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Archive for December, 2013

Sunday To Do List

December 29th, 2013 at 05:41 pm

Got a big one today. I woke up at 8, and have yet to do anything other than unload the dishwasher and make lunch. I need to get a move on!

To-Do List

-Unload dishwasher [DONE]
-Clean kitchen [Partially]
-Prep food for work tomorrow [NOPE]
-Make meal plan [NOPE]
-Make lunch at home [DONE]
-Make dinner at home [NOPE]
-Do own mani/pedi [DONE]
-Clean upstairs bathroom
-Clean bedroom
-Organize closet
-Study for CAMS
-Clear personal email [DONE]
-Update checkbook [DONE]
-earn swagbucks [DONE]
-earn mypoints [DONE]
-earn inbox dollars [DONE]
-request inbox dollars payout [DONE]
-earn mycokerewards [DONE]
-earn bing rewards [DONE]
-Clean living room [NOPE]
-Put away gifts [DONE]
-Enter inventory of Christmas wrapping supplies (made list other day)
-Enter inventory of 'Gift closet' (made list other day)
-update FH on his 1/2 of house bills
-Do anything else that I have the energy for Smile

2014 Financial Goals!

December 28th, 2013 at 09:32 pm

1. Pay off Loan $949.07 (January 1st 2014 with 12/27 check)
2. Add $2500 to wedding fund (May 2014)
3. Add another $1000 to Emergency Fund
4. Pay off Plumbing charge on CC $5557.28 (May 2014)
5. Pay off ELN cc $5238.78 (Aug 2014)
6. Pay off Car Loan $4585.93 (Sept 2014)
7. Pay off DSC cc $11,396.73 (End of Year)
8. Utilize HSA, sinking fund & cashflow to pay Medical Bills
9. Cashflow rest of wedding and honeymoon
10. Work on future husband's debt (We will not officially combine finances until after the wedding)
11. Cash Only Christmas - goal of finding $650 in Snowflakes!
12. Add $250 into Nephew's savings fund account
13. Start niece's savings fund account & add $100 (she's only 1 month old)

Paid off Loan today!

December 27th, 2013 at 05:32 pm

Today, as planned, I paid off my 2nd mortgage, which was really part of a first time homebuyers program. It was a pain to get paid.

In the end, it cost me a half dozen phone calls and a $8 fee for a bank check. BUT ITS DONE!

The $100 per month payment will go into my snowball. Woot!

Plans for 12/27 Paycheck!

December 24th, 2013 at 04:47 pm

My paystub went up online yesterday & I was excited to see how much take home I receive with the overtime I did over the last 2 weeks!

In addition to my normal pay, I earned $862.86 in take home overtime pay!

I already have my budget for that pay period & will be putting a LOT of money to debt & savings.

So between my normal pay budget & the overtime, I am doing the following:

1. Paying $1395.19 towards debt
2. Saving $314 ($300 towards Wedding fund)

For a total of $1709.19!

Exhausting Last Week

December 16th, 2013 at 12:54 pm

I put in 15.5 hours of Overtime last week. In addition, we decorated for Christmas, I did a lot of cleaning/organizing and a lot of socializing.

I am completely happy to have the opportunity for OT, but I am just mentally exhausted! So yesterday, I did pretty much nothing.

I went to make sesame honey chicken for dinner (SO easy) but the honey had turned hard! I was about to scrap that, but my DFH and I googled (honey doesn't really go bad) and put the bottle in some warm water and the honey became liquid again. So we used it. Yay google & frugality!

Tonight, I have a friend coming over for dinner. I am making sloppy joes and between last night & tonight's meals, I will be golden for food for the next few days. We have such busy schedules that the leftovers will go all week.

That's certainly something!

Pay Day and Debt Payments Day!

December 14th, 2013 at 02:31 am

Today was the first paycheck as an hourly employee (as opposed to being exempt). I am happy to report that I had OT that netted me an additional $487 in this check!

None of this includes my mortgage, but here's some great news!

Debt/Savings Payments earlier this month include:

1. A min pay to Card DSC $238
2. A min pay to Card ELN $53
3. A min pay to CTDV $83
4. A payment to my wedding fund savings account $500
5. A min pay to my car loan $230
6. $20 to ING Vet slush fund
7. $40 to ING Medical slush fund
8. $50 to ING House Upkeep slush fund
9. $10 to ING Holidays slush fund

Between cash flow and the OT, I paid off:

1. A small balance card that is being paid before the statement hits $172.94 BALANCE NOW $0!!

2. Old Navy balance - includes medical bills 551.22 BALANCE NOW $0!!

Overall, I paid $1948.16 towards savings & debt repayment.
-$1828.16 to debt
-$120 to savings


My next paycheck should have an estimate of $800 in Overtime (NET) and that & cashflow will payoff my small 2nd mortgage/First time homebuyer's loan. The balance is now at $949.07!


Snowflakes Updates!

December 8th, 2013 at 11:34 pm

All of this talk about starting to save for Christmas 2014 has me thinking! I am already off to a very good start!

-Waiting for a credit card rewards check of $55.71
-Will be able to cash $33 in cc rewards at the end of December (another card)
-Expecting $50 in Old Navy rewards due to a promotion for certain members. For every non-Old Navy use of the card, earn 250 points ($500 points = $5 Old Navy bucks) up to 20 times. I used the card for Christmas gifts & is paid off in full. This will go toward my clothing budget and funds from the clothing budget will go into my Christmas fund as they apply each month with the budget
-About ready to cash out $30.73 from Inbox Dollars. Just waiting for pending points to hit.
-Expecting a $9 Ebates payout in February
-Bing Rewards points are 203 of the 525 goal (for a $5 Amazon gift card)
-MyPoints 1271 out of 7600 Goal
-Swagbucks 144 of 450 Amazon Gift Card goal
-Recyclebank 900 points, not sure of goal

I definitely feel like that's a good start!

Plumbing Problems & Debt Totals

December 6th, 2013 at 03:47 am

So, I neglected to mention, but the other week, in the midst of many plumbing issues, more leaks in pipes sprung up.

I finally gave up (based on research and expert advice) and agreed to have plumbing redone. I put it on a card as my EFUND had been depleted and I have stupidly run up some debt recently even though I am still paying down the debt from my medical issues last year.

So I have a lot of debt. AND I have a plan to pay it off. I have 2 Snowball budgets.

1. with my base income
2. with a minimal amount of OT

We also have been cash flowing Wedding expenses, which is nice!

Here, for the public, are my debt totals:

ON $532.42 TO BE PAID OFF IN DECEMBER

CTY $1931.16 (Honeymoon deposit - was only put on the credit card for travel insurance through the card & will not have any finance charges as we are paying it off this week) TO BE PAID OFF THIS WEEK

HOME LOAN $949.07 TO BE PAID OFF IN JANUARY

CD (PLUMBING BILL) $5537.28 TO BE PAID OFF IN MAY

ELN $5238.78 TO BE PAID OFF IN AUGUST

CAR LOAN $4585.93 TO BE PAID OFF IN OCTOBER

DSC $11,396.73 TO BE PAID DOWN TO 5K BY DECEMBER
TO BE PAID OFF IN 1ST QUARTER 2015

Busy Few Days!

December 6th, 2013 at 02:56 am

Well, it's Thursday, thank goodness. Its been a very busy week.

I have been putting in lots of OT in as this is the first week it's available to me.

Monday - I worked 7:00am to 5:30pm
Tuesday 7:00am to 6:30 pm
Wednesday 7:00am to 6:30pm with an hour break for a doctor's appointment
Today - 7:00am to 4:00pm and then worked from home 5:00pm to 8:00.

Monday night, I cleaned after work. Tuesday, I did more of the same. Last night, I met a friend for dinner and didn't get home until after 9pm

Tonight, I am brain dead. I am watching Red Dawn on Netflix and when FH (Future Hubby) comes home, we are watching Elementary. Then its bed!

Tomorrow, I work from 7-4. No real OT tomorrow. I am going to my nephew's soccer game in the evening.

Saturday, I am working OT from home from 9-1. I am having lunch with a friend after and going over another friend's for a last hoorah before they close on the house she owns. She & her hubby have a new place, but the old one is incredibly located in the midst of the family area of a college town. So we are doing a bar crawl and crashing at her place that night.

Sunday, I am working OT again 9-12. Then it will be chores, chores, chores & studying for my professional exam.

Anyway, very little other things are getting done, but I have accomplished quite a few things.

-Utilized Amazon shipping on my free 30 days of Amazon Prime.
-Ordered Nalgene Water Bottle $9.95 for free due to a $10 Special Offer Promo Code from LL Bean Catalog (no min coupon!)
--Contacted Amazon because they cancelled an order of mine for Christmas. They gave me a $5 credit for my trouble (card was never charged)
-Utilized Avon clearance & free shipping, so bought some personal items on my to-buy list: foot cream (lotion) and body cream (lotion) for $7.98 out of pocket.
-Old Navy - been wanting a new pair of jeans & I have $30 in Old Navy bucks. However, I haven't made it to the store yet & every time there is an online discount for Old Navy, the discount doesn't apply to jeans as they are an 'every day steal'. Well, finally, yesterday the 30% off coupon was for ALL items, so I was able to get a pair of jeans, a work sweater, a fleece jacket for winter workouts (my current one had a rip in it) and socks for $7.80 out of pocket. Woot!
-Purchased some gift cards for Christmas
-Been doing my Bing, some swagbucks, mypoints, Inbox Dollars, Ebates & Shop at Home to start Christmas savings for 2014
-Earned a free $5 Starbucks credit card via Ting

Cyber Monday & today's 5 Things

December 3rd, 2013 at 12:50 am

Today, I worked 2 hours overtime. I also did a little bit of shopping.

Kohl's had some good sales, plus 20% off for the Cyber Weekend. We have been in need of a new ottoman and its been on my 'wish list' for quite a while. The old one literally broke into pieces months ago. Well, I just happened to see a really nice/sturdy one on sale from $199 to $69.99, plus the 20% off and was able to purchase it for $55.99 out of pocket. I earned $15 in Kohl's cash plus rebates from Ebates & rewards from my credit card. I promptly paid the charge off today!

I then turned around today and used the $15 Kohl's cash for a pair of work shoes (desperately needed) $17.99 plus 20% off, after the $15 cash off, so $2.39 out of pocket. Woot!

I requested a $5 Amazon gift card from Swagbucks and a $5 McDonalds gift card from MyCokeRewards for a heavily discounted points 'price'.

I was happy to purchase a 12 month membership to Xbox Live for my nephew's gift with a $5 gift card and a nice Cyber Monday price. Normally $59.99, I got it for $40!

Other than that - no real shopping.

Today's 5 Things included:

1. Work overtime [DONE]
2. do a little shopping [DONE]
3. shop for wedding tuxes with the soon to be hubby [DONE]
4. Clean out personal emails [DONE]
5. Set a budget for the next 2 weeks/pay bills [working on it]
6. Catch up on DVR and rest!

Today's 5 Things

December 1st, 2013 at 09:28 pm

I have a goal of accomplishing at least 5 Things off my never ending To Do List. Sometimes I do 5, sometimes more, but my goal is always at least 5!

Today, I did/will do the following:

1. Studied for my professional accreditation test [DONE]
2. Consolidated Thanksgiving leftovers (and unfortunately threw out some waste). [DONE]
3. Prepped Food for work tomorrow[DONE]
4. Gave grocery list to my fiancée (he was grabbing the groceries for me)[DONE]
5. Gave myself a manicure[DONE]
6. Cleaned my bedroom[DONE]
7. Set out clothes for work tomorrow (will be getting up super early for OT)[DONE]
8. Have dinner with friends (pot luck Sunday night dinner)

Moving from Salary to Hourly (Its a GOOD THING)

December 1st, 2013 at 03:31 pm

Due to my employer having a department linked to the one that I work in having significantly increased workloads, the people in that department have been pulling crazy hours consistently for over a year now. 10 hour days, 6 days a week, holidays, ect.

The work is time sensitive and highly regulated. And these people take their dedication to the job seriously. However, they are salaried and not being paid overtime for a job that essentially requires it.

So they are being moved from salaried to hourly. My job, as it is encoded will also have to make the change although I have never been required to do that kind of work.

We keep every perk of exempt (the extra vacation, flexibility, ability to work from home, ect) except we have to account for our time now.

So that means, time and a half for every extra hour above 40. It also means - $$$$!

I have the ability to work up to 20 hours per week overtime. There is no way that I will do that consistently, but I aim to do 10 hours a week. This will help me rebuild my emergency fund, payoff debt and help fund my honeymoon. I am super excited!

I already have estimated my take home pay hourly and have a debt snowball that includes no OT and with OT to keep me motivated!