North Georgia Gal's Financial Awakening

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.

I don't know what has gotten into me but I have been cleaning my house like a mad woman. I got the family room all cleaned and tackled my bedroom last night. They were both in bad shape because I have been so lazy lately. I must be in the hi side of my bi polar disorder. Hope I can keep it up. Tonight I plan on cleaning the dog corner. Pulling out his crate and sweeping under it. I hope I get home in time to do that. I am going to my mom's tonight to make sure she gets dinner ready. She has her chemo treatment today.

I sent the renters a message this morning that I can not cover the power bill this month and that I would need that money by the tenth. They said ok but we will see. I told them that the power would be cut off if I didn't have it. Maybe that will motivate them. They never answered me about paying 1/2 of the rent on the first and fifteenth.

Speaking of renters, I ran in the the wife at the pharmacy with her two girls. She proceeded to tell me that her DD1 has pnuemonia and they didn't know if they should put her in the hospital or not. I hate to be cold but what I heard is that rent will be late because of personal issues. They have really has a string of bad luck but I am out of patience with it. I am tired of their bad luck affecting my finances.

I managed to save a little bit of potential gas money next week. DD has a football game in Jackson County(she is a cheerleader). That is about 2 hours away. But my EX DH lives real close to that school. SO he is going to go so that someone is there should something happen and I don't have to make the drive. I still have to go to Rabun County which is further and East Hall which is a tad bit closer. She also wants to play soccer in the spring, which means more driving. I have always gone to all of DS away games ever since he broke his ankle at a game I wasn't at. So of course I have to go to DD's games too. I would hate for something to happen and no one be there.

Well I guess that is about it for now. Thanks for reading!

I had a pretty spendy weekend. I have no money left for the next two weeks. It is going to be tight. But I think I can make it.

I am not counting on the renters money until later in the month. Hopefully they will have some money for me before then.

I was pretty productive yesterday. We got the living room cleaned which is something that has needed to be done for a while. DD cleaned the kitchen and I cleaned off the piano. It had become full of mail and was an eyesore. I have one more couch in the family room to get cleaned off and then I need to start working on my room. I have to do this while the motivation is still there. But it does feel good to have a clean room to sit and watch tv in.

That is right! I am making my second mortgage payment of the month. It is the August payment and it is on time! I am so excited. The only other time payments have been on time is when I get a lump sum of money. This is because of my careful planning. And hopefully I will be able to keep it current.

I offered the renters a compromise on the rent. I offered to let them pay 1/2 on the first and 1/2 on the fifteenth. If they agree to that I will still be able to take their payments and apply them to the mortgage each month. Maybe it will be easier for them knowing they don't have to come up with a large sum of money. I felt like such a horrible person yesterday. She said that she had $250 for me($20 short of what she owed). I told her I would meet her and get it. She then sent me a text asking if they could only give me $200 so they could get some groceries for her kids. I told her no. It was difficult to say no. But I have gotten to the point that I am not responsible for them. She has local family...let them buy her groceries. And I am not 100% certain that she is not receiving food stamps. I have just reached my limit of being used.

I contacted the renters and they should have the rest of the money for me today. I also asked when they will be able to start making payments on the June rent that is still due. She hasn't responded to that question. The good news is that if they give me what is still due for August and the power bill I will be able to make my mortgage payment actually on time, as opposed to 5 or 6 days late. I am excited about that. This will be my second mortgage payment this month in an attempt to get caught up.

I am going to my parents house tonight to make sure they get something to eat and get the dishes done. My niece spent all day there yesterday loading them up with easy things to eat. I will just go make sure they heated something up. My mom gets another round of Chemo next week so I don't see this ending anytime soon. At least she is finally getting some help with my dad. That must be a big relief to her.

The only reason I don't evict them is because I don't want to go through the hassle. I think I am going to send them a certified letter laying it all out there. I just hate being a bill collector. It is not my personality. If they are to pay me this week for what they owe me, I will be able to make my mortgage payment on time for a change. I usually fun about 15 days late so it doesn't affect my credit but I am trying real hard to get it set up on time. This would be the second mortgage this month.

I still am having a hard time not eating breakfast out. Everyday I think "okay...tomorrow I am not going to get breakfast". But the next morning my will power is completely gone.

I spent Saturday at my parents house doing laundry and dishes and cleaning. Not only is my dad losing his memory and showing confusion all the time but my mom is going through chemo and is very weak. She is having to take care of him and she is just wore out. When I got there Friday she asked me to heat up some dinner for them because she was just too weak to do it. So my sister and I are taking turns making sure that they get dinner. Tonight is my turn to make sure they get dinner. We also have violin and piano lessons. So tonight will be busy.

Thank you guys for all your well wishes. My dad seems to be coming out of it and is back to his old self again. The Dr said he thinks that maybe a dose of medicine was missed. It was really scary there for a while.

Still haven't heard from the renters regarding the rest of the rent or the power bill money. Sent them a text asking when they want to meet. I hope to hear back from them soon. HAHA.

Budget is still looking ok for the next few weeks. Just minor changes to it at this point.

He was transported to the hospital yesterday morning for having alot of confusion and being lethargic. In my non professional opinion I think he may have had a small stroke. Those don't show up from what I have been told. Anyway, they sent him home. He is like a child. He doesn't seem to know where he is or what is going on. he is fighting everything my mom tries to do for him. He can't stand up or walk to the bathroom. He is like dead weight. It took three of us to get him in the house and four of us to get him in his chair. My mom can't continue to take care of him. I am afraid that he is going to have to go into a nursing home. I can't imagine what my poor mom is going through. They have been married for 58 years. As hard as it is on me, It is probably twice as hard on her.

Big surprise...the renters didn't contact me yesterday to get me the rest of the rent. Maybe they will today. Just have too much else on my mind.

The renters came up with the money yesterday. They gave me $400 and will have the rest plus the power bill today. I was concerned when I hadn't heard from them on Saturday. But I am relieved that they were able to come up with the rent money.

I went this morning and had it fixed. $45. That is all. If I had known that I would have had it fixed a while ago. They said it was completely out of freon and there may be a leak, but they couldn't find one. Hopefully it will last for a while. It feels so good.

I haven't heard from the renters so I assume they don't have the rent. Bummer. Now I have to go through the eviction process. Unless like someone said they moved out this week.

I had to do some grocery shopping for my mom today. She had her first chemo on Wednesday and doesn't feel real good. As a result I don't feel like doing my own shopping. Might put it off until Monday or Tuesday.

My sister gave DS $500 toward his lawyer. We have the initial payment now so when the lawyer asks for it we have it. My family is so good to me and my kids.

Today is payday...but that means little to me. I already have everything set up in bill pay and I am already broke again. Keeping my fingers crossed that the renters will have the rent tomorrow. Really looking forward to getting the air in my car fixed. I hope it is nothing serious.

DD sprained her ankle at cheerleading last night. I took her to the walk in clinic where they did xrays and said that it is just badly sprained. She is on crutches until she can put weight on it. She is very upset as she might not be able to cheer at the game next Friday. Thank goodness she has excellent health insurance so I had no oop expenses, not even for the crutches.

I have been looking at the phones with AT&T and I can't find one that I like that gets good ratings. I just want a simple phone that makes texting simple. Everyone that looks good has terrible ratings! I don't want a phone that is going to have problems. So I plan on going into the AT&T store tomorrow to look at the phones. I don't know what I will do if I can't find one that will work for me. It isn't that i want fancy...i just want a simple phone that has a full keyboard. Most that have a full keyboard require a data plan and I don't want a data plan. I'm trying to reduce expenses, not go from one high plan to another high plan.

You guys got me thinking. So I looked at AT&T to see what plans they offer. Their prepaid phones would be $50 per month per phone for voice and unlimited texting. That is $150/month. However, if I go with a plan, I can get three lines with unlimited texting and calling to any other mobile phone, regardless of the carrier. This would be about $130/month after the fees and everything is added. How can they be that much cheaper? I just don't understand it. But DS contract is up on the 24th of this month so we will wait until then to change. The cancellation fee for the other two lines will be $200. Then if XDH wants to keep his line, he will have to go in and assume responsibility for it, which I don't think he can do because of his credit. Those contracts are up in December.

I have verizon cell phones with 5 lines. Three of the lines are for me and the kids. My EXDH has the other two lines. This bill is roughly $300 per month for 2100 minutes. We generally go over 1400 but are way less that 2100. So I can't reduce the minutes to save money. However, XDH uses most of the minutes. He used 1052 of the 1488 minutes used. He was just paying what the charges were for his line, 9.99 per month for the line and the ringback tones. This month I asked him to pay $125 of the bill since most of the minutes used were his. He was fine with this. So from now on, I will be getting more money from him for the cell phone bill. That will really help me out and it is only fair I think. I can't reduce the amount of minutes due to his usage.

My budget is looking very good. So good in fact that I think I am going to get the air in my car fixed on Saturday, as long as it just needs to be charged. If it needs extensive work I can't get that done, but it will only be about $50 to get it charged and see if there are any other problems. It is just brutal sitting in a car with no air where the drivers side window won't go down and now the the controls on the driver side won't make the passenger window go down and I am too short to reach across the passenger seat and roll down the window. Even with the back windows open if feels like a sauna in there. Keep your fingers crossed that it just needs some freon.

I have totally reworked my budget. Everything is looking good for the next couple of weeks. I am hoping the renters come through and have the rent for me on Saturday. Otherwise I will have to rework it again. I have decided that I don't like being a landlord very much but I don't think the house would sell either.

I am having a very boring day at work. I am the only one here and I find it hard to start anything. I am so bored!

I had sent the tenants a notice that if they didn't have the rent by Monday I would have to start eviction proceedings. She sent me a message today begging to have until Saturday. I told her that was fine. I mean it would take me that long to get the ball rolling on the eviction. She said that she has no where else to go. She then sent me a message that I have been a blessing to her and her family. She is one of the sweetest people I have met but I still can't continue to cover her. I told her that she would have to have the power bill as well but I doubt she will have it.

I sent the tenants a text message to see if they had the rent money for me. She responded that they are currently selling everything they can to come up with the money. I responded telling her that if I don't have the rent by Monday was going to start eviction proceedings. I am hoping that will scare them into paying. I mean they had a whole month of not paying any mortgage because that community action group paid their rent last month. They should have plenty of money to pay this month's rent.

I am afraid that they are going to turn beligerent and act like it is my fault. She has been very apologetic in the past, but I think that my have ended. There is an issue with the dishwasher not working, but really is that enough to not pay rent? I don't think so.

I went to get my dog out of the vet yesterday and the charge was only $140. I was so pleased. They had to neuter him due to where the laceration was. This is something that I had been wanting to get done. As pleased as I was about the charges, I am completely bummed that I had to use the credit card to pay for them. I don't have any extra in my checking account or savings account. They let me break it down into two payments. So I made the first $100 yesterday on the card and I will make the remaining $40 in the next month or so.

I hope the renters have the rent money for me today. I really don't want to go through the eviction process. but just in case...can some of you tell me how to do it? Do I just go to the courthouse or is there papers that I need to fill out that I can find online? Serves me right to not have gotten all of the security deposit up front and "working with them". That is what she always says...if I can work with them.

My dog got out of the fence on Monday and I haven't seem him since. I called animal control to see if they had him. Found out that he got into a fight with another dog and was pretty badly chewed up. He is at the vet clinic and has been there since Monday. Wonder what this is going to cost me? I am supposed to go visit him and they will let me know if I can take him home or not. Problem is I left work early yesterday and I have 2:00 meeting today. There is no way I can leave early today to go visit him. I will have to go in the morning. I think they open at 8:00 and I don't have to be to work until 9:00. I hope they will take payment arrangements.

I feel like I need a meeting for my spending. Some people would look at it and say it really isn't that bad. But I know you guys will understand that any unnecessary spending is bad. I stopped for breakfast again this morning. I think most of my motivation is coming from the amount of stress I am under. But I have food at work to eat. Why can't I just step up and not eat out?

I sure hope the renters give me all of the rent for this month by Friday. I need to make the mortgage payment and I can't make it until they pay me. I hate being relient on other people. But at the same time I stop short of telling them I will evict them. I have such a hard time being firm. I need to grow a back bone and just tell them that if they aren't caught up by September 1, I will start eviction proceedings. Wish me luck on that.

And the warrant has been issued. He is charged with statutory rape. A misdemeanor. Thank Goodness! he has called the lawyer to find out what to do. If he should turn himself in or if the lawyer wants to be there when he turns himself in. At that point I will file a property bond and get him out of jail. I wish this was already behind us.

I went to the grocery store last night. Spent $145 and my budget was $150. I feel like I got alot of food so I was happy with it. Have to get gas this afternoon.

I had a binge weekend. I had to enter all of my receipts today and it seemed like they were crawling out of the woodwork. I had not idea I spent that much. It is very frustrating. I was doing so well. It was a little here and a little there. No real big expenses.

I haven't gone to the grocery store yet. I have the money set aside for it, just need to go and get it over with. Probably tomorrow I will go.

I have left a message for the renters. I plan on telling her that I have to have at least 1/2 the rent and the power bill this week and the other half of the rent next week. I think that is more than fair. I hate to have to evict them...it is such a hassle. I also am going to tell her she needs to pay the rest of June's rent that is hanging out there. This money is due to my son and he really needs the money for his lawyer.

The warrant was not issued for my son last week as the warrant lady was on vacation. It should be issued this week and then we will know what we are dealing with. The waiting is killing us. We really need to know what he is going to be charged with. Can't get the investigator to return any phone calls. I really don't know how she manages to keep her job. If I didn't return calls, I would lose my job, or at least be disciplined for it. Our city government at work.

Today is pay day. Unfortunately I am already broke! That is okay. I don't mind because it means that I am paying stuff.

I called the renters today to see if they had the money for the power bill that was due yesterday. They said they are working on it. That makes me nervous for the rent payment. I hope that they give me something. I hate to have to go through the courts to evict them.

We hired a lawyer yesterday. He called the inspector and gave her all of his contact information. We still don't know what DS will be charged with. If it is a misdemeanor(which is should be) it will be $1500. If they charge him with a felony, it will be $2500. My son was supposed to be calling him today to see what kind of payment plan can be worked out. I am very adament that I want DS to pay the lawyer fees. Problem is that he doesn't have a large sum of money sitting around and neither do I. I have put an email our to my family asking for them to loan him the money. I will then give them back the money as I have access to his checking account. he has direct deposit and I can just transfer to my account and then give to whoever. I know he should have to make the payments but since I am the one "guaranteeing" payment, I like to have control over it. I can then make sure that the payment will be made.

The hardest part is just waiting. Waiting to see what he will be charged with. Waiting to see how much the lawyer charge will be. Waiting to see what will happen. Just wish this was already behind us.

Yep...I am still not eating like I should be. I think the amount of stress I am under dealing with my son has taken it's toll on me. I don't have any food at work and the idea of going to the grocery store just makes me feel more stressed. Like that is just one more thing to add to my plate that needs to be done. I know I need to stop. Financially I am killing myself.

Haven't heard from the lawyer yet. EX DH is supposed to be calling him. I left a message for the inspector yesterday and she hasn't called me back. No big surprise there. DS left her several messages that she never returned. I just tried to call her again and got her voice mail...again. It is so frustrating when you call people and they don't call you back.

Lunch time...I am going to head to the grocery store and get some food to keep here at work.

We found out why the investigator was looking for DS. It appears that he had sex with an underage girl. He will be charged sometime this week and will then turn himself in. I am devastated not because he had sex, but that he lied to me and told me he didn't have sex with her. I am terrified that he is turning out just like his father, not able to resist anything.

Now we need to come up with the money for a lawyer. Of course DS will need to pay it since it is his problem. But none of us have money sitting around so I am not sure what he will do. His father is calling the lawyer this morning. He is supposed to let me know how much the lawyer wants. he is 18 years old so he will be treated as an adult. There is something called the close in age law in Georgia. If the two participants are within 4 years of age of each other, than it is treated differently. They were so we will find out how that works when his father talks to the lawyer.

Today has been a spendy day. It started off with a $118 payment to cheer. Then she needed blue shorts to wear to practice on Monday. The only blue shorts we could find(in a small town) were $21. Because it was so hot we stopped and got a drink and an ice cream at Wendy's. I don't have any ac in my car so by the time we made the thirty minute drive we were sweltering in 90 degree weather. And then just now we had to go get milk. Am looking forward to tomorrow so I don't have to spend any money!

I screwed up yesterday. I let myself get too hungry while running errands after work. I always make bad decisions when I am hungry. So I did make a bad decision. I stopped and got something to eat. But the joke was on me. The sandwich wasn't that good and the fries were just mildly warm. Serves me right. I took DD to Arby's this morning for breakfast as a treat because she is starting cheer camp today. She was really nervous. And then tonight I am meeting my sister who is in town for dinner at Zaxby's for a good salad.

We have water again. Turns out that the hose on the back of the house was left on and the pressure built up(has a nozzle on the end of it). It eventually popped. So the hose had been running all day. No telling what my water bill is going to be. But thankful it isn't a leak between the meter and the house like I was afraid it would be.

I got the check fur July's rent from the community action place. Now just to worry about August rent and the rest of June's rent. They still owe $305 for June's rent.

EX-DH is putting $50 into my account today. That means he still owes me about $110. Maybe I will get some more of it next week. Slowly but surely he is getting it paid.

I went to take my shower this morning and we had no water!!! If I didn't have several projects that needed to get done I wouldn't have come to work today, all smelly. Just kidding...not that bad but I feel nasty if I don't get to take a shower in the morning. Hopefully it will be fixed by the time I get home.

Today is also the third day of not eating out. My budget hasn't changed much in the last few days. I had to buy milk yesterday.I will have to go to the store tomorrow to get food to keep at work. I am eating my last bagel today.

I should get my rent from the tenants Pretty soon. They said it would take about two weeks and today marks two weeks. They are supposed to call me when they get the check to come pick it up. My gas allowance for next week comes out of that so I need it sooner rather than later.