So it has been over two months since I last blogged. Christmas, New Years and now today Valentines Day! I am back in the saddle. My debt pay off, saving and budgeting has not slowed down but blogging has. Life has been rough lately. My Dad passed away on Christmas Day from ALS. I am still dealing with that but doing better. I enjoy reading blogs so I should really write one right? So here I go again. I have lots of cool stuff to talk about like taxes returns and new budget items. Thanks for following and standby for more to come 
I’m Back February 14, 2010
Keeping Me Honest December 16, 2009
So I said earlier that I would post my credit card bill to keep me honest. Below are my charges. I made for the last bill. I have become a little less budget oriented since paying off my car. I have bought some things that I need or have been wanting. I have one more debt and then I can scream I’M DEBT FREE!!!! I used to listen to the Dave Ramsey show more and loved hearing people call in and say those words. So here it goes. I will attempt to justify/explain the purchases.
1. Urban Nirvana $140.00 – 1.5hour masage which was well worth it. I was having horrible neck, arm and shoulder pain. This did the trick. The nice man spent over 30 minutes on my neck alone. Nursing is a hard body breaking job and I may just budget in for massage every couple of months.
2. TJ Maxx $26.47 – Forgot my debit card. Bought a 3 shirts. Heck not a bad deal.
3. Perks $7.00 – BLT, chips and drink. Hungry and forgot to eat before going out
4. Hollister $146.81 – 3 new pair of jeans. I needed them. All my other ones had holes in them and it is winter.
5. Paypal $34.01 – Black pair of Dansko’s online. Great deal but I bought narrow and had them stretched so they fit a little better. I had no ideal they made narrow. I just wear thing sock. This price vs $130 I feel is a good deal.
6. Dentist $40.00 – My small co-pay for the dentist and a special toothpaste I use to prevent cavities.
Verdict: I definitely charged more this past month that I have in a long time. Starting January I am back on track with my budget. I am still saving and paying of debt just not as strictly. I will say that the next bill is not looking any better. I may have to take the card out of my wallet. One good thing though is that I earn points with my credit and debit car. I just redeemed a $10.00 Starbucks and Panera gift card.
Coffee and Stuff December 7, 2009
Lately, with the cold weather I have been visiting coffee stands more than usual. I love Dunkin Donuts coffee better than Starbucks. I do like the hot chocolate and other beverages from Starbucks. In the past week I have visited a coffee location 3 times. Wow! This is a lot for me. Yesterday I stopped at DD on the way to work $1.89 for a medium coffee. When it was 27 degrees outside it sure was nice.
Financially, I have been doing great. I may have a setback in debt payoff due to choice. I have offered to help out a child who has multiple medical needs. I am a Christian (that is not what this blog is about) but believe to whom much is given much is expected. I look around lately and feel so blessed. I feel sometimes that my debt pay off is trivial at times because so many people are hurting.I do know that if I am debt free I can give more to other but I can also help peopel now. I was talking to a friend the other day and sometimes we tend to get so focused on something and miss opportunities. To keep it short this kid needs to get somewhere to see a MD. The family is struggling to pay for it. Why can’t I help out? I have the money. I am blessed to have a job. Blessed in so many ways.
2010 Goals November 28, 2009
Reading another debt blog I was inspired to make goals for the year 2010. Some I will make and some I will probably not make but here is to making goals!!
1. Become debt free - Depending on if I get my work bonus and a tax return it may be soon or later. Goal is to be debt free at the latest by June 2010. I can do it!!!!
2. Increase retirement savings – I have a 403b and 401a at work. The 401a is how my job matches my retirement savings. Right now I am saving 8% of my pay towards retirement. I want to increase this but don’t know how much yet. I will probably increase once debt free this year.
3. Open an Roth IRA – I don’t really understand a lot about IRA’s but want to open one.
4. Start saving for a down payment for a house.
Boomerang Kids November 28, 2009
I came across an interesting article today. It is titled “More Young Adults Moving Back in With Parents” 1 in 7 parents polled have had a kid move back in within the last year. To keep it short, the recession is affecting everyone especially college kids. I moved back home after attending a university for one year. I loved it but could not afford it and they did not have my major once I finally decided on one. To keep it short to roughly $11, 000 I spent on student loans $9,000 was from my first year of college. I became smart and came closer to home to a cheaper school. I got a great education and the school gave me grants and scholarships to pay for the next 3 years. I had to pay my last semester since it took me 4 1/2 years to finish. I came home after living on my own for one year and it was tough. I saved a lot of money. I still live at home and luckily my Mom is a great roommate. I don’t bother her she doesn’t bother me. This has enabled me to pay off debt faster, purchase a reliable car and do many other things. I do pay rent but much less than if I had a house or apartment. I buy groceries and also pay the cable bill since my Mom doesn’t really watch tv. So am I a boomerang kid? I don’t know maybe but my situation works for me now.
Cost Saving Really? November 24, 2009
Check out this article http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/health/policy/14kidney.html?_r=1
It bothers me on so many levels. First off a financial one. The numbers don’t make sense and also on a personal level. My nephew was saved by a liver transplant when he was 4 1/2. By the grace of God he is doing great up to this point. A small segment of rejection but he is over the hump and is functioning well. As you may know I am a RN. I work in a hospital on a cardiac floor. I love my job. I enjoy helping people but somethings don’t make sense. I don’t pretend to have all the answers. Heck, I don’t even understand enough about healthcare reform. I do know that people are suffering. We are a modern wealthy nation and people are not being taken care of. I am one of the lucky ones, I have health inscurance but what if I did not? All it would take is major illness and it would all snowball. What if I had a heart attack and needed a 6month supply of Plavix. Note, if patients don’t take there Plavix they can reocculde their cardiac stent and have another heart attack. Geez things are so complicated. I see patients everyday scared about their bills. Something has to be done. I commend our current President for atleast trying.
Do you have health insurance? I have many friends who do not. Friends who are in school and no longer on their parents plan, friends who are unemployed and so on. We just had open enrollment at work and thankfully our benefit cost did not go up. There are many people whose out of pocket cost has increased. It is costing me around $24 a paycheck for medical, dental and vision. Lord know I need the vision and dental most. I also signed up for a flexible spending account which is pretax. Do you have a FSA? I funded it for $500 this year and will see how much I use it. I think it will be helpful for doctor copays and medicine.
PS if anyone knows how to do a better option for a link let me know
Where Did October/November Go? November 24, 2009
Where did it go? I really suck at blogging but enjoy reading blogs so maybe I should write one also. Halloween slipped up on me and now it is the week of Thanksgiving. Before I know it Christmas will be here then 2010. I have this week off sorta by accident. At work, I am required to work Thanksgiving or Christmas every other year. Last year I worked Thanksgiving. This year it is Christmas for me. I knew getting into nursing that I would work holidays so it is no big deal. Don’t feel sorry for me. Actually, it makes me appreciate time with family more. Work will be work but slower and we always bring food. Somehow my boss gave me 2 days of PTO instead of one so I took it and am off all this week. Yay me!!!!!
Financially, I am doing good. It has really released a load on me to pay my car off. I look at it and realize this is mine. Paid for and it will last for a while. Such a nice feeling. I went ahead and bought the Med-Surg review course material. I need to pass this test and it will be a nice chunk of money. The test costs $270 and I joined the ANA (American Nurses Association) to get a discount. The ANA has many other benefits along with a discount on my test. I needed new jeans so bad so I bought 3 pairs. It has been a while since I bought any new clothing. Christmas is upon me and I need to start buying presents. I don’t mind giving gifts but I always spent some money on some new clothes. I think it is highly over rated for many reasons. Mainly, I think we have lost the spirit of the season and it is way to commercialized. I enjoy time with family the most. For the 3rd year in a row I will paying for Christmas this year in cash. No charging unless I have the money set aside.
I think I am going to start posting my credit card bill to keep me accountable and also will post soon my Christmas gift budget.
The Bacon September 25, 2009
So as most may know already I am a single female. I live at home and buy groceries every other week. My Mom buys some but I get what I need. Past budgets I have allocated $50.00 for groceries and $20.00 for eating out each pay period. I definately try to stick to the eating out budget. You can really spend money eating out. Recently, I have been thinking about upping my grocery budget. I spend the majority of my money for packing lunches for work. The rest is for other times. I coupon a little bit but not in a crazy way. I am also very particular about what I eat (not fancy) but I just have some GI issues and also want to be healthy. I love fresh fruit and vegetables which can be pricey. Since the “recession” restaurants have started putting out a lot of BOGO coupons which is nice. The other night I got two BBQ plates for $6.25. Also, my favorite sent out a coupon. Can’t wait to use it!!!
My question is what is your grocery budget? and Are you a member of a wholesale club such as Costco? I am thinking about joining.
Upcoming Ticket Items September 25, 2009
It is nice to know when you need to purchase something. Surprise needs or emergencies are not all that fun. I do have two items that I will purchasing soon.
#1 David Woodruff’s Medical Surgical Certification Review Material cost = $247.00
This is a must have. Since we are not getting raises this year I can get bonus by basically presenting a portfolio of activities over the year. I can double the amount I got last year by getting this certification. The test content is broad and so this will help me focus. I have two books to study but don’t seem to be making any headway. I know this will help. Oh, and there is a money back guarantee.
#2 IPOD integration
Still looking at prices and place that do the install. I have the IPHONE so I need to see how that works. I used to have satellite radio so this would be nice. I also listen to podcasts so this would be real nice.
Helpful Documents September 21, 2009
I wanted to share this website to help others out. I still have not figured out how to add a link but here is the website (www.joesangl.com). Joe is a small town version of Dave Ramsey who helps people free of charge learn to budget and get out of debt. He has a book and many resources on his site. If you go to the TOOLS section of his website there are free budgeting forms and other tools. My favorites are the monthly budgeting forms and the debt freedom date calculator. The cool thing about the budgeting form is that is self calculates for you. Red is bad and green is a balanced budget. Check out his site with new postings daily.
Happy debt pay off. I hope this helps someone get organized. I know when I am organized I am more focused.
