Dear Debt Loss Diary,
I am sorry I haven't written sooner! In fact, I have been downright neglectful. I'll right a long note later and update you on what all has been going on these last three months.
-Jean
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Thursday, May 10, 2007
My Favorite Book....Right Now
Dear Debt Loss Diary,
I LOVE TO READ. I could spend hours at Barnes & Noble or Borders. I could also spend lots of money - but I have learned to curb my habits. The library works out to be much cheaper :)
Every couple weeks I'll be posting my favorite book - with a link to Amazon.com (a WONDERFUL website - which I am also using to hopefully sell a bunch of books I no longer want). I am reading "Girl, Get Your Credit Straight", and it is one of the better books I have seen out there about eliminating debt and creating a solid financial future. It's perfect for all us girls out there, who have debt and need to get it together.
Now, I mentioned that I was selling books on Amazon.com - I really found the process of registering to sell and then listing my books to be so simple! Actually, it was SO much simpler than eBay. I must tell you though, I like eBay for a lot of things, and will be putting items up for Auction there as well. But for books - Amazon.com rocks!
I picked up some extra cash this weekend, helping a woman that advertised on Craigslist for some accounting type help. Basically, it was a ton of doublechecking of data on some spreadsheets. It was a lot of time, and I spent most of a gorgeous Sunday inside, but I have $135 to show for it!
I hope to be adding a part-time job next week to my schedule, teaching a few water aerobics classes and swim lessons each week. I figured I could make an extra $500-$600 after taxes - which would go a long way towards my debt reduction. Plus, I will be getting paid to exercise!!!
-me
I LOVE TO READ. I could spend hours at Barnes & Noble or Borders. I could also spend lots of money - but I have learned to curb my habits. The library works out to be much cheaper :)
Every couple weeks I'll be posting my favorite book - with a link to Amazon.com (a WONDERFUL website - which I am also using to hopefully sell a bunch of books I no longer want). I am reading "Girl, Get Your Credit Straight", and it is one of the better books I have seen out there about eliminating debt and creating a solid financial future. It's perfect for all us girls out there, who have debt and need to get it together.
Now, I mentioned that I was selling books on Amazon.com - I really found the process of registering to sell and then listing my books to be so simple! Actually, it was SO much simpler than eBay. I must tell you though, I like eBay for a lot of things, and will be putting items up for Auction there as well. But for books - Amazon.com rocks!
I picked up some extra cash this weekend, helping a woman that advertised on Craigslist for some accounting type help. Basically, it was a ton of doublechecking of data on some spreadsheets. It was a lot of time, and I spent most of a gorgeous Sunday inside, but I have $135 to show for it!
I hope to be adding a part-time job next week to my schedule, teaching a few water aerobics classes and swim lessons each week. I figured I could make an extra $500-$600 after taxes - which would go a long way towards my debt reduction. Plus, I will be getting paid to exercise!!!
-me
Friday, May 4, 2007
Another Day, Another Dollar
Dear Debt Loss Diary,
Today turned out to be a better than expected day! I woke up still feeling not so good physically - the after effects of my bout with food poisoning after going out to eat on Saturday nite. Nevertheless, I taught a water exercise class this morning (making $30 cash) and managed to get a little sun too.
Oh, and I was going through some books I plan to sell on Amazon.com and to my amazement and surprise I found a dollar bill in the inside cover of one. The funny thing is, I have had this book since college ( and that was about 13 years ago) and I don't think I have read that book since. I'm thinking I should go and check all my books :) You never know what you will find doing a little spring cleaning.
That $1 went right into my piggy bank.
The little things count.
-me
Today turned out to be a better than expected day! I woke up still feeling not so good physically - the after effects of my bout with food poisoning after going out to eat on Saturday nite. Nevertheless, I taught a water exercise class this morning (making $30 cash) and managed to get a little sun too.
Oh, and I was going through some books I plan to sell on Amazon.com and to my amazement and surprise I found a dollar bill in the inside cover of one. The funny thing is, I have had this book since college ( and that was about 13 years ago) and I don't think I have read that book since. I'm thinking I should go and check all my books :) You never know what you will find doing a little spring cleaning.
That $1 went right into my piggy bank.
The little things count.
-me
Tuesday, May 1, 2007
May Day! May Day!
Dear Debt Loss Diary,
It's May 1st and I am starting the month off feeling in control of my debt and NOT helpless! It's a really awesome feeling.
Over the weekend, I paid off the Discover Card. It was a total of $9000 that I scrapped together from my pay, tax refunds, and change that I had been saving through Bank of America's Keep the Change program. The main reason I choose to throw everything towards this credit card, was the great 5.9% offer they gave me on balance transfers! This is the best rate offer I have on any of my cards, and I am determined to take full advantage of it.
I called US Bank to see what my current rate and transfer offer were with them - and although I was happy that they lowered my interest rate from 32% to 20%....I was disappointed that they had no special offer for balance transfers. Well, I wasn't upset - just disappointed. So, I promptly got back online and transferred that balance to my Discover card. And so goes the debt reduction game.
I am really happy with both Bank of America and Discover Card right now. Both of these banks have been willing to work with me to help me conquer my debt. I have no problem giving them my business and taking away from the other banks.
-me
It's May 1st and I am starting the month off feeling in control of my debt and NOT helpless! It's a really awesome feeling.
Over the weekend, I paid off the Discover Card. It was a total of $9000 that I scrapped together from my pay, tax refunds, and change that I had been saving through Bank of America's Keep the Change program. The main reason I choose to throw everything towards this credit card, was the great 5.9% offer they gave me on balance transfers! This is the best rate offer I have on any of my cards, and I am determined to take full advantage of it.
I called US Bank to see what my current rate and transfer offer were with them - and although I was happy that they lowered my interest rate from 32% to 20%....I was disappointed that they had no special offer for balance transfers. Well, I wasn't upset - just disappointed. So, I promptly got back online and transferred that balance to my Discover card. And so goes the debt reduction game.
I am really happy with both Bank of America and Discover Card right now. Both of these banks have been willing to work with me to help me conquer my debt. I have no problem giving them my business and taking away from the other banks.
-me
Sunday, April 22, 2007
It Pays to Recycle!
Dear Debt Diary,
I drink a lot of water. I am trying to drink more so that I can take this extra weight I have gained back off. Plus, I feel so much better when I am hydrated, and my skin looks better. The downside is going the bathroom what feels like every 10 minutes. But if I lose 25 lbs I can live with that!
I went to the recycling center the other day with all my plastic bottles, as well as a bunch of glass bottles from my friend's place. Basically, I filled up the whole trunk of my car and then some. I got $12.73 back in cash! California, like many states, has a recycling deposit on cans, bottles and plastic. It's 4 cents for small containers and 8 cents for large ones. BUT the cool thing is - you get 5 cents BACK for small and 10 cents BACK for large. So, you net a little bit. It might seem like hard work, but it's fairly simple to remember to just rinse the container and put it in a separate bag. I now plan to go once a month to recycle what I have collected. The cash went right into my piggy bank ( yes, I do have a piggy bank and I promise to write a blog about it soon).
That's all for now....I'll write more soon on my current debt totals and plan to pay it down.
-me
I drink a lot of water. I am trying to drink more so that I can take this extra weight I have gained back off. Plus, I feel so much better when I am hydrated, and my skin looks better. The downside is going the bathroom what feels like every 10 minutes. But if I lose 25 lbs I can live with that!
I went to the recycling center the other day with all my plastic bottles, as well as a bunch of glass bottles from my friend's place. Basically, I filled up the whole trunk of my car and then some. I got $12.73 back in cash! California, like many states, has a recycling deposit on cans, bottles and plastic. It's 4 cents for small containers and 8 cents for large ones. BUT the cool thing is - you get 5 cents BACK for small and 10 cents BACK for large. So, you net a little bit. It might seem like hard work, but it's fairly simple to remember to just rinse the container and put it in a separate bag. I now plan to go once a month to recycle what I have collected. The cash went right into my piggy bank ( yes, I do have a piggy bank and I promise to write a blog about it soon).
That's all for now....I'll write more soon on my current debt totals and plan to pay it down.
-me
Monday, April 16, 2007
Taxes!
Dear Debt Loss Diary,
I am so glad that I got my taxes done early this year...and have already received my refund checks and deposited them into my bank account! Using TurboTax to do the calculations turned out to be very beneficial, as I found a couple errors I made, which was $300 in my favor. One of the errors was in how I applied my dividends, and it turns out last year I also made a mistake. By filing an amended return for last year's federal return, I got another refund check for $323.55, of which 21.55 was interest the government owed me on that money. Now, isn't that cool-licious!
I also made $20 today by attending a focus group that a local SDSU grad student was holding as part of research for a school project. It was about perceptions about Wal-Mart and it turned out to be quite interesting and enjoyable. I found the opportunity on Craigslist....one of these days I am going to have to write a book on my CL experiences....or at least blog about it.
I made a $2000 payment to Discover Card over the weekend, which posted today. I will make another payment once the billing cycle closes and a statement is updated - which should happend any day. Did you know that if you make a payment right after your statement is generated, it is to your advantage? That's right. The interest is calculated on the average daily balance. So, if you make your payment at the start of the billing period (and are not using that credit card for any new purchases) then the average daily amount will be lower than if you wait and make a payment right before the due date. It may be a matter of pennies or just a few dollars in interest, but it adds up!!
That's all for now...
I am so glad that I got my taxes done early this year...and have already received my refund checks and deposited them into my bank account! Using TurboTax to do the calculations turned out to be very beneficial, as I found a couple errors I made, which was $300 in my favor. One of the errors was in how I applied my dividends, and it turns out last year I also made a mistake. By filing an amended return for last year's federal return, I got another refund check for $323.55, of which 21.55 was interest the government owed me on that money. Now, isn't that cool-licious!
I also made $20 today by attending a focus group that a local SDSU grad student was holding as part of research for a school project. It was about perceptions about Wal-Mart and it turned out to be quite interesting and enjoyable. I found the opportunity on Craigslist....one of these days I am going to have to write a book on my CL experiences....or at least blog about it.
I made a $2000 payment to Discover Card over the weekend, which posted today. I will make another payment once the billing cycle closes and a statement is updated - which should happend any day. Did you know that if you make a payment right after your statement is generated, it is to your advantage? That's right. The interest is calculated on the average daily balance. So, if you make your payment at the start of the billing period (and are not using that credit card for any new purchases) then the average daily amount will be lower than if you wait and make a payment right before the due date. It may be a matter of pennies or just a few dollars in interest, but it adds up!!
That's all for now...
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Long time, no blog
Dear Debt Loss Diary,
Well, I can't believe a month has flown by and I have not been blogging! However, I have been hard at work paying down debt and saving money. I had a super day yesterday when I logged in to check my balance transfer offers from Discover Card - and to my shock and excitement, I have a 5.6% offer! Up until now, they were offering 19.99% so all the hard work I have been doing in the last 6 months has paid off (no pun intended). Now, I have a balance of $9100 on my Discover Card currently, so to take full advantage of this offer, I am going to take every available penny I can squeeze from my budget and savings to pay off that card, and then transfer the balance from my Chase card (currently at a crazy 29%). I'll only be able to make the minimums on my other cards, and I will have to be a little creative to make it happen - I have until May 10th to make the transfer, so I think between the money I have saved up as of today and my next two paychecks, it will come close. It's worth eating less ( I need to lose weight anyways) and really putting everything I can towards Discover Card at this point. I'll save so much in interest, and I will reduce my debt by almost 1/3 in the process.
Well, I can't believe a month has flown by and I have not been blogging! However, I have been hard at work paying down debt and saving money. I had a super day yesterday when I logged in to check my balance transfer offers from Discover Card - and to my shock and excitement, I have a 5.6% offer! Up until now, they were offering 19.99% so all the hard work I have been doing in the last 6 months has paid off (no pun intended). Now, I have a balance of $9100 on my Discover Card currently, so to take full advantage of this offer, I am going to take every available penny I can squeeze from my budget and savings to pay off that card, and then transfer the balance from my Chase card (currently at a crazy 29%). I'll only be able to make the minimums on my other cards, and I will have to be a little creative to make it happen - I have until May 10th to make the transfer, so I think between the money I have saved up as of today and my next two paychecks, it will come close. It's worth eating less ( I need to lose weight anyways) and really putting everything I can towards Discover Card at this point. I'll save so much in interest, and I will reduce my debt by almost 1/3 in the process.
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