I haven't been around here much lately for a few reasons. First, I am not working right now (don't start the new job til Monday the 4th) so I am not sitting in front of the computer for 8 hours a day. Second, my boyfriend and I are now livng together. He moved out here from Vegas to be with me. Things are FAB!!!!

So, since he hasn't been out here much, we have spent a lot of this past two weeks going out and doing things...eating out A LOT, driving around a lot, plus general x-mas shopping and stuff. He is not working yet (looking for a job), and I am taking a paycut for this new job.

Money is very tight.

So, I am really going to have to tighten that finanacial belt. Once he gets working that will help some, but it will still be tight. Back to counting every cent I spend and tracking my finances. Ugh.

Although it was a bad idea financially, it still rocked these last two weeks just pretending money was not an issue and doing what we wanted.

Oh well, play time is over. Gotta get back to the frugal life now.

Today will be a NO SPEND DAY!!!

I have plenty of food in the house as me and the boy went shopping last night. I don't have to go anywhere so there will be no gas in the car spent. We have 3 new movies coming in the mail today from Netflix.

I haven't had a No Spend Day in months! Today is the day!

It will be a NO SPEND DAY!

I saw a commercial for a free "thing" after reabte last night on tv. I can't remember what the damn thing was.

Anyone seen anything recently?

Well, it is here I hang my head in shame and admit that I have begun to get sucked into the CC habit again. My Med CC has seen some activity lately, and shameful to say, it hasn't been on medical stuff. I have been using it a bit too much.

I'm not sure what the total balance on it is, but I am guestimating it is around $1,700

I'll update with exact numbers later when I get the guts to call and check on the actual balance. Until then, I did just make a fairly large payment on it.

Med CC Balance: $1,700.00 (?)
Payment 11/27/06: $466.21
New Med CC Balance: $1,233.79


Debt Tally:
$11,254.08 to Mom
$1,335.40 LB CC
$1,233.79 Medical CC
$6.465.12 CC Debt
---------------
TOTAL DEBT: $20,288.39

OK, so it's not quite the end of the month, but you all know I get impatient and always cash in my cange jar a little early. So, technically, it is about 4 weeks since the last time I cashed it in.

I tried something new this month: saving all my change AND all my $1 bills. I don't think spent any more than I usually do, and I think this tactic may have helped me save more $ than usual. I was very hesitant to break a larger bill for a small purchase, where before I'd just use the $1 bills, so I think it helped me spend less b/c I just didn't want to break those larger bills.

At any rate, it helped me add a big amount to my $20 Challenge/EF account this month.

ING Account (aka $20 Challenge) Old Total: $409.51
$1 Bills Added: $35.00
Change Jar Added: $18.00
New Total: $462.51

I saw one other blogger did this and thought it looked like fun. So, here we go...

Things I Have Never Bought:

1. A house
2. A pet (yay local animal rescue shelters!)
3. Sex
4. Friendship
5. A motorcycle
6. Wallpaper
7. A new bed frame (or a used one)
8. ...

Umm, this is hard...to be continued

Got both survey checks in the mail this week! More $$ into the ING/$20 account!


ING Account (aka $20 Challenge) Old Total: $389.51
Survey Checks (2): $20.00
New Total: $409.51

Just got a DD from 1/2.com for more books sold. Can always use extra $, especially now with the holidays here.

ING Account (aka $20 Challenge) Old Total: $373.17
Half.com DD $15.80
New Total: $389.51

Thank you all for your advice!! You guys really gave me a lot to think about, adn I really appreciate it. I know this is "just a blog" but I feel like you're all friends and I love you all!!

I decided to take the new job. Many a good point was made about following my dreams, as well as the fact that doing what love is important. One of you (I won't betry who) even commented that *Gasp - saying this on a money saving forum!* "Money isn't everything" and you are completely right. Eventually, the money will follow, and right now it's better to be happy.

THANKS TO YOU ALL!!!!

1. I have been overweight my whole life (I now weight about 325 lbs), but think I am sexy and really have no desire to change how my body looks.

2. I met my boyfriend online.

3. I have kissed/fooled around with several women, and believe that there is no reason to cut off half the population from being your soul mate if you are attracted to both sexes.

4. I have 2 cats: Pagan October Dragonfly Errington Whitsitt-Lynch Healy and Solstice Angelface Errington Healy. I call them booger for short.

5. I was once in an abusive realtionship and let the man con me into $20,000 of credit card debt, which I am still working on paying off.

6. I sucked my thumb until I was 8, and have a small overbite. On the day I was going to the orthadontist to get my teeth fit for braces, I accidentally slammed my front teeth with the bathroom door (it was stuck and I yanked really hard) so hard that it knocked my teeth back into place and I have never gotten braces.

7. My sister, Mums, and Dad are my 3 best friends ever.

8. In just over 20 years I have been to over 200 concerts.

9. I have met a ton of famous people, including Metallica, Tori Amos, Adam Sandler, David Spade, Wierd Al, Kathy Najimy, Gloria Steinem, Bon Jovi, George Clinton, Dave Matthews, Aerosmith, and many many more.

10. I was picked on so badly in Jr. High and elementary school that I ended up taking 3 1/2 years of Karate and earned a brown belt.

11. I was a Girl Scout until I graduated high school, and now, 10 years later, my old troop and troop leaders still get together for lunch occasionally.

12. I am sloooooowly teaching myself to speak Irish Gaelic.

13. My dream wedding takes place at Stonehenge.

14. I have 7 tattoos: blue cresent moon on my foot, a goddess on my thigh, a sun on my back, a huge bunch of flowers on my back, a red rosebud on my right breast, a day lilly on my shouler, and a cat with wings on my wrist.

15. I have 9 piercings in my ears, my tongue pierced, and my nose pierced. I used to have my left nipple pierced twice.

16. I have 2 college degrees: a BFA in Creative Writing and an MA in Professional Writing. I can't wait to go back to school again!

17. I am Wiccan and have been practicing for over 10 years now. I am a paid tarot card reader, and I also see and talk to spirits on a very regualr basis (my Nana visits me non-stop).

18. I slept over at the Lizzie Borden Bed and Breakfast House and did a full paranormal investigation for my birthday last year. I have voices on tape (EVP's) and several pictures of spirits.

19. I LOVE to read and read an average of 4 books a week. I also read several books at the same time.

20. My older sister saved me from drowning twice: once when I was a year old in the bathtub and once when I was 27 in the Ocean. She only has one lung. (How's that for irony, ay?)

21. One of my favorite snacks is pickels wrapped in american cheese.

22. I am messy. Not, oh I forgot to put the laundry away messy. I mean, I have to clear a path on the floor just to walk through my apartment messy.

23. I once drove my Dad's brand new, 2 day old car the wrong way down a one way and narrowly missed totalling it.

24. When I was little, I'd hit my older sis in the back of the head, then hit my own arm so it was red and pretend to cry and tell my Mums that my sister hit me. She always got in trouble. And yet, she still saved me from drowning. Twice. With one lung. LOL

25. I am a Level 1 Reiki practitioner.

So, as you all know, I got the new job I wanted: editing and proofreading for a publishing company.

Here's the dilema....my current boss offered me a promotion and a good size raise to stay!!!

If I take the new job, I take a pay cut, and make about $27,000 a year. If I stay here, I get a raise to about $34,000 a year!!

But my current boss drives me crazy and I have always wanted a job in publishing. But right now $ is such an incentive with my debt...

I'm looking to my fellow bloggers and friends to help me figure this out...

ADVICE??????

I got the job! I'm starting in about 2 weeks! I'll be a proofreading/editing/production assistant at a company that publishes text books for kids from K-12.

YAY ME!

I so rock!!!!

I still haev A LOT of things to do before my friend gets here Thursday night, but I also need to get my butt in gear in my finances. Here's some of my weekend plans...

1. Clean out car - This will be helpful a couple of ways. First, it will make room in my car for my friends luggage when I pick him up at the airport. It's also one of the parts of my "house" I need to clean before he gets ehre. A financial bonus is taking all that junk out will help w/gas milage, and maybe I can find some spare change floating around somewhere.

2. Return soda bottles/cans - makes my house cleaning and also gives me a bit of change for the change jar.

3. Laundry away - by actually putting my clean laudry away, I don't think it's dirty and wash it when it's not needed. Also, the cats then can't sleep on it and get it all hairy, which requires another washing.

4. CLEAN THE REST OF THE HOUSE - I'm sure I'll find more change floating around...last night I found $.60 and all I did was clean off the entertainment cneter. Yay me!

This week's payout for my stairs challenge is $2.50 Plus, I had to use $3.00 for tolls on the road the other day, adn it came out of the change jar I have for my $20 Challenge, so I am replacing that with $ from my checking account.


ING Account (aka $20 Challenge) Old Total: $368.21
Added Stairs total week 1: $2.50
Replacement $ from Tolls: $3.00
New Total: $373.71

Here's the problem:

Originally, it was estimated I would pay about $7,200 total to settle all 3 CC's. Well, according to my payment log, I have a remaining balance to pay of $2,089.02 But I still have about $3,666.04 in prescheduled payments, plus one CC that hasn't settled yet that is about $3,000.

This would put my remaining CC debt at $6,666.04 (ooooh, all the 6s...creepy!).

I've already paid about $4,412.00 since August on them. So this together would put my original total CC debt at about $10,000.

I'm so confused.
I think it may be time to break it all down into individual CC's:

CC Debt Tally:
$4,434.06 CC1 (BoA)
$2,817.12 CC2 (WaMu)
$3,000 CC3 (Chase)
$1,987.20 Fee owed to Debt Settlers
---------------
$12,238.38 total CC debt to repay

CC Debt Already Paid:
-$1,478.02 CC1 BoA
-$2,112.24 CC2 WaMu
-$705 fee to Debt Settlers
----------------
$4,295.26 already paid
$7,943.12 remaining CC Debt to Pay

Other Debt Tally:
$9,054.08 to Mom
$1,335.40 LB CC
$588.58 Medical CC
---------------
Total: $10,978.06
+ CC debt: $7,943.12
---------------
TOTAL DEBT: $18,921.18

Now, originally, I had $13,248.36 in CC Debt and $1,348.10 on a LB CC and I originally owed Mums $5,500.00. This all totals $20,096.46 in debt.

Original Debt: $20,096.46
Payments Total: $1,175.28
Savings Debt Settlement: $1,010.12
New Debt Total: $17,911.06

I really think I'm getting screwed here. Ugh, what a headache I have.

OK, here's what I know to be true:
I currently owe Mom $9,054.08
I currently owe LBCC $1,335.40
I currently owe Med CC $588.58
I currently owe CC3 (Chace) $3,000
I currently owe CC2 (WaMu) $704.08
I currently owe CC1 (BoA) $2,956.04
I currently owe Debt Co $1,282.20
---------------------------------
I currently owe $18,920.38

I am trying to get the fee I owe the Debt Co down, sicne that was estimated on 36 months of service, and I will be using their service for 12 months, max. I will also be making my last payment of $704.08 to CC 2(WaMu) on Nov 30th, as well as prescheduled payments to C1 (BoA) on Nov 30th and December 31st, which will erase the remaining debt on there. Additionally, I have more $ to pay to the LB CC and the Med CC. So, with luck, I am hoping to start 2007 with a total debt of $14,560.26 (Down a total of $4,360.12 in 2 months).

Yikes, now I have a really big headache. *sigh* But at least the numbers are worked out and I know how much debt I truly have.

Old CC Total: $3,567.04
Payment 11/7: -$1,478.02
-------------------------
New CC Total: $2,089.02



Debt Tally:
$9,054.08 to Mom
$2,089.02 to credit cards
$1,335.40 LB CC
$588.58 Medical CC

Total: $13,067.08

Old Med CC Total: $640.58
Payment 11/07/06: -$52.00
-------------------------
New Med CC Total: $588.58

Debt Tally:
$9,054.08 to Mom
$3,567.04 to credit cards
$1,335.40 LB CC
$588.58 Medical CC

Total: $14,545.10

I'm not good on keeping up with housework. I hate putting things away, and so I usually don't. Then when my place becomes too jumbled, I go on a cleaning frenzy.

However.....

I have someone very special coming to visit me in.....10 DAYS!!! He'll be here around midnight on Nov 16th. So, in honor of his arrival, I'm cleaning.

The bonus?
(Besides the fact that I get to see him...)

I've found $0.67 so far.

LOL I had to look....just did a quick count of how much I have in my Change "Jar" and it's about $11.00 Of course this includes a little left over from last month, as well as a few $1 bils.

I always say I'm going to wait til the end of the month, then I jump the gun. LOL It's only the 7th!

But now I figure, if I can aim for $10 a week for the rest of the month, I'll begin December with $40 extra in my ING/EF $20 Challenge account.

My sis, Dad and I threw a 60th b-day party for Mums this past weekend. She had a great time and everything went of perfectly. We even had relatives come in from CT and VT for it (the party was in RI).

The only downfall? My sis and I spent about $300 each for it, and Dad footed the food and drinks bill and spent close to $1,000. Not a bad amount for my Sis; she's got a fantastic job and so does her hubby. Not too bad for Dad; he's still paying down bills but just started a great new job a few weeks ago. Bad for me. I just don't have any extra money, let alone $300!

Of course, her 60th only comes around once, so it was worth it. Just have to buckle my belt and eat from the cupboards this month.

I just got an e-mail back from a company I sent my resume to...they want me to come in for an interview!!!! YES!!!

It's not technically my dream job (it's for a copy-editor at a publishing house) but it is certainly a step in the right direction. This would be a FAB opportunity to step into the book publishing field, which is what I want to do.

Yay me! I so rock!!!!

Stairs challenge is paying myself $.50 every time I go up the stairs at work instead of using the evelvator, and $0.25 every time I go down the stairs at work instead of using the elevator. Takes more effort to make me go up them than down them.


ING Account (aka $20 Challenge) Old Total: $366.21
Added Stairs total week 1: $2.00
New Total: $368.21

I work on the second floor of my office building. We have stairs (duh) but we also have an elevator. I hate taking the stairs because:

1. I get a little creeped out in the stairwell (it's kinda dark and very noisy)
2. I'm lazy LOL

Now that I'm back on WW, I need to start moving more and getting more exercise. So I have decided that I will pay myself for taking the stairs. $0.50 for every time I go up them instead of using the elevator and $0.25 every time I go down them (much easier than going up).

Every Friday I'll total out the week and add the $$ to my $20 Challenge/EF account.

OK, so not groceries in terms of fresh produce or meats or anything, but I did pick up a few things while I was poking around there last night. Much cheaper than at the regular stores. Yay for the X-mas Tree Shop!

Candy Bar (last splurge before WW)$1.00
2 packs of soup (just add water!) $3.00
2 Thai quick meals $3.98
Salt & pepper $.89
Pumpkin Butter (this is a gift for Mums on Turkey Day $2.99
-----------------------------------------
Total: $11.86

So today I officially started back on WW. Then I remembered tomorrow is the big 60th birthday bash me and my sis are throwing for mums...ugh, catered food, lots of drinking, a big huge cake...I will stay on WW, I will stay on WW.

Financially, I can't afford to do the WW meetings ($52 a month) or do the online WW program ($30 a month) and pay for the healthier food (why is junk food so much cheaper???) so I am doing this on my own. I think I will be OK, as I was on WW for 4 months the beginning of the year and lost almost 25 lbs. Of course, since I went off it in July, I've gained about 10 of those back.

*sigh*

Oh well. At least I'm not back at my original starting weight and at least I'm back on WW now instead of putting it off and gaining even more weight back.

First WI results will be next Friday! Yay!

Old Med CC Total: $590.95
Added (glasses): $266.21
Added (meds): $25.00
Pay (med rbm): - $103.78
Pay (plane tix): -$137.80
-------------------------
New Med CC Total: $640.58


Debt Tally
$9,054.08 to Mom
$3,567.04 to credit cards
$1,335.40 LB CC
$640.58 Medical CC

Total: $14,597.10

CC Savings update:

Old Savings (CC Debt) Total: $1,054.09
Added $110.00 DD from paycheck
New Savings (CC Debt) Total: $1,164.09

Had to buy a new alarm clock today. The one I have is only about 4 years old, but for some reason the alarm part doesn't work anymore. The thing I like about it is that it has 2 alarm clocks in it, so when I get up early, I don't have to reset the alarm for anyone who is getting up at a later time.

But Alarm 1 didn't go off on Tuesday and made me late for work. But I figured, "Hey, it has two alarms, I'm still good. No need to buy a new one yet."

Wrong.

Alarm 2 didn't go off today and made me late for work again. Late for work once in a great while is OK; not OK when it's twice in the same week!

So, I hit Tar-jay and got me a new alarm clock with (yup, you know it!) two alarm settings for only $14.99. Let's hope this one lasts a little longer than the old one.

And will be buying new glasses tonight, as well as a prescription I have to pick up at the Pharmacy. Damn, this Medical CC is getting a lot of use!! Luckily, I will be getting a reimbursement check for all medical expenses, including my contacts, glasses and prescription fees. As soon as those start rolling in, it's straight onto the Medical CC balance. I DO NOT want this CC getting out of control like they usually do!!!

Old Med CC Total: $327.20
Added (contacts): $125.95
Added (plane tix):$137.80
-------------------------
New Med CC Total: $590.95


Debt Tally
$9,054.08 to Mom
$3,567.04 to credit cards
$1,335.40 LB CC
$590.95 Medical CC

Total: $14,547.47

OK, here is my dilema:

I need to buy a plane ticket. It will only be about $150, tops. Originally, my $20 account was earmarked for something I really wanted, like a new tattoo. Lately, however, I've been thinking of it as my EF that I am trying to build up. Here's my question:

Do I take the $ for the plane ticket out of the EF and then replace it later, or do I just put the plane ticket on my CC and pay it off later?

I'm thinking with the interest on the CC, financially, it would be smarter to use the $ in my EF. I should be able to pay it off when I get paid tomorrow, so it shouldn't acrue any any interest. However, there is the chance I won't be able to pay it off right away, and it will acrue interest. But there is something about using that money for something other than an emergency that I really don't like.

Opinions please?




Also, a small addition to the EF via interest paid in October:

ING Account (aka $20 Challenge) Old Total: $365.17
Added: $1.04
New Total: $366.21