Amber's Personal Finance Blog

Preparing for Hurricane Irma is exhausting.

We were able to get our Hurricane supplies but I just feel like I need more. Having gone through, Andrew, Wilma, Francis, Jean and Katrina you just never know. You can be prepared but contingent upon what happens you're not prepared enough.

Please keep us in your prayers as we brace for these storms

Trying to balance my checkbook and I'm off by $12.61. This is driving me crazy. I've checked and double checked, and still can't find the error. I also reviewed the beginning balance and I can't seem to find the error. I took a break, but really wanted to get into reviewing my transactions for the week every Friday.

For two days I have not dined out, I'm so happy. So I'll be adding $6 to the miscellaneous account ($2 for breakfast; $2 for lunch and $2 for dinner) for day one. I'll do the same on CC number 3 for day 2.

We had bought season tickets for college football game last year, with the tickets you get free wings, so Monday I'll dine in, order a Coke and go home. 😀

Started Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University at church two weeks ago and I absolutely love it.

I've created my budget and I'll using the Montana checkbook register method vs the envelope system. Today was pay day, and as my dad use to say, "the best time for a man to pay his bills is when he has the money."

So today I paid bills :

* $50 EF
* $25 church
* $152.12 car insurance (really need to look into getting this lowered)
* $450 rent
* $50 my plot bill ( wanted to be next to my dad)
* $119 JC Penny credit card ( really need to pay this off)
* $54 HSBCbank

I did not buy breakfast today or lunch so I'm adding $2 on a CC and $2 to the EF. Why the small amount? Well every little bit helps and I was able to pay my debt down this way.

Oh I should be going to court in October to finally get the approval to sell the house, fingers crossed 🤞🏾

Finally started the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University class. It was truly an eye opener.

First thing I did was stop my 401(k) the goal is to save a $1,000 (baby step one) and start it back up again. We also had to list our debts, something I never really done, I was surprised to see I have a total of $77,000 in debt, this include $60,000 student loan 🙄

This was also the first time I sat and completed a budget. It's s simple budget as the class refers to it but hey.

I'm excited, I'm hoping that it changes my fiancé's view and understanding of money as well as mine.

This was our first week and Murphy decided to visit and my fiancé said to me, "wow everything that was spoken in class I experienced, I'm listening and ready."

I'll keep you all posted.

Started Financial Peace University with my fiancé on a Sunday, it was definitely an eye opener for both of us.

I'm excited about learning more, paying down debt and being stress free.

After creating budget and looking at all my debt and not just credit cards, I realize this is not what I want my life to continue to be like.

I'll keep you guys updated with how things are going.

Started Financial Peace University with my fiancé on a Sunday, it was definitely an eye opener for both of us.

I'm excited about learning more, paying down debt and being stress free.

After creating budget and looking at all my debt and not just credit cards, I realize this is not what I want my life to continue to be like.

I'll keep you guys updated with how things are going.

Though, I don't blog as much I'm still on track for paying off CC3 by October.

I'm super happy to know that I'm still working on paying down debt. I've gotten CC3 from $1821.31 to $1513.00. Next week is payday and I'll be paying $100 on this card. I can't wait until I'm done and then can start on the fourth card.

Well I went to Target today to check if they had any meats marked down. Unfortunately they only had one pack of 2lb chicken breast with a coupon and refused to mark the others down. Normally when you ask, they will, since the sell by date is the date of the markdown.

Long story short I got the pack of chicken for $0.33. I couldn't believe it. The chicken was 6.99 then marked down, plus I had a $2.00 coupon and I used the Cartwheel app for an extra 25% off. I'll cut the chicken in half, that will give me a total of six pieces.

Love it!

A friend of mine shared with me the bargains she gets on meat at Target 🎯. So I decided to give it a try.

Today I picked up two packs of 2lb Tyson chicken breasts for $1.49 each, actually on the second pack it was $0.75. I also picked up a pack of 10 pork chops for $5 and a two pound pack of ground beef for $3.49. Total spent $10.72.



As I went out side to load my car up I realized the cashier forgot to take a $5.00 coupon off, plus my actual total was $13.22 more than what should have been paid. So I head back into the store 🎯, get my credit and coupon, total refunded $10, leaving me with a whopping $3.22 spent. How cool is that.

I divided the two packs of chicken by cutting each chicken breast into two giving me 3 packs of four chicken. Then I cut the ground beef in half, giving me two packs. Lastly I divided up the pork chops into five piece packs for a total of two. I'm so excited. Now I just have to meal plan for the week.

Wish I could get some steaks at this price.
That's it in a nutshell nothing else to report

My fitness goal for the month of July is to lose 5lbs. Yesterday I've kicked off this challenge by hitting my first 10,000 steps in months, and I also had a chicken salad for dinner.

Today I went out for my morning walk, hitting 5,000 steps and drank 20 ounces of water all before 9 am. Not bad. For every 10,000 made I'll add a $1 to my CC debt, that should be $7 a week.

For dinner, I've decided on hamburger without the bread and homemade baked french fries 🍟. Lunch will be a salad.

Well that's it in a nutshell. I want to wish everyone a fun and safe Fourth of July 🇺🇸🎆

Went to Target today and picked up 2lbs of ground beef for $2.20. I also picked up two packs of chicken that I cut into and packaged into 5 packs of four for dinner. Total cost $10.18, not bad.

I'll be meal planning for the week and hitting Target up next Sunday

I did it, I've paid off CC2 a total of $656.00.

I thought that I wouldn't be able to, but after my fiancé gave me his portion of the bills, I was able to take care of it.

Though my savings isn't that great, just having the CCs paid off makes a huge difference. I feel somewhat free. I say somewhat because I have so many others to pay off.

Now it's off to CC number three, I've already set up the weekly payment of $20 the begin next week.

I'm so happy you all wouldn't believe it.

Hi all,

Hope all is well, I'm just checking in.

Regarding my dad's home, we are having a hard time providing my brother the notice, and unfortunately I don't know where he works to have him served. My attorney reached out to his attorney who informed him that he dropped my brother because he wanted him to do some unethical stuff. All I could do was laugh and then think and say how sad.
I think I know where but I'm just waiting on confirmation. Once I confirm I can provide my attorney the info to have him served at work. I hate to do it there but he's never home, or he's there and not answering.

Next I wanted to pay off my CC yesterday, the balance is $670. I can't because my fiancé don't have his portion of the bills (e.g rent, water) . Smh I have put the wedding off for two years because he has to prove to me that he's able to manage or will be taking the steps to get financially fit. In the mist of everything I found out that his mother hasn't been paying him and when she does she's short. He works for the family business. I've told him over and over that he needs to take over from his mother or he's going to find himself in one big mess. He's crazy about his mom and doesn't want to hurt her feelings. I'm thinking, your mom isn't too crazy about you, you live on your own, engaged and have bills to pay. Either way, there won't be a wedding if he doesn't get it together. We are suppose to start the pre marital counseling and I'm hoping this will help so that he can see it's okay to love mom but not be abused.

That's it in a nutshell

Today is the day that I clean out my closet. I have things that I do not wear, and need to get rid of them. The excuse for keeping them, I'll lose weight. Well six years later and I have not lost the weight.

I'll post photos later

I was reading Women's Day Magazine and came across these apps that are suppose to be useful for saving money and budgeting. Honestly I briefly looked them over, however they seem to be useful. So I'm putting them here and will review later

Feed the Pig - sponsored by the American Institute of CPAs
Feedthepig.org

Level Money - budgeting tool
Levelmoney.com

Digit- monitors spending habits
Digit.co

I have gotten CC2 down to $820, I have an 401(k) with an old company I worked for that has about $900 so I'm going to withdraw it, pay the taxes and pay off the CC. I wasn't with the company long when I signed up but either way, it's enough to pay off this CC.

In other news, it's been a relaxing weekend, enjoy your holiday everyone. 🇺🇸

I was going to go out for breakfast 🍳 but decided to make it at home instead. I'm glad because breakfast out would have been about $20. So I'm adding this amount to the CC.

I had a nice mimosa, scrambled eggs, bacon and potatoes, yummy.

In other news I have a graduation party, then a sweet 16. I decided to do my own hair and toes, that save me $65.

Today is a save money kind of a day.

My fiancé's mother is back in the hospital. She has been diagnosed with congestive heart failure. No surprise there, but the family is surprised, they're all in denial.

After the death of both her husband and daughter, I've seen this woman go downhill. It's sad because I keep telling my fiancé to get her some therapy and he says she won't go. Depression is a serious matter, it allows all sorts of thoughts to enter ones mind. Sad thing is she hasn't been taking her prescriptions as prescribed that has put a strain on her heart.

I'm praying that she can get through this little patch of life she's stuck at.

On the financial side of things, I'm doing okay. This week I have not eaten out for lunch or breakfast, so I paid an extra $20 on CC2. Sunday I start the Dave Ramsey financial peace class so I'm excited about that.

I'm trucking along with the 52 week challenge, I'm at $603 with that.

No other financial news to report

Well I have signed my fiancé and I up for Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace course at the church. I'd like to get our finances under control before entering into a marriage.

He has actually made some adult moves as well. He's registered the business with the state, we are setting up a business account and will start payroll deductions for him. It's a huge step for my fiancé, his mother has always influenced his decisions that is not always in his best interest.

Things are trucking along nicely.

Though I have a nice chunk of change, that my dad left me. I want to build my own wealth and use that money for an emergency, a true emergency 🚨

So with that being said. I took your advice. I'm following Dave Ramsey and will save a $1000, after that I'll tackle CC2 vs wiping out everything.

That's pretty much it in a nutshell.

So I have about $800 set aside and I so want to pay off my CC. Though this will deplete my cash on hand, I'd love to pay off CC2.
Dave Ramsey says to save a$1,000 first and then tackle debt but I just want the CC gone.

I have to laugh because now that I'm engaged I just want everything gone, when it comes to debt. Not that I didn't before but now I'm like it must go.

So I recently got engaged 💍. I always said that I wouldn't marry my BF, he's worst than me when it comes to money. But this last year he has really stepped up. We haven't set a date because I want to make sure that we are both financially sound.

First thing on our list is to sign up for Dave Ramsey's financial peace university. The next class starts in June at the church. Can't wait.

After that we will do some spiritual counseling. Starting that in August.

Today we are meeting with an accountant to get his books in order. He's terrible at filing taxes. This is such a huge step for him. I'm super proud he decided to tackle this. I was so shock when I received the text to set up an appointment.

Next I've created a list of my debt and am tackling them one by one. The goal is to pay off three CCs this year. I'm tackling number two right now. Just $880 to go, yay!

We started a wedding fund, though we haven't set a date. I think it's great to start early. Right now we have $300 in less than a month. So as I say to him, if we can tackle the wedding fund we can tackle his taxes and my debt. It's our motivation. Honestly it feels good that we both want to enter into a marriage with no debt, and a peace of mind.

On another note, hopefully we can sell my dad's house soon and buy the villa we are renting. The attorney is moving a bit slow but I understand that patience is a virtue. What's cool about it, is that my fiancé ( wow it's strange saying that) is okay with purchasing the house in my name, leaving it to my two siblings who are not creating a problem, if something was to happen to me. We'll just set it up so that he lives in the villa until his passing. Our rational is that it's my dad's money so it should go to my siblings, since I have no children.

We decided that once we buy the villa, we can stay there or buy another place and rent the villa out. The place in that we purchase together will be left to his children, since I don't have any and the villa my family.

Oops I forgot, we are pricing venues for the wedding and my goodness weddings are expensive!

So that's it in a nutshell. I'll be sure to stop back by

Oops have you all heard any thing from Julie (Ima Saver)?

Though I haven't been blogging, I've still been saving and working towards paying down my debt.

I've paid off my first CC today, remaining balance was $710, it felt great to knock this little bug, as Dave Ramsey calls them, off my list.

My dad always use to say, the best time for a man to pay his bills is when he has the the money. One thing I've learned is that is true.

Now I'm moving on to CC2, balance is $975. I'm going to transfer tthe weekly $20 payment that I was paying on CC 1 to CC2, goal is to pay this card off by October, and then move on to CC 3.

Well not much spending going on in my area.

Today I'm suppose to show the house, wish me luck. I'll be calling the cops to have them there as I show it. My attorney finally reached out to my brother's attorney, who was very nonchalant about the incident that occurred the week before last. My attorney seem to be very disgusted with him. Needless to say my brother's attorney appeared to have had a conversation with him regarding his harassing behavior because he stopped parking his car in a way that he blocks my entrance. Well I wouldn't say stopped completely. He parks his car now so that another car can't pull in but at least we can park on the other side. Smh

Some of you may know that my dad died last year. We were extremely close, anyone can tell you how close we were.

He left me charge of things. I was planning on moving into the home that he left for both my brother and I, and my brother has completely flipped. Basically dad changed the beneficiary on his accounts to me and told me to share it after all debt has been settled. I sat us all down and told everyone that's what I was going to do and my brother lost it. He says that the money is for him. Needless to say I decided to sell the house, split the money and send him on his way.

This is what happened yesterday when I went to show the house. I had to file a police incident.

Upon arriving to the home, my brother was outside on his bicycle riding, while his van, played loud music. I stayed in my car, at the neighbors, until the investor arrived.

Prior to the team exiting their vehicle, I walked up to their truck and explained to them that My brother maybe an issue. While doing so My brother continued to ride his bicycle in the road. As we approached the gate to enter the property, he got off his bicycle and approached the investor and his colleague and told them both that "they could not see the portion of the house that he reside in and that he had things in it and that he needed to clean up. " Mind you my attorney notified his attorney that we were showing the place.

At that point I informed the team that they may view the home and we walked off. While viewing from the outside of the home My brother informed them (investors) that "he was going to clean the property and have it ready for them." My brother has a number of items on the property in that are a code violation, that I will need to discuss further my attorney.

We entered the home, the investors viewed, and when I opened the door, to the middle room that leads to the second part of the house, things started falling, water was splashing as if the place was boobytrapped.

We then exited the home, and that is when my brother began recording us with a video camera and taking photos. I asked that he not do so without our permission and he continued. As we exit the yard he began to jump up and down, saying the following "Jah is King, fire fire fire, I'm going to burn you up, you're a bumbaclaud, fire fire fire, I'm going to catch you on fire, you let those white people tell you what to do, fire fire fire, I'm going to catch you on fire..." He continued to jump up and down yelling his explicit as the investor and his team got into their vehicle and left. At the same time I called my attorney so that he may hear the commotion and counsel me as to what our next step maybe so that this does not happen in the future.

Meanwhile a neighbor's friend who is leaving his home almost hit My brother with their truck because he is now in the road jumping up and down yelling that he is going to set me on fire.

I went to the police department who stated that they'll take note. This is the second time he has threaten to bring harm to me, once at my mother's home and again yesterday. Unfortunately, I did not have the incident at my mother's noted.

Keep me in prayer.


I've attached a few photos for you as well, he has been blocking the driveway of the home and

So it's the end of January and payday.

I pretty much paid as many things as I could this pay date. I'm hoping that tomorrow is a no spend day and that everything paid today can clear so that I can see where my money went. I can say this, I'm pretty sure the bulk of my spending went to eating out 😩
For February I'm hoping that I can stick to my meal plan.

In other news, my boss signs me up, so she says, for a management training course that she's attending as well. Then complains to everyone else that subordinates and managers shouldn't be in the same training. I'm thinking why did you sign me up? Personally I think she was mad because the trainer asked me three times if I was a manager. He seemed perplexed that I wasn't. The woman is crazy.

I'll be posting my end of month spendings tomorrow.

So today was day one of my tennis lessons, other than being a bit chilly it went great. There were both young and old, as well as those with years experience and those with none. I look forward to learning and advancing my skills.

As far as spending goes I spent $6 at Chick Fil A so I added $6 to my CC debt. I then headed over to the hair care store and spent $51, this included hair care products and a wig. Ugh I hated spending the money but at least I won't need to go to the salon.
The BF put gas in my car so that was good.
Other than that I have nothing else to report.

My goal was to pay an extra $200 on the CC by the end of the month, and it looks like I have met that goal. I'll double check on the 31st, there's some pending things. What sucks is that, I'll be hit with interest but if I keep doing what I'm doing, I'll have it down at least by a $1000 by the the d of February.

On a different note, I'm happy that Saving Advice is back up and running, I was a little nervous.

As you all know my boss is a little crazy, but she did tell me she thought I was smart and should start taking the lead on things so that others do not get credit for my work and suggestions. The problem is when you do some times she is mad and sometimes she's not, you never know which way the wind is blowing with her.

A few days ago a colleague and I was working, well we still are, on a benefit implementation project. I notice that she completed the test without me. Long story short, she calculated the life insurance wrong. I did a little research and realize that the company has been calculating the life insurance wrong now for sometime, smh. She was out for a few days so I brought to my boss' attention. Mind you I'd ask both of them to supply me their spread sheet used for calculation and the plan documents before the testing. I was told that I would get it and never did. In another meeting following, I asked for the spread sheet and the documents. My boss says to me, somewhat sarcastically, "I've already checked the calculations when I started but if you don't trust me or need me to walk through with you, we can do it later." I say to her well if you're comfortable then we're good. Needless to say the calculation were wrong.

So in our meeting I mention that is unethical to not adjust the rates and move forward, my boss gives me an entire spill on why it's not that it's unethical but it's best to start with the next open enrollment vs now. Keep in mind it's a new plan Year and payroll hasn't processed so this is best time to make the adjustments/corrections. So I say to her, I get it and smile but in the meantime I'm thinking A, you never audited the records when you started a year ago. B, if it had been someone else who made the mistake heads would be rolling. C, your direct report with less experience brought it to your attention. D, it's a huge mistake because life insurance is post tax and taxes are now involved as well as wages and E, you'll never admit your mistake.

All I can do is shake my head.

Rambling Mondays ugh!
So the boss sent home an employee who was really sick, we all could tell she was not happy to do so. She told the employee that she must use her PTO time, strange thing is this is an exempt employee.

My mother called earlier, and asked me to take care of at few things. I was a little busy and didn't get around to it. So when she called I explained I hadn't taken care of it and she hung up on me. I was furious but I'm just going to pray for her.

As I was leaving the office, it was very windy all I could think about was a joke my dad use to tell me about the wind. I miss him so much.

I forgot to mention that I've finally signed up for tennis lessons. I've always wanted to learn how to play and the high school is offering it for $47. This is for two hours, once a week for 8 weeks. Not bad, most places want $30-45 a hour.

Lastly today is my very first no spend day of the year, so I'm adding $2 to the CC.

That's it in a nutshell 🥜

I've been using Ibotta for quite sometime but when my dad died I sort of stopped with the rebates.

I received an email that due to my account being inactive, I'll be charged a small fee if I didn't unlock a rebate. So I thought this is a perfect time to get back to earning cash anyway I can and attempted to log in. Well long story short I was unable to log in and tried several times. Fast forward and I receive an email and thought, you must log in. Well I did and the cut off date was 1/15. So I was charged the $1.40. It is a minimal amount but it still sucks.
I think I'm going to send them an email.

On a different note, I've been doing good with adding a few extra funds here and there to get the CC down. I'm hoping that by the end of the month I could have paid down at least a $1000, we will see.