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*

WTF!!

The tax thing is bothering me so I went back and loked at it again. I have no clue WTF I did but now I owe everybody and they damn mother. Fvck is going on. I owe uncle sam, greedy azz NY and stinky azz NJ. The taxes are definitely not getting done till April something.

I wonder if I should pay someone to look at it, but then again I cannot pay the money I owe how am I gonna pay a tax person. Am fvcked.

The last five payments to Sallie Mae are:
12/14/06 – 30
12/28/06 – 40
01/16/07 – 100
01/31/07 – 40
02/08/07 – 40

My weekly payment schedule is a bit off as I concentrate on paying down the credit card debt to the tune of $1,000 per month.

Credit Card Pay Off Part II

It will take approximately $1,000 per month in order for me to be credit card debt free by December 31, 2007. I feel a lot better now knowing exactly where I stand, and what needs to be done. The month of February is slow at the part-time gig because I am taking some time off for personal reasons. Once March 1, gets here I know the income from the part-time gig will be enough to get to my goal.

The Tax Man Bites

My w-2s, 1099's and everything under the sun have been plugged into Turbo Tax. I love this software because it is very user friendly. However, I absolutely do not like the running tally in the side bar of what your refund or non-refund is. WTH!! My number is red. When it comes to money we all know red is not a good color.

I will wait a few weeks before re-visiting my taxes again. I refuse to believe it is red, and the amount is not a small number. After my little tax hiatus I will go over the numbers with a fine tooth comb.

Wish me luck, because Uncle Sam and his bastard state child are about to jack me up if I let them.

Credit card pay off

The total payments on one credit card with the highest balance for January was $700. Wow!! This more motivation for me to become debt free. This $700 is money that I could put to work for me in retirement, down payment on a home or saving for a fully funded emergency fund. This aggressive payment schedule is definitely an eye opener. Debt has the potential to really cripple a person and rob them of their future.

My new motto: Do whatever needs to be done to become debt free.

HSBC is now at 6%

HSBC has increased the interest rate on their online account to 6% for new deposits until April 30, 2007.

I want a bean bag chair

I have always wanted a bean bag chair, and I have decided to buy one. If anyone has any recommendations they would be appreciated. My budget is $100. This is a Christmas gift to myself as well as a reward for all the hours I have been working, and all the dedication I have put in.

Freedom! Freedom!

This is what it feels like to have money from paycheck to paycheck, and not feel stressed. I just finished paying bills online and writing checks. Next Wednesday I will have another paycheck again. The part-time gig is really paying off. The credit card balances are starting to go down.

I strongly recommend anyone who is serious about getting rid of debt to try and increase their income if possible.

Tax time

The W-2s have started to come in so it is time to do my taxes. I will be using the Turbo Tax software because the online version is free through my insurance company. So far Uncle Sam and I are at break even. However, there are some additional information that am waiting on.

My state taxes will be completed right before the deadline since NY state and I seem to have some issues. I fear a repeat of last year.

Savings update

As of this coming Thursday I will have a total of $1,006.18 in my ING savings account. This amount does not include the CD with $400.00. I decided to have the baby e-fund outside of the CD. If anything were to happen I would have access to my e-fund without any penalty on the interest earned on the CD.

Saving is now addictive. I can't wait each week to see my account grow.

Going on vacation does not mean my money issues will go to rest. Quite the opposite.

Here are some money things that happened, along with other random shit:

1. Last year with the accident and everything I forgot one critical thing for my car; the state inspection. So am driving and got pulled over (random my ass, no way you could have seen my sticker from that far away). Now I have to wait to get the fine back from the court in some white azz town in upstate NY to see what my fine is.

My interaction with the good ole boys of NY State Police Patrol reconfirms why I hate police officers. You hear people complain about it on the news, but until it happens to you it is not completely real.
FYI....Officer Till there is no reason for your teeth and your face to be the same color. Yellow teeth bastard. Let me clue you into something, if you are pulling over every black driver for every 10 or so drivers, it is not random. Let me stop here before I keep going, since am still pissed. Am stil wondering if you arrested and beat the crap out of the other black driver you pulled over half mile ahead of me

2. The price of gas went down by atleast 5 cents.

3. I received my first paycheck from the part-time gig with the raise. It's lookin good.

4. After my various issues with Bank of America, I now have my lone active checking account with Wachovia Bank.

Am back

I am back from vacation, now I need a vacation from my vacation. This was the most rest I had in a long time. I'll update later on my finances including an error on my part that might cost me a few hundred.

I'm on vacation

I will be away visiting family until next Saturday, with no access to a computer.

Have a safe holiday weekend all!