Permanent Temp Dealing with Debt

I find this intriguing.

I started watching this video where this vlogger kid decides that all he is going to spend on food for one day is one dollar.

And I thought I shouldn't even be spending a dollar a day right now.

But then it occurred to me, what if I try this for a week?

Maybe I can start to claw my way out of this situation, literally a dollar at a time.

Maybe if I focus on something positive and do something proactive instead of lamenting about my situation, maybe it'll be a lot easier to get out of it.

So that's that. I am going to try this for a week.

I will set aside 7 dollars and allow myself one each day. I wonder if I would actually have any of the money left at the end of the week.

I am also going to make sure I actually start saving something from my check. Yes I am in the red but if I keep actively saving and participating in ways to bring in extra cash I will get through this.

It took more than a day to get here and it will take more than a day to get out, you know unless I win the lottery or something.

Even my horoscope says that I will get a pay off in August. So let me hold on to that too.

So here are my two goals for the this week:

One positive thing, I will tell myself this each day:

You do actually have enough money that you are allowed a discretionary fund of 1 dollar per day.

You can save the other 53 dollars you were allowing yourself for discretionary spending. If it works out correctly, at the end of the month you have 212 dollars in savings and will have only spent 28 dollars on things that were wants and not needs.

One proactive thing, I will remind myself to do each day:

Identify and pursue something that will bring you extra income. Follow through until you get the job or the money. Wash, Rinse, Repeat.

I will check in next Friday. I will just have to write that down somewhere...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I think I may purchase the car I am currently leasing so I have a year left to save to do a hefty down-payment.

I have been plotting to save one of my checks each month but so far it hasn't gone well. The first month it went to a repair for a household item and credit card debt from house stuff purchases and a little eating out.

This month it's going to the credit card again for an forgotten annual expense, credit card purchases (for the house) and entertaining some visiting family.

I am hoping next month I really really am able to get it down to pay off my damn credit card balance and to put something toward the car. I think I may just bite the bullet and pull out $100 from these checks for house stuff (tools, repairs etc) and let then I'll put the rest to debt. That way I won't feel so pressured out kind of thing. I guess we'll see how it goes.

I'm happy that I sat down a few months ago and figured out how much I need to have to pay my first quarter taxes or else I'd be happy to have paid off the cc balance but crying about how to pay the IRS.

It's never good to owe money to them! Now that is sorted out I need to figure out what the rest of the year game plan is. It looks like I will be able to take a trip home to visit my family after all I just won't be able to afford a rental car.

That's fine with me I'll figure it out. The house is still eating up my money here and there. I just spent another $100 on some organizers and what not but it was totally worth it in a lot of ways because now I know where my shoes are and the dog toys are. And I can actually use my office, and I have a night stand.

It just stressed me out. To spend. I'm glad I didn't shred all my cards as some once-a-year expenses came up that I had forgotten to budget for came up so I was able to charge them and then figure it out from there.

Target was pushing out plastic storage containers at 30% off and they were selling their cheap shoe organizers and cubbyhole organizers on clearance. I was thinking about getting shoe organizers but I didn't want to pay full price for them so this totally worked out for me. I even got an extra discount on one because the box was broken and the bag holding the screws was missing a few.

I got an influx of money from the hubby for groceries so we are stocked there again now too finally. I found all my coffee making stuff so no more coffee out but my pitcher has a slow leak so this weekend I will have to try to find one. I'm hoping I can get a cheap one at the dollar store or Wal-Mart.

My lowest student loan is below $1000. If I didn't have the $1500 sitting on that cc I would totally find a way to pay that off.

I am very slowly putting money in the emergency fund but it makes me feels better just putting something in there.

I really need to be kinder to myself. I am doing the best I can.

I have also learned to make use of what other people would dispose of. A few weeks ago, they kept ordering bagels 3 days in a row. There were so many left over that I knew that they wouldn't get eaten. I took the bulk of them home and we ate bagel pizzas pretty much all week.

That was a great savings and helped the food from going bad too!

I hope I have better numbers to report when I check in again but at least I'm not feeling so down in the dumps even though I'm still anxious.

I think focusing on what I can control like reading all my books, cleaning the house, planning menus around what I have. Is helping a lot.

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!

Thank you everyone for the kind words. I decided to go ahead and re-plug in numbers to my budget.

It is going to be tight for a bit but it looks like around the start of June the purse strings are going to be able to be loosened a bit so that I can maybe even knock out the last of that crappy revolving credit card debt. Or put more than a few bucks toward retirement.

We decided to tackle one bill early so I will have an extra 440 to throw at that balance between here and there if not more.

I'm just glad that I took the steps I did or I would be in a really not fun situation at the moment.

Aside from re-configuring the budget. I did a look back at last years situation to see how things have improved.

Issues I had 4/15 that I don't have 4/16
- I didn't have a job. I was temping for the company I now work full time for.

- I was iffy about my car even though it was paid off. I have since traded in that car for a lease on a new car which was so low I was able pay it off all at once and continue not having a monthly car payment.

- I was dreading a rent increase and trying to figure out how to save for a house. I have a house now.

- I had an old medical bill in collections. I paid this off early this year.

- I knew I had to get my teeth fixed after years of neglect. I have since gone and taken care of all the issues. This work is also paid off.

- I had a part time job that stressed me out and kept increasing in hours. I was plotting how and when I could dump it. I have since quit. Life is easier now.

Of course I have new issues:

-I have to figure out what to do about the next car

-I have to see the dentist for routine keep-ups to keep my teeth in good shape

-The house still needs some work done which we need to budget for (less than 5K at this point)

-I need to rebuild my emergency fund after it funded so many emergencies.

-The house needs its own fund for routine maintenance things like: Eventual roof replacement, hardwood floor coating for the floor every 5 years, and a plumbing structure that will need to be replaced in 2 years or so.

-Kids will probably be coming into the picture in the next few years in a way truly negating any debt payoff progress.


Either way though, I'm hopeful. It seems things do get crazy but I have been handling them okay. Preparing for them as well as I can and trying to make whatever the best financial decision is that I can. Now I guess I just have to see about possibly increasing my income (without another part-time job) so I can knock out some debt and build up some wealth.

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.

I am so happy to be closer to getting this credit card paid off but I am having a hard time with this whole money thing right now.

I had a few yearly expense things come up and it feels weird to be scrapping at the bottom of the barrel now that I had had savings for so long.

I shouldn't feel too bad I've done a lot of things right I'm just working with a less money than I used to back when I was paid well.

I just have to try and get some savings back that's all. And figure out where to cut things to get some retirement money put away.

I just try to do too much at one time I guess but I don't usually have the luxury of time.

Not having the part time job has been fantastic for my stress levels and that makes it worth it to me.

Pretty soon here I will start going to the gym again and that should make me feel a lot better as well. Might keep a tracker for weight on the sidebar.

I just feel like things are going to get harder from here out not easier. And that sort of stinks.

Oh well though that's life. Once this debt is gone I will feel a little more like at equilibrium and will be able to see through the fog again. I'm just happy that I had the good sense to recognize the bad behavior before it did some really serious permanent damage.

Here's to a new routine and more savings in 2016!

Well so far so good. I had to spend a little this weekend in order to get shelf liners for the kitchen. The project took all weekend but now my kitchen is organized and I know where everything is which is great for my wallet and my waistline. It cost a little over $100 to line the whole kitchen, get a few cheap organizers and a small trash can, but it really is going to save me a time and money in the long run.

The balance on the card is down to $4000 from the original $5188. I have two paychecks in April but the third falls after the due date which means I will get hit with interest.

If my last paycheck from my part-time job comes in and is half decent or if my tax refund comes in, it'll make it easier to hit the mark. If neither of those things happen I can probably still hit the mark but it is going to be very painful.

After this whole thing is over I am going to focus on saving toward a new car almost exclusively (alongside with building up an emergency fund again). I have until August of next year to come up with a sizable down-payment if I keep this car which I might or if I buy another. I also could do another one-pay lease. I'll have to see what makes more sense financially when I get to that point.

It's just that I know with the new added payment to the 0% interest loan I cannot carry a car payment on top of everything else.

At least this deal worked out where I didn't have to do that. I mean voluntarily yes I am taking out a car payment to myself each month (or at least that was the plan now I will be getting back on track), but if I had to pay that to the bank each month with the other debt I'm carrying I would have very little left at the end of each month. It is nice to not have that over my head and still be in a reliable vehicle.

It is also nice to know the house is in good working order for now as long as we continue to take good care of it. The only other major repairs should be the roof in about 5-10 years and a possible re-model of one of the bathrooms so that it is not just a bath tub without the shower option.

Thanks for listening guys. It really helps to know that I'm not alone and that even if I get in a jam I know how to pull myself up by the bootstraps and keep on marching.

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.

The house needed some new improvements. Some I was able to get on a new card that they gave me with 0% interest for the life of the loan (5 years.)

Others I had to put on my own credit card because they couldn't offer me such a good deal.

I know myself. Once I have a large amount of money on a card I spend on it recklessly because my old defeatist "I'm never going to pay it off anyway" attitude kicks in.

I was setting up my home office the other day and noticed my credit card in a pile of things I was shredding. I decided to put it in the shredder. I knew I was over spending and I divert bills to this card every month for the points. I knew if I kept it in my wallet I'd keep spending on it.

I lost my debit card a while ago and I never replaced the card so I kept using me credit card for normal things too.

I decided that I'm going to go to the bank to pull out the cash I need when I need it and live like that until the large balance is paid off on my card. Since the card has gotten me into trouble lately I think I won't even request a new one after the balance is paid off. I think I will live on cash for a while until things settle down a bit more and I know I can handle it. Or if I have to make another large purchase and want the cash back.

I need to focus on savings now for the house and to get a new car. I need to focus on making retirement contributions and the possibility of expanding our family maybe. It's time to just smarten up and get some savings going now that I have a mortgage I don't have as much room for error. I really really need a cushion and I know that if I kept that credit card around I would have probably never bothered to build one.

I have other credit cards that don't have a dime on them. This is the only one that seemed to give me issues.

Have any of you had to take drastic measures like this before?

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.

The most expensive dental work is done and paid for. Now I have the money to pay off that old med bill finally.

I have no debt on my cards that I'm responsible for. I had one transaction go south but I just called the credit card company and they are suppose to refund me the cash soon.

It's kind of disheartening to see such a huge balance on there but it is nice to know that they have my back.

I'm about two months behind where I wanted to be but I'm still employed and no longer in pain so that's a plus. My goal was to start a IRA for the new year so now I think I'll do that even if its just a small amount I would like to be putting something away toward retirement now that I have a steady gig.

I'm going to have to hide the cards on myself because I've been racking up balances, not making my own coffee or food or anything. I was basically fine with it before because I was in pain and recovering from dental procedures.

I'm gaining weight though and need to take advantage of my gym membership so I bought some decent sports bras and some nice fitting but cheap work out pants so I can have something to wear at the gym other than jeans or PJ bottoms.

I just need to try and stay on track now, the last big financial move a house is just over the horizon. I can feel it.

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.

It was more than time to get back to my old ways, the ones that got me to pay off the last of my "bad" debt and let me grow a decent sized emergency fund.

I have to spent the next two checks knocking out the cc new debt, settling the remainder of the car insurance, paying the registration on the new car and making sure I have at least a month's worth of bills as a back up.

However, once that is done I will be back to my system. I hadn't done it in so long it took me a while to reinterpret it.

Good thing I did though I was off about $20 bucks or so on what I should be paying out to my bills and it was nice to set up my whole buckets system again.

Even though I make less than I did before I'm confident that I can get back on track again especially since this job is one that is suppose to be ongoing. (I say it that way because I don't like to take things for granted.)

It's nice to be saving toward a car too instead of worrying about a payment. I'm going to do my best so I can save enough to get a nice safe car next time with no car payment.

Well I decided to take in my faithful old stead. She was paid off, the warranty was about to expire, and she was near 100k (which affects trade in value).

She had been creaking and making me worry so (not to mention all the recalls I had been though) when my husband told me about a great deal they had on the lot due to a hail storm I decided to go for it.

I kow have 2 years to figure out what I want to do about a car so the plan is to save what would have been my payment on had I purchased this car and see where that gets me.

Things are evening out a bit so that's good. I'd still like to pay my old medical bill but it will have to put aside for now as a lot of money has crept back on to the credit cards again. They will be paid off at the top of September in the mean time I have put my check register in my wallet and keeping my receipts so that I can note if I've charged anything to my cards and keep track of the money I have left. I have to tighten the belt if I expect to pull off feats such as getting a house and saving my car payment.

I have been kinda going willy-nilly for a while there and while it was somewhat nice to be carefree for a bit the reality is I have a lot to accomplish and I need to get it kick started like yesterday.

However I'm so pleased that my emergency fund is almost at a grand again that puts me at ease. And now with a new car that puts me a bit more at ease.

My book habit is calming down a bit more too. I just need to catch up a bit in reading. I have enough books in the house to keep me busy for years to come at this point!

I decided today to re-map out it is what I need to save and what I want to be saving for. Now that I have a steady gig my priorities are slightly different. And with rent going up as it has we are really working to make getting a house a priority it wasn't really a possibility before with my previously iffy job situation.

I still don't take anything as a given though so working on those emergency funds is a numero uno priority for sure!

Its just nice to have a bit more breathing room but more breathing room doesn't mean I get to forget about my personal finance goals! Back to work.

So happy I was able to pay off a huge chunk of current cc debt and put my part-time job check toward rebuilding my emergency fund too. Almost back up to $500 which makes me feel a little better.

Next time I get paid I'll be able to wipe out most of the last of the cc debt which is exciting.

Then I'll have taxes due again but that is okay its like slipping back into revolving cc debt.

I already pulled out my spending money for the next two weeks. I'm almost happy to be back on a budget and to get things back into control and on track again.

Tomorrow I will have to straighten out the Student Loan People again but no biggie. I have to do it every month. I'd rather do that then have to deal with the way they misappropriate the funds.

One time they lectured me about the way I send in extra payments and how it wasn't convenient to them. I found that somewhat hilarious.

Anyway hope I can sleep soon gotta get up and do it all again tomorrow.

Good news is it looks like I may have found some place I can rest my laurels on for a bit so thats good.

I'm still waiting for them to revise my contract. I had to take a cut in pay too which is irritating but since I am now an LLC I can figure out some ways to make that less painful.

I am still trying to make my goals so its going to be rough. I need to pay off some debt racked up on a credit card from a recent trip, pay off car insurance in full because it's just easier that way and saves us another 12 bucks or so.

Then I have to make sure I take out enough for taxes, finally set up a real retirement account, and then save up for a car and a house.

It's crazy but I'm sure I'll level out. I'll update my totals soon but very very good news is I'm now down to 5 students loans and maybe soon 4.

The student loans make it hard for me to justify getting another car loan. I have to figure out a way to save up enough money to get a car in cash that is not crappier than the one I already own. I'm really determined not to get another car loan if I can help it.

My dad mentioned something about possibly being able to get some grants as an LLC to help pay off student loans etc so I'll look into that to see if I can't expedite the process. All pretty exciting!!

Update: Column has been updated to reflect new balances. Which were just depleted by a quarterly tax payment that was due the same week I started at a higher rate. This will be rectified soon though.

I haven't been posting because there hasn't been much to post.

I am near the end of my EF funds and was picked up for a small task at my old contract position that will bring in some much needed funds.

I went on a trip recently which I had promised to go on when I still had funds so I went. I used up a lot of money and I feel bad about that but I don't feel bad about getting away.

I just paid off what was racked up on the cards during the trip. I still have one more trip to go for a wedding I'm in and I'm trying to get that money ASAP.

Still doing okay so far. After this project is done I'll figure something else out. I'm still working part-time which is great because of the constant influx of at least some cash.

Miss being able to post about stockpiling money but I'm sure that day will come again someday soon.

I am proud of myself for at least having the foresight to save that much money and keep my part-time job so I could keep paying my bills.

Next time I get a good paying contract I am going to pay off my smallest student loan that has been whittled down to below $450.

I will then save up as much as possible in my EF and see about fixing my teeth and paying off an old medical bill that has been in collections for quite some time.

I am happy that I thought of myself first in this situation and that I can continue to live the way I want to more or less.

Hope everyone else is doing well.

Still haven't heard any new news about a new contract. Part-time job hours are sparse as I didn't want all my hours filled with dead end job work while I search for the next thing.

My little gigs are helping me pay off the student loans which is really nice to see that balance go down but rent is going up so that might be the end of chipping away at my balance in favor for making up the difference in price there.

Husband is bugging me about adding on more hours at the part-time job and really piling on the domestic chores since I am at home more now not working which is really difficult every time that I am in between jobs.

I need a new routine one that involves more gigs that I want to do that bring in cash plus exercise. Been eating out more and racking up expenses. Going to have to hide the credit cards and create a weekly allowance of cash in an envelope so I don't end up with credit card debt again. That's the last thing I need to have to do it a third time. Mostly this post is a rant but its nice to get the thoughts out "on paper" and out of my head.

Tomorows goals are to eat and drink coffee from home only, get one load of wash done and organize my side gig materials!

No updates yet about jobs. Had a few temp offers but all for areas that are not cost effective to commute to every day for the pay they are offering.

Just got back from a planned trip. The family wants to pay for my ticket out again but I'm not sure I can afford the price of even being there. I mean I can but I don't want to dip into savings to do it.

Just walking around and unpacking today patting myself on the back for having the sense to save up some money and to keep doing those small gigs to bring in money here and there plus the part time job. It's exciting to think that if I got a well paying contract tomorrow I could pay off my lowest student loan amount. If I pick up more of those I may have it paid off by the end of the year which would free up an extra $15 a month to roll into the next loan each month.

I'm so happy that I have options here and don't have to feel like my back is against the wall as it was all those other times.

Well I am doing better. I cut down on side jobs a bit because it was too much. Hubby and I started a meal plan and I am toying with joining Gym Pact after we return from our planned vacation. I'm also considering doing things outside the house get a much needed change of scenery.

Things will be fine. The money bought me time and I'm still adjusting.

I was happy note that it's been almost a year since I paid off the credit cards and stopped paying interest on revolving balances. And if my side jobs keep going this way I'll be able pay off my smallest student loan sometime next year. And overall the principal balance has dropped below 17K which is nice.

I bought an ice cream machine and will probably get a pasta maker soon and I learned how make pizza at home which made me pretty happy. All that should save us a ton in take out and I'm happy try all kinds of new neat desserts.

I am not doing so well. Everyday I try to go to sleep at a good time. I have two goals everyday. Do something that leads to a new contract/more money and work out to get in better shape.

Every day I get up and the house is a mess or there is no food. I say no problem I'll go to the store and make something and clean up the mess. But then the dogs have to go out. I take them out, clean the mess and say okay after this I'll buy the food to cook and get started with my day.

Then I log on the computer and hours go by because I found some files I want to fix or some new article to read and it goes on. Now I am starving and I've gotten no work done or working out. Now I am so hungry I'm afraid to drive to get food. Then I say well I can't work out and the day is shot so why bother doing anything productive.

I have been getting better about getting out of the funk but I hate it and its consuming all my lead time before I have to increase my hours at my part-time job to keep my husband happy so he gets off my back about money.

I feel all this invisible pressure. I keep trying to make a food plan a work out plan a money money plan but it continues to fall through.

This is more of a vent because things are getting better a bit but its sad that I am this mean to myself. I need to set myself up for success not failure. Why fail when I haven't even really begun yet?

My contract job ended about two weeks ago. Since then I've been busy doing side gigs and cleaning up the house but mostly enjoying my new found time to breathe. My goals are to actually start using my gym membership again and get back into hobbies I enjoy like reading.

I have about a month before I have to amp up earnings in the part time job and side gigs for now its just paying the groceries etc. I have a pretty nice cushion though that I can take from if necessary and it probably will be since rent will be going up in a few months but not by a fantastically large amount.

My updated resume is sitting at the desk of my old boss and HR per their request. The minute anything comes up that they can pick me up for they will. The summer job was promised to someone else apparently and no one told my boss that before she let me know about it. It's all good though everything happens for a reason.

I have a trip coming up soon that's paid off and that will be nice. Also there is a wedding next year that I am attending so that will be interesting.

And I'm more than likely going to be able to use my tax return toward paying the car insurance premium in full. All in all things are looking up and I could get that phone call any day. For now I'm enjoying having days to myself.

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!

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.