Amber's Personal Finance Blog

Busy week.

Mom fell out of the bed and is wearing a neck brace, doctor thinks it's vertigo. She's doing better

Caught dad with the neighborhood prostitute. I was so shocked I couldn't say one word. I'll have to share the story later.

Had an interview, the job is perfect except for drive that is about 45 minutes away from my house without traffic. The company is currently five minutes away but will be moving. I have another interview Monday with a different company, I'll see how that goes. This one is about 20 -30 minutes.

I added $70 to my 52 week/$20 challenge, new total $1934. I'm so excited, it looks as though I may hit the 2k mark before the end of the month. I'm really trying, fingers crossed.

Got CC3 down to $263.50. Next week I'll be paying an extra $70 on this card so that will put me under the $200 mark. I was hoping to have it paid off by the end of the month but it looks like that won't happen until mid July. Better late than never.

Other than that, that's it in a nutshell. I weigh in tomorrow for Weight Watchers, I sort of fell off the wagon but I haven't used any extra points hopefully I've lost a little.

Weighed in at my Weight Watchers meeting, and I'm down 4lbs 😃
Because I'm down four pounds I added $2 to my 52 Week/$20 Challenge fund and $2 to my CC debt (4lb = $4). I'm super excited.

Yesterday marked 6 years that I've been with the BF, we decided not to spend any money on gifts and just go out for dinner. Made sense to me.

Honestly on a different note, I am thinking about taking the money out of my challenge fund ($283.50) to pay off CC3. I'm ready to start tackling CC4, I think I'm getting impatient. It's funny until I started my debt snowball the debt bothered me but not like now. It's like I'm on a high, and I'm trying to reach the euphoria, that feeling you get when you're debt free. 😃

Finally got CC3 under $300, new balance $285.50.

Dad gave me a few extra dollars and I always split this amount between CC and 52 Week/$20 Chalkenge. I was able to boost my challenge to about $1838 😃

I can say I'm doing good with paying down bills and saving. My sister called and asked to borrow $2,000, I'm so glad I said no. Normally I feel bad, and give in and then complain when I don't get my money back but this time I said no. Besides, giving her the money would have cleaned out my house fund and EF.

Fast forward two days and the BF tells me his cousin needs to borrow $2600 to pay the taxes on his home. Now he wasn't asking to borrow the money, but it sure as heck sounded like it. I just listened and didn't offer. I did take this opportunity to explain to him how important it is to save for rainy days.

I've talked about owning my own place forever and next year I want to make it a reality.

I've been applying for jobs that's paying more money. With a new job, I can save at a faster pace and pay down my debt more quickly.

This isn't a blog on finances, today I witness American Pharoah win the Triple Crown. I'm so excited because I actually was at the Derby when he won. I was literally in tears. Though I don't know much about horse racing, I absolutely love the big races like the Derby, Preakness and Belmont.

Just thought I'd share, this was a bucket list item.
Here's my glass from the Derby

Well I was headed up to see my brother, dad gave me $20 for the ride, so once again I paid $10 on CC3 (balance $350 and change) and added $10 towards my 52 Week/$20 Challenge, as well as $2 for heading to the gym and my new balance is $1750.01😀 if only I could have hit $2,000 by the end of the month.

On a different note I applied for a job about two weeks ago. On Thursday I received an email from a recruiter who stated she was sending me the predictive test (hate those). Took the test and scored 97%. Now in an educational setting this is an "A" however, I'm not sure of the score the company is looking for (fingers crossed). Oops this was their "Customer Service Mindset Test"

Next, I took the "Human Resources Basic" test and scored 95% again I'm freaking out because my score isn't a 100%. Hopefully, I'll hear something, fingers crossed. The position is starting in the low 50s about 12k more than I'm currently making, and the company has a very rich benefits packet, not to mention they believe in professional development. That means that I can attend HR events without worrying about dirty looks, while earning my recertification credits. The position is also a mixture of HR, that I love. I'm not just stuck in a benefits role, but an employee relations, benefits, wellness, risk management etc are areas that I would be covering, and because of this I would be up on industry trends.

Well I joined Weight Watchers (WW) free of charge through my health insurance. How cool is that? 😍

We have a wellness program with our insurance company. One of my of my goals was to lose weight, that is how I ended up with the free WW membership for six months. Sweet 😀

I went to the gym so I'm adding $2 to my challenge. I also went yesterday, so it's actuall four dollars 😀

Dad gave me an extra $20, I paid $10 on CC3 and added $10 to my challenge fund. Things are going pretty well.

New balances:
$367.50 CC3
52 Week/$20 Challenge $1738.01

I have been on a hiatus for the last two and a half weeks. So I packed my gym clothes, prior to heading to the office and after work, I hit the gym. So I added $2 to my 52 week/$20 challenge fund. I've decided to add $2 when ever I go to the gym.

Dad also gave me a $100 to pay his $97 cable bill, so the $3 left I split between my challenge fund and CC3. I know it seems minimal but it works for me. I was able to pay off my debt and become debt free the first time around doing this.

All in all today was actually a great day.

I currently have 19,000 Bank of America points that I can cash out for $120. I figured I can use the money to pay down CC3 or I can wait until I hit 20,000 for $160. 25,000 points gets me $250.
Even if I cash in and get the $120 I can't add $80 to make a $200, that sucks. I can take the money out of my EF but I do not consider this to be an emergency.

I'll have to enter in receipts and balance the check book before making my final decision. I just really want this CC paid off, current balance $379.

I wonder if my CitiCard has a cash reward? 😳

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

Well dad gave me a $100 today so I contributed $20 to Christ Fellowship, the service was awesome.

I also paid $20.04 on CC3 bringing my total to $379.00
I added $20 to my 52 Week/$20 challenge, new total $1720. The goal is to hit $3000 by August and 5k by the end of the year.

Lastly, I hit the gym, and applied for four positions today.

I was considering heading to a concert tomorrow for about $40, but changed my mind keeping the focus on paying down debt and saving money, so it's going to be a beach day. 🏄🏾

I love my job, but can't stand my boss. She is very selfish, not to mention incompetent. On Thursday, she made a very sarcastic remark in reference to my knowledge when it comes to HR. It was like she was saying, yes I recognized you're knowledgeable in this area and yet I don't respect you for it. On thing about me is that I love the field of HR, particularly compliance/law. So I attend ever conference, lecture, webinar, and read every trade magazine I can, and for that I'm looked down for it. It really bothered me so I decided to begin a 21 day fast and prayer. Praying for a break through. Though I would hate to leave but I think it's time to move on. I think what keeps me there is that staff loves me, and I mean that literally 😍 that what's make me feel good. She's the HR director, but yet staff respects me more. Ironic


On a different note. Friday was pay day so I paid all bills due until the next pay period with the exception of rent. Dad always says, "the best time for a man to pay his bills, is when he has the money." 😀

Also, I've open up an IRA and automatically have $10 deposited each week and so far the total is now at $281. Not nearly as much as what I should have but I figured it's a start and the funny thing is I don't miss the $10. Once CC3 is paid off I'll add an extra $5.

I've also added $42 to my 52 Week/$20 Challenge brining my total to $1697.51, way more than my original goal of $1300. I've since boosted the goal to $5,000 by the end of the year. Fingers are crossed.

I think I might just add the $3 to make it an even $1700.

I've been using the Wal*Mart saving catcher for about a month, and I've already earned $6.62. The funny thing is I find myself scoping out the parking lot for receipts, I've asked my mother to save me all her Wal*Mart receipts.

It's already the middle of the month and I haven't closed out accounts yet, I'm afraid to look at my spending. 😟

Oops I forgot, I earned $8 using ibotta app, can't wait to hit the $10 mark so that I can cash out

I decided to cancel my hair appointment tomorrow, savings of $35.
Usually I wouldn't do anything with what I have saved but something is telling me to to use some of my saving to pay down debt. So I payed $15 on CC3 and add $15 towards my 52 week/$20 Challenge. I figured every little bit helps.

New challenge total $1655.40
CC3 balance $394

Yesterday dad gave me $40, usually I split this amount as well but pay day isn't until the end of the week and I'm trying to hold on to every little bit until then.

So my BF sister was rushed to the hospital today. What concerns me is that according to my BF, the doctor who saw his sister today informed them that since 2010 she has had kidney issues( after reviewing her chart). This was a shock to the family because apparently no one knew, not even the patient.

The reason why I find this to be strange is that his sister is a diabetic, has had two heart attacks, heart surgery,and her feet is constantly swollen. Now given all of this, she has been to the hospital on multiple occasions but the boyfriend tends to believe that out of all the doctors, specialists, therapist, and nurses in the last 5 years that no one has ever mentioned to her to see a nephrologist. I just can't imagine, can you imagine the possible lawsuit? You're trying to tell me that her primary care doctor, cardiologist, endocrinologist, nurses, therapist, the hospital over a five year period missed the fact that she may have kidney issues. I beg to differ.
I'm no doctor but I know that swelling in diabetic patients can lead to kidney failure and no one seems to believe that she was ever told. Interesting.

Not much I can say, they're very sensitive. I'll just keep my thoughts to myself and say a prayer that things turn out okay.

Dad always gives me money every week, it's his way of saying he appreciates me. I've told him time and time again it's not necessary.

Today he gave me $50 so I paid $25 on CC3 knocking the balance down to $409. I added $25 to my 52 week/$20 Challenge, bringing my total to $1652. Whew if I can hit $5k by the end of the year I'd be so happy.

The key to saving is discipline.

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.

Dad gave me $50 towards his truck insurance. I'm actually responsible for paying it. See he doesn't drive anymore, but he lives alone, so I pay it to keep a vehicle in the yard. My brother who is suppose to be there may come home once every other week.

The insurance is $70 a month, not bad. So I simply added $25 to my challenge fund and $25 to CC3. Basically what dad gave me I used as extra income. So with the extra income I was able to knock CC3 down to about $440 and bump my house fund ( same as my challenge) to $1600. The goal was to hit $3,00 by the end of the year but I've bump that to $5,000 since I'm doing so good. Hopeful I can have CC3 paid off by July

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

Next week is payday and looks like will be able to save over half my check. I'm excited because paying down the two CC was the best thing I could have done.

On a different I have two interviews lined up and I'm super excited about those. Not to mention my boss is on vacation.

Over the weekend we had our company picnic and because an employee wasn't on the RSVP list, the woman denied her a meal ticket. I thought this was disgusting, and realized it's okay for me to leave an organization that supports this sort of behavior

Looks like the BF is back to normal. For the last few months, he's not been up to date with his bills, now it's back to normal.

First, he was responsible for paying the gym bill. Every month I have ask for the money and he's always late. So I cancelled his membership.

Next, rent is due on the first and he never has his portion until about the 2nd or 3rd.

Well this is what got me all frustrated. I come home last night and he says to me I have to buy X plane ticket. This is his daughter who is off in college (community) in Kentucky. I say okay. He then starts complaining that the prices are going up, I say wait until late Tuesday to see if they go down. He begins to tell me that "I'm not listening that he needs to buy these tickets. " So I'm like well call her mother so that you all can go half, or better yet tell her to get a job (the daughter).
Then it dawned on me, he wants me to buy the ticket. No sir will I spend money on a ticket. You knew in January she was coming home in May, start saving for it.
Rent is due, I'm buying my money order tonight, we go to the Derby and the $400 I set aside for this trip is for that. I'm footing the bill because I'm the one who wants to go. I paid the airfare, set money aside for the hotel, car and spending. I just paid off two CCs and will not add anything to any of them.

I wouldn't have a problem doing if if he paid bills on time.

I realized that I have a challenge for everything. For example, 52 Week challenge, $20 Challenge, No spend day challenge, step challenge, but I do not have a IRA/retirement challenge.

I have decided to add an extra $5 to my IRA for every CC that is paid off but I wanted to know if anyone has a challenge for retirement and would like to share?

I paid off two CCs and decided I wanted to add $5 a week to my IRA until I can get a control over this debt, I figured something is better than nothing. For each CC I pay off I'll add $5.

Actually, I think I'm going to change this to $10 since I paid off two CCs

Yesterday was a whirlwind of a kind of day.

First a colleague, and now friend of mine, informed me that her nephew attempted to molest her daughter. Thank God she has a great relationship with her daughter who told her. I never felt comfortable telling my mother. Not to mention her sister stood be behind her with calling the authorities.

Next, I had the not so good interview and then finally late last night, my sister calls to tell me that my uncle's long time girlfriend passed away. She had multiple forms of cancer, breast, stomach, throat.

So that was what my day looked like, I pray today is a better one.

I was so focused on paying off CC1 that I forgot to pay CC3 yesterday and now I'll be hit with a late fee. Just one day can turn your entire world upside down 😡

On a different note I added week 44 to my 52 Week Challenge, brining my total to $1507.55.

I also had my interview, don't think I wowed them. My nerves got the best of me. But we will see.

At the start of the year CC1 was about $700, I manage to get this amount down to $330 in about four months; averaging a $100 a month additional payment. Now today I made my final payment. I am so excited I want to scream.

Next, I'll be paying CC2, $500. The strange thing is, I never received a bill this month. It's a HSBC cc and for some reason I have caught the devil trying to log in to view this account online. Needless to say, I know when it's due and what's owed so today it's goodbye. The only thing I have to do is transfer funds to my BoA account so that I can make the payment and the funds will hit the account right away if I use my BoA bill pay.

I tell you, knocking down debt is one of the best feelings ever.

Tomorrow my tax refund is suppose to hit the bank, I will pay off two CCs first thing in the morning. Then I'll pay all bills that are due on or around the first of the month. I'm so excited about paying off the two CCs. That will free up at least $50 a month.

On a different note I have an interview for a HR manager role. My fingers are crossed, I hope I feel good about the place and it's paying more. I like where I work, but I need to make at least 10k more a year. I have a masters degree, years experience and I am HR certified. The company I work for is so cheap and mistreat its staff that it's company knowledge that they are "cheap". It's the company theme song.

It's funny because when ever anyone resigns they miraculously come up with the money that wasn't budgeted before to offer a raise and promise to hire that second person to help you do the job you were doing, that was technically a job for three people. It's become a joke amongst staff that the HR manager and executive team aren't aware of. Sad but true.

Anyway my fingers are crossed and we will see what happens

Okay today I decided to create a dinner menu and do my grocery shopping based on that menu.

Here it is:
- Sunday - salmon, rice pilaf, sweet potato
- Monday - spaghetti
- Tuesday - baked chicken and pasta
- Wednesday - left over
- Thursday - baked pork chops and corn
- Friday -homemade pizza and salad
- Saturday - salad and sweet potato

I made tonight's dinner, browned the ground beef for spaghetti that I'll place in the crockpot tomorrow. I went ahead and seasoned , froze both the pork chops and chicken, cutting down my cooking time. All in all, including snacks I spent $74 at the grocery store, not bad. I usually spend about $120 a week.

I'm thinking Sunday's will be my day to create my menus

Last year the BF and I joined the gym. I knew it was going to be an issue when I provided my checking account number. During that time I had a hard time saying no, now thank goodness I don't.

Long story short, there were months when I got stuck paying the bill. The BF has gotten better when it comes to the bills but it still drives me crazy. Why? I tell him the bill is due and I won't get his portion until weeks later. Therefore I am always stuck paying.

Well last night I reminded him as I always do that the bill was due. His response was "he didn't have any money and that he wasn't worried about a bill but how he was going to get his daughter home from college (buying her plane ticket)." Well needless to say that comment ticked me off. So again, I say to him today that we need to put the bill in his name and he decides to blow up and yells "cancel it!" Well it's cancelled and it feels good.

It ticks me off because this is a bill that is due monthly, and you should be budgeting for it.

Just checked the status of my refund, and I should have a deposit made to my account next Tuesday.

Not sure whose post I read, but I too will be using 75% of my return towards debt. I like that number, 75%. With that, I should be able to pay off two CCs, add $350 to my EF and keep $200 for the Derby. Not bad, I just can't wait to make those CC payments. Paying off the two CCs will free up about $60 a month that will allow me to pay off CC #3