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...

A post from ThreeBean asked this, so here is my long answer.

I don't use an exact price limit for each person, but I try to stay around a certain amount. My "control" comes with how I like to get 3 gifts for each member of my family. I'm not sure where this came from, but for some reason, 3 gifts has become the family tradition. We always get my mom, dad, sis and BIL 3 gifts each. My sis and BIL do the same for all of us. Mom and Dad always spoil the 4 of us (2 kids and our SO's).

That being said, sometimes is it 1 big gift and 2 small ones, or 3 small ones, or whatever. Sometimes it is even like this year: My sis technically has 5 gifts from me, but 3 are small and will be wrapped in one box under the tree. So, I guess it's not 3 gifts really, so much as it is 3 packages under the tree. Did I mentioned my whole family has OCD? LOL

All of a sudden, I am almost panicky about carrying CC balances. I don't know why. I mean, yes, I've wanted to get rid of this debt for a while, but all of a sudden, it's like an urgent need to get rid of it. I guess that is good, right?

So, I made some small payments today. Well, one small one to the major CC and then the regular payment for December to the other CC.

This is a good thing, this is a good thing, this is a good thing...

Old ATTCC Balance: $3,345.17
Payment 12/4/07: $25
-----------------------------------
New ATTCC Balance: $3,320.17
TOTAL PAID OFF: $179.83


Old LBCC Total: $1,218.45
PLUS Finance Charges: $23.62
------------------------------
LBCC Total: $1,242.07.45
December 4th payment: $65.00
------------------------------
New LBCC Total: $1,177.07
TOTAL PAID OFF: $322.93

Yay! Just realized yesterday was a No Spender! Hopefully I can wrap up a few of these this month. I already know today will be a BIG spend day. I have so much to do:

*pick up meds
*pick up night/Day Quill for BF (he's so sick right now)
*mail a book I sold on half.com
*pick up the last x-mas gift for my BIL
*get a new battery for our cordless phone (right now the battery lasts approx. 3 minutes. Ick. But it should be cheaper than a new phone. Hopefully. If not, then I'm getting us a new phone.)
*pick up a gift for BF that Mums wants to give him (luckily she'll pay me back for that!)
*pick up gift for friend A
*gas in the car so I can do all these errands since I am riding on fumes at this point

and then a whole bunch of other non-financial errands. Gonna be a busy day today. Which is kinda sad as I am in the middle of a awesome book and it is about 20 degrees (F) outside and I just want to curl up with my fave blanket and a cat and read all day. Actually, that's what I did yesterday.

Anyways, I'm a little afraid to see how much the spending total will be today. But things have to get done. I'm sure you're all just dying in suspense to see how much I spend today, so I'll post my totals when I get home. Til then my financial buddies...

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!

Finished up a bunch of things yesterday. Finished for Dad, and also got all the stocking stuff done for the BF. Today I am hitting the bookstore with a 25% off coupon to pick up a grilling cookbook for my BIL. The just one more stop for my friend A. Of course, that would be the odd one. She wants a...ummmm...well, honestly, a toy resembling male genetalia. Ha! So, I get to go to the sex shop tongiht! Always a good time. LOL

But then I am done. Yay! Now if I go to the stores I can relax and not worry about finding the right things for people. Plus the un starts now: wrapping gifts! I love doing that. Put on a good holiday movie, have some hot chocolate, and wrap gifts (even better if it is snowing outside!).

Now's the time I start to enjoy the holidays.

Interest for November and $5 to get it going

Old EF Total: $85.00
Interest added: $.29
Just because: $5.00
-----------------------------------------
New EF Total: $90.29

Interest from November, plus $5 to help it along.

$20/UF Old Balance: $61.93
Just becasue: $5.00
November interest: $1.20
----------------------------
$20/UF New Balance: $68.22