Amber's Personal Finance Blog

I'd budgeted $90 for my hair this budget period. Yesterday, I washed and styled it myself, saving me $45. So $25 of this will go towards a graduation gift for a friend's kid and $20 back in the bank. If all goes well next week, I'll do the same, saving me a total $40.

Any one watch the Royal Wedding yesterday? I thought it was nice, not what I expected. Though I'm sure there was a nice penny spent, everything looked so simple. Goes to show, not everything has to be over the top.

My May book is "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki, I saw a poster in one of the DR groups posts about it so I decided to read it. It's okay, an easy and quick read. I agree with some things and some I don't, that's pretty much with any book read, you'll always have some pros and cons. Like all the other books read this month, I can always take something away from it.

Later I'll be adding receipts, and balancing the check book. I'm just in chill mode right now.

My morning started out busy. First, I competed some items that was needed for an event that I'm chairing. Then I had to run around from one bank to the next. I'd open a new account at one bank and the teller didn't have me to sign a document, so I had to go in a sign.

Then I went to my main branch to deposit my change I rolled ($18.50) so I added this to my EF. I really like seeing my EF grow. I know DR says a $1000 and then stop but for me I have to add something. My car is old, I drive extremely far for work, even the new job will be far and if my car ever gives out, I want to have at least 5k saved to be able to purchase a car cash, it gives me a peace of mind. I did say once I hit 3k though, I'll stop adding to it. 3k should be okay for a decent car.

I have a few items to scan for Fetch, iBotta and Receipt Hog. By next week I'll have another $20 to cash out on iBotta, I do have enough points on Receipt Hog for about $20 but I'm going to wait.
It's time consuming but hey it's cash back scanning these receipts.

This week I think I won with money by getting back on track with my budget, and paying a little extra on CC5. Plus I'm not driving too much this week as well. Oops I'm not going to the salon so the $45 budgeted will go to CC5 😊

Took today to balance the credit cards, proud of my myself, I haven't racked up any new debt. Tomorrow I'll tackle my bank statements.

I decided to get back on track with my budget, last three pay periods I went well over (eating out). The only good thing is that I'm socking away about $200 each pay period. I have so many different saving accounts that it seems ridiculous but hey it works for me. One I use for fun things that I may want (vacation/big purchases), medical, car, etc. I just add a little at a time and guess what, it adds up quickly.

I'm enjoying these few days off, prior to starting the new job. Tomorrow I have a few errands to run, and then it's back home.

I gave my resignation and received a call to not come back. It was hurtful but I'm so thankful that I have another job already lined up. I'll be starting that job next Wednesday as the HR manager. The place that I worked is/was very toxic. I've been considering call the Department of Labor on them, FLSA, ACA, FMLA, Title I and VII violations, you name it they do it. But I always say, you reap what you so.

I'm so thankful that God revealed to me, to get the hell out of there.

In financial news, I somewhat blew my budget, well let's face it, I blew it. Over the last few pay periods I didn't stick to it so I decided to get back on track. June is right around the corner and I haven't put a dent in CC5. Hopefully I can knock at least $300 off by the end of June.

With the new job, I was able to get my salary bumped by three grand but this simply covers my medical deductions, so I'll still be making what I made at the old company essentially. Since I'll be coming in as HR manager, one of my goals is to provide better benefits.

One thing I've been telling the SO is that I never want to be in a position where I can't quit my job or help a friend. God has truly placed it on my heart to save and knock these bills out. Yes I've fell off the wagon but thank God I've been steady. I continue to add funds to my EF. I know Dave says no, but for me to be comfortable I must. I've budgeted $50 a pay check, next month I should be at $1300 and it's a great feeling. Goal is to have at least $8K saved.

SO has really stepped up. I don't know if it's because I stop nagging or what, but he's saving and paying the bills on time. Interesting, I did tell him that I was not trying to blow his momentum but that I'm still thinking we need to part ways, he's gone too long without trying. His response was he was tired of disappointing me. My thing is, it took me some time to wake up. We'll see.

In house news, my brother and his family went to my attorney's office raising hell, all last week (multiple time). I've told my attorney to call the police on them. Apparently they're trying to force my attorney into a contract, I call it extortion. Then my brother's girl friend goes on my Facebook page and post a mean GIF, I screen shot it of course. Minutes later she takes it down. What is wrong with people?
I told my mother, who I thought would be able to get him under control, needless to say that didn't work. Smh
I can't wait for this mess to be over. I'm terrified of guns but I took the class to carry a concealed weapon, I have no clue what he's capable of and my other brother keeps telling me to get one to protect myself. Jesus who would have thought

So my attorney called me today to tell me that my brother was back at his office. I'm not sure why he refuse to call the cops 👮🏼 on him. I told him to call the cops 👮🏼 because I'm afraid of what he might do. I also told him that I'll feel bad if something happens but he can't say I didn't tell what to do.

This is absolutely ridiculous, I am praying that we can get through this lean search and close without any additional hiccups. Please keep me in prayer

I realized that my brother is CRAZY 😜

He and his kids went to my attorney's office in an attempt to force him in a contract with them and for him to take money from them. First of all he has an attorney and should be going through his attorney when discussing anything about the property.

Secondly, you can't force someone to take money from you that sounds like extortion to me. Smh
Going forward if I have to go to the property I'm going with the police. He's dangerous. Not sure why my attorney didn't call the police on them.

I just can't wait for this mess to be over.

Ugh, still waiting on my background screening to clear before I give my notice, this is ridiculous it's been over two weeks. I did find out that the organization left something off, and that delayed the process so I should know something Monday.

I'm anxious because my new supervisor at my current job, told me "she has been saving my job." I'm like really? But what ever.

In financial news, I signed up for auto bill pay for my car insurance, that will save me $5 a month. I have the sinking fund going so that hopefully in October I can simply pay the 6 months and not worry about this sucker.

I finally got the contract signed to sell dad's house. Yesterday the inspector went by to view the home. I'm really hoping to have this place sold by the end of the month.

In SO news, for the last few months he's been doing really well with finances, he even socked away his BS1. I was really surprised

I actually blew some money last weekend, I budgeted for most and reworked my budget, to cover what I spent. What I'm most happy with is that no credit cards were used and I was still able to sock away almost $200. Now it's back to budgeting. 😉

Hi all 👋🏾

It's been a minute and of course I fell off the wagon, have to keep blogging.

So I decided to take the job, though it's only $3k more than I currently make it will definitely help boost my career. The position is a HR manager's position, my goal is to work for the company just a year and a half and then look for something much closer to home.

The reason I took the job was because I'm in need of structure. My current employer, is a mess and I honestly see things getting worst with our new VP. I'm so stressed about this job, chest pains, exhaustion and just mentally drained. Everything is a rush. I am not saying that there won't be issues on the next job, but at least I'm transitioning from dealing with 10k+ employees with only two people to, about 400. Not to mention the pay discrepancies. The last person they hired had about 6 month experience in benefits, I have over 5 years, no degree, I have a masters and she made 7k more than me, plus I had to train her. I had to constantly ask for a raise. Finally got it about four months later and they didn't even have the decency to retro. Oh and I failed to mention, I was the senior benefits specialist, and she was the junior, go figure.

I haven't given my notice yet, because I'm waiting on all my background screenings to clear. I explained to the company that I was not giving my notice until everything cleared.

On a budgeting note, well lets just say April was a bust. I'll be crunching the numbers this week.

As you all know, my job is very stressful. I have the opportunity to leave, but it's basically the same distance (30 miles each way) and terrible health insurance ($5k deductible or $2500).

Long story short I'm struggling with what to do. The new position would be a mangers role and less people to deal with but the pay sucks. It's a nonprofit. I asked the hiring manager if they'd consider increasing the salary and she stated after 90 days but I don't know. I'm like I may as well
stay where I have some flexibility

Bye bye Target!

CC4 is officially gone, no more Target bills. This bill has been sitting around like an annoying bug for so long. I'm so excited.

I was having a bad week but to know that this card is gone, is a wonderful feeling.

Now it's on to CC5, hopefully I can get this this sucker gone by June. For some reason I thought I only had five cards left 💳 but I actually have six, 🤦🏾‍♀️🙄.

I hate my job but I am truly thankful that I have one. There's some really evil folks in this place. Everyone has some sort of devotional on their desk. It's sad

Today I prayed for God's peace and ask that he lands me a job closer to home, same pay or even a little higher. Either way I'd love a job much closer to home. I'm really sick of these companies that mistreat staff.

On a different note I opened up a few Capitol One 360 accounts. I notice that having one sinking fund account isn't working for me. I'm constantly using the money for car repairs. So sinking fund 1 is strictly for car maintenance and saving for car insurance while the others is for Christmas, medical and upcoming sorority expenses.

I've updated my side bar to show CC4 is paid off. Tomorrow after I pay my tithes, this sucker will be gone. Thank God! Only five left and this stupid student loan.

I reached out to my attorney to find out what the devil is going on with the sale of my dad's house. We are literally into three months from the court order 🙄🤦🏾‍♀️. He screwed up and accepted a bid without my permission from my brother that was lower than the last bid, he's trying to tell me that's what the judge ordered so I asked for s copy of the order and still haven't received it. I'm really over this and quite frankly I don't care just sell this house and be done with it.

Geesh

I'm so stressed out it is taking a toll on me, I hate my job, want this house sold plus I'm in debt. Dave is right when he says the borrower is slave to the lender. Had I. It had all this debt I could quit that place

One thing I hate about debt and that is interest, 🤦🏾‍♀️.

Pay day is Friday and the new Target statement just hit today, new balance $308.48. I didn't update my side bar, because I'm paying this sucker off first thing Friday morning. That puts me at five more credit cards 💳to go.

I was so upset and embarrassed that I had that many credit cards, then one day I read a Facebook post that someone had 32. I couldn't even imagine having that many, ugh! I'll take my ten any day over 32.

So once this card is paid off, that should free up about $350 a month. Not bad, with this extra money, I should be able to knock CC5 in about five pay periods, that means she'll be paid off by the end of the third quarter. I'm pleased because one of my goals was to pay off a CC each quarter, 4 for the year and I'm on track. Honestly, just thinking about it, I should be able to knock this baby out in 4 periods (August of 2018), the sooner the better.

Hopefully the house will sell and I can pay off CC6, CC7 and CC8. I'm going to fully fund my EF, the job is too unstable for me not to have 6 months worth of expenses saved. That's one of the reasons I put money towards BS1, even if it's $20.

Last year I was an idiot, I did not complete my healthcare activities to earn the $25 credit with my employer and I'm the benefits administrator, smh.

Well this year, I decided to complete and I earned my $25, so I'll be paying $12 a month in health care. Though the insurance sucks, $5,000 deductible, and $10k out of pocket maximum, I'm happy to have the savings. I opened a medical account so each pay period, I'll deposit the extra $25. Next year I'm switching to the HSA plan that way I can save and roll over from year to year.

I've been on a very strict budget, for me that is. Today I went over my dining out/fun money by $6. But hey, I felt like Chinese.

So due to my strict budget I have not gone to the salon 💇🏽. Honestly, I look a mess, but I'm focused on my credit cards. There was a time I was going every week. I had budgeted for the next budget period, a $100 to see the beautician, it's actually about $110. Long story short, the SO came home tonight and handed me a $100 bill 💵. I was so excited but I knew I had to ask, "what's this for?" His response was " go get your hair done."

I had mixed emotions, one I was hoping he would have said do what ever, two I thought maybe he was paying a bill early (he's been caught up and doing very well lately). But when he said hair, I was sort of bumped. I wanted so badly to use the money for CC4. I know I still can, but at least when I get paid next week I won't have to use my money and I can still add to the CC. I know deep down, getting my hair taken care of will definitely up my spirits.

After he walked out, I looked at my budget, cut somethings, and low and behold, since I'm not spending the $100 on hair, I can and will be paying off CC4 on April 13th. I'm so excited I can scream. What a feeling, I can't even explain it.

Four credit cards down since last April and three since starting the Dave Ramsey plan in August. I'm averaging one credit card 💳 every two months since August. Yes!

Next I should be able to knock CC5 out before June. Wow, my goal was to pay off one CC every quarter and we are only one month into to second quarter. Feeling super excited!

Tonight I remembered my word of the year, gratitude. I'm so thankful to be on this journey, though I'm stressed at times about my finances, seeing those balances shrink feels so good.

Thanking God for his grace, guidance and love without Him I couldn't have gotten this far.

The item I sold on Poshmark was delivered today; hopefully the seller accepts the order, and I can deposit the $13.60 to my account.

I've bumped the cost of my items posted; hoping that I can get what I want for them but geesh, this is hard.

I set up auto pay for my cellphone 📱, reducing my bill by $10 💰 plus I ended up with HBO but I actually just broke even. Only good thing is I can call Canada 🇨🇦 without any additional cost.

I'll be setting up my student 👩🏽‍🎓Loans for auto pay, I save 1% on the interest by doing so. I totally forgot to do this 🤦🏾‍♀️

Now I'm wondering if there's anything else I can set up with auto pay that will save me money 💰

Update to post.
I went ahead and signed up for auto pay. I'm actually saving .25% on the interest. It won't stop the bleeding but at least the loan interest will take step backwards. I'm over this student loan.

Finally received my $50 back from a family friend. It was no sweat off my back because I knew he would pay me back, plus he's so good to my senior aunt who does not drive, that it didn't bother me. He actually left an additional $50 because he took so long to pay me back, I gave the extra money 💰 to my aunt. She's amazing.

I keep a buffer in my checking account but I'm going to take the $50 and apply it to CC4 💳 . The goal is to have this sucker paid off by the end of the month and meet my second quarter goal. New balance,$297.61 😄. I haven't used this card maybe in about two years and now, it will be gone! Yay!

Different note, my mother wants my sister out of the house. My mom, and you all have read my posts, is an angry woman. She's absolutely miserable. I felt so bad for my sister. We have a spare room here so I told her she could crash here. I pray that one day my mother's heart ❤️ will soften.

Happy Easter everyone 🐣🙏🏾

Today was a great day, for one I spent no money other than the $1.00 at church.

Secondly I made spaghetti 🍝 for dinner. Usually I go all out and have all this food left over that goes in the trash, this year I decided not to be wasteful.

My April goal is to walk 🚶🏾‍♀️ at least 20 minutes a day, I completed day one 😄.

Lastly, I plan on finishing up, "Unbanking of America," first time in a long time that I borrowed from the library 📚 and will not have to pay a late fee, I call this stupid fee.

I finally balanced my accounts so I'll be taking a look at my March spending.

Oops I almost forgot I sold an item on Poshmark tonight, $13 will be added to the EF

I don't know, I'm super happy for a friend of mine who got promoted and is now making six figures. But I just can't help but think of all the money she waste since she's gotten this promotion. New car, $60k+ two homes with mortgages and looking to buy another. And now she's planning trips for the entire family, extended included.
I love her to pieces, like a sister, but I'd rather see her pay down her debt. You never know what might happen. Oh well 😔

As far as for me, well today was pretty productive. I'm still not watching tv 📺 so I was able to get things done. Cleaned my bathroom 🛀 , balanced my checking account, got an oil change and cleaned the rest of the house. Feeling accomplished.

I tried mobile depositing a check to my sinking fund, but I guess I've reached my limit for March, so I'll wait until tomorrow. I never knew there was a limit.

I also set up a Christmas 🎄 account with Capitol One 360 today. I tried keeping everything in the sinking fund that I use for car maintenance and insurance but I keep having to put money towards the car 🚗🙄🤦🏾‍♀️.

The vacation club, though I've struggled with what to do with this money, I'm going to keep it just for what I started it for, a vacation. I've been socking $20 a pay period and I'm now at $140. The plan is to treat myself to a very nice vacation once this debt is paid off. Though I'm anticipating 2-3 years, I figured I'd have a nice chunk of change and maybe I can go to Monaco 🇲🇨 after all, lol. Monaco is so expensive, I don't know if $40 a month will cut it.

4:30 am and the first thing I did when my eyes 👀 opened, was check my Target 🎯 balance. Thank goodness the $349 was processed, I cab now update my sidebar. Only about $347 dollars left, I'm sure they'll be an additional $5 in interest 🤦🏾‍♀️ but that's the price you pay when you use credit cards 💳.

I also received a request to purchase an item on OfferUp, $10. I hope this is a legitimate sale. So many make offers and don't show up. I decided to no longer meet folks closer or easier for them. Meet me at my nearby police 👮🏼 department. I'm sick of folks not showing.

Lastly, today is a busy day. One I want to get at least 20 minutes of cardio in, secondly I have to get an oil change and then other miscellaneous stuff done. I've decided that both Saturdays and Sundays will not be filled with work so on Sundays I'm resting. I may even head to the beach 🌊 tomorrow

Just paid over $300 on the Target 🎯 bill, my new balance is $349.61. I should have this sucker paid off by the end of April, thank you Jesus.

I pulled my credit score with Transamerica and it was 698, not bad. Think my high score was 702. I noticed that as I pay these suckers off it's creeping back up. The jump is due to the decrease in high balances.

Back to Target, I'm going to be really annoyed if my payment isn't posted right away. They have a tendency of holding high payments. They actually suck, you can only make like two payments in a 7-day period, you can't add decimals. For example, I'd budgeted $348.76 but had to round up. No big deal but I like a balanced budgets, no over budget items just under. And lastly they hold large sums of payments. They make it extremely difficult to get your balance down.

It's 3:29 am and I've already spent the following:
* $196.08 Tithes - not negotiable
* $20 vacation club (savings)
* $211 JCP - minimum payment that include my AAA purchase
* $349 Target - debt snowball

Though a lot has gone out and I haven't cut the rent check yet, I'm thankful because one, I never thought in a million years that I could and would be faithful with my tithes. Secondly, with my raise and paying down debt, I've freed up over $500 a paycheck. Right now all you see are the payments but I'm about to add a total of $107 to my savings. All I think about is, when CC4 💳 is gone that will be another $50.

I'm so overwhelmed with mix emotions. I'm upset that I'm on this journey once again and I'm glad that I'm doing what it takes to no longer be slave to the lender.
I know it takes time and that I'll get there

I've played around with my budget so much for the upcoming period that I drove myself crazy.

I realize that I have become overly obsessed with my budget and paying off debt that I'm actually not eating. Usually when I'm stressed I don't eat, I didn't even realized that I'm stressed. I got on the scale and I'm down 10lbs. I'm glad I lost the weight but not how I did it. 🙄🤦🏾‍♀️

I finally wrapped up my budget, though I can't, well I opted not to, pay extra on these stupid student loans, I decided to sock it to CC4. The good news is, one I replenished what I spent on AAA service, and I will literally cut CC4 💳in half. Once I get a job closer to home, I can cut the AAA service to the lower plan.

Different news, SO came home complaining about his mother. She was able to pay him his pay check 💰 but didn't give him the money for all the things he bought to do the job.

Long story short, she waste money, doesn't manangement the books appropriately and he refuse to say anything to her because he might hurt her feelings. Me, I'm just over it. So I let him rant, while I thought 💭 about all the receipts he has and that I need to scan them to Receipt Hog 🐷 before the cut off date.

Finally when he's done, I just say, "what's the solution?" He says, " I don't know." I say, "well you've been dealing with this since I don't know how long and you need to come up with a solution." I start scanning the receipts and he says "I guess I'm scared." I say, "fear will always hold you back." I finished my scanning of receipts and walk out. I use to feel bad, but I'm over it and my goal to retire at 57 and to make my dad proud. I can't waste time telling a man to take the business from his mom before he falls flat on his face.

I'm m trying to figure out how to get this Target credit card 💳 paid off by mid April. I've revamped the budget a 100x but I can only pay half the amount owed, about $350.

I'm so annoyed because, yesterday my car broke down, flat tire and this is the second nail I've picked up in the last week. I work over a hour away, I had to wait for the SO to come help me, and didn't get home until after 7pm. So today I ordered AAA, cost $100. I'm glad I had the money but annoyed that I had to use it. At least with this service I get a 100 miles of towing, and given that I work about 30 miles away, this is good. Not to mention, my car is 16 years old with over 220k miles.

Now that I think about it, I have to take a look at the budget again, to account for this $100 loss

I'd loved to have one month that Murphy doesn't visit

So I called Great Lakes, and apparently no matter what amount you pay extra, the amount can only be applied to interest. This is absolutely ridiculous, no wonder people take years to pay this crap off.

I'm going to write my Congressman/woman, something had to be done.

So, I've decided not to alter the DR plan after hearing this. I'll go ahead and pay off Target this month.

I received a $10k more on the house, thank goodness. That means more money to pay down debt. 🤦🏾‍♀️🙄. A nice chunk of change going all towards debt, I can just kick myself

SO filled my car up today, ⛽️ so what I had budgeted, $30, I'm throwing to my savings on CC4.

We headed over to Target after church ⛪️, I got cubed steak for dinner on clearance, too bad they didn't have any chicken. Meals are based on what's on sale. I headed to Aldi and picked up apples 🍎, grapes 🍇 and paper towels. Aldi has such great deals.

Now that dinner is in the crockpot, I'm just going to relax for a little while. Love Sundays

I haven't been using my BoA card 💳 other than paying my mom bill and then making the payment the same day. I do this for the points.

I had enough points to add $12.50 to the balance so I requested the points. There was a time that I was big on this but not anymore, cash is my new best friend, points just aren't worth it. Only reason I do this is to keep my mom expenses separate from mine when I'm balancing. Oops I do not pay my mother's bill, she's a senior and refuse to learn how to use online bill pay so I do it for her, with her money lol.

Regarding the student loan, I figured out I have to pay an extra $200 a month the keep this thing from getting higher, that's what I'm paying in interest. Ugh. I did not know what the devil I signed up for when I signed up for my masters. I have adjusted the budget to reflect this extra payment. I'm just happy that I am becoming more financially conscious.

I'm thinking of using the so called vacation fund as my fun money. Right now I budget $20 a pay period to go to this account, and I typically budget $30 to $40 for fun. I've been debating on what to do with this account, well now I know. This will be my fun money. The $30-40 typically budgeted will be added to CC4.

Since I've cut out the tv 📺, I have been more productive. Grant it I did waste a little time surfing the internet but I accomplished a lot. I cleaned the kitchen from top to bottom, I went through my dining and living area, changed the sheets on the bed and put away laundry that I've been holding out on.

Lastly, I tackled my budget, and planner, getting ready for April, next month things are really lean. I managed to budget the extra $100 a month I'd like to save, pay extra on CC4 and pay extra on those stupid student loans. I feel pretty good. Only thing I'm concerned with is should I pay the extra on the principle or the interest? The interest compounds daily

Up late and checking balance dues. While doing so, I noticed that if I select auto payment for my student loans, my loan rate will reduce by .25%. It's not much but it's enough to save me some money so I'm signing up.

I also noticed that even though I pay every month my loan balance is increasing. I pay only the minimum, but shouldn't it go down a little? WTH? This makes me so angry, I now want to tackle this debt before the CCs. I know I'll be out of order of the baby steps but this is absolutely ridiculous. I think, well I know, I'm going to change somethings around regarding my monthly goals. Right now it's to save $200 a month to the EF, I'm still going to this. It's not part of the steps but it gives me comfort; being able to cash flow some things, such as my $300 car repair is better than accumulating more CC debt. Once I get BS1 to $3k I can stop adding to it. After looking at my loan debt, I'm going to add a monthly goal to pay an extra $100 on the loan. I'm going to revamp my budget.

Goals revamp
* Yearly pay down debt, stick with a budget
* Quarterly pay off one CC (four for the year)
* Monthly save $200 and pay $100 on student loan. Read one nonfiction book 📚 preferably on finances
* Daily get a little exercise in

Since I'm not going on vacation, I'm not sure what to do with the money. I feel like a) I should throw it at debt, it's about $40 a month. Or b) keep adding to it, to give myself a little me time one weekend. I'm so tired and I'd love to check in, at a hotel on the beach 🌊 and just unplug. All by myself. Or c) purchase that laptop I've been wanting and not needing. I'd love a laptop that I can carry with me. I can use it to work on my budget while I'm away or in bed. It's more for convenience.

Lastly one of my coworkers birthday is coming up. I really like her. She's planning happy hour 🍷 Monday but I've already blew through my fun money, for another coworker. This is where discipline comes in. I'm going to have to let her know that I just can't make it. I have nice bottle of wine 🍷 that I'm going to give her as a gift. I do have the vacation club money and the buffer in the checking but I just can't do it. I don't want to get in the habit of shuffling money around. I'm just going to let her know that I can't make it.

Update to post. So apparently there are rules in my student loan agreement that, require that outstanding interest and late fees (if applicable*) must be paid first, prior to a payment being applied to the loan principal. I check my loan balance and notice that it was going up vs down. I know Dave says to pay the smallest to largest debt first but the way things are going, I'll be in a 100k student loan debt if I don't pay this off.

I have one of two options for the extra payments and need your help.

Standard Allocation
(Most common)
* Once scheduled monthly payment and all outstanding interest has been paid, excess will be applied to the loan with the highest interest rate, thus costing supposedly costing me less interest over time. 
Done automatically.
Custom Allocation
(Least common)
* Once scheduled monthly payment has been paid, excess will be applied to the specific loans of your choosing. I set up manually.
* Here I can allocate how much of the excess payment is applied to the interest and how much is applied to the principle

I'm 13 days in and haven't watched any tv 📺. To be honest with you my hardest days are the weekends, but I find things to do around the house.

I pretty much surf the internet and read. If things goes well I'm cutting the cable down even more, probably turn that sucker off. I have been looking at different digital antennas.

On a different note I have a job interview today for a HR manager role. I'm a little annoyed because the interview is in the middle of the day. I hate that especially when the organization knows that you are working. But I'm going and will be late. Going forward, if I can't get an early morning interview then I'm not going. I'm so ready to leave this job that I am at. However, my prayer is that my next job is where God wants me

What a day!

Today I was to be off and run a few errands, well I didn't get home until after two.

First stop, doctor's office. The wait there is always annoying but thank God I only come once a year. I was also happy, because the $65 budgeted for this visit, I didn't have to pay, I'm thinking snowball.

Next I went to have my lab work done. I'd schedule an appointment at a different facility but with the same company. Since there's one near my doctor's 👩🏾‍⚕️ office, I head over, only to find out there's no where for me to sit, the place is packed. I stop at another lab 🔬, that one is more packed than the other. I tried the third one, I had difficulties finding it and that was more crowded than the previous two, smh. So I head to the location that I actually have the appointment. I was trying to get in earlier because I was Fasting and starving.

Since the location that I have the appointment at is near a tire place, I drop my car off to have my tire looked at. Every other day I'm adding air. I found out that I had a nail. I knew it would be some what of a wait so I head over to lab. Get there, and they can't locate the doctor's order. I give the intake specialist my prescription 💊and she's still having a problem. Smh. Finally she finds the order. I get my blood work done before my appointment and I'm happy 😊.

Head over to Ross to kill time. While there I felt uncomfortable. Though I have money set aside for fun, Ross is the last place I want to speak my money. I look down and notice that the tire company called.

I walk back to the tire place, my car is fixed and it's $21. Yay for me because I'm thinking I can add the difference that wasn't paid at the doctor's office to my CC.

Get outside and the car 🚗 won't start. I mean nothing. The mechanic 👨🏾‍🔧comes and does something, then tells me it's my starter. Cost $336. I'm not happy but glad I have the cash to be able to pay to have the repairs.

So while they're working on the car 🚗 I walk to Walmart. I found the book lamp that I was looking for. Went there last night and the clerk told me they didn't have them. I did look in the area of the books but missed it last night. I'm glad I found it though. I've cut out tv 📺 and am reading a lot more. With every financial book 📚 I learn something and that I'm thankful for.

After all that I am now I'm home 🏡 thankful

So I got another bid on the house, about $5k more. We have until the 26th to have the bids in and then 15 days after to close. This is my dad's house.

My attorney told me I'll be able to get all my legal fees and tax money back. The good news is, with the sale of the house I should be able to pay off debt.

Here's my dilemma and I need your help. As you all know, I'm following the DR plan. Dave says not to buy a house unless all debt is paid off. And 3-6 month expenses are saved.

First, I can take the money from the sale of the house and pay off all CC debt and half of the lower student loan.

Secondly I can pay off all CC debt except maybe one card 💳 and keep the student loan using the remainder of the money for a down payment on the house.

The house, well villa I'm in is being sold to me for below market price, about $20-30,000 less. The mortgage will be $635 about $300 less than what I pay now in rent.

I'm thinking if I go with option two, I could have the one CC paid off by or before the end of the year and be left with the student loan and a mortgage. I'll be tackling the student loan and with no CC debt (about $1000 a month in minimum payments) I should be able to knock out one loan in a year and a half.

I'm really nervous about letting this villa go, the price is too good to miss out on. Homes in the area sell for about $300k and have stayed high even during the recession, the only slightly decrease. To get this place at $140k is a steal. Plus I've been living here for the last 7 years.

I'm in Palm Beach Florida and yes homes are extremely expensive, we are one of the richest counties, roll my eyes, in the nation. Homes in the worst neighborhoods (crime) are selling for $190k +

If I could pay off Target before the sale, that would leave me with 6 CCs. I'm sure this card will be paid off by end of month early April. With that being said, I'd knock out all CCs except number 10, paying it down by at least half.
Now, I do have about $15k in a savings account. As you all recall that's money I do not want to touch and it's not listed on my sidebar, this would be my 3-6 months worth of expenses should something happen.

I know I know but I'm really leaning towards buying the villa, ugh! I just hate I got myself back into debt, it makes me sick.

Tackling the debt was the best thing I could have done.

Just looked at my budget for the next budget period and realized I can put 20 to 25 percent of my income into savings and still pay a little extra on the CC. Though I'd love to do that, I'm going to throw it at CC4 to get it down to $400 or less. Then I'll add a little to the EF to bump me over the $1200 mark.
This is all after paying my tithes first. God has truly blessed me. My prayer is that I continue on this path with no looking 👀 back. One of these days I'm going to be that person, walking around handing out $100 bills during Christmas time.

When you're doing what you are suppose to, you not only pay bills on time, something I never had a problem with, but you're way ahead of schedule. I usually pay the BoA credit card 💳 with the last check of the month because it's not due until the 2nd or 3rd, but for some reason I paid it the last budget period. Lol. I couldn't believe I had done that, and to be honest I'm not sure why. Maybe God wanted me to see the fruits of my labor.

I'm so loving this.

Saturday I went into a beauty supply store, and casually mentioned I wouldn't mind working part time, the owner's son offered me a job. I was like wow! They know me, I frequent the location, but the problem is that I can only do two Saturdays and month and Sundays are out, God has been too good for me not to worship. I'm going to pray on it and see if something doesn't work itself out where I can take on the extra job. I can use the extra cash to pay down student loan debt 👩🏽‍🎓. That would be awesome.

I forgot to mention that the SO suggested that we go out for ice cream 🍦 St. Paddy's Day 🍀. We're doing this less tv 📺 thing. I was a little hesitant but thought why not? Long story short, ice cream 🍦 and a milkshake was $20 at Kilwins, yikes! I wanted to scream but kept my mouth shut 🤐 . For the last two weeks he's been doing pretty good. But I couldn't help but wonder why couldn't we add this $20 to the EF or debt? I need to stop focusing on finances so much and enjoy life, but not to the point that I'm back where I started. I find myself not wanting to spend the fun money 💰 that I budget 🤦🏾‍♀️.

Honestly; it was a nice outing. We people 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦watched, found a really cool bookstore 📚 , and a super cozy coffee ☕️ shop that just so happen to be having spoken words, so we sat in. All in all it was a great weekend.