I found a way to cut some costs. It will save me a little over a $100/year. Which is good, since I complete forgot about this expense until they e-mailed me an invoice.
Basically, I decided to just do the website as a blog, using bloggers interface. I can have the same domain name point to the blogger site. Easy as pie, right?
Been working on budgets for February and March. I have fun making the budget and playing with the numbers. I need to work on STICKING to that same budget.
Sigh.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Face It to Erase It
Just finished watching Suze Orman where the theme was "Face It to Erase It."
She had a lot of folks on who were much more in debt than I ever could think to be (or any bank in their right mind would allow me to be). But, her theme was to get people to face their debts so that they can begin to eliminate them.
If you don't know what you owe, how can you ever repay it.
One needs to face the behavior patterns that have caused the debt.
One needs to face their situation, both income side and the outgo side.
One needs to face the changes they need to make and the actions they need to take.
Basically, Suze was saying we need a reality check! (That's right girlfriend)
Her theme/message so hit home and applies to me. I am still gathering my list of debts so that I know what I owe. Psychologically, I don't want to know--which is kind of why I am procrastinating with the list. But, reality is now making me open my eyes. For example, when I went to figure out how much I had in Student Loan debt I would have guessed about $6,000. In actuality it is between 8 and 9 thousand! Yikes.
She had a lot of folks on who were much more in debt than I ever could think to be (or any bank in their right mind would allow me to be). But, her theme was to get people to face their debts so that they can begin to eliminate them.
If you don't know what you owe, how can you ever repay it.
One needs to face the behavior patterns that have caused the debt.
One needs to face their situation, both income side and the outgo side.
One needs to face the changes they need to make and the actions they need to take.
Basically, Suze was saying we need a reality check! (That's right girlfriend)
Her theme/message so hit home and applies to me. I am still gathering my list of debts so that I know what I owe. Psychologically, I don't want to know--which is kind of why I am procrastinating with the list. But, reality is now making me open my eyes. For example, when I went to figure out how much I had in Student Loan debt I would have guessed about $6,000. In actuality it is between 8 and 9 thousand! Yikes.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Wags FTW
I decided to list my books for sale on Amazon as well as Half.com. I like that Amazon gives you 100% of the shipping fees that they charge the customer. With double listings, I need to stay more on top of that to make sure I delete from one site what I sell on the other.
I sell usually one book a day and it seems like I am always at the post office. But, I have run out of bubble mailers to re-use. I debated buying in bulk and found some that would be about 35 cents each with shipping (for a case of 100). But, I didn't want to go out and buy these until I started to make SOME money from half.com or Amazon.
Well, in my effort to save money, I peruse the ads online. Something in my head said to check the Walgreen's site to see if they had a new ad and/or Easy Saver catalog. Well, the Easy Saver was a no go but the ad was there. And, they had the Bubble Mailers on sale for 50 cents each. I know most Wags only keep about 2-3 on the shelf. This means I will try to stop by each one I pass to pick up a few. (And with a WAGS on virtually every corner I should be able to stock up.)
Yeah. What luck for me to even check their site.
I sell usually one book a day and it seems like I am always at the post office. But, I have run out of bubble mailers to re-use. I debated buying in bulk and found some that would be about 35 cents each with shipping (for a case of 100). But, I didn't want to go out and buy these until I started to make SOME money from half.com or Amazon.
Well, in my effort to save money, I peruse the ads online. Something in my head said to check the Walgreen's site to see if they had a new ad and/or Easy Saver catalog. Well, the Easy Saver was a no go but the ad was there. And, they had the Bubble Mailers on sale for 50 cents each. I know most Wags only keep about 2-3 on the shelf. This means I will try to stop by each one I pass to pick up a few. (And with a WAGS on virtually every corner I should be able to stock up.)
Yeah. What luck for me to even check their site.
Envelope System
I bought Dave Ramsey's envelope system to help with making sure I only spend what is budgetted. I haven't read or gone through Financial Peace University that explains fully how this is supposed to work. It seems pretty self-explanatory, except for a plastic pouch that is in the middle of the system.
I am not sure how this plastic pouch is to be used. My choice is to use that for the coins I get back with the bills I spend in each envelope. This way I can save my coins to be used to fund my Baby EF (or debt snowball, depending on which step)--an idea that Suze Orman suggested decades ago. Then each night I can empty this into my "tub o'change".
I am not sure how this plastic pouch is to be used. My choice is to use that for the coins I get back with the bills I spend in each envelope. This way I can save my coins to be used to fund my Baby EF (or debt snowball, depending on which step)--an idea that Suze Orman suggested decades ago. Then each night I can empty this into my "tub o'change".
Budget Finalized
Yes, it has been a week since I last posted. It's been super busy with the holidays and all. And I've been picking up extra hours at Job#3 (which helps make up for Job#2 being on hiatus until late January).
I've also been selling tons of books. So, I've been very busy running to the post office. Almost every day. This is very good news for the Baby EF.
I have also been spending a lot of time finalizing my January budget. With the extra hours at Job#3, I've been able to actually balance it (where previously I had a $100 shortfall). I am not sure how realistic is this budget. I have very little money allocated for eating out. However, my busy schedule often finds me in the drive-thru lane. In addition, I only allocated $45 for groceries. However, I have almost $50 in grocery gift cards already in my envelope system. Thus, I don't really see this as worrisome (as much as I see me falling off the wagon regarding dining out).
I've also been selling tons of books. So, I've been very busy running to the post office. Almost every day. This is very good news for the Baby EF.
I have also been spending a lot of time finalizing my January budget. With the extra hours at Job#3, I've been able to actually balance it (where previously I had a $100 shortfall). I am not sure how realistic is this budget. I have very little money allocated for eating out. However, my busy schedule often finds me in the drive-thru lane. In addition, I only allocated $45 for groceries. However, I have almost $50 in grocery gift cards already in my envelope system. Thus, I don't really see this as worrisome (as much as I see me falling off the wagon regarding dining out).
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Half.Com inventory is growing like a weed!
I now have 135 books listed on Half.Com. That doesn't include the ones I have already sold.
Again, I am really making good on two goals with this: less clutter in the house and more money for the Emergency Fund.
I am also learning some lessons. Half.com charges more for shipping to the customer than it passes along to the seller. I really don't understand that reasoning. However, I have figured out what they will pay and have adjusted my prices according on thick and/or heavy books. Otherwise, I would be funding the Baby EF 33 cents at a time.
Again, I am really making good on two goals with this: less clutter in the house and more money for the Emergency Fund.
I am also learning some lessons. Half.com charges more for shipping to the customer than it passes along to the seller. I really don't understand that reasoning. However, I have figured out what they will pay and have adjusted my prices according on thick and/or heavy books. Otherwise, I would be funding the Baby EF 33 cents at a time.
Budget Shortfalls
I am still working on my January budget. When I use my spreadsheet I come out okay. When I use Dave Ramsey's Cash Flow forms I was short approximately $100.
On my Excel spreadsheet, I have an entry for every paycheck. I then have what bills or expenses should be paid with that paycheck. For example, my "end of month" paycheck at job#1 is almost 100% to the mortgage. My methodology (by paycheck instead of by month), is actually more accurate than what I am doing with Dave's forms. Then again, instead of just saying XXX dollars per month, I could figure out what that pay is per month.
One thing I didn't consider on Dave Ramsey's form was that Job#3 actually pays "every other week" rather than twice a month. Also, I was under-estimating my pay (rounding down) so that made up for the $100 shortfall.
Another thing I did to save money was set up my car insurance to be an auto-draft from my checking account. That saved me over $20 in January.
Combining these things, I should have more money to put in the Baby Emergency Fund to get me to that $1000 (currently at $500).
My goal for the next 48 hours is to print off a copy of the Excel spreadsheet and compare item-for-item with Dave Ramsey's forms. I might be missing something somewhere--on one or both sheets.
On my Excel spreadsheet, I have an entry for every paycheck. I then have what bills or expenses should be paid with that paycheck. For example, my "end of month" paycheck at job#1 is almost 100% to the mortgage. My methodology (by paycheck instead of by month), is actually more accurate than what I am doing with Dave's forms. Then again, instead of just saying XXX dollars per month, I could figure out what that pay is per month.
One thing I didn't consider on Dave Ramsey's form was that Job#3 actually pays "every other week" rather than twice a month. Also, I was under-estimating my pay (rounding down) so that made up for the $100 shortfall.
Another thing I did to save money was set up my car insurance to be an auto-draft from my checking account. That saved me over $20 in January.
Combining these things, I should have more money to put in the Baby Emergency Fund to get me to that $1000 (currently at $500).
My goal for the next 48 hours is to print off a copy of the Excel spreadsheet and compare item-for-item with Dave Ramsey's forms. I might be missing something somewhere--on one or both sheets.
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