Amber's Personal Finance Blog

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Finally set up my budget using my checkbook

I am so afraid of change and I think that is what holds me back. I have had the loan papers now to refiance my car for a possible better rate and have yet to fill them out and I finally went in to the office today and did it. The loan officer stated that once they are able to verify my employment I wll then be contacted regarding the loan status. My rate is very high and I have since cleaned up my credit paid off a ton of things and always paid my current loan on time and well over the amount due. So keep your fingers crossed.
I also cancelled my land line which I have been holding off on for a while, why I still don't know so that extra $40 saved will be going to my challenge every month. Next I am going to drop off the paper work for the grant. I have filled them out but have been so afraid to drop them off. Why? Change...I really need to over come that fear.
Today was a no spend day thus far but the day has not ended as of yet so I will wait to add my $2 but I will add $2 to the challenge and $2 to the EF for preparing my breakfast
$5826.38

I called AT & T for a refund and the idiot I spoke to told me he could not give me a refund. Now I only wanted to refund for the this year being that I never reviewed my bill and simply paid it. When I asked to speak to his supervisor he informed me that his supervisor would not give me a refund either, I informed him to then let me speak to his supervisor. Anyhow to make a long story short I got a credit of $45 from the supervisor who was not going to give me the refund. I also called regarding my cellphone and my contract is up next March so I will cancel then and switch to MetroPCS

This is why I like to receive my bill. I have finally decided to cancel my home phone service and simply increase the minutes on my cell phone saving me about $30 a month. Any how I log on to AT & T and notice that there were charges for a long distance service called Nickel Value Plan for a total of $9.76, because I never called long distance and my bill was the same for months (over a year) I never questioned the amount of the bill I simply paid the amount due. But when I went to cancel I notice this charge, I am POD'd I have to go through all the statement that are available online and try to get a refund. I can retrieve some statements back to May 07, it is my own fault. I don't know what possessed me to stop checking my bill when I was notified of the paperless billing. I know how these guys are, I once had a creit of about $90 because they screwed up. Being lazy I guess

Just wanted to wish every one a happy and safe Memorial Day. I am praying for those of you whose spouses/love ones are serving all over the world. It is definately appreciated
On a different note I am going to see Mr. H today since I did not work this weekend, he is the sweetest old guy I know, it's like having a grandfather.
I washed and colored my own hair today so on Friday when payday rolls around I will add the money saved($50) to my challenge. However, I am adding $2 to the EF and $2 to the challenge because I made breakfast this morning and I usually spend about $3.71 buying breakfast
New total for the challenge $5826.38 and EF $1668.35

Well I bought a passport today in order to save all my files and free up space on my laptop, since I am having problems. But I have not deleted anything as of yet until I am positive that it will work ok and I know what I am doing. So $100 spent but this came from my miscellaneous account since I am really not saving for anything in particular other than furniture I guess. Any how I wanted to hit the beach today but because I forgot to shave I opted not to go but will go first thing in the morning for about an hour. I have to look at my transaction for the month which I know I am way over on the food and gas bill

Used a coupon yesterday at Publix and saved $1 on plastic cups so I am adding this amount to my challenge. On a different note my laptop is giving me problems; I think there is a shortage so I am taking it in to be service next week. In the mean time I am going to buy a passport to back up all my files and free up space, I think that is the best thing, the funds will come from my misc. account since I am really not saving for anything in particular and I have $447 in that account. But I will use the BoA card in order to get the points and then pay the bill once I get home
As far as the tooth goes, looks like I am pain free I am still swollen but experiencing little or no pain.
Tuesday I am off and will finally drop off the paper work for the grant for the new home. I filled it out just never dropped it off, I am a little nervous...more like scared. Of what I do not know, I lived on my own before with no problems and then I wasn't as conscious as I am now about money
New total for the challenge $5824.38

I have not been adding to the challenge like I should so I added $70 today. The reason, for two weeks I have not gone to the hairdresser saving $35 for each week. I have been eating out a lot though since I had the tooth ache, I was just not in the mood; but now that things seems to be getting better since I had the extraction I can go back to making dinner/breakfast
so new total for the challenge $5823.38

Finally this tooth that has been giving me trouble was extracted today and I did not feel a thing. But now I have a canker sore on my tongue...it's never ending. After researching it says that they can be triggered from Motrin (which I was taking for the pain) and stress, of course I have been with this tooth
But all in all it says to allow a few days for it to heal itself

Well tomorrow is the big day, I am heading to the dentist and next week I am going to go ahead and fix the tooth that was giving me problems last year before that starts up. So when it is said and done I should be about $3k in the hole.
Everyone knows that I work a part time job with an idiot as a manager, anyhow I get a letter from her yesterday regarding my raise since I am on final warning I did not get one, which doesn�t bother me but what does is the fact that a resident 3 months ago wrote a letter about how professional I was and she said not one word as if it did not exists. So I emailed her and the direct of HR who stated he received the letter and it was in my employee file, and that it wasn�t given to my boss but her boss, here is my response:

Thanks a bunch, I really appreciate it. It's just that I was never told and was reminded of my errors; it would have been nice if management would acknowledge it, being that it is their duty to provide not only a positive environment but feedback as well. Again thank you, have a great holiday weekend

The funny thing is, is that if the resident never told me I would have never known? And even if it was given to my boss� boss you mean to tell me she doesn�t have sense enough to tell me. The bottom line is she doesn�t like me and I don�t like her

Well I went to the oral surgeon and he will extract and place some packing in for the implant on Friday, today was a no charge thank goodness. I must say since I have been icing this tooth and started a different antibiotic I am feeling much better; so I am going to try and go in tomorrow, hopefully I will as good as I am feeling now. It is going to cost me $410 so I went ahead and paid it that way Friday I am in and out
Thank goodness for my EF because Murphy has been bugging me lately

Went to the periodonist today who said I have a fracture and the tooth must be removed, so off to the oral surgeon. I experience the worst pain today and have been icing it all day, now I see how people get addicted to pain meds, I had to stop myself today. What a terrible feeling. I tried to work a little today and the pain,OMG. I found myself being rude to patients
Now I am starving

Today my mom and I spent the day out we hit the outlet mall and did some shopping which I know I should not be doing but it's too late now. Anyhow we went to visit my aunt who lives in Palm Bay, FL (Brevard County) where all those fires took place and all I can say is OMG. I can't not even imagine staying through that, grant it where my aunt lives there were maybe one or two homes damaged and a couple of cars, but the fire department (hats off to them) contained that fire. You could see how the fire burned the grass right up to peoples front door (no kidding, I mean litterly). Who ever started those fires if it is anyone else besides the guy they caught, should face some really hard times. The damage I can not explain and what could have happened, you had to see it for your self. I mean acres and acres of land where there was no homes were burned to the grown, unbelievable that no one got hurt. My aunt and uncle and their neighbors actually fought that fire with all the hoses they had and raking up dry leaves to save their homes...unbelievable.I wish I had a camera. Thank God no one was hurt

I went to Publix and picked up some sweet potatoes and 30 minutes later the rat had eaten a big chunk out of one. My uncle moved the trap and at 12pm tonight I heard snap called my mom and she said he was dead. Gross, his tail is so long and he was about the size of my hand with hair and will stay there until my uncle comes in the morning...yuck
Thank goodness he's dead

I finally built up the courage to apply for the $50k grant for first time home owners, well printing out the paper work and filling it out. It is just a matter of turning it in on Tuesday, since I work all day Monday. Even if I do not get the full amount I would be happy with anything.
On a different note I am little annoyed I ordered one of my books on half.com that stated soft cover and it came today but was the international version. When I emailed the seller she said soft cover meant international which is not true, I have ordered and bought soft cover textbooks both on line and at the college bookstore that were not international and now I think she does not want to give me a refund, but I am waiting for her response and if she doesn�t she will definitely get a negative feedback. She should have noted that the book was an international version like every other seller
Furthermore, the swelling from my tooth has not gone down and I have been on antibiotics since Thursday, now I can say I am still experiencing pain but not as much as before. I don't know if this is from the pain meds or not but what I can say is I AM SICK OF THS &*%%& TOOTH ACHE!!!!!!!!!

I still have a tooth ache so I won't be going to the baby shower, nor will I be going to help set up for the Cystic Fibrosis walk. I have been in the bed pretty much all day, but I need to head out to Publix for bread and o.j. I was able to complete my assignments for my marketing class but need to start reading the next two chapters and I just don't feel like it. But I'll see how I am feeling later

OMG, it is never ending with me. If it is not this tooth it is something else. Now we have a rat in our house. My mom says it is because the door was left open which I find hard to believe that if the door was open that no one saw it come in. Any how I think it is because of all the trees she finally cut down in addition we have mango trees. My uncle bought or got a rat trap and I hope like Hell it is caught tomorrow or tonight for that matter

No luck at the dentist the only thing he says he sees now is a little swelling, which I think is from the deep cleaning he did when he was trying to give me some relief. He did change my bite that way when I bite down on the other side I feel no pain. Anyhow he wants me to see the periodontist (cha ching) but I have no choice if I want some relief

I woke up yesterday with the worst tooth ache, I was dying over here. Anyhow I had cancelled my appointment because I was feeling better earlier in the day, luckily I was able to reach the dentist who called me in an antibiotic. When I asked if he would and gave him the number to Walgreens he says to me why don't you go to Publix it's free. Because I did not have the number he looked it up for me and called it in, when I went to pick it up it was free, saving me a $15 co-pay How nice. I woke up this morning and I am a little sore, but I am feeling better. I did not go into work today because if this flares up again I want to be able to go straight to the dentist, it's hard to leave once you are at work. Seems as though the antibiotic is working, wish I had known before I spent $185 the other day
On a different note, today was payday so I checked my balance and found a nice little bonus which I immediately added to my EF
I paid bills today, paid my cc in which I charged my tuition but I still owe about $100 on it. I use it to accumulate points and since I have been under the weather I have not entered all my transactions, must do that today in order to stay cc debt free. I paid the cable and phone bill added $50 to my challenge and paid the extra $50 that I am no longer adding to my IRA but to the auto loan principal in an effort to have that car atleast half way paid off by the end of the year.

Today I spent a ton of money. First I bought breakfast, then I went to the dentist (thank goodness I had an EF). I have had a tooth ache since Friday and the dentist could not see what was going on, I had a small cavity which he filled and some debris from the last dentist that he was supposed to had cleaned out the last time I was there and I guess he didn't but any note it cost me $185 and because I have not eaten a real meal in about 4 days (soup only ) I treated my mom out to dinner again and that was $25. But my tooth is aching me again then we went to Bealls Outlet I I spent $19 on myself $10 for my mom and $5 for my sister. Hit the gas station and $57 later I am annoyed
I can see why people OD on pain meds my tooth is killing me and I have been taking motrin all day, back to the dentist

I was busy with my mom and sister today I forgot to wish my online mommies a very Happy Mother's day (sorry) Hope everyone enjoyed their day today

Well I took my mom out for dinner to her favorite place Golden Coral, now I wanted to go to a really nice restaurant but she wanted Golden Coral, not complaining but I really wanted to go to a classier place but it was her day so she got to choose
Then my sister and I hit the stores, I bought a pair of pants ($10) and a pair of shoes($13) but the good news is I added $35 to my challenge because I id not see the beautician this week
New total $5701.88

I used my $10 JCP coupon to buy a babyshower gift and only spent $5. I am so upset because I forgot to order the gift card from mypoints that way I would not have spent a thing, but I guess $5 is better than $15. Either way I saved money. So the $10 saved went to the challenge. I have not been adding like I use to and want to get back on board with that.
I used the cc today to pay for my tuition and payday is next week so I will pay it in full then. I basically wanted to use it to redeem the points. I also bought my textbook for the second accounting class that is needed (accounting is a lot of work) but any way the book only cost me a total of $8.09. $4.10 for the book and $3.99 for shipping. I am so glad that some one informed me about these different website that sell textbooks I saved about 90% on books each semester using these sites
Seems like it is a good thing I did not get into the summer practicum because I just reviewed the course syllabus for the account class and there is a lot of work, I hope I get my book next week so I can get a jump start on the assignments; classes start the end of June. For the marketing class I will start reading today at work

To the summer practicum that is (intership).So now I will not graduate until the spring of 09 I am so ticked off because I have been working on getting things set up for the summer and started on my intership well before the summer, but since I am not in the program then there is no need for me to work so hard.
I won't stress as much to finish so I will take two classes in the summer, two in the fall and then two in the spring and graduate then. At first I was a little upset (ok a lot) but then I thought about it and said things happen for a reason. The woman who was over seeing my internship really did not know what she wanted me to do and I really did not care for anyway plus after I completed my internship I would not have a job so it's best that I intern at a place in which I could land a job
On a different note I got $3 from pinecone and added that to the challenge.

I received my refund/stimulus package funds today but I paid my mom the $200 I owed her put $300 in th EF and $100 was kept for myself...no more spending for me

Thanks to Koppur I posted a handbag on craiglist, I hope it sells. I was going to use ebay but we know there is a fee. So if I can sell it without a fee I will be doing great

Hope I am making the right decision. I was listening to Dave Ramsey last night when he told a caller it was ok to hold off from contributing to their IRA temporality in order to save for a house. So I decided to hold off until the end of the year and use the $100 that I was contributing to pay down my car. I really want my car balance as low as possible by the end of the year. I figure I am already paying an extra $100 how about making it $200. I just hope I made the right decision

Any how, I received a copy of my cancelled check so I am sending it to Equifax trying to clean up my credit; I am also filling out the loan papers through the credit union to refinance my car at a lower rate

On Monday my boss told me not to work on the bills when I see them because the owner only wanted 1 person (S) to work on them. Before I could ask why she said she did not know. But I had a feeling he noticed that S really does leave them and not work. Now I have spoken to him already about her and she is the laziest thing, at the end of the day she won�t even put away the sign in sheets unless she is told but I noticed the other day she did. I was even shocked that she did it and thought hmmmmmm M (the owner) must have had a little chat with her, but B who is my boss wouldn�t tell me any way because basically she will be admitting that S is lazy and she had to have a little talk with her. Well today I realized he must have because when I came in there was nothing in the bin to do and she always for the last year and a half have had something in that bin and furthermore she was given the bills today and not only did she complete them but she mailed them out as well. And to top things off the boyfriend always calls at 5pm when everyone (the bosses) leave and he didn�t. She has been there a year and a half and he has always called and today was the first day he didn�t. Until I said something to M she would talk to him for 8 hours out of an 10 hour shift ( I am not lying) even the patients were complaining and then it just went from 5-7pm. You live with a person, how much can you talk about? Oh I forgot , usually she calls patients at 6:45pm to remind them of their next appointment and I have told her time and time again not to call so late, well today she called before noon so I am positive she spoken to. It�s too bad that it takes the owner to have to say something for you to do your job, or maybe he realizes that once I graduate I am out of there so he�d better make sure he has a capable staff

Yep I got another A, I am like jumping for joy. I got the A in accounting and mind you this was the third time that I have take this course. Yesterday's final I got an 92. I am soooo happy. Now I am reading for my summer intern and I am a little nervous but hopefully all will be well

I was shocked when I saw my grade for a course I am taking ( Planning and Organization in health care) I got an A- I could not beleive it because I did not do too well on the tests. I am waiting on my final grade from the accounting class, I am positive I will have an A in that class as well, but we'll see