Wishing everyone a happy Easter 🐣

So I called my insurance company, told them I’m working from home and got a discount of $30 per month, due to COVID-19.

Well worth the 20 minute wait time.

Pray for me

Outside of a little disappointment, this has been an amazing weekend.

First, I spent time with my sorority sisters, whom I love and adore. Then today, I had the opportunity to walk for an amazing cause MS. It was so special, a good friend, finally embraced his illness, I wanted to cry but held back for him.

This reminds me that life is short, and even though I’m on this journey to debt freedom, I do much to be thankful for.

Yesterday was a great day, no spend day and no dining out.

I sold an item on Poshmark as well.

I have a question, do you all think they’ll be another recession? If so, what do you think will be the cause? I saw this question on Twitter and was wondering everyone’s thoughts.
I personally think it will be a recession caused by fear. I’ve noticed that the job search has slowed down, people are staying put, it also seems as though people are buying less. I don’t know, I’m no economist

Just curious, do any of you complete the satisfaction surveys found on your receipts? I just recently started and was wondering who actually complete and if anyone has actually won anything?

Balanced my cash envelopes and I have $246. This amount is a combination of all envelopes (e.g gas, food, household), not bad.

I’m annoyed because I spent $30 yesterday. Went with a friend to an event that she was heading to anyway, paid $10 for parking since I drove with her. But she kept harping on gas, so I gave her $20. That won’t happen to me again, I’ll drive myself. I have the money, in one of my sinking funds, it’s money I save for things such as this, but it just annoys me since she was going anyway and I could have drove myself and spent less. Hey, it is what it is, a lesson learned.

I checked my electric bill and it’s trending at about $65, if I hit that mark, it’s about $30 less than the previous month. I love it. I see what simply turning things off, unplugging items not in use can do. If only I could unplug that water heater, I’d probably have a bill of $30, lol.

Today, is a busy day. One, I need to wash two loads of clothes. Two, wash my hair, and three, pick a few items up from Walmart. After all this, I’m relaxing. I was going to work a little at home but I’ll pass.

My co-worker was heading to the store 🏬 , I asked her to buy me a Coke 🥤 and gave her cash. She comes back with two 8 pack Cokes 🥤 and tells me they were BOGO. Well after looking at the receipt 🧾 the items were not BOGO. So I’ll be letting her know today. Why not just buy what I asked you? But it’s my fault because I had no business buying.

Anyway, I logged into Receipt Hog 🐷 and noticed I leveled up so I got an extra 175 points, that allowed me to cash out my $5.00. That made me feel a little better about the Coke 🥤.

SO came by yesterday, he’s been really watching what he spends lately. I didn’t ask about the mom’s car 🚗, but I sure as heck wanted to know what happened. I knew something was wrong, because he bought dinner and lately he hasn’t been spending money.

Anyway, finally after eating. He mentioned his mom hurt his feelings, and he felt like he wanted to treat himself since he hadn’t lately, that was why he bought dinner. He managed to get the money together, $1200+ to pay the car off. He went to the bank to do so. When got there he was told the balance was a little over $800. So he paid it and car is paid off. Took her the receipt, told her the car was hers and she no longer needed to worry about it. Her response, “Why did you do that? You should have kept that money because, you need to make payroll on Friday.” Wow was my first response.

I told him, you may not like what I’m about to say, however, “you should have let the car go, that is the only way she’ll understand that this financial mess she’s in, is serious. Maybe when people start talking, she’d get it together.” He said he thought about it, not paying the car, but he had prayed and out of the blue he started receiving checks so he felt like it was God telling him to pay it off. I couldn’t counter, he had a valid point. He did mention that this week he’s taking things over. I’ve heard that song and dance, we shall see. I did asked him if he thought he dad, when his dad was alive if he went through this mess, he said he believes so.
Sad, just sad, that a mother would manipulate her child, to the point in that it’s detrimental for not only her healthiness future but his as well. Sad

Well Friday I sold an item on Poshmark for $7, my earnings was $4.

Checked my cash envelopes and I still have about $221 (total envelopes) left. I’m so proud of myself for not only staying with in my budget but coming well under.

Friday is pay day and I should be able to allocate additional funds to the CC. This is in addition to the extra $100 I have budgeted.

I returned the cable boxes to At&t and was told to hold on to the receipt for a year because they’ll say, “they never received it.” I was so shocked when the rep told me that. I couldn’t believe it but glad she did. Now I’m waiting for the $500+ credit. Smh. They never sent me the shipping label, only to find out I could have taken the items into a UPS store, smh. I called them 3x before they billed me $500+. Now that I think of it, I’ll scan the proof of shipping and email to myself so that I always have it.

I looked at my spending for the year and $806 was paid in interest on a credit card, all I kept saying was, you know what you could do with that money, pay this card off ASAP

Lastly, I’m heading to a local grocery store to get my flu shot, they also provide $10 grocery gift cards

Thank God the blogs are back up, I was seriously having withdrawals, miss you guys.


Here is what is happening with me.

I hate when this site is down. For a few days I could not log in. Anyone know of another site that we can join and transition to?

Anyway, I finally got a response from my attorney. Praise God I did not go with my last attorney I had.

Anyway, she received the documents from the bank that debunks my brother’s claims of me falsifying documents and put his attorney on notice if they decide to continue with this frivolous lawsuit. She informed him that if they continued she’d put him (his attorney) on the hook for my legal fees, in so many words to my understanding she’ll go after him. Now we sit and wait for their response, if they’re going to dismiss or not. Knowing my brother he is not going to let this go.

Keep praying for me.

Other news, I ‪read an article that an organization in that I applied for is having financial issues, they’re filling for bankruptcy. I cried after interviewing last year twice and not getting that job, but God had something better. I’m so thankful I did not get that job, there’s people who haven’t received their checks for about two weeks. ‬

‪I got a surprise in the mail today, $8 settlement check, added to the EF. ‬

‪I paid an extra $100 on CC10. Lastly, I lined dried two loads of clothes. I have to get a retractable clothes line so that I can start drying my sheets and towels. ‬

‪Sunday, was quite productive. I mopped the entire house, cleaned my patio, line dried two load of laundry 🧺 , walked 12k steps. ‬

Took a look at my budget and so far I am pretty much on the verge of breaking even for the month of March. I have a new line item to add, hurricane season🌪. Hurricane season is approaching and I want to be ready, it’s always a nightmare in the stores if a storm is named and heading our way.

The SO and I will be sitting down tonight to create his budget. Yes, he’s decided to work on one. He wants this relationship to work and he knows that finances are a huge issue for me. I’ve shared, don’t do it for me but because you want to.

Apparently his mother called yesterday and told him she’s short $600 for payroll. Smh, she is unbelievable. For reason he still hasn’t gotten to the point where he will take the business over fully. I guess the same reason why I haven’t thrown him out. I simply mind my own business and continue to live like roommates splitting the cost of everything. Basically when he pays me, I use that money to knock down CC9. I tend to pay my bills as if he’s not paying anything. This year so far, he hasn’t been late 🤞🏾.

Next week we have a wedding to attend, I would love to buy an outfit but I’m scrounging around in my closet to see what I have. I think the money I have in my fun/splurge account I’m going to throw it at the CC.

Another one of my items sold on Poshmark, that’s $10 this week, you know where that’s going, CC9 💳

I’m considering signing up for Acorn, any one use it?

Yay it’s pay day. Today bright and early I was crunching numbers.

For the first time I decided not to pay extra on the mortgage and throw it at the credit card 💳. It was tough because I don’t want to lose the habit of paying the extra on the house but I want the CC gone. Extra payment on CC9 is $181, down to $3,495.18.

I socked cash away to all the sinking funds. I looked at my home repair fund and smiled. It’s $667, for some of you that may seem small but it’s huge for me. I know home ownership can be daunting for some, my sister is a great example. She bought a home last year July, too much home. Her mortgage is $1400, yikes! Her roof started leaking, she got a quote to repair and it was $300, small leak at the time. She didn’t have the $300. Now the leak is getting worst. I don’t want that to happen to me. When I knew I would be closing, I immediately set up a sinking fund and started budgeting for it. I’ve been in my home renting for 8 years prior to purchasing, no major repairs but I know Murphy could decide to visit. I’m praying that I get two years in without any major repairs.

I’m also proud of my Christmas and birthday sinking funds. It feels so good to know that this will be my second year that I can pay cash for Christmas and when birthdays, showers etc pop up I can pay cash.

Today’s spending
$185 HOA
$965.10 Mortgage
$181 CC 9
$65.13 Electric
$187

Savings
$25 EF
$25 Car maintenance
$25 Christmas
$11 Birthdays
$50 Home repairs
$20 vacation/fun
$88.80 HOA
$20 Sorority
————————-
$264.80 total

Sold an item on Poshmark and made $5.05, I’ll be adding this to CC9 💳.
I wish I could sell items like others, I have a bag full of clothes I can’t get rid of.

I broke down and had pizza and a salad for lunch yesterday, $8.50. Today my boss and I are going out and tomorrow it’s an old colleague.

Tomorrow is pay day, I can’t wait to knock these bills out, especially paying on the CCs 💳, who would have thought that paying down debt would be so exciting 🤦🏽‍♀️.

So my fiancé has a friend who recently had surgery. The friend has been out of work for a little bit. He decided, the friend, to sell prepared food meals. My fiancé ordered two meals from him for dinner tomorrow. I said to him, this is why it’s so important us to save. You never know what might happen.

I have a family friend in his 70s who is going to be evicted, he has diabetes and goes to dialysis twice a week. He never paid into SS, always worked under the table. Again, a prime example as to why I want to get my finances in order, you just never know. Plus if I had it together I could help both of these individuals.

Both of these situations breaks my heart.

Checked out my habit tracker and I have 12 days so far of no spending. The cool thing is I should meet and surpass my goal of 15 days.

This week is pay day, I should be sending off the April mortgage, and May HOA. We got the new electric bill and it went up. Not sure how or why but I need to figure out how to decrease this baby. I signed up for auto pay for the water, this drives me nuts because I never get the bill until after the fact. I’ll be canceling this.

If things keep trucking the way they should/are, I would have broke even with the grocery budget, I’m so excited to meet this goal. I’m usually over.

Other than these few miscellaneous items, I’m doing okay. Spending is down as well as debts this month and my net worth is doing a very slow, and I do my very slow shift from negative to positive. Slow and steady wins the race 🐢

I do have one more thing to report. I have a friend who just can’t seem to keep a job. She’s very outspoken and is one of the most helpful people I know. I’ve shared with her my journey paying off my debt, she listens but is not interested, I wish she would join me. Please keep her in prayer, she’s in need of a job desperately.

Found a great podcast, NPR LIFE Kits. Here the host talks about getting out of debt, goals and life. I absolutely love it, the only problem is, there’s four episodes.

One thing that was mentioned, is to celebrate when you achieve little goals to reward your self. I thought yay! Once I pay off CC9 💳 I’m going to do something, I don’t know what but something. I’ve been saving for this day, because I know CC10 💳 won’t be paid off until the end of of year.

I’m so stressed about these CCs 💳 and limiting my spending but what’s strange is I also love it, go figure. Just think, January 2020 I’ll only have these stupid student 👩🏾‍🎓 loans and the house 🏡 . I originally set the goal of five years debt free but looks more like 10. I’m okay with that, I’ll be in my mid 50s.

I’ve decided that if I don’t get a raise at my year anniversary, I’ll just look for another job in December. That will give me close to two years in management and I can really bump my salary. I love my job and my boss but the salary is extremely low. I won’t rush though, the goal is to be in the 90s close to home, with little travel.

SO news, I almost fell out of my chair this evening when he came home with actual groceries. Usually he buys junk. He had a pack of pork chops, chicken 🍗 , bread 🍞 , cereal 🥣, drinks 🥤, fruit 🍉 and snacks 🍪. I’m usually the one buying the groceries and I told him last week Thursday or Friday he needed to chip in. My grocery fund was out and I wasn’t buying anything else. As far as the bills, he’s stayed in track with paying, so far so good. 🤞🏾

My mother drives me absolutely nuts. This woman will make a great day go far left in two seconds.

She calls, doesn’t say hello, how are you, zilch. She just starts yelling in the phone. I have a headache 🤕, today we buried my dad’s girlfriend, I took a nap 💤 and I’ve been dreaming about her all day, my head is pounding. To answer the phone to screams is enough to make me want to just hang up on her. She had a document that needed to be signed, she ask me to sign, there’s two signature lines and I signed only one, you would have thought I yanked her teeth out 🙄🤦🏽‍♀️. The woman is miserable. I’d love to have a relationship with her but she makes it extremely difficult. I pray that I’m not like this when I get older.

All I can do is pray for her.

Different note, we got the house rented, I can’t wait to collect the $150, my portion, every month so that I can throw it at the credit card 💳 debt.

Tomorrow I’ll finalize my taxes and just rest.

I’m so scared now. The Trump administration has proposed cuts that will impact student loans. There’s a possibility that the income driven payment program will be no longer for some, I’m included.

Right now my salary is $58k and based on that my payments are $172. I can’t imagine paying more until I get these credit cards paid off, and even then it will be tough.

I’ve been looking for a part time job so I can start tackling this thing but nothing.

Yesterday was pay day, I’ve managed to save and add to my CC 😀. I’ll update the totals later.

I got the refund check from my insurance company, I switched to Geico, saving me, $60 bucks a month. My mom wanted me to give her the check. I’m not going into details but I’ll say this, any time you get any one money from anything she expects a portion. Nope I’m adding the $101 to my CC once the check clears.

In different news I did not track my expenses all of last year, so my MSMoney software was all over the place. I just started a new one, I hope I keep up with it.

I also created a new habit tracker using, Google. I love filling in these little boxes, I find that it keeps me motivated. I added updating MSMoney to the list.

There was a time if I forgot to use a coupon I would say never mind, but I went back into Walmart for my $1 on Act. Lol

No spend day today, I’m excited and yet anxious. I want to take what I’ve saved in the sinking fund for vacation/fun and throw at my CC.

I’ve been saving to celebrate a small win, it’s been almost two years and I haven’t done anything fun per se. A part of me says CC debt, while another says, hold off until June and do something fun. I really want this debt gone.

Other news, when you’re on a budget you try new things. Today was the first day I made beef 🥩 stew. It was absolutely delicious. I bought the McCormick crockpot package, added onions, carrots 🥕, celery and potatoes 🥔.

This weekend I’m going to tackle the washing machine, I’ll keep you all posted.