That's what this Blog is about. A lot of small steps towards getting myself where I want to be in the short term.
I'm still awaiting my $350 check...hopefully it'll be in today. I want to get the eMM stoked with another $500 deposit. Won't make it before the end of the month. Too bad. I've managed to be very frugal as planned the last couple weeks. If that continues through the weekend, I will be mailing that $1008 car payment on Monday. It will feel good, too.
I'm going to try to have a month end/month beginning summary/goals type post here in the next day or two. I'll chart my progress as well.
BSF
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Making it through the month
I'm finding that this blog, though probably not heavily trafficked, is useful to me in jotting down what I do with my finances, but also in being able to look back at the beginning of the month and see what I wanted to do week-by-week and then follow through with it. From my check today, I put $100 in the savings, bringing me to $1200. Apparently I have about $346 in side income on it's way to me, so when I get that, it will be added to the $1200 and then $500 of that will be moved to the eMM account. Good shape there.
I also paid $400 towards my credit card instead of the $300 I had hoped for. This might leave me a little tight going into next week, as now I have just over $200 in my checking account and an almost empty gas tank on my Jeep Cherokee, so it's more like $170 in my account until next Wednesday.
The extra towards the credit card is somewhat negated because I had to use $90 of it last week because a unexpected bill could not be paid using my debit card. That was a little annoying, so I made up the extra in the payment for the month. For the moment, after the payment my balance will dip under $2000 for the first time since probably a month after I opened the account. (Yeah, I racked it up when I got it.) Interest charges will probably bump it up a little over the $2000 mark, but it will be nice to see it under while it lasts.
I want to be extremely frugal the next couple weeks as I'd really like to reel off a $1000 car payment on Oct 6th.
I also paid $400 towards my credit card instead of the $300 I had hoped for. This might leave me a little tight going into next week, as now I have just over $200 in my checking account and an almost empty gas tank on my Jeep Cherokee, so it's more like $170 in my account until next Wednesday.
The extra towards the credit card is somewhat negated because I had to use $90 of it last week because a unexpected bill could not be paid using my debit card. That was a little annoying, so I made up the extra in the payment for the month. For the moment, after the payment my balance will dip under $2000 for the first time since probably a month after I opened the account. (Yeah, I racked it up when I got it.) Interest charges will probably bump it up a little over the $2000 mark, but it will be nice to see it under while it lasts.
I want to be extremely frugal the next couple weeks as I'd really like to reel off a $1000 car payment on Oct 6th.
Thursday, September 16, 2004
9/16 update
From the pay this week, I moved $100 over to savings, making my balance there $1100. Ended up paying $148.38 for my phone...so both months are paid. $27.25 for car insurance.
Wednesday, September 08, 2004
Transactions
Initiated the transfer of $500 to VirtualBank today. My spending earlier in the week is going to leave me a bit tight for the week. I'm going camping this weekend, so my expenses shouldn't be all that much, but for gas and groceries, I'm going to have $97 available to get me through until this time next week. That includes paying my $75 phone bill. I just may wait a week on that and pay it next week.
So sometime in the next three business days my eMM account should be up to $3025. It's one thing accomplished this week.
So sometime in the next three business days my eMM account should be up to $3025. It's one thing accomplished this week.
Tuesday, September 07, 2004
Spending Spree
I may have put myself back a little bit with a trip to WalMart yesterday. I'm going camping this coming weekend, and needed a few things that I currently do not own. I got a sleeping bag, inflatable mattress, camp chair and a few other things. Damage came to $171. Not too bad, actually, as this will probably be stuff I'll have for years. I needed an Air Mattress anyway, as when I go looking for new housing for January, I may not have a bed to move in with. I also purchased my groceries for the week in the same trip.
I mailed the $608.85 for the car and $370 for the charity. I'm still hoping to be able to put the $200 into my savings so I can then transfer $500 to VirtualBank later this week.
In some good news, my car insurance dropped from $102 monthly all the way down to about $25. This is because my ex-wife is no longer on the policy. It took them a number of months to take her off the policy. I suspect the rate will go back up a little bit at renewal time, but the savings in the short term is good. If I'm smart, I'll take that "found" $75 and put it towards savings or the bills.
I should have an update either tomorrow or the next day on what I end up doing with the finances this week.
I mailed the $608.85 for the car and $370 for the charity. I'm still hoping to be able to put the $200 into my savings so I can then transfer $500 to VirtualBank later this week.
In some good news, my car insurance dropped from $102 monthly all the way down to about $25. This is because my ex-wife is no longer on the policy. It took them a number of months to take her off the policy. I suspect the rate will go back up a little bit at renewal time, but the savings in the short term is good. If I'm smart, I'll take that "found" $75 and put it towards savings or the bills.
I should have an update either tomorrow or the next day on what I end up doing with the finances this week.
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
Goals for September
Let's try to see what I want to accomplish this month.
Today I sent a payment of $608.84 for my car payment. The amount due each month is $408.85. I have to send off another check for $370 in the next couple days for some charity I commited to. That will pretty much clear out the checking account.
I have $1300 in the brick & mortar savings and may have to use a little of that to get by until next week, though I hope not. I'm expecting a check in the mail for $100 in the next day, so that should help. I want to always have $1000 in this account, and each time I get to $1500...I'm putting $500 into the higher yield eMoneyMarket account at VirtualBank (2.15% APY) They have a promotion going that would give you and I $20 each if you open an account with them. ($100 min) If you're interested in making us both $20 and getting a great rate, email me at the above address and I'll get you a referral.
Next week's check (the 8th) of $592...I'll need to pay my cell phone, which is about $75. I want to hopefully I'll have enough to put into my saving to bring to $1500, triggering the move to the eMoneyMarket. I'll need about $150-$200 for gas and groceries.
The following week (the 15th) I'll want to stash $100 into the savings. Then try to leave the rest in the checking. Again, probably will need $150 to $200 for expenses. Hopefully that will leave at least $200 in the checking and $1100 in savings.
The next week (the 22nd) Another $100 to savings, bringing that to $1200. Another $150-$200 for expenses and the aproximate balance in the checking should be around $400. I'll need to make a payment on my credit card at this time. Hopefully $300. That brings me down to about $100.
The last week (the 29th) Other than the usual expenses, I plan to leave as much in the checking as possible, to couple with the next week and make as big a car payment as I can the first week of October. Hopefully $1008.85. That same week I'm expecting a $350 check in the mail. I plan to put that into savings and make another move to the eMM account.
So at the end of the month, I hope to have done the following:
Paid the Car $608.85
Paid the phone $75.00
Paid the Credit Card $300.00
Keep my savings balance of at least $1000.00
Have a balance in the eMM of $3525.00 plus interest.
Have a good amount towards a $1008.85 payment on the car for October 6.
My Credit Card balance should be around $1950.00
My Car loan balance should be around $11,700 after the October 6th payment.
Today I sent a payment of $608.84 for my car payment. The amount due each month is $408.85. I have to send off another check for $370 in the next couple days for some charity I commited to. That will pretty much clear out the checking account.
I have $1300 in the brick & mortar savings and may have to use a little of that to get by until next week, though I hope not. I'm expecting a check in the mail for $100 in the next day, so that should help. I want to always have $1000 in this account, and each time I get to $1500...I'm putting $500 into the higher yield eMoneyMarket account at VirtualBank (2.15% APY) They have a promotion going that would give you and I $20 each if you open an account with them. ($100 min) If you're interested in making us both $20 and getting a great rate, email me at the above address and I'll get you a referral.
Next week's check (the 8th) of $592...I'll need to pay my cell phone, which is about $75. I want to hopefully I'll have enough to put into my saving to bring to $1500, triggering the move to the eMoneyMarket. I'll need about $150-$200 for gas and groceries.
The following week (the 15th) I'll want to stash $100 into the savings. Then try to leave the rest in the checking. Again, probably will need $150 to $200 for expenses. Hopefully that will leave at least $200 in the checking and $1100 in savings.
The next week (the 22nd) Another $100 to savings, bringing that to $1200. Another $150-$200 for expenses and the aproximate balance in the checking should be around $400. I'll need to make a payment on my credit card at this time. Hopefully $300. That brings me down to about $100.
The last week (the 29th) Other than the usual expenses, I plan to leave as much in the checking as possible, to couple with the next week and make as big a car payment as I can the first week of October. Hopefully $1008.85. That same week I'm expecting a $350 check in the mail. I plan to put that into savings and make another move to the eMM account.
So at the end of the month, I hope to have done the following:
Paid the Car $608.85
Paid the phone $75.00
Paid the Credit Card $300.00
Keep my savings balance of at least $1000.00
Have a balance in the eMM of $3525.00 plus interest.
Have a good amount towards a $1008.85 payment on the car for October 6.
My Credit Card balance should be around $1950.00
My Car loan balance should be around $11,700 after the October 6th payment.
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