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Home > Archive: July, 2014

Archive for July, 2014

Nelnet woes and did my math wrong

July 25th, 2014 at 08:28 am

I was all happy because I am wiping out all the last of the credit card balances I got while stockpiling food and supplies for when my job goes away.

And then I discovered that I accidentally applied a payment out of the wrong account! Now I have to go through and fix this. And I was all happy because I thought I had extra money to send a little more to my student loan.

On the student loan front. I still have to reset it every month and that is a bummer. Oh well though I guess. At least I catch it every time but its taking them a long time to fix it this month. I hope there is not another fun excuse as to why its taking so long. They always seem to have something up their sleeve.

Well I can be happy for no more credit card debt and next check if all goes well I will have a bit of a buffer too so that's good news. I just worry a bit that I will drain all the savings but I think with the part time job I won't have to do that.

Well see how it goes. The pressure is on but at least I have a nice emergency fund!

Fridge died and ate all our food more cc debt to pay now :(

July 19th, 2014 at 06:36 am

Luckily we live in an apartment and luckily I hadn't done the food run yet but our fridge broke and warmed up what little food we did have. So after they replaced it I was about $30 in the red on my credit cards to replace some items (that I had just bought too).

Then I noticed that some Family Dollar's were closing so I thought it would be best to stock up on cheap things that we usually get there on sale as the one nearest to us is closing down. That put me another $80 in the red although it means not having to buy cleaning products and other household products for about a year or so. Also Target had a sale on paper products so another $40 in the hole but again I won't have to buy that stuff for months now.

Then today I realized I only have one pair of pants that fit and I decided for some reason that I deserve to eat out after a meeting with work. So between goodwill for pants and food out so now I am another $40 in the hole.

I can pay this from the next check but man did it add up quickly. Funnily I have no idea were my most of credit and debit cards are but know they are in the house or car somewhere as misc charges are not popping up. The only card I had left on my person has 5% gas points only right now so I was even more mad that I lost out on good points with the card that gets 1.5 per dollar although that might have helped curb my spending.

I did need pants though as my others are falling off. I didn't need to eat out but stuck to something cheap. I did splurge on groceries and household products but we should be set for a while so I'm not going to beat myself up about it. I do need to find my cards though. If I remember right I hid them from myself and boy did I do a good job because I have no idea where they are!

That temp gig fell through at my job so now I'm just waiting to hear if they have anything else. Right now I'm focusing on exercise, eating right and home cooking. I even made pizza dough last week when I normally would have spent $25 to order it out. Also stayed in my normal budget for gas groceries etc aside from the those few splurges. So I'm confident next week will go much better.

The at home coffee habit is harder to slide back into but after wasting almost $10 on out coffee I'm pretty much back on track.

Getting pants at the store that fit made me realize how much of my gut I had gained back which is great motivation to go back to the gym. I feel tired and stressed lately and other times over energized with no outlet so hopefully exercise will even that out. So just waiting to hear then about some more gainful employment. In the mean time I'm doing the best to be kind to myself while not breaking the bank and since those deficits are all taken care of, from now on sticking to the darn budget.

Down again

July 6th, 2014 at 04:39 am

I turned on the "buy" switch before our trip about two weeks ago. Since then I've been getting coffee out, eating out, shopping etc.

I've also really not been up on work and took an extra week off essentially as I was caring for my sick husband. Now I feel tired broke and resentful.

I thought the offer was a done deal. It sure seemed that way. When I got back and there was no word and it was maybe I was so mad at myself. I fell for it again. Plus I spent a lot of money on vacation I wasn't planning on. I thought I could just get it all paid off the check and go on with saving etc.

Well now my checks are half what they were and its much harder. Now I'm all beating myself up and for what? I need to just get back in the work and frugal mindset and end strong.

I've done it before but not in a "transition period." When I'm between jobs I get strangely entitled to treats, drinks, toys etc. This will be the first time I go there and not have cc debt except for the hotel stay which is only $300 at this point.

It will be a whole new experience. I just hope for the best and know I did everything I could to prepare for this moment.

I still have bill money for next month set up once my check comes in and I have a few months income saved up beside my part time job. I can still pay my student loans thanks to having paid off my car early even if I can't save any money.

I'm trying to stay positive and undo the damage before it gets worse. I've added every credit card transaction against my checkbook and the minute I get paid on Friday the credit cards are going away to a hiding place or on ice if I deem it necessary. I just need to control the "f it all" urge I get to spend and self destruct.

I'd also really like to focus on working out more. I've kept up eating healthy and stayed at a set weight give or take a few pounds. I'd love to get started on losing all the weight. That should give me something to focus on since it doesn't cost much for me to eat healthy I already belong to a gym. And my hours have gone way way down leaving gym time open.