no more ashes
I’m working a lot lately, can you tell?
I want stuff. I’m in my house now so I’m no longer saving for that, and I’m tired of stoic self-deprivation.
I’m getting started on house repairs this week. I’m getting a big ol’ flat screen digital HD television and a new entertainment center to sit it on and some cable. Yup. I don’t care that it costs money. If I want it, and I can afford it, and still save and invest and pay down debt, then dammit, I can have it. I am young and employed and I want all the stuff I’ve been saying no about. I am going shopping. I am wearing cute shoes. I am getting a new tote bag. I am pimping my ride. I am decorating my house. I want it all. When I come home after all that work, I want to be sweating myself for the car I’m driving and the house I pull to and walk into at the end of the day.
It’s going to take for-frikkin-ever. But I want it all.
I will be using my credit cards. I will not put eighty billion things on the cards at once, and I won’t carry a balance indefinitely. I will plan my purchases. I will not abandon my goals. But I will not run around in sackcloth and ashes any more.
Oh yeah. And I’m going to have to increase my income.
real food is expensive
Real food is expensive, as opposed to dog food. In my quest to not eat dog food when Mister Ant and I are old people, I have set a personal goal to save enough each month so that I can actually top off my IRA. Depending on how many other things I want to do, the expense of meeting my monthly savings goals – for the e-fund, the IRA, the wedding… can wipe me out. I’m really feeling it today as I debate about how much I have to contribute to the wedding fund, given that I just put a big chunk in the IRA. But as priorities go, I’ve put the IRA pretty high. I’m going to be 30… I have only a few thousand in my retirement savings. I’ve got to catch up… you know, so when I’m old I can eat people food.
live well
Live as well as you can. Tomorrow is not promised. Live in the present, but plan for your future.
I was a big Michael Jackson fan when I was a little girl. I have a lot of his albums, and I still enjoy them all. I hope there is not a circus over his estate. I really need to get my will drafted – it’s been taking me too long. It’s been six months since I went to that lawyer, but I didn’t follow up, and I totally missed my deadline.
Anyway, have a good weekend, and appreciate your life!
this blog is not abandoned
Don’t let the spam fool you. I am still here blogging every day I can. I am deleting the spam as quickly as I can. I don’t know why they’re picking on my blog all of a sudden. I don’t know how to get rid of them. But you will continue to hear from me.
I started to just drop in to a clothes store to see if they had any clothes I might like… I almost did. I planned to. But I didn’t. I can’t spend any unplanned money unless I give myself an allowance. I know how I do when I don’t give myself a spending limit. It’s dangerous stuff, man. So I passed on shopping on a whim this evening. After I get paid on Friday, and I make sure my mortgage and car expenses are paid, and I chip in on my share of the plane tickets for next month’s weekend excursion… then I can figure out what I will allow myself to spend on some new clothes. Good thing I’m not used to shopping. My feelings would probably be hurt right now, LOL!
planning
Planning is nice. It has long been a weakness of mine. I would always have problems caused by my failure to plan. This week, I made sure that I planned for breakfast and for lunch. It has been so awesome on my time management and on my wallet. I haven’t spent a cent yet thus far this week. Outside of gas, which I have $20 set aside for already, I don’t anticipate having to spend another cent on miscellaneous stuff that I didn’t plan for this week.
As you may be able to tell by my recent posts, time management has been extremely difficult for me since starting this new job. Part of the reason I had a hard time with balancing my checkbook the other week was because of bad time management and planning. But planning is helping me with that on non-financial stuff as well.
So, yeah. Planning. I’m going to try to keep doing it.
takes time
There are things I want to do with my house – some more weatherproofing (I need to look into that tax break, too!), some new furniture, some other decorations… It hasn’t really changed in appearance much since I bought it, outside of a little paint. But first, there is a porch to fix (waiting to work out an appointment with a roofer, during this, my first Philly monsoon season), and medical bills to pay (I’m telling you, it’s like I pay one and another pops up in its place. I haven’t even gotten to the big ones yet.) And I haven’t gone clothes shopping, not even once, this year. In fact, I think the last time I bought something to wear was this time last year, when I was preparing for my trip to Nawlins.
But like any homeowner (or fashionista) will tell you, things take time. You can’t do it all at once. Well, you can, but do you really want the debt. I like that most of money goes to me and not to my credit card companies now. To me, that feeling isn’t worth instant gratification.
let’s have a good week
All my lunches and breakfasts are purchased. I have a about a hundred in the account, and a check to cash for a few hundred more. Tonight I’ll do the math to see how much is left over after I get some saving done. I might have to buy gas toward the end of the week, but that’s okay. All the bills are paid except the mortgage and car, and I get paid Friday. I’m going to start using my no-fee bank account. I’m going to call my credit union and tell them I’m only using them to pay bills now, and that it’s because of their ATM fees. Onerous fees at a credit union (and not having the best mortgage rates when I bought my house) defeat the purpose of even belonging to a credit union. So, I’m moving on. Let’s have a good week!
thieves
They want to take a dollar from me every time I get money out of the bank, be it at an actual ATM or at a debit transaction, after my first ten uses per month. This HAS to be new.I don’t know when or why this happened, but this is a disaster for a woman who does not do well carrying cash. I’m going to have to figure out an alternative. Like maybe using that no-fee bank account instead of my credit union account. The whole reason I’m with the credit union is to avoid fees. Hello??? Now for the rest of the month, I have to pay $1.00 per transaction to use my debit card. This is not acceptable… Gotta find a remedy.
zoom
I sure know how to blow through money. Bills are paid. Most of the money is gone on medical bills and regular bills. I just paid my sorority dues, so there’s another check I wrote. I’m allowed to have that treat, since I’m in the house and the credit card debt is paid. The last time I paid dues, I put them on a credit card and took months to pay it off, can you believe it? I later saw the folly of my ways and decided not to indulge again until I had my stuff together. I might not be in perfect financial standing, but I’m more responsible now and can afford the expense. Next check is for end-of-the-month stuff, more medical bills, and IRA contribution. I was thinking about using some money from the e-fund for house repairs, but I’m not so sure about that one. So, yeah. I just zoomed through half a month’s pay in half a week. Zoom…
figured it out
I feel better. My checkbook is balanced. June’s bills are paid, for the most part, which is OK because I get another paycheck this week. I love knowing my balance. I am so uncomfortable and scared to spend money when I don’t know what it is – especially lately, since I had this whole overdraft fiasco last week. I can also plan for upcoming expenses a little bit better now.
