October Wrap Up & November Goals

October was better than I thought it would be. The economy obviously had an effect on our assets and we discovered we are more strapped than we thought as far as take home pay. We can’t really afford a lot of extra money right now with Christmas and the Landmark Forum coming up.

We have decided to go to our credit union tomorrow to get a home equity line of credit and pay off the personal loan we have (with the same credit union) and all of our credit card debt. This will decrease our minimum payment expenditure by around $500. It will be nice to keep more of our money every month where we can decide to do what we want with it. More on this plan later.

September Employer Income (EI) – $4,017.31 (as normal)

October Employer Income (EI) - $4,043.53 (as normal - Chris is hourly so his fluctuates a bit)

September Other Income (OI) - $0

October Other Income (OI) - $110 (massage & craigslist) – increase of $110

September Assets - $13,583.31 (decrease of 1% from August)

October Assets - $12,244.35 (decrease of 9% - we finished out the month better than we thought we would at least)

October Goals - maintain EI (slight increase) and increase OI by 4% to $125 (increased to $110) and Assets by 3% to $13990.80 (we all know what happened here).

November Goals - Pay off personal loan and credit cards with line of credit. Maintain EI and increase OI to $125 and maintain assets. Save money for LF and buy most Christmas gifts.

Food budget may have to be revamped to $500 but I won’t make any major decisions about that until the New Year.

September Groceries – $496.00 - 124% of budget

October Groceries - $495.76 - 123% of budget (down 1%)

November Goal - $400

We did better with coffee than we thought we would but eating out went up. Entertainment and Crafts were at zero so that was nice.

September Fun Money - $323.33 – 8% of employer income (goal 7%)

Eating Out $51.86 (16% of fun money)

Coffee $104.25 (32% of fun money)

Entertainment $26.49 (8% of fun money)

Crafts $45.27 (14% of fun money)

October Fun Money – $292.87 - 7% of employer income (goal 7%) – goal met

Eating Out $93.11 (23% of fun money) – increase of 7%

Coffee $98.37 (24% of fun money) – decrease of 8%

Entertainment $0.00 (0% of fun money) – decrease of 8%

Crafts $31.39 (less than 0% of fun money) – decrease of 14%

November Goal – 7%

Planned meals out this month were one and we went way over that. It was the hubs Birthday and we did use a gift card for that but our tip came from the checking account. That was not the only meal out this month either. I would like to reduce eating out for November to twice.

We bought two DVD’s at full price however we had budgeted for it and this is one thing we cannot live without.

Coffee – what can I say – it’s addicting. We at least spent less than last month and I would really like to keep that coffee budget to twice per week for November.

We did buy some Halloween decorations on the credit card which was really a weakness we recognize. Christmas stuff that needs to be made should not cost a lot (I hope).

We were only able to pay minimum payments on our debt rounded up to the next dollar. With three birthdays this month a lot of the extra money that would have gone to debt went to gifts and food for celebrations. I still owe the hubs his gift. Ug!

September Loans – $723 - 100% of budget

October Loans - $705 – 100% of budget

September Credit Cards – 228.49$ - 100% of budget

October Credit Cards - $214 – 100% of budget

September Extra Debt – 0% (we were strapped)

October Extra Debt – 0$ (should be able to with home equity loan and debt minimum payment reduction)

September Total Debt Balance - $37,350.62 – ($9,157.52 cc’s & $28,193.10 loan’s)

October Total Debt Balance - $38,421.33 – ($10,624.16 cc’s & $27,797.17 loan’s) increase in credit card debt to 67% of total available credit and decrease in loans by $480.69. Don’t have totals for interest paid yet due to billing cycle.

November Goals – Loans $15,748.63, Credit Cards $10,624.16 - Total $26,372.79

November Total Debt Balance Goal $37,425.33 (not including interest and decreased minimum payment outlay)

Savings really didn't get much money. In fact this next month I will need to take some money out in order to cash out some stock I have.

September Short Term Emergency Fund (STEF) – 0% (goal $3,000)

October Short Term Emergency Fund (STEF) – 0% (goal $3,000)

September Long Term Emergency Fund (LTEF) – 0% (goal $10,000)

October Long Term Emergency Fund (LTEF) – 0% (goal $10,000)

September Vacation Fund (VF) – $ 1006.06 34% (goal $3,000)

October Vacation Fund (VF) – $1008.31 34% (goal $3,000)

November goals: STEF $232 (Landmark Forum), LTEF - $0 and VF - $0

This month was a little harder for us but I am proud that we didn’t fall off the wagon as bad as I thought we did.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Hour

Yesterday was the hubs birthday and his grandparents gave him a $25 gift card for a local restaurant. Typically hubby and I can eat well splitting a large appetizer and having a drink each which was our plan tonight. I had gone to the website to look at their menu and discovered no prices listed online. No matter, Happy Hour appetizers and drinks are usually reasonable and we figured before tip we could eat for about $12.

When we entered the restaurant we told the gals at the desk we were going to sit in the bar. They asked if we wanted a booth and we said sure. We sat in the booth and ordered our appetizer platter and two Guinness from the Happy Hour menu. They serve complimentary bread so that was plenty of food for us. When our tab came we had been charged full price for everything. The waitress clarified that because we were sitting in a booth the Happy Hour prices did not apply.

There is no mention of that on their menu in the restaurant or online. In fact, I could see no mention of Happy Hour online. Just a reference for food and drink specials for football game nights. Maybe we are not savvy restaurant frequenters but we didn't realize that because we were offered a booth we were essentially "upsold".

When we explained this the the waitress she was very gracious and went and changed our bill. We still have enough left on the gift card to go back again and probably will but sit at the high tables - not in a booth.

What is so irritating about this is how cheap I felt and how little information patrons have to go on in making a decision on what they decide to dine on or drink. Prices not being posted for beer and mixed drinks. Not even basic prices posted with a caveat that if you order top shelf alcohol it would of course increase your drink expense.

Have any of you out there ever experienced this?

Law of Storage

"The amount of stuff to be stored automatically expands to fill the space available in which to store it. "Murphy was an optimist" corollary: ...automatically expands to excede the space available."

Over the course of the last couple weeks the hubs and I have not only put up our Halloween decorations but have gone through Halloween and Christmas decorations we no longer want. We have a pretty big tub of them and I will post on Craigslist this weekend in the hopes of making a little extra cash. If it doesn't go then I will donate.

We keep our holiday decorations in our storage unit under one of the buildings in our condo complex. Up until recently our storage unit was cram packed full. It was scary just to open the door. Even though we have shelves we have so much stuff that huge plastic storage tubs were stacked up on the floor making it really hard to get to anything at the back of the unit.

We are going to be putting our holiday decorations in smaller boxes and tubs so we can actually put them on the shelves (may need one more shelf unit) to free up the floor. It will be so nice to be able to walk in to our storage unit, choose the item(s) we are looking for and take them into the house.

Since we are in a condo and storage is priceless we need to be pretty choosy what we keep and what goes. We are avid campers so all of our camping equipment stays and get's stored out there along with our luggage, the aforementioned holiday decorations and some large tools. I think we might move our beer making stuff out there until we are ready to brew another batch.

Currently we have my old bed frame stored there too. It's an antique and has been in my family since my aunt was a teenager. It breaks my heart but that along with the matching dresser is going to be placed on Craigslist. I already got rid of the vanity that went with it. Some lucky little girl has it in her bedroom. When I look at the reality of the situation though, we have not used the bed for two years, I got it for free, it doesn't go with our decor and it served me well over the last ten years. It's a full size bed and the hubs and I want nothing smaller than a queen for ourselves and the kids room is to small.

We also have a dining table, a trunk and another farm table I suspect will end up on Craigslist this weekend.

What can be said for storage can also be said for your house. I have stopped getting magazine subscriptions because I never read them or they end up in a huge pile to look throuh some day. Most often I can find what I need online. Little piles throughout the house are dissapearing to never come back. Nonessential kitchen items we never use are going to go. Books we will never read again, movies we will never watch again and clothing we will never wear again are also on the donate list.

This gives me the opportunity to really see what is in my closet I am lacking so I can hopefully find it at a thrift store, on sale or make it.

What are you all doing to declutter your spaces instead of filling them up?

Ask And You Shall Receive

After signing up for and then freaking out about the Landmark forum fee that needs to be paid by December 8 I wrote a post asking that the money for this fee come in to our lives so we didn't have to put the fee on a credit card that is already close to the limit (definitely goes against our pay the credit cards off plan) or cash out a CD we have.

Some significantly cool things have happened since this post.

First off was finding out I can cash out some stock that is no longer publicly traded. Still waiting for the paperwork to come in the mail.

Secondly, I found out today that a home owners assessment originally due this month is now going to be due in the spring since the people who did the work repaving the parking lot did a terrible job and because of the weather can't fix it until the spring. This also means we will be getting a discount on the repaving and this means our assessment will be even less than expected. So instead of forking out $175 this month that money can now go towards the Landmark Forum fee.

When we signed up almost two weeks ago we paid the deposit ($100 each) with our credit cards and had no idea how we were going to come up with the additional $790. After the hubs get's paid Friday we will have $400 towards the $790 - just a little more than half in two weeks!

The hubs and I were talking tonight and we thought if we could generate this much cash just by thinking positively and being creative, we wonder how quickly we could come up with money for a laptop or something else we want that we would have in the past put on a credit card. We are willing to use our fun money (7% of take home) to get that ball started.

Blog Round Up

I have been online all morning caching up on blog reading. It's my new hobby since it's affordable (read free).

Even though I have links on my sidebar to all of the wonderful blogs I read every day I thought this post could be a round up of sorts to the people who I read that continually inspire or entertain me. If I were ever to give advice on any of the topics I'm currently interested in I would probably just point people straight to these blogs as all of these people have great insight, tips and tricks.

I have a few personal finance gals I have been reading for just a little bit but always look forward to their posts.

Sallie's Niece is a gal who has successfully gotten a handle on her debt and is on her way to fulfilling her goals. There is no stopping her and I for one am cheering her on from the left coast.

I get to live vicariously through Savings Not Shoes blog. She's an American living in London also trying to pay down her debt and live a more financially fiscal life. Plus, she loves to travel and since I can't do that for a while I look forward to hearing about more of her trips.

Fru Gal I just found. She's an Australian living in London (totally not jealous) who is a personal finance writer by trade and has recently jumped in to the pf blog world. I absolutely love her writing style and good luck to her in her nupitals come February!

Escape Brooklyn is a women living in New York and desperately tring to get out. Looks like her dream is coming true!

Crazy Aunt Purl - She is a knitter originally from the south who now lives in LA and wrote a book about her divorce. I actually found her blog through her book. Wouldn't you know she was on her book tour and had been in Seattle the day before I found her blog! Her book sounds like it could be a downer but her writing style is so great and her blog covers more than just knitting including personal finance and hilarious stories of New Jersey Guy. She's humble and quirky and I think it's great her blogging about a terrible part of her life actually turned in to a book that inspires many. Plus, a little (or a lot) of red wine always helps!

Spilling Buckets - A couple living in upstate New York who are determined to get out of from under their significant student loan debt and buy a house. Their blog posts are always really informative and well researched. I've tried some of the recipies they post and they are yummy. Kudos for a couple growing veggies and herbs on the deck of their apartment!

Chez Larsson - an amazingly organized woman living in Sweden with her hubby, son and two cats. Her home is tiny but so well organized you will be amazed. She has tons of tips and tricks up her sleeve with such a thrifty and beautiful way of presenting them in her home. Very inspirational.

Small Town City Girl - is a stay at home mom determined to give her family the best through her inventive and frugal ways. She's a coupon user who has saved tons of money on her grocery budget. She's also my Sunday morning walking buddy and a good friend.

A Kilted Travel Agent otherwise known as the hubs. He has such a quick wit and a wonderful writing style. He may not post often but when he does I always throughly enjoy it. I live with the man and he continuously surprises me. Plus, he looks great in a kilt!

My neigbor at Kerry's Holiday Fun and Celtic Sprite has an engaging way of bringing interesting information to her blog posts. She's a total kick in the pants and I personally feel there was a reason I met her.

A friend of mine I grew up with writes on A Beagle in Hong Kong. She's been living there with her hubs and dog for almost three years now. It's always interesting to see another perspective on things a world away.

My Messy thrilling Life is a gal living in Texas who bought an antiquated house to fix up. She has been living there for a couple years and it's slowly coming back to life. She's led an amazing life and she is only in her 20's. For a girl to have to shower in her back yard for a year - now that is dedication to a project!

If you have ever been interested in the behind the scenes action of an independent horror flick check out Preston Dave. It's TBOZ on my blog roll. This is the film I was involved in the summer of 2007. He has written a behind the scenes account of the making of our film.

Militant Ginger is a guy from England living in the right coast. He writes a lot about politics but that is not all. He's funny and engaging and makes whatever his topic of the day about very interesting.

Weirdy Pants is a knitter living in Pennsylvania. She's also a geocasher and dog owner. Love her!

Blue Garter lives in Oregon, also a dog owner and knitter. Her hubs started a website for families of people who have diabetes.

Yarn Abuse is a gal on the left coast who is also a knitter (see a theme here?) and loves photography who just bought her first home, a condo.

I hope you find some enjoyable read by linking to these blogs. I know they entertain and inform me a lot. Have a great weekend!

It Takes Money To Make Money

I had a really strange phone call last night. My husband's grandmother called me to tell me she had just received a phone call from a company asking if I wanted to sell my shares. I have no idea how they got her phone number and associated it with me. We don't even share the same last name.

To give you some background. About four years ago I worked at a wireless phone company. I quit working there in the fall of 2005. Two years later that phone company was sold. I have four shares in that company. I did receive a notice in the mail that since the company was no longer publicly traded I could cash out my shares. However, it was going to cost me some money in the form of a processing fee. I promptly forgot about it cause I didn't have the money for the processing fee.

After receiving the phone call last night I called their number and was connected with a customer service representative. To make a long story short he told me up front I would have to pay a 3% missing certificate fee to cash out my shares. 3% didn't sound so bad so I asked how much my account was worth. After all 3% of $286 is only $8.58. Yeehaw!

Then the bad news. There was a processing fee of $50 and the minimum fee for the 3% was $20.

So, after I pay $70 I will get back $286. If the wireless company was still being traded I wouldn't even bother. This was not a panic decision made regarding the current state of the stock market either. As it stands I asked for money to come in to my life and I got what I asked for. I will be $216 (after $70) closer to paying for the Landmark Forum!