All I Can Do is Live

I had to realize that I have not been in a good place for a really long time.  Chaos all around.  In my mind, home, car, job, life, social interactions, chaos.  Stepping back understanding the problem and working towards making it better. 

The house looked as if it had thrown up.  Things everywhere, clothes, things, all over the place, no order, none.  I started in the back of the house and thinned out.  Got rid of clothes, shoes, papers, things.  Moved things around.  I also started to decorate.  I have been in the house for a long time and I haven't enjoyed it.  Haven't made it comfortable, home.  I know these things don't matter, but they add warmth to the space.  You can actually walk throughout the house and nothing is on the floor.  Everything has a place.  More or less.  It feels good to finally have a clean home. 

In the meantime, during the decorating, I have been redoing each room.  My room is done.  Now the guest bedroom.  It had to be Kilz.  That was done today.  Tomorrow, it will be painted.  Looking forward to it.  Once that is done, the carpet will be removed and the hardwood sanded and varnished.  There will be a full sized bedroom set put in there. 

Next, his room will be done just like the guest bedroom.  Finally, the carpet will be taken up in the hallway and the hardwood done too.  Making the space comfortable while I'm here and ready for the next tenant after I leave. 

The front of the house is going to take the most work.  The floor has shifted in the kitchen.  There needs to be a new counter top and cabinets.  The floor needs to be done too.  I didn't mention a backsplash.  Something pretty.  The front room carpet needs to be taken up and floor under needs to be fixed.  There's a hump in it.  Not too sure about what type of flooring I would like for that room.  Will have to think about that. 

In the front yard, I planted a flower garden and it is really pretty.  They are perennials so they will come back every year.  Slowly, but surely I am appreciating the things that I have done in my home.  It is mine and it might as well be what I want. 

As far as my debt, I haven't done anything with it.  It is still there.  I haven't checked CreditKarma.  Nothing. 
Student loans
Medical bills

I have been spending money on nothing really, but not on what is important.  Not at all.  What is the problem?  I just don't feel like doing what it takes to get out of this financial turmoil that I have gotten myself into. 

What I told myself is that I would look at CreditKarma and see where I stand.
Contact all debtors and set up payment arrangements
Continue to save $1000 a month

At the end of the year, I wanted to purchase a new car with the money saved.  Purchase land, pay off debt, put it toward my mortgage.  I really don't know what to do. 

What I can do is put $400 toward my smallest debt in July.  This will allow me to get something paid off in at least 2-3 months. 

Life is about learning from your mistakes and doing what it takes not to repeat them.  I created this debt and it's up to me to eliminate it. 

Plus, I got a part time job.  I do enjoy it.  That helps.  Focus is what I need and having a clean home does help.  I know that moments matter, but they fade away.  I must do what's best for me! 

Top 5 Financial Secrets You Must Use

These steps started my debt relief. I am not saying these will work for you, but they have made dramatic changes in my finances.

1. I Cut up My Debit Card: Cutting up my debit card allowed me to stop overdrawing in my checking account. I would use my debit card to purchase things I wanted, needed, and sometimes things just to soothe that spending urge. I would sometimes owe over $200.00 in overdrawn fees. That's ridiculous, once I cut it up I started to get money out of my account for two weeks at a time. Once that money was gone, I don't get anymore out. This has also stopped impulsive spending and wasting money on useless items.

2. Fill Up on Gas at Half a Tank: I usually have to fill up on gas once every week and a half. When I fill up I spend $65. Filling up at half a tank, I spend $20 every week. Even though I am filling up more, I am still saving cash. For instance, filling up I would spend $195 for the month. Filling up on half a tank for 4 weeks would cost $80. For the month it is a total of $115 a month and $1380 for the year.

3. Anytime I Withdraw Money from my Checking Account I put Equal Amounts Towards a Debt: I try not to take out large amounts of money whenever I withdraw from my account, but when I do I put equal amounts toward Liam (99 Land Rover). This insures that I put money to good use and it will help eliminate debt faster. If I just withdrew money and let the other money stay, I would withdraw it and use it toward something useless. Putting money toward Liam will cut interest and cut the length of time I will be paying on him.

4. Eating all the Food I Cook: Have you ever thought about the food that you waste daily? I know, I cook and yes, I do eat left overs, but sometimes I just don't want that anymore. I have started taking my lunch to work daily and making my lunch for a few days. This saves time and energy. I also cook 2 or 3 meals at a time to give variety.

For example: For Christmas we had a fried turkey, we ate on that for a few days, but it got boring. I made turkey a la king. That was something different and I reinvented the turkey. Instead of throwing away the remaining turkey I created a totally new meal.

Now, that I have been stretching meals, I am not spending money on eating out and not wasting food (that is throwing away money that could be put toward debt).

5. Turn Cooper into Silver: Whenever I go to the grocery store, drive through, or spend cash period, I give them the dollar amount plus pennies too. Example: My food cost $4.27. I give $5.02 and get $.75 in return. I turned cooper into silver. Sometimes they look at me like I am crazy, but it makes sense. I may only have had $.02 in my wallet, now I have $.75. I thought that was neat. The extra change that I make I put it in my Tootsie Roll bank. When the bank fills, I take it to my bank and cash it in. That money is used on a debt.

I don't claim to be a financial advisor, but these are steps that I have taken to help me in my financial journey. I have a plan and I know it will work with determination, support, reading, and interacting with others that are doing what I set out to do. I know I will make mistakes, but I will achieve financial success.

Things Happen for a Reason

Ok, my credit score as an average is 602. There is a house that has been on the market for the last few months. The price has dropped drastically. My real estate agent phoned last night. I felt upset and angry at myself for not being in a better financial state. But you know what? Nothing beats a failure, but a try. I am going to meet with her to see if it may be possible to purchase the property. It is a 4 bedroom, 3 bath, fireplace, pool, 2 car garage. Since the economy has taken a downward turn, the house will be worth at least $250,000 when the economy improves.

This situation has really made me want to do better with my financial situation. Ok, not only this situation, but other occurances too. Today, I am going to look for creative ways to finance this property. If it is not for me, there will be another one that is much better.

Learning is an option and I will learn from everyone that I can. People have had serious experiences and I will get to a better place with education, interaction and determination.

Anything is Possible

This weekend I hung out with my friends from college. Everyone is doing good and making positive moves. Mecca Davis is the owner of Mecca's Essential Bath Salts. She brought some with her and everyone was so excited and motivated about her product. What we tend to not do is invest in ourselves. She was interested in salts, she started making them on her own and now she has a thriving business. Something else that I see is that we don't support one another. Other cultures help each other and send people to them for support. What I want to see is us networking and supporting one anther's goals and ideas. I have many friends that are being creative and stepping outside of the box and doing things that they enjoy. Thank you to those that read my blog and take notice to what I have to say.

Raquel, it was my pleasure meeting you. Ladies as always, I enjoy your company and love spending time with you catching up on all the great things that have happened in your life. We are maturing and making great advancements. Being stagnant is not an option.

Today, for you, take time out of your busy schedule and give thanks for your successes and downfalls, because without them you would not be the beautiful individual that you are today. Learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of others. This weekend I learned that there is more to life than the now. Make things happen and do things differently. Don't wake up one day and say where did all the time go. Be adventurous and step out of the box.

Some things that will help you get it together:

Do a self assessment to find out what you are interested in.

Make a poster of things you are interested in.

Explore your future.

Prepare for the worst.

Step out on faith.

These are the links to my wonderful friends sites. Everyone is doing great things and you may be able to learn from them. If not support their endeavors. Enjoy!

Abysmal Publishing, LLC

Mecca's Essential Salts & Bath Products

Stacks Entertainment SE Events

FREE-IVF.com - Free In Vitro Fertilization Infertility Stories

Grow, Build, Prosper, and Mature! Thanks All!

Day One of My Financial Success

For the last 8 years I have been teaching. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my job, but I haven't been doing right by my money. Working 5 days a week can take a toll on you. I don't believe that all of our time should be spent working like this. I have had financial success, but not to the extent that I want. I am 33 years old with no savings and I am definitely not at the place where I thought I would be financially. I make candles and have been doing that for some time, but not where I want to be. I am currently working on building a website for them. People come to me and ask for candles for gifts, but I know I could do much better in that area. My goals here are to discuss my financial success. I know I can achieve it and with a audience I think I will do better.
During the month of July, I started a Financial Planning/Support Group. We meet monthly to discuss our financial goals as well as personal goals. There are only 6 of us, but we have been working diligently to help each other obtain our goals. The first thing we discussed was our credit history and scores. Many people are afraid to talk about money or even look at there finances. How can you know if you are afraid to find out? So for the month of August everyone had to find out their credit history. When we met in August everyone found out that information and had started paying things off or even disputing the information. We used http://www.freecreditreport.com/ to find out our credit history. Many of us had things on our report that was old, or wasn't our, we had no clue about it, or the information was just wrong. For $39.95 a month you can get all three reports and scores. You can only dispute with Experian online.

The addresses for Experian and Equifax are:
Exquifax
Equifax Information Services LLC

P.O. Box 740256

Atlanta, GA 30374-0256

Transunion
TransUnion Customer Relations

P.O. Box 1000

Chester, PA 19022

Also, you are eligible for one free credit report a year depending on your state. If you have never obtained a copy of your report please do so. This report doesn't come with your score, but the report is a great start.

Starting at the end of this month, I will save $450.00 dollars for the entire school year. Every time I try to do this something happens. The element of surprise is something we have no way of planning for.

Below you will find a list of my financial goals:
Save $450.00 for 8 months: $3600.00
Truck paid off January 09 balance of $3,930.54
Save money
Don't Overdraw in my Checking Account
Stop borrowing money
Learn about investing in the Stock Market
Build money with current properties
Refinance both homes
Pay off Student Loans
Make money online
Stop spending unnecessarily

These are just a few things that I am going to achieve. I will post every other day to let you know my ups and downs. Things I have learned and even things that where not successful. I would like to do all of these things in at least 3 years to date.