Layout:
Home > Archive: May, 2014

Archive for May, 2014

Nelnet is confusing and other issues

May 29th, 2014 at 05:37 pm

There have been so many expenses in the last few days that for the first time in a while I don't know what is going to happen to this paycheck. And I'm crossing my fingers that it will even show up because there was a holiday in there so I hope that doesn't affect processing.

I've been off my game with lunches and coffees and my full time work is about to involve a commute again with my part-time work also causing issues.

I feel alone with not much help. We are going on a vacation soon so that should be nice. I'm feeling a little trapped I suppose. I am working on getting new projects have a few recruiters in the mix and what not.

Lastly though there is Nelnet who is so so confusing. I made an extra payment on my loan which pushed out my due date, which in turn affected my KwikPay, which I then spent time speaking to a chat rep who said I could have this adjusted correctly the request was put through. Then I called this morning when I realized it was way out of the time frame in which the request should have been completed and that rep told me something different from the last rep. Then I decided to go online again to have another chat and this rep finally told me that unless you make a double payment on the individual loan it will not give you the option to avoid having the date pushed out online.

She stated that since I have all these requests in putting in a double payment might undo the requests but they could fix it again if that happened. They also said if the date is not pushed out then KwikPay should go through as it normally does.

That info is not explicitly anywhere on the website nor does it warn you that if the date is pushed out on one of your loans the KwikPay will be affected. I'm glad I'm so vigilant on this and didn't give up. Well see. I double payment is $10 more than I was planning to send in but it won't kill me to do so. I hope it does work out fine but we will see.

It seems like a lot of effort when all I want to do is pay ahead on my loan. It seems its pretty straight forward when you miss a payment but when you want to get ahead it comes with a whole lot of stipulations and no guidance...

What would you do?

May 23rd, 2014 at 09:09 pm

So I'm sitting here contemplating my last 3 paychecks and this time they look like they will be my last until my next job or contract comes up.

I'm think this is what I'm going to do but I'm open to suggestions from here (aside from the obvious find a job suggestion I'm already working on that.)

Here's the situation:

I have 3 paychecks left at approx. $1500 each after taxes each give or take a few hundred dollars.

I am married, and he works full time. I have a part time essentially minimum job that will cover my basic expenses plus about $20 if I increase my hours which is very possible to do, so bills would be covered after the contract job goes away and if I pay off my car insurance in full for the 6 months.

I do have an emergency fund that can cover four months of expenses if I do not pay off the car insurance and 6 months of expenses if I do pay off the car insurance in full.

So from the three checks I need to take out bills and car insurance.

That about $820 for bills, $880 for car insurance pre-pay and $300 total from the checks to cover spending expenses so $2000 gone leaving $2500.

Usually I put a whole bunch of this money to retirement and other goals but since these are the last 3 checks it might be best to stretch this cash to make not having gainful employment a little easier.

I could save another 6 months of car insurance pre-pay money from here so that I know I would be good for a year on car insurance and then save the rest to do the dental work I need done. So that would be -$1100** leaving $1400 for dental work (and we have dental insurance.)

I also have some things like car registration etc coming up that I need to pay but I have saved up funds for them.

If you were in this situation what would you do?

(** Car insurance is very expensive here and we've shopped around everywhere else its double the amount. We have low deductibles because its easier to pay out a bit extra each month to insurance than to come up with $1000 since my job situation is what it is.)

Net worth reflection

May 21st, 2014 at 01:58 am

I am about $400 away from hitting my 6 month goal for funds and about $300 from having a positive net worth. Having a positive net worth will not last long unless I can keep gainful employment but I will happy just to see the number. When I started tracking my finances in 2011 my net worth was -25K, and last year at this time it was -16K.

Things are looking up!

Sent in my final car payment!

May 16th, 2014 at 08:13 pm

I spent about 2 hours yesterday figuring out the whole title thing. It's all going to work out as far as me receiving the title then I'll worry about changing insurance the registration etc once the title shows up. I'm not sure what the process is for that but I'll find out soon enough. One step at a time!

My refund from the medical bill still hasn't come in yet so I'm just going to apply that money toward my goal of saving up enough money to pay off the car insurance in full.

I took a few bucks and make a small payment toward our upcoming hotel stay and I was able to make a $20 extra payment toward my student loans which feels pretty gosh darn awesome.

As of Monday my car loan is paid off about a year and a half ahead of schedule and 6 months before even I intended to make it happen.

I should be getting 2 more if not 3 more checks out of this job and then there's the possibility of being picked up for a new project. Either way I just put myself in a fantastic position to be able to make it by longer on my part-time position if it comes to that.

I was also able to set aside of few bucks for myself which is nice. I'm going to plan to do that for the next paycheck as well.

It almost doesn't feel like its anything because I scrapped by and obsessed a little too much about getting to the finish line but I'm sure once the title comes in and I'm changing things to reflect that the vehicle is mine outright it will be a little more real.

If I get picked up for another project soon that would really help me keep up this progress. Either way I am happy to have reached one of my 2014 goals! Hope everyone else is having a lovely Friday.

I was bored today and it was glorious

May 11th, 2014 at 03:26 am

I took the day for myself. Watched some movies, bought a bit of food, took my dogs out for some fun it was great. I did a bit of brainstorming while my dogs roamed.

I might be down to one job again and that hasn't been the case for a while. I had been busy but things are beginning to ease up. And as I get older I realize I need a more stable daily routine.

Right now all my time is mine. But if we have kids later on it won't be that way. I want to figure out what is important to me and what I should be spending my time on aside from financial literary materials and money tracking.

I came up with a list which was good. I spent the rest of the day though lounging. I am too exhausted to do any of the things on my list and most other days I work my butt off at one or the other of my jobs or just keeping the house tidy. Last week I got the one weekend day to myself as well which was amazing.

Having that time to myself was great but it made me realize that I don't even know what to do with free time anymore.

This week was good work wise as well so I should have more than enough money out of this check to finally pay off my car. Something I've been dreaming about for a while.

Now things seem like they are calmer again and things are going to be alright. Like I'm free to focus more on another goal like becoming fit again.

There's not much I can do about my job situation than I am already doing. I need to have something that I feel I have some control over to feel grounded. And working on becoming fit is one of those things. And the thing about that is that is something that is never just okay.

It always requires maintenance and thought. Finances do too but they are already ingrained habits for me. Now I need to build better health habits namely develop the habit of exercise since I already eat rather well.

So here is to another successful financial week, and branching out to other goals to maintain and conquer.

Starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel

May 2nd, 2014 at 11:58 pm

Today was an interesting day. I reworked my financial plan so that I'd be able to make a large payment on my car loan. I made sure I paid myself first and had the minimum I need for spending money too.

It is like stepping into the world of the unknown. The real actual end time of the project is fast approaching. However, I have been living like a pauper since February when I decided to aggressively pay off my car loan. I felt sad and deprived at first for cutting out the last of the indulgences I had allowed myself. A cookie here, a coffee there, a little meal out.

But now its become a habit. I make my own iced drinks unless I've earned a free one through rewards programs. I pay cash for all expenses so they don't loom on my credit card. This will serve me well when the assignment ends because not much will change as far as expenses go.

I started saving small amounts for the things I want and I should be able to do so even with the part-time job only.

In a weird way I feel somewhat free. It is crazy to think I just made another payment on my car that is more than my rent payment. But then it also feels liberating to know that if all goes well by the end of May, I will no longer have a car payment.

Even a year ago this wouldn't have been possible. I am worried of course as that is my nature but also excited. I have savings and a plan.

If everything works out that will be great. If not there are very few payments left on my car and I'll dip into my savings to make it work if I have to.

It's comforting to hold on to the thought that everything might be okay after all.