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Maybe hubby is coming around....

April 14th, 2005 at 01:24 am

Wow - hubby blew me away tonight. He used some of his splurge money to buy me flowers! I was surprised and when I asked him why, he said it was because he saw my goal list on the desk for Friday and he feels bad that he has nothing to contribute. He even said he might sell some toys to help out (he collects action figures). Truly impressive....

CC debt - GO AWAY!!!!

April 13th, 2005 at 04:39 pm

So, I posted a message here about whether I should start a savings account or put all money towards CC debt. The overwhelming response was to go for the debt. Jefferey has an excellent article that points out that nothing is really a savings if you have debt. It's just a pool of money you can dip into if you need to. So, I am about to go put another $100 towards my high interest card! I am so excited! Thank God for online bill pay making this possible! It's kind of like a game now - let's see how fast I can pay that thing off! Go Amy, GO! Smile

On a roll!

April 13th, 2005 at 04:25 pm

Yay! All but one of the items on my goal list for today are done! I skipped over cancelling the gym because, well....frankly I'm dreading it! I know it's going to be a hassle and I'm embarrassed about having to call. I've already thought up a little white lie to tell about why I'm cancelling, but I just can't seem to do it. I know it's a cop out, but I moved it to Friday's list. Tomorrow I will be getting home late because of donating plasma (yay, $20!) so I will be going straight to bed (hence, no goal list). I have already started working up Fridays' goal list on paper and I will post it then. Yay - I'm on a roll!

Half way through the week!

April 13th, 2005 at 01:49 pm

I have a lot on tap for today (see about 2 post down for the full list). Something else I am doing to improve my money situation that I haven't mentioned yet is that I am trying to get a promotion. I am currently a video editor for a morning news show and I am going for a producer job that is opening up. I think I have a really good shot at it, but I do have some competition. My biggest competition is not very good, but management really likes him. Not good for me! But, everybody already working on the show wants me. Regardless of who wants who, of course I think it should come down to will do the best job. And, I think it's me. I've been working my tail off and putting in lots of overtime to polish my skills. I am ready! It means a lot to me, and honestly, it's not about money (although it will be nice). I love everything about the job, and if I get it I will finally be at the level I should be after going to college for 4 years to work in this business. I got laid off from a video production company in early 2002 and have not been satisifed with a job since. It is my time!!!! I don't know when they are going to make a decision, but the person who's leaving has their last day set as June 10th. That's not very far away! I have been on pins and needles for the last month about this! Supposedly they are going to let each candidate produce a couple shows and then hire whoever does the best job. When this is supposed to happen though, I have no idea! Cross your fingers for me!

Bills...bills...bills!

April 13th, 2005 at 01:30 am

So, hubby's unemployment came today ($288) and I paid our phone bill and I socked $24 more dollars at our higher interest credit card. Not a huge amount of money, but it felt good - I can't remember the last time I paid a CC more than once a month. The rest of the money is set aside for groceries, gas, and misc.

On a whole other note, a plea for the mods! I wish dearly that we could use smilies, colors, bold, italics, etc in our journals. It would be so helpful in seperating out some of all the info I'm piling in here. Anyway, I digress... {edited to say that you can! I'm so proud for figuring it out all on my own, lol!}

Can I just say that I feel great?! It's not like my financial situation is really any better than it was yesterday, but I am thrilled to know that I am working on it! Things are getting done and I am determined to see this through! I can't wait until the day that I have zero debts and all I have to pay is my normal bills. I think the angels will come out of heaven singing that day, lol!

Goals for 4/13

April 12th, 2005 at 05:32 pm

So, I got my haircut - looks great! The cut including tip cost $20. Then I went to Goodwill to buy clothes and walked out with 4 shirts, 4 pairs of pants, and 4 home decor items - and I spent $40. (Both are coming out of my splurge money from hubby's CD/DVD selling extravaganza).

Because I got home late, I need to delay some of my goal items till tomorrow (I work nights and sleep days in case you were wondering). So, here's the list of things I NEED to accomplish tomorrow:

Goals for 4/13!!!!

- Check on gym membership and attempt to cancel

- Call Gas, Water, & Electric companies and see if I can get on a budget plan ~ DONE
(Gas - have to call back in July...sent one of those email reminders to myself to arrive on July 1)
(Water - they don't offer any kind of balanced billing)
(Electric - enrolled online. Payment will be $91 per month starting next bill - that will be a HUGE help!)

- Call phone company and see if/how we can lower our bill ~ DONE (not much I can do w/o giving up our pkg deal which includes our ulimited long distance & DHL)

- See about lowering CC interest rates ~ DONE (hubby did this since they're in his name...they said no! Prob because of our crappy credit)

- Set up ING savings account ~ ON HOLD (waiting to see responses to my thread about whether I should just sock everything at CCs for now until they're paid off)

Alrighty - off to sleep for now!

Goals for 4/12

April 12th, 2005 at 02:19 pm

Goals for TODAY!!!!

- Email HR about health insurance & 401k ~ DONE (coming back a day later to say that they did not respond to me! grrr! Maybe the lady was out - I will give the person the benefit of the doubt and wait a day or two...)

- Have hubby call his cell phone and get a cheaper plan ~ DONE! (Yea! Took it from $50 down to $24!)

- Call blood plasma place to see if they are accepting donors ~ DONE (they are! no appt necessary so I am going to go on Thursday! $20 for the first time, $25 for the second! Easy - sit there for 3 hours and read and get paid for it!)

- Deposit my "fun money" into the bank so when it shows up I can open an ING savings account ~DONE


I am holding myself accountable for getting these things DONE!!! That's 6 phone calls, one thing for hubby, and one trip to the bank. I can do it!
{edited to say that I got home late and need to get some sleep, so I moved some items to tomorrow's list!}

Let's do it!

April 12th, 2005 at 01:39 pm

Thank you Jacquelyn for the support and tips! www.savemoneygames.com sounds interesting! I am going to check it out when I am done here! As for the gym membership, I found out that I can get out of it but I get penalized $50... I guess that's better than paying $29 a month from now till January. I am going to look into it!

So....it's day 2 on what I am calling my financial turnaround! I just sent an email to HR asking for info on our health insurance and 401k. That is one step in the right direction! I work overnights so it's very difficult to get with them about stuff like that. Hopefully once I find out how much, I can work it into my budget (that I plan to create soon!).

On a whole other note, I am feeling so alone in this money crusade. My husband wants to be financially stable, but he's not as willing to make sacrafices to get there. For example, he went and sold a ton of CDs and DVDs and got $400!!!! He gave me half and he's going to splurge the other half. I plan to start a savings account with $100 of mine and he knows it. But do you think he offered to donate anything to help? No! I am much better about giving things up, but he is one of those people who thinks you have to have money to have fun. I'd prefer to see the whole $400 go towards debt, but.... It's tough! Sometimes I give in to hubby's peer pressure and spend when we shouldn't. I'm hoping when he's sees I'm serious about turning our situation around, he will pitch in and help. I really don't want to have to nag at him!

So...what else? Last night I went through the boards here and got some money making ideas. I wrote them down at home so I'll have to add them later. I would like to definitely add some extra income, even if it's only in little chunks. Every little bit helps, right? It's things like writing articles and donating blood plasma, but I am up for just about anything (ok anything legal, lol!).

Today I am spending a little money on getting a haircut. Seems unnecessary and I wish I didn't have to spend the $$, but it is truly out of control. I haven't gotten it cut in a long time and it's looking shaggy. I am definitely going to an el cheapo place though, but I guess that's not really a sacrafice when that's what I've always done.

Well, I'm sure I'll have more musings later but that's all for now!

Time to take action!

April 12th, 2005 at 03:09 am

I have two immediate goals:

- Speak w/ HR and get health insurance set up

- Take $100 of my "splurge" money and start a savings account (Hubby sold a TON of CDs and DVDs and split the $$ with me. I am going to use $100 on clothes because I've lost weight and have no spring clothes that fit! The other $100 starts a savings!)

I am off to read and learn more on these boards! More tomorrow!

Let's make this clear...

April 12th, 2005 at 01:53 am

So, as I read back over what I've written so far, I realize I sound like a hopeless ditz. I don't know why I can't be sensible about money. I am a smart person! I always did well in school and even graduated from college with honors. I am very levelheaded and well liked. Sorry....just had to let that out. I don't want anyone to think I'm a total loser. When it comes to money, yes, but overall, I promise I'm a good person!

GOALS!!!

April 12th, 2005 at 01:44 am

Let's talk about goals! It's one thing to spill my guts about the mistakes we've made, but it all means nothing if we don't have goals. My goals seems so unnattainable because there are so many, but here's a shot at it:

- Get Health Insurance!!!!! (I am scared to death something is going to happen and we'll be in trouble! We haven't had it because we need every penny from my paycheck, but I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and go for it!)
- 401k!!!! (I want to at least contribute what the company will match - and hubby needs to get on board to as soon as he gets a job. We have very little savings for retirement - less than $2K I think)
- Stop living paycheck to paycheck!
- Start a savings (we have NONE)
- Pay off debts (2 CCs, 2 collections, vet bill)
- Start contributing to dad again! (we owe him so much and he's been very understanding due to our situation, but the guilt is killing me!)
- Make a budget and follow it!

Whew - how do we even begin? We barely make enough to cover our bills, let alone start chasing these goals. But, I am going to sit down and figure out how it can be done. Anyone with advice, I'd love to hear from you!

Let's get into the nitty gritty!

April 12th, 2005 at 01:30 am

Well, I hope nobody minds if I got into specifics about my money, but hey, this is my journal, after all!

April Bills (will mark off once they're paid!)

Car Insurance....$111...PAID
Rent...$795...PAID
Phone/DSL Bill...98.63...PAID
Amy School Loan...On Forebearance (owe approx. $4000 plus ?? interest)
Hubby School Loan...On Forebearance (owe approx. $11,000 plus 4.17% interest)
Gas Bill...$102.30...
Water Sewer...$0...PAID (ok, well, we must have overpaid at some point)
Credit Card #1 (C)...$40...PAID (owe $963.34 plus 14.15% interest)
Credit Card #2 (P)...$179...PAID (owe $1470.34 plus 21.24% interest)
Cell Phone...$56.20...
Electric...$88.37...
Dad...0...(we owe him approx $15,000-20,000 from when he was trying to help us dig out before we went w/ bankruptcy)
Gym...$29... (year contract - unbreakable or I would!)
State Tax...$75...PAID
Federal Tax...$25...PAID (on payment plan - now owe $892 plus interest)
Vet...??????? (God knows - dog had surgery, but vet is nice, knows our situation, and hasn't even worked up a bill yet. I am anticipating around $500)
Collector #1...$138.50... (will pay $138.50 this month and next and then be done!)
Collector #2...$50... (owe $265.55, on payment plan of $50 per month)

Money.......why?

April 12th, 2005 at 12:54 am

First off, I think journaling is an amazing tool! I have a weight loss journal in another forum and have made an entry nearly every day since January 1. I have had many ups and downs but I have lost over 15 pounds and am so proud! I am almost halfway done, and I truly attribute so much of my success to that journal. So, why not a money journal? I need all the help I can get, lol!

Hmmm....where to even begin? I guess a little about myself would be appropriate. My name is Amy (obviously) and I am in my late 20's. I live on the gulf coast with my hubby of 3 years and 2 small dogs. (sorry for the lack of concrete details, but if I am going to "let it all out" concerning my finances, I'd rather have some anonymity)! I lived in the north for all of my life up until July of last year. We moved south when hubby got a great job down here. Life was going ok until January 1st, when that "great job" went down the tubes. Hubby lost the job and I won't even go into how he was used and how much of an *sshole his boss was. Use your imagination! So, now hubby has no job and I make $9.38 an hour. Sad, so sad. Why did I bother getting a college education again? For that matter, why did he?

My relationship with money is not good a one. My parents are well off and I grew up not totally spoiled, but I had a great life. We never struggled and I had what I needed and a lot of what I wanted. We went on family vacations every year and I can't think of anything I'd change. Ok, so fast forward to when I got out on my own. I was used to having money and being able to spend money (well, my parent's money anyway) and I had a VERY hard time living within my means. I got a couple credit cards and life just went to h*ll after that.....

I got married in '02. My hubby was fairly financially responsible but I somehow managed to corrupt him. He got a couple credit cards and they all got racked up (in addition to my racked up ones...). In our defense, a lot of it was medical bills due to an accident that hubby got into on our honeymoon (yea, long story) but a lot of it was also irresponsible spending on our part. Again, it was living outside of our means. We ended up declaring bankruptcy shortly after we got married. The amount was around $60,000. Gulp........

So.....fast forward again to today. Hubby has no job at all and I work at a tv station making a whopping $9.38 an hour. We are both college educated but cannot seem to get jobs that pay well. Hubby is getting unemployement (thank God!) - $288 per week. He has tried to find some kind of job until he finds something worthy of his education, but nothing like that around here pays more than minimum wage (i.e. he makes more just staying on unemployment). Needless to say, things are tight! We have racked up more debt since the bankrupcty and need to pull out of this yucky yucky cycle. I am starting this journal to track where my money goes, to track bills, savings....everything. I think it will really help me.

I will go into more specifics on our budget in my next entry, but I want to end this entry saying that I love input and help of any kind. Please feel free to post ideas, encouragement, whatever! That's what keeps me going!

Thanks for letting me vent! It feels good to start the road to financial recovery!


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