Pennies on the Sidewalk

Thursday was a No Spender, and w ate all 3 meals at home. I am proud to say the same thing for yesterday (Saturday).

The Boy napped and was online for most of the day, and I watched some TV and did a bunch of cleaning in the spare bedroom. It's geting better; we can actually walk in there now.

Adding $4 to my $20 Challenge for the 2 NSD/Eat at home days.

Old EF Balance: $674.10
NSD x 2: $2
Eat In x 2: $2
--------------------------------
New EF Balance: $678.10

I am stressing really bad over finances right now. Bills, no income, debt, living expenses. So, to help with the stress, I either go out to eat or buy stuff. Not exactly productive to the situation. I need to get a handle on things.

Put $10 on my ATTCC today. Already paid about $200 on it for the month, but the balance was $4,207. I wanted to get it under $4200 for a "fresh start". Also put another $25 on my LBCC. It is now under $1,000 and I wanted to make sure that it doesn't pop back above $1,000 with the interest charges.

The LBCC is for a clothing store. It's one of the two places where I buy clothes, so it is always in use. However, I have recently been cleaning out for a yard sale and finally unpacking the last of the boxes from the move. I can't believe I have so many clothes!! I actually have things I forgot I even had because I have so many. So, in addition to getting that LBCC paid off by the end of 2008, I have decided not to buy any more clothes for the rest of 2008. The ONLY exceptions this this are: I need a new pair of sneaks (mine are 4 years old and stinky!) and if I need a few buisness clothes for work. At my last job I wore jeans, but if I have to wear business casual at my next job, I may need a few pieces. I'm going to try not to use these exceptions this year, but if I do, then I do. Hopefully my sneaks will survive a wash in the machine, and the clothes I already have will do for work.

This is a big challenge for me. Even though I am very overweight, buying clothes always makes me feel better about myself and gives me more confidence. Time to get that confidence somewhere else.

Not much going on the last two days. Looking for a job, cleaning out for a yard sale, stalking Bruce Willis. LOL He is filming a movie in the town where my sis works, so I went up there for lunch yesterday and we went by the set. Didn't meet him...yet. He'll be filming here all summer. Mark my words, I will meet him.

On the financial front, not much. Waiting for my first unemployment check. Calling places to figure out why I have 3 blls for 3 different amounts from the same place. Stuff like that.

Some bits and pieces from my last few days:

Day before yesterday was a No Spender. Yay us!

Found 11 cents when I was cleaning. Went to CITB. Whoo-hoo!

Had to pay $2.50 in tolls each way to my sis' yestday. $5. That stunk.

Had a major breakdown in spending yesterday. Went to the bookstore. Saw about 6 new books from some of my fave authors (and countless new authors). Bought 6 books. Ugh.

Found 2 pennies on my walk the day before yesterday. New Pennies on the Sidewalk total: 93 cents.

Requested new forms to apply for deferment on my student loans (again). Since I am unemployed, I am taking advantage of that. Of course, this means I'll be paying the damn things off until I am 100.

Speaking of which, made a payment to my mini-student loans. $120

Also going to apply to have assistance paying for my COBRA payments through the unemployment office. The $400+ a month takes up almost 2 whole unemployment checks. Crazy!

And that is about it. Nothing too exciting planned for today. Picking up another pair of trial contacts. Picking up a few groceries. Watching a netflix movie I got yesterday. Happy Friday!

Since I was laid off from my job, I qualify for unemployment. That is the good news. The bad news is that I am getting a ridiculously low payment each week.

Last October when I was fired, I opened a claim and filed for Unemployment. It was denied. Now, since I am applying for Unemployment within 12 months of the last time I did, I had to reopen the same claim instead of opening a new one. What sucks about this is that they base my weekly unemployment check on the amount I was making when I first opened the claim. I was making about $20,000 LESS at that job than at the one I was just laid off from.

I was laid off from a job that paid in the high 40's, and am getting less that $300 a week. It won't even cover rent, let anlone anything else.

How unfair is that???

Made my monthly payment on my LBCC today. I want to work at getting this paid off within the next six months.

May LBCC Balance: $1,079.93
Interest: $19.86
-----------------------------
June LBCC Balance: $1,099.79
June Payment: -110.00
-----------------------------
New balance: $989.79

Minimum payment was only $55, so I decided to double that to help pay it down quicker. I want to add another $50 towards the balance as well this month to make sure whatever finance charges are incurred don't pop me back over $1,000.

In August of 2006, I owed $1,300 on this card. By not paying more than the minimum, and continuously charging on it, I have managed to only completely pay off $300. If I had paid more than the minimum and stopped using it, it would have been paid off a year ago. I get sick thinking of how much interest I paid them and how much money I have thrown away. *sigh*

At least it encourages me to keep paying it and not use it.

Well, I had my job interview today. I think it went pretty well. It's for a Production Editor at a publishing house here in Boston. Seems like there is a lot of work involved, but everyone was really nice, and I like being really bust. Makes the day go by so much quicker.

They told me they will get back to me in 2-3 weeks, and let me know if they want me to come in for a second interview or not. Let's hope they want to see me again!

Until then, back to the job hunt...

'Nother penny. Up to 92 cents.

Found 4 pennies today on my walk to 7-11. New total for Pennies on the Sidewalk: 91 cents

Since I have to go to the bank today to deposit that $28 from Mums and Dads, I figured I would see what was in CITB and take it with me. Lo and behold: $20! We had a full roll of quarters and $10 in $1 bills. Sweet!

Adding it to the challenge!

Old EF Balance: $654.10
CITB: $20.00
--------------------------------
New EF Balance: $674.10

One of the financial books I am reading right now is "The Ultimate Cheapskate's Road Map to True Riches" by Jeff Yeager. It's really funny and full of great advice. Kind of reminds me of the Tightwad Gazette with a redneck twist. LOL

Anyways, one of the chapters I read yesterday was about buying a home. Yeager suggests buying your starter home, and then keeping your starter home for the rest of your life. He talks about how this is what our parents or grandparents did, and it makes sense to me. Mums and Dads are in the fisrt home they every bought, 30+ years later. MY grandparents built their first home and lived there until they passed away. I realize this is not possible for everyone, if you move, or get a new job too far away, or have more kids than bedrooms, etc. But for a good majority of people, I suspect this is possible, and I think this is something I'd like to aim for (after I buy a house, of course. )

Along with this, I was watching HGTV this morning (I am addicted) and a family wanted to see their house because they outgrew it. It was a HUGE 3 bedroom, 2 bath house. The family was the husbnd and wife, and a 2 year old child. Part of the problem was that the kid had his bedroom, and the extra bedroom was fied with a computer and desk for the parents and then nothing else but toys for the kid. It was crazy!
And I couldn't help but think, what a waste of money!

Not only are they going to spend more on this bigger new house, and on maintaing a bigger house, heating a bigger house, etc., but then there is all the money wasted on all those toys that the kid probably never uses. Don't get me wrong, toys and fun are important for kids, but does a toddler really need enough toys to fill 2 bedrooms??

It just reinforced Jeff Yeagers idea of buying a starter home, and making it work for you, not you working for it.

Last night Mums and Dads came up and we all went out to dinner. It was a lot of fun, and the food was delicious. Before they went home, Mums rooted trough my yard sale stuff and found a big planter she wanted and Dads found a shelving storage unit he wanted. I told them to take them for free, but they insisted on paying me for them. Awww, thanks Mums and Dads!! So, my "pre-yard sale" earned me $28 for my $20 Challenge.

Old EF Balance: $626.10
Pre-yard sale: $28.00
--------------------------------
New EF Balance: $654.10

Not much interest, but hey, at least it is earning something!

EF:
Old EF Balance: $624.53
Interest: $1.57
--------------------------------
New EF Balance: $626.10


House Fund:
Old House Fund Balance: $25
Interest: $.01 (lol)
--------------------------------
New House Fund Balance: $25.01


Personal Savings:
Old Savings Balance: $25.00
Interest: $.41
--------------------------------
New Savings Balance: $25.41

My phone interview yesterday went really well. I sounded impressive even to myself! And because I got to learn so many new things at that contract job I just finished up, I didn't even have to fusge my experience. LOL

The best part...they want me to come in for an in-person interview on Tuesday morning!! Ya-hoooooo!!!!!!!!

I am having my phone interview today in an hour...Wish me luck!!

I need to find a new bank that ffers free checks. I just went and ordered new ones and they are going to cost me $20. OK, so it isn't a huge amount, but still, paying for checks bugs me when other banks offer them for free. When I mentioned this to the woman at my bank, she goes "No they don't." Uh, yeah they do. Wa-Mu: free checks FOR LIFE!! Unfortunately there are no WaMu's around here. Bleh.

Spendings:
$20 for new bank checks
$24.52 balance due on old car insurance
$15 co-pay to Dr. from last month
$120 Student Loans
$10 meds
$410 COBRA enrollment and 1st month coverage

Will also pay phone bill and electric bill later today, but I might need to buy money roders for them later if I can't pay via phone.

I know it is all for necessary stuff, but it still kills me to spend this much in one day. Plus, added to the $250 I spent yesterday?? EEK! Money is getting low, quickly, and I still haven't heard anything new about that damn phone interview.

STRESS STRESS STRESS!!!

Oh, I forgot to add to my other post, I found 11 cents at the Dollar Store. One penny and one dime. New total for Pennies on the Sidewalk: 87 cents

Today was a Spender. A big spender. A $250 spender!

First stop was the Dollar Store. I heart the Dollar Store. I got Dads Fathers Day Gift: a matching set of pot holders, oven gloves, and hand towels that all say "Grillin" on them. Very Cute. Got a bag to put them in. Total: $6 I'll add in a bottle of his favorite BBQ sauce as well. I also got my sis' b-day gift. A set of body lotion, body wash, body butter and bath salts and a matching candle in a cute basket; also $6

Then I had an eye doctor appointment for my new contacts. The co-pay was $15 but my cheap-ass health insurance won't cover the exam for the contacts, so that was another $75 on top of it. $90 that came from my EF and will be replaced when I get that stimulus check.

Old EF Balance: $714.53
Eye Doctors: -$90
--------------------------------
New EF balance: $624.53

And finally, I hit the grocery store on the way home. Spent $145, but got a bunch of meats and stocked up for a couple of weeks.

Total spent: $250

Eek!

I don't really use coupons much, simply becasue I never seem to use the items I have coupons for, and so many of the coupons require you to buy 2 before you get the amount off. But I am slowly beginning to use them. I'm a little coupon retarded, but I just realized that coupons work best when combined with store sales. LOL I'll get there eventaully.

In the meantime, I did do good wiyth coupons yesterday! My proudest purchase was Zyrtec for my allergies. Our Waalgreens sells a bottle with 45 pills for $27.99. Yesterday Walgreens had them on sale for $23.99. And I had a coupon for $4 off, so I got it for $19.99. $8 saved! Yay me!

I'm not going to add this to my challenge. I figure the savings I get with coupons isn't for my savings account. I's to make that damn grocery budget stretch a little further!

I read an article that talks about how to materials used to make pennies are non-renewable and are in decline (like so many of our other natural resources). One solution proposed by the article is to stop hoarding all your pennies and cash them in at the bank so they can be put back into circulation.

We save all our change and deposite it when we hav enough, but I also have this big jar with nothing but pennies. I had them all saved separately mostly out of habit. As kids, we would out all our pennies in a big glass jar. Then, when the family played cards, we used pennies to place bets and play poker with. I think it jut becamse a subconscious savings with me.

However, I am all about getting money in our savings, and about being green when I can. So, I sat and rolled up my pennies. The few I had that didn't make a full roll went back into CITB and will be deposited when I have enough. I was able to roll $2.50. It went into the EF.

Also into the EF today was a $3 pincone check. Whoo-hoo!

Old EF Balance: $709.03
Pinecone check: $3.00
Recycled Pennies: $2.50
--------------------------------
New EF balance: $714.53

There are a lot of things I want right now (a house, a new couch, a new car, a new bedroom set...) and some things I know I need to take care of first (EF, credit card debt, personal debt...). I know it will take me a long time to get my savings for some things saved up(house, new car), so I am starting now. I opened 2 new savings accounts. One for a personal savings (things like a new computer, couch, vacation, whatever I want) and one for a house fund. And by house fund I mean a down payment on my first house. (Thanks for the motivation Amber!).

I am going to get real aggressive about saving and paying off debt. I need to do this.

I will need help. I am a bad saver; I like spending, especially on eating out. I need to be happy eating what we have in the fridge and not craving greasy, money wasting delivery.

So, here are my savings stats:

EF: $709.03
Personal Savings: $25.00
House Fund: $25.00

(*muttering to myself 'every little bit helps, every little bit helps'*)

Seems like they all come in at once. I need to pay:

1. rent
2. June student loans payment
3. electric
4. phone/internet
5. Dr. visit co-pay
6. Cancellation fee to old car insurance (??? I'm double checking on this whammy before I pay it...can we say...SCAM?)
7. cable

and the best part of it all? I only have 1 check left! HA! I usually pay all of our bills online and just do checks for the random ones, like the Dr. co-pay. But since we have all new accounts for everything because of the move, I am still setting those up and everything right now is still paper bills. Ugh.

And my bank charges for checks. Bleh.

I am thinking about switching to Wa-Mu, but I need to see if there are any brick and mortars around here first for those rare occasions I need to deposit a check.

Blub blub blub. That's how I feel. Blub.

Today I am going to see one of my best friends' band play. He is going to be part of this huge local bands show that is a fundraiser for The Station Night Club Fire. This was a club that went up in flames about 4 years ago. Hundreds of people were trapped inside the building. There were a lot of deaths and even more injured. My older sister and I almost went to that show, but decided not to at the last minute. Thank Goddess for that. However, we still know people who know people who either died or were severly injusred in the fire. A bandmate of my cousin passed away in the fires, a local DJ from the radio station we always listen to passed away, and so many more. So, today, there is a funraiser for the survivors fund. It is anall day long event, with a bunch of local bands and a buffet. $10 a person, and it goes to a fantastic cause.

Other than that, I am just bumming around the house, gathering stuff for an upcoming yard sale.

I spent $7.62 for breaky this morning. I will be spending $10 for the show, and $50 for some of my meds later in the day.

Oh yeah, and I found a dime on my walk to breaky this morning. (New total: 76 cents)

On Friday we had a great day. We went to this awesome Mexican restaurant for lunch. HUGE portions and wicked good. Total for the 2 of us (plus tip) was $27.

Then, we went to see the new Indy movie. I had some money left on a gift card from X-mas, so we only paid $4.50! $2.25 each for the movies? Nice! And the movie rocked!!!!

On Saturday, Dads came up to help us with some things around the apartment. We went and picked up our new AC, and Dad installed it for us. Then he helped us hang some heavy framed pictures up. It looks a lot nicer now. (Thanks Dad!!) Then Dad and I went out for a nice father-daughter lunch. We are really close and we don't get to hang out too much anymore. It was a great time.

Saturday was a No Spend Day. And even though I had lunch out, Dads treated, so it counts as an all 3 meals at home day as well. And, I had a No Spender one day last week as well. $3 to add to my challenge.

Old EF Balance: $706.03
No Spenders/Eat at Home: $3.00
----------------------------------------
New EF balance: $709.03

One of the places I sent my resume to emailed me this morning. They want to set up a phone interview. Yay!!

One of my best friends works at this company. She said they do a 3 interview hriing process. One phone and 2 in person. Let's hope the phone interview goes well!

In other news, today we are going to the movies to see the new Indy movie. We have a gift card left over for Christmas for the theater, so even if it doesn't cover the whole cost of our tickets, it will cover a bit of it.

I had a busy day today. I made a bunch of phone calls, and then went out and did some errands. I filled up the car before prices get much higher. Hopefully this fillup will lat me at least 2 weeks. Ahh, the joys of public transportation!

I also checked out a local consignment shop that sells women's clothes. I got all the details about bringing clohes in to them. I'm really excited they take plus size clothes. I have so nice pieces that I never even wore. Plus, they give you 50% of what the item sells for. Pretty nice! Tomorrow I'm going to go through my clothes and see what I can rustle together.

Made a payment on my ATTCC, $200. Works out to about $120 on the principle. Slow going, but at least it is going.

I've deciced to start tracking my daily spending again. Spendings today:

$8.83 breaky for me and the boy at Dunkin Donuts

$15.75 at the Dollar store (new shower curtain, new can opener, package of yard sale price stickers, air freshner, hand soap, etc.)

Total: $24.68

And finally, I found $.06 on the ground today (all pennies!). (total: 66 cents)

Just got my last paycheck from work. Bleh. But at least it is almost a full months worth of pay thanks to the almost 5 days of vacation I had earned and never used.

So, even though I took money out of the EF to live on until I go paid,I got paid a little sooner than I expected. So, adding my monthly deposit to the EF.

Old EF Balance: $681.03
Monthly deposit: $25.00
----------------------------
New EF balance: $706.03

Well, yesterday was my last day at work. I will miss it there. I really liked the people, loved the work and they paychecks were great, too! Hopefully they will get more work soon an can bring me back. Until then, I'm on the hunt.

Of course, now that I am home I have a million things I want to get done here. No relaxing for me! Today I need to:

1. Register for unemployment

2. Deposit my last paycheck, which I got this morning

3. Refill some of my meds while I still have my health insurance

4. Call HR from my old job to see what they took a June health isurance payment out when my health insurance ends May 31st

5. Fill up the car with gas before prices get any higher

6. Budget out this last paycheck

7. Pay some bills

8. Call HR Block re: a possible refund check from taxes two years ago

And then there are just all the little things I want to get done over the next week or two, like take some clothes to the local consignment shop, clean out for a yard sale in a few weeks, finish unpacking from when we moved, etc. It'll be a busy couple of weeks!

I know the best way to raise your credit score is to be consistent with debt payoff. But while I am doing that, I also decided to try a little trick I read about.

Your credit score is partially based on your debt to available credit ratio. For example, if I owe $1,000 on a CC that has a $2,000 limit, my ratio would be 1:2, or 1/2 (50%). But if I owed $1,000 on a CC that has a $3,000 limit, my ratio becomes 1:3, or 1/3 (33%). The lower that percentage number, the better.

I recently got a credit limit increase on my major CC, so I figured I would ask for one on my LBCC. The maximum I could request as an increase was $300. I got a notice yesterday saying they approved that. So now my debt to available credit ration went from $1,100 on a $1,500 limit to $1,100 on an $1,800 limit. It is not much, but as we all know here, every little bit helps.

For anyone who is interested in trying this, I just need to caution that you MUST have the willpower not to charge more just because your CC limit is higher. That will only get you into more debt and more trouble.

Well, turns out our stimulus check is arriving by mail, and seeing as how my last 2 numbers of my SSN are 89, it looks like it won't be until mid-July. Crap.

I have a week and a half left until I get paid. Double crap.

We have $80 in our checking account and i still need to pay 3 bills this month. Triple Crap!

So, I pulled $200 from the EF. Ugh, I hate doing that. I know that is what it is for, but I like seeing that nice big number in there. I know it will get replenished when we get the stimulus, but I still hate this. I was hoping to use the stimulus to pay down some CC debt and boost the EF to $1,250. Now I will have to pump it back to $1,000.

Old EF Balance: $881.03
Transfer to checking: -$200.00
--------------------------------------
New EF balance: $681.03

I live in MA and for the last couple of years I have had either Amica or Liberty Mutual car insurance. All those great, cheaper car insurance companies (like Geico, State Farm, All State, Progressive, etc) didn't offer policies to MA residents. Well, now Progressive does! Yay!

I spent a few days doing my research and comparing quotes, and I have decided to switch to Progressive. With Liberty Mutual, I was paying $82.02 a month. By switching to Progressive (and having the same exact coverage!), I was able to lower my monthly payments down to $65.67 a month! That would be a savings of $16.35 a month!!

I'm so happy I took the time to research this and made the switch. A couple of years ago I wouldn't have even thought about this. It would have never entered my mind as an option. But I have learned a lot here these last 2 years, and although I should be more modest, I am damn proud of myself for this!

I think we are going to use the extra $ each month and add it to our internet budget. We currently have DSL, but since we both have laptops, we want to go wireless. We didn't have the extra money before, but this extra each month should cover it.