. If we have a few Murphy's law moments then It will just take longer. I am realistic and experienced enough to know that Murphy will call back.

So I am using the following categories for my savings...

Emerg. Fund $2000.00
Short term goals (Home Down Payment) $15000.00

They were reflected in the side bar on my blog but they were not line items on my budget.
For now I have no long term goals. Really The only other financial goal I want to focus on is paying off the credit cards. All raises and any extra cash will be snowballed to debt. The longest term goals are retirement. I am not ignoring it but I am primarily focused on debt. Once the debt is gone I will put more towards retirement and education. I want the intensity of the goal to work for me and the only way I can stay on track is to stay with it and keep paying on those bloody cards. One at a time. I have kicked one to the curb and I am praying that I will have card #2 done by March.

Needs

I am grumpy today. I had a long morning negotiating healthcare and I shopped online. Mostly because I was trying to clear my desk off of catalogs. But also I have started to be a little bigger with the baby and I know I will need some fall clothes. I had to take a little money out of savings for clothes. Its not an emergency but I need to be dressed in a professional way and I am finding that doing laundry every day so that I can wear the same things over and over is a little tiresome.

I am also trying to clear off my desk of un needed papers and anything that is not urgent. I have felt so stressed in the last three months. It is harder and harder to find things and feel like I am doing the right thing. August's budget was a bust. The on going projects that need attention this month are

my health
Daycare
Get rid of old paperwork
Work

My health takes a lot more care then you would think. This mornings visit ended up being a total waste of time. I spent 40 minutes waiting to check in for an appointment only to be informed that I was still missing all the documents for the check in process... Oh and by the way its your fault we are not responsible even though no one told you that a refferal is not the same as an order and oh by the way we need both. Harrumph Yeah right. I now actually have no interest in seeing a dietitian. I though it would be really helpful with gestational diabetes but really I am not interested in doing the work it takes to scale the brick walls the hospital lays in front of you. Its not worth it. But that lets the health care companies win. It means I wont get the care I need and I am paying a LOT of money each month to afford good care. Frustration level is high! Like my sugar LOL

The hunt for daycare is actually better because Hubby is going with me. Mostly. Today we have 2 appointments so far I have visited 4 other facilities. I think we have chosen the right one for us so far It is some kind of cross between personality and facilities. Hopefully it will go well. We need to reserve a spot or risk not having daycare in the spring. Not an option as I need to work.

One of my projects is to organize the OLD health care information in my desk. I have every receipt and Doctors visit my daughter ever had. Plus all of them for the last 15 years for myself. I do not think I need all this paper. BUT I am loathe to get rid of it. So I scan it in to "save" it and then shred it. I love to shred stuff. It is so satisfying to eliminate things that bog me down. Usually I feel free. Today not so much just grumpy it could be hormones and sugar.

And lastly work. I find it very hard to focus these days at work at all. Today I would say I am hiding out from work. I just dont have the passion I used to about the things that need to be done. Partially because the enviornment has beaten it out of me and partially beacuse August was so intense I think my brain is rebelling. You can only keep sustained Overtime focus for so long. Sigh I need my job though so I am going to have to fake it till I make it. Wish me luck...

Renewed focus, Credit Card#2

So After looking at my different side bars I have decided to change the Credit card bar to read Credit card #2. I have paid off about half of what was on Credit card #1 and re financed the rest to lower interest rates. That card is GONE baby! So Credit card #2 is at 15.99% and the Balance in June was $ 4,562.21. I have made the June payment of $ 100.00. I am working on my cards in interest order. Dave Ramsey suggests to make progress with smallest first and then interest But I am tracking the debt pay down as a whole and I want to pay as little as possible to those stupid banks. I can see my progress in my NCN Chart. Interest order will accomplish that. The interest makes a bigger difference if you start with 40K in debt then if you had 10k. Its a lot of interest. As a matter of fact Credit card #2 I have never made a single purchase on. I opened it for the introductory balance. And then I never moved the money. Bad plan. Those were the old days this is the get out of debt world and I am not looking back. According to my debt snowball plan, Credit card #2 will be paid off in May 2009. As long as we keep on track. Whoop Whoop Whoop.

I think it is a sickness. I am actually looking forward to my statements this month so I can log in my progress. I am also looking forward to making my August payments. just so I can track the progress. It really helps to have a fully funded emergency fund. Hooray debt is going down this month.

Money Geekness

***I wrote this a while ago and saved it in notepad. I am posting it now for my record ***

Friday where my brain is allowed to float along is a dangerous thing. I started to look at houses. I want to buy a house next year. I think we will need at least 3% down. Than means if I want a home the size I want it will be 3% of 425000 12,750. We have 3k from my grandmother set aside. I have my fingers crossed that my mom might be generous and gift us another 12K from the estate next year. That would be awesome.

I really want to pursue my masters degree. I think that is the only way I am going to increase my earning potential. I don't know how else to do it. The problem is I also think I am going to need to take a second job so I can continue to pay down debt and still make payments to the new child support bill that I know is coming. I am so sick to my stomach about that. It takes as long as it takes. But a second job at a generous rate of 12 per hour will net 20 hours per week of about $170.00 its only about an 8K per year raise. A degree should give me an increase of abour $20K per year.

I can never remember if housing is supposed to be 25% of net income or gross income. It makes a big difference in the home we can afford. (Update: the answer is net income)


Really I am just mad about the numbers the house I want is just out of reach for us. We really can afford about a $325,000 home not a $425,000 home. I just am being greedy. I need to adjust my desires. Its too much pressure on us to get there from here. right now. I think we need to keep focusing on the debt pay off. We need to continue to contribute to a down payment fund.

I think my next steps are: Open the money market account. Open a checking account so I can get to the money when I need it. Perhaps ask payroll for a direct deposit change to $100.00 per month to go to the money market account so I done have to fuss with deposit slips every month.

Frustration... I just rail at the walls because I am not where I want to be. I want to own a home. I just do.

The third option is to be able to put down $ 85,000. Ha ha ha ha ha that is really stinking funny. Not going to happen from my pay check. Maybe in 10 years it will. In 10 years. If I spend the time to pay off my debt... Lets just run that scenario...

100 contribution per month
x 12
_____
1200 per year
x 10 years
_____
$12,000 dollars
+6000
______
$18,000 for a down payment

Paying off all credit cards. will leave me the ability to contribute 500 per month to the fund for lets say 5 years 30000+18000= 48000 we are half way there. Paying off the debt is a more effective use of my money.

Goals -

If When I become a project manager and increase my income to $70k per year (reasonable and do able) I will be able to put away another $ 30,000 in 4 years which is 80k so in 10 years if I pay off my debt and If I get my MBA Then I will have the 20% needed. Grrr I will be 51 before I take on a 30 year mortgage. Sigh. Well lets get started. today. I have got to do it. Losing my dream is not acceptable to me.

25% or less of your monthly take-home pay.

One of the best ways to accomplish something is to break it down into small, manageable parts. Complete these small parts and soon you'll have your goal accomplished. I need to do this for the PMP certification and for the MBA

http://digg.com/business_finance/WSJ_com_Five_Credit_Card_Traps_Everyone_Should_Know_About

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.

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!

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......

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......

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

The Emergency fund saved college dreams

$500 for college from savings,How the emerg fund saved her college dreams

I posted earlier about spending the money in my emergency account before the tax refund comes in. Then, I listened to the Dave Ramsey show. He stated how foolish that idea was. Even if you know you can pay back the emerg fund it is foolish to take money out of there for the Holidays. The fund is for an event that is unexpected. Emerg fund is for surprises not Christmas. Hmmm, okay, I will accept he makes sense even if I don't buy it... I will not take any money out. Over this weekend I am SO glad I did not take money out of there for gifts. I have TWO reasons

1) On Friday we were out at a school function and the Check engine light came on in my car. I was highly stressed nut I knew I had back up in my savings account and it would be okay. My fiancee took the car to auto zone and looked at the codes. He determined thankfully the car is okay and the light may have come on due to the rapid change in the weather. It was resolved to "Keep an eye" on it but the car could be driven. BIG SIGH of relief! No money out of pocket but boy was it wise to have not spent it on gifts.

2) On Saturday my daughter was accepted to college! They needed a check for $500.00 to confirm her reservation in the class of 2012. Total relief. I was able to pay for the deposit with cash. No credit card fees needed. So my refund will be re-allocated. When I get it I will replace the $500.00 from the emerg fund. Just to be clear, It was important to have your room reservation in as early as you possibly can. I could have waited for the refund to come in and then paid the deposit but she would be MUCH lower on the housing cue and it was important to her, and so to me, to have as much of our first choice for housing as we possibly could. I will put $700.00 towards Christmas gifts and I will pay $500.00 to paying off debt. It is less to paying off my debt, however I save big time by not increasing my deb load. The emerg fund has saved my daughters dreams. She is so excited! She sings as she goes from room to room it was totally worth it. If I had to I would spend it again and again to make her that happy.

As an aside we also had a teachable moment. I was able to have a quick conversation about the value of money and the idea that if you take care of your money it will take care of you. Its good to plant debt & financial wisdom seeds now. I will have more conversations with her in the future. For today we talked about choices I make about spending money and the value of having an emergency fund. It was good for me to be able to plan that seed in her mind for the future.

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......

Money transfers and clutter

Today I realized that I had stopped seeing the mess. My office has been lifted of a massive amount of clutter. I have been sitting on a project of Christmas Ornaments for an entire year. Of course when I wanted to decorate our Christmas tree I had to get on the ball. And I did. I collected all the ornaments we have and photographed them. This does two things. I actually over the years have acquired many beautiful collectible ornaments. My aunt also sends my daughter an ornament or seven every year so needless to say our collection if added up together could be worth quite a bit. How would we know what we have if we needed to .... A database. I have written one in PHP for a class project. I am going to convert it to house all the ornament photos. I am actually looking forward to that part. It was opening each and every box. Photographing them and then hanging them on the tree that was super time consuming. *** Gold Star moment *** I have completed the task! I am really happy about that. The tree looks awesome and I have an empty desk. Well almost. I have 3 tax folders left to scan but today is a work at home day :-).


Trying to track every $ I have become happier now that My finances are organized. It is total satisfaction to know I am not missing something. I have created quite a few to do lists and One of my favorite links to help me rewind Questions to trigger to dos on your list (http://www.orgcoach.net/pdf/ram_dump.pdf). I have never in my life had so much time to work on it. And I always am waiting for the other shoe to drop. It will but because I have taken the time to start the organization process. I am really proud of myself. My next goal with organization is to work with my daughter on her finances. I do not want her to fall into the places I have gone.

I have cut every expense I can - except lunches. That is going to be one of my goals for 2008.

I am excited. I should be getting a IRS refund of ~ $1700 dollars. I am going to use $700 on Christmas and $1000 towards the debt. I wont have to touch my savings/emerg fund for Christmas much at all. The only question is how fast can I get the refund? And I am sure I will be getting a nice refund next year too. I maxed out my deductions. Before you tisk tisk me it was because too many things in my life were changing. Moving to another state getting a new job with a higher salary. I just could not guess how much I was going to owe. Plus my daughter turns 18 this year so I was not sure what the implications would be of that.

Bills one bite at a time. I still feel discouraged despite all my progress financially that it takes so long to pay off cards. I moved my $ around to help with interest rates - It feels awful to not be able to pay the balance in full. But when you are looking at such large amounts interest rates really add up and it matters a lot. SO... I have shuffled the balances around a bit. I will have paid one credit card at 29.9% in full. A 3.9% interest rate till the balance is paid is making the money go further and pay off the debt faster. It is still a big hole and I am a bit overwhelmed. I rant he rough numbers and by transferring the balance I will save $3000.00 this year. WOW. I cant wait to send $1000 to pay off a chunk of it. Ahhh and I should tell you the wonderfulness of requesting the balance transfer online without having to talk to a judgmental person. So Awesome. I don't love talking to customer service. There is too much service lacking and they view their job as saying no. Making a logical transfer to which I had been sent an offer in the mail sooo easy. Always leave them wanting more. I want better customer service from someone who takes such a large proportion of my salary. The borrower is the servant to the lender to be sure. This just serves to reaffirm my goals to get out of debt.


I will probably use savings to tide me over and replace it when the refund comes. Big sigh of relief that I have over $700 in my savings to cover the lag AND I can afford gifts without increasing the debt. Good news. This is the proof that the plan is working.


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......

Post Thanksgiving Accomplishments

Goals.

I work better when I have a check list of things to accomplish. When I made it a contest to get rid & eliminate the 19 magazines I had a focus. And I did it. I have another magazine on my desk and I cant bear it. I want to accomplish something else. When I ask myself... Accomplish what? I am not certain. The clutter in my office is a distraction and keeps me from focusing on my work. I know I have 4 home & work days before Christmas. I can definitely accomplish something with that amount of time. But I need a check list so I stay on course.

Last Friday I created a huge to do list. Then I forgot where I wrote the list down. I guess I have Vacation Brain (or turkey sleepiness...) Here is a good link on questions to ask when you cant remember all that you know. Its a pretty comprehensive list. I enjoyed clearing my head of all the nattering s that were swimming around and Feeling like Finally there was order to all I had to do. I dragged things around and categorized them. Now I just need time to do them. http://www.orgcoach.net/pdf/ram_dump.pdf


Today was rough getting started (I couldn't find the list.) So I did my standard set of three. I allowed myself to look around the room and I picked three things that jumped out at me that needed doing. Once I started moving the Chaos was a little more under control and I could relax and go with the flow. The key is to start moving.

So the three things for today....

I moved the winter sweater box into the middle of the room. I need to put it back into the closet so I can walk - Done!
I took out the computer boxes to get to the sweater box they must also be returned. - Done!
I will find a home for the card basket. Its one thing that is really bugging me cause I don't know what to do with it. Done! (It was harder then it sounds. This is where all useless items I did not know where to put during the last move ended up. And man there were some strange things in there...)


Then I will scan some taxes. Which will bring me happily up to lunch I will make a new plan for the afternoon :-)

Benefits to clearing the clutter....

I found my pen I had been looking for.
I can now easily walk in my office.
I feel like I am not forgetting stuff....

Progress is seeing my desk again.

Update:

The taxes were a little tough. I get very uptight when I even look at the forms. I am proud of Myself. I have scanned in 2004 and all of 2005. There were a few interruptions. But I have kept on it and persevered.

I am still missing a list I made of how much money I invested in a retirement plan. I know I made a list last Monday and now its gone. It is in a file somewhere on this silly computer... I did find other paper to scan & purge. I knew I would. Ahhh the threat of the sole magazine inspired a whole days accomplishment & work.


Just do three things is my moving mantra. Every new apartment When I am sick of unpacking I tell myself Just open three boxes and then you can sit down and rest. I have converted it to be my clutter mantra - Just find three things in the room you want to throw out and then go about your day. It seems to work. Once I am in the mode I can sometimes keep going and sometimes I let myself stop and give myself a break. Either way just do three things.

Clutter free the way to be.

Manage your time like your debt. Care for it and it will care for you

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......

Increase in Savings

I have over $700 in savings!!! I was able to increase my savings from 29% to 35% I am so excited!~ and proud. I have been feeling as though it is impossible for me to make any financial progress. But I did. I am starting to feel it. That is such good good news!!! I am looking forward to the day when I am looking for more stuff to pay off!!! like these guys have... I never thought I could do it! I get paid twice a month and on the middle of the month paycheck I am putting 10% into savings. I will have to take some $ out for car insurance when it comes due but as long as I put away one paycheck's 10% I will reach my goal in one year. A LOT faster then I ever thought possible! It seemed so unlikely that I would be able to save because I feel as though I have so many "demands" on my money. But the truth is it is not so hard. On the day after I get paid I just go online and transfer the funds over. Then I forget about savings and just work with my checking account. I am so excited. - and for all you vetrans out there yes I know this is the recommended way to go and actually I am setting aside less then I actually should bet these are MY baby steps and I am feeling the glow of accomplishment! I can feel the drive to save & be debt free!!!

You know people on diets often will say I will do anything to lose weight. and when someone says how about exercise 30 minutes a day 5 days a week the reply is except that. Thats how I feel about the progress I have made. Its like seeing those first five pounds come off the scale. PRIDE!

I also got rid of 3 4 magazines today. I am a clutter bug and I felt that the clutter is holding me back. I looked at selling old archives of all my cross stitch magazines on eBay but in truth it is not worth it there are plenty of copies of these old issues out there and I don't need the pounds of paper anywhere near me when I move again next year. So I scanned in the patterns I wanted to keep and TOSSED the rest away!!!! Clean out the clutter! I want a pretty home office and I can see the vision!

I came across a new to me blog today, this blogger reinforced a principle that I agree with completely.... Visualizing! If you can see it you can do it! and I am going to be debt free!

The fact my daughter is going to college next year makes me realize how fast time goes by. I cant believe that it slips away so quickly. Why doesn't this work on debt? and then I thought but it does. In three years I plan to be credit card debt free. Just three years S will be a junior in college. I can do that. I just need a workable plan! I have already begun baby steps for the savings. Thats good and I cant believe it has not been more painful!

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......