Last couple of days have been OK. Thursday I worked, made about $27. Slow day. Thursday night friends of ours came over for dinner. One friend is an amazing hairstylist. She dyed my hair and cut it for me...at no charge! The dye and supplies she needed equaled her half of the $ for pizza, so we called it even! I ended up with a $100 haircut/dye for $16!!! Yay!

Friday was a NSD for me. Felt good; haven't had one of those in AGES!

Yesterday (Sat) I worked and came home with a whole $13. REALLY slow day. Stopped and picked up about $100 worth of groceries for $45. Yay for discount grocery stores!!

Today I am heading to the movies with my best friend; going to see Angels and Demons. So excited! We're hitting the matinee so it will be cheaper.

Happy Sunday all!

Had my tarot party the other night. Well, wasn't my tarot party, but it was a tarot party I worked. I was there for about 3 1/2 hours. It was local, so that was very nice. I had 8 clients and made $160!! Whoo-hoo! I handed out my business cards, so hopefully I will get a few more calls for parties or individual readings from it.

Not much else going on. Seems like all I do it drive to and from work. I am there 3 days a week and then I drive my BF there another day, so we are making a 2 hours round trip drive 4 out of 7 days. Getting very tired. Hopefully something more local comes up soon. I'm heading to talk to a store owner on Tuesday who wants me to do readings there, so that will be something.

My lucky number is 1. At least, it's my luck number for today. Who knows what it will be tomorrow.

Brought home $111 from work today. Had a slew of readings, all long ones, and some great tippers.

It has felt good working these past few days but I am exhausted. Fatigue is kicking my butt right now. I actually fell asleep at one point today when I had a break from clients. I'm so looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow.

Had another great surprise with my Mass health insurance. I think I already posted that my therapy had no copay, which rocks. And I found out yesterday that my MS meds, Copaxone, are only $3 a month!!! This is HUGE since without insurance they are $2K a month.

I really feel lucky with all these financial things turning around for me. But I think as much as it is things getting better, a lot is from the support and encouragement from everyone here. You all have helped me be excited about saving money, selling online, and aiming for NSDs again.

Thanks to you all. I love you guys!!

I jinxed myseld last night. I was doing a count out of how much cash I had and needed to deposit. I came up to $165 and said to myself "If I can earn $35 at work tonight that would be great because I would have $200 to deposit." I made exactly $35 last night. LOL

It's great because I made the $35, but sheesh, I wish I had said I needed to earm more, like $100!

Picked up another extra shift this week at the store. I'll be there today from 12-6.

On a sad note, a kid names Michael that worked at the store passed away. He was only 18. He had a very aggressive form of cancer. His wake is tonight. He has been around the store for almost 10 years, and everyone loved him. A lot of people from the store have taken this week off to mourn. I am picking up the extra shifts; I never got the chance to meet Michael. He had taken a leave from the store by the time I started there.

We are getting another big storm tonight. I just got home and am glad to be here. It's cold and wet and snowy and icky.

It was a quiet day at work today. Had 3 readings, brought home $54. Not bad considering the snow storm.

I bought myself a gift today, too. It's a new ring. Amethyst stone, the triple Goddess symbol, and moons and stars carved into the band. Got a great deal on it' only $25. A V-day gift for myself.

I made it! I made today a No Spender! Yay! It was hard...at work my tummy was growling and I really wanted to go to DnD next door for a bagel. But I held out, and instead had yummy crab meat soup and wheat tortillas at home.

Other quick news, I brought home $68 tonight. Only 2 customers, but both were very generous. One gave me a $10 tip and the other gave me a $20 tip. I was definitely being looked out for by my angels tonight!

Before work I managed to list 3 items on Ebay. One is a little porcelain witch-doll, and the other 2 are brand new dressed, both with the tags still on them. I've listed the dresses before, with no bites, but maybe this time something will come of it.

Night all!

Your positive thoughts worked...I brought home $80 last night; exactly how much I needed.

Hmmmm, can we do that for tonight, too? LOL

In other news, I sold a DVD on half.com this morning! A great way to start the Feb for the Ebay challenge. Feb total: $4.08

Nothing else going on today. Going to go tot he bookstore because I finished the book I was reading, and all my other books are at the new apartment an hour away. But I still have $$ left on a gift card I got for X-mas, so I won't be spending any money. Then, working again tonight. Going to try to make it a NSD.

Happy Sunday everyone!

Well, I did it. I managed to make yesterday a NSD, and it was my 2nd in a row! Whoo-hoo! It was also my 7th for the month of January.

Today won't be a No Spender. My car is at the mechanics getting an oil change and check up. I'm praying to the car gods that it doesn't need any other work.

When Mums gets home from work, we are going to a local curtain and bathroom outlet store. They have the cutest stuff for bathrooms, plus curtains, rugs, home decorations, and even furniture. Oh, and Mums has a 10% off coupon on our entire purchase. I still need 3 curtains for the new dinning room. I have some from my current living room I can use if I don't find anything else, but they aren't the right length and look funny. I also need to pick up a small rug and maybe toilet seat cover for the bathroom. The ones we have now have been in my bathroom for 6 years, and are disgusting.

So, I will be spending, but I am going to try to keep it in check.

I made good money at work last night. Brought home $83, including $8 in tips. Two of the 5 clients I had said they were impressed and would be back to see me again. Go me.

I also just transferred $25.76 from my paypal account to my checking. I'd like to throw it at the EF, but I need to pay bills first. :P

Happy Thursday everyone!

One thing I have been worrying about lately is where to get the extra money to contribute to my savings accounts. I am still not working (except at the tarot store), and have not heard anything from SSDI yet.

With not having a steady monthly income, everything that does come in really needs to go to living expenses. All tarot money, online sale profits, found money, needs to go to monthly expenses like rent, food, bills. It's hard to find that extra money to throw in my savings.

I do, of course, put a little in my savings when I can, but it is slow going. I feel like I will never have a decent EF, or enough for a house down payment, hell, even enough for a new couch at $250!

I guess my question is when you are on a fixed income, or getting an income that barely covers the basics, where do you find extra money for savings? Especially when what would normally be considered extra money (ebay sales, etc) has to be put towards the basics so it really isn't extra at all?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ok, enough worrying...one a quick side note, I worked the tarot store and had only one reading. Brought home $16. Working tonight as well, so hopefully it will be a better night.

One bonus to working last night was that my friend who plays the SIMS games and was going to sell me hers for $60 was in and we worked out a deal. She is going to install the game I have and give it back to me and I am going to borrow her games and install them and give them back. Since they don't need the disc to work, I can borrow them and then play them after giving the discs back. No money spent and I still get all those new expansion packs! Yay!

It was a struggle but I managed to make yesterday a No Spender. When I was filling in my spending excel sheet, I saw that one day last week I also had a No Spender. I bought a coffee at DnD that day, but used a GC so it counts as a NSD for me. That makes 2 this month and it is only the 7th! Yay!

Would love to hit 5 this month, maybe even the long shot goal of 10...

Not today though. BF and I have been having a massive IHOP pancake cravings for a couple of weeks now. We have been holding off and I'm glad we did. They are now running an all you can eat pancake special, plus I found 6 coupons in the mail this week for buy one meal get one free! So tonight we decided to have IHOP pancakes for dinner. Yummy!

Last night I worked at the tarot store. Had a decent night. 3 readings, 2 over the phone and one in-store, and they were all 30 minute readings. Brought home $71. Yay! $6 of it was in singles, so they went into my personal allowance and the rest is waiting to be deposited at the bank.

Happy Thursday everyone and Happy Elvis Birthday!

Didn't go to work last night because I wasn't feeling good. Still felt poopy today but I went in since I need the money. I'm glad I did, too!

I had 4 readings. 2 were repeat customers of mine. One of those actually called in looking specifically for me and only wanted a reading with me. Of the other 2, one had never had a reading before and after it was over said it was great and he will definitely see me again. Yay, another client!

Now that I am working there 3 nights a week, it is really good to know I have repeat clients and am building a client base.

I made $70 tonight, and was given $14 in tips, so my total is $84. One thing I have started doing is taking any $1 bills I bring home and using that as my spending money (as long as it isn't more than $10 per day I work). It is the only money I use for my allowance and whatever I want, and also what I am allowed to use when BF needs/wants something. The rest all goes into the bank account.

From the bank account it goes to bills, groceries, debt, or savings. I had $40 left from last week I hadn't had a chance to deposit yet. I took $9 in singles, and put the other $75 to the deposit pile. This gives me $115 to deposit tomorrow.

Actually, I forgot. I also have $9 from BF, $18 in rolled change, and a survey check for $10 to deposit tomorrow. So I really have $152 to deposit. Not bad!!

PS, today was a NSD. Well, I spent $5, but it was with a gift card so I don't count it.

Hope everyone had a Happy Holiday! Mine was wonderful...had a great time with the family, and there were miraculously no fights! Got some very nice presents, and ate a lot of very good food!

Financially, not much is going on. I haven't worked in about a week or so. Will be working tomorrow again, so I am looking forward to that.

Went to the bookstore today. Mums and Dads gave each of us a $50 gift card there! So hard to pick out just $50 with of books for me! I picked up 3 and still have about $10 left for another day.

I also received a $25 gift card to DnD and a $25 gift card to Michaels for craft supplies. Yay!

I just got a call from the tarot store. They offered me an additional 2 permanent shifts there! I accepted, of course. I will now be working there 3 nights a week: Sat, Sun and Wed, from 6-10. YAY!! Gives me 12 hours now.

I'm actually surprised I got offered the coveted Saturday night shift. Saturdays are the best days for readers, with it being the day the store is busiest. The only way my boss would have offered the Sat shift to me is if clients have been overheard complimenting me or specifically booking readings with me.

I'm getting popular!

Worked last night at the Tarot store. Was there for 4 hours, and had 3 readings. Came home with $54. Yay!

Also had a friend there give me a reading re: my SSDI and it looks good!

Last night I got a phone call from the local social security administration office. The woman who called has some questions for me re: my application. After talking about work history, she gave me some possibly great news.

Before I can receive disability, I have to be not working due to my illness for 5 months. I thought they meant no work at all, but it is actually not being gainfully employed. Basically, not earning a specific amount. This means I can keep my tarot job, since I don't earn a lot there and actually am only guaranteed 4 hours a week.

But the better news is this: I started working from home om my freelance job in June. The woman said that the amount of work I did and money I earned wasn't enough to interfere with my SSDI. In other words, I may have already had my 5 months of not being gainfully employed.

She said as soon as she gets a from from me I need to sign, she will present it to the medical team for a decision. I cold get approved and start getting checks by the end of January, rather than June!

This is great news, and takes such a stress off my shoulders. I've been thinking I may have to just suck it up and find work, despite the fact that I can barely walk around my apartment without pain and my cane. I mean, right now I can't even stand long enough to do dishes, let alone work an 8 hour shift.

I really do. I got a bunch of things done that I needed to do in order to get financial things rolling better.

Filled out the Food Stamps App. Just need a copy of my 1099 and a copy of my license. Then it is off the the mail.

Also spoke to the woman helping me with the SSDI claim. I have a form my neuro needs to fill out at my next appointment, which is Thursday, and she is sending me another form that I can send to MassHealth. That form will complete my application for health insurance.

I also filled out the 2 forms I needed to defer my student loans for 6 months due to not working. Plopping them in the mail today.

And finally, not finance related, but wrote out my holiday cards last night and mailing them today.

Who-hoo!

Tomorrow night is the holiday party for the tarot store. It's at a chinese restaurant. BF and I are both going. I think it will be fun, but I am hoping it is not expensive. Since this is the first one we've been to, I don't know if we have to buy our own dinners or what.

They are doing a Yankee Swap, but BF and I have elected not to participate. They asked for each person who wanted to do it to bring in a $20 gift. WHAT?!?! Every other Tankee Swap I've done had like a $5 or $10 limit. But $20 a gift, and there being 3 of us, well, we don't have $40 extra bucks for some gift swapping. So, we are not going to be a part of it, but I also know of at least one other person who will be at the party but isn't going to be involved.

And speaking of the holidays, last night I finished shopping for sister. That means only Mums is left, and I need to make L's gift. So cliose to being done! Of course, then comes all the wrapping...

Anywho, today I am meeting my sister for a matinee movie and lunch. Looking forward to it, but I will have to be careful to order something not only inexpensive from the menu, but also healthy and sugar and flour free. Happy Saturday everyone!

Not much to report these last few days. I went to an OA meeting and am now following the program. No sugar and no flour. Ugh, the sugar cravings I am having!! But today is Day 2 on program. When I went to the meeting, I donated $2. There is no fee, and they run on donations, and it is asked that everyone donate a dollar or two. $8 a month? Even I can handle that!

Last night I worked and earned $13. Very slooooow day.

Today we went to Mums and Dads. Now just hanging around. Not much going on at all.

Bad bad day today.

1st: Lost $10. I had $83, I gave $3 to BF, $15 to therapy, $5 at DnD, $9 to post office. I should have $51 left, but I have $41 left. Not making me happy.

2nd: In order to qualify for SSDI, I can't work for 5 months. At all. This includes me 4 hours a week at the Tarot Store. How the F*CK am I supposed to survive with NO INCOME for 5 months??? But here's the kicker: when I am approved for SSDI, I can work part time and earn up to $900 a month from a job. WTF??? So I may have to give up the tarot store, just when I am starting to build my own client base.

3rd: Holiday season. I like Christmas and Yule, but not the whol holiday season. I have seasonal depression, which means the short days and long nights makes me very depressed. Add to the the fact the I get depressed and feel alone (even with friends and family) during the holidays, and it gets even worse. Today is a Bah Humbug Day.

I worked tonight and made some good money. $73 for readings and $10 in tip. $83 for 5 hours of work. Yay! That is actually the most I have earned in one day doing readings, so I am very happy. One woman I read for is a repeat client, one was just crazy and I hope to never read for again, and and I had two new clients who I think will be repeats for me. The best way to work there is to build up a client list of people who prefer to read with you. I think these two women will be repeats for me. At least, I hope they will.

Anywho, I owe BF $3, and I will take my $10 in tips and my fun money. The other $70 is being split: $50 in the bank for household expenses and $20 to Mums to start paying for the laptop.

Night everyone!

Went into work tonight from 6-10. It was dead quiet. I had one reading, and the woman was crazy. Seriously; there are a list of readers who won't even read for her anymore. I'm one of only 2 or 3 who will read for her. I'm not sure I will read for her again. Everything I told her she argued with me. Hmmm, OK, if YOU can see the future, why are you paying ME for a reading???

Anywho, boss let us leave early so at 9:20 I left. I earned $13.

But, trying to be positive, it is better than nothing.

Yesterday was a pretty good day. Spent way too much money on eating out. $12 at DnD for lunch for me and BF and then $20 on dinner for the both of us. Not a huge amount, but we shouldn't have spent any at all. I do need to go to the grocery store today, though, so there will be no more eating out for a bit.

Ended up getting called into work last night for a few hours. I like working Tuesdays, since that is a day BF works there so we get to work together. Made $50. Yay! $20 will go to savings, $20 to Mom for the laptop, and $10 for me for the week. Also working tonight, so hopefully I can make another $50 or so!

Picked up 3 meds yesterday; $60. I'm still waiting to hear about MassHealth. Will be a couple of weeks I think.

Wow, just reread what I wrote...kinda boring! LOL Maybe I'll have more exciting news later. *smile*

Got dressed, went out in the rain, showed up at work, and found out I wasn't scheduled to work tonight. Bleh!!

So instead I came home, changed back into the comfy PJs, and made some necklaces. I love them both, but am thinking of selling them on etsy. Maybe not these two, but I think I will make some more. I have tons of supplies and only need to pick up one or two things. Should be less than $10, and hopefully I can make some money.

Watching Iron Chef America right now and the secret ingredient is chocolate. Yummmmm...Think I will bake tonight or tomorrow. We have choc-chip cookie and brownie mix. Both from the Dollar Store. I heart the Dollar Store. *smile*

Hello. Well, I haven't written much in the last few days because there just hasn't been much to talk about.

Just transferred $50 from my paypal account to my bank account. Profts from selling itmes on Ebay. I also have a few other thinks I found that I want to get on Ebay soon.

I've spent some money over the last few days, but not too much. I spent about $14 at CVS, but the original total was $30 an I saved with ECB. Yay! And then, with what I purchased, I earned another $15 or so in ECB. I think I will use ECB to get stuff for BFs stocking. Probably lots of candy. *smile*

Hmmm, what else. Nothing really. Working tonight so hopefully I will bring home a couple bucks. It's been slow at the store. I guess a combination of the economy and people saving their money for holiday shopping. But I do have to say, it cracks me up when people pay $30 a week to get tarot readings to ask when their finances are going to get better. Ummm, maybe if you didn't spend $120 a month on tarot readings...? But hey, I really can't complain as their money is what pays me. *smile*

...again. *sigh* I'm not going to go into the long story, but I spent $40 on a necklace. I'll just say it is one I saw, literally, 9 years ago for about $100 that I wanted, but I didn't buy. I have regretted it ever since and have looked for it ever since. Turns out a girl I work with has the exact necklace and sold it to me for $40. Totally worth it to me, and I figure it is a nice holiday gift to myself.

Worked tongiht and earnerd $22. Then, we spent $20 on dinner tonight.

And I bought a coffee and bagel. $5.

*hanging head in shame*

In other news, I had an appointment today to apply for MassHealth. Seems easy enough, and since I am not working right now (except that tarot store) the guy I met with said I should get it. Let's hope so. Even if I have to pay for it (some people qualify for free health insurance through MassHealth) it will be substantially less that I pay now with Cobra. Yay for government sponsored health insurance!

Happy Turkey Day, everyone!

Today was again an almost NSD. I had my appointment today to start applying for SSDI. I'm working with a non-profit (kinda) that acts as your advocate, lawyer, etc. They do all the paperwork, all the filing, everything. They are partially a non-profit in that they only get paid if you get approved for SSDI and get a retro payment to cover the months you didn't earn anything while you were waiting for the SSDI decision. IF I get approved, I'll get around $750 a month, be eligable to earn up to another $900 in a part-time job. The fee (if I have to pay one) will be $1,000. Definately worth it to me. At any rate, I did have to pay a $20 fee today to the company for filing fees and fees they need to pay to get copies of my medical records.

I also spent $2.52 finishing up a holiday gift for my friend A. Just a small finishing touch.

So, not quite a NSD, but spending in a worthwhile way. *smile*

This afternoon I got a call from the tarot store asking me to cover a shift tonight. Of course I said yes. Made $48, brought home $45.48 after picking up the items for A. So this puts my new total towards holiday shopping at $45 (I spent the other $20 from Sunday on the appt fee today). Not bad, and I am working again tomorrow. *smile*

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Had a pretty busy day money-wise today. I got my freelance check, finally! Wahoo! And I submitted my last invoice for my freelance job today, so now I am waiting for this new freelance check. It is for $500. But I got the big $1,100 one today, so I'm very happy.

I also picked up my meds. Only $18! I love Walgreens! They $4 generics have saved me more than I can count.

Earlier in this week, I posted about a book I had listed on Craigslist: a first edition of Wicked. Someone wanted to buy it, but we were trying to figure it out b/c he didn't want me to mail it, and I wasn't going to go into the city to meet him. I really thought it would fall through. But today he came to the town I live in and we met at the T station (the subway). Paid in cash and a happy exchange was made. $25 for me. $18 went to my meds and the other $7 went into my pocket. Actually, it only went into my pocket until I got home, and then it went into the Holiday Gift Fund.

I also picked up 2 holiday gifts today. Both books, both for half the cover prices on half.com and brand new. Total for the 2 books plus shipping was $27.71 One is for my best friend A and one is for my BF. The book will be the only thing I get A, since it is a big and usually expensive book. BF will get a few other small things since the book was very inexpensive. Dads is half done. Got him a Life is Good golf t-shirt and golf towel. Still need to pick up a GC to his favorite cigar shop. Mums isn't done yet. Getting her a CD and a DVD, so I am waiting for Black Friday when they will all be really cheap. Same for BIL, he's getting 2 DVDs I will pick up on Black Friday. Sis is half done, some Elvis stuff. I am also knitting her some fingerless gloves now that I know how. About half-way done with those. And then I need to knit a pair of gloves for my best friend L. And that's it for holiday shopping. Not a big list, and with making things this year it makes it less expensive and more personal.

Found a penny on the ground today, but it was a Canadian penny. What's that equal to now, 2 or 3 of our pennies? *smile*

Last night when BF got home from work, he went to change into his PJs and he "found" $1.02 in change in his jean pockets. He says he has no idea where it came from.

He put it on my dresser, and walked away. The rule in this house is unless you keep it hidden from me, all change goes into the Cash In the Bag (which is actually a jar...). Today I swept it up and added it to the jar. *smile*

On a non-financial note, yesterday morning I woke up and my face was swollen. My lips are swollen, my jawline, and my left eye. Really swollen and puffy. I figured maybe I was bit by something while I slept (we find 3 or 4 spiders a week in this place). Took an extra allergy pill and it looked like it started to go down over the day. Woke up this morning and it is just as bad as it was yesterday. Can't figure it out. I'm hesitant to go to the Dr. since I don't have one up here. I would have to go to the ER, and besides an all day wait, it is a $50 co-pay. My throat and tongue aren't swollen, and I feel fine otherwise, except for the itchies. I guess if it doesn't go away by Fri I'll have to see the Dr. I am working the tarot store tonight and I'm concerned nobody will want a reading with me: I look a little freaky-creepy!

Well, today we were planning on going and getting BF a new state ID (he doesn't drive so he doesn't have a license). His expired in September, and we just haven't had a chance to get a new one. Finally today we were going to get there.

Then I got a call from my freelance job and turns out they need a bunch of stuff due in today by 5 instead of the original due date. So instead I have been working all afternoon (so good to feel important again!). I still have a few more hours worth of work, but I figured I'd take a break to post here while I am downloading stuff I need. We'll do the ID tomorrow or Wed.

BF has been sitting on the couch counting out his extra Hecatomb cards. It is a role-playing game he plays in. He got a massive amount of brand new boxes of the cards from a friend over the summer, so he took what he wanted/needed, and we are going to sell the rest on Ebay. So far he has over 1,000 extra cards to sell, and he's still counting. We probably won't get too much for them, but selling them as one big lot should bring in about $50. BF's computer broke two nights ago, so he is on a mission to get as much extra $$ as he can to buy a new one as soon as he can. The $$ from his Hecatomb cards will go towards that.

Oh, and get this. I had an Ebay listing posted for a lot of collectable vinyl toys. It had 2 watchers on it about an hour after it posted. Ebay cancelled the listing because I put "Like New" in the header. HUH?? How wierd is that? They said it voilated the listing rules because you were only allowed to put specifics related to the item in the listing title. Ummmm, isn't "New" "MIB" and "Like New" related to the item? Grrrr, I was so mad. So, I deleted that from the title and relisted it. Of course, nobody is watching it now. Poo. Hopefully whoever was watching it yesterday will search for the toys again and re-watch them. Ebay boogers.

I also put a few books up on craigslist. One is a First Edition of "Wicked" by Gregory Maguire. It is in brand new condition, so I listed it for $25. I got an email from a guy who wants to buy it. Yay! We are trying to figure out how to do the exchange since he doesn't want to come out to the city I live in and I don't want to go to the city he lives in. I told him I can mail it to him for an additional $5, but he doesn't want to spend $$ on shipping. Makes me mad, b/c he is acting like if I want to make the sale I need to go to him. Ummm, no. You need to come to me. I'm not going to spend my money to go to you. But I'm afriad if I insist on him coming out here he will say forget it and I will lose the sale. Should I risk it and if I lose the sale just hope someone else wants to buy it???


PS. BF just finished counting his cards...almost 1,700 extra to sell!!!

I went along with my tarot store today to a Holistic Health Expo. The store I work at had some tables set up and a bunch of merchandise. I was there with another psychic and we did readings all day.

I made $80! Happy Happy!

We really needed the money, and this is a huge help. I'm hoping I can afford to put about half of it aside for holiday shopping, but it just depends on how much I make Wed night and the rest of the week.