Every little bit helps

My insurance bill came in the mail and surprisingly it went down. I am surprised because with the accident even though it was not my fault I thought the insurance company would find a reason to hike the rates. I am still in a high bracket until December of this year when the novice driver surcharge comes off my bill.

The rate went down by around $200 for a six months period. Savings! savings! savings!

The part-time gig means that I am not home a lot to watch tv. On the days that I am home there is nothing showing on tv, so I called the cable company and asked to be downgraded to basic cable. The representative, downgraded me to basic and also gave me the introductory offer on my broadband internet access for six months. This reduced my bill by approximately $30 per month. Savings! savings! savings!

I have decided to lower funding to the ING account for a few pay periods so that I can cover my insurance bill and upcoming trip. I am not using credit cards for any portion of my trip.

Forgive me for I have sinned.......

I TBB do not have a budget. I tried, and tried and tried I just can't seem to keep a budget like most people. So what do I do you ask? I get a paycheck weekly and pay myself first through direct deposit of a small amount into my ING direct account. The balance of my paycheck goes into my checking account and I pay bills from here. I pay the rent, student loans, car, insurance, credit cards, cell phone and other utilities and other things such as groceries, gas etc. Normally, once I am done doing these things each week the paycheck is done and there is another one coming in. So there you have it TBB has no formal budget per se.

If there is something I want such as an article of clothing or a book, I will wait until next pay day in order to get it. Because I am in debt, I do not shop for clothing or shoes very often.

I have a few things coming up such as my trip overseas. This will all be funded from the weekly checks. It just means I have to re-arrange my bill payments.

Do I plan on changing this? NOOOOOO If it is not broke am not fixing it. This method allows me to pay all my bills on time, my credit card balances are going down, and my savings is slowly on the rise.

Random Rant.....

1. Family, family, family.................arggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

2. So what if I am the first to graduate college, does that mean I owe you something? Until you write that check to Sallie, do not stress me.

3. Mind your own damn business. Why do you need to know how much sh.it cost, you are not paying.

4. Friends come and go.

5. Yeah so what my car looks generic, I do not need rims, tints, or retarded decorations.

6. How much I have in the bank is only for me and the people in blog land to know.

7. I no longer call you, shouldn't that be a hint in and of itself. Dummy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

8. Why does health insurance cost so damn much when I only see the doctor twice per year?

Personally I have been going through it. My emotions are all over the place, this does nothing but wreck havoc on my finances. I hope things will settle down soon in my head. I have not been able to blog a few times per week as I would like. There is not much going on in the finance department. The emergency fund is still in tact. I am still working at the part-time gig, and paying down my debt.

One bit of good news..... a small unsubsidized student loan now has a zero balance. There is another unsubsidized student loan that has a balance of $987. I hope to pay this off before I go on vacation in June. The interest is lower compared to my credit cards, but at this point I need the pay off letter for the emotional boost.

Store Credit Cards

Store cards for me are a discount tool. They get a bad rap because the APR tends to hover around 22%. Honestly, I think the APRs on my store credit cards are around the average but I have no clue what the exact number is, why? I use my store credit cards as discount tools.

JC Penny - extra 15% when I shop certain days. I am going into the store to buy a specific item which I already have the cash to pay for. However, since it is 15% cheaper to use the JC Penny card I will make the purchase using the card, then pay the card off before the bill arrives in the mail.

PC Richards - This card I got back in college since I wanted a TV but had no money to pay for it. They normally offer no interest for 12 months. Why not? I always end up paying for any item bought within two to three months. I do not use this card often since I am not buying that much in terms of electronic gadgets.

Old Navy - This card I have had for a few years. Each time you spend $200 you get ten bucks back to use off your next purchase. It normally takes a while for me to accumulate $200 in purchases since I do not buy a lot of clothes. When I do shop for clothes they have to be on clearance 50% off or more. The ten bucks back I normally use to purchase something that is ten dollars only. Again I pay no interest on this card.

Victoria Secrets - I use this card probably a few times a year. Mostly I only make it to purchase stuff during the semi-annual sales. I load up on a few items during the sale then the card gathers dust for a few months. There are times when I do not catch the sales, therefore the card is unused for almost a year.

Update....

The savings account at ING now stands at $1256.50 this does not include the original $400 that was stashed away in a CD.

My upcoming flight home was booked and cost me a little over $400 so that did not hurt as much as I thought it would.

I am back to my 20+ hours at the part-time gig so the weekly paycheck should go back to looking pretty healthy for March and onwards. This will be needed with the upcoming trip and my $1000 credit card pay off per month.

I am trying to stay focused on my goals. My main priority right now is paying off the credit cards and staying on top of Sallie Mae weekly payments since it is a private student loan. The mini-efund is well above my original goal of $1,000 so I can leave that on auto-pilot and not worry about it for a while.

$$$$$$$

I will be seeing only $$$$$ signs for the next few months. There is a family event that I have to attend.

One international round trip flight $$$$$
Gifts for family members $$$$$$$$$$
Stuff for me$$$$$$$$$$
Spending money when I get there $$$$$$$$
Seeing family after all these years priceless *maybe*