I am amazed at the results of my $20 Challenge. I joined this site in August and started the $20 Challenge about halfway through the month. Since August 16th or so, I have saved EXACTLY $700 in my $20 Challenge Account!!!!

YAY!!!!!

No to mention that I've also been building up my regular savings account! I am so proud of myself! I hadn't saved money in an account since I was about 18 or so. And now, becasue of your help and encouragement, I saved $700 in 4 months!!!

My goal fo $20 Chaenge savings in 2007 is going to be.....$3,000!! It will be difficult, b/c there are two of us here and we are living on a smaller budget than last year, but I'm going to work hard to do it.

I'll put money into my $20 Account/EF from sales on e-bay and 1/2.com, rolled change and spare $1 bills, any surprise extras, like refunds, $ I earn from freelance writing, $ I earn from mystery shopping, and $ I earn from surveys.

In addition to this goal, I also have some plans to pay off the rest of my CC debt, pay Mom back (but I know I won't be able to do all $15,000 this year...I'd be happy with $5,000), and save for my savings account, as well as a trip we are planning to take to Vegas, and for a new tattoo.

All that will be budgeted out of our regular pay, though.

Happy New Year Everyone!!!

OLD DEBT:
$14,804.08 to Mom
$1,377.10 LB CC
$1,279.62 Medical CC
$4,184.40 CC Debt
------------------
TOTAL DEBT: $21,645.20

RECENT ACTIVITY:
CC DEBT:
$4,184.40
- $1,478.02 pmt to BoA CC (PAID!)
- $1,566.00 pmt to CHASE CC (PAID!)
- $55.32 mistake W/erlier calculations
-------------
$1,085.06 (fee to Credit Company)

NEW DEBT TALLY:
$14,804.08 to Mom
$1,377.10 LB CC
$1,279.62 Medical CC
$1,085.06 CC Debt
------------------
TOTAL DEBT: $18,545.86

Old Debt Tally:

$11,254.08 to Mom
$1,335.40 LB CC
$1,616.16 Medical CC
$4,184.40 CC Debt
------------------
TOTAL DEBT: $18,390.04


Recent activity:

Loan from MOM
$11,254.08
+ $3,550.00 (ouch)
--------------
$14,804.08


LB CC
$1,335.40
+ $111.70
-----------
$1,447.10
- $70.00 pymt
-----------
$1,377.10

Med CC
$1,616.16
+ $163.46
-----------
$1,779.62
- $500.00
-----------
$1,279.62


$14,804.08 to Mom
$1,377.10 LB CC
$1,279.62 Medical CC
$4,184.40 CC Debt
------------------
TOTAL DEBT: $21,645.20

Note to me: about $3,000 will be paid to CC debt within the next week.

It's been a hectic month. Holidays. New job (longer work hours plus a longer commute). Being tired (gettin less sleep). Being sick (no Health Insurance right now, either). Spending time w/the BF (I love him so much! ).

I've missed being here. I've been doing OK money wise. Now that I have my first paycheck from the new job I know how much I will be bringing home every 2 weeks and I can create a new budget.

Let's see, what has been going on? Well, had to get the brakes redone on my car. Completely worn out (I drive fast and break hard and late). Didn't cost nearly as much as I thought it would, though. Dipped into the savings account to pay for it, which was so nice! It was a fab feeling knowing I had the $ put away for something like this and that I didn't have to use the CC. Cost about $300, but I was expecting close to $500, so I'm VERY happy.

My final CC agreed to settle! I'll be making a 1 time payment of about $1,500 to them next week, and then poof! GONE! It's a great amount...my original bill was about $3,600, not to mention the fees added on for not paying it these past few months when it's been in negotiation.

Made my last payment to CC #2 last month...yay! And my last payment to CC #3 next week....I'm just about done. I'll be starting 2007 with a good mount of debt, but with a balance on only my Med CC and LB CC. I feel like I still have a long way to go (I owe Mums so much $), but everything has gotten in control and I have a new handle on it all.

Things with the boy are FAB! We've been together just over a month now, living together, and I couldn't be happier. He's eve starting to pick up on some of my frugal ways! HA!

Dream come true....we got a FREE aquarium!! I've wanted one my whole life and a few weeks ago me and the boy were talking about saving up for one. Then, someone at my work announcs he is giving away a 45 gal aquarium, with ALL the equiptment, AND THE FISH for FREE!!!! We jumped on it and it's ours! Unfortunately, we have had to spend a little money on it (heater cracked in the car during trasport and we needed to get an air pump for it) but otherwise it's been Fab! There were originaly 6 African Cichlets, but we lost 4 of them in the move. Since then we have gotten a few more, lost some, and reaplced them. Luckily, the fish are fairly inexpensive, ony about $8 each. Still, it's enough to spend, with the gas money for getting to the pet store included.

Anyways, we now have 1 large Orange female named Lizzie (in honor of Lizzie Borden), one albino HUGE male called White (as in Whitey Bulger), two little yellow babies (Frank and Jesse James) and one blue baby who is one part of the former twosome the Menendez Brothers (we lost the other blue baby this morning). We have since had and lost Jack (the Ripper), Ted (Bundy), Gacy (John Wayne Gacy), and another set of James Brothers. I'm starting to think we cursed ourselves naming them after serial killers and criminals. LOL

Anyways, now that things are calming down around here, I'll be back soon. Merry Yule, Merry Chirstmas, Happy Hanukah, Merry Kwanza, Happy Ramadan, and Happy New Year (and anything else I forgot!)

Got my first pay chec this week from my new job, so I thought I'd throw a little money into the ING/EF. Plus had a DD for books sold on 1/2.com.

ING Account (aka $20 Challenge) Old Total: $647.05
1/2.com DD: $52.95
New Total: $700.00

Got a direct deposit from 1/2.com for some books sold. Yay! Been a slow week for the challenge, so I'm always happy to add in a but of $ here and there.

ING Account (aka $20 Challenge) Old Total: $629.54
1/2.com DD: $17.51
New Total: $647.05

Very cheap and very easy. And if you are on WW (like me) very low in points...1 point a cup!

Enjoy!

1 can 99% FF Progresso Vegatable Soup, undrained (the kind without the pasta in it)
1 can sweet corn, undrained
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can black breans, drained and rinsed
1 can dices tomatoes, undrained

Pour all 5 ingredients into a large pot and heat until it's the desired tempature.

Enjoy!

Tomorrow I start my new job! Eeek! I'm really excited and loking forward to it, but I am still kinda nervous. I'm always a little nervous starting a new job, and not only is this a new job, it's a whole new field for me. And, not to mention, the beginning of my dream career.

Wish me luck!

A No Spend Day!

The day I had decalred a No Spend Day was a spend day as I spent about $20 online. Grumble, grumble.

But yesterday the boy and I were bored so we went out to the mall...and bought NOTHING! We just wandered around, amde fun of people (to ourselves...not to them...we're not that mean), and poked in and out of shops...a good day all around.

Stuck a $5.00 bill into my change jar for the end of the month, which then will go into my ING/$20 Account. A reward to myself for having willpower and strength and not caving to the call of the useless junk!

Today I found $.15 when I was doing laundry. Happy happy.

And, we went to Mums and Dads for dinner, so we got a free meal. Then, Mums gave us a full roasted chicken to bring home with us for dinner tomorrow night! Another free dinner! Sweet deal!

All around, a very good day.

I now proclaim December 1st as LUCKY DAY!

I had to buy new ink for my printer...$29. Ouch. BUT, I remembered I had some ink cartridges to turn in for recycling, and you get $3 off your total when you do that. I had 3 of them, but I didn't know if Staples would accept all 3. They did! So I saved $9 on computer ink today.

I found 2 pennies on the sidewalk, $.26 in one purse, $.25 in another purse, and one of those gold Sacajewia $1 coins in the basket under my desk. $1.58 in found change today!

I found 4 more books to list on half.com and sell when I was cleaning up today. More future profits!

Hmmm, maybe today would be a good day to do that prosperity spell I've been thinking of.....

Someone (can't remember who, sorry) was talking about a refund check for about $.04 yesterday in their blog. Just wanted to share my story.

Last night I get a phonecall. It's an automated voice telling me I was overcharged on my November cable bill and the difference will be applied to my next statement.

I called today to see how much I was going to be credited next month and it was $.04!!! LOL

Oh well, $.04 is $.04, right?

I'm conpletely shocked by the fact that I have money left over in my checking account and it's

1. Payday
2. The new month

This is the FIRST TIME this has ever happened to me! I hate to think of how much MORE I'd have if I hadn't gone splurge-crazy these last two weeks with the eating out almost everyday, but hey, at least this is something!

I sent a bit to my CC Savings account, to top it off and start the month with $1,000 in it. The rest is being sent to my ING EF/$20 Account.

ING Account (aka $20 Challenge) Old Total: $462.51
Nov Interest: $1.34
Leftovers: $165.69
New Total: $629.54

HOT DAMN!!!

12/1/06

OLD Debt Tally:

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

******************************

NEW Debt Tally:

$11,254.08 to Mom
$1,335.40 LB CC
$1,616.16 Medical CC
$4,184.40 CC Debt
------------------
TOTAL DEBT: $18,390.04


Now, as we know, this might not be completely accurate b/c of the damn CC confusion I talked about last month, but it's a pretty good estimate and I can live with that for now.

12/1/06


$6,465.12 CC Debt
- $704.13 (final pmt to one CC!!!)
-----------
$5,760.99 bal
- $1,478.02 payment
-----------
$4,282.97 bal
- $98.57 payment to Debt Co
-----------
$4,184.40 CC Debt



So, one CC is paid off (YAY!) - the WaMu.
One other CC (BoA) will be paid off with one final payment next month. Then, one more CC debt to settle, the fee to the Debt Co to finish paying and my outstanding non-active CC debt is gone!!!

Of course, I still have my other debts, like my LB CC and Med CC and Mums, but at least a huge portion of stress will be gone in my life!!!

12/1/06

So far, it seems my Med CC balance is less than I thought it was going to be. Here's the numbers so far:

$914.41 bal
+ $702.75 new activity
----------
$1,616.16 bal


Oooohhh....1616.16....creepy!!

Beginning of a new month; I want a record of all my finances.

CC Savings Account Update:

$1,164.09 bal
- $501.00 transfer to checking
----------
$663.09 bal
+ $110.00 DD from paycheck
----------
$773.09 bal
+ $110.00 DD from paycheck
----------
$883.18 bal
+ 0.28 interest
----------
$883.46 bal
- $98.57 payment to debt company
----------
$784.80 bal
+ $215.20 transfer from checking
----------
$1,000.00 balance 12/1/06

Back up to a grand! Yay!