Things I DONT buy!

The Suburban Wife has a great new post about all the stuff she doesn't buy. I thought I'd list a few things myself.

1. Coffee - I never liked the stuff.

2. Tobacco - My mom was a heavy smoker when I was growing up, so I never touched cigarettes.

3. Meat - I'm a vegetarian going on 8 years now. There are lots of reasons to avoid the meat, but I do it for health reasons.

4. Cars - I pay $30 a month for a subway pass and I do just fine.

5. Technology toys - I have the free cell phone that comes with the plan, a laptop, TV and DVD player that were a birthday/xmas gifts from my college days, and a stereo that's a 10-year-old hand-me down. I did buy an IPod, but it was at a discount for a charity event. Gadgets don't get me excited.

6. Pets - I have thought alot about getting a dog, a cat, or even some fish, but I'm not sure I have the time or the disposable income to take care of them. Right now I just spend alot of time with my friends' pets!

7. Lottery tickets, casinos, raffles, ect. - It's just not my thing. I tried playing Bingo earlier this year and almost fell asleep!

8. Waxing/bleaching my upper lip - Many of the women in my family get this done, and I just don't get it. I'm sure for many women, it is a problem and they feel better taking care of it, but our coloring isn't "bad" enough to justify it, in my opinion. Earlier this year, I got my eyebrows waxed and the waxer suggested it, and I polietly declined, but in my head I was like, "Yeah, you just want another fifteen bucks to spend thirty seconds smearing hot wax on an inch of my face that is perfectly fine already. Um, no."

What don't you spend money on?

Wednesday Surprise!

I logged into my bank account worried that I'm might be dangerously low as I wait for the direct deposits from the second job (tomorrow) and the full time job (Friday). To my surprise, my tax returns were there! What a happy number! I only got $480 back. I think that's great though, since I changed my deductions early last year so I could pay off the debt and not "loan" it to the govenment until April. I just transferred $350 to pay off credit cards, which means:

1.) I'm up to $900 of the $1200 I promised to put toward cc debt this month.
2.) I PAID OFF CREDIT CARD #4!
3.) My New Credit Card Debt is $7,456.75! I've paid off $6,812.25 in less than a year.

I really wanted to pay off my credit card debt by August, and right now that means I'd have to pay about $1850 a month for the next four months. I'm not sure that's possible, but maybe with the stimulus check, three paydates in August, and a lot more hours at the second job, I'll get pretty close...

Getting Rid of Clutter!

The nice weather is here, and I'm welcoming it by packing up the sweaters. I have so many clothes that don't fit right or that I just don't care for anymore, so I'm packing them up and getting rid of them this week.

I'm also trying to go through drawers and boxes and throw out the junk I don't need. I'm the classic pack rat who loves to save every birthday card and ticket stub, so whenever I'm in the mood to trash stuff, I do it before the urge passes!

I signed up for Netflix, and was supremely disappointed until I saw all the fitness videos on demand. I've been checking them all out (especially now that I getting rid of clothes because they're too small!), and it's a really nice feature.

I also got to watch "Maxed Out". I already knew most of what it was about, but it was particularly heartbreaking to see family members who had lost loved ones to suicide. I can't imagine killing myself because of my debt, but I've definitely had hard months when I couldn't make those minimum payments. I'm glad to have family that didn't think twice or ask questions when I've needed a loan. I'm also lucky that I've always been offered more paying work than I could physically do.

I'm glad that except for a few stumbles, I've remained committed to living a frugal life and paying off my debt.

Ok, I got tagged by bouncing back. Here is my six word memoir!


There are no victims- only volunteers.

The rules of the meme are:
1. Write your own six word memoir
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want
3. Link to the person who tagged you in your post
4. Tag at least 3 more blogs (I cut the number down not everyone likes to "play")
5. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play

I'm tagging-

My Money Story
shegazelle
Dump the Debt

Budget update!

I put $200 toward the debt last week, and another $350 toward it this week. That puts me under $8,000 in credit card debt! I know that may not sound that great, but after seeing that dreaded number go UP, I'm really excited to see it hit a new low.

I might not be able to put anything toward the debt next week, but the week after should take care of Credit Card #4, leaving just one more to go (with a balance over $7K, but I'll take whatever I can get).

To do next week: Work, work, work at the second job.

I joined Krystal's April Budget Challenge!

I'm going to try to put half my income towards the credit card debt this month, which is about $1200, a couple hundred more than usual.

I'm a little bit sad about the state of my debt reduction. I really wanted to be free of the Credit Card monster by the end of Summer. As it stands right now, I owe $8220, so I'd have to put $1644 a month towards it, and that just isn't realistic. Trying for $1200 is a stretch next month is even a stretch, so I'm worried. Plus I'm still paying off $1500 of the $2K in unexpected expenses, and my sister is getting married this summer, which I know is going to cost me over a thousand dollars.

Bottom line: no vacation for me for a very long time. Also, I need to call the second job and start signing up for some extra hours.

Payday!

Today is payday! I transferred $750 over to Credit Card #4, so I'm on track to pay it off next month! I've worked 12 hours at the second job this week and I think I'll put in another 4 tonight. If I keep up the hours at the second job, I should be able to use my regular paychecks just for fixed expenses and debt reduction.

I also cancelled a little weekend trip on the basis that I don't feel well, my house is a mess, and I have a ton of people coming in from out of town soon. Visitors = eating out, shopping, entertainment, drinking, and having to stock my fridge with real food and beverages (not just ramen and rice milk).