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......

Happy Customer Service

I do want to tell you that over the holidays I bought something from www.JCP.com I experienced a little frustration because I forgot to click the right link for the free shipping. So I called the 1-800 number. Customer Service told be I had called too soon. I needed to wait my order was not showing in the system yet please call back later. A day later I called again. The girl was helpful but could not really credit the shipping. I forget the excuse. With all the different things I had going on I forgot to call again. I looked at my credit card statement and $24.57 has been credited to my account and Shipping was indeed free. Thank you JC Penney. I was not looking forward to trying and get that straightened out and now I don't have to!


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

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 thing that REALLY impresses me is that people have other financial goals then getting out of debt. I have a complete focus on getting out of credit card debt right now. I don’t want to be a slave for those banks any more. It was a painful lesson to learn in my mid life years. I am resolved to try and teach my daughter better habits. The thing that really impresses me though is the focus on having a good retirement. On relaxing and working towards other things - owning property or investing in a retirement fund. Saving for the possibility that you can’t work. They have become my future goals. I no longer just want to be debt free I also want my savings to grow. I want to have 3, make that 6 months of living expenses in a CD or mutual fund that we'd have access to easily. I want to pay off my mortgage early. I want to retire comfortably. I want to be able to make a down payment on my a retirement home if I needed to. In short I have learned so much about "common sense" goals by reading the pf blogs I do. I am so grateful to all those who share their lives with the rest of us. Thanks. Let’s make 08 great together :-)

Some links...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119836036944047243.html?mod=money_page_left_hs

Finance Gets Personal By SHELLY BANJO
December 23, 2007


Look for money owed to you on www.missingmoney.com

http://www.bripblap.com/2007/spend-less-than-you-earn-the-wrong-way-to-think/

Things to earn you more money. I need to add this to my 101 things b/c I know I have some small amounts of money being held for me in PA. I will establish this as one of my goals for my work from home day. There are a couple of higher priorities like sign on to FAFSA web site get a pin # work on financial aid etc

Persistence at a goal pays you its own reward.

Update on Credit Card

I posted earlier about a charge being made to my account. It has been credited and I do not owe anything on that card. Persistence and follow up reap huge rewards. No stupid tax!

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......

Mad Money Mondays

I get so much done when I work from home. there are fewer distractions and I am able to focus in a better way. However a good part of my job involves helping people and that is hard to do from home. I think that is why I get so frustrated with customer service and how people do their jobs. I do believe in service excellence and I try every day to make someone elses life easier and better. So when I have to ARGUE - which I hate to do - to get what I need. I have to wonder is this what a corporation views as service excellence?

Down to 2 1 tax folders to scan into my computer. As I do my regular work I strive to eliminate the DIS-organization that has held me back from becoming financially free. If you don't know where your stuff is how can you move forward. I have 2 TONS of paper in my office and I think it was weighing me down. Right now I am focused on saving only what I need to move forward in my life. That includes making sure Old tax returns are findable by date. I am sure we will be applying to FASA and for student loans next year. Oh yes... My daughter has been accepted to college! I am sooo proud of her. Now I just have to pay for it. I have a few plans. We'll see what happens.

And now down to 1 scanning folder. Man it feels good to get rid of the financial paperwork that weighs you down! It is a little time consuming today though and I needed to turn my attention to other things. More scanning later.

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......

Pricing battles save money

Battling for the correct pricing...

Why is guarding your wealth so much work? How much does it cost us if you don't? Over the weekend I did a lot of Christmas Shopping. One of the things I had promised to follow up on was to complete my daughters gift from last year and get her the matching pieces to a suitcase we bought this summer. There was some confusion when I made the purchase for her about the right sizes. I was thinking she needed two large suitcases But my fiancee felt she needed the set of graduated bags. He of course was right(as usual). She will need an occasional weekend bag for traveling and not always the super huge size. Well... So The suitcases were on sale. It was a very good price. Not really for Christmas but at the right time to buy. So I went ahead to this store's online web site and made a purchase. BUT I forgot to enter the online purchase code. So I called Customer service to let them know. I had called to soon. They could not see my order yet. Okay, I'll call back later. Today I called again. Now my order has shipped. The lady on the phone said she put the info in on my account but I don't have confidence that she was telling the truth. So I will have to follow up this afternoon and call again to verify the shipping charges were credited. $30.00 is not a lot of money but its MY money.

I also saved myself $129.99 last Monday. Sometimes I forget that there is satisfaction in what you don't spend. I was charged for privacy protection on one of my credit cards. Seeing a charge on a card which had $ 0.00 balance at first caused me to feel waves of panic. I had paid for this service before. I thought it would be worse to pay for it then to fight it. (Before I started reading pf blogs I would have paid the charges and hoped to close the account. Now I know better.) Man was it hard to break out the sword and shield. I hate confrontation. But I did it. I called the credit card company... the wait for customer service is 10 minutes. ...UGH... Wonderful daughter bring me your cell phone. I called the privacy guard phone number. (While on hold with the credit card company)
I don't want this service please.
But all the wonderful benefits. Blah blah blah
No I don't want this service please.
But we have so much to offer.. blah blah blah
I do not want your service thank you.
Okay the cancellation number is xxxxx

All the while I am STILL on hold with the credit card bank. Now you see why I paid this card off first. 10 minutes to talk to a real live person! AGH. That and a 29% interest rate. so I have defended my money. I saved myself $129.99 in fees I did not want. All it took was two phone calls. Now please know that I do believe there is a good service to be had in privacy protection. I just cant afford that service right now while I dig myself out of debt. And $129.99 Really??? I don't think so.

I also saved $30.00 at the grocery store. seems like a lot right??? I think so too. There were a few items that were on sale that typically are not on sale. Couscous & stash tea. So I did spend over my weekly food budget by $35 but I think the savings helped to make it worth it. I love cous cous. and I saved $6.50 on that item alone.


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......

Progress

I have scanned in 4 years of Tax returns. I feel so much better about that.

Today I paid my bills. Painful. The happy news was that I had a surplus for the month of November. One of the main reasons was that My wonderful mother sent me $500.00 for the college weekend trips. AND my awesome fiancee paid for quite a bit of our travels to NC & Mass. I sat down and used the where did my money go spreadsheet. I am working up to budgeting. Well thats not true. I have a budget but I find my extraordinary expenses keep popping up their weary heads.

The college trip expenses were 215.17 + hotels
Sr year expenses were 273.46 for this month.

Where was that money to come from? I need a better plan...

11/19/07

I did it. I got rid of all 19 magazines. Its one of those very small things that matters to only me. But its about having a clean and workable space. I need to have some more peace in my life. I want to be free of the emotional debt. Then I will be free of the actual debt as well. One day at a time.

Did I mention that I took a credit card out of my wallet? I did only debit card goes with me. I am trying very hard to live on cash only. In some ways it is harder then I though. In others Awesome fiancee is picking up some slack. He treated us to dinner out during our last college exploration trip. It helps a lot because the other expense in addition to traveling was $350 for the eye do

Next focus. Financial documents on top of my desk.

There are two things at play here. One Eliminate clutter. This will save me money when we move next summer. I will not have to pay to store the magazines. (We are planning to move into a smaller space to save money.) Second to get rid of that which emotionally weighs you down.

Get smart about space & place...

I am consolidating my papers down to 3 total file drawers.

Streamline your system....

I pay bills online.
I dont like automatic payments because if your timing is a little off you can end up paying bank fees. I always sit down the weekend before the first of the month and look ahead to figure out how short I will be and stratagize how to juggle the bills for the upcoming month.

I have started using an excel spreadsheet looking at my spending every month and For the first time I brought my lunch 4/5 days last week.

I dont know what to do with all the medical information. It feels like I should record it somehow and it should be organized in some way but I cant begin to know what would be helpful. I have not seen any blogs about that. What would matter to a doctors office or hospital. How important is a full medical history. Do you need origional paperwork or is a scanned copy of stuff okay?

HMO vs PPO

Big decision. Here is what is going into my planning...

Cost

Ease of use

Potential health issues in my future

State retirement

1361.17 2006 contribution
2162.10 2005 contribution
1935.55 2004 contribution
----------
5458.82 total contributions

there is currently 6k in there. I am so glad I have some record of my contributions. I thought there was so much more interest. But If 5500 is mine I can roll it into another fund and be on my merry way

Happy days

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

Money Monday

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

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

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

Tread & re-tread

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

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

October Budget.......

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

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

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


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

Clutter update

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

Financial fitness checklist

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

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

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

2) Pay off debt

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

3) Establish/Maintain an “Emergency” Reserve Fund

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

4) Save for Retirement

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

5) Establish Funds for other Goals

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

6) Additional steps to take:

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

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

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


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

Magazines

Courage - getting rid of clutter

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What de-cluttering teaches me...

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

Small thins can be valuable.

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

Small bites makes a big task manageable.

Perseverance does pay off

Ideas come from many places

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

Learn from others expertise

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

Reward yourself

September Spending

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

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



So how did I do....


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

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

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

enGuarde!

Guarding your wealth. http://guardingyourwealth.com/

Just the title of the blog inspired me to take care of a few things nagging at me. I am finally focused and calm enough to be able to gather my “WA” as my mom puts it. What I mean by that is I have moved three times in the last three years. This is the first summer we have not spent schlepping boxes from here to yhe ends of the earth.

Today was a rough morning but possibly something good can still come out of. Although I feel like the tide started turning yesterday.

But let me start at the beginning......

A few weeks ago my ex husband told my daughter he would stop paying support when she turns 18. He was goading me and it worked. The legal agreement is that he should continue support until she graduates from high school which is not until June. I was trying to ignore the pain in the neck it is to chase down the paperwork and transfer the agreement to the state I currently live in...... Well I have no choice now. How can you think that just because the agreement is over that the need goes away? She is a good kid. She needs his financial support even if he supports her in no other way. So I began the process again. It made me think of the knight in shining armor. I am the knight looking out for my child's interests. I am guarding her wealth.... So then I thought where is my wealth? And I looked at the 101 financial things I want to accomplish. Guarding my wealth... I saw that I needed to contact a prior employer to find out what finances I had left with that company. Now this was 8 years ago and the company has since changed owners a few times. I had attempted before to find an HR person who might be able to point me in the right direction with no success. Yesterday I started dialing for dollars again. Well, I did it I tracked down the pension. It is not a lot of money. BUT it is MY money and I want to make sure I guard well what I have.

The other thing I have done to guard my wealth was to create a RSS feed to track part time employment in my local area through Craigslist. (See the Getting Finances Done blog on how to set it up) Best thing I have seen in a long time! You can get notification/alerts for anything. I am using it to get alerts for a second job. Today I saw a position for a part time bookkeeper. Now this would pay more than working in retail and would be totally worth my time so I sent my resume. I don’t know if anything will come of it but I really need to get a second job. I have my fingers crossed. Just the fact that the alert worked in the way it was designed made me feel so empowered. Like a knight with his big honkin’ sword ready to take on the debt dollars. A financial Hero.

Thats what I need to take on the debt because today..... I spent the morning at the car dealer. Luckily I did not have to burn an entire sick day for a car issue. But $330 dollars later I realize I do need to get a second job... Like NOW!

Harry Potter

DONE! Awesome book! Thanks JKR!!!

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......

well I have not posted in a while. I was discouraged that no one had found the blog. But in reality I need to just blog for myself. I believed when I was getting a divorce that no one should have to go through this and If I told the story someone would learn from it. But as I have aged and seen quite a few people part ways I realize thsat no matter how loud you yell you cant change what other peop[le want to believe. It is important to keep a record of where I have been though. It matters to me what the journed was like so here I type again with renewed efforts.

I found a note I wrote to myself diligence and faithfulness to pay off debt. I think it came from the dave ramsey show. I am not really a fan but I do think he gives some pretty good advice. The thing that is hard for me is that my expenses are so varied each month. Its why I upped the emerg fund to $2000 instead of $1000 I just think I am going to need that extra cushion. The way I am currently building the fund is one pay check a month (and I get paid bi monthly) I put aside ten percent of my paycheck. The primary beginning of the month I try have money left over but it does not happen often. Letting my fiancee cover every day items is so hard for me. I really need to fight over each item less. If he picks up the check then he feels like he can and I need to let him. He makes so much more then I do I need to chill!!!

The borrower is the slave for the lender I feel like a slave to the credit companies for sure. Everything I do is is this worth it? The answer is always NO. I want to break the bonds. I think a second job is reasonable. It will help to move things forward. One day at a time diligence and faithfulness I can do it.

Just for today the healthful money steps I have chosen to take are: I scanned in old bank statements and then shredded them. I filed my credit card statements and gave myself a peaceful calm place to work. I suspect I will need to do some overtime this week so I needed to make sure all the clutter was out of the way.

Keep it peaceful!

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......