Amber's Personal Finance Blog

So I usually pack my lunch because one, I can't afford to eat out every day, two I like my quiet time to read up on a few HR things and Bible study, three it's expensive to eat out.

So my boss comes and says the team is going out to lunch and she'd like to take me out for my birthday. I declined respectfully and explained that I had already plugged in my crockpot lunchbox. She insists and so does other teammates, so I say okay. We get there order, and the waitress comes and ask if the checks are separate. My boss who was taking me out to lunch says yes.

😡 Now I'm annoyed. First you said you wanted to take me out, second I had already packed my lunch and two we spent our lunch wolfing down our food because you're in a hurry, not to mention she didn't eat any of her food and complained the entire time. Ugh
Lunch was $14 but I added $5 for a tip costing me $19. And because I had not budgeted and any time I do this I pay the same amount on my CC. Ugh. $40 I really didn't want to spend and it was rude.
Twice this week I've been bamboolzed and it won't happen again.
Next time I pack my lunch, I'll be eating my lunch.

Today was a busy day, but at least I feel accomplished. First, I took my car to have my tires rotated. I'm bad when it comes to this. But since I bought tires a few months ago and I'm traveling far for work, it's best that I keep them up. Not to mention I paid the extra $12 per tire for future rotation cost.

Then I took my car to be cleaned. I had a voucher for a car wash that I'd purchase a few months ago and I totally forgot I had it, so I used it. Whew and my car 🚗 sure needed it.

Next I put a load in and took one out. I actually put a load up and not placed it on the chair. I hate putting away clothes.

Then I tackled my desk. What a mess! I finally went through a ton of papers. Though I'm not done, at least I got most of it off my desk

As I'm typing, I think I'll Google the average cost of tire rotation and balance and if there is a difference I'll add it on my CC. Every little bit helps.

One thing my dad has always said and that was, " A best time for a man to pay his bills is when he has the money." Trust me when I tell you, this is a true statement. You may not have much afterwards but at least your bills are paid.

Got up this morning, said thank you to the Lord for letting me see another day. I forgot it was my birthday, until I got a few texts. So I'm adding being thankful for another birthday to my list.

I'm also thankful because I was able to pay my CC bill as soon as I got it (best time to pay a bill) . I checked my emails and there was a bill from HSBC. I'm really sick of these CC bills. Like Dave Ramsey says, they're like little bugs, flying around nagging you. I can't wait to get the bills down and out of my hair. I can say, I got my BoA CC down by almost $200 this month, this comes from $2-$7 here and there.

So long as I continue to do as my dad says and blog here, I should have most of my debt paid off by December.

If you knew me well, you'd know I love clothes. It's one of my weaknesses. The other day I bought a sweater and I thought, why? You don't need it, so I returned it. Today I bought a pair of pants, for an event tomorrow and I thought, you don't really like them and it's only for one day. So tomorrow I'll be returning.

I've been doing pretty good and not drinking any sodas. For every day I don't have a soda, I pay $2 on the CC, that's $14 a week. If I keep it up, it will be an extra $56 dollars every month.

Today I had brunch with a friend for her birthday. The place she chose, I can't stand. It's too loud, and I'm use to the nice little quaint places for brunch, not this new stuff with music and a DJ. She chooses this spot every year. Anyway, I forgot to budget for it so I spent $38 (including tip) and added an additional $40 to the CC since I had not had this item in my budget.

Tomorrow I'll be entering receipts, I think so far I'm doing pretty good with keeping my spending down.

When ever my classmate is in town, he always wants us to get together. I really didn't want to go and spend any money but I decided to go, since we hardly see each other.

Needless I was glad I went,it was great seeing everyone. We had great conversations and was able to capture the moment with photos. He also decided to foot the bill and we just left the tip. I thought that was nice.

I decided to take what o saved, about $13 (I had a salad) and $5 in tip, and paid it on the CC. I figured, why not? I would have spent this anyway.

This weekend, I'll update my sidebar. I've been a little busy.

Hi all!

I received a ton of calls today. I actually work in Fort Lauderdale not too far from the airport. We could hear the sirens and noticed the planes ✈️ circling around because they were unable to land.
Then there was an individual who jumped off a bridge on a major highway, what a day.

In the end, I'm safe. Thank God my little 5 year old cousin flew out yesterday vs today. He's traveling by himself with of course an attendant. Scary just scary

For two days I did not have a soda. I almost caved in yesterday because I was stressed but I didn't. So for that, I paid $4 on the CC. I know some would say $4, but $4 here, $2 there all added up and I was debt free at one point by simply doing this. So I'm back at it.

Also thanks to everyone who has joined the Fitbit challenge. I haven't met my goal of 10k but at least I'm back walking. I did 30 minutes tonight, super proud of myself. I'm adding $2 to my challenge for being active.

So all hell finally broke lose. I received a call from my brother's attorney yesterday, wanting to know what my intentions were regarding my father's property. First of all I thought it was weird given the fact that he represents my brother, who mind you is suing me, and I also have an attorney. He called having me on speaker, so I suspected that my brother was in his office. Needless to say I informed him to contact my attorney. What do I look like speaking with the man hired to sue me? Is this even legal?

Fast forward a hour later and I'm at my mom. My brother pulls up. My first intentions are to leave but I say no this is still your brother if he speaks at least say hello. He speaks, I say hello. I start getting my things together to leave and he starts up. Stating no one is telling him what's going on. Um duh you have council shouldn't he be speaking with you? Anyway he becomes irate, threaten me and leave. All while my mother is there not saying one word. Smh you would think she would say, this is your sister don't threaten her etc. the woman said nothing. Her and my brother are just alike, selfish and greedy. So long as they can get something out of it they won't say a word.

Long story short as PR of my father's estate I have taken possession of the truck, that my brother was told months ago to stop driving because he puts the estate as risk (e.g. Accident). Oh yeah and he parks it in such a way that I cannot come on the property. I'll be reaching out to my attorney to see if there is a way for me to take possession of the house to get it ready for sell. I'm done being nice. My mother is worried that at 57 he will have no where to live but mind you this is the same woman who told me to get the F out of her house because I left laundry in the washing machine, and I had nowhere to go. The same woman who just told my sister to get out, with nowhere to go and to our knowledge no one knows exactly why. The same woman who stop speaking to her other son because he told her you need to tell my oldest brother that he is wrong. And she's worried about a 57 year who goes to work every day has no car payment, no mortgage, no CC payments and have lived rent free for over ten years? Her excuse, he won't have anywhere to put his things. He's a hoarder. Smh

Today was a good day, no sodas. I had given them up for some time, but then boom I started again. I decided to pay myself $2 for every time I don't have a soda. I think by doing so it will encourage me to drink more water 💦

On a different note 📝 , I only spent $27 dollars today filling up my car, and a $100 on the cable, my fingers are crossed that tomorrow is a no spend day. I have to figure out how to get this cable bill down. I'm really considering a fire stick.

Lastly, my mom finally did it, she told my sister to get out. I can't figure out for the life of me why she is so hateful. My sister cause no trouble, she goes to work, church and home. My mother is up in age and not doing well. We all have said it, she's going to find herself in that house alone.

So over the holidays 🎄🥂🎁 I purchased jeans👖 , very expensive jeans using my CCs, racking up debt that I don't need. My mind told me they're on sale so they're not that expensive, never mind that I simply don't need them.

Needless to say, they didn't fit and I needed to exchange them. I was contemplating returning them but I really liked them and opted to do an exchange. So I trucked on to the mall, first to Macy's for my exchange, but they didn't have any in my size so I returned them, $60 back on the CC. Then to Nordstrom and low and behold, they didn't have my size, so another $60 was added back to the CC.

As I was leaving, I ran into an old friend I haven't seen in years. We chatted and she asked if I wanted to meet for lunch. I thought about it, and remembered my meal plan and said no. I'm not in a position to eat out this month. I told her let plan something later on, that way I can budget next month my dining out expense. Proud of myself, think I might add the $20 saved to my challenge.

I'm glad to be back blogging, it keeps me in track.

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.

Happy New Year everyone! 🥂🍾🎆

Today was a little busy for me. Went to church, then off to find a belated Christmas gift for my boss, cleaned my car, meal prep and grocery shopping. I really wanted to get my shopping out of the way so that I could have a no spend day tomorrow but I forgot to get gas.

Church was awesome, it's been a while since I've been the first Sunday of the month, let alone the year. Unfortunately, things are tight so I was only able to make a $20 donation.

From there I headed over to Michael's, I wanted a new planner but just couldn't bring myself to spend over $30 on one. I would have had to purchase the binder, that was $20, the calendar another $5, plus other things I wanted like the meal plan, and fitness items. Just not worth it.

I was going to go to Bed Bath and Beyond but decided to head to the Christian bookstore to get a gift for my aunt ($7). While there, they had a lotion/bath set at half price for $10 so I picked this up for my boss. Not bad. Though I hate gift exchanges we had one at the office, the boss was on vacation so I made out like a bandit by waiting. Oh yeah and I found a lovely planner for $10.

From there I ended up buying a sub, ugh. Cost me about $10 with a drink and chips, needless to say because I ate out, I had to also pay $5 on the CC and add $5 to my savings. I figured, if I had the money to eat out I should have the money to pay down debt and save.

Once home, I created a meal plan for the week. From that I went grocery shopping ($64), I'm hoping to stay focus and keep up with my meal planning.

Lastly, I washed my car myself, costing me about $6, saving me another $6 so I'm adding the $6 saved to debt reduction and savings.

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

So I have been entering receipts all day, ugh. I want to make sure that everything is entered and accounts are balanced for the start of the year.

I have been so lax with my finances, I didn't even notice that the plot I would like to purchase next to my dad was not being deducted from my account, so tomorrow I have to take care of this. I also manage to rack up so much CC debt. I'm so annoyed with myself, especially because I know better.

My mom, had my sister in tears tonight, I'm really at a my whits end with my mother, she makes trying to have a relationship with her extremely difficult.

So tomorrow, I'll be back at tackling the finances and clearing things up. Wish me luck.

Oops almost forgot, I am back at the $20 Challenge. Today, I dined out spent $10.00 so I added an extra $5.00 to my CC payment and an extra $5.00 to the savings account. if I can spend $10.00 foolishly I should be able to save and pay down debt as well.

Today was the day that I was to enter in my end of year receipts and update my financial registers so that I'm ready for 2017, and yet I've been stuck in the bed with the cold/flu. This really sucks, I wanted this completed before Saturday. Hopefully; tomorrow will be a better day.

I used a few home remedies such as Vicks and cerasee tea, I no longer have the sore throat but I can't stop my nose from running. Needless to say I feel a little better but I hope I'm able to complete some things tomorrow.

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.

Dad past away on Monday, April 25th at 3:50 am. He's at peace now.

So the brunch was a hit, everyone wants me to do it again next year. We are actually going to turn my idea into a for profit business. Of course my mom was not there to support, but that's typical.

Dad has been in the hospital since Wednesday, he was doing well but then boom he started acting up, removing his oxygen and trying to remove his cath, we had to restrain him 😢
In mother news, today is her birthday and somehow she managed to have my sister in tears. Nothing hurts more than words and wanting to have a relationship with your mother. I explained to my sister that, though I understand, she's going to have to try really hard and let things go. Our mother, I've learned is just plain old evil. There's no getting around it. She's always negative, only do things so that others can say she did this or that, never from the heart. With her there is always a motive as to why she does things. Our dad said it best, she can't love because she doesn't know how, and she hasn't learned to forgive.

Financial news I was able to still add to the house fund, reaching $3400, hoping to hit 5k by June. I've been spending a lot more since dad has been in the hospital, dining out has been the culprit.

So I haven't blogged, been super busy.
The brunch went well, mom did not show, actually only my sister. I was a bit heart broken but what can you do. Everyone wants me to do it again next year so I said okay.

In other news, dad has been down since turning 80 and refuses to eat. I took him to the doctor and he got into a huge pow wow with her. He says he's weak but I think it has a lot to do with the fact he is not eating or drinking fluids. I really need you all to pray for me,he is my world

I've been on a little hiatus planning an up coming brunch for this coming Saturday.

When I was in 12th grade, day dreaming, a thought popped into my head that when I started doing a little better for myself that I would reward another woman the opportunity to continue her education. So I decided to have s brunch. Ticket sales would cover the brunch and scholarship.

So last year I decided to just do it and it's coming true Saturday. I broke even, didn't make any money out of it and I'm happy with that, I just wanted to give back.

Now here is the disappointing thing. As you all know my mom and I have had a very rough relationship. Needless to say I ask her to purchase a ticket and she agreed. I also asked her to ask her friends and she tells me know. At first I was upset and then that quickly turned to anger. Reason being, when her friends kids are selling anything she's happy and assist with the sale. However, when it's her own children she refuses. This occurred a few months ago.

Fast forward today I swing by because my sister is making a donation. My BF ask my mother if she's attending, her response is no. I figured that much. But what gets me and what was most hurtful was she turns to me and say, "why would you even want to do something like that?" I don't respond and my boy friend jumps in and says, oh it's a great thing, too bad other people aren't as giving. Why is/was it so hard for her to say congratulations, I'm happy for you, or hope everything goes well.

I can't understand for the life of me why this woman is always so negative, hurtful and non-supportive of her own children. I would have felt better if she had kept her mouth shut.

My sister told me today, that the photos that she had taken for our mother's 75th birthday, and mind you hiring a photographer isn't cheap, my mom gave her back the photos. I'm thinking, wouldn't you want those memories? She simply went into my sister's room and placed them in the bed.

The woman is so hateful and bitter. I pray that God allows me to forgive her, but for some reason and I'm sorry I can't stand the woman. As soon as I think, okay she's coming around she does something else. I try so hard to try and have a relationship with her but honestly it pains me, I'd rather not be bothered. The only thing is, I often think what if something happened to her, and I didn't try to build a better relationship.

She tells my BF she loves him, but never has said it to me, Christmas rolls around she buys others children gifts and not even a card for me. The last time she ever bought a Christmas gift for me I was in 6th grade. I'm 42 now.

I'm sorry I just needed share, please keep me in prayer.
Ugh

Yeah I hit my $3,000 mark today. I'm so excited, it pay day so I added $200 to my $20/52 week challenge. For some $3,000 may not be a lot, but it's a huge accomplishment for me.

As I begin pricing homes, I realize that things are way too expensive, I don't want to lose hope, so I'm saying a prayer that this will be the year that I can make things happen.

After March, I'm going to start looking for a part-time job or one that pays me more money.

Well, I got paid and added my $50 to the house fund, coupled that with the $100 dad gave me as well as the extra $17 to round things up, and now my new total is $2,600. I'm hoping I can hit that $3,000 mark by end of March.

Looks like today will be my first no spend day in months. I'm here with dad and will be heading home shortly, when I realized I haven't spent a dime. So I'll be adding $2 on the BoA CC.

In healthy living news, today is day 2 and I have not had a soda, adding $1 to the BoA CC. I also walked a little over a mile today so another buck added to the CC. In all today, I'll be adding $4 payment to the BoA CC.

I really tried today to make it a no spend day but that didn't happened. Needed a few girly things so I headed to the store. While I was there I went ahead and picked up snack and dinner for tomorrow.

I did workout today. I started back walking/running. I want to train myself to run at least a 3k

I will say this, today was the first day in awhile that I did not have a soda, yay! I was so excited, and to be honest I wasn't even craving one.

In financial news, I checked my checking account and I had $.90 worth of change so I rounded down and added the $.90 to the credit card. Because I worked out and didn't have a soda I added two more dollars to the $.90, giving me a total of $2.90 paid on the CC.

That's it in a nutshell. Hopefully tomorrow I won't spend a dime.

Last year was a rough year for the BF and I, at one point I was really considering leaving him. But then all of a sudden he stepped up, paying his bills on time and taking care of what needed to be done around the house.

We haven't really done a lot together so I decided to come up with a "Date Night Jar." Basically we both put four stickies each of what we would like to do for a night/day.

For me I chose the following

Dinner - we have a $50 gift card
Drive through movie
Game night at home
Polo match

Not sure what the BF wrote, it's suppose to be a surprise. On Thursday each week will pull a sticky so that we know what we will be doing. I'm excited.

So I decided to make a crockpot chicken and stuffing dinner, found on Pinterest, love that site.

Two large chicken breast - cut into 2
1 can of cream of chicken
1 can of chicken broth
Pepperidge Farm stuffing (half bag)

Place chicken in the crock pot - seasoned with salt, pepper
Add the stuffing
Mix the broth/cream of mushroom - add a little onion and chopped celery
Pour mixture over stuffing
Cook high for four hours

Now I'm just waiting to see how it turns out.

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