Well, my picture above doesn't have anything to do with my blog, but I love it. It is not a picture of one of my furballs, though.

Well, here I am again. Another payday. More debt paid off and more money saved. Investments for retirement have gone up. Progress is being made, a little more slowly than I would like.

My other bit of success is that my hubby and I found another house to rent that is much nicer than where we are living and only a 5 minute walk away from work. Yes, I did say (or rather write) walk to work! It is very close and solves multiple problems, such as:

1) less money spent on gas

2) easier to get to work on extreme cold weather days when I can't get my car or truck to thaw out

3) I also think I will be less tempted to spend money on snacks and other things at convenience stores. The route I will have to walk to get to work does not go near a convenience store, so I will have to "rough it" with pre-packed snacks from home and whatever I can get from a vending machine.

Also, I will be getting a 3.5% raise in my salary beginning in July. I will not be spending my new-found loot on televisions and Coca-Cola. I will be paying twice as much as I am currently paying on hospital bill #2. I will also put twice as much into my savings as I am currently.

Wow. I feel very accomplished.

Well, last Friday was another payday. I have more debt paid off, more savings accumulated, and more retirement money invested.

We bought a lottery ticket about 2 weeks ago. My dh finally got around to checking it and it is a $3 winner. He gave it to me to do something with it. I cashed it in and promptly deposited it for sending to the cc. I guess $3 is not much, but it is something.

Another payday and I am more prosperous!

I got paid on Friday and paid off more debt. More money has been added to savings and retirement. Yippee! Slowly but surely as the tortoise said...

Hi, everyone. I have updated some of my numbers. I update the cc balance to reflect what it actually is right now. It has been yo-yoing up and down. I think that is soon to change. One of the reasons that I was charging so much to the card is that when the hubby and I would go on a road trip, we would have to rent a car, because we were not confident about taking our cars on long trips. Anyway, read my previous blog about getting rid of a 1968 Mustang for more info. We now have a road-worthy vehicle when can get us where we need to go. The hubby is not going to like me paying so much on the cc, but I want it paid off NOW! I am tired of feeling like I have no money and can't buy things I want and need because of it. Savings account #1 is at a local bank and the other one is an online account. I just opened it.

Howdy, all. I have had a good couple of days. I got paid on Friday and immediately took the $14.00 leftover from my last paycheck and zipped it off the cc quickly before it could be spent on something else.

I also transferred $20 into my savings at the atm before it could be spent elsewhere.

I also just made another $75.00 payment on Hospital Debt #2, bringing it down to $2602.60.

A couple of months ago, I went to Walgreens and filled out a survey later. They recently sent me a $5.00 gift card for participating. Wa-hoo!

I needed some aloe vera juice yesterday from Walgrees. It costs around $10.00, but I used my gift card which brought my purchase down to $5.72 with tax.

Well, I am off the grocery store this morning to search for frugal, yet health meals. I am going to try to eat beef-free for a week or so, as I am having a lot of health problems and think they may be related to eating beef.

The picture of the cat doesn't have anything to do with my post, but it is a picture of my other cat, Morgaine. Merlin is the one at the left side of my page.

While I had the day off today to handle some family business, I got a phone call from my doctor's office. It seems the remaining $149.19 on my bill is being written off. While I tried to tell the woman that I have every intention of paying for the bill in full, she told me to stop sending payments. The only thing that rubs me the wrong way is being seen as some kind of charity case. I hope it doesn't show up on my credit report with a black mark next to it. Oh well, instead of looking at it that way though, I will look at it as someone having done something nice for me and I will "pay it forward" to someone else when I have the chance. I may have the chance to do that sooner than I originally thought. My stepdaughter has lost custody of her two month old daughter to the social services people in my state. This was due to my stepdaughter's complete inability to learn how to be a good mom to a special needs child despite weeks of "tutoring" by nurses and other specialists who truly wanted to help her learn to be a good mom. Well, my husband and I went to a hearing today to make our wishes known that we would like be the baby's foster parents, but all the judge did was assign a lawyer to the parents and order a continuance. I see this as a true blessing for the child and for my stepdaughter.

As far as the debt goes, I feel like celebrating. One more down and three more to go!

Well, as I wrote in my previous blog earlier today, I have already spent the tax return. My hubby and I have been throwing around ideas on what to do with our $1200. We were discussing what are the problems that result in major holes in the checkbook. Well, our debt makes a big impact, of course, but I could pay that off without a big deal if we had less basic monthly expenses. We have been talking about finding a different house to rent closer to my work. If it was within 1/2 a mile of my work, I could walk to work without a problem. This would accomplish a number of things: less money spent on gas, not having to buy a parking pass, and an easy way to get to work if the weather is bad. As it is, I live 3 miles from work, which doesn't sound like a lot, but I have asthma. While I can ride a bike or walk, I come to work exhausted and sweat - not a good idea because I work in a library where I am supposed to look professional. So, when we get our $1200, we plan to start looking for a different house to rent. If we can't find something right away, we will just keep that money in a separate savings account and basically forget it exists.

Well, the tax refund thing didn't turn out exactly the way I hoped. Our tv (imagine 27" tube tv that is so heavy it requires at least two people to carry it) was about to croak. It has increasingly had lines on the screen as well as color problems for awhile now. Our tv is virtually our only source of entertainment. We rent dvds from Netflix, but we do not have cable or satellite. We had both done some research online and had a good idea of what we could afford and what we wanted. We went to Best Buy and wound up buying a floor model, which netted us about $150.00 off of the sale price. The original, before-sale price was around about $200 more. After we brought the tv home, I quickly determined we had around $41.00 leftover. I added that $41.00 to $5.00 cash I deposited to the checking account. Before I could spend it on anything, I wrote a check and sent it to my doctor's office to pay off a good hunk of my doctor's bill. Around March 7th or so, I should get a GlobalTestmarket check for $50.00, which I will use to pay off more of that debt.

I guess you all have probably heard about the impending "economic stimulus package." Well, I know that The Shrub is hoping that we all go out and spend it all on high-priced stereos and bottles of Coca-Cola. I don't know about you all, but I have a fairly specific plan on what to do with the combination of my tax return and tax rebate. Based on what my hubby has told me, we can expect at least $800 for a tax return, so here is my plan.

Assuming my tax return arrives around May, I will still owe about $135 on one doctor bill. First, I will call the doctor's office up and confirm that amount and send them a check right away.

Secondly, I want to pay off a large hunk of credit card debt, about $600.

Assuming we actually get an $800 tax return, that will leave about $65.00.

When the tax rebate check arrives ($1200 for me and the hubby and no kids), we need to replace our tv. I also consider this to be kind of a treat for paying off debt last year. It was old when we bought it at a thrift store more than 6 years ago and could not afford to buy anything else. The color is way off on the monitor and the whole thing needs to be replaced. My hubby wants an lcd tv. I saw a 26" lcd tv on bestbuy.com for $600.00. That sounds like a pretty good deal, because we don't need a real big one. In fact, I could easily go a lot smaller and have no problems at all. Anyone have any recommendations or advice on ones to not buy?

Anything that is leftover, which should be around $600 (and I plan to closely monitor this) will be sent at lightening speed to the credit card company.

Howdy, folks. I just updated my numbers on my medical debt. The numbers went up, but not because the actual debt increased. I found out I had either miscalculated or just entered it wrong. I decided that to avoid confusion, I would start keeping track of the medical debts separately rather than as a group.

Anyway, there it is.

I recently submitted a tip to Daytipper.com and it was published. Yippee! Whenever you submit a tip to Daytipper and it is publisher, they pay you $3.00. I should get my payment soon.

I also recently cashed in my points at Global Test Market, a survey company. Now, please understand that I do a lot of survey for different companies, which do occasionally pay with a $5.00 check here and there. I am supposed to get $50.00. Wow. I don't think I have ever gotten that much from a survey company before.

Not to worry, my savingadvice buddies. My loot will not be spent on shinies or bottles of Coca Cola. Both will go directly to the checking account and as soon as the deposit clears, they will be sent lightening fast to the credit card company.

Jeffrey emailed me several days ago and told me I had won second place in the "Things I Wish I Had Known" contest. I just wanted to say a big, heartfelt "Thank You" to everyone who voted for me. I was really surprise. You can be sure this money is going straight to the credit card.

Hi. Has anyone out there cashed in points at Global Testmarket. I just cashed mine in and am confused about the amount of check I will get. It's supposed to be 5 cents for point. So, if I'm doing my math right, I multiply .05 by 1000 and get $50.00. Can that be right?

I have never gotten $50.00 from a survey company before. This one is going right to the credit card.

Well, it's almost the end of the year and it seems to be a good time to take a broad perspective look at things.

1. My b-day is tomorrow. Yes, that number on the left side of the screen will change to 37 tomorrow. I will be an old woman. ;P

2. My credit card debt has not decreased a lot, but it has gone down to $1658. I don't know what my balance was last year, though. I did get the APR on my card lowered by 3%, so this should help a lot. See my blog from yesterday about that.

3. My medical debt has gone down quite a bit to a total of $4041.18.

4. My retirement has increased to $9376.80. I am really impressed. I haven't really been checking on it or doing a lot with it and I have only been contributing since July 2006.

Cool. I am happy with what I have done with my finances this year.

My goals for the coming year include:

1. Find a way to increase the amount in my short term savings (i.e., emergency savings). I don't really like to call it emergency savings, because that puts it out there that there might be an emergency.

For some reason, I can't seem to accumulate the recommended $1000 that Dave Ramsey talks about. Something always seem to come up that snatches that money away. The most I seem to be able to get to is around $300.

2. Continue to pay off the medical debt. In July, I should get a raise, after which I will double the amount I am paying on one of the medical bills.

3. Continue paying off the credit card debt. I am making one big payment for the paycheck of the month, then a smaller one for the second. In between, I am also sending small payments when I get a survey check or something.

Howdy, folks. I know it has been a long time since I last posted. That thing with my mother kind of messed up my head for awhile. It took awhile and I am back.

I learned on the internet today how to lower your interest rate and decided to take advantage of it and see if it works. After waiting 20 minutes on the phone listening to elevator music, I was able to lower my rate from 17.9% to 14.9%. I thought you might all like to hear about this. Just click on the link. There is nothing to buy - promise !

I wish I had know about this months ago!

http://www.leoquinn.com/

Up until recently, I had been keeping all of my appointments, reminders, etc. on a palm pilot. Well, one day I went to check for the time and day of something and it seems all my data on the palm is toast. I have no idea how it happened, but it did. I had not backed it up to my computer in months, as I never could get it to back up correctly. Anyway, I have chosen this opportunity to simplify my life. The frequent beeping of my pilot to remind me of something or another was always a little annoying.

As I am trying to be frugal, I did not go out a buy a new calendar or planner. I have located a number of free sources where you download what you need, print it, and put it into an existing or new notebook or something of the sort. I had one of those professional portfolio things that I used when I went to interview for my current job. It has a 3-ring binder inside, so that is what I am using. I was so grateful to have found these wonderful options, that I knew I had to share it will all of you.

DIY Planner
http://www.diyplanner.com/

Calendars - Print Free
http://www.printfree.com/Calendar_files/2008calendars/Calend...

Oh, and on other stuff, my debt amount is down to $6,938.83, becuase I paid some on all of my debts yesterday. I also rolled $5.50 to deposit to Short Term Savings today. This feels great and I feel really properous. I have enough money for everything I need right now and I feel terrific.

Happy February, Everybody!

Hi, folks. Some weird stuff is happening in my universe. I have checked my checking account balance. I am about 1 week from my next payday and I have about $300 left! This is unheard of! I don't want to question good fortune, but this is definitely weird. I haven't been doing anything differently.

DH and I have agreed that when the truck gets out of the shop (it is in the shop for mechanical work), we are going to take it to another shop to have the rear windshield replaced. The rear defrost does not work because some idiot prior owner cut the wires that make that work! Go figure on this one. I sure can't. After having that repair, which is supposed to be about $200 or so, I will transfer whatever is left to the short term savings.

A few days ago when I discovered this excess cash (which I think is due to a combination of factors, like lower health insurance and less driving due to bad weather), DH and I decided to revamp how we have been doing our money. I am going to build up the short savings to $300. Then, while still making regular deposits each month to short term savings and dream savings, I will begin to whack really hard at the credit card debt. My APR is currently 18%. I had the balance down to $1961, but because of the high APR, my amount due skyrocketed to $1992! I figure the only way to combat this is start hitting it really hard with payments that are 2 times the required payment. I have not charged anything to this card in months, but I have been making regular payments of more than the minimum, plus also making payments out of my Challenge money.

I have collected coins and bills totaling $6.50 for a deposit to my checking account. When the deposit clears, I will send it directly to the credit card.

I am beginning to fell really prosperous and wealthy. I am continuing to see the debt amount coming down and down and down. It's very exciting and inspiring at the same time. I am also continuing to see my savings and retirement go up and up and up.

I just talked with the retirement guy from the company I use through my work and we adjusted my allocations to be more aggressive. I just started contributing last year and I am 36. I need to start being more aggressive with my investing since I have had a late start. I hear some investment people say you can figure in what you social security benefits will be into your "income" you will receive when you retire. I am not sure there will be social security when I retire, so I don't intend to depend on it. When my raise comes through next spring (probably about 3%), I am going to increase my retirement contributions by 1% and also my budget allocations for debt payoff and savings.

Hello, everyone. I just requested a check from one of my survey companies. It's only $5.00, but when it gets here, it's going right into my Challenge money and to the credit card before it can be spent on something else.

Howdy, friends and neighbors. I sent $17.00 of my Challenge money to the cc today. I deposited it on Monday and had to wait for the deposit to clear.

I had a very low spend day. I did not drive, because my car is still stuck in the ice and also the passenger door will not close. It's a very old car. I don't know if that has anything to do with it, though. I got a ride to work with a co-worker and took the city bus home. The city bus is kind of an odd way to phrase the "bus" we have here because the "bus system" is two busses than make the exact same route around our town. It only costs $.50 to ride. The last time I paid $.50 to ride a bus was in 1994 when I had to ride the bus a couple of times in Springfield, Missouri during bad weather! I took my lunch with me and only bought a soda out of the machine.

This is not really a picture of our bus, but it looks a lot like it.

Howdy, folks. Well, the sad story is that I had to use my $38.20 in Challenge Money for a trip to a nearby city to take my husband to a doctor. However, I did find $17.00 cash after searching through my purse, pockets, etc. which I am going to deposit to checking on Monday and swiftly send it to the credit card before it can be spent. This brings my January challenge amount back down to $17.00 and my credit card balance to $1961.83. I also made payments on our medical bills, bringing our total debt to $7080.20. Yeah!! I don't think I can go to the bank until Monday, though, because there is a winter storm warning in effect and our car is not starting reliably. The storm is supposed to pass around Monday, I heard. The roads are also icy and makes even walking somewhat treacherous.

I also reinstituted a rule I had been using for awhile. At the end of a pay period (day of payday), whatever money is leftover in my checking from last payday I will divide up equally among my Dream and Short Term Savings accounts. For awhile, I had not had any leftovers or at least not much and so had not done this. I had $62.76 leftover in my account Friday before payday, so I divided it and put it into the two accounts. I like this game.

Howdy, all.

Well, the end result with my $20 Challenge is a surprising $18.50. Not bad, I say, seeing as I started it on Dec. 26th, I think. I had budgeted $100 to the cc, so I sent that plus this $18.50 to the cc. I'm feeling really jazzed.

Add on top of that the fact that the college I work for has health insurance, which we only have to pay for twice a month. Since I got 3 paychecks in the long month of December, I have about $27.00 extra in my account. I am putting that on my $20 Challenge for January. Wow. That's cool. I've already met my $20 Challenge for January. I'm not stopping there, though.

I went grocery shopping this morning and saved $14.55 with store specials, my store card, and using my own bags.

I also made regular deposits to my Dream Account and Short Term Savings Accounts.

My husband will get his first paycheck, probably about $250, from his new job on Tuesday. It is the first step to getting our truck fixed so we can drive it. In the meantime, our car is also not very reliable, as we think it may have something wrong with the transmission. I have been riding my bike to work for the last 2 weeks (yes, it has been very cold, and some days, very warm here in the midwest) which has not only save me a lot of gas money, but has given more strength and stamina. (I have asthma, so this is important.)

Despite the car and truck problems, I feel really fortunate and blessed to be a part of this group that shares ideas about how to save money, the struggles to pay off debt, and create a better life. I want to wish the best for all of you and your families for 2007.

Hey, everybody. I just realized when looking at my Financial Freedom Plan spreadsheet today that the debt amount in my info at the right is wrong.

Somehow, I had not included credit card debt in that calculation. Anyway, it's updated now.

I just got paid on Friday. I sent off the final payment for one of my medical bills. Woo-hoo! I'm excited. So far, I have 4 out of 8 debts paid in full. On Monday, I will deposit some spare change in the amount of $5.50 to checking. When it clears, I will send an online payment to the credit card.

I saved $15.92 between coupons and using my store card for grocery shopping yesterday.



I also made regular deposits to my Dream Account and Short Term Savings.



My mother sent me $150 for Christmas. Whereas I really want to send it directly to the credit card, I have to use a small part of it on a trip to a nearby city to take my husband to a doctor. The rest is being allocated for repairs to my truck. It won't pay for the whole thing, but it will pay for part of it.

Someone asked about the significance of the Wall Street mint silver bar and whether that is something I advise not to buy. On the contrary, I want to buy less of stuff I don't need so I can have a lot more money. I do own some silver coins, but nothing like this Wall street mint silver bar.

I saw that someone else did this for their blog, so I thought it was a great idea.

1. Maintain a positive attitude about finances. However bad it seems now, I will keep my mind focused on it turning out right and being grateful for what I have.

2. Accumulate $300 in my short term and dream savings accounts combined.

3. Pay off credit card in full and then hide both cards (mine and my spouses's) in a place known only to me so it cannot be used except in extreme emergency.

4. After credit card is paid off, divide money previously paid to credit card among medical bills, short term savings, and dream savings accounts.

5. Deposit amounts for all rebates into either short term or dream savings accounts.

6. Take change out of my pockets every night and put it into my piggy. At the end of every week, be sure I have dumped all pocket change and bills into it. Deposit it into short term savings.

7. On payday, evenly divide the "remainder" left in checking from the previous payday and transfer to short term savings and dream savings accounts.

Here is a picture of my Mustang and my Blazer. On Friday afternoon, my husband and I left town to go north to be at a funeral on Saturday morning. The roads were bad, really bad in some places, but we made it there fine in our 4WD truck. All went fine with the funeral and I got to meet some of his family and friends that I had never met before. We started back home on Saturday at 11:30 and stopped somewhere on the way for lunch. When we were about 1/2 hour from home, we started hearing a high pitched whining noise under the truck. It got louder and louder. Then, my husband said he thought the transmission went out, because suddenly we lost acceleration. He was able to get off at an exit and get into a gas station okay. We called AAA and a tow truck driver came and got us and took us home. (Just as a side note, I have to say AAA is worth every penny it costs and it has saved us a few times.) We are still waiting to be able to call our mechanic. The vehicle is not operational, so he will have to come and get it and fix it.



I transferred money from my checking to my two savings accounts for short term savings and dream savings. As soon as I accumulate some more pocket change, I will take my piggy to the bank for deposit.



My last win is that I have the last bit of a medical bill paid in full! Woo-hoo!

The last thing I have to say is that I was caught in the snowstorm that hit the midwest. My 68 Mustang was completely covered in ice, and because the windows don't fit tightly, there was even frost on the inside of the car. My truck is non-operational at the moment (see above paragraph), and so I was unable to even get out of my driveway this morning to go to work.

Hi, everyone.
Well, I got fed up with Capital One's 18.5% interest on my credit card and also a $19 fee every year. I applied for a different one with Bank of America American Express that has 0% for 12 months on balance transfers. After 12 months, the rate goes to 7.9%. I haven't gotten the card in the mail, yet, but I feel really good about this. I also did a balance transfer from my old card. With the interest rate being much lower, I can pay this off in no time!

Hi, everyone. Well, the most frugal thing I did today was to save $17.78 on groceries I bought for next week. I have two coupons of $.35 each, which were doubled and I took 4 of my own bags. Next time, I will only be able to take 2 of my own bags, as the other two bit the dust today. I also aired up one of the tires on the truck that was looking low, which may improve the mileage in my old truck. I found a recipe on http://luxliving.savingadvice.com/ blog. I adapted it a little bit. It smells really great and I think I will have enough for lunch every day next week. Here it is:

Gone to Pot Soup

2 lb boneless chuck roast meat, cut up into pieces
1 large onion, chopped
garlic powder, to taste
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 can of beef broth
1 10 oz box of frozen spinach
approximately 1/2 lb of yellow squash
celtic sea salt
black pepper

Brown the onions and beef in a stock pot. Once the onions are translucent, add the remaining ingredients. Simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes.

While I used beef, I think you could use any kind of meat. Just change the kind of broth you use. Add whatever kind of vegetables suit you. I like to use one pot for making soup like this, because it saves in not having to wash a skillet, a pot, etc. Enjoy!

I just got a reimbursement for a business trip I had to go on. Once I verified it was in my checking account, I sent an online payment to the credit card. Wow. I like this money game. I just have to figure out how to keep it coming in.

I get paid tomorrow. After dropping me off at work in the truck, my husband is going to a nearby town to get a part to fix our car, so that when he gets a job, he has a car to drive. Things seem to be coming together.

No, that's not my cat. I wouldn't do that to a cat. Someone sent it to me in email.

Over the past weekend, I took the money accumulated in my crayon bank to the bank and deposited it to checking. The deposit showed in my account yesterday, but I forgot to look then. But today, I sent off an online payment to the credit card. Only $12, but $12 is $12 more I don't have to pay next month. Woo-hoo! This is fun.

Oh, and see the picture? This is what I would like to do to the credit card companies!