Thursday, July 31, 2008

Just Got Paid

Got paid today. By this time I have my check all sorted out as to who gets what. I did a rough paper sketch last week and haven't followed up. The only thing that's set to go is my rent and transfer to savings. I've just seen I have to pay the telephone company an additional $50 so I'll do that after this post. I also need to check on Sprint to see what additional funds, if any I owe them.

Part of me just wants to hold on to my money as long as I can without it going out the door, even if it's for a great cause like me getting down my debt. The one thing I will do is pick up my dry cleaning. Mr. Diva usually does this, but this isn't the month. Hmm.
Happy Thursday!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

My Latte Factor

I've just began The Automatic Millionaire. It didn't take me too long to identify my Latte Factor. The thing I spend little amounts of money on that can have a huge financial effect over a long period of time. I calculated $4 daily on a double pack of Altoids. Often it's less depending if I shop in bulk or go to Target. Here's what I come away with. I can conceivable end up spending $1,080 over the course of a year. I shudder the thought. For right now I'm not going to beat myself up about this.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Weekend Adventures

Great weekend. Saturday - Art by the water which led me to the Fairway where I spent $12.05 and a stop at the Coop where I spent $14.12. $15 for gas. Absolutely using the end of my envelope money and then some.

Sunday - Argentinian, reggae and blues at the Park w/sistah friends. Took pics w/one of the bands. On my way to the park I saw $10 just waiting for me to pick it up. My dinner contribution was just $7. Which was cool. While I know I'm short (dippin in my dollar jar), an extra $20 came my way so that helps. Now I had planned to save that $10 but it went for gas along w/another $10.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

My Habit

When I realized DR's 2-for-1 Altoids sale would expire last night. I grabbed some ones out of the dollar jar and drove over. I left my keys w/the DR card in the car so someone else got the points. I haven't been paying attention to their point system so I will in the future. Turns out I had also left my wallet in the car and was limited. From the $ in my pocket I was able to get 10 boxes. I went back home(I didn't calculate how much the gas cost for that 8 minute drive).

While in a phone convo w/a friend while she was shopping in Costco the light bulb went on. You guessed it. Another 12 boxes coming my way. It gets better. Seems like she messed up and she is repaying me w/those altoids. By the way the messup wasn't that bad. Just a minor glitch.

Meanwhile, I have been feeling the $ pinch in that there are things I want to do but don't want to put the amount on a credit card. So it's simple livin'. I'm on my way to the library, an art show at the waterfront and maybe a stop to the new Ikea. We'll see. However, money or not I will enjoy my day.
peace

Monday, July 21, 2008

Watching the Dates

I finally understood what other bloggers experienced when snowflaking w/regards to billing cycle close dates, etc.

I've been paying $50 monthlyfor dental services rendered to GE account. Mind you I have prepaid a month ahead of time to be able to pay them on the date that works for me. No prob til I got paid two days earlier than usual and paid on the same day. What I failed to notice w/the last statement was a total of two $50 payments. Had I caught it I could have adjusted for it. I did not and when I opened the today's statement I saw a balance that looked strange. A late fee. What!! I gathered my statments, preparing to call them and do battle. Uh-Uh, the fault was mine. I did get the late fee removed and was also told the payment I made on the 15th will actually go toward the August bill. Don't know if I believe that. I think I may just pay this from E-savings( even though it's not really an emergency) and pay myself back w/four payments of $50. It'll be one less thing to keep track of.

Perhaps what got me was the do battle thought.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

More Month than Money

At this point I have $.92 in my checking accout. Because of my envelope system I still have $23 for groceries and $10 for gas-I filled up in Jersey this week. However, I only have $29 in my wallet(I bought a fish dinner last night). I've also reduced my wallet reserve bill to $50.
I have to last till the 30th, which will be tight. I have an alternative or two, one being not spend anymore money. Riiiight! But I can work on it. I already taking lunch, but I did buy lunch this past week since I left my food on the counter as I was running out the door. I refused to buy Popeye's large popcorn shrimp platter at $8(cheapskate), so I went for the sandwhich. I ended up getting an additional one when the manager went running after me, thinking I left w/o my purchase. Although it was a little over $4, I realize my own food is much better. I won't be furghettin' any time soon.

Going thru SundaySaver, I see things I need for my home. Suddenly I realized I don't have a budget for household purchases other than cleaning products which I lump in with groceries. Like everything else, I've been buying them when I need them. Well today I'll make a category and save a few dollars bi-weekly. Because I don't need a lot I can start with $20 each pay period. Light bulb moment: I still have my Visa gift card. I decided to use it to buy an iron and never got around to it. Problem solved. Hmm...what else can I buy. Mind ticking away.
peace!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

How Much Did I Say I'd Save?

So I did say two posts ago that was going to put $100 into my E-fund every two weeks didn't I? When I reveiewed my budget I agreed to deposit $50 instead. But I didn't update the transfer balance. Right now I'm good. I have an extra $55 after all bills, gas and grocery budget is taken care of. I defenitely could use more. If it gets tighter I may have to transfer the additional $50 back. Wow! Payday was on the 15th. Two more weeks to go. I'm going to have to budget more for me considering this is the summer and I seem to spend just a little more.

I forgot my lunch today. I managed to get away with an additional $5. You see I don't plan for lunch because I take it with me. I also forgot to take cash, so I had to use my bill I stash just so I'll always have cash. Hmm... They gave me a $50 bill back. Perhaps I'll carry that around for a while until I can build back up to $100.
Goodnight

A Little Mental Breather

I looked at an I-Village survey regarding where I stood with debt. I noticed I've already surpassed most of the situations presented and quit shortly thereafter.
The realization that followed was that I am no longer anxious about my debt. I'm paying it off. Would I like to pay it off at warp speed? Absolutely. But at this moment I'm doing okay and that's alright with me. When extra money shows up it'll go towards the debt.
peace!

Friday, July 11, 2008

The Thoughts that Creep In

Sistah Ant today posted staying positive which is where I am. I've allowed the thoughts that I'm not paying enough on my debt to take residence in my brain. However, since mid-May I've paid BofA $1,500. That's an additional $1,200 over the balance due. Yeah! Citibank is closed. Yeah again! Nothing to sneeze at. I'm making progress.
Actually I'm glad to have a moment to think about this. I've written the numbers down in my chart and although I am able to see what Im paying and to whom, I wasn't focused on the totals or how fast I was paying down the debt. Bottom line I got scared I wasn't doing it right. Puhleese! There a few things I really need to deal with, which I know I can do.
I'm on it.
Peace!

Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Pending Layoffs

The Job announced last week it was looking to layoff a little less than 1,000 folks. I wasn't worried, but I'm not that far from the bottom. I came out 3 numbers above the cutoff line. That number will change when they take into account people who are retiring and taking leaves.
I remain positive and focused on my goals. One of which is to have a sweet ride while I'm still here.

For a brief minute when I believed I hadn't made it, I thought of the money I used to pay down my debt rather than build up savings. That resulted in a should I have.. conversation. Hmm.. I also remembered the time I paid $100 every two weeks into a su-su. I found the money to do that. What came to me is I can do that again. That's the way I'm going to build my E-fund. My current amount will only cover me 2 months. Not good. It's also time to review my yearly goals and see where I be.

I missed being here.
Peace.

Citibank

As of the 27th. I'm done w/Citibank. It was a rather smooth feeling, simply because I had paid them the larger amounts in the beginning of my program and then shifted my larger payments to my other cards when I got Citi's balance to below $100.

One down and not many more to go.