The Good Money Blog

Money Is....

2012-01-13T20:50:00.002-05:00

Money

is NOT

The root of all evil (man does evil things FOR it)
Scarce

in ABUNDANCE
Meant to be spent on things you need
Meant to enjoy
Meant to be shared
Growing on trees- It is made out of paper after all ;D

Spend smart, Give generously, & Grow wealthy

Consider Becoming an InvestHER

2012-01-11T23:10:00.001-05:00

My sister's friend, Brittany Chavious, is the creator of Her Space, Inc. and is raising money to send youg girls to Camp Wings this summer. Camp Wings wants to empower young girls, ages 12-16, through various self esteem building workshops and activities to help them learn about, love and nurture who they are. Her Space has set a goal to raise $10,000 for this cause. Please help be a part of the solution. With our young girls idolizing the likes of Nicki Minaj, Rihanna and reality tv stars; they need guidance and a sense of self love more than ever these days.

If you only have just $5 to give, please share that $5 to help mold a young lady into a healthy young woman. I made a donation and I hope that you will too.

I'm thinking of, at least once a month, sharing different charities and causes that I think you can donate money to. Show the Universe that there is more than enough, that you live in abundance and want to share your blessings with others.

Spend smart, Give with a joyful heart & Grow Wealthy

Behaviors of the Wealthy: They Open Their Checkbooks

2012-01-07T09:59:00.000-05:00

Mirror Lake at The Ohio State University

I was chatting recently with my partner in crime, Kat, about universities and how it's important as an alumni to give back to our educational institutions. Even if it's only $5, it's better than nothing and can benefit the future of the new students that are there and help create more programs and opportunities. For example, I noticed when I was in school the white fraternities and sororities had big houses to live in. That was because of donations from their brothers and sisters that graduated that they were able to do it. You could also see within the university which colleges received more money from their alumni. The business school and medical schools stayed flawless. My Textiles & Clothing major fell under the Human Ecology school and it showed that our alumni weren't giving as much back. Our building hasn't been renovated nor updated, outside of keeping it safe, in years.

I didn't donate money to my school because I felt if I couldn't write a big check, then I figured that I may as well not write one at all and I have to change that mentality. Any little bit helps. I went to The Ohio State University where on the main campus there are over 30,000 students enrolled every year. Can you imagine how much more money and opportunities the school would have if all 30,000+ of us just donated $50 a year? Don't underestimate yourself and what your small donation could do.

Rather it's a tax write off or not, many wealthy people give a lot of money away each year. The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy brought this up as well and usually those that gave away a lot of money grew richer and richer. They never ran out of a surplus of money or money to give
away. In fact most that gave away money had more money overall than the millionaires who didn't. If this isn't The Secret, I don't know what is! When we donate money with an open heart, it's telling the Universe, "I have plenty. I have so much, I am sharing some." The Universe mirrors this energy and gives you back even more. So you want to be wealthy and think like a millionaire? Start giving some money away. Whatever you can afford to, start giving some. Remember, you have to feel good about it. If you don't, you won't attract any of the good back.

So after my impassioned conversation with my friend, I've decided to start making annual donations to my school and my undergraduate sorority chapter there too. I am figuring out how much I want to donate to each this year. As my wealth grows, I will give more annually. It's important to give back especially to things that benefit our livelihood and give us a better future.

So my millionairess' in training, what do you donate money to? If you aren't donating to anything now, I hope that this post inspires you to donate to something. It doesn't have to be your school, it can be anything that you are passionate about that enhances the lives of others. And it doesn't have to be a lot of money if you have other things going on. I started donating $10 a month to the NYC Food Bank back in November and now I will also budget to give something annually to my school and undergrad sorority chapter as well.

Spend smart, Give back & Grow Wealthy

I'm Watching the Price Drop on These

2012-01-06T05:00:00.000-05:00

Told you I'm becoming a shoe whore! If this is the case, then I'll at least be a smart shoe whore. Haha. So I'm watching the Flory Bootie by Enzo Angiolini on Amazon.com to see if they will go down in price more. This would be a great shoe to add to my good quality shoes collection. They already went down from $139 to $55.60. Now $55 is already a great price, a price I wouldn't sneeze to pay for a good quality brand shoe like Enzo, but I want them for $40 or less. I have a $10 Amazon gift card to go towards this purchase as well. Woo hoo! I'm goin to wait it out just a little longer. I think they will come down some more and then I'll be ready to snap them up!

Remember, the savvy shoppers and the wealthy hardly ever pay full price for anything, especially their wants. I'm learning fast!

Wants: Following my Dreams

2012-01-02T10:39:00.001-05:00

Like everyone, I have many gifts and talents. One of my aspirations is having a lucrative career in dream coaching. I have always had very vivid dreams that take me to wild places (some that I believe to be past lives) or are extensions of how I'm feeling at certain points of my life. I always knew dreams were important and learned how to interpret my own and now friends ask me my thoughts on different dreams they have. I now want to make a profession out of it and help people see that they can find healing, peace, warnings, and answers about the past; present and future through their dreams.

I want to take Denise Linn's Gateway Dreaming Professional Certification Course so I can become a certified Dream Coach. I borrowed a book of hers from the library out of curiosity in the fall of 2010, The Hidden Power of Dreams: The Mysterious World of Dreams Revealed, and it rocked my world. It changed my life. Not only did I learn more about the importance of dreams and how to better understand my own, she inspired me to want to take my dream interpretations and my spirituality to the next level. I began to view dream therapy/coaching as a real profession that you can make a living off of and impact people's lives immensely.One of my goals for this year is to make moves to get this happening. (Between this and doing makeup, I think I can do very well for myself and have careers that are rewarding and fulfilling. Both will give me a flexible schedule that will accomodate having a family when I start one.)

The 28 week course is $877. I'm working on figuring out how I want to pay for it. I get paid three times in March, so I could pay for it with a portion of that third check or I could use some of my tax return money to pay for it. Either way, it's getting paid for. In the meantime, I already have the book and am going to reread it thoroughly and take notes as if I'm already taking the course. I'm also going to reach out to Denise and see if I can pick her brain. I'm going to do all that I can before I take the course..I'm excited to move onto the next phase of my life.

I'm sure you can see from reading my previous posts that I want a lot of things and why not?! The Secret tells us that the universe is an infinite catalog for us to page through and circle what we want. I want to show people, if you want things, you can have them. Create a plan and get it! Nothing seems out of reach when you have a plan of steps to take to get the end result. I want what I want so I plan out ways to get what I want. :D And you can too. Sometimes I get it instantly and other times it can take a little longer. As long as you know what you want and that you want it, it will make itself available for you all in time.

Spend smart & grow wealthy.

I Can Afford That!

2012-01-02T10:00:00.000-05:00

I want a purple (my fav color) Mac book and I WILL have it eventually!

Start telling yourself that you can afford that. Whatever "that" is to you, you can afford it.

The Secret advised that in order to attract wealth to ourselves, we need to feel good about money and stop saying we can't afford things. Rather you can afford it now or in a few months or whenever, you CAN afford it. Budgeting has taught me that when I have a plan of financial action, I can afford the things that I want. I wanted that camera back in July and could afford it. I budgeted for it (and also made some extra money from my makeup artistry hustle) and it is now mine. I ended up getting it sooner than I had originally planned to get it.

How this applies to me currently: Since early last year, I've been fienin for a Mac Book (I'm really becoming a Mac groupie!). I budgeted for pretty much everything else last year but kept blocking this from coming to me because I kept saying 1) it was too expensive and 2) that I couldn't afford that right away. I was emitting two very negative thoughts so of course it wasn't going to come into my life. Not anymore. I now have shifted my thoughts to say that I can afford it and will have it.

The most expensive Mac book that I customized priced at about $1200 after it was all said and done. Sounds like a lot right? Well, if I put aside as little as $100 a month, it could be mine in roughly a year, even sooner if I put some of my side hustle profits towards it as well. I could have it a year, at most, from now. A year flies by. I will have this puppy in no time! And because I feel so good about this who knows what financial windfalls I may encounter so I can have it even sooner.

Try to start giving thanks for what you already have and start feeling good about money (be thankful that you have any at all!) and that you can afford the things that you want. I'm thankful right now that I have a laptop that is fully functioning and works well. And I'm super stoked to be future Mac Book owner! You've got nothing to lose and everything to gain by feeling good about what you already have and getting excited about knowing you can and will get what you want. Besides, haven't you noticed that people that continue to feel crappy about and complain about money never have any? As fast as they get more money something happens and they have to spend it or they spend their money unwisely? Wealthy people play to win. They aren't wealthy by default, they are always thinking about money, what they can do to grow it and feeling good about accumulating more of it. Think about it. I know I have been!

What I Want to Buy This Month

2012-01-01T07:30:00.000-05:00

From left moving clockwise: Merona cardigan, Priia Essential Cover Loose Mineral Foundation (sample), Robin Thicke Love After War album, Bee Mine Bee Hold Curly Butter (trial size)

HAPPY NEW YEAR! It's a new year, a new month and a new budget.

When I'm deciding what I want to spend for the month (outside of my fixed expenses like rent, car note, etc), sometimes I will base my budget amount for categories off of what I want to get. Other times, I will set an amount for the month and base the items I will get off of if they will fall within the amount I set. For example: most months, I budget $20 for household/home shopping. Needs in this category have top priority and then wants can get in where they fit in. If I dont have anything things that are needed for the month then I'll decide what I WANT to buy. If things I want will add up to more than the allotted amount I decide on, then I'll decide what can wait till the next month. One month though, I wanted to buy a vacuum cleaner that I saw for around $30 so I adjusted my budget to $50 for this category for the month and cut out some money from another category. And sometimes I don't cut money from another category, I just plan to spend a little more in certain areas. It's a give and take and just playing around with the numbers to get the outcome that I want. Here's a rough list of things I want and need to get. This list is always subject to change throughout the month but it gives me an idea of what I think I want so I'm spending with a plan and know what I spent my money on:

Household/Home Shopping: $20
- WANT: Griddle: $10-$15
- NEED: bottle of bleach for the kitchen $4 or less

Personal Hygiene/Toiletries: $20
- NEED: Deodorant (2)
- NEED: Toothpaste
- NEED: Sweet almond oil

Makeup/Hair/Clothes: $30
- WANT: Priia Essential Cover Loose Mineral Foundation (sample) $1 + $5.50 shipping
- NEED: Pr of nice black work pants (cigarette/straight leg style preferably)
- WANT: One cardigan (let's see what sales I can find)
- WANT: Bee Mine Bee Hold Curly Butter (Trial size) $4.50+ $5.50 shipping

Music: $10
- Amy Winehouse Lioness: Hidden Treasures album $4.99
- Common's latest The Dreamer, The Believer album $9.99
- Robin Thicke's latest Love After War album $4.99 - Damn this is gonna be tough! (I think Common can wait till next month.....)

Crafts: $0
- Lately I had been giving myself $10 to $15 a month to indulge in some crafting things but this month, I decided to craft with what I have and not buy anything.

Shop smart & grow wealthy. :D

Save On [Natural] Hair Products

2011-12-31T14:05:00.001-05:00

Flat twist bantu knot out. I loved my hair
that day!

As of today, a lot of the followers on here have natural hair. I've heard the lamentations buzzing around here and there that it can be expensive to be wear your hair natural because many good quality hair care products cost a little more than what you would find in stores and many are only sold online so you also have to account for shipping costs on top of that. Whether you love trying new products, are looking for ways to save on your current ones or are still searching for your staple products, here's a few ways that you can invest your money a little smarter on them.

1) Buy Sample/Trial Sizes
Many online hair care lines offer trial sizes you can buy. This lets you try a new product that you are interested in at a lower price point to see if you will like it or not. I really like Bee Mine products and want to try their Bee Hold Curly Butter soon so instead of investing in the 8 oz size for $13.97, I'm going to first purchase the 2 oz trial size for $4.50. This way if I don't like the product, 1) I only spent $4.50 on it and 2) it's a smaller size so I'm being less wasteful.

2) Sign Up For Email Blasts
Many of your favorite hair care lines have monthly or weekly emails you can subscribe to get coupon codes and notification of upcoming sales and discounts. Also follow their Twitter accounts and Facebook fan pages. They also will share coupon codes, upcoming sales and discounts on there too and sometimes the deals are only shared exclusively on there. So get to social stalking your favorite brands! Shea Moisture has BOGO sales going on many times of the year and will tweet about it and/or share on their Facebook fan page as well. I follow Bee Mine products on every social media outlet that they have because I love their products and almost only shop when they have sales promotions going on or a coupon available. Never pay full price if you don't have to.

3) Check out Lola's Green Hair
On this site you can sell or buy gently used products. If that doesn't gross you out, then you may just find the product you want to try on there for a lower price before committing to buying it again at the regular price. Or you may prefer to buy some of your products on there because they will cost less.

4) Join a Hair Forum
Many of them have a product swap section. Sometimes you and another user will trade a product for a product and sometimes users just want to get rid of a product that didn't work for them and will either sell it at a discounted rate because it's been gently used or just give it away and all you have to pay for is the shipping. I like the forums at Curly Nikki, Natural Sunshine, Naturally Curly and Black Girl with Long Hair.

We just don't have to go broke to have beautiful hair.

Shop smart and Grow wealthy. :D

Alternatives to Sacrificing

2011-12-31T08:38:00.000-05:00

God bless my future fiance when he
proposes to me with a heart
shaped (conflict free) diamond engagement ring!

It's New Year's Eve! The perfect time to bring in the new year with thoughts on this topic I want to get into.

The more interest I take in personal finance, the more that I see becoming wealthy is 90% your mindset (feelings/thoughts about money) and 10% actions. Any of us can be wealthy if we wanted to be. It doesn't even matter how much you make right now. I've read articles about McDonalds cashiers that were wealthy because they focused on wealth, managed their money well and invested it wisely. Thomas Stanley and William Danko's The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy talked about one lady who earned a 60K salary from her full time job and was a millionaire because she saved and invested her money well. Her story floored me and that's when I realized that you didn't have to necessarily make a million dollars from your 9-5 to be a millionaire. All the sudden I got excited and realized that becoming a millionaire was within my reach if I got my mind right. The power of the human mind. We can have anything that we want irregardless to our current situations, current salaries or jobs we hold. All we have to do is focus on what we want and the world becomes our own personal catalog of wants to pick out. I don't know about you but I like the sound of that.

The title of this post resonates with how our mindset is what will ultimately bring us wealth financially and in all other aspects of our lives. The Secret briefly highlighted on a mindset/action that we need to alter: sacrificing. It said that the act of sacrificing attracts negative things to us because it's telling the Universe that there isn't enough for everyone so you will go without. When we make sacrifices, we normally don't feel good about it at all. The Secret reminds us that if we don't feel good about our thoughts and actions then we won't attract good things to ourselves. It's ok to feel nervous but it's important that you choose to feel good so you can attract good things to you.

So instead of sacrificing your time be GIVING of your time; DONATE your time. If you will believe this, the Universe will make it so you have time for the things that you want to have time for. You've got all the time in the world. Think about it, Jesus didn't sacrifice his life for us, he GAVE his life for us..... Ghandi didn't sacrifice his livelihood for what he believed in, he SHARED his passion for peace. He GAVE of himself for what he believed. There is a big difference between sacrificing and giving. Choose to give, it feels better!

There is enough, more than enough, for everyone out here. When we donate money for charitable causes or give a beggar some change on the subway, we are telling the Universe, I live in abundance and have more than enough and money will start chasing you down! I used to tithe for church a few years back and on paper, I shouldn't have been able to afford to do so but I always had money to tithe, pay my bills, enjoy some of it and roll over into the next month. When we begrudgingly give money for worthy causes or say well I'm too broke to give anything, we are telling the Universe to send us more "brokeness" because there isn't enough. We can all live in abundance if we choose to because the Universe has an infinite amount of everything. All we have to do is believe and feel good about it.

Get more than your "slice of the pie", get a whole dang pie and 2 or 3 extra if you want. All the money that we need and want is already in the Universe for us. Get yours!

2012 Credit Focus: Making it Work for ME!

2011-12-30T08:10:00.000-05:00

Panoramic view of Manhattan across the river from Dumbo Park - Summer 2011

So I paid off my Chase Visa balance toward the end of 2011. Yay! I now have 2 closed account balances left to take care of. Let's do this! Bank of America Visa, as of when I started writing this post (12-29-11), has a balance of $463.02. Since October (when I paid off Chase Visa), I had upped my monthly payments to $100 a month so it will be taken care of by April at the latest. Capital One Visa balance, which I am paying slightly more than the min balance till BOAV is taken care of, will be handled shortly after.

Remember how I was saying that I wanted to get the green AMEX next year? I've now changed my game plan on that and am going to hold off on it till next year. I got approved for the Master Card platinum card (I got it in black so I can pretend its an AMEX "black card" lol!) recently and I have an Amazon store credit card. So right now I have two revolving credit accounts and I am happy with that.

One of my goals in 2012 (you can see them all at the top left hand side of the page) to beef up my credit score to 740. I will do this by zeroing these last two balances and using the other 2 cards strategically. By 2013, I will apply for the AMEX and then I'll be straight credit wise. It's time to make these creditors work for me!

As you know with credit cards, you have to use them. RESPONSIBLY. That's the key word. The credit world has made it now so that we have to have credit to show future creditors (like when we want to buy a house, for example) how we manage credit and they can't tell that if you don't have any or don't use any. So I will use the Master Card for fixed expenses that I budget for each month and pay the balance in full each month. So maybe, to keep it simple, I will use the MC to buy, say, my monthly toilettries. Something like that. I will mainly be using my bank card for everything though but using credit enough to show I manage credit well and can easily pay it off.

I think by March or April I will start to use my faux AMEX black card aka Master Card Platinum in "onyx" on small purchases. How are you all making credit strategically work for you?

Quote of the Day

2011-12-30T00:16:00.001-05:00

"Scared money don't make no money" Meek Mills I'm a Boss

Fear doesn't breed success and it won't breed wealth either. Remember, "courage is not the absence of fear but rather the judgement that something else is more important than fear" - Ambrose Redmoon. Push through your money related fears because our financial well being and abundance is definitely more important. Get yours! I'm gettin mine!

I Want These

2011-12-28T15:53:00.001-05:00

Poetic Licence Backlash bootie

I've started to morph into a shoe whore, yeah I said it, a shoe whore. I'm really into them now more than I've ever been in my whole 28 years of living. And my taste is not cheap! It's not cheap because I'm really learning that you get what you pay for. Cheap shoes, especially cheap heels (unless they're like summer sandals - a post coming soon on what things I can skimp on and what things that I will pay more for), are not that nice to my flat feet. I've learned the hard way to pay more attention to comfort and quality when it comes to heels shopping. So I am working to build up a nice collection of quality crafted and comfortable shoes that will last me for a long time.

The shoe pictured above, the Backlash bootie by Poetic Licence, comes in a variety of colors but I want it in this yellow. I've seen it priced in various price ranges on the web. The lowest I have seen for this color (and my size available) is $98. I came so close when I found a pair on sale for $50 on Nordstrom's site but not in my size. Grrr. I'm trying to decide if I should wait it out for the possibility for these to come down some or just suck it up and pay. These shoes were to be a gift to myself for all the financial achievements I completed this year. I really like these shoes but if I think there is a prospect of the price coming down, I'll wait.

One practice, among many, I've gleaned from the behaviors of the wealthy is that they rarely pay full price for anything. To become wealthy, I must think wealthy. We'll see.....

Reflections: Financial Accomplishments of 2011

2011-12-28T12:57:00.000-05:00

As 2011 comes to a close, I have to look back on the things I accomplished financially this year.

My 2011 Financial Accomplishments:
1. Paid off 1 out of my 3 credit card debts
2. Exceeded my goal financial reserves amount
3. Took on, a pushed up wedding date, maid of honor expenses (traveling, shower, gifts, etc)
4. Was able to contribute money towards my friend’s baby shower
5. Budgeted for and bought the camera I wanted
6. Was able to save over $300 in savings account
7. Got a 2K raise and bonus!
8. I eliminated my storage bill

I'm taking this eCourse from Red Velvet
sometime in early 2012!

Despite the financial curve balls that came my way throughout the year, I was still able to accomplish so much that I am just now seeing after writing this list. Sometimes when we’re in the thick of things we don’t see how much we've truly done till we take a couple minutes to stop moving, take step back and reflect on it all. I’m kinda proud of myself. I love my sister so much but fell into blaming her pushed up wedding to the demise of all my financial goals for the year when really it didn’t. Sure it set me back on paying off all my credit card debt like I wanted to but hey, I got rid of the one with the highest most outrageous interest rate and still was able to exceed the financial reserve amount that I had set for myself. I'm still proud of myself.

That experience and the other unexpected situations that I encountered showed me that life happens and you have to find a way to roll with the punches, manage your money strategically to win, quickly adapt and keep on plugging away. This year I feel like I really saw up close and personally, the power of budgeting for everything. There’s no way I would have accomplished all this if I didn't have a plan for my spending and break it down to smaller, more sizeable goals.

You remember, I started the beginning of this year stressed and worried about all the money I was going to have to spend for everything and look at me now! Look at what I achieved in one measely year!

I’ve learned that if something seems overwhelming, find a way break it down into small chunks and just focus on one chunk at a time. Before you know you tackled the whole thing and didn’t even realize it. That’s what I’m talking about. I learned to fight overwhelmed feelings with a plan.

Wishing you all a great new year. It’s never too late to change your life for the better and learn something new. I got on my feet good this year and in 2012, I want to focus on building wealth. Be blessed and let’s get it in 2012!

New Year New Goals

2011-12-25T08:02:00.001-05:00

Happy Holidays! Wishing your close of the year is being celebrated w great people. 2012 is fast approaching and it's time to evaluate our achievements this year and what we want to achieve next year. One of my focuses will be on building wealth and savings in 2012. Let's go! Be back soon with my financial goals for the new year.

And don't worry I didn't forget, for those who follow me on Twitter, about sharing the excel budgeting sheet I created. When my computer is finished getting fixed, I will talk more about it and share.

Rolling With the Punches: Having to Move Unexpectedly

2011-12-04T15:39:00.001-05:00

Remember when I was saying that I was going to continue renting the room I'm currently in for a little longer? Well, I got a call from my landlord recently letting me know that the house is in contracts to be sold and that everyone has 3 months to find a new place. Of course, I knew the house was on the market but I had figured I would be gone by the time it sold. Not the case.

So I now have to look for a new place a little sooner than I had expected to. This situation is lighting an even hotter fire under me to get rid of my consumer debt even faster now since I will have to pay roughly an extra $200 per month than i am paying now on rent. I'm thankful I did right by my money this year, got a little ahead and saved up a little something because I can afford to move and still be ahead financially. This is when I see that good money management is the truth and can thwart stress when life's unexpected situations come up.

My current rent is $450/month with all utilities included. My ultimate cap for a new place is $700/month with all utilities included. I'd really like to pay no more than $650 with all utilities included though. Even though I have 3 months to leave, I decided to be proactive and started researching available apartments in the area. I hope to visit some soon. My outlook is the sooner, I tackle this the better and I can continue on about my life. Why not bring in the new year with new digs? While this move did surprise me, I am excited for it. I sense that it symbolizes the influx of new beginnings and exciting things for 2012. I dare to say, this move is the beginning of a domino effect for the rest of my life. I just sense it. Great things are on the horizon!

I Want an American Express Credit Card

2011-11-23T21:34:00.001-05:00

As I continue to clean up my financial act and pay off these debts, I am aware that the world we live in now, you have to have and use credit responsibly to get any in the future to buy a house, car, etc. The cc debts I'm paying off have all been cancelled for a long time now so, I need to get another credit card once I pay off Capital One Visa.

I've decided that I want two cards for my new financial life. I will probably get a Visa or a Mastercard credit card and I want an American Express charge card. I'm looking at applying for the green American Express charge card. It has no interest rate, extends the warranty of (some) items you buy and has a nice rewards program especially if you travel a lot which I plan to do more of once this debt is gone. You do have to pay your balance in full each month (which makes it a charge card) and it's a $95 annual membership fee but I won't charge more than I can afford at the end of the month. The annual fee, I will budget for it throughout the year so that the money is always there and never a surprise.

So this is what I'm thinking. Not sure when I will apply for an AMEX because I've been doing my research and my credit has to be really good to get approved. Ideally I would like to get approved for one by next summer but we'll see. I need to continue to strengthen my credit score and get it high so I will be approved.

I've always wanted an AMEX but thought it was so far out of my reach. It's exciting to know that it can be my reality and is within my reach if I stay disciplined and savvy. I can have one and use it to benefit me and my life. I WILL make credit work for ME and no longer the other way around.

Checking In

2011-11-23T11:36:00.001-05:00

Hey! I’m still alive in this blogosphere. I fell off track of tracking my spending for a while. The months leading up to my sister’s wedding flew. I had the excuse that I grew busier with preparations for it, working my booty off at the 9-5, doing lots with the magazine I'm the sr beauty editor for and my other artistic endeavors like my makeup artistry business. I grew lazy with my little excel budgeting sheet because I had to save all my receipts and log everything in. So about a couple months ago I bought Quicken’s personal finance software to help me budget and track my spending and hated it. I found it to be confusing (almost like it has too many bells and whistles and is therefore confusing and I had the beginners’ software. Yikes.) so where have I ended back up? If you guessed my little excel budgeting sheet, then you get an imaginary million dollars.

I am now on the search again for a better personal finance software. It’d be so dope if we could do all this ish on our bank’s website when we logged in to see our balances. I’m sure they’d make it an option and charge us for that little service. But if the price was reasonable, I’d consider paying for the option and just budget for it. Budgeting will become a part of my lifestyle; it will always be a necessity to know what my money’s doing. That’s what part of my journey for this year was about was making this year the start of my financial prosperity and increased savvy.
I think I did alright. I still have a lot to learn and more discipline to employ but I’m patting myself on the back, damnit.

Until I can organize my thoughts more and where I want the direction of this blog to go, it will probably just read like this post, like a journal setting. For now, it will be just a woman talking about her relationship with money and how to strengthen it so she can become “the millionaire next door”.

Wishing you all a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Settled on a Personal Finance Software

2011-09-11T22:16:00.001-04:00

I decided to go with Quicken Starter Edition 2011 which wasn't even one of the original choices I listed when I first talked about this. It was $30. Right now, I don't need anything super sofisticated. I mainly need to set a budget, track my spending and have it all linked to my accounts to help me achieve my goals I set for myself. Once I get it it all set up, I will report back with my findings.

I'm well on my way to becoming the millionaire next door!

Renting a Room for a Bit Longer

2011-09-11T17:42:00.000-04:00

Ah, New York living, right? Yes, I'm renting a room right now. I have been for a little over a year now. I used to live in a studio apartment in the same place I'm in but decided to downgrade to just a room last year b/c I was still without a job and could use the extra money to save. This was only supposed to be a temporary move and soon after I moved in, I got a job. Once I got a job, I had planned to move out and into a better apartment.

Once I got back into my financial health and became more determined than ever to make deading my credit card debt a high priority on my list, I decided to stay for a bit longer so I could pay them off faster. So then the goal became to move into another studio by the end of this year. I am thinking of pushing a move back to the beginning of next year now. My situation right now, isn't bad. I'm hardly ever home really because my lifestyle is so active but I just would like my own place again and not have to share a bathroom and kitchen with someone else.

Depending on what the rent were, I have enough for a deposit and first month's rent on a place right now but then my reserves would take a small hit. I mean, they will regardless but I'd like to build them up a little more so I'm not starting from scratch again to build it back up either. Ideally, I'd like to still have $1200 in my reserves after securing a new place and I'm thinking by early next year, this can be achieved. I may even have more than this in my reserves. Man, if it was $2000 after it was all said and done, I'd be on cloud 9.

I could do this [have a $2000 reserve after a deposit and 1st month's rent on a place] but I'd have to make some serious decisions which may be worth my while. I'll keep you posted on what the goal will be.

Updates!

2011-09-11T17:07:00.002-04:00

Hey there! I know it's been a while so let's get you all up to speed.

Financially, I am pretty stable right now. I've built up my reserves to my goal dollar amount (see the sidebar for the list of my financial goals for this year), I'm still working on paying off my cards and bulking up my savings. I'll give you stats on where I'm at in another post soon.

So my sister's wedding was last month and between trusting in God, managing my money/budget well, some unexpected freelance makeup jobs (and money just finding me. The law of attraction rocks!) and getting paid 3 times in April; I was able to comfortably save for the expenses involved and had a blast celebrating this new milestone in my sister's life with all of our close family and friends. :D Woo hoo! And remember how stressed I was at first?

Now that that is done, let's get this show on the road. My debt annihilation gets kicked into overdrive. I am happy to report that I am paying off my Chase Visa balance this month! I'm soooooo excited! 1 down and two more to go!

I'm feeling envigorated and am actively using the law of attraction to pay off the other two before the year is over. I want to start 2012 credit card debt free!

I was thinking free checking and savings didn't exist anymore but it does! I opened up a (2nd) checking account and savings account with online bank, Ally. There are no minimums needed to open or maintain the account which means no maintenance fees. I have two checking accounts with Chase but the second one, because it is for my business, there's not a lot of money in there yet, it doesn't get direct deposit and I don't use it often as of right now so I get charged fees. I needed a checking account that wouldn't keep dinging me like this.

The one con to this is that it's an online bank; meaning they have no brick & mortars aka physical locations. When I do receive payments electronically, I will have to mail deposits in. Since it is for my business, I'm not as pressed about this. As of right now, since I have a 9 to 5, this is not an issue since it is not income that I would need immediately. I am able to use any ATM nationwide though and not receive fees.

More updates in another post, this is getting too long!

Looking to Purchase Budgeting Software

2011-08-15T16:35:00.000-04:00

I feel like I've finally gotten to the point where my little Excel budget sheet isn't doing it anymore; I'm outgrowing it. I don't know Excel to the extremes that I know how to create the software for what I want out of a personal finance tool so I'm going to buy some software to take my personal finance planning and savvy to the next level. I've got some major goals to achieve before I'm 30 and I think I can do them if I stay focused and have a plan. Below are some of the softwares that I am looking at:

You Need a Budget $59.95

Remember I did a review on their book earlier this year? They have a budgeting/financial planning software for purchase. I luv'd the book and enjoy reading the blog section of their site. Their 7 principles have made a great impact on my financial livelihood and abundance.

FB Budgeting & Analysis Tool $50

This tool was created by blogger, Fabulously Broke in the City. I've enjoyed her site for years now. This girl's story is inspirational and she created her own budgeting tool that she's selling (the version now is souped up more than what she originally used to get herself out of debt.) to get herself out of $60,000 debt in 18 months. Based off of where she has come from and all that homegirl has achieved up until now, I wouldn't mind investing in her software.

Quicken $59.99 (was on sale at Target for $29.99)

This financial software has been around for years and many are satisfied with its performance and functions.

This will be a tough decision. They all are around the same price range of $50-$60 and have received good reviews. I just have to research all the various functions each product has to offer, weigh everything out and come to a conclusion of which one will work for me best.

The further along that I get in this personal finance world, I see that research is key to making good financial decisions. Making hasty or impulse driven decisions don't always yield favorable results. It's best to be patient and do your research so you can make savvy choices and in turn, keep more money in your pockets.

Quick Tip: Create a Separate Email Account Just for Shopping Deals

2011-08-15T10:53:00.000-04:00

Saw this recent TheFrugaliciousShow vid, see below, and had to share. This way your personal inbox isn't cluttered. I think this is such a cool idea and am going to do this, even though I already have 5 million other email accounts. Oh well. Lol.

Where Have You Been?!

2011-08-07T10:54:00.000-04:00

I know I've been gone for a bit but I'll be back soon with tons o' updates. This summer has been crazy fun and it's been a challenge to keep my spending in check so that I didn't steer too far off the the path of the goals I have for myself but I think I've done ok. Last month was a spending month so I've got to get myself back on track this month and finish up anihilating these credit cards. Another credit card debt progress update coming soon.

Remember, frugal and chic can be in the same sentence. :D

Which Credit Card Should I Pay Off Next?

2011-08-07T10:48:00.001-04:00

So, as you know Chase Visa is getting paid off before this year is over, baby! I'm totally excited that it will be long gone in the near future. My dilemna is which card do I want to focus on paying off next. Funny, right? I'm thankful that my dilemna is which card balance I want to kill off next and not how am I going to pay the mininums each month. It feels good to be in this position b/c this was not always the case for me but I've worked hard and made sacrafices and I'm starting to see the payoff. I'm excited.

Suze Orman's method is to prioritize paying off your credit cards in the order of highest to lowest interest rates. Once the highest one is paid off, then you focus on paying off the next highest and so on and so forth.

Applying Suze's method, my Capital One Visa at (22.90% interest) would be next in line for annihilation. I'm tempted to slay the Bank of America Visa (at 19.15% interest) next though b/c it has a lower balance and I could knock it off fast.

I've had that Bank of America debt since college. I've been out of college for 6 years now. (Yikes!). I'm ready to put it to bed. Ya feel me?

Decisions, decisions......

My Method for Prioritizing Wants & Needs

2011-07-10T19:22:00.000-04:00

I'm becoming something of a pro these days when it comes to prioritizing my needs and wants. I break them down by month and make a list. Take a piece of paper, I liked lined paper for this exercise, and fold it in half and write "wants" on one side and "needs" on the other. Then I list my needs and wants for the month. I compare it to the balance of money I have left after I've paid my top priority bills like rent, credit cards, school loan, etc. and decide how much money I will allocate toward wants and additional needs. Additional needs include like things for the house, kitchen, etc to new tires for the car or a new pair of glasses/more contacts.

Sometimes I have too many needs and have to prioritize the needs and move some of them to the next month. Sometimes, I don't have enough to take care of the needs and also get things in the wants column so those wants have to get moved to next month. I usually don't want anything expensive, it's just that things add up quick and if my needs column has things that are super necessary on them, I have to get those first.

I don't remember how this method really came to me but I'm glad it did. Paired with my monthly budgeting, I don't spend in the dark anymore. It's an empowering feeling when you know what you're spending and you know the money is there. You can't control many things in your life but I'm glad that I'm gaining control of my money!

How do you keep track of and/or prioritize your needs and wants?