Yesterday was pay day so I paid the following:
$1512 on cc (this money came out of my challenge much of it dental work)
$192.04 Electric
$20 Tithes
$100 on cc
$51.03 Water
$53.53 Directv
$25 IRA
$170 EF ($40 of this was from not paying a phone bill for the land line I no longer have)
$10 X-mas fund
$20 personal spending account
$40 Challenge
$20 Tuition fund
$20 Car fund
Not bad, I actually saved $260 out of my check and still have about $400 left after pain bills but it goes quickly. Oh I forgot I added the extra $10 saved on the satellite bill for referring my dad so I actually added $180 to EF saving a total of $270
Anyhow Tropical storm Fay just left I am so glad that there was not much damage in our area. My sister lost power for a short while but it came back on. The winds were really picking up and it could have been worst but thank goodness it wasn�t.

I am so afraid of change and I think that is what holds me back. I have had the loan papers now to refiance my car for a possible better rate and have yet to fill them out and I finally went in to the office today and did it. The loan officer stated that once they are able to verify my employment I wll then be contacted regarding the loan status. My rate is very high and I have since cleaned up my credit paid off a ton of things and always paid my current loan on time and well over the amount due. So keep your fingers crossed.
I also cancelled my land line which I have been holding off on for a while, why I still don't know so that extra $40 saved will be going to my challenge every month. Next I am going to drop off the paper work for the grant. I have filled them out but have been so afraid to drop them off. Why? Change...I really need to over come that fear.
Today was a no spend day thus far but the day has not ended as of yet so I will wait to add my $2 but I will add $2 to the challenge and $2 to the EF for preparing my breakfast
$5826.38

I woke up yesterday with the worst tooth ache, I was dying over here. Anyhow I had cancelled my appointment because I was feeling better earlier in the day, luckily I was able to reach the dentist who called me in an antibiotic. When I asked if he would and gave him the number to Walgreens he says to me why don't you go to Publix it's free. Because I did not have the number he looked it up for me and called it in, when I went to pick it up it was free, saving me a $15 co-pay How nice. I woke up this morning and I am a little sore, but I am feeling better. I did not go into work today because if this flares up again I want to be able to go straight to the dentist, it's hard to leave once you are at work. Seems as though the antibiotic is working, wish I had known before I spent $185 the other day
On a different note, today was payday so I checked my balance and found a nice little bonus which I immediately added to my EF
I paid bills today, paid my cc in which I charged my tuition but I still owe about $100 on it. I use it to accumulate points and since I have been under the weather I have not entered all my transactions, must do that today in order to stay cc debt free. I paid the cable and phone bill added $50 to my challenge and paid the extra $50 that I am no longer adding to my IRA but to the auto loan principal in an effort to have that car atleast half way paid off by the end of the year.

I have not been blogging like I use to but I have got to start back again or other wards I will be right back in debt. First I want to want you this will be a long blog because so much has happen.
Well I had a great day today until I went to lunch, my mom called me to tell me that the doctor told her they may have to amputate her toe. For months she has been complaining that it was bothering her and I have been trying to get her to switch doctor in order to get a second opinion because he was unable to find anything wrong well he finally decided to do an MRI which found some sort of infection. Well I immediately came home today I know I may have should have stayed at work but I felt like I needed to be with her because she was really upset. I did however, set up an appointment with another doctor in which she still doesn�t want to go because now her other doctor wants to take an MRI of her leg as well. Just keep us in your prayers and that maybe some sort of antibiotic will help
Next I don't know if you heard about the shooting in FL, where this idiot opened fire in a Wendy's, well that was near my job and an area that I travel to once in a while. Lord what is going on
It is sad that some one lost their life but I am also glad that not more people were fatally injured
Furthermore, I can not understand my auto loan. I have to call BoA because you would think that since the principal has decreased wouldn't the amount applied to the interest do the same? It seems like it is higher.
WIth everything going on I was able to finally add to my challenge the $26 from the surveys giving me a new total of $7474.22

Long rant
First I went back to work on Tuesday, as anticipated my coworker left everything for me to do (yep, didn't lift a finger)

Next I notice my car was making a funny noise when I tried to start it (only 6 months since I have had it) to make a long story short, it would not start yesterday or today.
So after a big production on Tuesday trying to get an appointment for an oil change at Carmax I was finally scheduled

Now that I am scheduled, today is the day I take my car in. My uncle jumped my car, so now when I go in I say to the guy I am here for my appointment and in addition could you please check to see why my car is no starting

So he prints out my consent form to service my car only for the oil change, I say to him did you make a note to check why it is not starting? He says yes it s in the computer. Now being the consumer savvy person that I am, I ask him his name and the manager's name because I know that there is a fee for this but Mr. when you walk in the door I am not going to acknowledge you or even look at you for that matter, I guess had no time to enter the information correct. So I give him the key and an alternate number to contact me regarding the status and leave

Now I get a call that my car is ready and it will be $200+ of course I say for what? $54 to check my car $50+ for labor $50+ for the battery, plus my oil change. I say to the guy you have got to be kidding me and I am not paying this (the service for the battery) he says you have to pay for us looking at your car in order to find out what is wrong and that I signed an ok to do so, I say to him, no I signed for a an oil change.

So to make a long story short he says there is nothing he can do about it I say we'll see. Then I called their general manager in addition to the corporate office. In the end I got my oil change for free and picked up a battery from Sam's in which my uncle will put in.

Unbelievable, I guess he figured since I am a woman that I have no clue, guess he�s the whose clueless

Oops I forgot I added $40 to my challenge today , new total $7344.65

Well today was payday from my partime job, $26 dollars went towards the cc, $63 went towards maintenance for my car and $39 went towards my challenge leaving me with a $100 in my personal accout to last me for two weeks

New challenge total $7228.71

Got my second check from Pinecone and added it to my visa payment. The goal is the have this card paid off by January 31st. No way am I going back into debt

I also ate out today $8.50 so I added this amount to my challenge, new total $7035.51

Remember that $5 payment on the my auto loan and the girl was laughing, well the check cleared the bank and it is not posted to my account....arrrrrrrgh

You know I will be contacting them first thing in the morning

I went into BoA because I had an extra $5 to pay on my car and the girl had a nice little laugh. So I said to her if I paid $5 extra a day that will equal $25 which is $100 a month and $1200 for the year. Then I took my receipt and left

Yep the car sold today for $300. I wish I could have added this amount to my challenge but I had t pay for the new car (payment)and car insurance

The girl who called last week about my car called today to say she has all the money and wanted to know if I could pick it up today, but I was on my way to work. So I will pick it up from her on Tuesday, so basically my car sold

I have been so busy that I have not had time to thnink. Taking 3 classes, working both full and partime has had its toll. I have managed to spend a ton of money dining out because I am too lazy. I have however upped my CC balance (dentist and tuition) but on a good note I added to my challenge bring my total to $4662.99
I had a couple of offers on the car everyone wants it but has not bought it
If it is not sold by Friday next week I am calling a junk yard to come and get it atleast I will get a little something

I just posted my car on craiglist, I hope some one takes me up on it I can use the cash. It's an really old car but very clean, they'll need back breaks and an alternator but I will be happy with $200 we'll see. If not I will call a junk yard to pick it up

What I have learned is that if I am not blogging or reading other blogs about finanaces, I fall back into my old ways and that is wasting money. I have been busy with school (3 classes this semester) and have not had time to catch up on my blogging or finances. I have done a ton of shopping so I guess I have fallen off the wagon. It is time to get back on track and make some serious changes.
I paid bills today and made some deposits to my challenge and IRA but my cc debt has risen to about $900 (I will update the total later) but atleast $700 of that is for school
Anyhow, I just wanted to give every one heads up and let you know I am still alive
Added $53 to the challenge
$205 on cc
$143 towards car (saving a little extra towards extra payments)
$30 EF
$10 misc account
$50 for IRA
$44 on water bill
$64 for Cable
$15 for meds
$20 tithes
$35 dentist (had some swelling)
I am still waiting on a check/deposit from Amazon for a book sold which will go towards my cc/school transactions
and I got an extra $5 to for a survey so I am adding this to the challenge as well

Well I went on a shopping spree and bought 1 shirt and a pair of pants, grand total $164 Of course everything is going back. I don't know what I was thinking, since my old car that I drive around in needs an alternator and back breaks. My mos says I she get ri of it but I like the fact that I can drive this car around and put all the miles on it. But we will see

I also had $31 left over in my bill account, tomorrow is payday from the parttime job, so I put $25 in my challenge home account and $6 in the car fund

I finally found someone at BoA who knew what he was talking about. No payments made electronically even with the BoA account will be applied to the principal. I either have to go into the branch, make a payment by phone or mail it in So now I have to close my checking account that I opened with them. What a pain

I don't know if you guys remebered bt I ws told by BoA if I had a checking account with them and paid my bills on line then I can not to make all payments to the principal, well guess what, that is not the case. The following is from their bill pay service:
Bill Pay Help close window
Payment Memo Cannot be Sent
Payment memos cannot be sent to payees that accept electronic payments.
What a joke, now I am closing this account this is crazy

I had abot $50 left in my personal account since my last payday, which is a huge accomplishment for me. So I added $25 to the challenge and $25 to my car account

New total for the challenge $3889.40
In regards to my car I will wait until I get a statement and send a check for the principal it seems like when ever I pay online BoA has a problem with applying it to my principal in the mean time I willearn interest

OK I have about had it with BoA. I was told as long as I write "principal" for any extra payments towards my car it would be applied, well guess what? it wasn't. Now I am PO'd I will be on the phone with them as soon as I get home...this BS

Now that I am blogging and reading more blogs, I am back to my old self...try to save as much as possible. I added my weekly deposit of $25 to my challenge home account bringing my new total to $3874.61. I was trying to save a $1000 a month but now that I have a new car that is out of the question but either way I am back on track. Seems like if I don't read what everyone else is doing or blog I loose focus. Actually I am depositing only half because $12.50 should go on the principal for my car, in that case my new total is $3862.11

Ok as you all know I am nickeling and diming my car payment (by paying extra) any how I do this through my electric orange account (checking) I opened this account so that I can pay my car payment and any extra online. So to make a long story short I have been paying on line now for a while.I check the balance on my car account to compare the numbers and nothing has change the bank (lovely BoA) applied it to the interest (?) I was so mad because the rep I spoke to over the phone informed me any extra payments are applied to the principal, well she was wrong. It took me almost an hour at the branch to straighten it out (and he had to call some place else because he could not fix it at the branch). I can't pay online and have it applied to the principal because I do not have a checking account with them but I have a $5k CD which has been there now for about 3 years and a joint checking with my mom with about $10K (mom's money not mine but my name is on the account) I guess that really deosn't matter since they have $15k of our money in which they use to invest to make money and yet can't won't allow me to pay online and have all extra funds applied to the principal
So my options are to open a checking account in which there is a minimum balance unless I have direct deposit (why would I when ING pays more)or there will be a fee or go into the branch make payments or mail it in (cost .41 cents vs free online ) So I beat them at there own game (not really) I was on line and read if you open a CC you get free checking, no minimum payment no direct deposit required plus I get 0% interest until 2008. So I opened the account and will link my ING account with the bank's and transfer funds that way and then make my principal payments

sorry just needed to vent

Saved $15 today plus the item I bought was tax free (tennis shoes) I was looking for some new tennis shoes and Penney's had them on sale and since it is tax free week I decided go for it
I am adding the $15 to the challenge, $7.50 towards my new home and $7.50 my car. My mom was laughing because I send $5 here and $10 there on my ca but it adds up and I figure the more I pay it down the better

New total for challenge home $3848.82

I added $25 today for not going to the hair salon to my challenge; new balance $3840.81. I also paid an extra $10 on the car loan so now I am down to $17,260.97. Some times it seems like I am not making progress but I know from experience $10 here $5 dollars there will add up quickly

I have good news all around, my nephew came home today. He said he was doing much better and wanted to start work on Monday, I told my sister to go ahead and let him (try not to baby him) so I am happy; he's also not hearing the voices which is great

My brother paid me the $500 + an extra $30 so I was happy with that.

I added $100 to my challenge/home account $50.00 to my car account (for payments) and $20.00 to the principal on my auto loan and paid on my misc stuff like the cc in which I had dental work done

So today was a great day

Well I paid $10 on my car, I think every extra funds I get I will split it between the challenge and my car loan. The goals is to pay off the car ASAP. I don't care if it is a $1, if it is extra $.50 will go towards my challenge and $.50 towards the car's principal. The sooner I pay it off the better

Well I have not been adding to the challenge like I should but I did ad my weekly $25 deposit; new total $3352.85
I also added $148 to my car account, I firgured I still should be adding to this fund for any repairs or insurance etc that will be coming due that new total $756.11. I almost forgot I added$30 to my EF account and $50 to my IRA, paid $100 on the cc as well

To get a new car that is I have been holding off as long as I could but now I am at the end of the road. I took my car in today to my mechanic who could not find anything wrong, but my car was shaking so bad all the way home last night and today that it was scary. It felt as though I was going to cut off any minute. The only thing my mechanic could come up with was age, but I know it is more to it. He said for me to continue to drive it but I am afraid to. I drive about 13 miles to work each day (26mi round trip) and about the same to school two days out of the week so two days a week I average about 52 miles; and leaving school at 10 o'clock at night only to break down on a busy highway I simply do not want. I did apply for a loan and was approved with out a co-signer but the problem is my interest rate is high, very high (13%) even though I have paid bills on time for the last year and paid off CCs I still had some minor things on my credit like doctor bills, a broken cell phone contract by my ex and a partial car loan that the gap insurance did not pay when I wrecked my car ( I am filing a complaint with the BBB, this should have been taken care of and I thought it was)Anyhow, Monday is payday so I am paying off the two small doctor bills, I will later attempt to pay off the cell phone debt and then refinance the car. So this weekend I will be out and about, I am really interested in the Camry so we will see

I need a new car. I was driving along today and my car would not go then when I came to a stop it kept fluttering. I am praying that it last until December but if not I will take the money from my house account to buy a little used car. If it last until December I can save about $3000 for a used car (apy cash of course) and not touch house fund. Boy I really do not want to touch that money

Went to the mechanic today because of course my a/c is out. Anyhow the mechanc just tighten something and it was back working. He did no charge me but I gave him a $5 tip

First I'd like to say how my day went:

I got up early today in order to make breakfast and there was no eggs so I ended up buying breakfast for mom & I ($6 added to the challenge)

Then I took my car to the shop and the mechanic did not charge me for the a/c but he fixed my lighter (that I asked him to look at over a month ago and now did not want fix) that was $48. It actually worked out to my benefit because now I can bring my laptop along and charge my cell phone when low.

I also was able to find a used but practically new book for school at $29, not bad

Now in regards to my goal I added $9.91 to my cchallenge today I am desperately trying to reach $4000 before the end of the month, I really hope I can or come close to it

As you all know i drive a very old car and just paid $400 to get my a/c fix; well guess what it's out again Now I am taking it to the shop to see what's what