Bouncing Back from Bankruptcy

Two Steps Forward, Three Steps Back

bouncingback22008@yahoo.com (Bouncing Back) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 17:49:00 +0000

Before I start this post, I have to remind myself and everyone, that since I filed for my bankruptcy, I have been able to bounce back in certain areas. I got a new to me car, I got a credit card, I live a mainly cash only existence, I'm feeling a bit more in control of my finances...

YET

The big YET

One of my problems that led me to the bankruptcy was this string of bad luck, things so out of my control that kept knocking me down personally, professionally and most importantly, fiscally. Things are not quite that bad this time around, but I do feel like it's two steps forward and three steps back and that I'm stuck in a mud pile, bog, or what ever. It's an incredibly frustrating feeling.

I try to be positive, I try to ask the universe for help, I pray to my gods, I make action plans, I set measurable goals, I say my daily affirmations, I network, I do vision boards, I think I'm doing everything I need to do, yet I have a huge issue getting plans to come to fruition in a timely basis~ something happens that sets me back, time and time again.

One of my readers awhile ago said I should just ask the universe. I've tried, I am probably not asking the correct way. Call me paranoid or crazy, but at one point before the BK I really felt like someone had put a hex on me. I can almost to the day tell you when things went belly up for me and the daily grind became a daily struggle, it was the 2nd week in February 2004. You may think I'm crazy, but it was from that point forward that I got stuck in the 2 steps forward, 3 steps back mode.

I have never shied away from hard work. I am not asking for things to be dropped into my lap, but it would be nice to have a string of good luck or easy successes to bolster my confidence or to balance out the struggles. It is discouraging to repeatedly feel that I am stuck in a place and can not move forward.

I wish I had an answer for the above. I wish I could give you all the magic plan to get out of this cycle. It's draining on the mind as well as the body and finances to feel this way. So what am I going to do, not 100% sure. I keep reworking my goal list so that I do get a sense of accomplishment, but I still have this major goals and projects that need to be done or worked on and getting some sense of satisfaction with those is the on going issue.

In the quest to get my new to me car, I did a vision board of the type of car I wanted (a small SUV) with the extras I wanted,even down to the GPS and cargo rack. I also did my homework, checking out dealerships, price checking, getting my finances in order for a very post BK venture into the world of a consumer loan. It took a couple months, but I did get the vehicle I wanted with the extras I wanted and now almost two years later, I still love it!

Yet I am having a problem transferring that success to other parts of my life. I'm not talking expensive jewels or designer clothes or first class trips around the world. I'm talking about getting a reputable contractor to tackle that never ending home repair list of things I can't do, I'm talking about job goals, personal goals. Things that I should be able to achieve, yet getting these goals and accomplishments seems to move ever so slowly forward. So very slowly......

I'm open to any and all suggestions and yes, I'm even looking for a way to break that hex. :)

Second Job Update

bouncingback22008@yahoo.com (Bouncing Back) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:32:00 +0000

I'm going back to working every weekend at my second job. I am grateful that I have this second job, I am grateful that it works for me and works for them, but I really wish I did not need the second job.

The biggest problem with the second job is that I now work 6.5 days a week, 3 days not at "home" and it gets tough to schedule those things I need to do, doctors appointments, car maintenance, relaxing grocery shops, you get the picture. My Me Time gets put aside. Oh well, you do what you have to do.

I was not very happy to have the conversation with my co-worker about her leaving for her surgery. I know she was not happy to come back last spring and have to share her hours with me. I was hired to replace her on a temporary basis, but since I brought to the job more skills than a horse groom, I got to stay on and help out. That decision was that of my boss. Heck, with my full time job still at 3/4 time, I needed the work and the hours. I did my best to not get drawn into the work BS, I know my friend Gill does not like my weekend co-worker. Gill also works at the barn, but her work is sporadic and she usually swaps work for a reduction in her board bill. My co-worker stayed on a few extra weeks so she could build up her bank account. Good for her, not good for me. I had to push back my plans to accommodate her ever changing schedule. My weekend boss does not do really well with confrontation and as far as he was concerned, as long as his barn had proper coverage, he was happy. I guess my conversations about the weekend schedule fell on deaf ears, or he just did not want to deal with the situation. I felt like I had to negotiate her medical leave of absence. I know my boss feels sorry for her and her personal situation. I just wish he would have been the one to be a little more forceful about her setting a departure date.

I will admit too, that what I used to was to not only be a barn groom,but a show groom as well, I used to go to a bunch of the shows. It was hard work, but it was fun. Part of me feels like I've been demoted to the babe at the barn. I don't get asked to go to the shows anymore, actually, I've only been to two shows as a show groom in the past year. I used to go at least 2x or more a month.

The good part to all of this is I am hoping that I will have the discipline to take the 'extra' money from the second job and put it safely in my emergency fund. I'll let you know what happens with all of this.

The Scan A Thon Is Almost Complete

bouncingback22008@yahoo.com (Bouncing Back) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 18:31:00 +0000

One of my goals for 2008 was to scan all my files and various bits and bobs of paper. It took me until this summer to get a new scanner/printer/fax AIO. I waited until my old printer bit the dust, I shopped around and I got a nice AIO.

I have over the past few months, scanned almost all my old paper files. Utility bills, old bank statements, new bank statements, insurance policies, EOB's, etc. I think I scanned and shredded about 40 pounds of paper. I still have a pile of things to scan and shred (old income tax statements and all the back up documentation), but I've managed to really reduce down my paper. It also doesn't hurt that I only have one credit card and most of my bank statements and utility statements are all e-statements now. My mailbox is getting kind of empty. I get the odd catalog and the occassional bill. More importantly, I have less paper clutter at home. I tend to keep a lot of paper, but now I scan and drop in the appropriate file.

I have Fabulously Broke in the City to thank for this. Her posts on going paperless really motivated me to get cracking. My "home office" is looking better and better!

Feels kinda good!

Neighbor Update

bouncingback22008@yahoo.com (Bouncing Back) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:17:00 +0000

I did promise you all an update on the various facets of my exciting life. My neighbor is having all sorts of problems, family, financial, etc.

The biggie is that she has had an ongoing discussion with both of her kids. The two girls are both out of high school and both living at home. Oldest child has a job that ends in January, she had been living on her parents couch for the past few months. She had thrown a mini temper tantrum over the summer when her parents said they would not fully subsidize her old apartment. She has been living at home and to her mothers credit, her mother has not been taking care of pet cat and pet lizard. Yup, oldest child not only moved back home, spent days and weeks sulking, but also brought her pet cat and pet lizard and expected her parents to take care of both pets and supply the food. Thankfully, my neighbor said that oldest child had to chip in and pay for the cat food, lizard food and be responsible for the care and welfare of said animals. When eldest child realized her mother was serious, she was quite taken aback. She was even more taken aback when she told her parents she was planning on moving into her own apartment and leaving her animals at home and the my neighbor said-nope not gonna happen. You are moving, you take them with you or give them up to the animal shelter. My neighbor has a dog and two cats and does not need to be dumping ground for her kids unwanted pets.

The youngest child has just finished her community service sentance, still had done nothing about school, and barely working part time. My neighbor went away for the Thanksgiving Holiday, so I took care of the pets and in exchange, did my laundry. I can tell you that the youngest kid decided that she did not want to go away with her family, spent part of the time at the house (supposedly she was going camping with her friends and unable to take care of the house and pets for her parents). I went into the house to walk, water and feed the dog and found a huge mess in the kitchen. A people mess, dirty dishes left in the sink, unwashed pots on the stove. Youngest child pretty much came home, hung out watched cable, ate lunch and dinner and left her debris at home for mom to clean up.

If youngest child was my kid, I'd either smack her upside her head for her utter rudeness or toss her boney bottom out of the house. It would have taken all of 10 minutes if not less to do the dishes.

My neighbor is also is a twist about $$. She was complaining that she had almost maxed out her credit cards and her interest rates had gone sky high. She was also upset because she got turned down for a re-finance because of her credit rating. I have some sympathy for her in this respect, but this would have been the second time she did a re-fi on the house and used the proceeds to pay off credit card debt. I know she is shelling out a ton of cash to both daughters who are quite content to take money from their parents. It's almost as if my neighbor has to end up in a screaming fit before the kids take any fiscal responsibility for themselves.

I do feel badly, heck, we all feel the fiscal pinch, but my neighbor knows she has a hard time cutting that maternal fiscal string. I just wish for her own peace of mind she can really do it and stick to it.

You Have To Keep Looking

bouncingback22008@yahoo.com (Bouncing Back) — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 15:29:00 +0000

Earlier this month I did a much needed clothes shop. I did a purge of my closet of the clothes that don't fit. Some went to Goodwill, some went to the consignment shop, others went into the trash. I had not been having much luck at my 2 local consignment shops, pickings had been slim, hence the mad shop at the Mall.

Over the weekend I did stop by and low and behold, I found two tops in the colors I wanted and both in very good shape. I paid a whopping $6 for two tops that are much needed in my clothes rotation. One top looked almost brand new. The key to consigment/thrift store shopping is to keep going back. The inventory can and does change. I was pretty darned happy to find the two tops and I still have $25 left over for my clothes budget for the remainder of the year. Even better, I avoided going to the Mall and dealing with all the Holiday shoppers!.

Frienemy Update

bouncingback22008@yahoo.com (Bouncing Back) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 17:11:00 +0000

My volunteer project with my frienemy comes to an end today! I am very happy about that. And I'm happy that I won't have to interact with them on any sort of a regular basis until maybe sometime next spring, if that. I'll just be fussier about my next volunteer project.
Part of me feels bad that our friendship is over, in a manner of speaking, but a bigger part of me is relived not have to deal with the BS anymore. Maybe my BS tolerance has dropped; maybe I'm finally growing up? Who knows?
There is a part of me that still can't get over the fact that I seemed to crave this person’s attention and recognition. I guess we truly never leave high school do we?

I think one issue I had getting rid of the frienemies and toxic people is that I've become pickier as to whom I'll let in my life. At least with the old set, I knew their issues and could deal with them. The new ones, well, I just kind of wonder at times if I have the energy to deal with new friends.

Contest Winners!

bouncingback22008@yahoo.com (Bouncing Back) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 17:07:00 +0000

TaDa

The winners are

Shevy for Starbucks Card and LJ for the Target Card

LJ, if you don't have a Target near you I will happily send you a Starbucks card

Look for my e-mail to you so I can get a mailing address.

I won't be running a contest in December, but will do one in January.

Thanks to everyone who entered!

Loving ALDI

bouncingback22008@yahoo.com (Bouncing Back) — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:00:00 +0000

I did my food and holiday shopping over the weekend and I have to repeat again for the 100th time, that I'm really like the local ALDI. I have to remember to shop there more often. Iwalked out of ALDI the other day with three big bags of grocery items for less than $30. I walked out of the grocery store with two small bags and $37 poorer.

They have a bunch of seasonal specials ( or at least they do in my store), brie cheese at 1/3 the cost of the local chain grocery store, the basic dairy items are at least 1/2 less expensive than the local grocery store. I've been pretty impressed with the quality of the pantry staples. I've been having to shop for two kitchens, my own and the one at the weekend job. I have kitchen privileges at my weekend job, no one seems to take the food from my assigned shelf, so I've been slowly bringing things like pasta, beans, spices, canned soups, etc. I had fallen into the habit of going into town for lunch on a more than regular basis, instead of an occasional treat, it was becoming the norm and it was getting expensive. I don't mind going into town for a coffee, but eating all my meals out, was getting pricey. So back to bringing leftovers and keeping some basics at the farm. Plus I now set aside one night to cook a "real meal", shamelessly watch cable TV while eating my dinner and then I take the leftovers home for lunch.

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Frienemy

bouncingback22008@yahoo.com (Bouncing Back) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:50:00 +0000

Frienemies, we all have them. They are those people in your life that you still hang out with that are a bit toxic or are bad for you Karma.

I have a couple freinds that have made the transition from friend to frienemy. I'm a glutton for punishment as I can't seem to get them out of my life or completely let them go. This is something I need to work on because it has caused me a ton of aggrivation this past month dealing with a "friend". I've been interacting with them for a volunteer project and this recent spell of 'togehterness' has firmly reminded me the reason why we drifted apart. Yet I keep finding myself responding to invitiations for drinks or coffee out. This particular person is very good at giving out compliments covered in poo. IE- We are working on this volunteer project, I know I did my part really well, yet the compliment that I got was Oh lovely, but .........

Yikes, let me tell you, I will be very happy when this project is done and dusted.

Cooking at Home Can Be Expensive, Here's How to Avoid the Expense

bouncingback22008@yahoo.com (Bouncing Back) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:41:00 +0000

A while back someone had commented in my blog that she had a whopping failure cooking soup at home and my response was to direct them to another web site. Not cool of me. It was a flip answer in hindsight.

For people who are having to forgo eating out and eating in, they may not have the skills to cook at home. Like many things, cooking is a skill learned. Most people are not born being great chefs or cooks. Plus, unless you are used to cooking at home, it can be expensive to start out. The key to making low cost meals is not to use the cheapest ingredients, but to make sure you have a stocked kitchen with the items that you need to make your meals.

I strongly suggest that if you are trying to give up eating out, buying take out or ready made meals that you don't go all Martha Stewart and try to cook fabulous complicated meals unless you are a practiced cook. Start with the basics.

When my ex BF and broke up, I moved into my own apartment and spent a small freaking fortune on stocking up my kitchen. Butter, flour, pasta, cooking oils, vinegars, spices, canned beans, dried beans, mustard, ketchup, BBQ sauce, sugar, honey, etc. You get the picture. I had to start from scratch. I knew what items I used on a regular basis so I wrote out my list and did my shopping. I will admit, it did take two or three shops to stock up the cupboard. I'd forget that I needed soy sauce and tamari sauce for when I'd do a stir fry. That I really did need curry powder for my homemade curries and that having a couple boxed of Kraft Mac and Cheese is really a good thing.

To ease yourself into cooking at home, you need to do the following things:

1) Get a couple basic cookbooks- I highly recommend the Joy of Cooking, it is my bible for anything and everything kitchen related. It has answers for almost all your cooking questions.

2) Find a good food blog: I highly recommend A Year Of Crockpotting. Yes, it's all about the crock pot, but there is an amazing variety of recipes and lets face it, the crock pot does the cooking! I use my crock pot a least once a week in the winter. I've never had a bad recipe from AYOC.

3) Think about the foods you and your family like to eat, Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Meat and Potatoes, etc. Learn to cook some of those foods.

4) Become proficient at a couple basic items. A roast chicken is one of my favorite meals. I roast the chicken and have that with a couple sides for dinner. I use the leftover meat for sandwiches and I save the carcass and make stock with it. The stock gets frozen and stored in my freezer and use the stock as a base for soups. I make a lot of basic soups. That $7-$9 chicken makes at least 4 meals for one.

I happen to like rice and beans and I frequently make black beans and rice. My recipe for that comes straight off of the can of Goya black beans. Over the years, I've modified the recipe a bit to suit my tastes. I also use this recipe for any kind of beans and rice.

Since I'm not a huge fan of eating the same food day in and day out, if I go overboard and make too much of the black beans and rice, I'll take the leftovers and make burritos, or mash up the beans with some stock and make black bean soup. if I go overboard on the lentil soup, I'll add in pasta or wild rice or some cut up sausages to change it up a bit.

I make a pretty decent tomato sauce (gravy if you are from the NYC area). I eat a lot of pasta. I keep a variety of pasta shapes in my cupboard, spaghetti, ziti, fettuccine, shells, rotini. Sometimes I add in olives, hot pepper flakes capers to my basic red tomato sauce for a little extra zing, that sauce is known as Puttanesca sauce (less the anchovies). I learned how to make pesto and usually make a couple jars to freeze each summer.

I was lucky, I grew up around people who liked to eat and liked to cook. Cooking was a pleasure, not a chore. This is not to say that I have not had some spectacular failures. I've made things that are just plain horrible and a few items that ended up being inedible. It's part of the learning process. I've been making soup since I was 12. I wanted to learn how to make soup and I did.

Again, start small, start with the easy stuff and work your way up. There is no shame in using pre- prepared items. I don't cook beans well, so I use a lot of canned beans. My freezer is small, and if I run out of room or don't have any stock, I pick up a container of stock at the grocery store. I've tried a couple brands and found the ones that I like and when they are on sale, I pick up a couple containers to keep in the cupboard. Trader Joe's makes a dammed fine Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato soup. For $1.89 a quart it's cheaper and easier for me to buy that than to make the soup if I feel like a treat. I use frozen veg as well as fresh. I have on more than one occasion, made Rice A Roni as a side dish. I've even used the ramen noodles from cup o noodles as a base for a noodle and veg stir fry (I omitted the tasteless broth).

I pick up almost all my herbs and spices from the local health food store. They have a bulk section and I am an avid collector of jars. This has several advantages, 1) I can pick and choose the spices I want in the quantities I want. 2) Bulk spices tend to be so much less expensive than the jars you get at the grocery store. I tend to use a lot of specific spices and I buy larger quantities of those and the spices I use infrequently, I keep in the smaller jars. Baby food jars are great, I reuse old spice jars, I use old mustard and jelly jars. My spice shell is an eclectic mix of herbs and spices in jars. None of it matches and I really don't care! I paid $1.10 for a bunch of dried rosemary at the health food store. One of those small spice jars at the grocery store would have run me almost $5. The other advantage to getting my spices at the health food store is at least once a year I just dump them all. Dried herbs and spices have a finite shelf life. I paid around $12 to restock my spice collection two weeks ago. $12 would have gotten me, what two, maybe three jars at the grocery store? I keep a selection of various condiments in the fridge, curry pastes, Chinese sauces, etc for when the mood strikes that I might want a curry or a fancier stir fry.

Maybe you don't have the time or the skill to make your own home made pizza dough, but you can pick up a pre-made shell, a jar of tomato sauce and some cheese, and I know some stores carry fresh dough in the dairy section. I've even picked up a basic frozen cheese pizza and added my own toppings. Still less expensive than take out and not as labor intensive as making the sauce, dough, slice and dice the cheese and other stuff.

Getting out of the habit of eating out or getting take out takes time. I also suggest that you plan a couple meals a week that are quick and easy to make. Use the weekends to fiddle in the kitchen. Don't get too upset if the first few times the dish does not turn out well. This is cooking, not brain surgery. When I started to make meatloaf, each loaf tasted horrible. I used a friends recipe, watched her make the meatloaf and the first few I made were awful. All of sudden, I got the knack for making a decent meat loaf. The same with scalloped potatoes. I used the wrong type of potatoes, I under cooked or over cooked the potatoes, now I "get" how to make the perfect blend of potatoes, milk, onions and flour. I make really good scalloped potatoes. It took time!

I now have a list of dishes I can make and make well, I keep my pantry stocked with items for those dishes, I shop the specials to stick up on those pantry staples and I'm not afraid to branch out (I've been doing a lot of Indian cooking this year). Mistakes happen, food burns or is undercooked (Invest in a good kitchen timer!).

Hopefully, these few tips are of good use for you! As Jacque Pepin would say Happy cooking!

A Few Updates

bouncingback22008@yahoo.com (Bouncing Back) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:24:00 +0000

Sorry for going MIA, but I was having a problem logging into the free wireless at home and too flat out busy at work to even post from there. Things are settling down.

So a few updates.

E-Fund

My e-fund is almost at rock bottom. Why? This time is was a for legit reason. My two poochies that dislike each other had a little altercation to the tune of a $600 vet bill. Between the stitches and vet visits to patch them up, it was just shy $600 ($595). One of my friends accidently let the two girls out together and they had a bit of a bite fest. Better that the two girls bit each other than someone. It was a lot of sutures and one dog has to stay at the Vets all day on a IV drip because of the fear of infection. Needless to say I was not happy, my friend beside himself, but that is one reason I have an E-fund. Now back to building it up.

Weekend Job:

I go back to working my "old schedule" starting the first week in December. What that means is from then until sometime in May, I'll be working 6.5 days a week. I'm still on reduced hours at my "full time" job, and given my back slide in the PF department this fall, I'll just deal with it. The co-worker who is supposed to have surgery put it off 3 weeks so she could work extra hours. At this point, I just really needed to know when she was going to have her surgery so I could adjust my schedule. It's been busy at the barn and I just need to know how to plan my personal schedule.

My Lovely Neighbor

My lovely neighbor is having all sorts of issues, personal, financial, kids. I'm watching a train wreck and it's very sad. I had a long weekend of out of area work for my part time job and she watched the dogs. I told her I'd pay her (I had my boss give me extra$$$ for that purpose) and she would not take the money. It's not money out of my pay check, I negotiated the money as part of this trip out of area to help. Yet, she turned it down. I did the only other thing I could think of which was to buy a bunch of gift cards and I'll slip them to her over the next few monts. I'll update more on her situation later.

My "Full Time Job"

I've been working like a fiend on a project at work that I think will make a bit of difference to our business. It also entails a work blog (yet another blog!). I think my boss has finally gotten around to understanding the difference between a blog, twitter, facebook, et al. I think. So I've been working on this project almost non stop, getting feedback form staff and clients. If it all comes to fruitition, I'll be really happy. I think it will and now that things are slowly going back to normal, I'll be back to trolling facebook and blogger at work.

Me Personally

Honestly, I've had a bit of a backslide with the finances and my personal life. I'll put up a whinging post later this week, but I still feel like I make 2 steps forward and then 3 steps back. Again, and I have no idea how to stop this freaking cycle, I start to make some decent forward progress and then wham, I hit a wall, get stuck in a mud pile, something that really drags me down. Ugh..... I feel like no matter what I do, I keep making the same dumb mistakes and I'm putting myself in the insane aslyum trying to figure out how to break the cycle.

Ah well......More soon

I am not totally gone.

bouncingback22008@yahoo.com (Bouncing Back) — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:50:00 +0000

Yes, I've been absent, things have been oddly crazy and I've been neglecting this blog.

I have a post scheduled for tomorrow for the winnners of the gift card give away, so look for it.

Thank you for your understanding.!

The Weekend in Review

bouncingback22008@yahoo.com (Bouncing Back) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:34:00 +0000

I had a good weekend. I managed to spend a ton of money, but on things like my electric bill, my phone bill, and a huge food shopping (I'm really liking this one big shop a month thing), some much needed new clothes and of course, I picked up two of the gift cards I'm giving away.

I got paid from both jobs on Friday, paid the bills that needed to be paid and then gave myself permission to hit the mall for clothes, within reason. I set both a budget and a numerical limit on clothes (no more than 4 pairs of pants and 3 tops). I ended up at Macy's for two reasons, well three. I had a coupon for an additional 20% off, they were having a great sale, and I know that I can swing in and hit a couple departments for clothes with the least amount of fuss and bother.

I have been pretty good about going to the consignment shops to look for clothes this past year, but the pickings have been very slim. I managed to pick up 4 pairs of pants, suitable for work and two tops. I need 1-2 more winter tops, some winter socks and if my budget permits, one pair of dress boots. My office is on the casual side, but even my casual clothes are looking a bit worn and tired. The last time I did a major clothes shop was just over 2 years ago when I hit the outlet malls and got a bunch of clothes for work. I had picked up two pairs of new pants over the winter, but I managed to destroy one pair. I think I'm pretty well set for brand new clothes. The sale at Macy's was amazing and I just happened to luck out in finding clothes I like that fit well and were in my price range.

I have decided that doing one major food shop a month seems to work well for me. I pick up the pantry staples, meat product (chicken, beef or pork) and freeze most of it, my frozen veg and I do a bit of menu planning so I only have to stop at the grocery store for my fresh dairy items and to replenish the fruits and fresh veg. Since I am a reluctant grocery shopper, this works for me. I find I'm not aimlessly wandering the isles looking for food or dinner inspiraton or buying un needed food items. My initial outlay of cash is a bit high, but then I spend very little the remainder of the month. That is what happened in October and I anticipate that happening for November.

There has been the usual drama at the part time job, the drama with the neighbor and her kids, the frustration with a new project at work-all which do have a PF angle. Look for those posts in the upcoming week!

Contest!

bouncingback22008@yahoo.com (Bouncing Back) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:29:00 +0000

As I posted on Friday, I'm doing a give-away for the month of November

You can win either a $10 Target Gift Card or a $10 Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts Gift Card

Simply send me an e-mail or leave your information in the comment section.

Winnners will be chosen at random.

Good luck!

Update: Fixed!

Still Here and November Contest

bouncingback22008@yahoo.com (Bouncing Back) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:58:00 +0000

Still here, but still having connection issues at home and still busy at work (which is a good thing) where I can't seem to find the time to post or at least pre-schedule posts. Sigh, it's always something isn't it!

I'm going to do a little November Give-Away. The contest will run November 2nd until November 15th. I'll randomly draw two winners on the 16th.

I'm giving away a $10 Target gift card and a $10 Starbucks gift Card or a Dunkin Donuts card for those of us who live in Dunkin Donuts land and would prefer that card.

Rules:

Simple enough~ I'll put up a post on Monday (already pre-scheduled !) and either leave a comment on the post or send me an e-mail (bouncingback22008) to my yahoo account STARTING ON MONDAY.

Hope you all are well, now for me to find a costume for my Halloween party on Saturday......

Food Shopping Spree Was A Success

bouncingback22008@yahoo.com (Bouncing Back) — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 15:46:00 +0000

The food shopping spree I had at the beginning of the month was a good thing! As I posted yesterday, I've been a bit crazed and I really dislike grocery shopping. I have been able to make a bunch of meals,complete with lunch leftovers and since the start of the month, have only spent an additional $20 on fresh veg and fruit.

As of now,I've not tired of the food items I bought and have not felt the urge to go out and shop for additional groceries. That is a good thing!

Just a Bit Crazed, No Internet, and I made a top 100 list!

bouncingback22008@yahoo.com (Bouncing Back) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 15:44:00 +0000

Things have been a bit hairy scary right now, nothing horrible, just life. I also have almost no internet service right now at home,the free WiFi is not working well.

BUT I did find out I made the top 100 female bloggers over at Her Every Cent counts. Click here to see the list.

Some Nice Surprises!

bouncingback22008@yahoo.com (Bouncing Back) — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:46:00 +0000

Some upbeat news for a holiday Monday. Happy thanksgiving to my Canadian readers and Happy Columbus day to all the Italians who celebrate it!

A few positive things that have happend to me these past few weeks.:
1) Taking advantage of my cousins offer to use her New Jersey beach house and finding a nice bottle of whiskey on the table with a card that said, Thanks for all your help with Mom and idiot brother issue. Have a great couple days. The upside, nice bottle of whiskey to enjoy and three fabulous quiet days on the Jersey Shore. Simply a great mini break for me.

2) A very nice an unexpected note from my weekend boss thanking me for all the things I do at the weekend job and the things I do that are not in the job description.

3) Going out to brunch yesterday and then someone else picking up the tab out of the blue.

4) Getting to the laudromat and in less than 2 hours, getting 7 loads of laundry, washed,dried and folded AND making it back home in time to crash on the couch and enjoy a glass of whiskey!

The Mortgage Increases

bouncingback22008@yahoo.com (Bouncing Back) — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:46:00 +0000

This is the first month that I will be paying my increased mortgage. Yuck. I budgeted for it since I had a low paying August and did not bring in as much money as I though I would on my part time job. I also pre-paid for my 1st winter propane delivery to save some $$$$. Cash was in short supply a few times because I failed to plan properly.

The good news is the other worker bee at my weekend job will be leaving soon to back on her "medical leave" for at least three months. That will be three months of me working every weekend. I am even giving consideration to working Christmas this year to save up the funds. I don't really celebrate the holiday,despite being of the Christian faith. I figured out that I was able to survive on my reduced hours schedule (did not make too many financiall goals, but paid all my bills, plus) that I can use the experience of the past 6 months to be more disciplined in my savings. I have used my e-fund a few times and did not always replenish the full amount I took out. That simply has to change. I was doing fairly well socking away money to my credit union account, I really slacked off the past few months for no good reason!

How are you doing on your saving goals?

Shopping Spree

bouncingback22008@yahoo.com (Bouncing Back) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:31:00 +0000

If you have read my blog in the past, you know how much I hate grocery shopping. For someone who likes to cook, I really dislike going to the grocery store. Actually, I don't mind going to various markets (meat, produce,etc), but my area of the world does not have such stores. Just over priced mom and pop local markets and the big chain markets. Spending more that 15 minutes in the grocery store gives me a headache, it really does.

After having such a crazy few weeks, I realized I was getting to the point of nothing in my food cupboards. Not that they were bare, but that I got to the point where I had no idea how to combine the last few items to make anything that was tasty. I even used up the last two cups of ramen noodles, some dying vegetables and leftover hoisin sauce to make, yup you guessed it, hoisin noodles with veggies. It's not so bad provided you don't use all the MSG filled broth in your stir fry.

Non the less, I made a list and went guilt free shopping yesterday. I spent $93 on assorted groceries and sundry items (cleaning supplies), out of that $93, about $15 were on "processed foods". Things like a bunch of Lean Cusisnes, some boxes of chicken broth, a box of Hot Pockets which I was craving, and a package of cookies. I did pick up some duplicate items to take to my weekend job as that pantry is spare and I do have my own assigned food shelf, those items are neatly bagged for my next work weekend. I also got a nice pork shoulder that will be dumped in the crock pot on Friday and set to simmer with all sorts of spices. I'm hoping to can pick up a few windfall apples as I walk past the local orchard tomorrow.

Even though I spent $93, I still did not pick up nearly enough fresh veg or other types of protein product (chicken pieces, ground beef, tofu). I have to make a Costco run tonight to pick up some items for work and will pick up my protein product then and my case of Seltzer Water that I drink everyday.

The good part to this shopping spree is that I now have a nice assortment of items for my pantry so that I can make things like soups, stews, casseroles, breads, to feed my face at dinner and have the leftovers for lunch. Even though I walked out of the store feeling a little overwhelmed, at least I'm well set on pantry staples to last me at least the rest of the month if not more!

Geting back on Track

bouncingback22008@yahoo.com (Bouncing Back) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:20:00 +0000

Soo a week later, I have no takers on my offer of guest posts. The offer still stands if you want to take advantage of my blog space to post your story, let me know! So on to the next stage. I'll be back to posting the end of this week. I am fighting a little cold and have been spending the past few nights snuggled up on the couch with a box of tissues and a mug of tea.

Hope you all are well!

This Blog is My Story-What's Yours

bouncingback22008@yahoo.com (Bouncing Back) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:43:00 +0000

I've been a bit crazed with a couple projects, sorry for the lack of posts. Things should settle down next week, I hope and I pray they do!

Like all blogs, this is my story of my bankruptcy and coming back from it. Not everyone who has gone or is going through a BK has a blog.

I'd like to use this space to share some people's stories should you care to share. I'm asking my readers to send me a "guest post" on what your story is and what you are doing either pre-BK or post BK. It can be as long or as short as you would like.

If you are in a sharing mood, please contact me at:

bouncingback22008 at yahoo.com

Have a great week all!

Neighbor's Kid Update

bouncingback22008@yahoo.com (Bouncing Back) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:54:00 +0000

My neighbors kid had her court date this week. She was lucky, she got off with a small fine and 25 hours of community serivce. According to her mother, the kid was actually showing some remorse about the situation. Her mother thinks that the seperation from her friends who were also arrested helped this kids attitude a bit. There was no misery in numbers and she probably got some fair time to think about the situation. The kid has been working with her dad (he is a landscaper) and will select her community service this week. The court has a list of organizations in which to choose from.

My neighbor did say that she was "giving in" to the kid a bit. My neighbor knows she struggles with giving in to her kids and just has felt that she has "denied" them so much this past summer that she was just getting tired of saying no. She did also say that when said child was sulking about the arrest, boyfriend and housing situation that she simply grow up, get a job, move out and not rely on the parents to pay for everthing. I was told that the kid had a look of shock on her face. My neighbor and I both figured that the kid thought her parents would give in and give her money for this "adventure".

Oh well, we are both hoping this was a painful lesson learned and that the kid might not make it again.

What has this got to do with personal finance? Not much at first glance, but this does go on this kids permanent record and could impact future jobs, rental prospects. I don't think she realizes that some companies and landlords are very particular about employees/tenants having clean records. I know my office makes it clear that they run a criminal record search on all employees as part of the application process. You just never know what will make an employer reject your application.

Mercury Is In Retrograde-Hence The Computer Issues, BUT Here are the Give-A-Away Winners

bouncingback22008@yahoo.com (Bouncing Back) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:48:00 +0000

Mercury is in retrograde and I've been having all sorts of problems with my old computer. Sigh...

Non the less, I am finally able to post my give a way winners. I will be sending an e-mail to my winners. Thanks to everyone who posted in my comments and contacted me by e-mail My three winners are

Vanessa-vgssgc@------------

Frannie-Italiangirl_____@---------

and oneeighteenfifteen@____________

Your sample boxes are wrapped and ready to be shipped! Once I get your mailing addy, I will drop in the mail.

Thanks for your patience!

August Was Expensive! Plus a few Updates

bouncingback22008@yahoo.com (Bouncing Back) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 02:40:00 +0000

Failure to plan properly cost me dearly. I had some bills come up that I was not expecting until Sept or October and since I did not plan properly, I had to dip in to my Efund to cover them. I had a home insurance payment that I was not expecting to be so high, but I neglected to read the fine print on the last bill that stated the company for future billing, they would bill you either twice a year or once a year. In the past two years, the payments were spread over three invoices and I was not expecting to have to pay sooo much. So be it, shame on me for not reading the fine print. The other unexpected bill was my mobile bill. I've been using my phone a lot more these past few months, so much so that I keep getting hit with outrageous overage charges. I did the adult thing, reviewed my bills for the past 5 months, went to the web site, reviewed other plan options and found a new plan that should cover the minutes I've been using. It's $39 per month instead of $23 per month, but since my last 4 bills have all been over $50, I think this should help me out budget wise, especially since I know I'll be using the phone a lot over the next two months. I had some fun to me time, that while not exceptionally expensive did cost me some $$$. I signed up for a friends and family plan that gives me unlimited mintues to select numbers which will be very helpful since I pretty much only call the same 6 people time and time again.

The good news for me is I will be picking up more weekends at my weekend job. I caught up face to face with my weekend boss and we discussed the work situation. He has still not heard from my co-worker aobut her inpending surgery, but has heard about it from everyone else. Pretty much, I'm going to just drop back in to my old schedule as soon as she is off on her medical leave. My co-worker just has to tell me when she will be unable to work and I slide back into the old routine. Which is good, I have to replenish my E-Fund and I want to build back up a cushion in my checking account.

I'm continuing on my scan fest. My initial zest wore off, but every few days I scan a pile of papers, then shread them. My filing cabinets are getting nice and empty!