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They charged me for water!

October 10th, 2014 at 08:31 pm

I took my husband to dinner last night. We went to a really nice restaurant, but I had a coupon that was going to make it pretty reasonable. Last night was not reasonable. I spent way more than I budgeted. They charged me for WATER! And my water was more expensive than my soda. And if I knew they were going to charge me for water, I definitely wouldn't have gotten both. $3.50 for WATER! Frown And the parking garage that we parked in (Which I have parked in before) was $20.00!!!! For 1.5 hours!!! Last time I parked there it was $7.00. And they automatically charged us 18% gratuity...for a a table of 2? So, I am going to have to trim some things. Puts me futher behind. Yuck!

I'm in the black

October 8th, 2014 at 04:12 pm

Woo hoo. The check came and I did mobile deposit. I also deposited my Pine Cone check. So on Friday after everything is paid, I will have $6.18! That's a big deal to me right now. I am able to send a little something to my cards. And I am able to put a little away to pay for our yearly termite cost. (have to pay 10% of the original bill to keep the warranty.) I have money set aside for the utilities. I set aside money to go to the eye dr. So I might be ok. No money to move around this week for the supplements I want. So maybe next week.

Random things.

October 7th, 2014 at 06:52 pm

No check yesterday. I can see on the website that my claim was approved....so I am still just waiting for the check.

I forgot my lunch today so I had to go grab something to eat. Not happy about that. But I was starving. I did get something that I could eat today and tomorrow. And maybe even Thursday.

I got my test results from the dr yesterday. Just standard blood work. They want to put me on medicine for cholesterol. I am doomed to have cholesterol problems because of family health history. But I really don't want to take this medication. It has a lot of side effects that don't sound pleasant. I'm going to try to shave some money off of something this next week so I can buy some natural supplements and see if it makes a difference. And if not...I guess I will just have to take the prescription. Frown

I added a free app to my phone. Its called Snap from Groupon. Basically you take a picture of your grocery store receipt and claim money based on offers. So this last trip I claimed $1.50 by buying apples and milk. There are offers for yogurt, bread, diapers, butter....all sorts of stuff. $1.50 isn't much. But its free money. You can cash out at $20.00. If you want to use my referral link it is
https://snap.groupon.com/app?ref=2ed52a9621d69d53

Not sure how the link stuff works. But I wanted to at least share the info.

Still Waiting

October 6th, 2014 at 06:27 pm

My insurance hasn't posted and I am still waiting to get my Aflac check, so I am not sure where I am at yet. My goal is to just be in the black. Seems easy enough. Hoping by tomorrow I will know.


Birthday dinner for my husband went great. The food was really good and the restaurant was pretty reasonable. I split up my gifts. I gave him one last night with dinner and I will give him the other one on his actual birthday on Thursday. I signed up for an email promo so we will be going to dinner on Thursday for half price. That will be nice. Then we don't have any other celebrations until Thanksgiving/Christmas. Out wedding anniversary is in October also, but we just can't afford to do anything this year.


3 days in

October 3rd, 2014 at 08:04 pm

Ok. Its payday. After everything is paid and set aside, I am still in the red, but only $9.56 I think my insurance will actually be $4.00 less than what I budgeted and I can pay a few dollars less on my student loan. So hopefully I can clear that up. I have $70.00 budgeted for groceries. Hopefully I can spend less than that. But we need things. A lot of basics.


On a high note, I think my Aflac claim was approved. Hopefully I will get a check in the mail soon. And I do have $6.00 from Pine Cone coming my way.


I hope to have a low spend weekend. We are going out to eat for DH's birthday. I have money set aside for that. And I did very minimal gifts. But it should be fun.

Please be kind to me October

October 1st, 2014 at 04:27 pm

Ok. This is where I am at. I will actually be in the red $62.00 after payday Friday. I have a doctor's appointment today. I budgeted $40 for it. I am not sure if I will have to pay a copay or not because its an annual exam? But even if I do, I am going to do an Aflac claim. I will get reimbursed $60 for a Wellness exam. So, if I get the Aflac check, I should be almost even again. Let's hope it goes as planned.


I am hoping the month of October is kind to me. The last few months have been rough, so I could use a win.


And I updated my side bar. The numbers went in the wrong direction. But I have to be honest about it.

Stuck

September 30th, 2014 at 06:20 pm

I feel stuck. Stuck financially. Stuck physically. Stuck mentally. I know that I can work my way out of this, but I am really struggling. I have been using money to cope with bad days. I justify the spending somehow. Using my credit cards because I have overspent in my bank account. Buying groceries because I want to eat better, but its not budgeted for or planned. Buying "things" to make me feel better because I am having a bad day. These are all bad things. Suck it Up September didn't work for me. Frown I am in a bad situation right now. On Friday, after I am paid, I am over budget...in the red. And not just in theory. Like, I have spent more than I have. I will be short $155.09. If I do not make any payments towards my credit cards, I will only be short $43.09. Obviously, I cannot make credit card payments that are going to make me worse off. But that puts me even further behind on paying off my debt. I did pay off the personal loan. And before this hiccup, I was going to have CC #2 paid off 11/14. And CC #3 paid off 10/31. So I am just frustrated with myself. Frustrated because I am making bad choices.

Somewhat defeated and deflated

September 11th, 2014 at 09:24 pm

Sometimes I feel like we are really coasting along. And some days I just feel lost and deflated. I guess that is where I am at today. Sadly, I think my debt payoff will be pushed on until next month. Even then it will be close. I am still looking for extra money, but its hard. I don't know if I can do another PT job. I already work FT and I do work for our own business, so I would consider that my part time job. But I just don't feel like we can get ahead. And the lighting/electronic wipeout has not helped. I would still love to do personal chef work, but I can't spend the money to test recipes. Maybe I can do a little at a time, but that isn't an easy money maker. Maybe I just need to Suck it Up and work another 15 hours a week somewhere? 40 hours FT/ 10 hours PT - our business/ 15 hours PT somewhere. 65 hour workweek. Is it worth it? Some weeks it would be 70 - 75. Depending on my FT job.


And my husband is in a funk too. He works a lot. Its been hot and he can't enjoy the outdoors or work in his garage. Having employees is hard on him sometimes....having to be in charge and having people take advantage of him. And this electronic thing is a real bummer for him. I feel like we need a break, or a vacation, or something. But no money or time right now.


Ok I'm done. I can't ride this pity train any longer....jeez. But surely yall can see my frustration. (Even if I am the root of the problem.)

Looking for Extra Money

September 9th, 2014 at 08:04 pm

I have been looking for ways to make some extra money. I signed up for Clickworker, and I just don't think its worth it. First off, I hate giving my social out. It just makes me nervous. Second, I did 4 or 5 things today and I have made less than a dollar. In theory, that could add up. But I find that I do the research that they ask, and then they tell me my answer is incorrect. So I just don't know. I didn't sign up for the Pine Cone surveys. I have not gotten one yet. I'm going to look on Craigslist today and see if I can find any small side jobs.


But I really think I am going to cancel the Clickworker account. Something just feels off. Anyone else tried them?I have been looking for small ways to make some extra

Well...our electronics are fried

September 8th, 2014 at 07:59 pm

We had a bad storm on Saturday. Lots of lightning...which hit close to our house. We lost our computer, our vinyl cutter, and modem. The printer survived and luckily my laptop was not plugged in. So far, it should cost about $2300 to replace. Insurance deductible is $1974, so it just doesn't make sense to file a claim. So, we have to come up with $2300 more dollars now. Frown Feeling discouraged. The computer is used for work (for our business) and so is the vinyl cutter. And we were going to use th vinyl cutter to make some extra money. So I'm not sure what to do. We have to have another $200 by the end of this month so we can pay to have the dogs fixed. The computer should be about $500. And we need that as soon as we can do it. And the vinyl cutter is not an emergency, but we do use it for work. So we would like to replace it sooner than later.

I feel guilty for trying to pay off my credit cards now. Should I start putting the extra money towards this problem and extend the debt? I really wanted everything paid off by then end of the month.

Blah

Weekend plans

September 5th, 2014 at 08:44 pm

Well, I had 3 NSDs out of the 5 days so far. Today I have to buy gas, but I did get a free lunch!


There is so much I want to do this weekend, but I think I will have to adjust things. My mom has had some irregular medical tests over the last couple of days. So I think I should spend some time with her tomorrow. She wants to go to an antique mall. So hopefully I can look and not buy. It will be a true test of "Suck it Up September". Smile Housework and organizing will just have to wait.

Trying not to spend

September 3rd, 2014 at 08:44 pm

And when I mean spend, I mean no money coming out of my account. But here is my question. If you have something budgeted, IE: cell phone bill, groceries, etc, and you take care of those, is that considered spending? If I don't buy anything all day, but I pay my mortgage, did I NOT have a NSD? I wouldn't think that would count. But I thought I would survey the masses.



I did spend $2.00 that I had today on crappy Taco Bell. My husband and I have been on a diet, and so this Taco Bell made me feel horrible. Actually made me physically sick to my stomach. Guess I should have grabbed my lunch today. But our schedule got a little thrown off.

Suck it Up September :)

September 2nd, 2014 at 06:23 pm

I am starting Suck it Up September. I'm sticking to the budget. I'm making sure the credit cards are paid off by the end of the month. If I want something and I can't get it, I will just suck it up and deal with it. And I will look for ways to come up with extra cash. I told my husband I want 10K in savings (Not by September!!). So Savings...Sucking it up...Success...those are my goals. I don't think it will be easy, especially since I have had a rough few months. But I'm feeling a new found sense of determination. Positive and forward.

Happy September.

Hoping for multiple no spend days

August 26th, 2014 at 08:50 pm

Today is a no spend day. I went to the grocery store last night. DH and I are starting a diet, so I shouldn't need to buy anything. Hopefully the next couple of days will be NSDs.


Finances are not that exciting right now. My budget has been a little off. Amounts are different than what I expected. But hopefully I can even it out on Friday.

Creeping through

August 22nd, 2014 at 05:13 pm

Well, its payday. I already paid what was coming due and made credit card payments. So now I just need to creep though this next week. I don't have anything to spend anyway Frown . But at least I am chugging along.


My CC #3 is finally under $200 again. That feels nice. And I received my checking account bonus of $100. We have to pay for both dogs to be fixed...so it will be about $450. I was going to use it towards that since I came up with the headstone money and we have to have the "fixing" done by the end of September. (Part of adopting a shelter dog.) I will have to go to the grocery store this coming week. But I'm hoping to keep it low.


We found the $200

August 14th, 2014 at 08:27 pm

After my checks, an Alflac check, coupon savings, and lots of change counting....we came up with the money for our portion on my brother's headstone. LAST NIGHT! Its such a relief. Not only the relief of knowing that my brother will have the headstone he deserves, but the relief of knowing we didn't take it from savings and I didn't have to reduce my debt repayments.


Thanks for all the well wishes and money saving ideas.

Wish it would rain...money

August 11th, 2014 at 07:00 pm

Just for one day...or maybe just an hour...I wish it would rain money. Paper bills, no coins, so it didn't cause more damage than its worth. Smile I'm just frustrated with money right now. Ugh.

I now only have to come up with $220. I really need to have it by this coming Friday. So far I just have the $10.00 check, an Ebates check coming for $13-$15, and I have $12.50 in bills and change in my purse at this moment. So only $35.50 of the $220 I need. I still have change to count. And I can check in the laundry room for spare change. I have a bonus coming from opening a checking account. Its $100, but I won't get it until September. And I'm not sure how quickly I can take it out?

I checked on can recycling. They only pay $0.45/ lb. And I don't think I even have a pound. I am still looking for items to sell. We don't have any extra furniture except for an antique dresser from my husband's family. And I can't sell that. I am not able to do plasma right now. Sooo...I just have to keep looking.


I am going grocery shopping tonight. Anything under budget can go towards the cause. Coupons don't fail me now.

$330

August 8th, 2014 at 08:55 pm

$330 is what I need to come up with. I really can't take it from savings. It would completely deplete us. So I have about a week to come up with it. That should be really difficult. Frown I have a $10.00 check from the city. I have a small check coming from Ebates....maybe about $13-$15. I am going to try to cut our grocery bill and use as many coupons as possible. So that may add up to $50 all together?? Where does the other $280 come from? Not pay down my debt? I have to pay something. And even if I reduce the payments, it won't add a whole lot. Maybe an extra $70? And then I will still have to come up with that to reach my goal of paying everything off by September. We had a garage sale, so I don't have a lot of extra stuff to sell. I can count change. I can't change insurance right now. We are in a rural area, so our utilities have to be specific companies. I'm running out of ideas. I'm salary, so no overtime at work. Our only entertainment portion of the budget is $20 for eating out...and I already got rid of that for 2 weeks to help with my budget. Any thoughts?

We really need to beef up our savings/emergency fund

August 7th, 2014 at 07:41 pm

It is no secret that I have been struggling. Bad decisions have been made and money has not been saved or put towards debt. So, this all really hit home when I realized that my brother's grave has no headstone. The "responsible party" never ordered one. Unfortunately it took me a almost a year to gain the courage to go out there....so I just found out. (He is buried next to my father, so it is a double whammy to go out there.) My sisters and I agreed to split it...but where is my portion coming from? I guess I need to start counting change and listing anything I can on craigslist to get some extra cash? But this is why we need a decent savings and/or emergency fund!

Well...its been a while

July 29th, 2014 at 07:44 pm

I was embarassed. I felt like I was failing. So I had to step away from the blog for a little bit. Truth is, I had to get out of the mindset I was in. I was continuing to spend money. Even after knowing that I didn't like what it was doing. Then, family came into town...and I spent more. Not good. But, I can't hide from it. I feel out of control when I am spending with no regard. I don't like having debt. And the last few days I have just been thinking... "Are you really ready to get rid of this debt?" "Are you ready to commit and knock it out?" Do you realize how much better you will feel without debt? And it will free up part of your budget!" And the answer is "Yes!" I want to be debt free. And I can make sacrifices to get there. Because it will be so much better in the end.

So I am refocused on the "jars" and working with cash. I have looked at my budget and made myself realize....this is what you have to work with. And its possible.

I am still going to have all of my credit cards and the personal loan paid off by the end of September. That is still within my original goal. My husband and I are looking at a couple of ways to possibly make a little extra money. We are also really considering paying me for my work with our personal business. We are thinking $50/week. It would be nice.

So...that's it. I'm here.

Working it out.

July 1st, 2014 at 07:36 pm

Ok. I really am trying to turn things around. This week will be rough, but I guess it is just part of financial recovery. I have gone though my budget and changed what I could. With my adjustments, I should still have all my credit cards and the personal loan paid off by the end of September. Which basically was my goal. To have everything paid off by September. My grocery budget is modest to say the least this week. And it has to last 2 weeks. But, I will make it work. We have eaten out of the garden twice. I have had awesome Radishes, Italian parsley, snap peas, and green beans. Hopefully I will have some more things coming to supplement our lack of grocery budget.


I am trying to just work my way out of this. I am going through a strange nesting, life organizing, spending phase. But I am trying to get it under control. I have a goal of where I would like things to be by Friday. Kind of like my own holiday. Refocusing towards financial "freedom." Realizing how badly I truly want it. And how spending money did not make me feel "better."

Like my grandma always said...Well Sh*t...

June 20th, 2014 at 08:43 pm

Not much to say except I kind of spiraled out of control since my last post. Made some really poor money decisions. I am not wanting to do a sob story, it is my fault. I saw myself headed that way. CC #3 is up to $81.20. CC #2 is down to $340.38. Savings is down to $900. I have dug myself out of the hole I got myself in. I didn't miss any payments on anything. But I made things really difficult on myself. I am really doing poorly in all aspects of my life. I have been working hard this week to really pull it together and get on track. I am my worst critic, but right now...I'm right.


I did get a raise today. Starts next week. Should net an extra $120 a month. As always, my goal is to pretend like its not there. Easy way to knock the rest of my cc debt out earlier...if I can just get my sh*t together.


I have no excuses. I have been stumbling lately and I finally just fell. I guess as Scarlett said "After all, tomorrow is another day."

Fighting the urge

June 4th, 2014 at 07:08 pm

So, we had a "meeting" at our house yesterday as a result of our shocking news. Monday and Tuesday I found myself driving towards the store to buy things to decorate my house. Both times, I turned around and went back to work. I have had 2 NSDs. But I had convinced myself that I "needed" these things. And had mixed feelings about not buying the items. Almost like I was going to be embarassed by how my house looked if I didn't have these decorative items from Hobby Lobby. I guess what matters is that I didn't go. I didn't buy anything.


I have to take my dog to the vet tomorrow. Its time for shots and hearworm. We are taking the money from Savings. I plan on using part of my monthly pet budget to slowly reimburse it. But we have to do it. Especially with all the rain...the mosquitos are going to be bad.


Going to the grocery store tonight. Going to try to spend as little as possible. But the list is long this time.

No Title for this one...

June 2nd, 2014 at 07:22 pm

My husband and I received some shocking news. News that I cannot share. But it has managed to overwhelm me and cause me to make bad decisions. Actually...I take that back. I am responsible for the decision that I make. But I found myself making careless decisions while being overwhelmed. I spent $100 on food....and air filters. Why did I do that? Because I went into this panic like...I am not in control of this situation, so spend money.... reaction. I realize this 2 days later when I am literally like WTH did you do!!! I didn't have that money planned. I don't have the money to cover it. And I didn't buy things for meals. I made a bad decision based on emotions. I reacted like my mother... (who makes very poor financial decisions). Am I my mother??? For those that have read my blog you know that I am trying to "not" be my mother. Sure there are some difference....I am not 63 years old with no retirement. I own a home (Well, I am buying a home. I guess I have 28 years before I own it). I do not rely on others to bail me out. I am accountable for my actions. But what I did this weekend was exactly what my mother would do. I need to get out of this mode. *Ugh*

CC #3 is even lower! And I blew my budget

May 27th, 2014 at 05:46 pm

CC #3 is now down to $51.53. We go a small refund check from our insurance company, so I applied it to CC #3. Pretty exciting.

But...at the same time that I am making progress on my debt, I totally blew my budget. I have overspent by $75 and I still have to make a purchase of $60 that I did not budget for. Pretty much an epic fail. I am actually not even sure how to recover from it. Not pay extra on my mortgage? Its disappointing. Because nothing I bought was a need. I guess I am still headed in the right direction. I just need to focus.

Side note...I didn't come out ahead house sitting. Gas cost more than I thought. I also made more trips than I thought. But at least that insurance check helped knock out what I wanted to pay with the cash.

CC, Grocery Store, and Garden

May 21st, 2014 at 06:33 pm

Ok. CC #2 is down to $372.25. CC #3 is down to 96.33! Eek!! I am so close. I got a check from Ebates for $9.89. I will put that towards #3. I told my sister that I would house/pet sit for her. For free. Because I owe that much to her. If for some chance she does pay me anything, I will use it towards gas and CC #3. But....I am not planning on that.


I am planning on grocery shopping tomorrow. We have food still....but its hard to make a whole meal. But we do need things like milk, water, etc. The water in our area is horrible. Nobody drinks it. At one point it had more chlorine than our pool! For real!


But that leads to my garden info. We moved the garden a couple of weeks ago and I planted everything. So far I have broccoli, radishes, lettuce, green beans, snap peas, carrots, watermelon, cantaloupe, zuchinni, and something else I can't remember, all sprouting. Our peach trees are also producing fruit this year. I am so excited! OOOHHH...and tomatoes. Smile But if we can get any products from these plants I will be sooo happy. And that is less groceries to buy. We moved the fencing and I used popcicle sticks as markers. So I am only out $7.00 for repellant and the cost of seeds. Less than $20 probably.

September 26th can't come soon enough

May 7th, 2014 at 07:38 pm

My debt right now is:
2 credit cards
1 student loan
1 personal loan (which I never put on here)
1 mortgage

My personal loan will be paid off by 08/22
CC #3 will be paid off by 09/05
CC #2 will be paid off by 09/26

September 26th is going to be a great day!!!

Of course, this is just with what I have planned. Wouldn't be great if I could swiggle some extra from somewhere and pay it off sooner?

Goodbye CC #1!!!

May 2nd, 2014 at 06:21 pm

Finally....I paid off CC #1 today. So happy. Still have 2 cards left and my student loan...but this is a victory.

I also paid on my other cards and I will be able to make an extra payment in 2 weeks.

Hooray! Smile

Not feeling it today

April 30th, 2014 at 03:43 pm

I am just not feeling it today. I'm tired. Something in the air is killing me. Watery eyes, nose issues, no energy.

I worked on my household situation last night. Made some progress in the office. But I didn't finish everything. I have to finish the laundry room and bedroom tonight since the pest control quarterly treatment is tomorrow morning. The money is already set aside for that. I cooked dinner last night, and cleaned up immediately after. Trying snafu's suggestion. We will see how it goes.

Ready for this day to be over with...

Just couldn't help it

April 29th, 2014 at 07:51 pm

For weeks now, I have been trying to get my house clean and organized. No matter how hard I try, between lift and work and business paperwork....I just can't get it all done. Sooo.....I broke down and paid a lady to come help me clean. It came out of a cash stash I had. She helped me for 3 hours. Surprisingly, we cleaned for 3 hours and it is still now where I want it. And my office is still a mess. My plan is to finish when I get off work today. Sometimes paying a little bit of money is worth the stress relief.


No other financial happenings right now. Just waiting for Friday.


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