North Georgia Gal's Financial Awakening

I have been pretty fortunate lately with the cheer expenses for DD. There haven't been alot of them. But last night I got a notice that the final $160 is due October 15. YIKES! I already have my budget done for this week and next and it doesn't include any wiggle room. I have moved some stuff around and will be able to pay it on the 18th. They will just have to wait until then. Needless to say all survey money will now be redirected to covering that expense.

I cashed in another 11.50 yesterday. The surveys I qualify for seem to have slowed down a little bit and the rewards on one site aren't as big. I guess that happens. But I will stay at it.

I also got a notice that the 3 week primetime survey I did has concluded and they will be mailing me a check for $50. I should have it in 14-21 working days. I don't think it will be here by the 18th but I can always hope.

Here it is...I finally got a link for the survey site I am doing. Use this link and I get credit when you complete your first survey. I have made $65 already on this one site alone. Let me know if you use this link.

Thanks!!!

http://www.opinionoutpost.com/general/en-doi/?Referer=ZLP0a8y8TbhlyjVXZWfA3oR18uK6yp9h


** Not sure why it isn't showing up as a link, you might need to copy and paste in your browser.

I was gone most of the day to my neices housewarming party today so I didn't get a chance to check on the surveys all day. Than when I got home, I didn't qualify for any survey on either site! Bummer. I cashed in another $12 yesterday. That makes a total of $94 that I have cashed in since Sept 24. I have paid that amount to the credit card company. Not too shabby. Just hope that I can keep qualifying for surveys.

I have two doctors appointments this week. One with my therapist and one with the general surgeon. I really need to go to the therapist given my recent mood. I have still been really down.

DD is supposed to go visit her dad tomorrow. He said he would give her gas money if she came to see him. We shall see if he does or not. Still haven't heard from child support enforcement what it will go down to since he is now paying for health insurance. I am anxiously awaiting that information. I fear it will be bad for me.

DS started a new job last week. Same company, different location making more money. Hopefully he will be able to start making payments on his car payment and insurance again. That would really help me out.

Sent an email to Homeward Bound letting them know that the kittens are done with medicine and all are healthy. They will now try to find them a foster home. It will be weird not having them here...but I know that I can't take care of them.

That is enough rambling for tonight. I think I will head to bed now.

Friday's check is for the third payroll period of Sept so that means they won't be taking out any of the insurances. SCORE! Plus I had coded some OT wrong and wasn't paid correctly so they fixed that on this check as well. So all in all about $160 extra in my check on Friday. YAHOO!!! I would send it to the cc company but I need it to make my budget work for the next couple of weeks.

I cashed in another $10 in survey money today and set the payment up to the credit card company. That makes extra payments totaling $79.18 to the credit card company this billing cycle. Plus my regular payment of $50. WOO HOO!!

I had a rough weekend. My depression reared its ugly head and caused me to get nothing done. If I had had a tv in my bedroom that worked I wouldn't have gotten out of bed. It all started when I got into trouble at work as I was packing up to leave. I won't go into details but it worried me all weekend long.

Sunday was a no gas nsd. DD didn't go to work because she wasn't feeling good so neither one of us used any gas. We didn't even leave the house.

I cashed in another $13 survey money. Will send it to the credit card as soon as it shows up in my account. that makes $56.60 to the credit card company, in addition to my regular $50 payment. The balance on this card is $621...some of you wanted to know. The surveys have slowed down alot and right now I don't dare try to do one at work. So it will probably be a while before I cash out anything else from that website. I have accumalated $50 credit on another website, but they have to verify the results. It could take 2-6 weeks for all of the funds to be verified but when they are...that amount is being transferred to the credit card as well.

I am by no means getting rich off of these surveys but in the last two weeks I have been able to send an extra $43.60 to my credit card. With my regular payment that means I have paid over $90 this month toward the balance. That is awesome! And the feeling of paying toward debt makes taking the time for these surveys well worth it!

I was able to cash in another survey reward for $10.60. That makes a total of 33.60 extra that I have sent to the credit card this month. Boy that feels good. I know it isn't much and it takes alot of my time to do these surveys but it is so worth it to see that cc balance going down.

I saw a commercial for Spotloan tonight and just out of curiosity I went to their website to check them out. What a racket! They state that their maximum interest rate is 390%!! Can you believe it?? The example they put up was to borrow $600 and pay $114 every two weeks for 6 months. That means you would pay back $1368. That is more than 100% interest! The sad thing is that people are so desperate that they fall for these type of loans. It is really sad! I may be desperate for money but I would like to think that I never would fall for any of these rackets!

I was able to cash out another survey site for $13 tonight. I will put that toward the credit card when it shows up in my checking account.

The $10 from the other day showed up today. I went ahead and scheduled a payment to the credit card for tomorrow.

I have signed up for 3 different survey sites this week and I already have earned enough points with one of them to cash in for $10 paypal credit! It is time consuming but what else do I have to do while sitting in front of the tv?? I think I will send the $10 to my credit card.

Today was almost a NSD but I had to send DD to get milk. She only bought a half gallon...she is on this kick lately thinking we won't drink a whole gallon.

I got the new bill for our internet/phone/dish. It was $18. That is not what it will be but because of loyalty credits that were applied retroactively, the balance is real low. I will take it!

I also called PNC to see if there were any fees for using checks with the account I opened up there. THere is not. I asked for the routing number and account number so I could order checks. I always go through a third party because they are cheaper. However when I mentioned that to the representative, she said that my checks were actually free through them! So glad I said that or I would have never known. She wouldn't have known that was the reason and never would have told me! I love saving money!

We went to the grocery store today to purchase our 15 items. I think we went 1 item over, not including the 3 household items we had to purchase. But we still managed to spend $92. But as we were checking out a lady handed the cashier a store coupon for $4.75 off. So saved even more money there! Thank you stranger!

We need to fill up both vehicles and DD needs to get an oil change but then we will be done spending money for the week.

Today was payday. I moved $5 into my short term saving account and $20 into my long term saving account. The balances on each aren't very high but I just started too. They will get there. I paid my Bff's dd $50 to mow my yard. The grass was really tall. She earned every bit of it and then some. I will have to give her another $50 next payday. She totally weeded the flower bed by hand. Pulled out some huge weeds that were more like trees. The only thing left is the holly bush. And she said she isn't done yet. She has really earned that money!

Everything else is on auto pilot. DD had physical therapy today since she got her cast off on Tuesday. I wasn't sure how that was going to be billed through insurance. But when I called them today they said that it would all be covered with a 25 co payment. That is a relief. Now if it actually turns out that way! She has to go back next week. I hope she doesn't have to go for long. This could get expensive.

Guess what I came home to last night!!!







That is right. Wild turkeys. But they aren't really wild because they aren't scared of people. They don't run from us. In fact, they almost wouldn't let us in the house last night. I live in downtown Blue Ridge...what are turkeys doing roaming here? When I lived outside of town I never saw a turkey. WTH?

My mom thinks someone is dropping animals off at my house. Makes sense since these turkeys are obviously tame. But why my house? And what is next??? I have made a few calls and one lady said I could release them on her property but I would have to catch them. And I really have no way to transport them. We called DNR and they gave us some other numbers to call which is how I found the other lady.

OH and did I mention that one of them has a broken leg? Yep...it is turned completely around backwards. Kind of gross to watch it walk.

My budget is doing well...fortunately turkeys don't tug at my heartstrings like kittens do so there won't be any trips to the vet. Tomorrow is payday. Everything is already set up so there is nothing to take care of. I can't wait for paydays to officially see the progress I made. Then I can't wait for the next one. And so on. It is a vicious cycle.

Oh well...that is about all for now. Bob Hannah's wild kingdom signing off...

My day was spent waiting for word from my BIL who works in the building where the shooting was at the Navy Shipyard was today. We heard early that he was locked in his office and was safe but didn't hear anything else from him. My sister picked him up around 4:30 and he is back home safe. I haven't gotten a chance to speak to him yet. Please keep the victims in your thoughts and prayers.

Today was a NSD and a no gas use day. I didn't even leave the house! I love days like this. I was semi productive this weekend so I feel good about the time spent this weekend.

My work took the ladies to a fancy day spa Friday afternoon for a pedicure. It was heavenly! It was 85 minutes of pure bliss! I have never had a pedicure like that before. It was much appreciated.

I got my credit reports from annualcreditreport.com today. Nothing surprising. It looks like my mortgage has been written off for a lesser amount. I wonder if they managed to sell my old house. I think my score is so low because of the debt to income ratio. That will improve as I pay off debt.

I redid my budget in quicken yesterday. I spent the day doing financial housekeeping. I guess I am just a nerd because I just enjoy doing these things.

Forgot to mention that I went to a new OB/GYN and he said there is no reason for me not to have a hysterectomy. With the endometriosis back and the heavy periods he feels that there is no reason to wait. He can't do it laproscopically because of the number of scars on my belly so I will have a longer recovery time. But we are looking at doing it in late October but more likely in November.

I got the idea from another poster yesterday to check out Amazon for our everyday uses. I found some really good deals and some not so special deals. I ordered a 4 pack of charmin 9 super rolls for $20. I also ordered a 4 pack of dove body wash for sensitive skin for $20. I saved about $4 on each package of toilet paper and $3.85 on each bottle of soap. And since it was more than $25 the shipping was free. I will have to remember to check there for our household items more often.

So I have been playing around in my quicken this morning(yes I should be working but I am pretty well caught up!). Anyway...I got it all set up to accurately figure my net worth. It is pretty depressing.



"Checking-8619" is an account I keep open so my sister and I can swap money back and forth. There is no service charge for this account

PNC BANK I just opened it to get the $200 reward after 60 days. I am using that account for my day to day expenses, except gas.

New Suntrust is my main account. It is the one that I pay all of my bills out of and use for my gasoline expenses during the week.

The student loans are the main thing that bothers me. When Ex-DH and I were young and just married we took out student loans for me to go to school. And then we took out supplemental loans to live on. Then we got divorced and I am stuck with all of these loans. They have more than doubled since we took out the loans because I can't afford to pay them. These mistakes(not the divorce) have come back to haunt me. I would be in pretty good shape if not for them. I feel like it is a an insurmountable problem that never seems like it will go away.

When my mom passes, the house I am living in will be deeded over to me. That will help with the net worth, but I will still owe these dang student loans.

Yep...one animal gone. Now I just have 4 more to get rid of(the 3 kittens and DD's dog). I have sent an email to humane society about the dog. They won't take her but will help find her a home.

We sold DS's ferret for $50 today. The young girl that came to get her came from Warner Robbins, which is about 3 hours away! But it was what she wanted for her birthday do her dad drove her up here. I know that the ferret is going to a good home. She couldn't wait to hold the ferret and planned on holding it the whole way home. That makes me feel better.

Today is a NSD. I didn't even leave the house. We made egg salad sandwiches for dinner and I had left over pizza for dinner.

Just got back from the grocery store. Our system of only buying 15 items really seems to be saving us some money. Today was $53. We are going every week and spending about $50 instead of every two weeks and spending anywhere between $150-$200. We used to just put things in the cart and we ended up with so much food that we haven't eaten. So now we are eating that food. I hope that as we get further into the 15 item thing that we learn to make our choices go farther.

Yesterday was payday. Since I set everything up in my online bill pay there is nothing for me to do. Just waiting for everything to clear my account.

I forgot that I have a dr appointment this week...well didn't forget about the appointment but forgot to budget for the copay. Fortunately I have enough left in my account to cover it. I am hoping that he will recommend a hysterectomy. I have really been having alot of trouble lately.

Since I downgraded my cable I don't get ESPN, which is where the Georgia game is today. So I am going to my friend's house to watch it. Fortunately they don't mind but I wish I didn't have to leave my house! I am such a homebody!

I have a debit card from paypal that is linked to my checking account. I can use it just like a normal debit card. I got my daughter one so that she has access to money if she needs gas. Anyway...paypal just started offering cash back rewards for using the debit card. I ended up using it alot last month because I left my regular debit card at home by accident on the day I had to get my monthly prescriptions. So apparently I spent $447 on the card. I earned a reward of $4.48 that showed up in my paypal account. I like getting free money!

The money from the clarinet sale is in my account this morning. Now I can breathe a little easier.

DD was at cheerleading on Tuesday and didn't feel right about doing a tuck(tumbling move) but did it anyway. Well, she took off funny and ended up with a hair line fracture on her ankle. Yesterday was spent getting xrays and casts. Fortunately we had crutches at home and we even knew where they were! I am sure that the x-rays will go against the deductible.

It was further complicated because ex-DH hasn't sent me an insurance card for DD. So I had to call and get the group number, policy number, etc and hope that the doctors would just take that. I was lucky that everyone took that information yesterday. Since the policy isn't in my name I can't request a card and ex-DH is proving to be pretty useless in this matter.

Today has been a NSD. I almost screwed that up by ordering pizza for dinner. But my laziness won out. I am too lazy to go pick it up and I refuse to pay for delivery.

I almost screwed up my savings of downgrading my satellite package by ordering ppv. I got to the very last screen and then it hit me...what is the point of downgrading to save money if I am just going to order ppv? So I canceled it.

Emailed the org in Ellijay about the Kittens. She said that she hasn't forgotten me and she would have to see how many cats were adopted this weekend. So at least there is a light at the end of the tunnel...just don't know how long that tunnel is.

Apparently the universe is happy with what I have been doing for these kittens...

I listed a clarinet on Amazon about 2 years ago...so long ago that I had forgotten I listed it. I listed it for $800. I have since listed it on craigs list and other outlets for far less and it never sold. I got a notice yesterday that it sold on the Amazon listing. So after Amazon Fees I will net $685. I can't believe it. The only bad thing is that I had given it to my BF for her DD to use this year. I am thankful that she understood how desperately I need this money and wasn't upset.

My son convinced me that I watch way too much tv so I called today to cancel my satellite package. But they said they had a package that was nothing but local channels so I would still get some of the shows I like to watch. It will save me $50 a month on the bill.

I started back on my diet today. So far it is going okay. I left my drops at home but that is okay. I will make them up this evening.

we went to the grocery store and got our 15 items. one of them was a large bag of cat food. spent $69. more than I wanted to spend. next week will be better. no large purchases necssary.

Then I came home and changed litter boxes and set up the girl kitty in the basement. hopefully none of the other cats have caught it.

Now I am angry about the cat situation. ds came home to visit and might not be able to stay here tonight because of all the cat dander...which he is allergic to. so some thoughtless person has cost me time with ds. and no one seems to want to help me. I am at my wits end. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. something has got to give.

Typed on my phone so excuse typos.

So I got the new water bill yesterday. I am expecting it to go down since DS moved out. But it hasn't so far. Then I really looked at it. Last year this month we used 2200 gallons of water. This year we used 8800 gallons of water. Wonder where all that water went! They say we are using 296 gallons of water a day. That is just crazy! I am going to test the meter tonight by turning off all the water in the house and see if it is still running. My mom thinks it is because of the leak under the downstairs bathroom sink that I had to have fixed last month. I am not so sure. The lady at the water department said that it was most likely a toilet. Although I am having trouble with my toilet, it is that the water ISN'T running..not that it won't stop running. So I don't think that could be it. There are no signs of leak in the yard. I am hoping that the meter isn't turning when I check it tonight meaning that whatever it was has been fixed.

We are going to the grocery store tonight and I think I am going to steal an idea from CB in the City...she only gets 10 items everytime she goes to the store. I am going to modify it a bit and get 15 items. I think that should do it. If we go once a week we should be in good shape. I will let you know.

KITTEN UPDATE: I just got a call from the place in Ellijay who said that until they actually take the kittens they can't provide medical care for them. She said that since she is sneezing and coughing it sounded like an upper respitory infection which is extremely contagious. So I will isolate that kitty when I get home. I am still waiting to hear back from the Humane Society.

When I got home tonight the little girls eyes are almost swollen completely shut. I really don't have the money to take her to the vet. I really hate that someone was irresponsible and left the kittens on our doorstep and I hate that there is absolutely no help for people it happens to.

There has been a position open up at my work. It is a part time position, 10-30 hours per week. It pays $8 per hour. Only catch is it is a 1099. I am hesitant for this reason. But I figure if I put 15% of each check away, that should cover what I owe at the end of the year, right?

I haven't heard from any of the applications I put in and I am pretty desperate for money.

Just want some opinions on this.

Thanks!

There is not too much going on with my finances. They are pretty much on autopilot. I have my budget done through September. I am $159 short. Not sure where that will come from. I have pretty much juggled everything I can juggle. I am sure something will turn up.

About 4 weeks ago someone left 3 kittens on our doorstep. Ever since I have been actively trying to find them a home with no luck. The humane society is full and will not take them. Homeward Bound at least put us on the waiting list. They should be able to take them either this week or the next. I am very frustrated. There is very little help for people like me, that through no fault of their own end up with animals they can't take care of. Now one of them needs to go to the vet because there is something wrong with one of it's eyes. I can't afford it. It will have to wait until HOmeward Bound or someplace takes them.

I haven't heard anything from any of the applications that I put in last week. CVS said that might be hiring but it takes 3 weeks for the applications to download to them. By then I am sure they will have already hired people. I am just keeping my fingers crossed. Something has got to give. I am at my wits end and don't know what else I can do.

If any of you do alot of online shopping, you should go through ebates.com. You earn cash back from tons of different stores.

Also, check retailmenot.com for coupon codes. You can really save alot of money.

If you decide to join ebates, let me know so I can refer you and earn some cash!