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It's hasn't been the best time

June 14th, 2018 at 05:03 pm

I have been away for a while and in the while things have been well not good I have had to take on a lot of debt and now my job does not have the best outlook since the company was taken over so I am not sure how this is all going to work out.

What I have been doing:

-Online jobs here and there so far have made $500.
-Lyft so far have made -150, as I am in the rental program and not able to drive as many hours as I should to make money.

I am going to try to use the money I make from Lyft which I have been trying to drive more to start up some online business or other passive income ideas. As I know I won't last for long and I need some kind of second income should my job end.

If anyone has any ideas let me know. For now I am just holding on my the skin of my teeth. I hate this I really do. I wake up in the morning hopeful and do my best but by the end of each day I am drained. Counting my pennies having to remind myself that I cannot spend money on things since there is nothing left. Cringing every time I put gas in the Lyft car or buy groceries because while I know I have to put gas in the car and I have to eat I can barely afford to do so.

The positive. I still have the house and I am able to pay the mortgage, if I play my cards right I'll be able to make 500 a week on Lyft which is enough to pay the mortgage just on that income and frees up my job money to save, invest and pay off debt.

Broke but back on track

April 25th, 2017 at 06:13 am

Had to empty out the last of my cash to pay my taxes. Trying to focus more on savings and debt elimination again.

My credit card debt went up a little but my loans went down a lot. It's encouraging to see both my house loan cc and my students loans below 10K.

I have some other things going on health wise. So well see if I can catch up.

Mo money more problems

April 14th, 2017 at 06:11 am

Taxes are not fun, I found out I owe. I was not super happy.

We are switching accountants. I now owe money, have to figure out how to get a car in a few months.

Once the tax money is figured out I decided I am going to start saving for retirement.

I splurge on some shoes I am still stretching out and I feel like a dodo. No more spending like that. I thought it would be nice to have some date night shoes. I envisioned going to our anniversary dinner in a nice affordable dress and some really nice shoes.

I guess if I want to spend that kind of money again I am going to have to do the leg work but I won't be able to afford anything like that for a while. As it is I have to still pay on 2 of the 3. I felt like I deserved to get something nice for myself because I held off for so many years now I'm kicking myself.

Work has been so stressful and I still had that balance so I kept spending. For now I am going to focus on saving and setting some little part to spend on myself so I don't feel so deprived.

Good news I am closer and closer to paying off my lowest student loan.

Can't believe its been soo long also what is your home routine

February 18th, 2017 at 05:08 am

I feel like I've lost my way a little. I had paid off a good chunk of my cc debt and then I went a little cuckoo getting some pieces for work to make my cheapish wardrobe look a little better.

I bought a used designer watch that looks great and I wear it everyday.

I bought a diamond by the yard necklace that looks great with all my outfits. Bought it at one of those direct jeweler places so it was about half or less than I'd pay elsewhere.

I bought some clothes from a discount department store.

I bought some pearl earrings and two small wristlet purses from a discount luxury designer store.

I bought a bag from a mid-range designer new but at discount.

I also bought some super discount kitchen stuff that I haven't used as often as I'd like but the cheap cooking class I took has helped.

I managed to not go broke doing it and the feedback from work and outside of work I get from people has really picked up my self-esteem a bit. But work is so stressful I'm still out of sync with getting a house routine nailed down.

A coworker said she gets up really early everyday to get stuff done. I'm considering this. If I got up at say 4:30 every day I could work out and get all chores except vacuuming done.

I think I'd like to do this since all I seem to do when I get home now is fake shop for items on the web. I used to read when I got home but I feel guilty reading while the house is a mess.

This also means I'd have to go to bed earlier but I think I'm okay with that. I don't have many friends here so I hardly go out anyway.

I dunno what do you guys do for the home life balance? Mine seems non-existant right now.

Updates

December 20th, 2016 at 08:19 pm

Well some updates. The debt on the credit card started ballooning around my birthday. It was a big one for me, I turned 30.

I've only begun to get out of the haze now and access the damage.

The good:

I now have 1000 in my emergency fund. I've kept up with my estimated tax payments and I'm fully funded in there.

The bad:

I went over board and now the credit card debt has increased.

The positive:

Now that I have an emergency fund and sorted out Christmas, I just really need to get the credit card paid off. I'm hoping I can get this done over the next few months but I have to focus on bills and staying away from putting more debt on there. When I pull cash out and stick to that things go well so I'm just going to keep doing that.

I can't wait to get rid of this albatross around my neck it has not been fun.

Trucking Along

May 20th, 2016 at 10:51 pm

Well I can't seem to get the debt off the card any faster but oh well I suppose that's life and what not.

The cash system is going okay. I have to be creative about what to eat but so far so good. I've been able to put a sliver of money away to my emergency fund but it's better than nothing.

I have been paying for everything all ancillary-weekly expense things in cash since paying off that last item on the card (it was for a appraisal and I wanted to have a secured method of payment for that.)

I have two more seasonal bills I have to pay off and after that it will be the normal stuff again.

I'm pretty much halfway to having enough for my quarterly tax payment so I shouldn't be late there!!

I have been giving my self a little reward each week to wean myself off that bad spending. (Last two weeks it was one trip to Starbucks for a coffee.) This week I couldn't afford that but I found an old loyalty card for coffee at Whole Foods, that one combined with my the one I had already had in my wallet meant I had a free coffee so I went ahead and cashed that in.

I am going to see about resurrecting the envelope system I had going when I was making more money and putting way more money away.

Now that my ankle is healed pretty much I should be able to take advantage of my gym membership again ($27 a month) which will help me chill out and hopefully get back in shape again.

I have also been reading a lot. It's cheap so why not. Lol.

Hope all is well guys!

I'm not going to make it

April 25th, 2016 at 11:52 pm

Big Bummer. While I slashed by credit card balance by 80% I'm not going to be able to pay it off in full like I wanted with this upcoming paycheck. I have to put the check toward my quarterly tax bill instead.

I think it's going to be okay but I also think I might have to skip going home to visit my family this year and maybe even a trip I had planned to go to a cousin's wedding unless I get a good deal on the flight or get a raise or something.

It's a real bummer but the thing is unless something changes I know I can't afford it. I didn't think I'd get hit with all these house expenses right off the bat. And the dental work last year whipped out my savings that I'd had for potential house expenses.

It's just putting out fire after fire since about October of last year. I'm tired and I'm broke. So broke that for the first time in years I had to put charges on the credit card for monthly bills not knowing when I'll be able to pay them. Juggling juggling. I'm one disaster away from breaking my back.

I'm hoping that in the coming month having some structure again will really let me know what I'm working with here.

I couldn't get to the bank last week to get the few bucks I have left over for grocery spending money after taking out bills, taxes, gas money and some savings. I started using the grocery card for the 3% cash back and then found myself using it too much. I bought that kitchen stuff, some groceries, household items and charged an insurance bill but then I spent an extra $50 dollars on coffee and snacks.) So that's gone too before $50 turns into $500. I hid it in the house. Don't want to shred it though since I have no emergency fund right now and I'd need something in case of emergency type deal.

While I'm still putting chunks of money toward my cc bill, I am also putting a small amount of money toward my emergency fund each week and when things stabilize it'll go up. I'd like to ideally make it go up a few bucks every month but we'll see how much money I have left over.

Things are going to be tight for a while but at least my expenses are finally somewhat fixed.

I know what the bills are going to be each month and I know I won't have a rent increase now that we have a mortgage. I just need to not get discouraged.

I've been here before and made it, I'll make it by again. I've already started planning meals so we can control food costs and eat much healthier. And that at least is a start.



So far shredding the card has worked.

March 29th, 2016 at 10:22 pm

I took out some cash and I still have a little bit left. I get paid on Friday.

My balance hit a pretty high ceiling for that credit card I shredded. I'm trying to figure out the best way to make sure the bills are paid and wipe out the balance so I can get hit with no interest or as little interest if possible.

It looks like I may be playing catch-up for a bit but that's okay. I'm going to re-work the budget and try to save up an emergency fund again. That's really the only way I see this getting better.

My part-time job is ending again and really good riddance. It used to help but now that I am in the office again it just racks up my out-to-eat bills because I'm too tired to cook or do any house chores. Quality of living at this point for me is more important than an extra few hundred bucks a month since for the past few months I've been unable to hold on to any of the cash lately because I started overspending.

My second lowest student loan is getting closer to $1000 every day. While it bums me out I can't wipe it out right now I am going to see if I can do it by the end of the year but really not a priority right now.

My credit score dropped a lot with the addition of the card for the home improvements because it really upped my utilization and it looks like it is maxed out. For some reason I did not think of that ahead of time but the good news is that it is a 0% interest rate so after a while the balance will just naturally go down. Also I did not activate the card because if you use it for regular purchases the rate is much higher.

In about 6 months that utilization will go down enough that my score will go to where it was and luckily I don't have to buy anything major that requires pulling my credit score until sometime next year.

All in all things are looking up. Smile

I now live in a house...

March 8th, 2016 at 11:28 pm

And I'm going to be broke for a while. However it is nice to essentially lock in my bills.

I know what it is going to cost me each month for the mortgage no more rent increases and that is major.

However things like car insurance, electricity, and what on earth I'm going to do a about a car when the lease runs out is variable.

I can handle variable as long as some things are locked in and I couldn't be happier. We got a great deal for the area and even though some upfront costs were involved I'm grateful those things were not "rolled in" to a mortgage I can pay those improvements off as I go and at a zero percent interest rate to boot!

I need to try to find a way though to increase my income so I can lessen my monthly responsibilities so sadly it looks like for the time being I will be locked in to my part time job since it looks like our salaries will not be going up at my main gig anytime soon.

A lot of excitement though that is for sure.

Another Medical Issue

October 22nd, 2015 at 08:01 am

Things have been really really stressful for me lately which is why I haven't been posting.

The good news is I finally saved up enough money to pay off my old med bill and an extra 607 for future med expenses.

The bad news (or not so good news) is that money is already spent.

I had another medical issue this time with my teeth so I had to pop in and take care of it.

I kept my part time job so that money from that will have to be funneled toward taking care of the dental bills.

I am grateful though that things worked out the way they did.

If I still was worrying about my old car or revolving credit card debt it wouldn't have been as easy to shell out 2K for these medical costs.

I'm hoping there will be a calm in the storm after this so I can regain my emergency fund, but I'm just grateful I can afford to take care of this pressing issue without too much trouble.

Payday

April 18th, 2014 at 09:31 am

Well not an exciting paycheck for sure.

I charged up a stay for our upcoming trip on the 0% card so I made my first payment to that.

I had a deficit in my bill account because I forgot I needed an extra month cushion, I used most of my check eliminate that deficit.

I have another deficit in a monthly expenses savings account which I was only able to contribute a dollar toward in this check but its still better than nothing. Next check I should be able to put more.

I was able to keep all my savings including retirement savings goals which was nice.

I was able to set aside a little money for our anniversary, plus some money for a b-day gift I will be sending out shortly.

I did not have enough to pay a lot extra on the car but I could make it an "even" amount.

Next check's goal is to make sure I am able to cover the bills and fill that other deficit.

This check and the next are going to be short checks due to the lack of hours as of late but no worries. I may have been hit by a truck load of bills all at once but I have a plan for making sure they get paid off even if I am just merely underemployed.

What a Difference a Year Made

April 11th, 2014 at 06:32 am

Every now and then I am bummed I can't make super high payments to debt. I have become obsessed with paying off my car. And seriously considering what I can do for a side hustle that will ensure I bring in at least $1000 every month. If I could make that happen I could ensure that I am able to pay my bills without depleting my monthly bill fund while underemployed.

I decided that I should look back and see where I was before I buried my self in my debt sorrows.

At this point last year I had:

Income
1 contract job slated to end soon and a part-time position that paid nearly minimum wage

Revolving Credit Card Debt
476 10.24%
1470 19.8%

Car Loan
7779 10%

Student Loans
19513

Emer Fund
413

Monthly Goals Fund
Half a month worth

Retirement
614


Now:
Income
Same

Revolving Credit Card Debt
None

Car Loan
2,400 10%

Student Loans
18147

Emer Fund
3036

Montly Goals Fund
4 months worth

Retirement
2483


Debt

A year ago: 29238

Now: 20547

Difference: -8691

I have come a long way since last year. I need to be proud. I need to remind myself that I am doing all that I can. And seeking additional income is a fine way to make sure that I am still able to do so. Since I still have my part time job closing that gap is all the less difficult. I am both frightened and excited for the future. It is so full of possibility and opportunities abound. If I am even half as successful at adding extra income as I have been at eliminated debt in the past year it would be a blessing.

Nothing about this has been easy but if it were everyone would be doing it right? Wink

Keep on keeping on.

March 27th, 2014 at 02:53 am

We are here at the last phase of the assignment. It's looking like 3-4 more paychecks. Awesome for me as I finally got a handle on expenses. Now its just bills and saving money. It's still super tempting to pay off the remainder of the car balance.

It is more than likely doable and would be a great relief so I'll just see what happens.

But with the other assignment ending soon and the status on unemployment or another assignment still in the air I have to be strong. I am not quitting the part time job. They were reasonable with me about the surgery. I am bummed that a manager that was really flexible with me is leaving and another who is not flexible at all might be promoted. This could spell trouble and a ton of headaches for me.

I have done a lot of great things with this money every step has made it that much easier for me to be able to sleep at night. I'm sure that no matter what happens things will work out.

Pondering my savings

March 20th, 2014 at 05:52 pm

I have massed a total of $7774 between an account I consider my emergency fund and an account I consider a fund to cover expenses in between assignments.

I am working hard toward making sure I have at least 6 months and working my way to up 12 months worth of cash for cover expenses. Right now between the two accounts I have 5 months (6 months if I deferred my student loans) worth of expenses.

The longest I have gone with out gainful employment was 9 months as last time I ran out of unemployment and had to get a part-time job to cover any portion of my expenses possible.

I am thinking of paying off my car loan in the next month. If I do this I will be effectively making sure that I have enough money in the emergency fund to cover 6 months of expenses (8 months if I defer student loans.)

I also need to save something for dentist work that is probably overdue and very necessary.

I guess we'll just have to see how much is in the checks and decide. As of right now today's check is to pay off medical debt, and the next is to pay the monthly bills. The next may will go to savings and after that I may just knock another grand off the car loan.

It's nice to be in a place like this. I've read over and over that if you pay yourself first it will really pay off but its nice to finally see the fruits of that labor and realize by cutting unnecessary expenses I have build myself some solid financial ground to stand on. It's the first sigh of relief I've felt in quite some time.

Also I was wrong in the last post I am on track for the paying off the car this year -$130 or so. I forgot to calculate in this months automatic payment.

Slight miscalculation and more medical bills

March 11th, 2014 at 05:34 pm

Well I had a medical mishap so that went on my credit card as did my earlier purchases. It feels like "the curse" of 3K as that is when my last mishap happened that wiped out my emer fund. Even though I probably only have one check left I'm going to pay it out of the next one and leave the 3K in there. Maybe I can break the curse.

Also I was about $400 off in my calculation to pay off the car this year so I'll have to remedy that as well. Let's see if I can eek out two more paychecks. If not I have two months worth of bill money in there so the cushion will hold. But bills come so what can you do. I don't need to pay interest on my medical expenses especially if I have enough in there already to pay the bills. I certainly couldn't pay off that excess while underemployed without dipping into the emer fund.

I still think I did the right thing by expediting the car payment. The car is at the end of its life mileage and warranty wise it easier to take a 2K hit to build equity in it now than to have to come up with 2K to remedy a car disaster while underemployed. But more so it would be easier to just not have to deal with those payments if for some reason my underemployment lasts through this year into the next. And that way I can hold out hope to still pay down the student loan as well.

Things are very much so up in the air but at least I build a solid foundation to stand on. I am so happy I had to fortitude to stick to a plan. I don't even want to imagine what would have happened if I had not taken it upon myself to do this. And I still have a nice camera to show for it to. A hobby to fill up my time in between job searching.

Goals accomplished and on track

March 7th, 2014 at 08:44 am

As of tonight I have 3K in my emer fund plus, 4 months of expenses and I will be able to pay off my car by the end of this year even with the income from my part time job.

Even though my temp gig is ending soon I am so happy that I stuck it out and have made what I thought was the impossible possible.

I also hit 2K in my retirement account which feels really nice. I also need to find something else in invest in there. All in all I am pretty happy right now. It wasn't easy to get to this point so now I guess the challenge/focus is to keep the income coming into so that I can pay bills and keep saving while underemployed.

Also got rid of some old stuff for cash which was nice.

Friday look back

February 28th, 2014 at 08:57 pm

As my assignment is winding down and my car loan shrinks to a more manageable size. I sit here trying to come up with ways to take on the next hurdle.

Being able to continue paying those dreaded student loans while underemployed!

My next check will have overtime so I am happy for that. I can reach the goal of making another large car payment put away my usual percentages for retirement etc. And pay off the small amounts I've charged to the credit card including an appraisal for my jewelry and putting away the money so that they can be insured both for this and next year.

In crunching some numbers I've reduced my debt by 13K since I started actively tracking it in 2011. Also 5K of that debt was eliminated in the past 6 months. That makes me feel pretty amazing since I know that at least another 1K is coming off the car loan before this assignment ends. In celebration of this discovery I will be treating myself to the free coffee I earned by consuming way too much of it outside the home this week.

I'm sad I racked up another 100 in expenses this week but I will be making more of than that in OT. Plus some things have to be returned as they just didn't work out. Just have to pay the bill and plan more carefully next time. I'm also still down 2 pounds since being more mindful of what I consume. All in all I'd say that if I manage to stick to the path I've been on I will achieve success in more ways than one.

Making strides toward the 2014 goal

February 21st, 2014 at 08:57 am

So I still think about the jewelry in the previous post, like daily. But no matter.

I have on my couch beside me a giant payment that is going to keep me on track toward paying off my car this year rather than a giant payment that is filling the gap in savings I would have caused by buying that jewelry.

It is really a big moment for me. In this paycheck I didn't have to pay any bills. It all went to my savings goals and spending money plus this payment.

Sending in this payment means that for the first time ever I will actually a bit of equity in my car. And it also means that I have not racked up credit card debt since paying it all of in November which is just fantastic.

As beautiful as the jewelry was I am just so happy right now. I was strong and stuck to the plan. I am on track to my goal and just took another step in the right direction. By the time the next paycheck rolls around I'll have a good idea of where I stand in my job.

I plan on making one more big payment and once that is done I will be able to pay off my car by the end of the year with regular payments and some small extras. I just feel light years ahead of where I was that first day at my first temp job out of college.

It certainly hasn't been an easy road for me but I wouldn't have it any other way. Everything that I did between here and there was only helped me become who I am now. And I really like where I am now. Smile

Hickups in the plan

January 21st, 2014 at 06:26 pm

Well our project has gone over budget so I might be out of this job quicker than planned.

The good news is that I have saved enough to have my bills paid til March after I get this weeks paycheck plus a 3 month buffer beyond that should unemployment not be an option.

My husband also started a new job with more pay and has been steadily paying off his highest interest debts. So he can now help carry me should unemployment not be an option.

And I still have my part-time job to bring in some money to try to live off my own savings for a while. And of course my shiny new toy is now completely paid off. I will need some new accessories but those are easy enough to come across frugally.

I'm hoping that even if it takes a while to get a new job I can somehow still reach my goal of paying off the car this year but well see how it goes. Nothing is set in stone and I've made some fantastic financial decisions and finally been able to conquer my credit card debt and get my expenses down to a more than reasonable level.

I'm am so happy I have not only stuck to the plan but been able to achieve goals I've longed to reach for years including getting a fancy new camera! Smile

Back on track

January 10th, 2014 at 08:47 am

It has been a crazy December having a balance that seemed to replenish itself every time it was paid off. But now its January and a new year.

The camera is now paid off and even though it was a low paycheck I was still able to put a tiny bit toward savings and the car goal and retirement.

Have to say I'm not doing too bad. Hopefully this cold will taper off and then I can put in some overtime hours to get closer and closer to my goals before my job goes away.

Things seemed bleak there for a while but they are okay again. I'm half way through my house organization project and I'm okay with not being able to finish it due to lack of finances.

For one thing I'm not sure of what I want to buy and for another I'm thrilled that I am right back on the if I don't have the money than don't buy it plan.

I'm just happy to know that even if I do get a little of track I can get right back on again. The other good news is that I have been saving money and working toward my goals for so long now that it feels weird to not put away money toward them.

I'm thinking that by allowing myself to get that camera I can focus again. Before it seemed like an endless tunnel of no fun and like I would never be able to get what I want to get and only things I need. But by allowing myself to get something I've wanted for two years it seems that I feel a little more upbeat now and happy.

I have also decided that at some point soon I will allow myself to buy some clothes as I have very few. Yes I need to lose weight but I need to have something to dress myself in the time being! Hope everyone is doing okay in the post holiday/trying to keep up with their resolutions January.

Getting too tired to keep going

December 20th, 2013 at 05:49 pm

The time might have come to end my part-time job. They are trying to boss me around and impede on my regular full-time temp job.

The mention of the place causes me stress. They just upped my hours which has affected my full time job. I am worried about not being able to put as many hours in my full time job which has comprimised my ability to work toward my 6 month emergency fund goal and my goal of paying off the car earlier.

It's starting to feel pointless. I was so tired and lazy I didn't make at home coffee and got some meals out which cost me an extra 35 dollars.

Christmas is here and I wanted to get the cards out on time. Between my full and part time jobs there is no time for that.

Maybe after the holidays and my shifts are less I'll feel better but right now the stress of the full time job and the unnecessary stress of the part-time job are eating away at me and I just can't take it.

I have been working both jobs for almost a year now it is overwhelming. I hope that I'll be able to recoup and renergize soon because right now things seem rather hopeless and futile.

Hope everyone else is having a better holiday time than I am.

After three years I am finally making some goals

November 21st, 2013 at 07:26 pm

There are things that I want to do financially, a lot of things. But my debt and infrequent income have not allowed me to hope or dream for much of anything other than ensuring that my bills are paid on time.

Now with a little cushion in the bank, cc debt paid off and being at the tail end of my car loan I think its about time I started making some solid plans. Just strive to make money and focus on paying off debts and increasing savings.

I want to be able to reasonably afford a new car when I'll need one and save up a nice down payment on a house while paying down debts and socking away money in my retirement fund. It may be a lot to ask but at least now it seems within the realm of possibility. My cash system has finally worked correctly and I haven't picked up a credit card to charge anything that I couldn't already afford/had budgeted for with cash.

Even though its coming to the end of my current assignment I feel hopeful. My part time job will cover some expenses unemployment or brief temp assignments will cover the rest. I won't be easy but it never is. And at least this time I have a cash buffer and a plan. I'm so glad I sacrificed to pay off the debt. I feels so much lighter to know cc payments should no longer derail my efforts to pay down my loans.

I'm going to do the best that I can but for once I feel secure and that is really saying something for 3 years of not knowing how the next month will go.

Somewhat upset but hopeful

November 18th, 2013 at 05:52 am

I did the calcs with the new book I got and while I'm happy I'm in control of finances I realized that I should have been saving more.

But here's the thing.

Since this temp job started:

-I planned a wedding for less than 5K and it is completely paid off.

-I paid off 3200 worth of credit card debt.

-I had 2800 in my emergency fund in September before my medical emergency cut it down to 1200.

-Aside from my emergency fund, as of this week I have money set aside for 3 months worth of expenses.

I'm mad because:

-My temp employment means I can't save as much as I'd like to for retirement.

-My credit card debt has kept me from saving for an emergency fund and retirement for far too long, I am very happy to be rid of it.

-My current debt keeps me from being able to buy myself many things I'd like to buy, which normally doesn't bother me but seeing how far behind I am in my goals and knowing my current employment is running out soon makes me feel like its all going to reset and I'll run out of all the money before someone is willing to hire me again.

-I should have asked my current employer if I was eligible for unemployment. I always have been when I worked at a temp agency but these guys hired me as a no benefits temp employee. I can of course ask HR this but I may want to wait until I'm much closer to the end.

-Knowing that I might not be entitled to unemployment its scary to think I only have 3 months worth of expenses saved up and have to rely on my part-time job only to carry me through once those funds run out.

-I still have less than 1000 in my IRA, I've had this IRA since I was 18. If I had been able to put more money in there I would have much more. The returns on the stocks I invested in almost 10 years ago have been amazing.

Ultimately though I haven't done so bad for myself. I paid for a wedding, didn't touch a penny of my part time job checks except for 4, one for tires for the car, one for medical bills and 2 for the wedding.

-I did save up 3 months worth of expenses and while its scary to think I may have to rely on it, its comforting to know that I have at least that cushion.

-I have done the best I can do to replenish the EF but felt it was more important to get rid of the cc debt since I have no idea what the pay rate will be on my next gig but know that there is no way I can pay it off on my part-time one.

-I also managed to convince my 2 of my credit card companies to convert my cards into rewards so now when I choose to use them I am getting money back to do so.

-I have kept my expenses low and learned to cook more things which means we eat out a lot less than we used to.

-I gave myself a break and I am finally giving myself a few more bucks each week to spend on food etc. This should help from racking up the cards again as well.

All in all the picture isn't bleak but its still not rosy. I'm a lot better off than I was when I graduated from school and doing fine considering that this economy is awful and some people have had no work at all while I still continue to get at least 1 assignment a year.

I am grateful but it does get hard. I start to wonder if my goals are reachable, if a home or children is financially even possible.

I do hope my current position calls me back but I'm going to stay strong and hope for the best. I stand by my work and efforts and just soldier on to the next job. This time though unlike the last time I have a bigger buffer than before, which is good because I might end up needing it!

Heck Yea no more cc debt

November 1st, 2013 at 02:17 pm

Well its the end of cc debt for me and I could not be happier. My temp work is in its last stages of the project but I will be getting a good amount of overtime. At this point well just see how it goes. I have added a monthly bill to my one of my cc's so that is it still be used for credit score purposes.

I have a gap of about 500 or so dollars from actually hitting my 3 month of expenses goal since I had to take on a new bill but I will plug that hole in the next paycheck. After that I think I will just save the money to hit 6 months worth of expenses if at all possible. And I'd like to make double car payments if at all possible but well see how that all goes since if I do that I will be able to pay off the car in a years time. I will have to reconfigure all my numbers for that. But for now I am going to happily celebrate my accomplishment with a cup of iced coffee. Happy Friday everyone!!

An end to credit card debt/ 2nd time credit card debt free

October 15th, 2013 at 07:47 pm

Things are going well at my contract job and so it looks like it will be going on for a bit longer.

Originally I was just going to stockpile money but now I see this opportunity to pay off my credit card debt again and it is an amazing thing to be so close to. It means to me one less payment I have to make when my contract job goes away which can be used to groceries.

Last time I had to pay $50 toward my credit card minimum and so I had $20 left to eat groceries. It was pretty gosh darn rough.

If the job goes on even longer than one month then depending on how much money is saved I will probably put my extra money in savings to build my cushion savings from 3 months to 6 months and build my EF back to 3 grand from the 1300 that it is at right now.

This next month is not going to be easy by any means but I will be so happy to know that I paid off my debt. I was credit card debt free once before and it did not last. This time I know it will since I have money in savings and did not touch my credit cards at all for the 9 month bout of unemployment I had. Weirdly or maybe not so I tend to charge on my cards when I have money thinking I will catch up.

After last weeks epiphany I do not think I will feel the need to do that anymore. I have been staying in my spending limits not buying things that I cannot afford right now. It has been so nice. And I know changing my mentality will mean I will no longer be racking up my credit cards.

My car loan is still $1500 over the worth of the car at the moment however I will reevaluate what I would like to do about that once the credit card is done depending on how long my contract employment will last and how much money is in my EF and my account with 3 months worth of expenses.

It feels so good to be that much closer to achieving my goals than sitting there in the negative because I could not wait to have something I thought I deserved or that I thought I needed.

Transfer approved

October 10th, 2013 at 07:25 pm

It appears that my balance transfer has gone through which I am super happy about. I got news from my job that I will be working for just a little while longer which is nice.

Things are okay and the car they say is fine, they just lubed everything up. I need to secure the tire in the trunk but can't figure it out. Putting it in my tiny studio apartment is not an option and there is a space for the donut but it's too small to accommodate the full size spare.

Stuck to frugality which was pretty awesome. It's really helping nothing extra is being charged on the cards keeping me on track to pay off the last revolving cc balance. I'm so thrilled. Next I just have to get my butt back at the gym! Ha one step at a time.

Balance Transfer Approved

October 10th, 2013 at 06:07 pm

I logged in today to find that my balance transfer had been approved. I had a meeting for my contract job that seems to imply that I will be working for a little while longer and it turns out it might be the tire in the trunk making the noise in the car after all. Problem is I'm going to have to secure it somehow because I cannot put it in my tiny studio apartment. The space where the donut is not big enough for it so I'm not sure how to secure it.

Fun stuff. Still sticking to being frugal and figuring out what to do finance wise but I'm pretty happy right now. I have some extra money in the next check I'm thinking I may put it toward paying off that cc balance and getting rid of it once and for all.

Sticking to frugality

October 7th, 2013 at 07:07 pm

Last week I had a little hickup in that I was too lazy to make myself coffee at home for a few days sadly that cost me $20 in starbucks coffee. Frown

I did however do good at eating at home and only spent just $10.00 out. Just now I put in for a balance transfer from a 19.8% interest rate to a 0.00% offer on another card plus a $57 fee. I did some calculations and the likely hood that I will not pay off this card while still working this contract job is high. I will probably get one, or if I'm lucky, two more paychecks out of it. So I realized it only makes sense to switch it over because when I have to go back to making minimum payments they will now be applied solely to the principal which will help me pay it off quicker even if I am not gainfully employed.

Now let's just hope the bank approves the transfer. I still have to bring the car in and will make that appointment shortly. I might as well find out what's wrong before something bad happens to the car or if it wipes out what's left of my emergency fund and I have to find a way to refund it quickly before my job ends.

Time for one last doctor's appointment and then hopefully after this week things will go back to normalish.

When you have two jobs and money is still tight

October 1st, 2013 at 08:55 pm

Today I was once again going over what needs to come out of my next paycheck. About 39% of it is bills, then the plan is to do 40% to credit cards payments, then to keep on track put 18% for savings which leaves me with a whopping 3% of my paycheck for myself. It's been like this for a month now ever since the medical bills. Although those percentages of where the money went was different (x amount toward medical bills, x amount toward savings etc) things have been really tight.

It just seems like there's been one big money event after another, the wedding, funding my savings fully, draining my savings in order to cover medical bills, trying to build back savings while aggressively paying off my credit cards before my assignment ends. And now the credit card pay off plan may need to be put on hold depending on what they say is wrong with my car.

I am very happy that this all happened while I was gainfully and not so gainfully employed all at once since my not so gainful employment made it easy to build an emergency fund while my gainful employment covered the wedding and paying credit card bills but it feels like such a struggle and I'm getting sick of it.

I have been struggling my whole life and while things are certainly getting better. There's still no steady income on the horizon. Just strategies to hold on to the money I make while I make it and hope it carries me through to the next assignment. I'm hoping that this one will stick or at least get me a call back.

I don't mean to be depressing and whiny but I just feel like something has got to give!

Interest kills & a reflection on the path to here

September 26th, 2013 at 08:05 pm

My statement came in for CC2 and I've now been bounced back to 2237 from 2194. I used to just deal with interest it was just something I ignored with but now its made me angry. If I'm able to make my big payment on CC2 next week then I think I will consider moving the balance over to the other card which is having a special balance transfer offer of 0.00% offer and 3% balance fee. The rate is good until Jan 2015 and I know it will be paid off by then.

I overspent by about 9 dollars at the game but it could have been much worse. I know I can't trust myself with my credit cards when I'm out and about for an event and I'm so glad I was strict with myself. It always hurts to wake up the next day and wake up and realized that you spent and extra 70 and have to figure out where its going to come from.

This site had been great and kept me on the straight and narrow. I still sometimes lament on not being able to afford things but keeping on the path to being debt free will allow me to splurge and afford it every once in a while like I was just able to on this game.

I remember a few years back when I first was able to go on a trip and every penny had already been paid off compared to years prior when I had to put it on a card or have a friend front me the money until I could pay them back.

I remember the first time having to come up with 1400 wasn't a Herculean task. I was out of school for a semester and they wanted me to come up with the money I had owed them for the previous one and I couldn't use my financial aid toward it. I had been working two jobs and was saving up cash and had about 1200 in my account. I was able to pay mostly in cash and the other bit with my credit card. During that time I was bummed I hadn't been able to make more of a dent in my cards but I figured if it came to being able to complete my education and saving myself some money in interest then education was the way to go.

The road to here hasn't been easy. Not having a steady job has certainly been difficult. But now I'm in a place where I have an emergency fund large enough to cover a serious issue, a few months of expenses save up, fully funded mini bucket funds and less than 3K worth of credit card debt. I do hate my part time job but it contributed to this financial state. I didn't like being a temp but if I hadn't been I wouldn't have gained such varied experience that led me to be the perfect candidate for my current contract position.

I am grateful for everything I have and know that one day if I keep working hard, saving and budgeting well I will get to that magical place were I am debt-free.


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