Sian's Money Matters

So I am asking for a bit of advice.

I have a young Soldier. I'm wanting to help her with a budget and getting her started in education. She needs to start setting up her life for the future.

I am already advising her to start savings by automatically depositing it into her account. But she's a hands on kind of person. She doesn't have a laptop. (I'm knowledgeable on retirement and savings.)

So I'm wondering on how some of you have done it if you're hands-on. What did you do for your hand-on notebook?

I've been on YouTube and been looking at some stuff.

But what is it that you've done?

Hello Everyone!

I keep posting intermittently but I'm reading everyone's posts although I'm not commenting. So a lot has happened since my last post. I'm back from training, which lasted a month.

First, I'm no longer homeless, LOL.


I did lose weight there but I've gained it all back and then some. I've had issues with my feet since then and feeling very fatigued.

A little over a month ago I moved into my new place which means that I'm no longer homeless! LOL. All my stuff was put into storage while I was training and then I moved the day that I go back. So my rent was $931 for a 1-bedroom at the old place and now it is $845 for a 1-bedroom at the new place. Which is almost $100 dollars difference. If I had stayed at the old place my rent would have gone up to $993 for a lease renewal. So in retrospect, I guess I've saved closer to $150 per month just by moving. I am almost all moved in, I really haven't that much time to myself to try and move. I do have a garage here which is $75 monthly, but it's worth it. I have a motorcycle (which is paid off) and I can keep it in there along with all my other boxes that I need to go through.

About two weeks ago, I was playing softball during PT (physical training) because her at this post we have "Iron Horse Week" which is when the whole post plays various games against each other ranging from soccer to flag football to swimming competitions. So I had opted to play softball. The only really good thing I can do is bat. I'm not good on catching or throwing. I had been playing for several days and had actually gotten better at catching. I had a rather large glove on though this one Friday and was playing catcher. I realized that it was too big and so I changed it out before the next play. Well now we had two people on base and we were trying to get a guy out on home plate. Well my teammate threw me the ball (it was thrown like a baseball at probably 50 or 60 mph. He was closer to me than pitchers mound but to far to run it. Well I tried to catch it but unfortunately I stopped it with my head...

I currently do have a concussion and still suffer from affects from it. It has been two weeks since it happened. Hopefully I can get a CAT scan or something next week. I am still having headaches and feeling woozy if I get up too fast from laying down. I do have issues with remembering some words but it has gotten better. Yes, I did go to ER as well as seen the P.A. at the clinic (twice). Remember I'm in the Army....

I've weighed myself today and I'm up to 219 lbs. I know I am a food addict, but I've also been sedentary for almost a month. Time to get moving. I've decided to juice and have smoothies for as long as I can, although I do need to eat for my various medication. I will eat a banana during that time. I need my body to juice "reboot" itself. I'm probably going to start my YouTube channel, I haven't really decided. I will be 41 years old in just three months. I want to feel better on my birthday than I do now. I'm tired of feeling tired and hopefully my medical issues will clear up for the better. I do have a goal outfit (a particular t-shirt and size 8 jeans), so I'll be trying those on weekly to see if the fit is better.

I still haven't had my tumor removed. I'm suppose to go in September to have it scheduled (it was suppose to happen yesterday but unfortunately they needed to reschedule that appointment).

I am suppose to be going to the promotion board next week in order to get my "P" status. I was confident before the incident but now I'm not so sure, but I will go anyways.

So I am going to get my health under control and also my finances. I haven't been really working on it, just letting it be passive, but I need to get back to it because I have financial plans and my finances need to be on point.

I will also try to get back to blogging as well. Feels good to write stuff down and make plans and to see how far my plans have come.

It's been a while since I've last written but I've been dealing with some things.

Surgery from the gallbladder removal was successful and I am recovering well. I haven't lost any weight unfortunately from the removal so I'm back to losing it through persistence (which wasn't that great to begin with...).

So not long after the surgery, I went to get my first mammogram (turned 40 last year, so therefore I get to have one).

They found a lump and after a biopsy it was simply put, a non-cancerous tumor. My options are to have it removed or for the next two years, to have a mammogram every 6 months.

I've chosen to have it removed but not until September. There is simply too many things occurring right now for me to have surgery.

My 1SG (and the incoming 1SG) has informed me that I will not be able to reenlist until I go to the promotion board and BLC. That means I will not be able to reenlist til September at the earliest... I only have a limited amount of time to reenlist and that cuts my window down even more. This means that I'll have to start the getting out process even though I intend to reenlist because that's how the army works.

So not only do I have to contend with the tumor and getting rid of it. I also have the added pressure of now completing school BEFORE the surgery. And I also wanted to get back to college to complete my degree.

Although, I have been making promotion points for the past 15 months in a row... so it's just getting old now.

But it is what it is...

Well it is the beginning of the third day after surgery and I'm doing better than the day of lol.

The day of surgery I arrived at the hospital and while waiting, the power to the hospital went out but the emergency generators did kick on. So my surgery didn't happen at the time that it was anticipated. The Surgeons wanted to wait until the power was stable. They had to actually stop in the middle of another surgery when it first went out.

The surgery did go well and my gallbladder was successfully removed. It was done by laparoscopic so therefore I only have four small incisions in my abdomen. Three of them don't hurt at all but the one in my tummy button is the worst. That's the one where they pulled the gallbladder out. I figured that they went in at an angle because it's mostly the center of my abdomen that is painful. The doctor was very cool and gave me pictures of my insides. One of my gallbladder before removal and after it was gone (I asked if he would be able to). SO COOL.

I had a friend stay with me the first night but I'm on my own for now although she does check up on me. Both myself and my parents are very grateful that she was able to do so. Especially since it was last minute and I didn't know I needed someone to stay with me until a few hours after my surgery was done. I take my pain medicine and try to stay ahead of it. I've learned to only take one of my percocet instead of two no matter the pain, which is less than the abdominal pain I suffered BEFORE surgery. It somehow affects my breathing when I take two. I don't understand why but I think it's the dosage. It didn't do that in the past... I also have grunt candy (ibuprofen 800mg) that I take to supplement it as well per nurses orders.

I do have only one current issue that should go away in due time. I cannot sit up for long periods of time. I tend to start getting light-headed. It feels like my blood pressure is dropping but I don't have a BP monitor to check it. Guess I should purchase one eventually... But the time I'm able to sit up gets longer and longer. I do get up and walk around my apartment so I'm not always laying down.

Other than that I eat only when I need to and very little. I like the chicken broth I bought but should eat more, but since my tummy hurts when I eat I keep it to a minimum. (I see how people lose a lot of weight after an abdominal surgery)

My incisions are glued together on the outside so I don't have to worry about having my stitches taken out. Last time the nurse missed some and I ended up finishing the job when I returned home. LOL.

I contact my parents daily by video call, so they can monitor me too. My follow-up is in one week and hopefully if I can't drive by then, I'll find someone to take me. My friend will be on holiday then so I'll have to find someone else.

I'm pretty much just laying on the couch with my wedge pillows (best thing I ever bought right now) and I have almost 30 books to keep me company all within easy reach. I'm drinking water but definitely need to eat more.

At this point, I'm hoping that this post is clear and understandable. Being on the medicine I'm on makes me feel loopy which I distinctly dislike. I've gone over this post several times so I hope it's good to go and forgive me please if I am rambling.

So what had happened was.... lol

For the past month I've been having abdominal pain. REALLY BAD abdominal pain. On a scale of 10 it was about a 7.5 at worse. So a few weeks ago I was in the ER, on morphine.. Between then and now, I have had 3 pregnancy tests, 1 CT Scan, and 2 ultrasounds.. NOTHING... absolutely nothing was found.

So finally the Doctor ordered a test to see how my gall bladder was functioning because I'm the right demographic for it (I'm 40 years old). So the test is to last two hours and occurs this past Wednesday (Feb 1st). I showed up at 0830 and was told I'd be given this radiation so that they could track the functioning and I could actually watch it on the monitor. They allowed me to sleep the whole time because I wasn't allowed to move anyways.

So as two hours slowly roll by, I'm watching the monitor and talking to the technician. The whole time the only thing that shows up on the monitor is just my liver and large intestines. So they decided to do a delayed test which means that I had to do another one at 1300... Again, nothing on the monitor but liver and intestines. So she calls the doctor and lets him know what's happening and he's like "come see me right now".

So off I go and at about 1400 he tells me that my gall bladder isn't functioning. So I get recommended for gall bladder removal surgery because if it's not removed then bad things like death will happen.

So I'm like ok, I'll get surgery within the month or so, not a big deal. The surgery department calls me THAT DAY. Not even an hour later... Tells me to come in the next day for the consult. So I'm thinking.. maybe this is serious...

So I see the Surgeon and she tells me that I'm getting surgery NEXT WEDNESDAY (the 8th)! DEFINITELY SERIOUS. This is being considered as emergency surgery. After she talks to me for a bit, and I'm telling her stuff that has happened. She states that the time that I went to Korea and about this same time last year when I was vomiting and having nauseau was when my symptoms actually started. I even had an EGD and the Doctors there were like "it's just bad acid reflux" and gave me prescription prilosec.

She also tells me that if the pain spikes again (because my tummy is always tender and I'm in pain a LOT), to go directly to the ER and they will do the surgery then and there. (I hope it doesn't spike because I need to clean my apartment and car lol).

So now I'm a few days from surgery and about to clean my place and do as much as I can before Wednesday.

The good thing that I learned is that I should lose weight, at least an average of 15 pounds. This is great because I'm still trying to lose about 50 pounds.

But I am very grateful to know what the problem is and have it taken care of. Ironically there have been about 4 other people in my company that have had this same surgery. I don't know if it's the altitude here or what... (I live in Colorado).

By the way, I don't have gall stones at all. My gall bladder is just no longer functioning correctly.

I'll keep ya'll updated though!

Getting my budget together. I think this is the first time I've put this on here. LOL. My bar is updated with all my debts that I pay on. My parents do pay on several and I've decided that in the meantime, I will let them keep up with the amounts.

DEBT:
Apartment reno: $10
Timeshare: $85.07
Rewards Card: $160
Navient: $240.73
Car Loan: $360
Nelnet: $102.16

Expenses:
Rent: $931
Water: $61 - Apt utilities
Sewer: $11 - Apt utilities
Trash: $10 - Apt utilities
Common Area Electric: $4 - Apt utilities
Service Fee: $4.68 - Apt utilities
Electricity: $85 (average)
Renters Insurance: $11.41
Motorcycle Insurance: $28.36
Car Insurance: $213.38
Petrol: $180
Groceries: $200
Cellular: $150 (multiple phone lines)
Hulu: $7.99
NetFlix: $15.98
Internet/Cable: $60.00
F.I.T. Radio: $3.99
Entertainment: $50 (consists of movies and books)
Restaurant: $50


Adds up to $3,145.07 for expenses.

My take home is approximately $3,400.00.

I need to get my expenses down to less than $2,000 hopefully by early next year. Those expenses will not count rent, apartment utilities, and electricity.

Now with the 2.6% raise the military received, I should be able to pay down debt with almost an extra $300. But I'm still spending too much on restaurants. I need to get that portion of spending under control. I'm already at my limit for the month on restaurants and it's only the 7th... SMDH...

I've updated my debts and put them from lowest to highest amount left. I'm going to snowball them that way. Although I'm still not paying off the apartment reno because there isn't any interest on it.

My plan when I get my tax refund, is to pay off one of the lower amounts which will be my timeshare. Then I can pay off the maintenance fees (which I'm trying to find out what it is but I'll say it's approximately $1,000) that went with it and sell it off. I doubt I will get any money back on it. But I'll be rid of it once and for all. YAY!

Never will I ever get another timeshare....

I will get the interest rate down on my car loan. I have to wait 6 months at least. But I'll keep working on it until I can get it back down to as close as what I had on the previous vehicle which was 4.5%.

I do know that my budget will be impacted by two things this month. I will be cooking food for a friend because she will be having surgery and I want to make sure that she's good to go. Also I will be going on a field training exercise this month so therefore, the food I buy for the meals should be a wash.

My ultimate goal is to get divorced which will be sometime next year. I need to make sure that I have enough money to pay my bills and expenses when that happens. I want to be able to move forward with my life.

I've started my search for a new apartment. I currently have a 1bdrm, 1bth, 649 sq ft for $931. So, especially with the new car payment, I would prefer a lower costing apartment. I don't want to live in a "bad" neighborhood, but there have been several incidents since I've been here. The latest being a woman stabbing both her boyfriend/husband when she found him and another woman (she stabbed her too).

It's not that I live in bad neighborhood, just stupid people....

So back to the issue. I do have certain needs:

Needs:
full size washer/dryer
storage
walk in closet
decent water pressure

What I'm willing to compromise on is getting a 2 bedroom instead of a 1 bedroom and using that as storage. Also if I get a 2 bedroom then I wouldn't need a WIC.

Water is expensive here. When I had my other apartment (in a different state), it cost me about $20 a month. Here, I've paid as much as $60... So I do have to consider that as well.

Apartment utilities can cost as much as an extra $100 a month. This is not including electricity which can cost as low as $60 to as much as $112.

So I have to add there there can be as much as $200 for all utilities.

So I've paid as much as $1,131 for everything, and I definitely would like to get lower than that.

I'm hoping to find what I'm looking for at $800 or less. I've seen them. I just don't know if it would be possible to lock in the rate now if I applied for it. Or would it be the rate of when the apartment becomes available... which is in July.

Decisions, decisions.

Well it's that time of year again... TAX TIME!!!

I've already started inputting my information but of course I haven't received everything to put in the system yet.

So I'm trying to figure out what to do with it. I already know I'm going to go on holiday with some of it. A couple of my best mates and I will be going on a cruise. We'll be sharing the same room so that will make it cost a bit less.

The rest...

I should have my reimbursement by then hopefully so emergency fund should be re-funded. I'd pay off one card but my parents will be doing that. So the other things that are left are things that wouldn't get paid off with it.

I'm thinking if I should fund all the things that I should save for such as Christmas presents, property taxes and whatnot. Especially for the move I plan on doing in July if I don't move sooner. (If another incident happens at the apartments, I may need to see if I can break my lease for safety reasons. Last week a woman stabbed her husband/boyfriend after catching him with another woman)

What are ya'lls plans? And/or maybe you have some opinions on what I should do.

This is a bit winded.

So on Monday, I bought my new to me vehicle. I absolutely love it! I went from a 2004 Kia Sorento to 2012 Cadillac SRX Premium. This SUV is sweeeeeet! Although anything would be an upgrade.

So this is how everything got messed up......... And why it's taken me several days to write about this because I have been upset but I'm doing a little bit better now. So I'll start at the beginning.

While I was in Korea for a year, I gave my parents some money to get some things and the A/C fixed in my Kia. That cost me about $1k. I got back and noticed that I was still having some issues with it, so I took it to a mechanic for a diagnosis. Clutch, oil valves, and carrier bearing all needed to be replaced, approximately $3k. At this point I only owed $1,200 on the vehicle. I had it for 4.5 years, but only have driven it for 2.5 years. So at that point, I decided that it was time for a new vehicle. Used of course.

So the search began. I got a pre-approval through my bank which was contingent on my trading in my Kia and I found a 2011 Chevy Equinox for $13,600 with 127k miles with a lot of bells and whistles. I had to get it shipped through CarMax and it arrived in early November. I was elated, but the paperwork was not acceptable for my state and it took until Dec 22 for it to come through. While waiting, I had to do another pre-approval because it ran out so another credit hit and the interest possibilities increased.

Well I did test drive it but it needed a new battery and I wanted to test drive it again. Well on the 23rd the vehicle wouldn't start. So I started looking for another vehicle. I found a 2011 and a 2012 Cadillac SRX Premium. I tried to test drive the 2011 but it wouldn't start. So I left to test drive the 2012 at the other dealership.

I ended up liking the 2012 and signed the paperwork for the buy. They didn't take trades (I bought the Caddy through a broker) and sold my vehicle separately. Well by doing that, my bank wouldn't honor the pre-approval check. So I had to do another loan, but this time for the actual amount because now I had the vehicle. Another hit to my credit.

My interest rate ended up being 16.94%! I had no clue as to why it was high. I hadn't opened or closed any accounts. Only the credit inquiries for the past several months were hitting my credit. As far as I knew, my credit was in the 680s!

So I pulled my credit report that night. It dropped from 680 to 617! Why?! Because two of my student loans were bought out by Navient (Sallie Mae). So it shows as a negative on my account now. Two of my oldest accounts is now in the negative section because of HOW the creditor closed it...

I immediately went to another bank and did another auto loan and got it down to 13.8%. Not good but not as bad as 17%...

So now my credit has dropped and hasn't been this low since 2010.

I WILL refinance in a year, but now I need to play clean up with my credit...

I can afford it, but now my plans have changed a bit and I will be reworking my budget. Goals have been delayed but not stopped.

So for the past few months I've been trying to purchase a 2012 Chevrolet Equinox LTZ fully loaded except for the rear DVD entertainment for $13,600. There were issues with the paperwork. The DMV wouldn't take the title from the form DMV because their titling laws were different and it took another month to get it fixed. So I've been waiting on this particular vehicle since October.

Well the paperwork came through on Thursday. I had already test driven the vehicle prior but I knew that it needed a new battery. Well when the paperwork came through they replaced the battery that day, and on Friday... it was dead.

So now there may be electrical issues or an alternator wrong with it.

Well at this point I'm no longer wanting to deal with them and I don't really want the vehicle anymore so I started looking again (although I was looking the whole time).

So at this point I have found two vehicles that I like. a 2011 and a 2012 Cadillac SRX Premium Collection. The 2011 is at $16,240 but the internet sale price is $15,741. The 2012 was at $21,998 and now at $17,998.

I can afford these but I do want to negotiate for lower. I know I suck at negotiating but I think that I have time on my side. Meaning it's the last week of the year and the dealers want these cars off their lots so they don't have to pay taxes on them.

Does anyone have any advice for me in the meantime? I am already financed and will be going on Monday to the two different dealerships.

I will be downsizing my paycheck in about a years time. My paycheck will be going down to half of what it is when then. So I'm working on getting my complete budget under that amount. What I was counting on was the car loan being paid off and not having a car payment for two years. Unfortunately I have to purchase a new vehicle because the current one needs $2,800 of repairs and I've already put in $1,000.

So the current payment is $200 on the current vehicle. It will go up to about $220, but I plan on making payments of $250. So I need to get rid of approximately $2000. Approximately $1,020 is the rent and water (it may be a bit more than that), electricity is approximately $100, and my parents are paying off two of the bills. So I just need to get rid of $120 more and I can be good to go on living on less.

I'm currently living in a 1-bedroom home for $931. It's pretty small. It has a walk-in-closet and a stackable washer/dryer. I leased it during the mid-summer. By now I realized that I should have gotten a 6-month lease instead of for a year. For someone looking at this apartment complex right now for my same apartment is $817... Talk about being pissed-off...

Also I've been looking around and there are 2-bedrooms for less than what I'm currently renting at, so I'm going to be moving when this lease is up. And yes, I compared the prices of summer vs fall (preferably with a FULL SIZED washer/dryer).

The places that I've been looking at are lower than $900 a month and preferable below $800. I figured also that I'd rather have the extra bedroom for storage than anything else. I have a lot of gear and a closet isn't going to be the best option for that.

I was looking forward to paying off my vehicle early next year. Until I found out that I have $2,800 worth of repairs that need to be done after sinking $1,000 into it. I only have $1,200 left to pay on it.

So at this point I've decided to get a used "new to me" vehicle.

It's interesting to me that the first time I bought a vehicle I paid $600 for a '95 Altima (bought in 2009) and bought it outright. Then that one died and I got a car loan for a $9k '04 Sorento (bought 2012) that I had to get a co-signer for because my credit was so bad.

The reason that I'm getting a new vehicle is that I've had it for a little over four years. But I've only driven it a little over two years (I was in Afghanistan and Korea). I've already sunk about $2k into it during this whole time. The clutch is about to go out, I need new oil valves, and the carrier bearing is basically spinning in place. So I'm getting a newer vehicle.

So I've gone through the process of getting a new loan. Pre-approval from my bank so I have buying power. I've already walked away from one place which I never have an issue with. I have found that I dislike negotiating, so I'm getting my vehicle (2011) from CarMax. Did you know that it can take up to 28 days to request a vehicle from across the nation?...

Also you have have 5 days to return the vehicle in the same condition that you received it. So that's enough time to get a mechanic to look at it, and I suggest finding shops that do a pre-purchase vehicle inspection.

Thankfully, when this vehicle comes in, my payments will only go up less than 40%. But I'll do what I did last time I had a six-year loan. Send at least $5 extra a month but I actually paid it weekly to hit that interest. I would have paid off the current loan at less than five years. But I think I will throw a little bit more this time.

I'm hoping that this vehicle will check out and that I will not have any issues for several years.

Tip: even if you are pre-approved for a particular amount doesn't mean that you should use the whole amount. Just because you're approved for it, doesn't mean that you can actually afford it.

So I've been in Korea for a while. And I'm in the process of buying a telly. I know what I want. At least 120 hertz, wifi, over 32 inches but less than 50 inches, HDMI port, USB port and PC port (I am an avid gamer and yes I buy my games secondhand). I went to the store with the plan to spend $450. I've been planning this since 2013 but I didn't want to spend more than that. This telly will be with me until it breaks down. LOL.

I go to the third store and narrow it down to two TVs. Avol (off brand)$330, 40 inch and has everything except wifi. Sony $600, 48 inch and has everything with wifi.

The two issues are:

Once back in the states, how difficult would it be to get the Avol fixed if needed.

The Sony is $150 more than I planned to spend. (I do have the cash for it)

I do keep my big money items until they are broken (the first car i bought finally died in 2012. It was a 1995 vehicle. I currently have two vehicles that are 11 years old. And I'm never selling them.)

I do know that if I get the 40 inch I'll eventually feel the "need" to get another telly and end up with two and that one will have wifi. Whereas if i get the 48 inch I'll be satisfied with it until it breaks down.

I'm leaning towards the 48 inch because I'll only have one telly and it has everything that I want. Also it'll save me money because I won't want another telly and I really don't want two TVs.

Bad News first... One of my credit cards has started an annual fee which is $25. This does NOT make my rate better.... It was just added...

Good news! This same card? My rate DID decrease to 6%. Why? you ask? Because three years ago I submitted paperwork to get my rate lowered (I'm military), and they refused. I last submitted paperwork over a year ago. It's been a three year battle and I had actually given up. They kept telling me one thing they needed then another. So about two months ago, out of the blue, my rate drops....

I was paying $51/monthly on it and now the minimum due has dropped to $25! So I'm not changing my amount that I'm paying them and it'll be paid of at a maximum of three years. But I'm snowballing payments so it'll be paid off sooner than that!

YAY ME!

I also closed my Rooms-to-Go account because I haven't used it in a long time and I'm going overseas again so there isn't a point in me keeping it. It was about to close anyways due to inactivity so I just went on ahead and closed it myself.

So this means that all of my accounts that I had before I joined the military are now 6% or less, or paid off and closed! WHOOHOO!!!

Well folks, it's about that time! I'm getting ready to move to a different duty station. I'm not ready to say where yet but I've been REAL busy this last month.

The first thing I did is get all my stuff out of storage and now I have it all in my roommates house. Which means I REALLY have to go through it. I'm getting items ready to go to a yard sale and to donate. I'm going to utilize the internet a lot as well as the newspaper to get rid of a lot of stuff because I really don't want to take all of it with me.

My roommate has actually offered to help which is very nice of him. I figured he could go through all my paperwork and pull out anything that has to do with the military and then I can organize that later.

Hopefully I'll make a couple of hundred out of this and can put it in my savings account!

Well as of the first of this month I am getting ready for the future. I will moving not too long from now and I am in the process of getting the rest of my finances and belongings in order. There will probably be several yard sales and craiglist/ebay listings. And I want to be able to payoff three (3) accounts before I leave so my finances are on "lockdown" lol.

YAY me. :P

I paid off of my Rooms to Go card! WHOOHOO!!! I'm keeping it open because it gives me credit. They say I have to buy something annually at least that's no problem. $25 lamp here I come! LOL!

I only have two cards left to pay off now. I'm glad about that. I thought I had less on one but I can't them to take off the charges...

I have to re-order the list of debt that I have so that I'm paying it off by which ones are paid off the soonest but I'm still snowballing.

A slow but financially sound progress!

The bane of owning vehicles is having issues with them.

Well after asking certain people at work (mechanics) as well as someone that actually owned a Kia. The person that owned one actually had the same issues told me exactly what is wrong. Pilot bearing and the clutch. ARGH!

It will be a few months till I actually get it fixed but I have the motorcycle (having some issues with that as well) but it means that I'm only driving each one half the time. So I'm hoping that it can wait till I have the money.

My friend told me that it should be about $600 to fix both the SUV. I could put it on a card but I'd rather save up the money.

I am in the process of cancelling an account so that I can save up quicker. But with moving and whatnot, it's going to be a hectic month or two.

I have gotten off track for a lot of things this past year.

My couponing is none-existent at this point. I'm moving in several months and I need to get on the ball with it. Especially for paying off my debts.

When I move that'll save me a lot of money and I'll be able to put a majority of that towards debt but I really do miss couponing.

Being able to save over half of the retail price sometimes is an awesome feeling and I miss that. Time to get on the ball!

Lucky for me the shop on post takes coupons up to six (6) months old!

Well I WAS credit card debt free but since moving into my apartment I've purchased a few things that I actually needed as well as other furniture.

One is a line of credit with 0% interest rate right now and the other is my credit card attached with my bank, and also the Emblem card that I'm still trying to get the APR lowered.

The Emblem card is $30/mo, bank card is $91/mo and the line of credit is $114/mo. So I'll be trying to pay off the line of credit first since it's the most that I pay for monthly.

When I move into my new place in a few months I know that I'll be able to put more money towards paying them off.

We'll see.

This morning as we were doing physical training I happened to mention that I'll be moving soon and that I was going to go and sign lease papers today.

So a fellow associate mentions that he's renting out his house (duplex) for $350 (includes everything). So I'm going to rent from him. Can't wait to move!

YAY ME!!!

There are several things happening in the next two months. I've found an apartment with a GREAT deal. $99 move-in special. The rent includes water, cable and internet.

The rent doesn't include the washer/dryer. If I rent from the complex then it'll cost me $50 extra (I'm in the process of finding a cheaper one because if I spend $600 I could actually buy a brand new one for less...

Also my current roommate will be moving out and I'm looking for two roommates to cut down on rent.

It's about ten minutes closer to work so I'm hoping it'll cut down on about %50 worth of gas every month.

So I'll be moving a month earlier than expected but this will allow me to not be homeless for a day. LOL.

So at this point I'm looking for two roommates ($500 each all inclusive), and help with moving. I'll take the whole month to move because I believe that'll benefit me better. Less stuff to take out at the end.

So it'll only cost me about $200 to move but that's including the internet, cable and water.

I'm already advertising in two places for a roommate but there are also two other places that I will advertise as well.

I'm excited!

I'm considering changing my number for personal reasons. How what were the cons socially that was associated with this. I've had my number for a LONG time.

Day one declutter mission: HOARD NO MORE! underway!

I've started small and will work my way through. It seems to just be moving from one area to the next but it's actually moving to where it needs to go in order to be organized later.

BEFORE:

This is my ottoman and this will be a two part element. Why? It actually has storage within which is why I bought it in the first place. Hehehe. Double edged sword.

AFTER:

It even smells lemon fresh from the Clorox wipes!

So tomorrow I'm going to tackle the inside .

I have only two years left of paying alimony! YAY ME!!!

I've already been paying for four years and the time is coming up for that to end. I AM EXCITED!

WHOOHOO!!

=D

I've been paying certain bills monthly and others weekly.

Example:
Timeshare: $85.07/mo balance = $4,855.55
currently I'm on track to pay this off in 7 years. No sooner, no later. Next payment is due on the 27th Apr.

car loan: $194.33/mo. I pay weekly instead $48.58. Looking at the account I am, at this moment the next payment is due 19th Jun.

So instead of it being paid off in Sep 2017 it looks as if it'll be paid off by Jan 2017.

I think it's better to pay something off weekly instead of monthly whenever possible.