The Odd, Tangled and Organized Life

I decided to take the day off today. I have a lot to do around the house. I got my Federal refund this week, so guess what the first thing I did was? I brought my savings account up to $1000. There! I have the savings fund started. So, next step - pay off debt. You'll see that my debt actually went up a little bit. That's because I had fillings done at the dentist on Wednesday. That was about $191 added to the debt. But, today I paid off my Line of Credit loan with my credit union - $171.76. Do you know how good that feels? Woohoo! So the next bill is my Torrid account, which is sitting at $429.98.  On Friday, when I get paid, I will be paying $50.00 - the minimum $35.00 plus the $15 minimum payment for the LOC loan. Plus, whatever extra. Last night, I purchased the tile and materials I need for my bathroom remodel. This morning, I pulled up the baseboards and quarterboard. The junk guys also came over and picked up the recliner, water softener and a small table. I paid l...

Ya'll - I'm getting frustrated. I started this journey about 2 months ago to eliminate my debt and have the money in savings I need for unexpected expenses. Well, it's not going so well, as you can see. If you noticed - I changed my starting debt amount. Well over $21,000. This does not include the house. I also changed the savings goal to $1000 instead of $5000. I had fully planned on using my Stock payout and my taxes to fund this $5000. It didn't work out. It bears repeating that I like to shop. If I see something I like, I will purchase it. What have I purchased so far this year? A Kirby, new furniture for my living room and a Litter Robot. All purchased on credit. So, adding to my debt. I still have not purchased what I need to remodel my bathroom. I'm hitting the restart button. A hard restart, if you will. I am still waiting for my federal tax refund to come in. It is delayed because of the Earned Income Credit and the Child Tax Credit I claim. Look...

Well, look at that - I have over $200 in my savings account. Less than $4800 to go! I got a nice big custom order from a friend at work. I'm making her 5 years worth of monthly calendars with one side laminated, and she wanted 2 sets. She paid me today, but I'm still working on them. I need to get them done by Monday, because that is her last day of work. Still don't have my federal refund and it was supposed to arrive yesterday, according to Turbo Tax. But, according to the IRS website, it is still pending. Okay. I'll wait a little while longer. Payday is Friday, so I'm sure I'll have an update to the finances at that time. Until then, I just wanted to celebrate selling something and being able to put it into my savings because the bills are all caught up!

It is hard to be patient. I am not the most patient person in the world. I'm not patient at all. I want things done now and I want to see results right away. It's just who I am. So when I see my debt total go up instead of down, I wonder if I'm doing things the right way. After all, I'm only paying the minimum I have to. Trying to keep up with bills and put every thing else into savings. And it's hard to save when I'm trying to improve things in my house. Turn my house into a Smart House, as much as I can. And have time to work on my business and sell things on Facebook. It's hard. It's February and I am more in debt than what I was in the beginning of this journey, even though I'm making payments. Okay, yes, I've splurged and purchased things. Could they have waited - yeah, probably. But I made the decision to purchase those things and I have to live with the consequences of it. While I'm trying to pay down my debt, I'm also trying...

So today, I received my state tax refund. Direct Deposit is a wonderful thing. $1051 – not a bad chunk of change. But I have to be smart about what I’m spending the money on. Most of my bills that will affect my credit score are paid for the month. So that leaves catching up on utility bills as my top priority. HOA fees, gas, electric, internet. I also need to make a Sam’s Club run for essentials for the house. I did make a purchase this morning that I think will help around the house – air purifiers. One for upstairs in the bathroom and one for work. If they work well, I’ll get another for the downstairs. I’m just getting little desktop ones, so I’m sure I’ll need a couple. But I’m hoping these will get rid of the cat box smell and help prevent me from getting sick at the office. Right now I’m battling through a cold I got on Saturday, when I went to a friend’s daughters’ birthday party. Little kids, even though they aren’t sick, carry colds and viruses on them, then pass th...

Friday Payday! I love payday. I love having money in my account to spend, even if it is on bills. So, as you can see, the debt total has gone down from $21,000. I was able to make payments on credit cards and my unsecured loans today. Plus my first payment (down payment) for the Kirby went through today. I paid all the bills that have an impact on my credit score today. So hopefully that will go up. Speaking of going up - my savings account has some money in it now! *happy dance* I also paid my AAA membership today, since that was due. I've been working on the house a bit and pouring money into that. I'm working on the furnace room right now - putting up real pantry shelves instead of the free-standing shelving unit. I would have finished tonight, but I ran out of brackets. I didn't buy enough. Oh well, I can make a trip tomorrow morning and buy them, then finish up that. I'm hoping to be able to organize that room better. I'd like to put up a few shelves in...

Okay, so the new debt total doesn't look pretty. We are up to $21,109.53. That includes the new debt from buying the Kirby and the debt from buying the furniture. It also includes making a payment on my dental care credit (-$70) and paying off a hospital bill (-$258.74). I had gotten some of my health and wellness dollars for my HSA and used that money wisely. Here's to paying off a hospital bill that was costing me $120 a month. *happy dance* Now, I'd like to say that the $120.00 is going to be snowballing into the next month and paying off something else, but it won't. I won't be putting the snowball into effect until I get my $5000 into my savings account. But it does mean that the $120 will be going towards making the minimum payments for the Kirby and the furniture. And maybe have some leftover for savings. This is a good thing. Oh, and my savings went up $.07! Stash my cash! A lot to celebrate today! Woohoo! Yes, I have added Kirby and Wayfair to the b...

I just seem to be racking up the debt. Seriously. So, last night, I had just finished watching some TV with my son and was settling down to work on my planner pages. I found that there is such a thing as self adhesive laminating pages that don't require heat. Score! Perfect for my monthly calendars. I want them to be a little more durable that what they are, especially the tabs. I'm not easy on my planner - I use it. I had a glass of mead that my brother had brewed. All of a sudden, I hear the doorbell. Okay. Go downstairs and find a woman on my doorstep. She said that she is going around the neighborhood doing a free carpet cleaning. I don't have to pay a thing. Mind you, I had just gotten the new furniture on Friday and I had vacuumed, but I'm not going to turn down a free carpet cleaning. I say "Sure!" and let her in. She comes bringing in 2 boxes. Kirby is on the box. It is a door to door vacuum cleaner sales person. She's going to tell me that m...

Happy Happy New Month! February 1st is here, which means my monthly mortgage payment was paid today. I am now under $160k for my mortgage. A new month also means that I get a dividend for my savings account, bringing my savings total to $1.55. Small victories, but every small victory needs to be celebrated. If you only celebrated the big victories, you'd get discouraged. That's why every sale gets a happy dance. I don't take the little things for granted. Every step achieved means something to you. Might not to other people, but it should mean something to you. New month also means I ran all my computer maintenance stuff this morning. Malware, Avast, hard drive backup, etc. Going to start on the planner updates for the next month today. Just wanted to drop a quick line to my readers. No inspiring messages today, other than to say Happy February! It's a short month, which means spring is that much closer.