collectingmycash

The end of another chapter

noreply@blogger.com (wealthy_1) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:27:00 +0000

C2 is graduating from high school tomorrow. I think I'm in denial. No, I am in denial! I know it's going to happen, but I don't believe it's going to happen. Does anyone understand that? It's not a logical thought. I know I'm experiencing lots of emotions because of it. I haven' t been able to sleep all week. I've snapped at everyone. And even though I'd like to contribute a lot of this to my age, I think that my behavior has much to do with my son graduating tomorrow.

His graduating makes me an official empty nester. Now, I am truly excited about that...and in a good way. But my son...

My son was born prematurely. After having an 8-ounce daughter 5 years before his birth, his 5 pounds, 7 ounces was tiny to me. He was a sleeper as an infant, and he was a very, very lovable child. My favorite thought is when I used to wake him up for school in the morning. I used to knock on his door, walk in his room, and say. "Time to get up!" Then I would sit on his bed. He would sit up, and we would hug. He would get up and get ready for school. I would make breakfast, and the two of us would sit and eat our breakfast. Then I would take him to the bus stop. I love my memory!!!!!!

Of course, those of you who have a teenage son know that it is nothing like that now. He's over six feet tall, and I'm five feet, four inches. In order to reprimand him, I have to make him sit down. He has no interest in talking to his mom. I guess I'm just boring to him. I think in his mind he just can't wait to leave.

Anyway, I know this is all good. I know that what ever the next chapter in my life is, it will be good. But for today I'm a little nostalgic for the past.

I cried because I had no shoes...

noreply@blogger.com (wealthy_1) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 21:30:00 +0000

'til I met the man who had no feet.

This was my first thought when my supervisor called an emergency staff meeting. She proceed to tell us that no one from the president of the company on down is receiving a raise. Up until now, performance reviews were conducted in February. At that time entitled employees would receive their raises. Now, I only started at the company in November 2007, so I was not entitled to review and raise in February 2008. I think this is an appropriate quote because there have been many, many layoffs at our company and just because there is a freeze on raises doesn't mean that there won't be more layoffs.

I guess now is the time for gratitude...

I'm grateful to still have a job.

What's a girl to do?

noreply@blogger.com (wealthy_1) — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 13:47:00 +0000

Whenever we have a large bill to pay, we generally don't have the money to pay it. Up until now, my husband has not discussed with me how a bill like this would get paid. For example, there was a balance on his Discover card. When I looked at our joint Mastercard, I saw that there had been a cash advance. I asked him why. His response was that the interest rate on the Mastercard was lower than the Discover so he advanced the Mastercard to pay off the Discover. I was very angry, but I kept my calm. (I still get angry thinking about it.) I explained that if he would discuss these issues with me before making a decision, perhaps I can do something to help.

Earlier this week, my husband said to me, "Here's our bonus!" Of course I asked, "What bonus?" Well, he said that it was a reverse bonus as he hands me our sewer assessment. It's $1,200 and it's due on November 1. Darn Ninja bill! I'm sure somewhere in a conversation a long time ago he told me about this. Unfortunately, I can't remember. He did remind me that I asked him to tell me about these bills before making a decision. For that I am truly grateful.

Now the question is how are we going to pay this bill by November 1? He said that he has $400 in a savings account. That means we need $800.

I have $1,000 in my emergency fund, $1,500 in the Christmas fund, and $400 in my snowflaking fund. My challenge is this: How can I pay the $800 balance withough touching the emergency fund or the Christmas fund?

1. I will definitely use the $400 from the snowflaking fund. That makes $800 (my husband's $400 plus my $400) towards the Ninja bill, and I still have to find $400.

2. The Christmas account is funded by $200 every two weeks. I could cancel the transfer to the Christmas fund on October 31. That's $200 more towards the Ninja. Now I need another $200.

3. I was planning to increase the Christmas fund by an additional $200 every two weeks, beginning with the October 31 paycheck. I could put that off until my first November paycheck. (I wanted to give C1 and C2 computers for Christmas, but my husband balked at the idea.) Anyway, that's a post for another day.

Well, that's what I plan to do. My husband's $400 plus my $400 plus the $400 from my October 31 paycheck. Plan B will be to dip into the Christmas fund. The sewer assessment will be a Ninja bill no more!

Gratitude

noreply@blogger.com (wealthy_1) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 14:30:00 +0000

Recently I read an article on MSN's Smart Spending Blog. Donna shared that she gave some random man on the street a dollar. She got lots of comments for sharing this information. I thought it was very refreshing to see that many of the commenters supported her decision to be generous. Of course, there were the naysayers who disagreed with her gesture of kindness. The recipient of the funds was very grateful.

Any of us could fall on hard times at the drop of a hat. Just look at our economy today. There are massive layoffs, citizens with huge mortgages who are struggling to pay them down or not paying them down at all, and the stock market affecting retirement plans and more.

I have a friend who lives in a very expensive suburban town. She and her husband had excellent jobs and a beautiful home. She told me about a Thanksgiving day where she volunteered in a soup kitchen. She was serving the clients Thanksgiving dinner. She said at one point she looked up only to see a former coworker of her husband. She said that their families used to get together quite often and had recently lost touch. This particular family had lost everything as a result of corporate downsizing.

Donna mentioned in her article that as she shared her wealth with the homeless man, a man in an SUV sped right by the two of them and made a rude comment. I'll bet Mr. SUV has never read the story of Lazarus -- Luke 16:19-31.

Boomerang

noreply@blogger.com (wealthy_1) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 23:30:00 +0000

Yesterday, my husband told me about an article in the Wall Street Journal entitled, The Next Bailout: Your Adult Children? Intrigued, I decided to check out the article for myself. The reason for my intrigue is that I have an adult child living at home. It seems that many, many, many parents do. It also seems like few parents expected to have their adult children "boomerang". I certainly did not.

It also seems to me that whenever the topic comes up, people sympathize with the adult child. I've heard comments such as, "It's expensive for them (adult children) to live on their own" or "(s)he is saddled with debt", namely, student loans.

I wonder why we are making excuses for these bright, creative, talented, often very well educated young people. I wonder why they can't work one, two, or three jobs to pay down their debt and begin savings. Why can't they find three to five people in the same situation to share an apartment to keep their housing costs low?

I was very surprised to learn that adult children living at home has become a common occurrence and that there is a blog on the subject appropriately called Adult Children Living at Home. It seems many people take comfort in the sentiment that it's happening all over, but that's not making me feel any better.

What more can I say?

noreply@blogger.com (wealthy_1) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 22:20:00 +0000

It seems like the hot topic right now is the price of a gallon of gasoline. I recently heard that my state has the second highest price per gallon in the country, right behind California. My brother and his family recently visited from Belgium. He told me that if it weren't for the vouchers that he receives, he would be paying upwards of $8 to $10 per gallon.

I recently found out that the commuter van fee was going to increase in September. What's the reason for the increase? You guessed it! So I decided to see if I had any other alternatives. Right now I'm paying $162 per month for my seat on the commuter van. I found out that if I take the bus, it will only cost $95. The savings is the cost of a tank of gas.

In addition to the monetary savings, commuting on the bus will be more flexible. There are three buses in the morning, one at noon and four in the evening. Compared to the van, which leaves at 6:30 am and picks up at 4:20 pm.

I've already taken some trial trips on the bus. It's a big coach bus. It's very comfortable. I'm looking forward to my new commuting arrangements. I really think it's going to work out better for me.

I want to welcome back my blogging friend iowahippiechick. She's been on a little hiatus, but she's back with two blogs now! Make sure you check them out.

Welcome back, Dawn!

Weathy_1's Five Budget Busters

noreply@blogger.com (wealthy_1) — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 16:00:00 +0000

Free from Broke recently asked his readers to list 5 budget busters. What a great idea. I'm sure I have more than five, but I don't want to bore you.

1. Ninja Bills. This is a term coined by racerx, which means an unexpected outlay money that you that you know you'll have to make, it sneaks up on you. For example, in January our auto insurance increased because C2 got his license. I knew it was coming, but I just didn't see it coming.

2. Speaking of C2, he and his sister are real budget busters. Recently he mentioned going to the prom and he would have to buy tickets. He asked if I would help. I told him I didn't want to go to the prom so I didn't think I needed a ticket. I did tell him I would help him pay for a tux.

3. Vacation. It's planned, and I feel confident that we'll stay on a cash basis, but...

4. Happy Hour. Its seems that happy hours are never planned and are very, very expensive especially when you consider that one glass of wine at happy hour costs as much as an entire bottle at the liquor store.

5. Cash in my pocket. For some reason if there is cash in my pocket I think I supposed to spend it just because it's there.

What about you? What are five things that bust your budget?

One of the things I like about blogging is thinking of titles to my posts. Here are some of my favorite titles.

Remember to Tithe
Hoarding
Small Thinking

Funky Attitude

noreply@blogger.com (wealthy_1) — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:00:00 +0000

Last week Tricia at Blogging away Debt mentioned that she had been in somewhat of a funk lately. She really couldn't figure out what was causing it. Well, I've been in a bit of a funk lately too. But I think I know the reason.

One of the reasons for my funky attitude is that a couple of weeks ago I put a deposit on our vacation and bought airline tickets. One would think I would be ecstatic. I mean, we're going on our first vacation in three years! You see, what was going to be a relatively inexpensive vacation is now costing me more than I wanted to spend.

Originally, a friend had offered us the use of her Florida home and car that she kept down there. By the time my family and I figured out when would be a good time to take a vacation together, she had rented her place. I began searching the internet for someplace to stay in Florida, and I found one. When I showed it to my husband he decided he would rather go to Puerto Rico. You know, "for a few dollars more..."

In addition to the condo and the airline tickets, now we'll have to rent a car. Of course, there is spending money while vacationing. In order to keep this vacation on a cash basis, I'm going to have to drastically reduce my aggressive credit card pay down. I know, I know...I'll take some cheese with my "whine".

When I posted my 100th post I said would highlight some of my favorite entries. Two of my favorites are The Giving Tree and Easter, Christmas, and the Day after New Year's

My Six-Word Memoir

noreply@blogger.com (wealthy_1) — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:30:00 +0000

I've been tagged by Jo at Me and My Marbles to share my six-word memoir. This is similar to the Six-Word Financial Autobiography that I read about at iowahippiechick.

Anyway, here are the rules:

1. Write your own six-word memoir.
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you want.
3. Link to the person who tagged you in your post.
4. Tag at least 5 more blogs.
5. Leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.

My six-word memoir is this: I think I finally get it!

Of course, I'm referring to my favorite mantras, which are earn, SAVE, invest, share.

Notice that SAVE is in all caps. That's because I spent all of these years being an instant gratification person and a small thinker. I finally get that if I want to go on vacation I have to save for it. I finally get it that if want to be prepared for an emergency, I have to save for it. I finally get that if I want to retire and live comfortably by December 31, 2017, I have to save for it. I could go on and on, but I think you get it.

I'm going to tag Clean and Clutter Free Simple, Canadian Saver, Finance and Fat, Family & Finances, Free From Broke.

I am a Water Snob

noreply@blogger.com (wealthy_1) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 17:30:00 +0000

A couple of years ago the town put the water and sewer lines down our street. It's not mandatory to hook in, but even if you don't you have to pay an assessment. I was also told that at some point in the future the town may require that everyone hook in to the water and sewer lines.

My husband decided that since we were being assessed for this that we should hook in. He also thought we would save money on bottled water and the savings could be put towards the tax. I'm not sure of the exact amount of the assessment, but I do know that we were spending approximately $36 each month on the 5-gallon water bottles which translates into $432 a year on bottled water. Our assessment may be twice that.

Anyway, here's my story. I was not happy that he wanted me to give up the bottled water. Water is my beverage of choice. I don't drink soda or juice. When I reach for a beverage, I reach for water. I tried drinking the tap water, but I could honestly tell the difference.

I think we hooked into the city water in November. I believe that it takes at least three weeks to begin to change a habit. I gave it until the beginning of March. I just couldn't do it! I considered adding the bottled water to my grocery budget. But I was afraid I'd get the silent treatment if I just showed up at home with the 5-gallon bottles of water. So, I started buying 2-3 one-gallon jugs. When there was no reaction from my husband, I decided I would give him the money and ask him to go buy the 5-gallon jugs of water.

Last Saturday, I put $20 on the kitchen counter and I asked him. He asked me, "What's wrong with the tap water?" I said, "I don't like it." Now, you have to know my husband. He's an extremely calm person. In fact, he's almost comatose. But after almost 25 years of marriage, I can tell when he's not happy, and he had that unhappy look on his face. All he did was take a deep cleansing breath and went on with his day.

When I came home from snowflaking Saturday night, there was a water contraption on the counter. The next day he hooked it up. It has it's own spout for the drinking water. He said, "Here's your filter. Now the water should taste better to you."

I have to admit...the water really does taste better.

At last...

noreply@blogger.com (wealthy_1) — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:30:00 +0000

my 100th post! A true milestone. There are a couple of other milestones too. I've had more than 6000 visitors since starting the blog and over 10,000 pages viewed!

My first post was on October 7, 2007. I was very nervous. I wasn't sure if I should start blogging. But at the time I needed to get my thoughts into words. It was a tough time for my family and me. My husband had lost his job, and I was feeling the pressure of the debt shackles. Those shackles are very, very painful.

I'm so glad I made the decision to keep track of my journey to financial freedom. Blogging and receiving feedback from others is helping to keep me focused on my shackle release program. I am grateful for all the blogging friends I have made and for the encouragement that I have received. Many times I am motivated by reading others' posts and commenting. I find comfort in sharing a good thought or kind word with others.

Over the next several posts, I'm going to highlight some of the entries that I really like. Starting with Eating is to Money as Food is to Debt. This is one of my favorites because I like the title, it was the first post for which I received comments, and it was the first post that I submitted to a Carnival: the Carnival of Debt Reduction!

So to my many readers and supportive bloggers I say thank you, thank you for your continued support and encouragement. Do you think I can write another 100 posts?

A Post Easter Thought

noreply@blogger.com (wealthy_1) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 23:30:00 +0000

On Saturday at my snowflaking job a coworker asked if I was getting Easter baskets for my kids. I said that I wasn't. Her children are much younger than mine and she remarked that they were excited about Easter because they thought it was going to be a huge gift-getting day like Christmas. My friend said she thought it would be fun to give someone my daughter's age an Easter basket because it could be filled with lip gloss, make up and little trinket types of things. I thought about that for a brief moment, but still was not motivated to run out to get stuff for Easter for C1 and C2.

Even when they were growing up, we never made Easter a huge present-giving day. Because I sold Longaberger, each had and still has a Longaberger Easter basket. I used to put grass in it along with a chocolate bunny and a small toy, for example a stuffed Easter animal or maybe an action figure for my son. Then they would use their baskets to gather eggs at the Easter egg hunt.

I must say that I do think C1 thought I was giving Easter baskets this year. She was shocked when I told her that I wasn't. I'm thinking 22 and 16 and you don't believe in the Easter bunny...no need for the Easter baskets. In the end I did get each of them a chocolate bunny.

How am I doing -- February and March 2008

noreply@blogger.com (wealthy_1) — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 15:00:00 +0000

Happy Easter to everyone!!!!!

It's interesting how life changes. It seems that it was not long ago that our Easters were filled with visiting relatives, Sunday morning church service, Easter baskets and an Easter egg hunt, and of course, the big Easter dinner.

Both of my children work in food service. My son is a server at senior living facility and my daugter works at an upscale restaurant nearby. That means neither of them will be home today. The restaurant where my daugter works serves brunch, so my husband and I decided we will have brunch there today.

Anyway, I really want to talk about my finances during the last two months. February was a bittersweet month. I did mange to pay $835 on my credit card, which I am totally thrilled about. The sidebar includes the payments I've made in March too. I paid $1,370 to my credit card debt in February and March. I'm happy to say that my balance is in the single digits! On the other hand, I increased my overall debt by $3995, which is the amount of the loan I got to finance my car. That payment will be $97 per month.

My husband and I spent a lot of time on the weekends in February looking for a car. That means we spent a lot of time eating out. We probably spent $50-$60 every weekend eating out. Sometimes that would include bringing food home for C2 to eat. What's different is that we would pay cash--that's right, no credit card usage for dinners out.

My credit card paydown is my major definite purpose right now. My secondary goal is to be debt free by June 30, 2009. I'm a little off track of my goals right now. Especially with the addition of the car loan. My credit card has a variable rate, which right now is very low. I used the Bankrate calculator to help me figure out when it will be paid down to zero, based on my current interest rate. If I continue to pay $800 per month at the current interest rate, I'll have the credit card paid off in 13 months.

There are additional funds I could use to pay it down sooner, but we have a vacation planned. Rationally, I'd like to say to the family, no vacation, I'm paying down my debt. Emotionally, I think we should go on vacation because we haven't had a vacation in three years, and I think that a change of scenery will be a source of rejuvenation. It will also be interesting to see if we can go on vacation and stay on a cash basis. I think that when we return, I can add those funds to my debt reduction plan. I just increased the vacation fund to $150 per month. We're planning to go away at the beginning of August.

That's how I'm doing so far. Let's see what April brings.

What I would do with the money?

noreply@blogger.com (wealthy_1) — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 22:30:00 +0000

Yesterday's Powerball was worth a lot of money. I know it usually is, but this was one of those very, very, very large jackpots. In fact, nobody had all six numbers, so the next drawing is worth $275 million.

The people on the van and I decided to pool our money and buy 5 tickets for yesterday's drawing. There are five of us on the van, so that set each of us back $1. We all know that the odds are definitely not in our favor, but it's always fun to discuss what we would do with the money if we won. Here's what I would do.

First, I would abandon my job. Many people say they would go to work and flaunt their winnings. Not me. I want to know what it's like to just not show up.

Second, I'd change my telephone number to an unpublished number. I just don't want people calling and calling me. No interviews, please!

Third, I'd move to Hawaii.

Fourth, I'd pay down my debt, my husband's debt and my daughter's debt.

Fifth, I'd set up trust funds for each child.

Sixth, I'd invest in long-term care insurance.

Seventh, I'd have my husband figure out how much we would need to live comfortably for the rest of our lives and invest that amount of the winnings.

Eighth, I would earn my master's degree and a doctorate degree.

Ninth, I would consider plastic surgery.

Tenth, I would become a philanthropist. I would set up a trust fund to give the rest of the money to my favorite charities.

Now, if only I would win. What would you do with your winnings if you won big in the lottery?

Teen Drivers

noreply@blogger.com (wealthy_1) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 22:00:00 +0000

I've been dealing with the challenge of a teen driver. Wow! What a challenge it is. I am all for young people having responsibilities and independence, but it is very difficult to help them understand that there are still limits.

The Governor of our state has assembled a task force to study and make recommendations regarding what can be done to keep teen drivers safe and alive. This is a very serious issue. In fact, this task force is supposed to report back to the Governor by the end of March.

So far this year in this state, there have been seven fatalities involving teen drivers. This compares to 15 in all of 2007. This is very scary when you consider that we are just in the beginning of March.

There have already been several recommendations. One is to suspend the teen's license for a period of time if cited for a moving violation. Another is to require parents to receive some type of driver education if your teen driver gets a ticket.

I was very surprised to learn that in some states the age for a teen to get a drivers license is 14 years old! What about your state? Is teen driving a hot topic where you live? If so, what steps is your state government taking to help keep teen drivers safe?

Should Children be Paid to Excel in School?

noreply@blogger.com (wealthy_1) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 23:00:00 +0000

As you know I have two children a daughter who just turned 22 and a son who is 16. I call them C1 and C2 for Child #1 and Child #2. When most people have two children, you can see differences in their personalities and their approach to things like school. But I was blessed with two children exactly the same.

C1 and C2 are very, very smart. They test well. They have a lot of natural talent and ability. Consequently, they have never learned how to work hard or put forth one iota of effort. Just to give you an example, C2 doesn't like to take honors classes in school because he'd have to open a book and read a little. I mean, I'm in awe of their natural ability. I think they got it from their dad.

Anyway, when they were in elementary school, my husband would pay them for making A's and B's on their report cards. An "A" yielded more money than a "B". I can't remember exactly how much each was worth, but they got paid. As they got to middle school and high school, it seems that they didn't need the money because they would do just enough school work to get a passing grade.

So that brings me to my question: Should children be paid for grades?

Reasons to pay.

1. When you go to work you get paid. School is a job for kids, so why not pay them?
2. Payment is an incentive. If they know they're going to get paid, that may encourage them to excel, but not my kids.
3. Life is expensive. Children have many wants. Earning money for performance in school is an opportunity for parents to teach children the money mantras: earn, save, invest and give to charity.
4. If there is some toy or gadget that a child really wants, this is an opportunity for them to learn delayed gratification.

Reasons not to pay.

1. School and school work is what you do as a child. A pat on the back should be sufficient. There should be no expectation of a monetary reward.
2. If children are paid to make good grades, they won't learn to appreciate education. They will only work for the grade to get the money.
3. There are other ways for children to earn money. For example, chores.
4. Rather than paying children for grades, children should be given an allowance. Parents can still teach the money mantras with the allowance money.

Obviously, for me hind sight is 20-20. But what do you think? Should we pay children for good grades? Should we pay them when they score a touchdown, make a field goal, or hit a home run? How do you weigh in on this subject?

Wealthy_1's Financial Epiphany

noreply@blogger.com (wealthy_1) — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 00:30:00 +0000

Gather Little By Little has invited bloggers to share their financial epiphany. So I'm going to share mine.

My financial epiphany first came in September of 2006. Earlier that year I had applied for and received an additional credit card with $11,500 credit limit and supposedly a 2.9% interest rate for 12 months. As with all credit card offers I had received, I rationalized that I would use this card to pay down higher interest rate cards and pay it off in a year. (I know now that one of my problems was that I never had a plan in writing.) I used this special offer card to transfer balances from my already up to the limit credit card, to pay off my retail cards, and to support my very expensive bodybuilding competition endeavor.

When all was said and done, I had reduced the up to the limit card from $12,300 to $9,100. The interest rate on that card was 11%. Because I was clueless, I decided to pay $100 per month on the $9,100 balance. I did this from June to September. Each time I'd make a payment, I would check the balance on line. It wasn't moving. In addition, I put myself further in debt because I just ran that special offer card up to the limit.

Here comes my "ah-ha". The $100 per month I was paying only covered the interest. It wasn't making a dent in principal! At the rate I was going, I was never going to pay that credit card to zero. And now I had two credit cards each with a big balance!

That was my first wake-up call. I've had several smaller wake-up calls since then. Of course, reading Dave Ramsey's book this past year really helped my to create a concrete plan and has given me the courage and confidence to work my plan.

Now, what about you? When did it hit you that change was in order? What's your financial epiphany?

Carnival of Money Stories # 48 -- Leap Year Edition

noreply@blogger.com (wealthy_1) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 09:15:00 +0000

Welcome to the Carnival of Money Stories! I've dubbed this 48th Carnival the Leap Year Edition because it's a Leap Year! If you're actual birthday is Friday, February 29, Happy Actual Birthday. Enough rambling...now on with the Carnival. Enjoy!

What Does a Millionaire Sound Like? That's a good question. You'll find the answer at The Butler Project.

Christine is An American Single Mom Living in France. Recently she visited Berlin. Judging by her post The European Exchange Rate and travel in Berlin, Germany she enjoyed a budget friendly vacation.

Detail People and Bottom Line People: Differing Approaches to Carbon Footprint Dieting. Which group are you in? It doesn't matter. Money Changes Things has an electrician who appeals to both.

You Can’t Quit Poverty… but according to Iowahippiechick Dawn, you can break free.

Becky at Family and Finances and her husband are proving to be financially savvy newlyweds by checking their credit. Smart move! Ah, I love wedded bliss and togetherness. See what they discovered when you read Getting Our Free Credit Report.

Why I Started Lending Money With Prosper And Lending Club. My Two Dollars, please, tell us more!

Judging from this post Life in the Punch-a-Button Lane, vh at Funny about Money is having a less than positive customer service experience. Whatever happen to a pleasant voice on the other end of the phone?

paidtwice at I've Paid For This Twice Already... explains why It’s Good To Be Broke Sometimes.

Stephanie at Stop the Ride! made enough money online to get a 1099. (I'm a poet and I know it!) Check it out: Earning 1099's Online.

Speaking of poetry, Madeleine is Banking On Money. Her rhymes are really quite funny. At Mad Kane's Humor Blog you will laugh like frog, and I hope your day is bright and sunny!

FFB is doing a little financial reflecting... If I Could Turn Back Time - Money Mistakes I've Made. I've been doing a lot of reflecting lately. Free From Broke I say look how far you've come!

Small Cents over at Small Cents says The Grass Is Browner On The Other Side Of The Fence. In otherwords, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

The Financial Blogger asks How Much Would Pay For A Visit At The Clinic? A sneak peak into public health care.

Over at My Dollar Plan Madison is Leaving Money on the Table…. On Purpose! No worries though, it sounds like she's prioritizing.

Cash Money Life reminds us that honesty is the best policy when he tells this story: The Choice of What is Right, and What is Easy.

Pay down the mortgage or pay down consumer debt and student loans? Read what S.B. at Be Thrifty Like Us was doing. Our Experience: Pay Off The Mortgage or Not?.

Here's an interesting question? Prime Time Money asks Do You Tell Your Parents the Details of Your Finances?.

BeThisWay at Are You Going To Be This Way The Rest of The Time I Know You? explains how to create a win-win situation in her article Saving and Spending and Everyone Wins. Oh, how I wish it could always be this way.

Exercising patience will save you money. Stephanie at Unclaimed Money explains how in her post Patience is a Frugal Virtue.

King of Debt at We're In Debt reminds us of the money mantras in this post Day 655: Applying Best Practices to Your Life.

Tyler at Dividend Money must be living the money mantras. You'll see what I mean when you read his post How To Manage Debt And Build Wealth.

To settle or not to settle? Shaheen Lakhan at GNIF Brain Blogger explains why Usually It's Cheaper to Pay Than to Go To Court.

Thanks for visiting this week's Carnival of Money Stories #48. Be sure to visit next week's Carnival. It will be hosted by Piggy Bank Blues.

Deeper in Debt

noreply@blogger.com (wealthy_1) — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 20:30:00 +0000

Well, I did it. Last Saturday I purchased a car. It's an 8-year-old luxury car. There was only one previous owner, and it only had 40,000 miles on it. I paid $10,000 for it: $6,000 cash and $4,000 loan. I didn't want to incur any more debt. As you know, I have more than enough. But it is what it is. The deed is done. The old wealthy_1 would have thought nothing of taking out a huge loan for a brand new car. That's what I did five years ago. My car payments and insurance were $400 per month!

I was saving $300 every month in my car savings fund. When I thought about getting a loan, I decided that I could pay $100 towards a car payment. As usual I forgot about the insurance, but the cost for me for this car is $60 per month. That's an added expense of $160, leaving me with $140. I have a four-year repayment plan on the loan, but I can pay extra on it, and I can pay it off early.

Now the question is: What should I do with that $140. Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is pay more on the credit card debt. That's a good plan, but for the first time in my entire life I asked myself, "How will I pay for routine car maintenance?" So, I've decided to continue the car fund at ING and put $100 every month into it for car maintenance.

That leaves me with $40. Once again credit card debt reduction comes to mind. Then I thought about the vacation we are planning this summer. Right now I allocate $100 per month towards vacation. Perhaps it would be a good idea to increase it to $140. Especially since once we're on vacation, money has a way of slipping through our fingers.

Natural Consequences

noreply@blogger.com (wealthy_1) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 23:30:00 +0000

I received many comments on my post about C2's car accident. Several readers asked what consequences or discipline did we impose on him. Before I discuss that, I'd like to talk about the natural consequences that he has endured as a result of this incident.

First, when his dad and I got home from work that evening and asked how he was doing, he broke down and cried. He was very much aware of how lucky he and his friend were. He was upset with himself for putting the two of them (especially his friend) in an unsafe situation.

Second, he had to depend on his sister to take him to school because he didn't want to take the bus in the mornings.

Third, he had to take the late bus home from school after weight room in the afternoon when he didn't have to work. We live about 15 to 20 minutes from the school. It takes at least an hour to get to our street when he takes the late bus.

Fourth, he had to find a ride to work after school.

For his parental consequences, his dad and I found a young driver contract on line. We made it our own, the three of us discussed it and signed it. If any of you are interested, you can e-mail me and I'll send you a copy of the one we used or you can google young driver contract. I couldn't believe how many of them there are on the web. Next, his driving privileges consist of going to work and home and going to school and home. There is no social driving for now. In addition, he must call one of us when he arrives at work or school and he must call when he leaves. Finally, we've told him that he has to pay the $1,000 deductible. I'm in the process of working out the details based on his pay and the number of hours he works.

I sit next to a young mom at work who has two toddler girls. Every morning she comes to work complaining of how difficult it is to be a working mom of toddlers. The other day I said to her, "Just wait. Little kids, little issues. Big kids, big issues.

A Trip to the Carnival of Money Stories # 47

noreply@blogger.com (wealthy_1) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 02:45:00 +0000

If you found your way here from the Carnival of Money stories...Welcome to collectingmycash! I'm wealthy_1. As you know, collegeofcash was this week's Carnival host. She did a wonderful job. I'm grateful to her for hosting and including my post. There will be more car stories on my blog over the next few posts. It seems like a never ending saga.

I always find all the Carnival posts very interersting, but this week these really caught my eye.

Becky at Family and Finances got a $250 credit! I love hearing when others get money back. Check out her story. On a sad note, she didn't get a pedicure.

If I were debt free sent his credit card company a Valentine's gift. What a clever idea! I wish I had thought of it.

Small Cents reminds us to focus on the baby steps and to celebrate our accomplishments no matter how small.

Finally, if you want to read about someone who has a handle on her money, check out my blog friend Dawn at iowahippiechick.

Once again, thanks for visiting collectingmycash. Feel free to peruse other posts I've written. Remember if you like what you've read here or at the Carnival, consider subscribing to the blog in a reader or by e-mail.

Next week the Carnival of Money Stories will be right here at collectingmycash. I'm sure there will be many great posts!

Two Weeks and a Day

noreply@blogger.com (wealthy_1) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +0000

That's how long C2 had his driver's license before he was involved in an auto accident. No one was hurt and no other cars were involved. He was driving too fast, lost control of the car and ended up on the other side of the road in a ditch. His best friend was in the car with him. That's against the law in our state. His fine was $103. He anted up.

The car was towed to a local garage. The mechanic estimated the damage at about $1,800 and suggested that since it was more than our $1,000 deductible we call the insurance company. All of this happened about three weeks ago.

Yesterday there was a voice message from the auto shop, saying that the car is ready to be picked up. The repairs amount to $4,000. (Now there really goes our insurance!) Our out of pocket is $1,000. The nice voice says we can pay with cash, a bank check or any credit card except American Express. The pleasant voice goes on to say that if we pay by credit card there will be a 2% surcharge assessed. Is that legal? Isn't there something in the merchant-credit card company contract that says that they can't charge a customer for using a credit card? It just doesn't seem right to me.

Thank Goodness I have the $1,000 in cash. $500 is in my short-term savings account and $500 is from the car fund. This isn't how I planned to use that money. In my January money review I speculated that I would like to pay $900 on my credit card this month. Using that $500 from the short-term savings was going to make that speculation a reality. The other $500 I wanted to leave in the car fund to use for routine maintenance on my new car. It doesn't look like either of those things are going to happen. Anyway, maybe I should ask the mechanic for a 2% discount since I'm going to pay in cash. :-)

To Quit or Not to Quit

noreply@blogger.com (wealthy_1) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 23:30:00 +0000

Since my husband started his new job, he's been trying to encourage me to quit my snowflaking job. He believes that I am having too many meltdowns. He's probably right. It is challenging to work 40 hours Monday through Friday and then 16 more on the weekends. But I do it in the name of debt freedom! Anyway, his thought was that since he has an income again, we could meet our financial goals without me spending my weekends working.

So a couple of Saturdays ago I showed up at my snowflaking job, knocked on the door, and the manager let me in. As soon as I walked in, I told her that I was giving my two-week notice. She was not happy. I explained that working seven days a week was becoming a bit overwhelming. She said she understood.

I went into the back room to put my stuff away and get ready to go out onto the floor. When I came out of the back room, she asked, "Would you be willing to work one Sunday a month?" Now, I've known the manager for many years. She used to buy baskets from me when I sold Longaberger. We had lost touch until she became the store manager, and she has always been someone that I admired and respected.

I told her I would stay on and work one Sunday a month. Doing this actually serves two purposes. One is that I still get the employee discount. The second is that I still have a few snowflakes to sprinkle on my credit card debt. As you know, on December 31, 2008, the balance on my credit card will be $2,000!

Carnival of Money Stories #46

noreply@blogger.com (wealthy_1) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 00:00:00 +0000

Mrs. Micah was the host of this week's Carnival of Money Stories. She did a wonderful job hosting, and I thank her for including my post on buying a car. I'm still looking and have received great suggestions from many readers. More on that later.

One reason I enjoy the Carnivals is that it's a good way to find new blogs and bloggers. Here are three new ones for me.

SB at Be Thrifty Like Us has already filed her tax return! She is pondering what to do with her tax return before the money arrives. What a great idea. I think she's very organized.

Mr. Debtbeater is getting back on track after a small detour from his financial plan at Christmastime. I wish him continued success!

Bethisway is my idol. She's going to sew (darn) her sheets. I took sewing in middle school. The teacher made us smock a pillowcase and put a zipper in. She gave me a C minus. I don't think I've sewed anything since.

Thank you for visiting collectingmycash. I hope you enjoyed these and other posts at the Carnival. Remember if you like what you read on this blog or any of the blogs at the Carnival, consider subscribing in a reader or by e-mail.

Shopping for a Car

noreply@blogger.com (wealthy_1) — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 01:30:00 +0000

C2 has taken over my car. I had hoped to wait until the end of June to begin car shopping. I knew he would need transportation for work, school, and after school activities, but I was hoping that it would be later rather than sooner. I had planned to save $8K to $9K by the end of June and he was to save $1K.

Well, here it is February. I have $6k and C2 has zero dollars saved. He's working almost everyday after school, so I have no ride home from the commuter lot. If I want to go to the gym or to my pilates class, I have no transportation. So as much as I didn't want to do this, I took out a $4k loan. I figured it's an improvement over totally financing a car. Before I became financially focused, I financed a new car 100%. This time I'm looking to finance a pre-owned car for $4K and with my $6K in cash pay $10K for a pre-owned vehicle. My goal is transportation. No bells and whistles.

If you are a car salesman, I mean you now disrespect. We all have to make a living. I've never sold cars, but I imagine that there is some gratification in doing so. Basically, I'm sure it's a noble profession. Here's the but...I hate the process. I don't understand why I can't just walk onto the lot and tell the salesperson exactly what I'm looking for and then he or she says to me yes we have that for you or no we don't. Why do I have to talk to one person who relates what I tell him to another person (the manager, I presume) only for that person to tell me he can't sell me what I want in that price range?

As you have probably already guessed, I spent my day at a dealership today. Even after doing some internet research and making some telephone calls, I came away with no car. I am a little disappointed, but I'll keep looking. This is a new experience because my immediate gratification self wants to spend the money on all the bells and whistles right now. But my delayed gratification self is trying very hard to be discplined and stick to the goal, which is reasonably priced transportation.