Small Thinking

Up until now, I've been a small thinker. I remember back in the day, way back in the day when I was in college I said to my roommate, "I want a job that pays $10,000 a year." Her response was, "That's not a lot of money." Can you believe that I looked at her like she was crazy? Now I look at myself as if I were crazy. I can see now that even back then that was not a lot of money.

When I reflect on the how I got into this situation, I believe small thinking is one of the reasons. If you were to ask me what I purchased on credit, I wouldn't be able to point to large or major purchases like a boat, electronics, or even a vacation. It's just been small things. I don't remember what they are. I'll bet if I looked back at archived credit card statements I would be amazed and think, "Oh, I used a credit card for THAT?"

Have you ever thought about this? Do you think that your credit card purchases that got you where you are today were substanstial? Were they worth the anxiety that we're all feeling today?

My Snowflaking Job

At the beginning of October I started my snowflaking job. The purpose of the income from this job is to help release my debt shackles. The job is at a women's clothing store. I love clothes and I love to shop. So as you can imagine, working in this store is synonymous to my having chocolate chip cookies in my house. I used to buy them and say they were for my family, but I would always eat the bulk of them. I love chocolate chip cookies!

One of the things that I don't like about my snowflaking job is that to get the employee discount you have to have the store credit card and put the purchase on that card. So I think to myself, "No problem." Then I mentally remind myself of the purpose of this income.

Anyway, after the second weekend I decided that I needed two pairs of pants that I could wear with flat comfortable shoes because my feet hurt so bad after standing on them in heels all day on Saturday and Sunday. With my employee discount of 50% off each pair, I put $100 on that card. Do I have the cash in hand to pay it off right away? Of course not! The very next thought I had was that this is dangerous. I'm falling into my same old habits and behaviors! I definitely need to make some rules about using my employee discount. Especially since I have to use the store credit card in order to take advantage of it. Also, I think it makes sense to set aside 10-20% of my weekly income to use as a clothing allowance.

I guess I really need to focus on setting up a budget. Oh, all right. I'll make the commitment right now. I am going to set up a draft budget by the end of this weekend. Wish me luck!

C1

Several posts ago I told you about C1. She's 21 years old and has decided she wants to move 13 hours away. My concern was that her budget for a hotel room for her pre-move trip was only $40. I got some great advice from readers. One person suggested that I check out the hotel. So I went to the hotel's (I think it's really a motel) website. I didn't like that it was like a motor lodge where you park your car in front of your room and walk into the room from the outside as opposed to walking into a lobby where there's a desk clerk and then going up to your room from the lobby. In addition I talked with some "live" friends (in addition to my new blogging friends) and decided that I would give her the addition $40-$50 per night she would need to stay at a name-brand hotel. I was just concerned with how this new expenditure would affect my shackle release plan.

My spouse is a good guy. I really should say he's amazing. He always watches my mini meltdowns and then quietly comes up with some suggestions to help. He also went online and found 3 name-brand hotels that would cost approximately $70 per night. Then he told me that he had the additional money she would need to afford it. It seems that when she pays her rent (yes, we charge her rent) he puts it in a savings account for her, but she has no clue. So the good news that I will have peace of mind because she will be in a reputable hotel.

Now, I told my spouse that he needs to be like a detective and figure out a way to go with her on the fact finding mission.

I guess I really am an enabler.

Saturday's Hoarding Experience

First, I have to say that after I posted last week I did add items to my list before leaving for my excursion. So here is my original list and below it are the items I added. Also, I deleted some things from the list before I left home.

soap powder
bleach
woolite
dark woolite (someone told me that this stuff really works. We'll see) [out of stock]
oven cleaner (My oven is from 1966) [They didn't have the "fume free" so I didn't get anything]
dryer sheets
all purpose cleaner
dishwasher detergent
comet facial tissue
coffee filters
waxed paper
personal care items
juice forC2 [removed from list] I bought the juice on sale at the grocery store
cookies for spouse [removed from list] I accidentally bought these in the grocery store. These are definitely cheaper at the big "W".
Added to list
Gum (I chew way too much gum. It keeps me from eating :-))
Batteries (after I said that, I looked and really only had one battery left for my MP3 player)
Toothpaste

I must admit that I did have a momentary lapse where I walked through the pots and pans aisle because I need a skillet, but I only looked, touched and priced because it wasn't on the list.

No straying from the list meant I got out of there for less than $100! My grand total with tax was $76.90. Yipee!

Week in Review

I'm pleased with last week's debt reduction and wealth building activities no matter how small. Here's what happened.

1. I made the final payment on my car loan. That means I paid it off 6 months early! A first for me!
2. I reduced my medical expense by $70.
3. I increased my financial freedom account by $25.
4. I tithed.

This is my moment to celebrate my baby steps. Happy! Happy! Joy! Joy!

In the next post I'll tell you about my hoarding experience at the big "W" on Saturday.



In the next post I'll tell you about my hoarding experience at the big "W" on Saturday.

Extraordinary Expenses

I've added a page element to my side bar entitled Extraordinary Expenses. They aren't really extraordinary expenses. They're just things that I have to remember to take care of within the next 4 to 8 weeks.

As you can see, with the exception of the tires for my car, they are all expenses related to C2. Believe it or not, several years ago I opened a savings account to set aside money for children related expenses that seemed to "pop up". I still have it and there is a little money in it for that purpose. With the exception of the Varsity jacket (that may be his Christmas present), I am considering asking C2 to contribute a portion of his income to the other items. He is 16 and has a job. He can help. Perhaps this will be the beginning of his lesson in personal finance.

As I was blog surfing this week, two really caught my eye. The first was Cynthia. She posted her family's budget. I still need to take the time to do that. I know it will be an eye opener for me. As will my debt to income ratio, which is probably super high. That's what Marie blogged about this week.

Hoarding

I love the two major big, huge discount stores. You know which ones I'm talking about. That's right the big "W" and the big "T". (I can't say the names or I'll get goose bumps) I'm like a kid in a candy store when I go inside. There are always so many good deals and I feel like I'm supposed to take advantage of as many of them as I can. Whenever I go into one of those stores I spend at least and that's just at least $100. In other words, those stores make me want to hoard.

Tomorrow I must visit the big "W". I generally like to purchase cleaning and laundry supplies there. I believe these items are less expensive than they are in the grocery store, and they are value packaged. Believe it or not the last time I was in the big "W" was in July, and I was buying these items. These are the items on my list. I hope I can go in there and stay true to the list. But it's so hard. There are too many things in the aisles. For example, why are there batteries on the way to the personal care items? If I see them, I may think, "Oh, an 8-pack of batteries for $1.99. That's not bad. Let me get 2 or 3 of them." And you know I probably don't even need batteries.

All right. I'm publishing the list in hopes that my blogging will make me accountable. This time there are a few other items on the list that we use that were not on sale at the grocery store.

soap powder
bleach
woolite
dark woolite (someone told me that this stuff really works. We'll see)
oven cleaner (My oven is from 1966)
dryer sheets
all purpose cleaner
dishwasher detergent
comet
facial tissue
coffee filters
waxed paper
personal care items
juice for C2
cookies for spouse

Remember to Tithe

Tithe. My first memory of the word is as a little girl in church. Whenever we would visit our family in the south, we would go to church. I loved going to church in the south. It's so lively. There's lots of singing and praising. The minister is very enthusiastic. It was from his mouth that I heard "tithe". After he would say it, the collection basket would come around, and I would dutifully put my tithe (probably 25 cents) in the basket.

Although I am constrained by the debt shackles, I still contribute my tithe. It's not actually a tithe, but I do have a budget for giving. I think it's less than 1 percent right now, which is pitiful. What's even worse is that (and I'm ashamed to say this) sometimes when I'm reviewing my budget I look at it and think, if I cut that out of the budget I can put it towards my debt. Then I come to my senses and think, "NO WAY"! There are still people who are much worse off than I am. And giving needs to be a habit so that when I am debt free I can increase my tithe to 10-15 percent of my income.

There is a bible story. I don't know where it is exactly in the bible, but Jim Rohn talks about it on one of his tapes (cds). It's about a time when Jesus was in town and people were doing the tithe thing. A rich man came up and gave a boat load of money. Then a poor woman came up and gave two pennies. I believe the story goes that Jesus was eternally grateful to the woman for giving two pennies. When she left, one of the disciples asked Jesus why he was so grateful to the poor woman when she only gave two pennies and the man before her gave a bunch of money. Jesus told the disciples, "You don't understand. She gave all that she had."

My point is that it doesn't matter the how much you give. Even though you are bound by the shackles of debt, please remember to tithe.

Eating is to money as food is to debt

Today was a very, very stressful day at work. I still get a stomachache and a headache thinking about it, and I'm home now! Anyway, I had to prepare thousands and thousands of page of documents for production through the new database the firm has chosen to use. And of course, I am supposed to do this with no training. Well, since I don't like to have meltdowns at work, I internalized all of my anxiety, which led to the headache and stomachache. But all I could think about was how some chocolate chip ice cream on top of a warm fudge brownie would make me feel better. I guess you could call it self-medicating with food. I considered stopping off at the grocery store to pick up the necessary ingredients, but I didn't stop. I thought about how I have one $10 bill to last me until payday and I don't want to break it. I also decided that I really don't need the extra calories and fat. But I just kept thinking about how much better I would feel if I just got the stuff, prepared it and scoffed it down.

So what does this have to do with money and debt? I've had this same response to stress. Up until now if I was feeling a little anxiety I would take my credit card and go shopping. You know what that means...I was tightening up the debt shackles. I would feel good for the moment. Just like the brownie sundae would make me feel good for the moment. Then I would tell myself, "Oh, no problem. I'll pay it off." When I got my credit card statement I would feel more anxiety and I wouldn't pay it off.

I'm home now. No warm brownie with chocolate chip ice cream. Just a big salad with shelled edamame, a bottle of water and my $10 bill still in my pocket.

I am grateful...I truly am

After I published yesterday's post, I got to thinking. I sound ungrateful! If I came across that post, I would think, "Gee, what a lucky person. Sounds like she's got an okay job." Well, I do have an okay job, and I'm grateful to have it. Especially since my spouse has no job right now. Because of my job we were able to get health insurance and not have to pay into Cobra. I'm also grateful because we are relatively healthy. Although we do not have an emergency fund, we do have money, albeit retirement money, to get through about a year. I just pray his unemployment doesn't last that long.

This brings me to the assistant manager at my part-time job. A couple of weeks ago she and I were closing together. She mentioned that she was going with her husband to the hospital the next day. He was having tests. They suspected cancer. She also told me that her mother-in-law has cancer. This past weekend I asked how her husband was doing. She said the tests came back positive and that her mother-in-law was having surgery at the end of the week. In addition, there is no head of store manager, so she is in charge. She has two teenagers and is very busy with their schedules too. She said the she and her husband had to cancel a trip to Miami this weekend because of his mother's surgery. She appeared very, very stressed (as you can imagine). I just wanted to give her a hug. I told her that I have good, positive thoughts for her and her family. I think she needs a spa month, not just a spa day.

There is a poem--I don't know how the whole poem goes, but it starts with I cried because I had no shoes 'til I met the man who had no feet. That sums it all up for me.

Job Interview

I have a dead end job. I like where I work. It's close to home. I get three weeks vacation and 15 sick days per year. Three of those sick days I can use as personal days every year. We have all the holidays off including the day after Thanksgiving, and we get 2-3 floating holidays a year depending on what days Christmas and New Year's fall on. For example, this year Christmas is on a Tuesday so we only get to choose 2 floating holidays because we automatically get Christmas Eve as a floating holiday. Plus the salary is all right. It's probably average for this market. But the position is dead end. There is no where to go--no opportunity.

What I would really like to do is train to become a nutritionist and personal trainer. Then I would like to get my master's degree and become a registered dietician. It fascinates me that people can literally transform their lives and reduce many ailments through nutrition and exercise. I'm in the process of studying for the personal trainer's certification as we speak. It requires focus and discipline. Almost as much as the discipline and focus that is required on my finances so that I can release these constricting debt shackles.

What does all of this have to do with a job interview? Well, on Friday I had an interview at a major insurance company! If I am offered the job, it would be like getting a promotion--wrong--it would be a promotion. It sounds great, and I thougt the interview went well. I met with two people: the supervisor and another individual whose opinion the supervisor values. The supervisor said that I should hear back either way within the next week or two. She said if I'm the right candidate that I would have to interview with her boss. She said that she really liked my resume; it's what they are looking for. Best of all because it is a large corporation--there's opportunity there!

10 little expenses that add up fast

MSN's money central posted a Bankrate article yesterday entitled 10 little expenses that add up fast. As I perused the list, I was pleased that I don't spend my hard-earned money on some of them, yet I am guilty of spending money on a couple of them. Here is the list, and here is how I stack up against the list.

Coffee. I drink a lot of coffee. Up until about a year ago, I would buy my cups of coffee on the way to work or at lunch time. Basically, whenever I wanted a cup of coffee I would just buy it. Then I realized that I was spending nearly $60 a month ($720 per year) on cups of coffee, so I started making it at home and drinking the free coffee at work.

Cigarettes. I don't smoke.

Alcohol. I only drink wine occasionally, and if I do I buy it and drink it at home with my husband.

Bottled water from convenience stores. Generally, I fill up my water bottles at home. I carry them in a cooler with an ice pack. I drink a lot of water.

Manicures. Only for a very, very special occasion. Manicures could become a habit.

Car washes. Are you supposed to wash your car?

Weekday lunches. I did this until I realized that I was spending approximately $200 a month for just a sandwich and chips.

Vending machine snacks. I bring all my food from home including snacks.

Unused gym memberships. I think the gym owner hates me because I use my membership reguarly, so he's not making any money off of me. Plus I go to Planet Fitness and the membership with tax is $21.19 per month. Going to the gym is like therapy for me.

Interest charges on credit card bills. This is a huge problem for me. I was charged over $160 this month in credit card fees. That's almost $2,000 per year! This is the one that I really have to get a handle on.

How are you doing? Do you have any of these as expenses? How do you stack up against Bankrate's list?

To Merge or not to Merge

Yesterday PaidTwice posted an article from the newly formed Women's Personal Finance Network about merging finances with you mate.

My husband and I have been married for 24 years and we have always maintained separate finances. One of the reasons is that my mom always told me to keep the money separate. She had a tough time of it. She grew up poor, but happy and clean (that's how she always phrased it). When she and my dad married I think she totally depended on him for everything: money, emotional support...everything. Their finances, which only consisted of a checking and savings account were handled by my dad. If she needed money for anything, she had to ask him. He would never just say, "Go ahead and take it." He usually had to grill her on what she needed the money for. As I got older I could see that she resented having to do that. And if she didn't have to ask him she wouldn't.

I remember when I was about 11 years old. I received a birthday card from my grandmother (my mom's mom) with $1 in it. I was so excited. I was thinking of all the things that I could spend that dollar on (back in the day). Anyway, my mom told me I couldn't keep the dollar that I had to give it to her so that she could but a pound of hamburger so that we could have dinner the next night.
I have so many example like this. Perhaps that is one of the reasons that up until now that focusing on my finances has been a challenge.

Here are the numbers!

First, I just have to say I'm so excited that new friends posted comments on my blog! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!


Tonight's entry is going to be quick as I am preparing for a job interview tomorrow, but I just have to post my numbers. This weekend I'm going to set up my blogroll. I just wanted you all to know that I am grateful for your input.


So here are the figures.


# of days non credit card use: 87
amount owed: $28,354
amount paid: $1,982
financial freedom: $550.04

I reduced my debt by paying $1,650 on my car loan. I got that money from the sale of my Longaberger baskets. Actually, I gave them away. If you know Longaberger I sold them way, way, way below market value. But I'm happy they all have good homes now. And by selling them I was able to make the equivalent of 5 car payments so that on October 23 my car loan will be paid off 6 months early! The other reductions were my credit card payments. I make payments of $250 to each card each month and then they charge me about $80 in interest. When I see it on paper it makes my stomach hurt. I've applied for a AT&T 0%interest on balance transfer credit card to ease my pain, we'll see if I get approved.

My savngs acount I call financial freedom, and it is an ING account. I consider this account my emergency fund account. I put $25 every two weeks in it. That's almost $2 a day. I want to increase it, but I want to decrease the debt first.

Well, that's it. My first official money post.

Can someone explain to me how I put codes into my Html?

Patience, patience, patience

I am waitng for the one of the credit card companies to post the interest on my debt so that I can update my numbers. Hopefully that will happen tonight.

One of my goals was to start a part-time job, which I did a couple of weekends ago. I can't wait to get paid so that I can put apply that money to my debt. Mentally, I have to keep reminding myself that the part-time job pay is for debt reduction because I start thinking of other things I can do with the money other than reduce the debt.

Maybe my mantra should be:

My part-time pay is for debt reduction. Debt reduction means loosening the debt shackles. Loosening the debt shackles means financial freedom!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I guess I'm just impatient.

I started working at a women's clothing store. It's fun especially compared to my full-time job. It will be challenging because I love clothes, and I love to shop. As a matter of fact, that's how I got in this situation (at least one of the reasons). I work every Saturday and Sunday. My plan is to put at least $100 per week towards my debt.

Am I being an enabler?

My 21-year-old daughter (I'll call her C1) has decided that she wants to move 13 hours away from where we live. To give you a little background, when she graduated from high school she decided to go to a major university in a large city. (That's part of the reason I'm bound by the shackles of debt.) We live in a small town and according to her, "it's boring here." So she gets to college and decides she doesn't like it. She could never articulate the reason. She just said she didn't like the school. She said she liked the city and her work study, but not the school.

So she comes home after the first year and takes the next year off. Then she announces that she is going to commute to one of the state universities. Well, she attends that school for two semesters and announces that she doesn't want to go there. She said she's moving 13 hours away. She said that she's going to drive to this new town, stay in a hotel for 3-4 days, look for work and scope out the local universities. So I ask, "Have you found a hotel." She says, "Yes, and it's only $40 per night." She seemed very pleased at this great deal. I was like, "$40 a night, does it have any stars?" She said, "Mom, why does it have to have any stars? $40 is all I can afford." I said, "What's the name of this place?" Now, she names a hotel that I've never heard of. I said, "Couldn't you find an inexpensive brand name hotel?" She said, "They're at least $70-$80 per night, and I can only afford $40." So after my mini meltdown, she left the room.

Now, I started to worry. She wants to go to a town that she's never been in before for four days and stay at a cheap hotel. I asked myself, "Should I offer to give her the other $40-50 per night for a better quality hotel?" I can give her the money, but that means that I'll have to figure out how to keep shackle release program on course.

I really don't know what I should do. Am I being an enabler?

What do you think?

Blog Action Day

In honor of Blog Action Day, I thought about how setting myself free from these debt shackle can help the environment. Here are two ways.

1. Stop spending indiscriminately. Indiscriminate spending leads to buying stuff. Stuff means things that I don't really need. Usually indiscriminate spending means that I put no thought into the purchase. A pile up of stuff usually ends up as clutter, which is environmentally hazardous to my home and my psyche. (Believe it or not I hate clutter.) Clutter means I have to declutter, which means that now I'm going to discard the stuff. That usually means it's going into the bigger environment in some way, shape, or form.

2. Pay cash or Pay Pal. Using cash or Pay Pal means that there is little or no paper waste (checks) or plastic waste (credit/debit cards) to clutter the environment.

How do I get beyond these shackles?

In order to move beyond the shackles of debt by June 30, 2009, I need a plan. Actually, I 've already started working on my plan. Here are some of the things I've started or plan to do within the next 30 days to move me towards freedom.

1. Stop using my credit cards completely. I have not made a credit card purchase since July 19, 2007. That's 81 days! Yes. I am keeping score. Each day that goes by that I don't use a credit card to make a purchase I mark that day on the calendar. I got this idea from Trent at thesimpledollar.com. In July he wrote about applying Jerry Seinfeld's "chain" concept to personal finance. So I have my non credit card use chain. I've got to keep the chain going.

2. Get a part-time job.

3. Sell some stuff.

4. Start blogging.

I'll tallk about the last three and some of the other things I'm doing to loosen these debt shackles.

It's not what you make...it's what you keep

I was in direct sales for nearly 10 years. I sold Longaberger products. It's interesting because I never considered myself a "basket" person, but many years ago a good friend starting selling the products to earn extra money and asked me to do a show for her, so I did. Anyway, when I first saw the baskets, I thought they were absolutey beautiful. They were (and still are) so well made. They're made in the USA, which kind of gives me a feeling of pride. I think I bought 10 baskets at that show I hosted for my friend, and I was very proud. If you know anything about the product, you know it is very, very expensive.

I enjoyed selling the baskets. I sold lots of them over the years. I was a top seller, so I earned many of them for free. I was an independent contractor, which meant I was self employed. That's something that I have learned to appreciate since I've become an employee once again. One of my goals is to be self-employed again.

Although I was considered a business owner. I wasn't really a "business" owner. I was a successful consultant. My sales exceeded $100,000. My business made money, but nearly every dollar I made I bought more product rather than setting a percentage aside for savings, investments, and the extremely important emergency fund. I remember the region advisor telling us at a meeting that she knew of a consultant who sold her samples when the promotions were over and kept the money. At the time I thought, "Why would anyone do that?"

Well, one night I was on my way to do a show. I was listening to Suze Orman on my way. She talked about looking around my home to find wealth. And then it hit me. The baskets!!!!! There's my wealth. So I started selling them. I held open houses. I listed them on e-bay. I would have them filled and donated them to charitable organizations. I truly believe that I made tens of thousands of dollars selling off my collection. But where is the money? What did I do with the money? Did I keep the money? I don't have the money. I spent it. With the exception of the last $1,000, I have no idea what I purchased with that money.

I was making money, but I wasn't keeping it.

The Shackles

My goal is to free myself from my debt shackles by June 30, 2009. I picked that date because my son (whom I'll call C2) will graduate from high school in June of 2009. He is C2 because there is a C1. She's 21 and still at home.

Anyway, as of October 4, 2007, these are the shackles.

$11,730 Credit Card #1
$11,921 Credit Card #2
$ 4,720 Medical expense
$ 1,965 Car loan balance
Grand Total: $30,336

A lesson is repeated until learned

One of the reasons, and probably the main reason that I want to have the means to take care of myself is that my husband lost his job about a month ago. This isn't the first or the second time that he has been unemployed, but the third time in 20 years.

The first time we were young and had a toddler. I was a stay-at-home mom. I was shocked and afraid. I remember crying...alot. I kept thinking how could this happen? What are we going to do? This just shouldn't be happening to us. Well, it did. I considered going back to work right away, but he was only out of work for four months, and we had to relocate east from the midwest. I was so relieved. However, it never dawned on me to make a plan just in case this were to happen again.

The second time was about six years ago. By now we had two children and I was working too. At that time we had mountains of debt (at least that's what it felt like to me). I suggested to him at that time that he go back to school and get his Master's Degree or even go into teaching, but he chose not to do either. He was out of work a little more than a year. However, it never dawned on me to make a plan just in case this were to happen again.

So here we are a third time. My husband is out of work, and I'm angry. I'm not angry at him. I'm angry at myself. I'm angry at myself because I have allowed myself to be in this situation not once, not twice, but three times.

Have I learned my lesson? I sure hope so.

Reasons Why

I have been successful at setting and achieving goals in other areas of my life. In November 2005 I set a goal to compete in a natural bodybuilding competition. The reason I wanted to do it was to see if I could be disciplined enough to endure the training and nutrition and finally get up on stage. Well, I was and I did and I loved it! What I liked the most was the journey. I didn't compete once. I competed in six natural bodybuilding competition during the last two years. That's how much I enjoyed it. And I do plan to compete again.



Anyway, I asked myself why it is that I can be successful at focusing on my fitness and nutrition to prepare for a bodybuilding competition and not so successful at debt reduction. Well, Jim Rohn says that you have to have enought reasons why. I think...no, I know I now have enough reasons why I want to free myself from these debt shackles. Here they are.


1. I want to have the means to take care of myself.
2. I want the freedom to do the fun things that I want to do.
3. I want to give generously to my favorite charities.
4. I want to continue my education.
5. I want to change careers.
6. I want be rid of this weighed-down, burdensome feeling that comes from dragging around these very, very heavy debt shackles day after day.

Journey to Debt Freedom

I am in debt. Hence the title of my blog. I've been inspired by so many bloggers who are in debt, too, but are taking action and digging out. Debt is so restricting. I honestly feel like I'm bound by shackles. I have so much debt that I feel like I can't move or breathe. So I've decided that I'm going to free myself from these shackles once and for all!