Finally decided to go through my personal email and unsubscribe to all the junk I receive. I spent an entire day pretty much clearing out emails. From Mypoints to Sweet Tomatoes, I had thousands of emails.

For some reason, when I check my emails via my iPhone and delete a message, they're not being deleted. Ugh this really sucks.
I've decided that twice a week I'll log into my desktop and remove unwanted messages.

Because most of my emails dealt with coupons, I unsubscribed and created a new email address, AmberCoupons, to have all those things sent there. Junk email reminds me of back in the day, junk mail. It's crazy!

Hopefully keeping those emails separate, will bring me some sanity.

It's the last day of the month/year and though I have had my share of rough patches, I decided to take the challenge and list 31 things that I'm thankful for (not in any particular order).

1. Life
2. A roof over my head
3. Work
4. Friends
5. Family
6. Health
7. My states of mind
8. Clothes on my back
9. Running water
10. Electricity
11. Food
12. Transportation
13. Time spent with my dad
14. Getting to know my dad's family
15. Education
16. Women of opportunities- my scholarship
17. God's grace and mercy
18. All my limbs
19. Ability to hear
20. Ability to see
21. Ability to walk
22. Ability to help others and doing so
23. Ability to forgive ( so many struggle with this)
24. Saving advice- keeps me on track
25. My travels and seeing this beautiful country
26. Not being addicted to drugs and alcohol, it's crazy here in south Florida
27. Shoes on my feet
28. My bed, I could be sleeping on the floor
29. My conscious, with this you'll always do what's right
30. Seeing this day, year
31. My savings

Good morning all!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas 🎄 and Hanukkah

Things for me have been really hectic. As some of you may know my dad passed away late April and left me in charge of things. My oldest brother, who is a complete idiot has decided to sue me because he feels as though I manipulated my dad and everything was to be left for him and not split four ways. I'm splitting thing amongst all the children and he's not happy. So any money left in dad's account for me that I was going to split has to be spent on legal fees. Smh but this is a whole another story in itself.

My mom is still mom, miserable as hell. No matter how we try the woman cannot be satisfied. Her and my second oldest brother and sister barely speak, they both feel as though she should tell my oldest brother he is wrong for suing me and she refuses. I failed to mention that this same brother lied on her and had her in court, not to mention almost locked up in jail (the one suing me) . But what I've learned is that they are two peas in a pod, they're just alike, greedy for money and selfish. Here is a mom incident, to give you an idea of how she is. The other day my nephew was on the phone with his wife and mom was in the background yelling that he was seeing another woman, needless to say that wasn't true and my nephew and his wife had it out once he got home.

I finally got a job, my boss is crazy. The entire team as well as others have spoken to her boss about her attitude, it appears as though she is trying to adjust but we can tell it is extremely difficult for her. We all are just waiting for her to explode

Onto financial news, I've signed up for the 401(k) through my employer, maxing out at 6%, first time I've ever max. The company is on a vesting schedule and they match only 25% up to the first 6%, but hey for me it's free money.

Today marks the end of year for me so I'll be entering in receipts all day getting myself prepared for the new year. I've spent a ton of money and racked up CCs, so it's time for me to buckle down. If ive said it once, I've said it a thousand times, blogging for me keeps me accountable when it comes to my finances, so hopefully I can keep it up.

Happy New Years everyone

About 6 years ago I lost a good friend to cancer and another about three years ago. This year I lost my dad to lung cancer.

Needless to say, if there is a cancer walk happening, I'm there. I don't care if it's $5, I try and make a donation because every little bit counts and cancer sucks.

Well I'm back to work, started two weeks ago.

I've pretty much depleted my savings; however, I've inherited a decent amount of money from dad that I was going to split with my siblings until one started acting up and the other two told me to keep it for myself.

The good news is, is that I haven't spent any of it (dad's), I did deplete my savings while I was out and racked up a few CC bills but thank God I'm back to work.

A few of you asked what I did for a living and I'm a human resource practitioner. I have a master in HR and both HR certifications. My speciality is benefits and I hold a Florida Life Healthy and annuity license.

I'm so thankful to be back to work.

My last post was right after my dad died. Since then I have lost my job, a week after his passing. My employer said it was too much work for the team while I was out. I wasn't elixir FMLA.
My brother has turned into a jerk so now we will be putting my dad's house on the market. So much has happened, finances are in the red and I'm depressed.

Too much to post, just wanted to stop by, please keep me in brayer.

So the BF wanted to go to the Fair, he was taking his two daughters. I told him I wasn't interested, nor did I have the extra cash, but he insisted, so off we go.

To be honest it was nice but he spent a ton of money in my eyes that could have been used for something else.

2 adult tickets - $30
We had two tickets that my company gave us
2 wrist band for rides $50
$80 for the kids to spend
$30 cartoon photo
$5 lemonade
$10.50 corn on the cob
$10 beer
$30 group photo
$8 candy apple
Plus the to-go food that I didn't get a cost of.

Just seem like a ton of money to me for about 2 hours

So I'm at the bank and found someone's debit Visa card. For some strange reason I was scared to touch it let alone pick it up. Strange I know, but you never know.

Needless to say, I picked it up and called the bank to let them know I had found it. After our break in, I'm just paranoid about everything.

Tomorrow we get the security cameras put in and I think once those are installed I'll feel a little better.

So our home was broken into today. Though I'm thankful that no one was hurt and not much was stolen, it still annoys me.

The day started out here raining cats and dogs, heading to work I had my lunch bag, purse and breakfast in hand. Something said to me, lock gate, in my rush I thought I did but didn't check. That was around 8:07 am.

Around 1:30 the boyfriend called to say, the house was broken into and you need to come home.

Low and behold the glass slider was smashed ($275).
Thank God, all the TVs, tablets, digital camera and computer was still in place. The jerk stole every piece of jewelry I had, four of my watches, and the change I've been putting off cashing in. He stole my BF change, his watch I just bought him for Christmas. What bothers me the most, is that the change that was my BF was in his dad's canister, he just want the canister back since his dad is no longer with us. Fir me, my pandora bracelet is missing. It's five years of collecting charms of our story. Though the bracelet is valued over a $1000 it's sentimental value is worth more.

The jerk cut himself breaking in so the officer has his DNA and the neighbors have him on their surveillance camera. The officer said he knew who he was, so hopefully he'll be arrested.

That was my day in a nutshell

H

Well today was a day. I decided at 4:30 am that I will forgo Facebook for one week. I realize I spend way too much time surfing, reading and rereading the same posts. I almost went on during work and decided to delete the app.

I couldn't believe that I woke up this morning, grab my phone and the first thing I did was check Facebook. It's sad. I'll say it was tough, not wanting to see what everybody was doing but I got through the day.

Dad ask me to pay a bill for him, he gave me a $100 and told me to keep the change, about $34. I'm struggling with adding this to my challenge, I've done so good thus far adding all extra cash but I realized I have $294 left in my checking to last me until next Friday. Ugh. I'll play it by ear, I guess.

I also came home and made chili for dinner, this is my second time making it and I must say, it was delicious. The first time I made it, used the crockpot and it was so-so. This time, I used Morcormick chili mix, chopped onions, celery, green peeper, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder and the rest of the items for chili. I couldn't believe how good it was, plus there's left overs for tomorrow.

That's it in a nutshell, nothing else to report.

Found this article on Twitter and thought I would share

I'm broke but all my bills are paid. I have about $200 to last until the next pay day that is the 22nd.

I'm proud of myself, any and every bill that was due from the 7th until the 22nd was paid. This last pay period I started my 401(k) contribution. I could only contribute 2%, wish I could do more but something is better than nothing. The funds chosen were two target funds 80% to the 2040 (my target date) and 20% to the 2035. I appreciate everyone's help with this as well, thank you. I'm still depositing (auto) $15 a week to my IRA account, I figured why stop. Once CC4 is paid off I can up it to $20.

On a different note, I had a phone interview yesterday. I'm super excited, please keep your fingers crossed and candles lit. The hiring manager wants to bring me in to meet with the team next week. What's great about this is, my boss is on vacation so I can leave early or come in late.

Side bar- Yesterday we had an incident at the office. A office manager did not show up to work. Her staff was nervous about it but too afraid to notify anyone because "they did not want to get her in trouble." Apparently her sister hadn't heard from her and called the cops who found her car at a bar. Long story short, she was missing for over 24 hours, found but things do not look good. I say to my boss who is the HR director, that this is a serious problem Andy That the company should be looking at its culture and speaking with staff to reassure them that if there is a concern, it's okay to speak with regionals, HR, exec team etc. Her response, " you are correct, apparently the staff is afraid of the regional, I'm not going to deal with this, let X deal with it he's the VP of Ops, this is a operations issue." All I could do was say, oh and think to myself, I have got to get out of here before the crap hits the fan and she tries to blame someone else for a mistake/stupidity she made.

Once before she held an employee's check, I informed her it was against the law to do so, a clear FLSA violation and she did it anyway. Another time she wanted staff to work a company picnic and not pay them. Unbelievable.

I've paid off 3 CCs and upped my contributions to my IRA. However, I recognize that this isn't enough and I want to start participating in my company's 401(k). Now the company doesn't match, but I'd like to contribute about 2-3%.

The problem is that I have no clue on which funds to pick. I think I'm aggressive a tad bit and want to see my funds grow quickly. I'm also conservative now with how I spend my money. So I guess I'm in the middle

Just wondering if you all can help me pick some funds? If so, that would be great. I've included a screen shot of the funds offered below.

Read this article on the "Money Magazine" Twitter page and thought I would share, interesting .

I noticed that if I comment on someone's blog, and there are follow-up comments, I do not receive the notifications. My email address, is noted to receive notifications.

I do not receive the notifications when comments are made on my blog, I use to but I'm not sure what happened. Can anyone help with this?
I did check my spam and nothing.

Well I finally made it to the Derby, and it was the trip from hell.

Normally the BF and I travel by ourselves, but for some strange reason we decided to travel with another couple, friends.

First, we got there the plane was delayed. Then we get lost and head into the wrong direction, we didnt make it to the hotel until 4am. Oops I failed to mention we asked our friends to rent their own car, we didn't push the issue but never again.

By 9am they were ready to get moving. With only one rental car, I'm annoyed. Keep in mind both me and the BF was up the day before at 4am, we both worked and didn't get in until 4 am, by time we settled it was 5:30 am. This is why you rent your own car. So we get moving at 12:30 but all the places I want to visit are closed due to the Derby. One place was willing to see us, we were about a hour and a half away but the friends stated we wouldn't make it. Normally the BF and I would have just went.

So we go ahead and head to the Oaks, I'm excited but the friend's husband decide to get into an altercation with a man who was hitting on his wife. Unbelievable. So now my BF is annoyed. We leave after the Oats.

Fast forward day of the Derby, we decide to leave at 12 but had to wait for friends about 30 minutes, again you should have your own car. Oops I didn't mention, my BF came down with a terrible cold or flu. We head out to the Derby, only to be stuck in traffic for over a hour. We then get ripped off by the taxi bike driver. We enter go place out wages and I'm ripped off by the teller.

We find a place to sit in the infield, big mistake, never again. Everything is going well but my BF is really sick. So my friends husband decide he wants to use racial epithets (the C word) now my BF is furious. Thank God I didn't hear him, because I know I would have said something. Long story short never again.

Now we return to the hotel and guess whose sick? Me.

That's it in a nutshell, mind you I kept somethings out.

Hello all!

It's National Mobility Month, and my friend Vaughn Mansfield is in need of your votes for a paraplegic van.

Please vote for him at

Checked my Survey Savvy account and I had a balance of $13, so I decided to cash it in. Once received I'll add to my challenge. I only wish I could sign up against with Pinecone

Well here are my three things that I'm grateful for:
• running water
• my back pain subsiding
• my dad's long time girlfriend, she really takes care of him

Three things that I'm thankful for today are:

• My health
• God watching over me
• My job

Hope everyone had a great fourth.

I can say I had a wonderful fourth until we were leaving the fire work display and some idiot decides to set off fireworks into a crowd and guess who got hit with one. Me, ugh.

I couldn't hear for about 2-5 seconds, that was the longest few seconds ever, not to mention I also had particles in my eyes. Ugh!

Made it home and was dizzy as heck, my equilibrium was thrown off. Only good thing was we live close, so I made it home safely very quickly, I didn't have any burns, and it could have been much worst.

All in all that was my fourth.

Its been a a long time, I hope everyone is well.

Here is what's been happening with me:

* August 2013 I received my masters degree
* October 2013 I was let go
* October 2013 started a HR consulting firm (not doing too well)
*January 2014 I became PHR certified
* Thank goodness for the $20 challenge and the 52 week challenge, because I have been living off my savings every since I was let go. I did have to withdraw a little from my IRA as well
*Found a job at Target in their HR department ($10.50/hr) three weeks ago, had to do what I had to do, no benefits but I do like the job
* Was offered a HR position with a growing company paying me a lot more and benefits on Tuesday, starting this coming Monday. I have no idea how I am going to break the news to Target
* Due to my lay off I wasn't able to make deposits for the 52 week challenge or my IRA and I have since started this back up
* Credit cards are still low, I have managed not to rack up any charges on the cards that are paid off.

That's it in a nutshell, I am just thankful to be back working

Getting organized is essential to almost any and everything.

I would say that I have been lackadaisical with keeping up with my spending and my desk looked a mess.

So today I cleaned off my desk, purchased a few stack-able letter holders, pen/pencil holder, paper clip holder and a magazine holder. I also cleaned out a few files to shred some items and honestly, I feel great. Even though I am not done yet it really feels good.

I balanced my accounts too

I now feel like I can get things done. I have an area so that when I receive a call regarding my business I can jot down things without having to run around looking for a pen and paper.

I completed the appeal form for the bank finally, I was charged $39 for three months for a service that I cancelled four months ago.

I also closed my BB&T account, the bank stated charging me $10.00 a month because I do not have direct deposit of $500 or more a month. This account was for miscellaneous items, such as shopping, vacation etc. No way was I going to pay $10.00 a month.

All in all it was a great day

I passed! I'm officially a certified professional in human resources(PHR). I've been studying for the PHR exam for weeks, finally took it and passed. This test is like a newly graduated lawyer passing the bar, , at least me any way.

In the meantime I haven't been blogging but I've been keeping up with the 52 week challenge.
I started backwards and forward, so I'm on week 48 for saving and week 4 for paying down CC 3

Unfortunately I haven't found a job, I've been told at least 4x that I'm over qualified. However, I refuse not show my credentials on my resume, I worked too hard for it. I was told to remove my masters and change my position titles. Smh, before I was under qualified and a year later I'm over qualified.

Besides over qualified is an unprofessional term used by employers who really want to say, I'd like to hire you but refuse to pay you what you're worth. I'm cool with making less, if I wasn't I wouldn't apply.

The business is up and running, haven't gotten a client yet but I'm still in start up mode and have to remind myself that successful men and woman such as Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Oprah all stumbled a few times before becoming successful. Patience.

I'll be rapping up this month's expenses and I spent a ton I turned 40 this month and had a little get together at the house plus it was my turn to host this book club, that ended up being canceled the day before so money wasted. No complaints though.

That's it in a nut shell, if you all have a moment, please review my revamped website and let me know what you think. Please make any suggestions, negative or positive, I've always valued your opinions.

www.KellyHRServices.com

It's my turn to host the monthly book lib meeting, and in doing so I realized I do not have enough items, like plates, glasses and placemats. Thank goodness I have been purchasing certain items throughout the year, last year preparing for this event.

Well I decided to do something different and made my very own wine glass charms. I made this far 40 charms, saving me a ton of money. Supplies cost me about $7 vs. the $10 it would cost for 4 charms.

Take a look.

Hello all!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Happy New Year and fill you all in.

This year I graduated with a Masters in Human Resource Management, I was let go in October Right after that I started Kelly's HR Services and enough I haven't gotten my first client, things are moving along. I was able to keep up with the 52 week challenge until November, only because I was let go.

I've applied for a ton of jobs and have been told I am over qualified or haven't gotten a call back. Long story short this was a great year, I can't complain.

I paid off a few credit cards, and only have 3 left hopefully I will land a job or a few clients.

nothing else to report, hope everyone's holiday season was a joyous one.

Great news, did a little marketing and a gentleman I met with stated he has two small businesses he could refer me to.

Furthermore, I've decided to start my diet again. For every soda I drink, whether it is diet or not, I'm paying $5 on the CC. For every workout on the elliptical $3 is deposited to the $20 challenge and for every day missed $5 to the CC debt.

Also, I received an email that my diploma should be arriving shortly, I'm excited about that.

Well that's it in a nutshell.

Great day, opened my small business
checking account.
Things seem to be picking up very quickly. I met with another small business company with about 15,000 clients and the owner will be adding my logo and number to all his mailings which is about 500 a week.
Also brought on my trainer who will feature the business in her monthly newsletter. Next month I'll be a judge for the Miss Florida Teen USA and my company will be featured there as well.
I'm super excited.
Please like us on Facebook KHRServices

Hi all!
I am officially back, if I'm not mistaken my last post was the start of my summer classes in May , which by the way was super tough.

In the midst of all that I manage to add a little funds to CC, I had previously paid off but it's under control and should be paid off again in September

A lot has happened, first I graduated! Yay I'm so excited. I now have a masters degree, the first and only in my family. Was it tough? Absolutely. Am I glad I stuck it out? Yes
The day of graduation I received a $15,000 raise, sweet. Unfortunately the money now must be paid on student loans.

Also some more great news, I've started a Human Resource firm. Basically the company is geared toward small businesses. I'd like to the point of contact for these businesses as their human resource department but out sourced. I have my first company, a construction business started by the owner of the company I am currently employed. I'll be drafting up the contract Wednesday for her to sign. It's great for me because construction is a tad bit different with all the OSHA requirements so this will help with me gaining more experience and knowledge

Please like my page on Facebook if you can, and share a few of my posts. The goal is to hit 100 likes by the end of the month and get a little traffic on the page. Name of the company is KHRServices

Now that school is out of the way and I've started the new business I can start focusing on paying down the rest of my debt.

I have been keeping up with my 52 week challenge. One thing though I have about $7000 in my savings which is about 6 months worth of expenses. I wonder if I should stop socking away the $25 a week and start paying that on the CC? Any thoughts on this?

Glad to be officially back and don't forget to like my new business ( and share) on Facebook

KHRServices

Just had my wisdom tooth extracted for $275, thank goodness for Aflac.

I'm not feeling too good but I heard the procedure itself could be very painful, I consider myself lucky.

I start the new job next week, so I am trying to get get things done while I'm off. I'll be dropping my car off to the body shop to be repaired and then the the mechanic to take care of the motor mount issue and then she's all done.