I didn't even think about it on the 25th, but I'm now 30.5 years old. My half birthday was Tuesday.
Two and one-half years to pay down all my bad debt!!
I'm ready. :)
Friday, March 28, 2008
Keep Your Fingers Crossed - Career Update
Good news on the career front.
The job that I hoped would be approved at my old employer has been approved. My old boss just let me know it will be posted in the "next week or so".
I like my current job. Been here 3.5 years, but I feel a bit stagnant and I don't see a place to grow here. I would just remain in the same position, getting salary bumps and wouldn't be able to grow into any higher position without going back to school for a further advance degree in either business or science. My boss is only 10 years older than me, so that's not an option either.
I like the people I work with here, they are all very nice people and overall, it's a good place to work. Just not for me anymore. I miss my old job and the idea of being there full-time would be a dream. I was previously a full-time intern for two years after being a part-time student worker in grad school for one year, three years total. I'm also sure I'd be picking up similar and much-loved work as I had when I finished there. Which would be awesome!
So I'll be applying for that as soon as it opens. My competition could be fierce, but I know I have a great shot. And I'm ready to negotiate a better salary as well.
It won't be very fun to tell my boss here that I'm considering leaving, but I know she'll understand.
And good timing, but I'll be doing some fun volunteer work with my old boss and coworkers this weekend so I can remind everyone about how hard I work, good attitude, and gain some crucial place in their minds when it comes to hiring time.
So keep your fingers crossed!
The job that I hoped would be approved at my old employer has been approved. My old boss just let me know it will be posted in the "next week or so".
I like my current job. Been here 3.5 years, but I feel a bit stagnant and I don't see a place to grow here. I would just remain in the same position, getting salary bumps and wouldn't be able to grow into any higher position without going back to school for a further advance degree in either business or science. My boss is only 10 years older than me, so that's not an option either.
I like the people I work with here, they are all very nice people and overall, it's a good place to work. Just not for me anymore. I miss my old job and the idea of being there full-time would be a dream. I was previously a full-time intern for two years after being a part-time student worker in grad school for one year, three years total. I'm also sure I'd be picking up similar and much-loved work as I had when I finished there. Which would be awesome!
So I'll be applying for that as soon as it opens. My competition could be fierce, but I know I have a great shot. And I'm ready to negotiate a better salary as well.
It won't be very fun to tell my boss here that I'm considering leaving, but I know she'll understand.
And good timing, but I'll be doing some fun volunteer work with my old boss and coworkers this weekend so I can remind everyone about how hard I work, good attitude, and gain some crucial place in their minds when it comes to hiring time.
So keep your fingers crossed!
Another month gone, another step forward
It's hard to believe it's nearly April.
And supposedly it's also spring, but we've still got weather forecasts for snow. A surprise six inches fell late last week, but it's nearly gone again. We broke a record for snowfall this season in our city. Over 100 inches. We can see the lawn now, but the leftover snowbanks where we had to dig out could be there until May.
I'm eagerly awaiting the grass greening up and our spring flowers starting to poke their little heads out of the ground. I hope the crocuses I planted last fall made it.
I updated my sidebar today, except for my car (because that payment doesn't drop until the first of each month) and I'll wait until the first also for to update my networth.
I stretched my tax refund quite a bit. As I already mentioned, I paid off my Credit Card B and have moved Card D into my sights (Pow! Pow!). I jumped on my payments the other day when I got paid, using my snowball plan with minimums on all of my cards and then hitting Card D with my remaining debt payoff. I have yet to call Card B and threaten to close it (so they give me a non-business version and a really good rate for later transfer-game options), so I checked it just to verify it's paid off in my head. And what did I find? They knocked me for $8.61 as a finance charge, calculated off my past balance from last month. I was pissed, but hey, $8.61 I can handle. I'm calling them this weekend though. Grrr.
Confession time. For Easter, I had a breakdown at Target and spent some unnecessary money on unneccessary stuff. I got to the checkout, realized my idiocy and that my balance on my debit card wouldn't cover the total. So, I had to use my "emergency" card out of my wallet. And I immediately had buyer's remorse and beat myself up emotionally. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid. Now I didn't purchase anything rediculous or anything that I can't use or won't use, but I did buy myself some treats that I don't really need. But I went home and as soon as I had a chance, I paid off that charge on my card from my last stash of my tax refund. That money should've been used to pay off in my snowball. So I tripped. I'm back up again and I'm back on track.
Overall, I did knock all of my cards down a bit!
In other good news, my boyfriend and I signed up for our CSA subscription! We each paid $157 towards an every-other week produce delivery for June through October. I'm really excited to see all the organic and farm-raised yummy goodness we'll have. Plus we each get $75 of that back from reimbursements from our health insurance companies!! And I know we'll save more than $75 in not having to purchase produce at the grocery store (less healthy and delicious) and the farmer's market (more expensive). I'm really excited about this.
Also, we picked up a few inexpensive seed starter kits. We've got baby tomatoes, hot peppers, sweet peppers, petunias and coleus plants sprouting for our little vegetable garden and flower gardens. This will save us money since we won't need to purchase potted plants.
This week I also received my new "designer envelope system" that I ordered from the Dave Ramsey store. I listen to his show often at work. It's funny, but the stories inspire me, sometimes they break my heart. Anyway, this month I was trying to work on truly implementing my budget, zeroing out and keeping my cash-spending for food, etc., down and kept track of well.
My struggles with this are that I have a hard time (read here: too busy and somewhat lazy) to get to the bank to get real cash out. I'm a paperless girl! Everything I do financially is online, outside from writing a check each month to my boyfriend for rent (and if I could do this electronically, I totally would!). So I was trying to use my debit card. I even have a sticker on it with my two-week totals for what I should be spending (I get paid bimonthly).
Worth noting - people kept commenting on my sticker. The bartender at my team's club bar/restaurant where we have our socials and meetings commented how smart I was. :) A barista at Starbucks (I have a weakness for White Chocolate Mochas ... only 1-2 times a month!) said it was the first time she'd seen that broken down into two weeks. :)
Anyway, I decided it was worth the $20 cost ($10 S&H sadly) to purchase the envelope system. I'm going to likely try to use my debit card, but keep track on the handy log sheets. If that doesn't work, I'll make the switch to just cash. I do like the "system" though. It's actually a nice red wallet. There's room for my checkbook and register, card slots for my debit card, etc., a zippered coin pocket and the envelopes with logs on each to write down your balances. I had a nice red wallet and a little coin purse before, so I've combined and pared down everything into my new wallet. I like it so far. I'll admit that I hide the imprinted side where it says "Financial Peace University" though. I don't want to explain this to my boyfriend ... yet, anyway.
Our team season is starting, so I'm getting busy busy. And I really need to get my butt moving and running. I am so out of shape and I'm still fighting the remnants of my flu.
All in all, I'm pretty good though.
And supposedly it's also spring, but we've still got weather forecasts for snow. A surprise six inches fell late last week, but it's nearly gone again. We broke a record for snowfall this season in our city. Over 100 inches. We can see the lawn now, but the leftover snowbanks where we had to dig out could be there until May.
I'm eagerly awaiting the grass greening up and our spring flowers starting to poke their little heads out of the ground. I hope the crocuses I planted last fall made it.
I updated my sidebar today, except for my car (because that payment doesn't drop until the first of each month) and I'll wait until the first also for to update my networth.
I stretched my tax refund quite a bit. As I already mentioned, I paid off my Credit Card B and have moved Card D into my sights (Pow! Pow!). I jumped on my payments the other day when I got paid, using my snowball plan with minimums on all of my cards and then hitting Card D with my remaining debt payoff. I have yet to call Card B and threaten to close it (so they give me a non-business version and a really good rate for later transfer-game options), so I checked it just to verify it's paid off in my head. And what did I find? They knocked me for $8.61 as a finance charge, calculated off my past balance from last month. I was pissed, but hey, $8.61 I can handle. I'm calling them this weekend though. Grrr.
Confession time. For Easter, I had a breakdown at Target and spent some unnecessary money on unneccessary stuff. I got to the checkout, realized my idiocy and that my balance on my debit card wouldn't cover the total. So, I had to use my "emergency" card out of my wallet. And I immediately had buyer's remorse and beat myself up emotionally. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid. Now I didn't purchase anything rediculous or anything that I can't use or won't use, but I did buy myself some treats that I don't really need. But I went home and as soon as I had a chance, I paid off that charge on my card from my last stash of my tax refund. That money should've been used to pay off in my snowball. So I tripped. I'm back up again and I'm back on track.
Overall, I did knock all of my cards down a bit!
In other good news, my boyfriend and I signed up for our CSA subscription! We each paid $157 towards an every-other week produce delivery for June through October. I'm really excited to see all the organic and farm-raised yummy goodness we'll have. Plus we each get $75 of that back from reimbursements from our health insurance companies!! And I know we'll save more than $75 in not having to purchase produce at the grocery store (less healthy and delicious) and the farmer's market (more expensive). I'm really excited about this.
Also, we picked up a few inexpensive seed starter kits. We've got baby tomatoes, hot peppers, sweet peppers, petunias and coleus plants sprouting for our little vegetable garden and flower gardens. This will save us money since we won't need to purchase potted plants.
This week I also received my new "designer envelope system" that I ordered from the Dave Ramsey store. I listen to his show often at work. It's funny, but the stories inspire me, sometimes they break my heart. Anyway, this month I was trying to work on truly implementing my budget, zeroing out and keeping my cash-spending for food, etc., down and kept track of well.
My struggles with this are that I have a hard time (read here: too busy and somewhat lazy) to get to the bank to get real cash out. I'm a paperless girl! Everything I do financially is online, outside from writing a check each month to my boyfriend for rent (and if I could do this electronically, I totally would!). So I was trying to use my debit card. I even have a sticker on it with my two-week totals for what I should be spending (I get paid bimonthly).
Worth noting - people kept commenting on my sticker. The bartender at my team's club bar/restaurant where we have our socials and meetings commented how smart I was. :) A barista at Starbucks (I have a weakness for White Chocolate Mochas ... only 1-2 times a month!) said it was the first time she'd seen that broken down into two weeks. :)
Anyway, I decided it was worth the $20 cost ($10 S&H sadly) to purchase the envelope system. I'm going to likely try to use my debit card, but keep track on the handy log sheets. If that doesn't work, I'll make the switch to just cash. I do like the "system" though. It's actually a nice red wallet. There's room for my checkbook and register, card slots for my debit card, etc., a zippered coin pocket and the envelopes with logs on each to write down your balances. I had a nice red wallet and a little coin purse before, so I've combined and pared down everything into my new wallet. I like it so far. I'll admit that I hide the imprinted side where it says "Financial Peace University" though. I don't want to explain this to my boyfriend ... yet, anyway.
Our team season is starting, so I'm getting busy busy. And I really need to get my butt moving and running. I am so out of shape and I'm still fighting the remnants of my flu.
All in all, I'm pretty good though.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Kinda of neat
I have a facebook account which I use to keep in touch with a lot of my old friends and teammates. My boyfriend and I also have a running scrabble game on it.
But this week, I found Dave Ramsey on it and there is even a Dave Ramsey "Baby Steps"Application. Kind of fun. In my own geeked out paying down my debt way.
But this week, I found Dave Ramsey on it and there is even a Dave Ramsey "Baby Steps"Application. Kind of fun. In my own geeked out paying down my debt way.
How Having the Flu Saved Me Money
Last Wednesday, I got to work and felt fine. Then within a few hours, knew I was coming down with something because I got very tired, achey and developed a sore throat. By Wednesday night, I was nearly out for the count.
I got up Thursday morning so I wouldn't miss this important four-hour work meeting, then went home for the rest of the day and from then until Tuesday, I was basically in a flu-induced stupor quasi-coma. Five total days of out and out and influenza. ugh.
I'm not a napper, but I was putting in a full nine hours of sleep per night (my usual's 7ish) and two naps during the daytimes.
My sports team traveled to Chicago for a tournament, so I was too sick to play and didn't even bother to try to be there on the sidelines, since I could barely get out of my pyjamas.
Now that I'm feeling a bit better, just congested and fighting a cough, I realized how much money the flu saved me. I didn't have to spend any money on gas, tournament costs, socializing with my team or the hotel in Chicago, and since I also was too sick to leave my house and my very awesome boyfriend stayed home to take care of me, we just stayed in and watched movies all weekend, so no additionally weekend expenditures.
Thankfully, my team had enough players to handle the tournament without me, and although I missed some fun, I can't even imagine the nightmare it would've been trying to battle through it with the flu. Not happening.
And now I have some extra money to put towards the next card in my debt snowball sights. Pow! Cough! Cough!
I got up Thursday morning so I wouldn't miss this important four-hour work meeting, then went home for the rest of the day and from then until Tuesday, I was basically in a flu-induced stupor quasi-coma. Five total days of out and out and influenza. ugh.
I'm not a napper, but I was putting in a full nine hours of sleep per night (my usual's 7ish) and two naps during the daytimes.
My sports team traveled to Chicago for a tournament, so I was too sick to play and didn't even bother to try to be there on the sidelines, since I could barely get out of my pyjamas.
Now that I'm feeling a bit better, just congested and fighting a cough, I realized how much money the flu saved me. I didn't have to spend any money on gas, tournament costs, socializing with my team or the hotel in Chicago, and since I also was too sick to leave my house and my very awesome boyfriend stayed home to take care of me, we just stayed in and watched movies all weekend, so no additionally weekend expenditures.
Thankfully, my team had enough players to handle the tournament without me, and although I missed some fun, I can't even imagine the nightmare it would've been trying to battle through it with the flu. Not happening.
And now I have some extra money to put towards the next card in my debt snowball sights. Pow! Cough! Cough!
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
$0.00
Card B is paid off!
It didn't have much left on it, only $432, but it's at $0.00 this morning.
TAKE THAT CARD B!
It didn't have much left on it, only $432, but it's at $0.00 this morning.
TAKE THAT CARD B!
Monday, March 3, 2008
A "Yippee!" and a big "Sigh"
Been busy, busy, busy, but staying on the plan. Actually, getting more on the plan than ever before I think.
My sidebar is majorly updated with achievements.
Most importantly, the initial $1000.00 Emergency Fund is all set. With a bit of extra at 1026.34 and growing in my new ING account. It's over there and I won't touch except for real emergencies.
My taxes are all done and I got a nice refund of $1200, so that finished up the emergency fund, took care of a few extra bills (sports team dues of $75) and I've paid off my first credit card. It hasn't hit yet on my checking account, so I haven't crossed it off the sidebar, but very soon.
Then I'm going to call that particular company and find out what better card I can get if they want to keep me as a customer. For some reason, I'm on a "business" card despite not being a business in any capacity. I want to get back to a basic card with good rates and then when I need to use it for any zero transfers, it'll be ready to help me rock out this debt. Using the tools available to me.
I also updated my financials and sat down and figured out my full budget for the month, which would be the first time I've ever done this. I think I'm in a pretty good place to start though. I have also established how my debt snowball will work and in what current order. My only debate is if I should go after my car loan in the mix of my credit cards or if I should go after first my cards, then my car. But it's smaller than some and it's still debt, so there you go. It's all in together.
I also got paid for two of my extra jobs, one for that part-time job I found for $60 and then some work for my brother. So I'm working it.
The only challenge that's been disconcerting is that I blanked out on the fact that even though I'm paying debt off, that debt is still accruing interest, so it's two steps forward and one step back.
I also will admit that in the end of January, I also add some new credit card charges because I needed to purchase something for $150 but didn't have the cash. And last week, I put $17 on one card I left on my wallet because I wasn't sure I had enough in my account. This last one stemmed from me running out of space in my checkbook register, not having a new one then not getting organized. But I'm back on track and I've removed the credit cards from my wallet. I'd still like to freeze them in the freezer, so I won't be tempted.
So, yeah. Forward!
My sidebar is majorly updated with achievements.
Most importantly, the initial $1000.00 Emergency Fund is all set. With a bit of extra at 1026.34 and growing in my new ING account. It's over there and I won't touch except for real emergencies.
My taxes are all done and I got a nice refund of $1200, so that finished up the emergency fund, took care of a few extra bills (sports team dues of $75) and I've paid off my first credit card. It hasn't hit yet on my checking account, so I haven't crossed it off the sidebar, but very soon.
Then I'm going to call that particular company and find out what better card I can get if they want to keep me as a customer. For some reason, I'm on a "business" card despite not being a business in any capacity. I want to get back to a basic card with good rates and then when I need to use it for any zero transfers, it'll be ready to help me rock out this debt. Using the tools available to me.
I also updated my financials and sat down and figured out my full budget for the month, which would be the first time I've ever done this. I think I'm in a pretty good place to start though. I have also established how my debt snowball will work and in what current order. My only debate is if I should go after my car loan in the mix of my credit cards or if I should go after first my cards, then my car. But it's smaller than some and it's still debt, so there you go. It's all in together.
I also got paid for two of my extra jobs, one for that part-time job I found for $60 and then some work for my brother. So I'm working it.
The only challenge that's been disconcerting is that I blanked out on the fact that even though I'm paying debt off, that debt is still accruing interest, so it's two steps forward and one step back.
I also will admit that in the end of January, I also add some new credit card charges because I needed to purchase something for $150 but didn't have the cash. And last week, I put $17 on one card I left on my wallet because I wasn't sure I had enough in my account. This last one stemmed from me running out of space in my checkbook register, not having a new one then not getting organized. But I'm back on track and I've removed the credit cards from my wallet. I'd still like to freeze them in the freezer, so I won't be tempted.
So, yeah. Forward!
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