I just can’t turn down a challenge June 14, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Arts and Crafts, Fanfiction, Personal Finance, Running, The Guys, Trixie, Trixie Friends.2 comments
This one’s a doozy, too. I just signed up to write at least 500 words a day for 30 days. They have to be fanfiction, which means any writing toward my book doesn’t count (nor does writing for work).
So now I have to find two hours each morning to run (slog), about 30 minutes each day to write fanfiction, at least that much time to write my book, plus find time to clean my apartment. Can somebody invent a 30-hour day?
In other news, I took a break from running over the weekend, which ends tomorrow. I had blisters on the bottoms of both feet from my old orthotics and while they weren’t painful and they weren’t getting worse, they also weren’t getting any better. Since I walk around in bare feet a lot, there was a decent chance I could step on something and pop one. With Mal coming in for the weekend and the associated walking in DC, I figured it was a good time to take a break. The good news is they seem to have finally healed, so I can start running again.
I started designing Christmas cards last night, and I’m going to figure out what I need for each and assemble a mock-up during the weekend. I know I need ribbon, but I’m not sure what else I need that I don’t already have.
For those who don’t read my other blog, my quest to kill my credit card debt by the end of the year is on track. That means come Jan. 1, I can start saving for a house and a new(er) car. The house is top priority, but I’m still going to be putting a decent amount away for the car in case mine starts falling apart. Fortunately, I’m putting so much to debt now that once it can go into savings, the money will start piling up pretty quickly.
As I mentioned before, Mal came to DC over the weekend and I got to meet her, plus see the Jix Chix. Aleta and Mary are the only ones I’d seen lately. We had a blast! My sister’s stuffed animals are now jealous because we got our picture taken with the Swedish Chef at the American History museum in their muppet exhibit.
Adding on April 23, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Admin, Personal Finance, Uncategorized.add a comment
Since my turn into PF blogging might not be of interest to all the Jixsters, I started a second blog just for PF blogging called Debt $ense. I’ll likely leave the old PF blog posts here so I start fresh there. If the money posts have bored you to tears, now you won’t have to wade through them. And if you liked them, head on over to my second online home for more of that sort.
Make more or spend less? April 22, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Personal Finance, Writing.3 comments
It’s amazing the number of PF books and sites that focus on spending less to either increase your savings or decrease your debt. Not that spending less is a bad idea, mind you. But there’s a limit to what you can cut and survive. I like the few that recommend making more money, like Mia at MSN’s Women in Red. (I suspect Aleta would agree with me, thanks to her online teaching experiences.)
In some ways, that’s not only more sustainable, it’s better long term because you have more money. Unlike Aleta, however, I don’t have the advanced degrees to make online teaching an option. Unlike people with normal jobs, I can’t really take a second job working weekends as a waitress or cashier. (That’s just asking for the news gods to start plotting!) While I can write, I’m somewhat limited in what I can freelance because I already work for a publication.
My best option so far is teaching color guard, which I’m hoping to do through county parks and rec. I e-mailed the coordinator this week to see how sign-ups were going because our calendar girl (woman, really) said somebody called to say several classes were canceled for lack of enrollment, though mine wasn’t one of them. That’s what happened to mine in the fall. Anyway, she hasn’t e-mailed me back, so I’m not sure what’s going on there.
The one other area I’m considering is book reviews, which are one of the few writing options available to me. (Other than writing a best-selling mystery series, which is still on my to-do list. 
) I’m going to start next week with books I own, just to get in practice. Don’t be surprised if they start showing up here during the next few weeks.
And, of course, my biggest opportunity would be if another editor position opened up here that I was qualified for. *crosses fingers* There’s a slight, slight chance that might happen later this year. We’ll see…
The importance of goals April 20, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Healthy Living, Personal Finance, Writing.2 comments
As you’ve all figured out by now, I have credit card debt. (I also have student loan debt, but I’m not really worried about that right now.) My balance now is about three times what it was four years ago, but about two-thirds what it was this time last year. Four years ago, I was determined to pay it down. (Imagine how much money and stress I would have saved had I done it then.) It took hitting five figures before I finally said “OK, enough’s enough.” But then I had to figure how to pay it off. Once I switched to weekly payments, automatically sent from my checking account, I finally started making progress. Why? Partially because I had made it simple. But also because I had a goal that I always see progress toward, something a PF blogger talks about much better than I do in this post.
Now I’ve gotten in the habit of thinking “How can I increase that payment? How can I make a bonus payment (like the one I mentioned earlier today)?” And since every payment shows a noticeable decline in the balance, there’s incentive to continue that, as well as to find sources for one-time payments.
My next goal is to clean out my apartment, weeding out books I can sell back to the used book store and clothes and other items I can save for the next community yard sale. I can certainly do with less stuff, plus the extra money will be another chunk I can put towards my debt. And as I see the space getting freed up, it will make me that much more determined to continue the progress.
Now if I can just find some tangible way to show words piling up, maybe I can get back into writing regularly…
Rolled coins April 20, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Personal Finance.add a comment
OK, so I changed my mind. After discovering that my bank will take rolled coins as a deposit without charging a fee, I picked up coin wrappers ($1.39 for 100) at Staples and started counting. I ended up with $8 to add to my savings, and deposited $106 and change this morning. (That includes the first half of my state tax refund and a milage check, so it’s not as big a deal as it sounds.) Friday, most of that will go to my credit card company.
I did stick to my plan of paying myself for my quarters, and since I traded $5 at work for that much in quarters, that will be even more into my savings next pay period.
Meanwhile, the coin jar has me scouring my apartment, car and desk for coins to add to it.
In other news, I might have to tweak the proportions of my cash pocket method, but it definitely is making me think more about my money and where it goes, so I’m considering it a success. It also helped me save $19 out of my weekly money over and above the $8 in coins, so that’s also a plus. Now if only filling up my car didn’t cost almost $30…
Gets me every time April 12, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Personal Finance.add a comment
I get paid bi-weekly, which means twice a year I have months with three paychecks. Since I budget based on two per month, that gives me “extra” money I can use for savings, special expenses, paying down debt, etc.
The flip side of this is that the first paycheck the next month is almost two weeks into the month.
So I was checking my bank balance and thinking about bills and going “OK, this is the rent (i.e. second) check, which means I only have $X left for all these… This is never going to work. How the heck did I come up short after getting ‘extra’ money?”
Until I looked at the calendar and realized, no, Friday is the *first* check, which means I have enough for everything. *slaps forehead* Panicking over nothing. *sigh*
So now I’m much calmer. Add in the extra money I’ll see from my cable bill dropping 50 percent next month and it’s all good.
Change jar April 12, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Personal Finance.add a comment
It’s sitting on the steamer trunk in my living room, collecting coins each day. In the past, I’ve always taken the coins to the grocery store, used the CoinStar machine and figured “It’s worth the 9.5 percent to not have to count them.”
Well, after reading a suggestion on SavingAdvice.com, I’ll be trying something else to save that money: $1 bills.
The actual suggestion is to drop all $1 bills in the jar, but since I’m getting all my money in $5 bills, that’s not a particularly good idea for me. Instead, at the end of each week, I’ll trade in most of my stash for dollar bills, which will go in my SVG pocket. The change – minus quarters – will then get moved into whichever pocket(s) the bills came from, likely home. This actually should be a net gain, since right now I have a tough time justifying putting quarters in there when I need them for laundry. This way they count toward my savings and come out of my home “budget.”
Index card solution April 5, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Personal Finance.1 comment so far
I’m trying a new way to manage my weekly money. I got an index card file (about an inch thick and holds 4×6 cards in six sections) and marked them: food, vacation, savings, fun, crafts and household. Starting next Friday (payday), I’ll be getting my money from the bank in $5 bills (my grandmother would be so proud) and dividing it up among the six pockets. I’m still working out the exact ratios — that’s a weekend project.
The bills lie flat in the sections, and change goes into my change jar at home. When I have an odd dollar or two, I can stick it in the savings pocket. Once a month I plan to take that pocket’s contents and put it toward my credit card, as well as anything in the change jar. (And yes, I’m still keeping my regular transfer from my account. This is “extra” savings.)
I’m hoping this will let me better save for crafts and house/clothing items by giving me a place to stash money. It also gives me an incentive to put extra money toward my card, and to keep my food expenses (i.e. eating out) down.
I’ll update in early May with the success (or lack thereof) of the system, especially with the amount of “extra” savings.
Woohoo! April 5, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Personal Finance.1 comment so far
For the first time, my 401(k) balance is now higher than my student loan balance! My credit-card balance also is steadily shrinking, and looks to continue to do so barring major car issues. (My savings for the next few months will likely go to pay for the two root canals I need to have for abcessed teeth the dentist diagnosed Monday. Blech!)
On a related note, my bank redesigned its online banking site to be much more user-friendly and nicer-looking. Two thumbs up! I used the 401(k) calculator to see how I was doing for the long run, and I should be in pretty good shape. Lesson learned: Start early, even if you can’t put much in.
I also went to the cable company today to find out how to cancel my cable (but not broadband), so I’ll be going through those steps for the next week or two. That’s $50 a month I won’t be wasting.
Turning over a new leaf April 1, 2006
Posted by irishmadness in Healthy Living, Personal Finance, Work madness.add a comment
The farmers’ market opened today. One of the advantages of living in a rural area is that the farmers’ market has lots of producers, they’re all local and they have really great stuff and the prices are good. So in an effort to eat better — inspired by Aleta’s diet overhaul — I’m tweaking my routine to start shopping at the market each week, then go to the grocery store for the remaining items.
It’s early in the season, and I didn’t get there until about 10 a.m., so I only could pick up pumpkin and wheat breads, plus two ham pockets (think sealed ham biscuit) for breakfast. And for the fellow Yankees reading this, that means country ham, which is salt-cured so it doesn’t need to be refrigerated. It’s not my first choice, but every once in a while I’ll eat it.
I’m also biting the bullet Monday and canceling my cable. Not broadband, but cable. I haven’t actually watched a TV show at home in longer than I can remember — generally I watch at work — and it seems really dumb to waste $50 a month on it when I could put that toward paying off my credit card.
My state tax refund also will be going there. Now that I’ve paid my (overdue) car tax, I can file my state return this weekend. I should get about $100 back, based on last year’s refund. (My federal was roughly the same, so I imagine state will be too.)
I also should be teaching a color guard class in May, which would net me between $200 and $600, depending on how many kids sign up. They asked me to do a one-day class in August, which could bring in another $100. If both go well, I might be able to teach two, possibly three in the fall, depending on interest. I’m hoping this develops into a second job of sorts, since my other second job options are limited by my schedule. The money would let me pay off my debt faster, which means I’ll be in a position to replace my aging car sooner — hopefully by my 30th birthday. (By replace, I mean have enough saved up so I only have to finance 2 years max, at less than $200 a month. It’ll take a substantial downpayment, but will hopefully mean I can pay cash for my third car.)
I’m also going to be busting my butt at work to get off my boss’ shit list and hopefully make a case for giving me a good evaluation and raise come late June. *crosses fingers* I discovered last year that screwing up even fairly minor stuff between March and June means a big ding, especially if there’s a computer element to the screw-up. Not going to happen this year.
