I haven't posted regularly but I am lurking around reading posts. I don't really have anything new to report. I told the renters that I needed the rest of September's rent tomorrow because I didn't want to carry it over to October. We'll see how that goes. I know I need to evict but I am lazy and don't want to go through the process. But I will tell them that if the rent isn't caught up by the end of October I will be filing eviction papers. I hope they believe me. What can't it just be simple. I think they are in over their heads. He made a comment the last time we met that he makes $50/day. that comes to $250/week. I don't know if she works or not. The rent is $500 so two weeks of work. The power bill has been running $200. So another week's work. That only leaves them $250 for groceries and other things. They just keep getting further and further behind. I feel bad for them, but my financial well being is at stake here. I honestly don't know how someone can make it on $250/week. When I was making $300/week I had to have a great amount of help from my parents.

There was supposedly a drug bust in my neighborhood yesterday. Quite a large one, if my source is accurate. I will have to buy the newspaper to check things out. We feel pretty safe there and have never had any problems. But DD has told me before that the area is riddled with drug dealers. Wish I had known that before we moved in.

My budget is looking pretty good still, as long as the renters give me their money. The first of the month is looking pretty weak and I might have to borrow some money if the renters don't come up with their rent(FOR SEPTEMBER!!).

It has been a pretty easy week at work because my boss and work mate are at a conference. That makes my job very easy.

That's about all that is going on with me. Thanks for reading!

I spent alot of money on myself yesterday. It has been so long since I have spent any money that it just got out of control. I needed a pair of shoes to wear on Monday to a work function. Got them at payless shoe source. $28. We went out to dinner, $23. I got my nails done, $33. And the clothes that I bought yesterday at Walmart, $98. I should be set for a while now, except paying to have the jeans hemmed. But that is with every pair of pants I buy, being only 4'7". The only thing I didn't need was my nails. I just love having my nails done.

My neice is coming tonight to color and cut my hair. I am getting it really short. I will give her $50 toward her gas and time. My DD will also get her hair cut.

All this results in a major adjustment to the budget. I didn't totally screw myself but the next two weeks are going to be really tight.

I was in desperate need of some more jeans. With all the weight I have gained only two pair of pants fit me anymore(well three, but one involves shaving legs and I am on strike from that...lol) So I went to walmart and found two pair of jeans that were clearance and one pair that was regular priced 18.88. I also hit the clearance rack for some shirts and a new purse. I know I didn't need the new purse, but it will be nice to finally have a purse that things won't fall out of! All in all, I spent $98 and got 3 pair of jeans, 3 shirts and a new purse. I am pretty happy with my purchases.

I set up my student loan to be debited from my account on the 10th of each month. It will make things tight for me, but doable. I definately need to get the renters back on track.

I reduced my car gas allowance from $125 to $100. I was always having overages, so it was more realistic. This week I came in $7 under! I was concerned that I would go over. I increased the allowance for next week because DD has a cheer competition that I will have to drive to.

I have been on a bit of spending spree lately, just on eating out. I need to get that back under control. It isn't like we don't have food at home. We have quite a bit of food at home. Just need to get disciplined enough to make it. I forgot to take something out for dinner tonight so I will probably make something with hamburger meat since you can brown it while it is still frozen.

My daughter broke the lid to our crock pot on Sunday. Shattered it into a million little pieces. I looked for a replacement lid but you have to buy the pot part too. I went ahead and ordered it and will just have an extra pan for cooking. I am not sure where I got the crock pot from but it is a corningware and I absolutely love it. So it is well worth the price to get a new pan.

My shoulder is slowly getting better. Every once in a while I will move it a certain way and it hurts, but for the most part it seems to be healing nicely.

I had a lazy weekend so not much to report. The only time I left the house on Saturday was to go pick up Subway and the only time I left on Sunday was to meet the renters to get some money from them.

Speaking of renters, they are still there. She gave me $100 and said she would have more on Friday. Sure hope so. I am losing patience with them.

I fell down the last two stairs on Sunday morning, dislocating my shoulder. It popped right back in so no need to go to the hospital. It has done this several times since I dislocated is several years ago, but this time was by far the worst. My shoulder is still in pain and I can barely move it.

I need a new phone. No...rather I want a new phone. My phone is slow and takes forever to send text messages. But it is still a workable phone. I was due for an upgrade but I gave that to my daughter so she got a new phone. Her phone had completely stopped working. I found the phone I want on ebay for $89. I was real close to ordering the phone. But I closed ebay to think about it for a while and now the urge has passed. I will stick with my old phone for a while longer.

I haven't heard from the renters regarding the letter I sent. I don't know if they have received it yet or not. I have a funny feeling that they have moved out. I don't know why, but that is what I am thinking. Don't know where they would go, as she has told me she has no where else to go. Thinking about sending them a text message asking if they are still living in the house. It just kills me that they haven't been in contact with me. When my first DH and I were first married, we were late on our rent alot. But I always stayed in contact with the landlord. Guess maybe I am getting my payback.

Had my review last week(well, it really isn't a reveiw, it is a coaching session). One of my areas for improvement is my personal health. I am more than a little overweight and while I can blame some of that on my thyroid, my eating habits and lack of exercise probably play a pretty big part as well. My weight is a huge issue for me. Tomorrow morning, the moving company is coming to move the treadmill into my bedroom. that way I will be able to watch tv while I am walking. It should make it easier for me to want to do it. I am also supposed to be drinking more water instead of dr pepper. Hopefully doing these things will help me start to lose weight.

I haven't posted in a while but I am still here. There just hasn't been that much to post. Financially my budget is looking pretty good.

I skipped going to the grocery store two paydays ago. We lived off of what we had. So this time when I went to the grocery store I spent $100 more than I had budgeted. Lesson learned is that I will spend the money either by going each payday or if I skip I will pay it the next time I go to the store, so either way I will pay it.

I sent the renters a certified letter yesterday demanding payment of the rent by next Friday. I have sent them several text messages and they aren't answering me. Let's see if they respond to the letter. I sure hope they do because I really don't want to have to file eviction papers. Seems like a really big hassle.

I bank with Suntrust. I love(d) Suntrust. They have always been good to me when I have had nsf(none in over two years...). I have never had any problems with them. But today I got a phone call from Suntrust wanting to let me know about the changes that are being made to the free checking accounts. Now my accounts have never been free because I pay for the PC banking. I like the auto reconcile feature with my Quicken. I pay $6.95 for 2 checking accounts and one savings account. Not anymore. They are doing away with free checking and the accounts will be $7 per month. That can be waived with direct deposit or $500 daily balance. I have direct deposit on one checking account and the savings account. The other checking account does not maintain a $500 balance and is only used for a direct debit that comes out on the first of each month. As if that wasn't bad enough, they are also charging a $5 fee per month if you use your debit card for purchases. I use my debit card for almost everything. So when all is said and done, I would be paying 7 for my one account that doesn't have direct deposit, 6.95 for my pc banking, and 5 for use of my debit card. Almost $20 a month for my checking accounts! I could change and have direct deposit on the other checking account but that would still leave me paying the $5 fee each month for the debit card. I absolutly refuse to pay that. That is the most absurd thing I have heard of. So as much as it pains me I am going to have to change banks. I have three direct debits that come out of my accounts and 1 child support deposit that goes into my account. Do you know how much of a pain it will be to change banks? UGGG!!! I am not looking forward to this!

UPDATE: My sister informed me that Wachovia is doing the same thing. If the larger banks are going to this than it is probably only a matter of time before the local banks(which I would change to) start doing it, right? Should I forego a banking relationship(Been banking with Suntrust for over 10 years) when in the long run I will be paying the same fees anyway? What do you think? I could get the monthly payment down to 11 per month. And I like the fact that I can make deposits until 9:00 pm and still have them show up for that day. Just alot to consider.


In other news...I had my coaching session with my boss today. We do coaching instead of performance reviews. Overall it went well. There were only a few area's for improvement and no job threatening areas. Two of the areas for improvement were keeping the office tidier and trying to keep up with my personal health better. How many bosses care enough to make my personal health an issue. And he wasn't saying it in a bad way or in a way that he was just thinking about the insurance rates(obese people tend to have a lot of other health problems). I really felt like he was just concerned for me and my health. Overall I felt good coming out of my session.