My boss came and talked to us this morning and I feel alot better about things now. He said that he doesn't feel like, if the sale goes through, that we would lose our jobs because he still needs assistants and such locally to help him. He also said that if the sale does go through, he is going to cut each of us a check for 10k and then in 3 months cut us each another check for 10k. And that isn't to help us transition to a new job, but just for our loyalty and help in growing the company. My mind is already racing about what I could do with that money. Do I put is in savings? Pay on my student loans? Pay DD's student loans and then pay for college? Put is a 401k? Pay on my HELOC loan? Pay of DD's car? The possibilities are endless. I haven't even gotten it yet and my mind is racing. It is so different from just a few years ago when I would have needed that money just to survive and get caught up on living expenses. I am proud of how far I have come. I still have a ways to go, but I know I will get there.

DD had to get a hotspot last year for her college dorm. It doesn't work at her new dorm. So I canceled it and will save $50 a month on it. We then just activated the hotspot on her phone and upped the data limit, so the actual savings each month will be $35. I'll take it.

I gave my notice at my second job. I just can't do it anymore. My main job is picking up and isn't in danger anymore, so I thought. My boss sat us down on Thursday of last week and said that there is a company interested in buying our company. They are based in PA. They want to hire the owner of my company as a consultant. What was missing in my boss's talk is that our jobs are safe. He didn't say if they were or weren't safe. So who knows. Back to 2nd job...shortly after I gave my notice(like the next day) it was announced that they are doing away with my office/position. They are going completely computerized. They will have one full time employee and that is it. So even if I hadn't given notice, the job would have ended.

Not knowing that my job was in danger, I just spent sort of unnecessary money redoing my basement. I mean I had a mold issue down there that is gone now. But it could have waited. Thanks Boss Man! He has known about this for about 1.5 months and hadn't said anything. Bitter? Me? Not at all!

So That is what is going on in my life. I will just take things one day at a time. At the end of this month, I will have $150 in credit card payments and $400 in HELOC payments. I can manage that even on unemployment. Plus I will be saving gas money and other work related expenses. I also have a few expenses that I can cut. So I think I will be okay if the worst happens. It will be weird though, I have never not had a job, since I was 12 years old.

It isn't as low as I had hoped, but it went from $110 to $45. I am very pleased! I used 8800 gallons the previous month and 1536 gallons this month. What a huge difference!

I am still rather unhappy at work. I am trying my best to just do what they ask me to do. I keep looking on indeed.com for job openings that would work for me but haven't found anything yet. Very frustrating when you realize that no one really cares if work here or not.

It has worked out for me to be able to pay DD's rent. My mom and other sister are helping some. I am good until the 16th of Oct. Then I am not sure what I will do. It always manages to work out though.

I am really unhappy at my job. I don't trust the people I work with. And was told there is no money coming my way for a while. Unfortunately, I don't think I can go anywhere. I don't think another place will let me come in at 9:00 so I can continue to work at my second job. And I need both incomes. Plus I don't think that I will find someplace paying me what I make now. I have my feelers out but hope is dim.

And in other news...my EXDH lost his job this week. I am no longer dependent on him for child support, but he is supposed to pay 1/3 of DD's rent at college and the kids health insurance was through his work. So I have until the 15th to come up with $220 to get the kids covered on an Obamacare plan...not a great plan but at least it is insurance. And I have to come up with 2/3 of the rent for DD on Oct 1.

AND...my sister who was paying the other 1/3 of DD's rent isn't going to be able to pay anything on Oct 1 either. She was finally approved for her disability and her insurance stopped her payments that she had been getting. Problem is that she won't get her first disability payment for 45-60 days. So her rent this month needs to be covered and I don't know how she will come up with rent on Oct 1.

So when it rains it pours. I don't know how I am going to come up with DD's rent. I know some of you will say she should help...she has a job but they have severely cut her hours. She is looking for something else right now but hasn't found anything yet.

I am sure everything will work out. I just wish I knew how.

We had the new water line put in last week. I am excited to see how much my bill is going to be. I will be very disappointed if it doesn't go down much.

I am looking good financially until the end of August. DD had enough financial ad to cover her first 3 months of rent in the dorm. That is being split three ways. So it saved me about $600 total.

As to why i am feeling under appreciated...I was in a meeting with my boss, and the other leadership team members...a total of 4 other people. I am not on the leadership team, I am what they are calling "support Staff". Well, they had lunch called in for them while they were in the meeting and my big boss, said lets buy everyone lunch. Then my direct boss said "because we are rolling in so much money" and laughed. It just is insulting to me. Money is tight right now, but if you are going to buy for one, you should buy for all. I mean an additional 30 is not going to bankrupt us. It just really rubbed me the wrong way. IMO, we shouldn't be buying lunch for anyone right now. We used to be a team and it felt like a team. But lately it is feeling more like us and them, which I know is not what my big boss intended. I am the employee that had been here the longest and seen the most change so I know that is not what he wants. But I don't know how to bring it up to him without it getting back to my boss and having repercussions about it. I will probably just keep my mouth shut and do my work. But it is really bothering me. If I could find another job making the money I make, I would definately consider it right now.

Anyway, that is my rant for the day.

Well, I was coasting along, looking decent for the next couple of months. Then I get my water bill. $130. WOW. It has always been above $70 but that is crazy. So I called a plumber to come see where the obvious leak is. $235 later it is not good news. There is an addition on this house. And apparently when they put the slab down for the addition, they put it over the water line. And there was no cut off switch at the house. So the plumber was able to locate where the water comes into the house and install a cut off valve. He was then able to cut water off at the house and determine that the water leak is between the house and the meter. That was the easy part. Since the line is under the slab, it would involve digging up the concrete(It is an unfinished room) and then finding the line. The plumber suggested that instead of going through all that to just bypass the current line and put in a new one. He will still have to drill a hole in the concrete, but it won't have to be pulled up. But we are looking at 2k to have the work done. He said it could come in less but he wanted to give me worse case scenario. The only way I can pay for this to take out a loan. I hate to take out another loan especially as strapped as I am but I really have no other choice. But apparently my water bill should go down to around $30 a month. So I can take what I was paying in water and put it toward the loan.

I know it has been a while. I am sorry. I have been so busy with life lately that I have rarely had time to even breathe.

I finally hit rock bottom financially. I went through a very serious shopping phase. Bought new chairs and a tv for the living room. The week after I bought them I found out that the child support would be ending in July. I thought it was supposed to go through college but it wasn't worded right in the divorce papers so it ended when she turned 18, which is today. But it actually ended before that because the state said he was ahead on his payments. So the last $600 I was expecting isn't coming.

So I had a real hard look at where I am spending my money. It is very upsetting. In the month of May, I spent over $500 eating out. Add the $300 that was spent at the grocery store and I spent over $800 on food! That is more than I make at my second job! I was horrified. Needless to say, that has ended.

I also have over 4k in medical expenses for DD. She was in severe pain in her abdomen. They thought it was appendicitis, but that didn't pan out. Then they tested for all kinds of things, including a colonoscopy. Nothing ever came from all the tests. She still has the pain every now and then. Ex DH is paying half of that monthly payment.

DD is also starting college in the fall. She is living on campus. And we are splitting her rent 3 ways. My portion is $200. Not sure where I am going to come up with it, I already work a second job and I don't think selling my blood would net that much. LOL.

But I think I am handling the stress well and I think I am actually happy. Ask me again in August after DD leaves and it might be a different story!

This is what I planned to do with my tax return:

Having the duct work cleaned in the house
Replacing the vanity in the downstairs bathroom(it is all warped and mold infested)
**Catching up car payment(not even a month behind, but past due date)
Pay Additional amount to Best Buy card(over half of the balance)
**Pay for DD Senior Pictures
**Give MOM $200

I have done the ones with the asterik. And I did pay extra to the Best Buy, just not as much as I wanted. I was set to do the vanity this week. Until I found out that we needed to pay for DD's dorm room registration fee. So there goes the vanity for now. I will get it done sometime in the future.

DD was accepted into KSU(Kennesaw State University) and has to live on campus for the first year. That is the reason for the dorm. But I don't know who is more excited, me or her! I will miss her terribly but am so proud of her for doing this.

Financially I am doing okay. We have had terrible weather here for the last week and a half. I missed a Saturday at my second job, which is the day I get the most hours) and will likely miss tomorrow morning as well due to snow and ice. Then I took this coming Saturday off for my niece's baby shower. So that check is going to quite slim. But that's okay. It isn't worth risking damage to myself or my car for that extra $$.

We are also in the middle of prom season. We have purchased the dress and had the first fitting last night. But thank goodness my sisters are covering those expenses!

Credit Card, that is. I paid of the Kohl's card today. I also got my tax refund today. I had already planned on paying the credit card off so that doesn't come out of the refund.

The refund is going to pay for:

Having the duct work cleaned in the house
Replacing the vanity in the downstairs bathroom(it is all warped and mold infested)
Catching up car payment(not even a month behind, but past due date)
Pay Additional amount to Best Buy card(over half of the balance)
Pay for DD Senior Pictures
Give MOM $200

That is about all of it. I didn't get near as much as I am used to getting back, but I will take it.

Has anyone ordered prescription eye glasses online? What site did you use? Were you happy with them? Any feedback would be great. DD needs new glasses.

I will have another credit card paid off tomorrow. That will make 3 since I started the second job around November 1. And I paid off the charges I made for Christmas so basically I paid cash for Christmas. Another will be paid off at the end of this month. I am proud of the progress I have made so far and intend on keeping it up. I just hope I can keep this second job long enough before my body revolts.

Child support hasn't shown up yet. He was paid on the 28th and I figure with the holiday it will be slow. But I just had to pay the deposit to the college my DD has chosen and paid her car insurance so I really need that support payment. (she pays a certain amount toward her insurance and car payment).

We ordered DD's senior pictures today. We finally got an email for 40% off. And her dad is paying $75 toward them.

I guess that is about all for now. I hope everyone had a Happy New Year!

I put all my information from my last paystubs into FreeTaxUSA to get an idea of my tax situation since I really didn't know what to expect this year. DD turned 17 so I lost the child tax credit. I started the second job. And I didn't have any rental property. But according to what I entered I will get about $900 back from federal and about $50 back from state. I will take it. Once I find out for sure what I am getting back I will post my plan for it. One thing for sure is DD's senior pictures. They keep upping the discount amount so I will wait a while until the discount is close to 40%. Then the rest will be applied to credit card payments.

I guess I need to go in and adjust the amount of withholding for this year. The second job is withholding hardly anything even though I am claiming single 2. I think I will have them withhold an additional $15 per check. That should cover it I think. I have an additional $10 withheld from my first job. I just don't want any surprises next year.

Yep...one of the other employees got a pretty substantial bonus. The only reason I know is as the accounting manager I cut the check. But no one else got a bonus. It really angered me yesterday to the point of tears. This particular employee has only been there since May, is late every day, leaves for 1 1/2 hour every day in addition to lunch to pick up dd at school and used all her sick days in the first 5 months she was there. I just don't understand it. We all worked hard to make the year a success and to single out one person seems so unfair. It would have been nice, but I will survive without it. The only thing I can't figure out is how to get DD's senior pictures. But I will figure it out.

Still waiting to see if we will get a bonus this year. At this point it wouldn't be a Christmas bonus but an end of the year bonus.

We had the office Christmas party last Friday. We all got Ipad Mini's. He left the receipt on them so that we can exchange it if we want. I am giving mine to my son for Christmas.

I hope that isn't all we are getting. We had the best year we have had since I have been here (7 years). I know I am probably sounding greedy or ungrateful but I am just hoping for more. I can live without it, I have my budget done for the next couple of months but it would be nice to pay off a credit card or two early.

I thought I was done with Christmas shopping but then I remembered my great-nephew. So I ordered something today to be shipped to him and now I am really done.

I am really hoping to get a bonus at work this year. I know my boss has been looking at things and I am just waiting to hear from him. Keep your fingers crossed.

I couldn't believe it when I drove by the gas station this morning. I hope it stays that low since I don't get paid until Thursday.

The paycheck stub from my second job posted yesterday(although we don't get paid until Thursday). It is for $50 more than I estimated. That is good because I went to the store and spent $30 yesterday. Was only going in for one thing! But I needed the rest of it for my breakfast/lunches at work. So I don't feel bad about spending it.

Other than Satellite internet, there are only 2 providers in the small town I live in. I have been with one for 5 years. I tried to get them to reduce their rates. I tried to cancel my landline phone but would end up paying just as much because the internet price went up. So I switched to the other company. They came on Wednesday and hooked it up. It is only $19.99 per month. I am saving $60 per month. I am super excited.

Today is pay day and as usual, everything is already set up and allocated to where it needs to go. Unless the girl I work with pays me the $25 she owes me, I have $15 to get me through to Wednesday. I have a full tank of gas and just bought milk last night. So I should be good. I know I will need to buy more OJ for work since I am eating breakfast here instead of eating out. I can't tell you the last time I ate out for breakfast, or lunch for that matter(that I paid for). My boss has taken us out a couple of times but I didn't pay for that. I feel like I am saving a ton of money.

With the income from my second job I have been able to pay off 2 credit cards this month! And pay cash for most of Christmas(I had to charge DD present but have already worked it into the budget to have it paid by the end of December).

I am just about done with Christmas shopping...only have one more person to buy for and the white elephant gift for our family Christmas. It has been a long time since I have had Christmas done so early. It feels really good.

Hi everyone! I am sorry I haven't posted in a while. I made some really bad financial choices and have been embarrassed to admit them. But I am digging myself out one month at a time and if I can just hold on until October I think I will be back to where I was.

I was recently diagnosed as diabetic. It is in my family and since I am overweight it is not really a shock. I am trying to manage it through diet and exercise right now. I go to the doctor on Thursday and will probably have to go on a prescription. The diagnosis has increased my grocery budget. Eating right is not cheap. DD has really stepped up to help motivate me to get it under control.

Well...that is about all going on with me. I hope you have been well. I have missed you all.

I haven't posted in a while but wanted to let you know that I am alive and well. My car broke down the beginning of February and I chose to replace it instead of putting more money into it. So now I have a car payment. YUCK! But since then I have been making very poor financial decisions. I am trying to correct the stupid mistakes but it will take some time. I still managed to get the title loan and most of the medical bills paid off with my tax return.

My DD finally found a job so that means that not only do I not have to give her money each week but she will be giving me money each week for her car insurance! That works out great! DS has started paying more toward his car insurance so that is a plus as well. I applied for a job at the Walmart that will be opening in my town. I sure hope they call me. I could use the extra money and since DD started working I am doing nothing in the evenings anyway. Keep your fingers crossed.

That is about it for now. Will try to post more often...just gotta get out of this funk I am in.

Well...I did my taxes last night and efiled them. The state and the federal have both been accepted. Now it is just a matter of waiting for the direct deposit.

I am getting enough back to pay off the title loan and most of the medical bills I have. There will still be one medical bill open but I haven't even received a bill for it from the doctor yet. I am going to try to get the hospital to give me a discount for paying in full and bring that down so that I can get it paid off. I just can't wait to get this stuff paid off!

There was one lab work bill that was not a preferred provider for my insurance and they rejected what the insurance said was a fair amount, leaving me to pay $294. So I called the insurance company and they sent me a check for $259, the rest being my copay. Then I called the lab office and asked for a discount and they gave me a 20% discount. So the total I have to pay is $234. I ended up making money on this deal! Always ask for a discount. All they can do is say no.

So...the title loan place called me today to let me know that I could borrow an addition $1900 if I needed it. I politely declined while thinking to myself "you will be paid off soon...why would I add to it?"

Sent email to EX-H about child support. He wants me to drop the case with the state and just let him send me the check each week...apparently it will save him some money from the payroll company. I told him I didn't feel comfortable doing that. That I couldn't trust that he would put the child support above his other debts. I haven't heard from him yet but I imagine I will get a pretty hateful email or phone call. I am standing up for myself instead of letting him walk all over me. He can't bully me into doing anything anymore. I am afraid that he will threaten to drop the kids off his insurance if I don't do it. That would be cutting off his nose to spite his face. Since any plan I could get would be more expensive and he has to pay half of it, he would end up spending more money that he does right now. Hope it doesn't go that far though. Enough rambling...sorry.

Still haven't received all of my tax documents yet. This is the latest I have ever received them. Really can't wait to file and get some of these debts paid off!

So Payday is tomorrow. I already have everything set up in my bill pay. So it is kind of a let down. But I can't wait to see the lower balances in my Quicken sidebar. The anticipation is awful! I am paying $300 in medical bills this payday. Just think when I get all of that paid off...it will be a glorious day! It will be like getting a raise!

To give you an idea of how far I have to go...I have $2823 in medical expenses to pay off. After this week it will be $2573($50 of the $300 is for current bills that I didn't bother to enter into Quicken as an account since I paid them in full). I hope to pay as much as possible per month to get this debt taken care of.

DS got paid today so he gave me his portion of the car payment and insurance so I went ahead and paid the credit card for the amount I had to charge this week to make it to today. At least I am able to pay it back right away and not carry a balance...anymore than what was already there anyway.

Today was a NSD. It helps when you don't leave the house. DD and I had gotten on a kick of getting BK for breakfast on the weekends. But lately we haven't been doing that. Go Us!

Ordered some make up tonight from Mary Kay. They have the only foundation I like. Going to start with just a little foundation to cover the brown aging spots, some mascara and some lipstick. Then I might add in some eye shadow eventually. I will get the mascara from CVS where it is cheaper. Probably should have waited but once I get an idea in my head I go with it. There was enough left over in my checking account to pay for it.

Dish network came out today to investigate why my local channels keep going out. He found a loose wire on the outside of my house. Visit cost me the $7 maintanance plan and a $15 visit fee. I signed up for the plan for 4 months because without it the visit was $95. Even after paying for the plan I still come out ahead.

Other than that it has been a quite Saturday. What have you been up to?

It has become a thing in the office for the 4 of us to go out to lunch on Friday. I went last Friday. But today I said no. When this one particular person asked me why, I told her that I only had $18 in my fast food budget until next Friday. Deer in headlights. You would have thought I had two heads. I had to explain that I had money for groceries and gas but that I was trying real hard to stay within my budget. She is lucky that her budget is never really reached. She can pretty much spend what she wants, she just never really spends that much by nature. And yet she still complains about having to go to the ER(and paying that bill) when she was having chest pains! I just don't understand her.

Anyway, I was proud of myself for resisting and eating the lunch I brought.

I went to credit karma last night to get my credit score. Last time I checked it was in the 450 range. But last night it was up to 619. The only thing I can figure is that the debt to income ratio is back in line again since I don't have the loan for the house anymore. I have paid my bills on time for the last few years and was wondering why my score wasn't getting any better. Now I think I have figured it out.

At least one good thing came from the foreclosure!

I went to the tax site Looking Forward recommended and put all my information in. Somewhere along the way I entered something wrong and it showed a refund of $3700. Now I know this isn't right, but it sure is fun to think about what I would do with that much money!

I have to look at this site closer because they have me getting $500 less back than turbotax does. Not sure why, but I will figure it out! LOL.

It hit me as I was entering everything into TurboTax that I won't get the $1000 child tax credit next year since DD will be 17 and I won't have any rental income/expenses to write off. So I went in and changed my deductions from 5 to 3. Plus I have an extra $10 withheld out of each check. I also changed the state to 3 dependents with an additional $10 withheld out of each check. My state tax refund seems to get smaller and smaller each year so I am constantly afraid that I am going to owe something. We will see what it does to my check.

Our outside temperature last night got down to -1. It is the coldest I ever remember it being in Georgia and I have lived here my whole life. BRRRRRR!!! But when I got up this morning, I went to turn the thermostat up to take the chill off a little more and it was 59 degrees in the house! And the heat was running. So after a phone call to my mom, I turned on the emergency heat. It didn't help any. I left to get my license renewed and it went down 2 degrees. I called my mom again and she thought that maybe the heat just couldn't keep up with how cold it was. So I turned the heat back to normal and waited. About 5:00 it finally got back up to 68 in the house! I am so glad I called my mom and didn't immediately overreact and call the HVAC company! Now I know what to expect if it gets this cold here again. I will know that I need to buy a space heater before the next cold snap!

The expenses have been submitted to the insurance and I have a pretty good idea of what I will owe. Including the co-pays for visits before the surgery, my total oop is 1543.08. Not too bad for a full hysterectomy and repair of several small hernias.

I have a credit at one doctor that is sending me a check. When I receive that I will send it to the other doctor. Then when I receive the bill from the hospital I will set them up on payments. They are about $1000 of the total oop.