Where oh where has my stimulus gone??

Supposed to get it by today...hope it comes soon! I'm getting impatient!!!

I did something I never thought I would do. Sure, I had heard stories of other people doing this. I even knew a couple of people personally who did this. But I, did not ever thing, I, would be one of those people. Oh, but I am now.

Yesterday I...

(I don't know if I can even admit it)


...wash 4 ziplock baggies from lunch, hung them up to dry, and plan to reuse them.

Yes, it's true. I am now a ziplock baggies reuser. I always figured it wasn't worth the small amount I would save. But then I read about how it helps the environment in the TG, and I was hooked. We are trying to be more green, as well as more frugal.

Not throwing away 4 plastic baggies after one use? Maybe saved a buck or so. Not throwing away 4 plastic baggies after one use? Most likely helped save the environment a little.

Allergies Suck!!

I currently work as an editor for a publishing company in Boston. I love my job. I love the pay, too. But it is a contract poition, and my contract is up in about 2 weeks. I was told that as long as there is new work for me, they want to keep my on there. Problem is, as of now, there is no new work.

So I am kinda of stressing. I need to find work within the next 2 weeks or so, but I don't necessarily want to find another permanent position. I want to be able to go back to the place I am at now when they have new work for me.

I'm just worried about making enough for the bills. And about being somewhere I won't be on my feet all day with my MS.

It's so frusterating.

I have been adding to my savings a bit, so I will have a little to help us. May's bills are taken care of, and most of June's will be, too. But I am still scared.

With the big drops on the interest rates in personal savings, I need to find a better way to save. problem is, I get confused with the numbers and percentages and financial language.

Can anyone recommend me to a website or a book that explains money market accounts, cd's and the like in easy terms?

Thanks!!

Welp, things are good for April so far. We are sticking to our budget, and the expenses have been decent. Today we need to do a major grocery shop. Our monthly budget for goceries is $350; trying to cut it down this month from $400 last month. We have about $325 left of it right now. Also need to put gas in the car ($120 budget we haven't touched yet for April). Other than that, it will be a lazy day. Heck, already has been as it is after 2 pm and niether one of us are dressed yet!

Well, we moved into the new apartment, and seem to be doing ok. Much better for work. We did pretty good actually, with all the expenses of the new apartment (setting up new accounts for tv, phone, etc, buying small things, like a new trash basket for the kitchen, restocking the fridge and cupboards, etc). We ended the month with $22.88 left. Put it into the Challenge.

There are three things I noticed that I am not too happy about. First, we didn't have a single No Spender in March.

Second, we spend about 38% of our income on rent (which includes heat and hot water).

And third, we didn't follow our budget through the whole month. This one really bothers me. We made it through the month, and even had a little left over, but I am still not happy. We need to get better at tracking all out spending and following our budget. Maybe April will be better.

I haven't been on here much this month. Things have been crazy with the move and all. Been spending WAY too much money as well. Time to reel in the spending and get serious again. I always do better when I am here more often, so here I am again.

Not much new in the financial world. My credit is apparently getting better. My CC limit was raised to $5,000 (from $3,500) without my knowledge. And my APR on the CC, which used to hover around 30% is down to 19.99%! Still quite high, but it has made a big difference. My interest is dropping (lower APR, plus not using the card means nothing new to add interest to), so it seems to be getting paid off a bit. Still a long way to go, but I'm, feeling more positive about it.

Other than that things are tame.

Boo_meyers, Veronak, Ima....hugs and thanks!!!!!

I love Boomeyer's idea of setting mini goals each month, so I am going to try that this Feb as well.

1. Have 10 No Spenders. (Did this last month; can I do it again?)

2. Limit grocery spendings to $300. (This will be tough, as we tend to overshop at the grocery store.)

3. Put at least $50 into the EF.

4. Get $20 Challenge/tax money to $500.00 (Just updated and am at $223.43)

Thanks for the great idea and inspiration Boomeyer!

So I went back yesterday to get the pennies...LOL They were still there, but someone was sitting in front of them...damn it!

SO, I went back this morning...as I rounded the corner, I saw windows, sunlight, and...empty chairs!!

But alas, the pennies were gone. Too bad for me, but kudos to whoever grabbed them.

On a related note, that is now at least 5 cents (plus who knows how much from the lady who dropped change in front of me in a crowd and walked off...I, too, was stuck in the crowd, which was moving, and if I had stopped, I would have been trampled...) I have found in Boston, but have been unable to pick up because of other people in my way. But I did find a dime at the train station the other day and you can bet I grabbed it!

And you know I will be kicking myself over those 4 pennies for a while to come...

At least I know I'm not the only one obsessing over pennies!

I just can't stop thinking about them!

I was at the B&N next to my office the other day on my lunch break, and I was sitting in a chair in front of a window. I noticed 4 pennies on the windowsill in front of the chair next to me, which was empty. Just as I was about to grab them, someone came over and sat in front of them. I thought, well crap, I have to wait until they leave.

But, by the time my lunch break was over and I had to go back to work, the other person was still there (copying recipes from a cookbook she had no intention of buying, by the way). So, I left the 4 pennies behind, and went back to work.

Now, three days later, I am still thinking about them and wondering if they are there.

Oh goddess; I'm obsessed.

(PS, I am so going back over there to check on my lunch break...)

I just signed up for medical benefits from my new job. They are so much cheaper than the Cobra I was paying! At my old job, I had Tufts, and I was paying $204 a month. Then, when I lost that job, I picked up Cobra. That was even worse: $341.40 a month!! If I wasn't on so many prescriptions, I might have just said forget it until I found a new job. But Cobra was actually cheaper than paying full price for my meds.

Anyways, my new benefits will be with Tufts, and I am only paying $169.60 a month. That's $170.81 cheaper a month! I am so relieved about this. Especially as I am starting a new medication next week and the copay might be up to $100 a month.

This job just keeps getting better and better.

Happy Happy!

I have Citizens Banking, and they have this new rewards program. When you earn enough points for a $25 reward, you can either get it as cash, have it go into a savings, an IRA or a Money Market Account. I was thinking it's free money to start an IRA or MMA with, but I don't know much about them.

Is this a good idea, or should I wait til I have a bigger amount?

Today was my 1st day at the new job and it was great! I felt right at home. Eveything was really casual and relaxed (I love wearing jeans to work and listening to my iPod while I work!) and everyone was really nice. A nice bonus too, is I actually knew what I was doing. Guess I did pick some stuff up at my last job!

The commute was OK. I get home about 7:30 so it is about a 13 hour day for me. I just keep telling myself it is only 4 months, and then, if by any chance I can get a permanent job there, we can afford to move closer to the city so the commute will be better. But for now, it's only a short time, the money is excellent, the experience is great, and I can read ofr na hour on the way home every night.

I just picked up a freelance job to write 6-8 question quizes. They can be on absolutley anything. I'm getting $50 fo writing 64 of them ($.75 each). Not a whole lot, but it will be fun, and I'll have plenty of time on my new commute to work on them!

Last night me and my BF went to dinner with my friend L. Then we hung at her house, played some board games. We came home early because it is a 45 minute freeway drive and we didn't want to be on the road with the drunks. Went to bed just after midnight. Not too exciting. I never liked NYEve anyways.

Today was a No Spender. Just hung around today and watched TV. It was raining all day, so I didn't mind. Starting to get nervous about the new job. Looking forward to it, though.

January No Spenders: 1

I have a rough estimate of how much my take-home pay will be based on what percentage was taken out of each paycheck from my last job. I am expecting there to be a larger percentage taken out because I now make more, but I am not sure exactly how much. As a result, this new budget is an estimate of the low end, and I will tweak it when I get my first paycheck. Hopefull my take home pay will be more than anticipated and I'll have more left over for savings/debt.

Monthly Budget
Rent $625
Health Ins. $341.50
Meds $70*
Car Ins. $82.08
Cable $53.27
Cell Phone $50
Home Phone/Internet $55
Electricity/Gas for home $200
Cas for Car: $150
Groceries $300
Commuter Rail Pass $250
WW $39.95
LBCC $100
ATTCC $300

Extra $83.15

*(This will be going up by at least $100 starting in late January for a new medication I will need to take. However, once I know how much it will be, I will be applying for financial assistance for it.)

I figured it was close enough to 2008 to post my next years financial goals. I was able to complete a couple of my 2007 ones (paid off my car, pay off my credit service debt, save $1,000 for Vegas) and I'm hoping with this new better paying job 2008 will be even better.

2008 Financial Goals
1. Pay off ATTCC (about $3,300)
2. Pay off LBCC ($1,177.07)
3. Pay Mums back $800
4. Save $1,000 in EF (currently at $90.29)
5. Save $1,000 for taxes by April 1st (currently at $73.32)

I am horrible at math. If I want to know what percentage of my paycheck gets taken out each pay period for taxes, or what percentage I put into savings, how do I figure that out???

Thanks!

In Boston at 4pm! Heading in on the train at about 1pm. Wish me luck!

Christmas was great. Got some great gift cards: Olive Garden, Barnes and Noble, and even one to Shaws along with a new cook book! Everyone seemed happy and like they had a great day. Hope everyone here did as well.

In other news, my aunt passed away on Christmas Eve. She was in her early 70's but very sick with cancer. She'd been in and out of the hospital for a while, and hit a point where the chemo was actually doing her more harm than good. I wasn't very close to her, but am kinda close to her son, my cousin. I feel so bad for him and his family.

And finally, a random thought, that X-mas Eve and X-mas Day were both No Spenders for me.

December No Spenders: 9

I got a job interview!! YAY! It's next Thursday afternoon. In Boston. As a freelance, full-time proofreader! For a real publishing compnay! YAY!

Can you tell I'm excited?! I figure this has to be fate, because I originally applied for the job in the beginning of December, and about 2 days later recieved an e-mail saying the job was filled, but if they got anything else, they would let me know. I figured it was the usual brush-off. But then the person I had sent my resume to e-mailed me today to ask me to come in next week to "chat." And he asked "if all goes well" could I start full-time the first week of January! Why yes, I can!

Plus...it's next door to a gigamungous Barnes and Noble! Fate I tell you!

I'm so excited.....

Not much going on. Spent the day mostly looking online for some freelance work (there's very little right now). Listed a few things on ebay. I'm in a "Let's get rid of everything" mood, as well as a "Let's sell stuff because we need money" mood.

We also looked at 2 apartments today. Both are cheaper than where we are now, plus I'm sure quieter since we won't have the psycho neightbor next door. But I think I am spoiled by all the fancy features is this place. The others were OK; one was really cute, but there is no way we could fit everything we have there. We'd have to get rid of 1/2 our furniture, and I don't want to. I think we may keep looking...

Other than that, nothing much new. A book I ordered came in, but I am waiting til after X-mas to pick it up since I am getting a GC to the bookstore from Mums and Dad (they do one every year!). Today was a No Spender.

December No Spenders: 6

So yesterdays meds at CVS ended up being more than I thought. Turns out the copay on the 3 generic were $10 each and the non-generic one as $40! Eeek! I've tried the generic version of that one med, but I can't take it. It doesn't work for me. But at least $70 for meds is better than the almost $300 I'd be paying without health insurance.

On a side note, I just renewed my car insurance for another year. Last year was my first year with Liberty Mutual, and I was pretty happy with them. I'd love to find a cheaper insurance, but none of the other ones (Geico, AllState, State Farm, etc) cover Mass. At any rate, last year I paid $1,024.44 for insurance ($85.37 a month). Since I am now a repeat customer, I got a small discount and my yearly rate for 2008 is now $984.96 ($82.08 a month). A savings of $3.29 a month or $39.48 a year. Yay! It's not a HUGE discount, but every bit counts and I'm happy with it. I'm especially happy I now pay under $1,000 a year for car insurance. And another bonus? When it is time to renew for 2009, my driving record will be completely clean (as long as I don't get a ticket or mess up between now and then) and my discount will be even bigger. Yay for repeat customer discounts!

Not much going on money-wise today. At Mom and Dads, watching football, wrapping holiday gifts, and waiting for dinner. On the way home tonight I need to pick up my meds at CVS. This will be the first time I get them with my new insurance, so I'm not sure how much they will be. 3 of the 4 are generic, so they should be about $10 each. I think the non-generic one is around $25. I'm thinking should be about $60 for all of them. Let's hope it's not more than that!

Other than my meds (a very big necessity) today has been a No Spender. Now, just to get ONLY the meds and not the Twinkies I am craving at the store tonight...

I'm a little confused right now, as we have about $125 MORE in the checking account than I thought. I beleve all the bills have cleared. I have no idea where the extra money came from. Mind you, I'm not complaining; an extra $125 is awesome. Only I'm worried about why we have it.

I don't keep track of our balance really, just kinda of a runningn total in my head. I know I should keep a written log, but I always forget to write things down, and then I get lazy with it.

Anyways, so tonight I checked the balance to make sure I was in the right area (what a horrible way to manage our money, huh???) and found more than I thought in there. We're going to wait a few more days, just to make sure it's not already earmarked for something, then if it is still available, we can use it for some bills or something.

I guess I really should start writing it all down, huh? I will really try harder. This is a good slip up; I hate to think of how icky a bad slip up could be! We got lucky this time, and I'd rather not test that luck again.

I'm very excited! A friend of mine reccommended me as a tarot reader at a local new age store. I went down and talked to the woman today, and she hired me! Yay!

I will be at the store on Thurs from 2-7:30pm and Fri from 2-5pm. About 8.5 hrs a week. I don't get paid for the time I am there, rather, I am there in case someone wants a tarot reading. I get paid for the readings I do. Well, me and the store owener. We are doing a 50/50 split for now, which is FAB with me. The owner says if it picks up, then she will hopefully be able to do a different split with us readers getting more of the money.

At any rate, I am really happy about this. It will give me something to do until I find full time work, plus it will get me some regular clients and some extra cash. Yay me.

Hmmm, now if only I could find a bunch of part time freelance jobs, I wouldn't have to go back to work full time...

With losing my job, my medical got all messed up. Not only did I have to wait for my COBRA to kick in, but while I was waiting, the company I worked for switched insurance companies. As a result, my new insurance coverage began on November 1st, but I didn't get the card or policy number until the 25th. So, I have some things I am claiming for reimbursement from the insurance company.

There is no reason these should not go through, but I have learned not to trust insurance companies too much. As long as they go through in a reasonable time, I'll be happy.

I'll be getting $79 back from a Dr visit I made, and $214.19 for some prescriptions I had to pick up. A toal of $293.19. As much as I would love to throw that at the debt, if I am not working when it comes in, I will use it for regular expenses. But if I get lucky and am working before then, it will so be going on the CC!

Lost another 1.4 lbs this week on WW! Now at a total of 13 lbs lost!

Another pound that is! Lost 1 lb this week. Down 11.6 pounds! Yay me~