End of year balance

I dragged my sick self to the bank today and deposited my Christmas gifts and eBay profits! My new loan and total debt balance is $6,311! This means I have to pay just over $1,000 per month to reach my goal of June.

It is so hard for me to believe that I paid off $17,876 this year!!! I'm so proud of myself!

What was I thinking?

OF COURSE my balance is going to be under $7k by the end of tomorrow...I still haven't deposited my generous and most appreciated Christmas gift money!

I wanted to go to the bank today but I am sick and the body aches kept me from going anywhere. Hoping I feel better by morning as I have been given tickets to an aquarium and really want to go! Not to mention New Years activities going on.

Got paid

I forgot to mention in my last post that I got paid and put $320 towards by debt. That brings my balance down to $7,038. I'm still planning to be under $7,000 by the end of this year, which only gives me a couple of days, but I'm waiting for funds to make it to my bank account from PayPal - online sales. Then, I will have met this goal.

My real goal is to be out of debt by June, even if it is the last day. I think I can make it happen!

Spent a little more

I bought myself a facial steamer which I feel was needed. My skin is not in the best shape and this item cost $25. It works much better than filling a bowl with hot water, putting a towel over my head, and hoping the steam will last.

I'll most likely put the rest towards my debt...really this time, unless I need something else ;)

Xmas gift update

Yesterday I did a little shopping and spent about $50. Almost everything I bought was on sale and I got three tops and a scarf. Not bad! BUT...the tops are for spring and summer weather.

I always think that I want to change my style..or lack thereof. It's just so expensive to do it! I'm tired of never looking my best. :(

One thing I want to with this money is get a Passport. I don't have plans to go anywhere, but want to be ready just in case!

As of now, I plan to put the rest on my debt.

Tis the season!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas!!! Yesterday was a great time with family. I also received a very generous money gift from my employer, but have yet to decide if I will use the entire amount towards my debt repayment. Although I know it would be the smart option, I feel like I should get myself "a little something." :)

Got the money

The check I was waiting on for the housesitting arrived! Just paid it on the loan and my balance is $7,344.xx.

I should be just under $7,000 by the end of December :)

Another little bite...

Today I updated my sidebar as I paid another $210.00 to my loan with money I made doing side work and eBay. I'm also expecting another check any day now for some housesitting. Once I get it, I will pay the whole amount of the check to my loan!

Dave Ramsey is keeping me motivated with his podcasts :o) If you haven't heard him, you really should.

Officially more than 2/3 there

Now I really only have a third of my debt left! I got paid today and just transferred $330 to my loan leaving me with a balance of $7,775.xx.

If I work hard, I will be debt free by June 30th...that's my goal. Once I reach that goal I may treat myself to something nice...and then save 3-6 months of expenses in an emergency fund.

However, I really think my car is about to start needing repairs such as the timing belt, clutch, etc. This could set me back a month or so.

Either way, I'm happy about my progress and goal.

I'm two-thirds of the way there!!!

Well...I will be tomorrow! I'm $41 short of being 2/3 of the way to being debt free!!

When I see the numbers, I wonder where all the money I have made over the years has gone. This year I have been able to live without $16,xxx and really the only thing I can think of that is different is that I:

1. I make a budget every month and stick to it [about 90-95% of the time].
2. Don't eat at restaurants as much, but still go out occasionally.
3. Make coffee at home daily, except for maybe 2-3 times a month.
4. Don't buy things I don't need.
5. Don't buy [as many] things I want. In fact, this has been cut back tremendously!

What it comes down to is, you must have a plan and stick to it. If you want it bad enough, you can make it happen if you keep working on the goal.

There is a quote I like, but I don't know the author...it is:

A bend in the road is not the end of the road, unless you refuse to take the turn.

Don't give up!

Christmas gifts

This Christmas I am not planning on spending a lot of money. Yesterday I bought two gifts (chocolate) and spent $45. This seems like a lot to me for chocolate, but it is really good stuff! Also, what do you get for the person who doesn't like clutter and can by anything they want for themselves??? Food, candy, chocolate, or take them out for a good time.

Over the last few months I have bought a few small things here and there to cover a few people to whom I want to give. The pinch doesn't feel as bad when you spread it out over months!

There are only a few more [I think] gifts I want to purchase which shouldn't cost too much.

I really just want to enjoy the season and not get caught up on who gets what, and the stress of shopping for the "perfect" gift!

Dinner...debt

Last night I went to dinner with a couple friends, spent about $16. Didn't seem like much at the time, but now it does. Oh well...what's done is done. I will have to more aware in the future and stick to coffee outings if I can.

I just made a payment to my loan of $200 which brings my balance down to $8,3xx! I realized that I have paid $3,000 in just less than two months since I got the loan. Before really trying to get out of debt, I never would have thought I could do this. So cool!

Fell off a little

Yes, I went shopping for a few items of clothing. I spent about $100. It really isn't bad for what I got which was a wool sweater, New Year's Eve top, a pair of leather flats and an Xmas gift. I have not removed tags from anything in case I decide to return any of it (doubtful).

I knew that I REALLY can't spend time in clothing stores or I may spend money, but I was shopping for someone else so had to go to this store.

Oh well...I will just keep on going, pluggin' away at this debt I have. As of today, I owe $8,575 and am seeing the light a bit brighter!

Books

Over the past month or so I have been reading a lot more. Not magazines or the Internet like I usually do, but books. It makes me feel good in more ways than one. It is nice to sit and learn something on your own terms...not in a class setting.

I feel like a sponge trying to absorb as much information as I can. It's nice.

The long weekend was nice too! I needed a break from my busy life.

It is Thanksgiving Day and I stayed home, cleaned a little and read half a book. We didn't have turkey...my mom cooked a duck but it is yet to be eaten. Sure looks delicious though!

I am thankful this year for my friends, family, and good health...and last but not least, I am thankful for finding Dave Ramsey in January. What a motivational source of great information!

I am looking forward to being debt free!!!

Whirlwind

The last two weeks or so have been so busy, it's all a blur! The move is complete, and I've been keeping up with the job and ebay. I got sick during the move which was really uncool...because I had to keep on going in order to stay on schedule.

I did miss some work, but I REALLY needed to. Of course, I kept on pushing myself, even being sick, which didn't help the matter.

Anyhow, I'm better now.

One thing that made me feel good was knowing that even though I was missing work, my financial situation would be ok. My bills would not fall behind, because I only have one debt left. In the past, I would have forced myself to go to work to make the money...no good. This time I felt at ease...and that, is priceless!

I've updated my sidebar with the new total of $10,28x.xx. It's true, I've paid about $1,200 in the last three weeks...unbelievable! I never would have imagined that I could pay that much off in such a short amount of time!

If you are on a journey similar to mine...keep at it! You'll get there on step at a time!

One last loan

There is quite a bit I want to post about but really don't have the time right now since I'm moving...so I will sum it up to say:

I paid off my car and got a loan through my bank to pay AMEX.

I'll post more when I can.

Thought I did it...

Finally...I balanced my checkbook. I don't do this as often as I should but I know that I have money in there, I just never know how much there is. It's complicated, people owe me, I pay my mom's bills after she gives me the cash among other things, and it's hard to keep track of it all sometimes.

So...I had to do it because I knew I had SOME money and I'm so close to paying off my car. After I made all the calculations and figured how much money I need for food and car insurance before my next paycheck, I realized I had about $350 extra.

What does this mean?

I have the money to pay off my car!!!

So... I did!!! Or so I thought.

I looked at the balance, made a transfer and went to look at the $0.00 balance, but instead it said $0.05. Hmmm??? Oh yeah, a day's worth of interest on the balance I had.

My car isn't paid off yet.

I could make another transfer to my account, but instead I think I will go to the bank tomorrow and tell them I want to pay off my car. Then I can find out how to get the title for it.

So now, all the extra money I make goes to AMEX...my last debt!!!

Listening to Dave Ramsey and hearing callers stories has really kept me motivated in this journey. It was just what I needed and I found him at a good time...early this year when I started paying things off. If I remember correctly, I was driving to the Post Office to take some ebay packages when I heard him on AM radio. Around that same time, my local bank was offering a free trial subscription to mytotalmoneymakeover.com for a few months so I signed up.

Really, I don't know which of the two came first. Doesn't matter...I'm just glad I found him to keep me going!

A little more...

My car loan balance is now down to $243.00!!

Under $500 owed on my car

As mentioned in my last post, my direct deposit came through and I have paid $380 to my car loan. This leaves me with a balance of $393!

I have officially knocked out half of my starting debt (mid-January 2009) in just over 9 months! -- Can I eliminate the other half in the same amount of time?

All for now :)

And another car post....and a dead camera

I'm up and it's late...one thing I am thinking of is, "Wow, I can't believe I'm about half way there from when I started in January...and my car is really about to be mine!"

I'm amazed...I thought I would be one year early in paying my car off, but really, it's two years! My loan is not due to be paid of until September 2011!

In the morning, my direct deposited paycheck should be in my bank account and I will be able to pay a nice chunk of money to the bank. -- My sidebar is currently not updated, the real amount is $773.xx and not $997.xx since I paid a bit more in the last couple of days. I'll update it after this post.

On another note, my camera died. I need it. My ebay needs it. I'll have to get a new one and I can't wait much longer. Do people still use film cameras? I'm too impatient for them...and what if you took a bad picture with old school film and you didn't know it until it was developed??? No thanks.

Final countdown for car!

I've reached the thousand dollar mark, $997 to be exact, for the balance of my car!! I'm so excited and plan to have it paid off by mid October.

Today I made a payment of $200 and tomorrow will probably add another $65 or so.

Now, if my ebay will stay steady (or increase) and I get to keep housesitting...and keep my job...my last debt, AMEX, will be paid off next year!

Home again

I'm back home from housesitting which is nice, but I was so exhausted yesterday from going, going and going some more.

Today I paid another $210 to my car loan which brings it down to $1197. In a couple more days I will be paying another $200, I just set up a PayPal transfer to my bank account for ebay stuff that sold and it will take two days to reach my bank account. After that payment, I will owe less than one thoudsand dollars!!!

It's hard to believe that if I would have just stayed focused long ago, I could have been out of debt by now. I have tried, but obviously not hard enough. Everytime I got a part time job, I swore the extra income would go to my debt but had a hard time sticking to it.

Now...I guess I am just so sick of debt that I can't stand to NOT pay the loans down. I can't wait to be free from owing...

Another $60

Today I took $60.00 out from a bank account where I've saved up some ebay money, and paid my car. This brought my balance to $1567.xx! I'm getting close to being half way done paying off my debts. It's hard for me to believe that about half of my debt has been to American Express and I really don't have much to show for it...besides pictures of trips and some electronic stuff which by the way is outdated now.

These nine months since I started my journey have really gone by pretty fast, I can definitely do another 9 months if that is what it will take to be done.

Housesitting

Once again I am housesitting which is great because I get paid, but not so great because I miss my BF :( I still get to go home and see him for a very short while each day, but it's ever long enough. He doesn't like it either but knows I'm trying to get out of debt and this is really helping. My last check went straight to my car loan which is dwindling away.

More car payments & AMEX

I've made a couple more car payments and am so happy to know I only owe $1,626 on it! I'm on track to get it paid off in October which means I will be one year early according to the original payoff date from the loan agreement.

On the other hand, I am upset that American Express sent me a letter to advise that my interest rate will be increasing due to the economy... Um sure, I believe that one. We'll see what they raise it to on my next bill. Good thing is, they are next and last to go!

Shame on me...

I've been pretty bad at keeping records lately, so my balances haven't changed much. I should have paid a bit more to my car from overage in my checking account...but I haven't made that happen.

Also, I went on a nice little camping trip for Labor Day weekend and probably spent about $200.00 on it! That was supposed to go to my car, but there is nothing I can do about that now.

Moving on...and thinking my car won't be paid off until Novemberish. BUT...I updated the sidebar and am happy to know that my car balance is $2,261!

Another payday!

Another payday has come and gone. I have paid an extra $310.00 towards my car outside of my regular car payment this month. My sidebar has been updated regarding my car, but the AMEX is not up to date. I have been using my AMEX card for work expenses which I will be reimbursed for, and also some of my own that I need to pay from my checking account. Unfortunately I have not kept good records and need to backtrack now. I hope my balance is still around $11,350.00.

Once I make the time to go through receipts and collect what is owed to me, I will update. Also, I had a bit more housesitting to do and that means more money :)

Amazed

I honestly can't believe that I have been able to pay off almost $10,000 so far this year and that I have just over $14,000 to go! It truly is amazing to me. However, I can't help but think that if I didn't have any debts, this could have been money saved.

Today is payday so I paid a little more towards my car, $270.00. This brings my balance to $2,992.xx. It's such a great feeling to get paid, and after making the payment, see the balance get smaller.

Housesitting

I've been away from home this week, house/dog sitting. It's a nice way to make extra money but really hard to be away from your own surroundings...at least for me it is!

Some people get a lot of gigs like this, I'm not one of them as I only house/dog sit for one family. I don't post on any of the "sitting" sites offering these services.

Basically, you just need to take care of things as if it were your house like bringing in the mail, newspaper, milk (if it is delivered), watering plants/lawn, feeding pets and walking them...some housesitters also clean house. Cleaning up after yourself is a must!! Leave the house how you found it, or better.

Sometimes it can be hard to sleep well in someone else's house. But...the money I earn will be worth it...another chunk to my car loan :)

Dentist visit

Yesterday was my dentist appointment and I was so happy to hear the total of ......... $84.00! My worry was that the dentist would see something more that needed to be done and the bill would explode. Now, any extra money I have will go towards paying my car instead of the dentist!

Speaking of my car...I just made the payment that is supposed to be automatically deducted from my checking account, because it wasn't done. I think it didn't happen because I made the large payment over the phone recently...even though I told the girl this payment was in addition to the automatic payment coming up. Anyhow, it's taken care of and I have updated the sidebar.

Saving postage stamps

Have you ever put postage on an envelope and then written the address wrong or changed your mind on sending something only to feel like you have wasted the stamp? What to do?

Growing up, when my mom did this, she would cut the stamp out and save it to be used later. This is definitely one habit I picked up.

Sometimes my mom needs me to write checks for her as she doesn't have a checking account and it's easier (and cheaper) for me to do this than getting money orders for her bills. Today I wrote some checks for her and actually remembered that I had stamps from envelopes never mailed, and decided to use them.

You need to be very careful when peeling the stamp from the old envelope. Then, you need a glue stick (my mom used to use Elmer's glue which was messy). Apply glue to the back of the stamp and stick it on your envelope. Be sure to check that the value of the stamp is current...it's good to have some 1 or 2 cent stamps around to make up the difference if needed.

It may not save you much money, but every bit counts! In my case today, I saved $1.61.

Short read - $190,000 withdrawn in $20 bills

Just read a nice short story, click here to check it out.

Debt Consolidation

I've received messages from someone telling me about some company to help reduce my debt.

Thanks, but honestly, I'm not interested in going through a company for assistance. My debt is not a problem for me, I'm not struggling, creditors are not calling me and I have a job...and a budget.

Also, after hearing Dave Ramsey talk so much about these rip-off debt consolidation companies, I would never want to go to one even if I was in a bad situation!

Things are under control and I'm feeling good about my plan! Though I must admit, I am a bit obsessed and have wondered what I will obsess about when it's all paid off and I start my 3-6 month emergency fund!

And...a bigger step

The goal date to pay off my car mentioned in my last post has been changed to October. See, I had just over $1,000 in a savings account (not my emergency fund) that I didn't want to touch, BUT...it was making less interest than what I was paying on my car loan by about 4%. I know this isn't much, but after thinking of how stupid it was to keep this money aside when I could pay off my car sooner, I did it.

Today I called my bank and the conversation went something like this:

Me: Hi, I'd like to make a transfer from my savings to my car loan.

Her: Ok, do you want to transfer the amount of your next payment?

Me: No, I want to transfer all that is available, I believe it is about $1,065. I'm trying to pay off my car loan early.

Her: Sure, do you want to close this account?

Me: No, keep it open.

Her: Ok, it's done.

Me: Great, thanks so much!

Her: Yup........(hung up)

Wow...really? She probably has a giant car loan and mounds of debt and was mad that I am trying to do something about mine. -- Should have dealt with my branch manager but didn't want to bother her.

Anyhow, this is done, I owe $3,435 on my car and am excited!

:) Going to update my sidebar now....

Tiny steps to a paid off car

I just made an extra payment to my car loan. I had planned on paying $250 out of this paycheck but $180 of it comes out of my bank account automatically in a few days. Therefore, I paid the difference of $70 ... $48.50 of it went to the principal and $21.50 went to interest.

Knowing that this is my next debt to pay off, I keep crunching numbers and figuring when it will be paid off. I'm such a number nerd. I think I can pay off my car loan by November which is about 10 months before the bank's scheduled pay off date!

BUT...this could also be set back if my dentist bill is high :( I'll know soon.

Yard Sale

I'm so tired of having "stuff" so have been planning to have a yard sale. It won't be for a few more weeks or so. I feel so cluttered with things I either bought or "inherited" that I just don't want or have a use for anymore. Also, there is a possibility that my housing situation will change in the next several months and I don't want to move everything.

Sure, I could sell it all on ebay, but I don't want to make the time to take pictures and list the stuff...I just want it gone. I am so sick of it all.

Looked at my finances

Last night I went over my money situation. I always seem to know how much I have and where, but when it comes down to adding it all up and figuring where it is supposed to be, I have to stop and write it down. By doing this, I also figure out how much money I have over and above my budget which can be applied to debt.

For example, in my pocket I have cash and checks to deposit, then I have money in checking and savings, but from that I have to pay AMEX for a few things I have purchased with it to bring it down to my current owed balance, replenish money I loaned to someone (very short term) back to the emergency fund savings account and pay my ebay fees. I found that I will have approximately $600 extra after I get paid Monday which amount can be applied to my car loan.

However, I do have a dentist appointment coming up in about a week and a half which is going to cost me at least $125.00 for a filling. Once the dentist goes to work he may discover that my tooth needs more than a filling and the price will go up. I am just hoping I don't need a root canal or anything extensive like this. It's not the pain that bothers me, it's the money.

For the record, the dentist told me that he would not have seen the problem (a shady spot in my molar) during a routine checkup. It's a good thing to keep up on your oral health and point things like this out to your dentist, they may not always catch them!

Back to the finances. It is best for me to put the extra money into my emergency fund savings account until after the appointment. This way I will know if it I can use it to pay my car, or if I have to pay the dentist more than the estimate. I sure hope I can pay my car!

If I do get to pay my car, I figured I can have it paid off by the end of this year and not April or May of next year as I had projected!

Flower

Yesterday I decided to buy a lovely porch flower. It was $9.99 plus tax and if I can keep it alive for the rest of the summer I will be happy. Unfortunately I don't have a green thumb so am a bit worried about this. Time will tell!

Stay focused

I've been working hard and staying focused, which is what it takes to get out of debt. The extra funds from my last two paychecks have mostly gone to my personal debt and the balance now is onyl $480!

Last week I returned some items from a MLM deal I never should have got involved with and received a credit of $290 to my bank account today. -- To add to this, I also made some extra money ($70) by helping some strangers move into their new home. It was random and unexpected, but very welcomed by me and my BF who also made money.

I will combine the $290 and $70 ($360) and with my paycheck this week add $120 to pay off my personal loan. I'm glad to know this will be paid off this month instead of August.

My sidebar has been updated, I can't believe how much I have paid off this year!!!

UPDATE! Actually, the credit was for $387 but they made originally made a mistake, so I took this, plus the $70 and a little extra I had and PAID OFF MY PERSONAL LOAN!!!! It's done! I'm no longer a slave to this lender!!! ;)

The car and AMEX are all I have left. I'm so happy about this today!

Changed plan of attack!

Nearly two months have gone by since I last posted, but I am still on the get out of debt wagon! I've been doing well so far and have killed over $6,000 of my debt which is so exciting!

A few of my goals / plans have changed since then. Last month I did well on ebay and with the help of other funds I had available, paid off Capital One 2. This is the card that was only charging me 3.99% interest and that I had planned to pay off last due to the low rate. I decided that I just wanted it gone...and when they charged me a $39 yearly fee, that was it! I called them and asked them if they would remove the fee if I paid off my account and closed it. They agreed.

Funny thing though, you know when you try to cancel a credit card they do just about anything to keep you? Well, the man I talked to didn't even try. When he asked me why I wanted to close the account I just told him that I wanted to get rid of all my credit cards. No questions asked...and I was so thankful for that.

Now, all I have left are: Personal Loan, Car and American Express. I will pay them off in that order. In fact, I noticed my last post said that I would have the personal loan paid off by December of this year...that has changed. I now plan to pay it off by August/September!!! Next to be attacked is my car which will be paid off maybe by April/May 2010. The loan schedule shows it to be paid if full by Sept. 2011 so I'll be pretty early on that one. Last will be AMEX which could take me until December 2010 and hopefully not longer than that!

It feels so great to know that I only owe on one credit card and my total debts are only three! I can't wait to be FREE!

Estimated pay off date for Personal Loan

After making out my budget for a year and a half, I calculated that my personal loan will be paid off in December 2009. For a long time I was only paying $20 / $40 here and there, but now I've worked my way up to $50 per month, for the next two months. In July, I'm bumping it up to $225 per month (and possibly more). Again, all this is assuming my finances remain the same.

I struggled with this debt for a while as far as what priority to give it, because the person is not charging me any interest and doesn't need the money, I know this to be true. In fact, the times when I've brought up repaying the loan, she has told me not to worry about it.

Anyhow, it was a loan from a friend and although it is at zero interest, it should receive priority.

Payday...and I'm broke!

Oh, how I ♥ paydays! It's funny though, because it's not that I'm excited to have money in my account so I can go shopping for things I really don't need. It's more exciting for me to know that I'm one step closer to being debt free!!

A couple of weeks ago, I set up a budget on Excel through the end of 2011. Yes, the year 2011. According to my figures, this is how long it will take me to become debt free. That is, of course, dependent on my income remaining where it is now and my expenditures also being stable, ie. rent, gas, electricity, food, etc. Also, I did not figure any money made through extra avenues such as ebay, the possible occasional yard sale, odd jobs, etc.

So, today I was happy to be able to go online, see the balance in my checking account and pay some bills. It's funny though, because I'm always broke even if I just got paid. I've turned down a lot of things lately such as going out to eat and buying things I normally wouldn't think twice about. My eating habits have changed, I'm eating homemade beans :) and they're damn good!!

Why I will NEVER do business with WELLS FARGO again!

Apparently I’m laundering money…or something, according to Wells Fargo. Yes, me, I’m out there up to no good, you know, working hard, making money, paying off my debts. It’s all totally legal and they closed my credit card account due to “suspicious activity.”

I can’t tell you how mad I was am at them! I WILL NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH WELLS FARGO AGAIN!


FIRST INCIDENT
I had paid off my credit card and my brother asked me to get him some concert tickets which he gave me the money for. It had to be done online with a card, so I figured I would get the rewards points and use the WF card. No brainer right? Got the tickets purchased, done.

During this time I also paid WF the amount of the tickets so they would be covered. This charge didn’t go through for a few days and since my account was “overpaid” it sent a GIANT RED FLAG to WF’s Fraud Department.

They blocked my card and I had to call them. The only thing their brilliant rep told me was to not overpay my account again. Ok, no big deal. It was an accident, I guess, if you could say that. Even though I had a charge going through, they don’t like that. -- Don’t overpay your account.


SECOND INCIDENT
Again my card was blocked, only a few weeks later and I had to call WF to find out why. This time a different rep told me that a lot of people launder money by overpaying their accounts. Also, that I was making so many payments and charging things, ie. make a payment of $200 and then charge $200. Um, yeah, I used it like a debit card…for the points. Whatever.

He told me that if this happened again, WF would close my account without notice. Fine, whatever. The information received from both of the reps was different.


THE CLOSURE
Within a month I was at the grocery store and used tried to use my WF card but it didn’t go through. I was puzzled. Swiped the card again…same thing. What the?! Alright, paid another way.

When I got to my car I called WF and apparently my account had been closed that very day. The Fraud rep told me something I had not heard from the other two reps I spoke to, which I did let him know.

He did confirm that people launder money by overpaying accounts and what I was told is true. However, the reason the account was closed, according to him, is that I was using more than my available credit during one billing cycle.

In other words, if you have a credit card with a $1,000 limit, THIS IS ALL YOU CAN USE IN ONE BILLING CYCLE. No, you cannot charge $1,000 on Monday, pay it off Tuesday, charge $1,000 on Wednesday to turn around and pay it off on Thursday. You would be using more than what they “allow” you to use in one month….even if you pay it off!!

The rep told me you cannot, “boost your credit limit,” by paying an extra amount than what is owed.

I told the WF rep that I was not told this by the other two reps, which he apologized for, but really it does me no good when the account has been closed.

He also said he would appeal this closure due to being told incomplete information and see if anything could be done… he would let me know the answer in a few days. When he told me, IF ANYTHING, WF would ask me to re-apply for a new card, I made sure to let him know I would NOT be doing business with WF again if my card was not re-opened.

Never heard from him again.

The thing that makes me really mad is that I was a WF customer from 1996-2009 and THEY closed my account due to their lack of their representatives efficiency. This will also reflect on my credit report and could possibly / likely lower my score and affect my open account with AMEX. I sure hope it doesn’t!

The icing on this cake is….I was going to get a $100 Wells Fargo Cash Reward on the next statement. Now, I can’t.

Leftovers

My BF made a frozen pizza for lunch today (which by the way was free after rebate!) which sounds great, but is a problem...or used to be! The reason it used to be and isn't anymore is that frozen pizza, once it has been cooked, isn't good when reheated. It's gross!

Anyhow, today I thought, I'm not letting this pizza go to waste...again. So, I turned the oven on broil, microwaved it for a minute and then stuck it in the oven. It came out crispy and yummy!

Consumed leftovers & saved money = happy me.

Updated sidebar

Today I paid WF $250 and my car $180 so updated the sidebar. It's gratifying to see the numbers get smaller and smaller each payday.

I'll be so ecstatic when they are ALL paid off!!

April Budget

UPDATE: I decided showing my budget on Excel this way is just too much work.


This month I'm not putting money aside for my car payment because I get paid May 1st which is three days before my next payment.

My paycheck was about $750 so you would think I have money left over, but actually I went shopping for things to sell on ebay. I have some paying back to myself to do!

Loaning money

Have you ever loaned money to someone and they say, "I'll pay you back next week when I get paid."? I've loaned money out many times over the years, to family, and it always seems that they don't pay me when they say they will.

Suddenly, when "next week" comes and they get paid, they realize that other bills need to be paid and use their paycheck for the bills instead. As if they need my money more than I do. Or, because I had the ability to loan it, I really don't "need" it. That's a bunch of B.S.!!

I'm so upset that this has happened once again. I realize it is my fault for loaning the money in the first place, but there is so much more to the reason she (in this case) needs the money, which is why I did it.

We're not talking thousands of dollars or anything, but just $200, for three different things. Anyhow, it's my money and I want it back!! Her payday has come and gone. Then comes the attempted guilt trip of, "I'm going to sell (fill in the blank) so I can pay you, does that make you happy?!?!" Um, no, but that's just not my problem. You borrowed and owe me. Period.

I just wish people would learn to manage their money and not come to me for my hard earned cash.

~Still trying to get out of debt.

On track

Although I didn't post my budget this month, I've stayed pretty well on track. Today is payday and I know where every dollar is going. Rent, car payment, car insurance, food, WF and the gym. I am leaving a small amount available as cash.

Being focused on getting out of debt has really made me change the way I shop. I'm still shopping for things to sell on ebay, but not nearly as much as I used to. I need to get my inventory organized.

I've also increased my hours at work so my last two paychecks have been bigger!!!

Capital One 1 and dentist are done!!!!!!!

My latest update is that Capital One 1 is paid off as well as my dentist! I made the last payment a few days ago on both. It's possible that Capital One will charge me a bit of interest for this month, but if they do it won't be much.

The bad news is that since I went shopping for (needed) clothes on my WF card, I have to get that one down now...again.

I've been crazy busy so didn't make time to blog in the last week. We had a friend visiting us for several days which was fun.

Ebay has been terrible this month, I hope it picks up.

Library Book

I just got home from the library with the book entitled "The 21 Success Secrets of Self-Made Millionaires" by Brian Tracy among other books. It bothers me that people write in books and I've been going through it erasing lots of pencil marks, writing and underlining.

Why are people so disrespectful? It's not much different than writing on a wall in an elevator, bathroom stall, spray paint graffiti, etc. Sure, only the people that get this book will see it, but still... if you want to write in a book, go to the book store and buy your own to mark up!

•••UPDATE••• I just finished reading this book, it was a short read with good info. There are a few things I want to quote from the book as follows:

• Every time you practice self-discipline, your self-esteem goes up. You like and respect yourself even more.

• You are like a chameleon in that you take on the attitudes, behaviors, values, and beliefs of the people with whom you associate most of the time. If you want to be a successful person, associate with positive people. Associate with people who are optimistic and happy and who have goals and who are moving forward in their lives. At the same time, get away from negative, critical, complaining people.

• Unsuccessful people are indecisive. They know that they should do or stop doing certain things, but they do not have the character or the willpower to make firm decisions. As a result, they drift through life, never happy, fulfilled, or successful. They never become wealthy or achieve financial independence. They settle for far less than is possible for them.

So close!

I can't believe that my Capital One 1 balance is $182! I'll have it paid off so soon!

My slip up

It has been a while since I posted but my time has been occupied with family as a result of a recent death.

My spending got a little out of control when my mom decided to help me out and go "shopping" for me along with other things. She went out and found a lot of things that I might like to wear to the funeral ... and more. I ended up spending on my WF card. Bad. I know. But honestly, even though I may say I don't "need" anything, I really do. My clothes are looking old and ratty. The t-shirt I'm wearing today is about five years old and has holes visible to me around the waistband.

I bought some badly needed jeans as the ones I wear all the time look trashy at the ankles. When I spent the last $130, I told her, "NO MORE SHOPPING!" I love her and am grateful that she took the time, she really knows what looks good on me, but seriously. No more!

I spent about $350 but it sure was nice to have proper attire for the funeral and to spend time with family who I see once every couple of years, wearing clothes that were in decent shape.

So...with that being said, my new plan is to pay off Capital One 1 and then back to WF. My March budget should be posted within a few days. It's already on paper.

Payday

My direct deposit paycheck came through today and the only bills I have left to pay this month are: Rent, Car, Food and Gym. That is a total of about $530 and my check was $720. I will pay an extra $150 to Capital One 1, but since I made a payment recently, their system won't let me make another payment.

Also, my rent isn't due until March 1st and my car payment until March 4th. So, I guess I'll just have to let this money sit in my account. Frustrating.

I'll use some of the extra money to buy things like a humidifier filter, Drano and other household items. No shopping for fun stuff!!

•••UPDATE••• Friday night I was able to make the $150 payment to Capital One 1 :)

Trip to the mall and other ramblings

Since my last post I've tried keeping a list of when I spend money and honestly don't think I really like it. Maybe I'll just try keeping the receipts.

Just paid a tiny bit more to Capital One 1 (every bit counts!) so owe them $826.00. I still plan to have them paid by the beginning of May.

It's hard to not spend money on things I don't need. Yesterday I went to Target and got some things to sell on ebay and some health and beauty stuff I need, yes, need.

I also went to Victoria's Secret and spent $26.xx on their 5/$25 deal. BUT....I didn't have to use any of my money. It was all paid with a gift card and a coupon :) The lady in front of me spent about $300! Apparently she is getting married and from what I saw, was buying some super fancy shmancy stuff!!! Ah, the good old days of shopping at VS!

I went to the mall to return some stuff for my boss and while there saw some tank tops that I must have once summer hits! They are super basic tanks which I live in at the (almost) best time of the year. :)

Costco

I love Costco! Sometimes too much, I could spend a lot of time there, but shouldn't. Anyhow, I went there today with my mom and left with bananas, cheese, a pineapple, napkins and one of those small fire extinguishers for my car and/or camping.

The fire extingusher is something I have wanted for a while now and when I saw the price of $19.99 less a $7 coupon, I had to have it...for safety. My mom paid for the other one. We also split a package of napkins, those lovely Vanity Fair ones. Yes, I know, I'm trying getting out of debt and maybe shouldn't be spending money on nicer napkins, but paid about $4 for 3 packages, of nice ones. Not too bad.

Also, the cheese, I wouldn't normally buy this, but $9 for a 2 lb block of my BF's favorite kind, I did. Normally I would ask him to pay for the whole thing, but he didn't ask me to buy it so I'll pay half...and eat about a third.

I really need to get better at keeping track of my spending and which categories to put things in. I need a category in my budget for household / non-grocery items such as napkins, drano (which we need), etc.

How do all you internet people (as if I had a group of people I'm talking to) do it? Carry a small notebook and write in it -- save daily receipts and log them daily -- any suggestions?

Capital One Opt Out

I received two Capital One important notice forms in the mail today, one for each of my cards. They are notifyng me that the terms on one of my cards (Capital One 1) is changing. My APR will be 17.9%! Also, the default rate and cash advance rate are changing.

The form states that I can opt out by closing my account which is perfectly fine with me. I plan to pay both my Capital One accounts off and closing them anyway.

The notice I received for my Capital One 2 card only states that they will be chaning my default rate. It is strange to me that they only chose to change the one thing on this account. I know (think) I'm in a locked rate for the balance I owe them at 3.99% which was a special transfer rate they gave me a while back.

None of this really matters with my Capital One 1 account since my estimated pay off date for them is the first week of May...if all goes as planned. I'll keep my fingers crossed!

Once Capital One 1 is paid off, I think I'll focus on AMEX for a while since the interest rate is 4% higher than Capital One 2 and I owe them about $10,000 more than Capital One 2.

Is this Opt Out thing a blessing in disguise???

Groceries

It's so nice when you find a market that sells fruits and vegetables cheaper than chain grocery stores. I went to one today and bought bananas, limes, an avocado, two papayas, a few zucchinis, tomatoes, cheese, hot sauce, refried beans, dried beans, four bags of dried split peas, three onions and cilantro. All this for $21 which to me seems pretty good!

I can't believe I got two big papayas for $2.90! They were only 45 cents per pound...that's dirt cheap! One is for me and I'm giving the other one away.

The only thing I need to buy in the next few days is coffee which I get from Costco since it's cheaper, about $10. Oh, and tortilla chips ;) I love these!

•••EDIT: I no longer need to buy coffee, my mom gave me tons of it!••• :)

WF is Paid Off!

Yesterday I went to WF bank and paid the account off. If I did my math right I have a negative balance of approximately $20! I'm waiting for some online payments to go through and also a few charges.

I'm so happy that I won't be giving them any of my hard earned money for interest anymore :)

I still plan to use this card but only for things I can turn around and make a payment for, like food, cell phone payments, internet, car insurance, etc. because I am on their reward program and want to turn in the points for $$$ cash $$$! This money can be used toward another debt.

BTW, I made a payment to Capital One 1 to bring the balance to $900.

Paying off WF

I've decided that instead of keeping money in my savings account, I should pay WF a nice chunk of change. The interest I pay them is more than the bank pays me to keep my money there, so I'm better off paying WF. The interest I won't have to pay to WF if I didn't do this would probably be between $30-$50 for the time I was planning to take to pay them.

Today, they will be almost paid off, within $50! :)

Spent a few dollars today

Today I spent about 28 cents on copies, about $5 on gas in the rental car and I found a penny at the Post Office.

I don't normally pay for gas since I have a company card, but I didn't want to put such a small dollar amount of gas in the rental car, which I'm also not paying for. The car just needed enough to get it up to the mark where it was when I got it.

Vodka + Vanilla Beans = Vanilla Extract

Last night I bought a bottle of Absolute Vodka ($12). It's not what you think. I don't drink. I bought it because I make my own vanilla extract for cooking/baking and I was running low. It takes about four months for the vanilla beans and vodka to turn into vanilla extract so I didn't want to wait until I was out.

Of course now I have to use a store bought extract (if I need it) during the next four months (I think I have some). I guess I need to have two bottles, one that is ready and one that is "brewing." The good thing is that I don't use it very often, but I like to have it handy, especially during the holidays!

Made a register for my WF account

I went ahead and made an entry in my notebook for WF so I can keep track of where my balance stands. I have four pending payments and a hold of $50 from a car rental place which will be returned to me.

Currently my account is at $1017 but after these payments clear the balance will be $707! My brother owes me $26 (for this card) because I did his taxes online and used this account.

Today I woke up so early to get a lot of things done, it's midnight and I'm exhausted!!

Got paid -- updating sidebar

I got paid today so made payments and now have about $100 in my account. I'm going to hold on to this amount for a couple of days and decide where to apply it.

It's so hard for me to keep my sidebar totals updated accurately for a couple of reasons. One, I use my WF card to pay for some of my bills and then pay it right back. Two, payments take 2-4 days to show up on the account. I guess I will have to keep tabs on it like my checkbook register. This way I can mark the list off when a payment posts to the account. I need to be careful with this one because it's next in line to be paid off!

More food

I went grocery shopping for some things today and spent $25.09 on food and $4.80 on marked down "girl stuff" which was really cheap for three boxes. Of the $25.09 for food, $2.50 will be returned to me, it was the cereal that is free after rebate. I also bought a Glade candle for $2.80 which I don't NEED per say, but I do need it.

I'm using up my grocery budget pretty quickly. I need to be smarter about how I spend my money to stay within my $150 budget for the month.

On the plus side of things, my BF paid me $100 that he owed me so I'm going to pay WF as soon as I can get this into my checking account.

Cashed in!

I took my loose change to the bank today. This is what it looked like before I cashed in, a full Ziploc bag that I could hardly close:



The total amount was $98.02! Off to pay WF :)

Mid-Year Goal

After doing some number crunching today I think it would be safe to say that my goal is to pay off Wells Fargo and Capital One 1 by the end of June. As far as I can see, the only way to make this happen is if my income doesn't drop.

Originally I was thinking that I would have both those cards paid off by the end of the year, but I really think I can do this by June 30th!!

Loose Change

Do you save your loose change every day? I'm not talking about bills, just coins. If you don't, you should start, and if you do, then you know how fast it adds up! Well, if you don't pay with a debit card for the things you buy.

Try putting your coins from the day in a jar or bag for one month. At the end of the month, see how much you collected, you'll probably be surprised!

I've been doing this for years and every so often I take the coins to a bank to cash in. Yes, there are Coinstar machines, but they charge you for their service, which is fair. But, there are banks that have coin counters and they will usually give you the service for free! Sometimes they say you need to have an account, you can call and ask them.

I was thinking about this because there is a blog called changepot.blogspot.com I saw it on some news site today. They don't collect their own change, instead the keep track of money the find throughout the day. Once they reach a certain amount they are going to donate it. This is a really neat idea.

So, I have some change I need to cash in and I'm going to apply it to my WF debt! :)

P.S. I rarely don't pick up change on the ground, including pennies!

Grocery shopping with BF this weekend

Bought about six bananas last night and they cost me $2.

It's my BF's payday so I'll be going grocery shopping with him sometime this weekend, but he'll be spending all the money! We don't split our grocery bill because we eat differently and his stuff tends to cost more. It works for us.

Speaking of my BF. I made him a written budget (he asked me to) so he could pay all his bills during the month and know what is left over. It made me happy when he thanked me for making it and even more to know that he is following it! Today he took his budget notebook with him and said, "I need this, it's payday." :) I'm all smiles. :) He's a sweetie.

When we go shopping I think I'll just pick up some chicken, tortilla chips and sour cream. My list is quite small and I have lots of rice, beans, ramen, mac & cheese to live off of for a while. :)

Killing my food budget!

I used more of my food budget to buy milk (canned and carton) and bacon. Finding food on clearance is one of my weaknesses, ie. the canned milk! I purchased 40 cans of evaporated milk for 25 cents each, that's only $10 for all of them! Normally these cost about a dollar each so they were 75% off and are good until the end of this year.

This milk can be used for mac & cheese, rice pudding and coffee creamer. I'm not sure what else I can use it for.

So, I've used quite a bit of my food budget so far this month and need to cut back a bit. The good thing is, I have plenty of canned/boxed foods to last a while. What I don't have a lot of are meats so will watch for sales. Maybe I should get a bag of frozen vegetables too. Costco may be best.

Car payment

Today a direct withdrawal for my car payment was made so I've updated the sidebar. The car payment is not crossed off the February budget because this money was taken from my last paycheck. The car payment on my February budget is for my March car payment.

Hopefully by the end of this year I won't have a car payment anymore since I want to sell my car.

Furniture Store paid off!

Today I decided to go ahead and pay off my Furniture Store account -- $58.97!

I know it's not a lot, but it's the first to go!

Since I did my budget and realized that my monthly bills come to more than I make, I figured that it is going to take me longer to get out of debt and I really wanted to pay off this bill this week. So I paid the bill from my ING account which when I transfer money to it to cover my ebay fees, I send a litte bit more each time, therefore I had enough.

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but this is what I do to keep from scrambling for money when my ebay invoice is due. I look at my current ebay bill before transferring money from my PayPal account to my ING account and if my bill is $8.67, I send over maybe $12.00 or so. I keep track of the overage and each month I'm able to save a bit of extra money.

The next time I go to send money to my ING account, if my ebay bill is $13.05, I subtract $8.67 from $13.05 getting $4.38 and I'll send maybe $6.50 or so. Then again, I keep track of the overage so I know how much extra there is.

When my ebay bill is due, I make a payment to AMEX from my ING account and pay ebay. I would rather pay ebay with Amex rather than PayPal because this way I get Skymiles.

Credit Report

Yesterday I got a copy of my credit report from Experian. There was a mistake on it that stated I have a Capital One card still open. Well, actually I have two open, but used to have five!

What happened was, over a year ago I received a letter that they would combine two of my accounts and give me a low rate until the combined total was paid off. When I took advantage of the offer, they combined four of the accounts (instead of just two) and one was left untouched. Therefore, I now have two Capital One accounts active.

Back to the report. It shows that I have three active Capital One cards and I had to figure out which one was in question since the report does not show the whole account number. That's when I called Capital One.

I got a very nice lady on the phone and she helped me out by looking at my accounts. On their records, I have two active and three closed which she couldn't understand either. She set something up to send me a letter stating that the account is closed and afterwards asked me if I wanted her to submit a request to Experian for me! I took her up on that offer.

She told me it would take 60-90 days for my credit report to be updated so I'll have to check back on that.

Another thing on my report states as follows: Paid, was a collection account, insurance claim or government claim or was terminated for default.

Does anyone know what this means??? It was a $248 Vet bill that I let go to collections (yeah, I know, STUPID!!) and I eventually paid it off in full.

Other than that, the rest looked good and a lot of bad stuff has FINALLY been cleared from my report!! My score from Experian is 634 which is down from 656 in August 2007, but up from the 500s in previous years. I'm sure this collections thing on my report is holding me back from having a better score, as well as being maxed out on my cards.

I'm working on it!

Rebates? How...

Is it bad to buy stuff that I send in for rebates to get the item(s) free? It's not like I'm spending the money and never get it back, it just takes 4-6 weeks to happen.

So, I just need to figure out how to keep track of this stuff...do I use Post-Its, make an Excel spreadsheet, post it on this blog? All three? I just don't know.

I guess I'll post it here, and make some sort of a note to myself, probably Excel. This way when the rebate check arrives, I know which card and how much to pay back.

February Budget

$275 Rent (March - It's due on the 1st)
$180 Car (March - It's due on the 4th)
$83.67 Car Insurance
$250 Dentist
$43.62 Power (lights)
$38 Gas (heat)
$30 Internet
$116.43 Cell
$150 Groceries •••I've used $115.52 so far •••
$30 Savings
$4.99 Web host
$15 Furniture Store
$28 WF
$20 Capital One 1
$32 Capital One 2 •••I paid $35.00•••
$40 / $20 Personal Loan (Am only paying half)
$28.00 Gym
$250 Amex (minimum) I am only paying $100 to cover interest
$10 Car Oil (may not have enough $)
$15 Contacts/eyes (may not have enough $)

$1,639.71 Total I would like to pay
$ 3.00 Extra paid to Capital One
$ 1122.23 Paid
$517.48 Left to pay this month

Here's an eyeopener for me!! I didn't realize my monthly budget was so high! I don't make enough at my day job to cover this considering I only bring in about $1200 per month! The rest comes from sidework that I do (selling stuff online, and other little things).

I guess I don't have to put money aside for oil and contacts and I could also spend less on food. I'll see how this month goes.

Regarding my dental bill. The good thing is that I only owe February and March to the dentist and I'm done paying him! I've also been considering selling my car, but that may be several months away if I decide to.

I think I'll plan to cross these off as I pay them for the month. With my last check from January I paid my part of the Power bill and Capital One 2, also part of Amex.

Fun day of shopping

I went to the store yesterday and bought a few things. I can't find my receipt right now so I'll have to come back and post.

My friend and I also made a trip to Costco and all I bought there was EV Olive Oil for $13.38. My BF will give me half ($6.69) of this since we both use it. The question is when will I get it back! Off to the pile of receipts he owes me for.

After Costco, we went to Bed Bath and Beyond because after buying herself a down pillow at Costco, she needed a pillow protector. While there I picked up the rubber pastry brush I need. I was hesitant to pay the $6.99 that it was marked plus tax, but when I took it to the cash register, it was only $3.xx! Sweet!! At another store I found a spatula that only cost me $2.50 plus tax. The one I've been using needs to go.

Yes, I also went shopping for ebay stuff today, BUT I only spent about $16 so that's good, considering I usually spend at least $100 at a time!

When all our shopping was done we went for coffee. It didn't cost me anything since I had a gift card from my birthday and I just put it on that.

Oh, I almost forgot, we also went to the office supply store since I had a gift card there too. The gift card was expiring yesterday so I wanted to use it. I bought some ink cartridges (that I plan to return), but what I really want is a chair, mine pops and just plain sucks. I'll watch for sales and use another gift card and coupon I have to get a new one. Hopefully this works out. The chair I'm using has been around for about 9 years and cost me $10 after rebate...it's leather too!

Since it's February 1st, I'll come on later and post my budget for this month.

Sold stuff

Yesterday I sold some things to my aunt for a total of $25 and made $14 profit. Since I now have some extra cash, I paid another $20 to the Furniture Store so my balance is $70.xx! I'm so close, it will be paid off next week!!! •••Update: The bill just came and with interest, I owe $73.97•••

I did spend money yesterday on my BF on food and soda, about $5. I'm sure he'll pay me back :)

Furniture Store is under $100!

I'm so excited that I am now under $100 owed to the Furniture Store! I just paid another $40 that was in my bank account from PayPal (ebay). My balance is $90.63 so I will have it paid off really soon and then can work on my WF card.

Live Music!

I went to a concert last night and it was fun! The best part is that it was FREE!!!! I didn't spend a penny, not one.

On the way home, I was soooo hungry and tempted to get some fast food. My stomach was telling me "yes," my mind was telling me "no." I listened to my mind.

All I spent money on today was to send a fax, it cost me about $1.40.

Today's PayPal deposits

Today I had a deposit in one of my bank accounts from PayPal of $46.xx. I decided to put $10 towards oil / oil change for my car and $15.00 towards contacts since the next time I get them I will need to buy two boxes. This leaves me with around $20 to pay something.

In my other, secondary checking account, I had a deposit of $28.xx come through from PayPal. With this money I paid $9.00 (there was some change in my account) to the Furniture Store and $20 to AMEX. So, combining the $9 from this account and the $20 left over from my primary checking account, I paid $29 towards my Furniture Store account since that is the first I want to be paid off.

Tomorrow I should have another $40.xx from PayPal, but since it has been slow on ebay, the days that follow won't have any deposits :(

Darn, no sales and a vacation in the near future?!

I think I've jinxed myself as far as ebay goes! The last two days, Tuesday and Wednesday were terrible!! Hoping for a better day.

So Wednesday I almost went to a concert for a friend's birthday, but it turns out that the concert was sold out. Whew! Lucked out on that one ;) Don't get me wrong, I would have LOVED to go, but I saved about $50 so that's what I'm happy about.

Another thing that saved me money was, not going out to a last minute dinner with another couple of friends. I missed their call to meet for dinner and when I got back to them, they had already gone. That also saved me some $$$!

But...they want to plan a trip to Vegas in March! Good thing is that my friend works for the airlines and we can get "buddy passes" for $35 each, round trip. Then we'll split the hotel, go for the weekend and have a nice little mini vacation.

I think I'll have to dip into my emergency fund and pay it back. Not that a vacation is an emergency, but...how can I not go when the flight is only $35?

How I used my paycheck

YES! My direct deposit came through today, it was for four weeks even though I normally get paid every two weeks. There was a mix-up so I went longer without a paycheck.

It came to $1242.49 and this is how I spent it:

$275 Rent (My BF and I split it)
$73.34 Car Insurance
$220.00 Borrowed from ING (Amex)
$400.00 Borrowed from ING (trip)
$180.00 Car Payment (due next week)
$20.00 Personal Loan
$50.00 Food
$1218.34

This leaves me with $24.15. The $50 for food will be put aside until I need to use it and I hope I can make it last two weeks!

I've updated the sidebar ---> for the Personal Loan but not the car until it is paid and interest applied. That way I will have an accurate total up there.

Also, I used my WF card to pay for my car insurance but immediately made a payment to cover this and it won't be updated for a few days.

Had some money in another account from PayPal (ebay) so paid the furniture store $25.

Payment Calculator

I found an online calculator where you can enter your balance, interest, annual fee and what you want to pay each month OR when you want to pay the card off. It does the rest for you. I know there are a lot of these all over the internet, but this one didn't give my browser any problems...and I like that!

http://www.capitalone.com/calculator

Note to self...pay AMEX and WF back...tomorrow!

Today I put $18 on my Amex card at the Post Office for ebay stuff I had to send. The good thing is that the buyers paid for shipping, not me. I used my card because I get double miles at USPS when I use my AMEX card and I want to rack up those skymiles!! •••DONE•••

Did you know that you can only make one payment to American Express in a 24 hour period? I think Capital One is like that too.

Tomorrow I will pay the card back when transfers are in my bank account. Also, I'm going to pay my WF card the amount of the profit from the stuff I sold on ebay that I used this card to buy. After shipping the stuff, I figured my profit was about $27. :) •••DONE•••

Hoping my paycheck is direct deposited tomorrow!! Can't wait to pay some stuff.

Tasty dinner

My dinner today was a last minute decision. When the BF and I went shopping for groceries a few days ago we bought a package of eight chicken thighs which cost a few dollars. I had plans to make some crock pot chicken.

Anyhow, since I've not been in the best of moods lately I didn't even want to cook. But I did.

I wanted to see if I could make breaded chicken without using Shake 'n Bake. I pre-heated the oven to 400 degrees to get started. Out came the store brand bread crumbs that have been sitting in the cupboard, unopened, forever. Then I pulled out other spices and herbs. I put all the dry stuff in a bag.

In one bowl I added some milk, in another bowl, EV Olive Oil. I pulled out the chicken and dipped it in the oil, then the milk, then put it in the bag of spices/bread. Once I had the four pieces in there, I shook the bag.

The four chicken thighs went onto a cookie sheet and into the oven for about 45-55 minutes. After 30 minutes I lowered the heat to 350.

Mmmmm, mmm, mmm! Sooo good! My BF and I loved it!! He told me to write down what I did so I can make it again. :) We also had a baked potato and (canned) green beans.

Cheap and healthy, I'm happy about that.

Next shopping trip: Rubber oil brush and more EVOO.

Money ramblings

I made a couple of payments within the last couple of days but haven't updated my balances because the totals on their website have not been updated. I'll check them and see what they are now. ***Not updated yet, I'll update when they are current.

Oh, and I've paid back my WF card about $90 of the $131 for things I bought at the store the other day for ebay. I'll pay more once I know what my profits were on three of them...and once the money is transferred from PayPal to my checking account. Currently, I have less than 10 cents in my account :( and only $14 in another bank account. Tomorrow I'll have more :)

For the last couple of months I didn't pay the Furniture Store. I didn't realize it had been so long and every time I tried to log into my account online I put in the wrong password. Eventually it locked me out.

Well, about a week and a half ago I went to that store and made a payment to bring my account current. Little did I know that only $20 of my $40 payment would go to my balance because they charged me a $20 late fee. It won't happen again! In fact, that will be the first bill to go (in February) when all other bills are paid, since it's the smallest balance.

Once the furniture store is paid, I'll focus on the WF card. Originally I wanted to eliminate the Capital One (1) card because of the balance, but WF charges me a higher interest rate by about 7%. I also like to use this card for things I have the cash for because I earn points with them. -- I'm almost eligible for a $100 cash reward, but I might rack the points until later...I'm undecided on that.

Keep it comin'...

I'm up waaaayyyy too late! Anyhow, I sold yet another profit maker from the grocery store! Sorry, I can't won't say what it is...to help keep me anonymous.

I'll guess that I've made about $38 so far from five of the nine things I bought. That makes me smile. :) Now, I just hope this trend keeps up.

Hope the selling keeps up!

I have officially sold four of the things I bought four days ago at the grocery store! Two of them sold today ;) Right now I don't know the profit made from them because I have to take them to the Post Office for shipping, they're international shipments and for my records, I don't want to guess. Other than that, it was a slow selling day.

My day job is frustrating and I wish I was doing something I actually like. Also, lately I've been feeling like a loser, like I'm letting my employer down which gets me down. It's an awful feeling.

I just want to be debt free and happy with my life and what I'm doing. Right now I'm neither of those.

My battle with clutter never seems to cease either. I try, but I guess not hard enough. I think if I had more clear space, I would feel more relaxed and at peace with things. Maybe not.

How do you keep your spirits up?

I can see!

The other day I mentioned needing to pay $122.34 to my car insurance. This didn't get done, at least not all of it. I still owe about $73 which I can pay this week. •••DONE!••• No money was transferred to my PayPal over the weekend which sucks, but it will be there maybe tomorrow! I also realized that the balance is not actually due for about another week so I'm ok.

I put oil in my car today too, so that's taken care of. I've decided to add $10 a month to my budget for oil...or an oil change every few months or when needed.

Today I also bought a box of contacts for my left eye since I had four left for my right eye. I've had this "two week" contact in for 26 days. This cost me $27.xx and in three months I'll have to get two more boxes. That means I'll have to budget about $16 each month to cover it from now on.

Wearing contacts for longer than you are supposed to can lead to problems like conjunctivitis. Considering I don't want this or even carry health insurance in case I get it...I'd rather change my contacts as prescribed.

Yeah! Sold more!

Once again I was happy to sell another one of the items I picked up at the grocery store a couple of days ago! This time the profit was better, $9.00 :) Once the money is available in my checking account, I'll transfer it to the WF card I used to pay for it all, including the profit.

Also, once there is money in my bank account, I'll update the totals on the side :) ------->

Tick, tock, I get so impatient on the weekends because money is never automatically transferred to my bank account, either by direct deposit or PayPal :(

More for the budget

Budgets are a good thing, if you follow them. I've always had somewhat of a budget but don't always follow it. I do make sure that all the bills get paid before accidentally spending the car payment on clothes or other fun stuff. That's a good thing. If this wasn't done, I'd be even more messed up, like I was years ago... over the limit, past due, etc.

So, I realize that I need to budget money in for things like contacts, car oil / oil changes, health and beauty items, etc. I'm in desperate need of contacts, but only for one eye. I still have three or four for my other eye. Still, that's going to cost me almost $30 that I wasn't planning on.

Another thing, today I decided to check the oil in my car. Super low! I know this is bad and could cost me my car, but, so far so good. Off I went to buy some oil for just over $11, and that's taken care of. Almost. I'll put it in when I have daylight :)

Sold one!!!

I was happy when I came to my computer today to find out that I sold one of the items I bought last night at the grocery store!!!

The profit wasn't that great, but it sure was exciting ;) and any extra money I make, the better off I am.

Love getting rebates back and more groceries

I was excited today to get a rebate back in the mail I sent out for. It was for a $20 Master Card! No...not a credit card that I can "charge" stuff on with a credit limit and all that, but just a card with my name on it in place of the company sending me a rebate check. It makes things easier for me because I can use it instantly unlike a check that I have to deposit at the bank.

So, I did end up going grocery shopping again and spent $58.72. This got me just about everything I need for a while and my BF spent about $100! He likes to eat lots of junk like potato chips, crackers, frozen meals, soda, etc. so the bill really adds up for him.

For "ingredients" to cook with, we split the cost. It works out for us and me especially since I don't like to eat all that overpriced crap. Can you imagine how much more I would be spending if we were to share the bill and just split it down the middle!? No thanks.

I'll try to not go to the grocery store except to buy milk, bananas and cereal if I run out, everything else should last me a while...I hope!!

So far since I've started this blog I've spent $77.13 at the grocery store. Of that, about $12 went to "personal" items (soap, loofah and lotion...which I DO need).

On the other hand, while at the store, I found a great deal on some items for ebay! Yeah, I charged them...a whole $131.65 worth!! But, I can make about $70 from them. If they don't sell within a month, I'll return them to the store and get my money back.

I've got to figure out how to do this buying stuff to sell on ebay and still get out of debt and manage to keep things in line. I would think that a budgeted amount of money or separate card I could use specifically for ebay purchases would work. When the items sell, I pay the card. I just don't know what is going to work for me. Any ideas?

Quick grocery trip for basics

I went to the grocery store last night and didn't plan on getting everything I need for a week, just what I need right away. I got milk, bananas and cereal.

Pomegranate season must be over or something because they were out! I wanted one to keep my mouth busy and me healthy :) Instead I bought 2 kiwi's. I love fruit!

They also had a lot of bath stuff 70% off from Christmas so I bought 2 large 26oz bottles of hand soap for $2.39 each. This is good because the bathroom and kitchen are both out. I also bought a loofah for 89 cents.

Oh, and they were having a great deal on Rotel tomatoes. I got 10 cans for 3.70! These can be used to make chili, salsa, rice and other stuff. I kept a running total in my head so I would not go over $20.00 and ended up spending $18.41!!

I'll go shopping with the BF today and get the other stuff we need for dinners to avoid eating out. My breakfast food is very simple, dinners are the tricky part. This week we did really good and ate what we had in the house. Guess it helps when you're broke and CAN'T go out.

I added a "subscribe" button to the right side of this page so if you want, you can add me to a feed! At least I think this is what it is called. Blogging is pretty new to me and I don't know all the fun stuff available.

That's that for now....
♥ A Girl

Time to grocery shop!

I was going to make a small payment to WF via web bill pay when I noticed more money came through in my checking account from PayPal. UNTIL I noticed that the earliest the payment would post would be next Tuesday!

I think I'll hold the extra bit of money and take it to the grocery store. I'm out of bananas, cereal, almost out of milk along with other things. Keeping the house stocked with stuff to make will keep me from spending on fast food or restaurants!

Hope to not spend more than $50!

Car insurance, ebay and rambling

I just realized today when I went to make a partial payment for my car insurance that I am a month behind. I need to pay $122.34 by Sunday. BUT...this is do-able, since I am waiting for money to be transferred to my bank account from PayPal for ebay stuff that sold.

Today wasn't a busy ebay day, only sold 3 things with a profit of just over $20. It all adds up though and that's what I count on!

I really don't know how long it is going to take me to be debt free. I'm not really willing to live on rice and beans, not go to dinner with the girls once a month, rent movies on occasion, you know, all the things people do when they REALLY try. Been there, done that, didn't last, don't want to do it again.

What I am willing to do is think before I buy, which I've been doing for a while, and have a budget set. I used to buy things just because I wanted them or they were cute. But really, if you asked me right now if I NEED anything...I don't think so. Sure, it would be nice to have a better printer, nicer kitchen knives, um, that's about all I can think of right now...but...I don't NEED them. They are WANTS, and I can live with that.

My clothes aren't really that nice, I don't look for designer brands when I shop, it's not about that for me. I like pretty things, but buying stuff for the label feeds the ego. If I find something that I like and it's well made (name brand or not), it's worth it to me.

The fun thing about selling on ebay, for me, is that I get to go shopping...ha, listen to me, I "get to go shopping," and spend money, but I resell over 90% of what I buy. AND, I only buy things on sale! I feel like this fulfills my desire to shop.

As I mentioned in my last post (I think), if I could only get the stuff I buy listed for sale, I'd be in better shape...financially and mentally! So much clutter gets to my head.

Guess I better get to putting stuff in my ebay store! Good luck to you if you are selling on ebay :)

A Girl in Debt

I got my first line of credit when I was 18. It was for a furniture store and they gave me something like $2,000! WOW! What a feeling!! That day, I used it all to purchase TV's, a dishwasher, microwave, stove, radio and I think a refrigerator. I can't remember anymore.

Once I got that line of credit established, I went to Mervyn's and they gave me a line of $200. From there, I went to more and more places and ended up with cards to Dillard's, Victoria's Secret (yikes!), Macy's, and more that I just can't remember. This was many years ago.

I managed to rack them all up and thought I had things under control...uh huh, right... Over time I was able to pay off most of them. Then I opened up new accounts to other places and acquired new credit cards. You know how the story goes.

Over the years I did my share of transferring balances to cards which offered me lower interest rates which brings me to the current day.

I currently owe 4 credit card companies and the same furniture store. The furniture store was paid off a long time ago for the initial $2,000... as well as many other hundreds I charged over the years.

To add to this debt, I also owe a PERSON. To me, this is one of the worse debts to have. I feel guilty when I owe a real person money rather than some huge multi-billion dollar lender. And then there's the car payment.

So, here's the rundown:

$172.47 Furniture Store (21.75%)
$500.00 Dentist (0%) -- My last payment will be in March!
$966.93 Wells Fargo (17.24%)
$926.05 Capital One 1 (10.41% -- Down from 12.42% on my Dec. statement!!!)
$1,740.00 Personal (0%)
$2,213.75 Capital One 2 (3.99%)
$5,476.52 Car Loan (7.5%)
$12,192.00 American Express (7.99%)

$24,187.72 TOTAL

Once I have paid these debts off, I plan to keep two of the cards: Wells Fargo and American Express. Why? Well, the American Express card earns 1-2 skymiles for each dollar I spend and the Wells Fargo card 1 point for every dollar I spend. I figure I should keep a VISA and AMEX and use what is accepted, such as to pay car insurance, cell phone, utilities, etc. Trust me, after the mess I've been in for YEARS, I do not EVER want to owe credit cards again!!! I would pay the cards as I use them, and only if I have the money available, sort of like a debit card.

Yes, I know that both cards charge me fees, AMEX charges me yearly for having a Platinum card and Wells Fargo $19/year for the reward program which I'm ok with. Normally I cash the points in on the WF card for money!! The reward/point system on the WF card is better than the one tied to my bank account debit card. The skymiles on the AMEX card have come in very handy over the years for flights that I didn't have the money for.

Who knows, maybe when this is all done, I won't want the cards anymore!

Anyhow, my plan is to pay the smallest debt first, that would be the furniture store. Next I plan to focus on Wells Fargo. The dentist will definitely be paid off in March...they charge my card on the same day every month so I have to make sure to pay the CC or it won't go through!

One my dentist bill is paid, then I will have more money each month to put towards the CC debt.

I've recently set up a budget for myself and will see how well I can stick to it.

I work about 30-33 hours a week at my "day job" and do ebay for my part time job. When I receive payments from buyers on ebay, I will apply the profits to a bill that is due during the current month whether it be a utility, car insurance or credit card. I used to have a bit of a different system but am going to try this.

The fees that ebay charges get put into an ING account until they are due, that way I don't have to scrape at the last minute to pay the piper. I love ebay! But hate the ridiculous fees!

I buy things to sell them on my ebay store, so, I need to figure out a way that I can still do this AND pay off the credit cards since I usually use the cards to buy the stuff. It should all work out...if I can just get the stuff I have to sell, listed.

Alright, this is a long first post, and I've covered the basics, I think.

Oh, and I won't uncover my identity. I'm chosing to do this blog anonymously :)

♥ A girl in debt