Just about the end of Break...

Okay - here was my financial "to do" list for this week, and what I was actually able to accomplish:

~post the bed on Craigslist and get it out of our garage - 1/2 done - it's posted, but not gone yet (did this Friday).
~post at least the three DVD's we have of TV series on ebay - posted, and already have 2 bids (also on Friday).
~organize the stuff from my mom that is going in the rummage pile - and it would probably be really smart to price it before then, too... Well, I got it out of the car and down into the basement. It's not organized yet. And not priced. I really should do that.
~update Quicken - finally finished, Saturday night.
~get to the bank to deposit the "extra" check and our coins (piggy's full!) - did this pretty early in the week, on Monday.
~balance the checking account - part of updating Quicken - just finished tonight (Saturday).
~get the bill pay info for the car payment - showed up in the mail, it's all filled out, just need to write a letter with it making sure they don't change the due date.
~change/cancel the cable - we need to downgrade
~call the cellphone company to change our plan
~I need to go in to work at least one day (probably tomorrow) to work on some curriculum stuff I've been putting off. That should be, after it's all done, about 15 hours @ $23 an hour. Nice! - went in Wed and Thurs to get some stuff done. Great to have things mostly caught up. :)
~get some sewing stuff listed on etsy
~update my business webpage. I'm getting some hits with the christening gowns, but I really need to get a shopping cart, etc on there with actual stock that's completed and could be sent out immediately. Most of my business is make-as-you-go (better put as "custom made"), but there are definitely a few things that I could have constantly made up and able to ship out. Plus I know Google hits get better the more you update your page. I need to do something there.

So, overall, I did okay. I will call the cable and cell phone companies tomorrow - I need dh nearby because he is the authorized user on the cell account, and I never knew that I wasn't added on as an AU!

I also posted one story to Associated Content (actually, it was my post below on credit scores) and plan to do that a little more often to boost things a little bit.

We kind of fell off the wagon with the "concentrate on cc debt" wagon - we bought the dryer on credit, thinking we'd pay it off with the tax return, and that just didn't happen. Then, the car. Then, the bed, thinking we'd pay it off with summer school money. We soooo need to stop that. Draw the line in the sand and all that good stuff. I want to get back on track with paying down the CC! I miss seeing my pie over there get smaller!

I need something to kick this logjam.

I did it! Finally!

Okay - I got two things listed on Craigslist - keep your fingers crossed that they will sell.

I finally got the bed listed - couldn't list the sheets, etc because of their rules, but got the bed & frame listed.

And I listed a wedding dress for a friend. The wedding never went through, and she just wanted to get rid of the dress, so she gave it to me (she knows I make the christening gowns with wedding dresses and figured I could use it - she wanted nothing in return). I thought it would be fun to sell and just give her a bunch o' dough. She and her new guy are planning a weekend away and it just tickles me to think I could help by doing this.

Anyway - I was very excited to actually get off my duff and do it! I've been able to get a lot of stuff crossed off my list this week, and that's been really nice. Also took a bunch to the food pantry and to the humane society - got a lot out of the house! Sa-weeet!

Credit Reports

I got our copies of our annual free credit reports today - and I am pleased to say that with the ones I was able to see online, there is NOTHING that we have to contest or contact them about! I was very excited - the last few times I've done this, it was a pile of pain for having to go and contact them to take inaccurate info off.

I was able to get 2 of mine and 2 of dh's. The other one of mine and his I'll have to get through the mail - not sure why it wouldn't let me access them (and different agencies, too!), but hey...I was able to see most of it. All accounts pretty and in order, no lates, no wrong addresses, no accounts marked incorrectly. All of the old icky accounts have fallen off, and the bankruptcy is scheduled to come off next summer (10 years). That will be a cool day!

If you haven't checked yours lately - it is totally common for them to be full of incorrect info, and they will not care until you start bugging them about it. Go to http://www.annualcreditreport.com/ (don't fall for the TV commercial scams - that's signing you up for crappy expensive credit reporting stuff where they make even MORE money off of you) and get your reports!

Some people suggest that you space them out, get one now, a different agency in 4 months, the third agency 4 months after that...and so on. I do them all at once - mostly because I just don't remember which one I got, etc. And I get mine and dh's at the same time.

You are entitled to one free report per agency per 12 months, by federal law. That's a good thing. When you get it, check for:

• All accounts are as they should be. Check balances, monthly payments, and probably most importantly, are they marking it as paid when it's supposed to be. If there are "lates" and you know you weren't, contest it.
• Are your credit limits what they are supposed to be? This has bearing on your credit score, if that matters to you.
• If you have any delinquint accounts, are they at least accurate? If you closed them, make sure it says "closed by consumer". (I'm not into the "prove to me that it really was mine because if you can't you must take it off" crap - if it's mine, I'll take the responsibility, but it will be accurate)
• Check all past addresses and employers to make sure they are accurate.

We had to totally clean up our reports about 5 years ago because of HUGE mistakes and inaccurate info. If you have to contact the credit agencies, make sure you send EVERYTHING return receipt requested, and never ever send them personal information like bank account numbers, etc. I was even told it was illegal for them to request our BK papers from us, although I did send them a copy of the official sheet. And of course, NEVER send them the originals. Keep a copy of the letter you send to them and the receipt for the postage - if they don't prove to you that it is fixed or confirmed within 30 days of their receipt, they must, by federal law, take it OFF of your report.

Wow. I guess I've learned a lot about it. The hard way. But sometimes, that seems to be the only way I learn. Hard head and all...

Spring Break Financial To-Do's

Okay - I'm on Spring Break this week, and the meds seem to be kicking in, which rocks. I haven't been around much to catch up with other people, so hopefully I'll have somet time to drop by. :) This seems to be a bigger-than-normal update...I need to get in here more often so these don't end up so long...

Here's part of my "to-do" list for this week - the stuff that applies to our finances, at least:

~post the bed on Craigslist and get it out of our garage
~post at least the three DVD's we have of TV series on ebay
~organize the stuff from my mom that is going in the rummage pile - and it would probably be really smart to price it before then, too...
~update Quicken
~get to the bank to deposit the "extra" check and our coins (piggy's full!)
~balance the checking account
~get the bill pay info for the car payment
~change/cancel the cable - we need to downgrade
~call the cellphone company to change our plan
~I need to go in to work at least one day (probably tomorrow) to work on some curriculum stuff I've been putting off. That should be, after it's all done, about 15 hours @ $23 an hour. Nice!
~get some sewing stuff listed on etsy
~update my business webpage. I'm getting some hits with the christening gowns, but I really need to get a shopping cart, etc on there with actual stock that's completed and could be sent out immediately. Most of my business is make-as-you-go (better put as "custom made"), but there are definitely a few things that I could have constantly made up and able to ship out. Plus I know Google hits get better the more you update your page. I need to do something there.

I think that covers most of my finance stuff. There's more on the list, but it's mostly home improvement stuff - we need to do some work in the bathroom, take down the outside Christmas lights (it's almost embarrassing, but we've had an exceptionally harsh winter this year, and there's still snow on the ground), etc.

Oh, and for my (few) Wisconsin friends out there - in case you didn't know, Stark Candy Company is closing, and it's entirely possible that their parent company will no longer produce candy raisins. I know no one outside of WI really knows what they are, but this is TERRIBLE! lol So go to http://www.savethecandyraisins.com to sign the petition. :) :)

Hope you had a nice Easter - we went to my mom's and had a nice time. Lots of leftovers, which is always nice.

I need to get a haircut today (with coupon, of course), and I really need to dye my hair, too...grays and roots are showing...ugh. Always nice when I have some of my free with coupon dye, though.

Got a great deal on a ham, too - Piggly Wiggly had a coupon for $5 off any Cook's ham with a $10 purchase. Got a 7.5 pound ham for about $5 - and the $10 we spent was on groceries we were going to buy, anyway, and they were on sale. Love that!

Okay - off I go to see what I can cross off my list today!

Ugh...it came back...

Work has been so hectic, with me out for a week - and then the antibiotics ran out and it came back! I called the doc right away and said I REALLY didn't want to get that sick again. She has me on another round of antibiotics. Hopefully it will work this time.

I got an extra $250 check with my paycheck this month, for curriculum work I did. We're in discussions at the moment - whether to send it right to the Best Buy card, or whether to keep it as a cushion as we get used to the new budget with the car payment. Part of me says that if we keep it as a cushion, we will spend differently because we know it's there. Another part says "what if we run out?". I hate that.

So...I'm on Spring Break, which is nice. No work until 4/2, although I will probably go in to finish up some stuff that's on my desk. And I'll get paid curriculum time for 2 projects I need to finish, too. Nice.

I need my Spring Break list, which I haven't made yet. Up on top will be to post a few things on ebay, and get the mattress on Craigslist and out of our garage. I think we're going to go for $250 and see what happens. I'm tempted to even start at $300 - we can always go down. After all, it's the bed, frame, dust ruffle, Memory Foam, and 4 sets of sheets (2 flannel, 2 regular). Even at $300, I think it's a great deal.

Ah...it would be nice to have all the crap gone (rummage sale is in June) and the house somewhat back to normal. And have a few things paid off. And a vacation.

Hey. While I'm wishing, I might as well go large. ;)

Sick...

I've been really sick for the last week - sicker than I've been since dh and I have been together (11 years now). Man, what a week! I missed 4-1/2 days of work. I shudder to think what my students are going to be like tomorrow. I still can't do a lot - I get tired very easily and the coughing is just horrible. My kids are just going to have to understand that I'm going to have to take breaks.

My sister decided she didn't want the bed, so I'm going to list it on Craigslist. Dh and I have not decided on a price yet. I'm selling it all - queen sized head and baseboard and frame (about 20+ years old, a little scuffed but still in good condition), Sealy mattress & box spring about 5 years old (we paid about $700), Memory Foam topper about 3 years old (we paid $100 for that), four sets of sheets (2 flannel sets less than a year old, 2 percale sets a little older), and a bedskirt, unknown age that we bought at a rummage sale. (We bought a king sized bed)

So - I'm taking opinions. Dh and I agreed to a base price, but I'm thinking of starting a little higher, because we can always go down. This is a complete bed - I mean, take it home and set it up. If it were me, I'd wash the sheets again after I bought it (not because they're dirty or stained, of course, but because that's what I do), but otherwise, someone could literally be sleeping on the bed that night, not needing to purchase anything else.

Ideas on a price?

Alrighty then...I need to get back in the habit of jumping on here more often. I usually say to myself, "but nothing's changed with the debt, so why bother?". But it really helps me stay on track, and that's good.

We got the BEF back to $1000. I feel so much better when we do that! It's amazing how your mindset changes. Up until last summer, we were lucky to have a couple hundred in savings, and it was usually there just in case we needed more grocery money, etc for the month. Now, that security gland goes into overdrive when we aren't up there at 1k. This is a good thing. :)

We are using envelopes this month for groceries and blow money. We already ate out, and our budget really only allows for that once per paycheck, which for normal people is nice, but we are used to going out more, so that's been a struggle. We are also not used to using cash with groceries. Dh ran to Walmart and came back with 2 bags and this big ole frown on his face, saying "that $20 you gave me doesn't last long...". This week, I thought we had really minimal things to buy, but it was just under $50 at the checkout. We have about $60 to last us through 3/20. Keep fingers crossed. We can do this - we just have to work it out.

We haven't had any exciting breakthroughs. We do have almost $400 that is sitting in the checking account - dh wants to make sure we "make it" through with a budget this month before we send it to the cc's. I can live with that. Sometimes, we need that cushion, and it's no surprise that I'm a little more involved in this than he is. So it can sit there until payday - no problem.

I'm planning my rummage sale for early June on the city wide rummage sale day. If we don't sell the queen bed before then, we'll have that, and we plan to put out the couch and the crappy recliner dh has had in the computer room for years. We have a smaller house and want to buy a recliner for the living room, since neither of us can sit comfortably on the couch without killing our backs. We also have a papasan chair from my mom that she wants to get rid of, and an atrocious exercise machine that I thought I had seen the last of, but she is giving back to me. All of that will be our "big stuff". Then, there is a lot of vintage and collectibles from auctions last summer, and of course, the junk that you find at all rummage sales. I'm hoping for a couple hundred dollars. Enough to buy the recliner would be sweet.

And I'm finding more to ebay - right now I have some Easter collectibles from auctions last summer, some old "Ideals" magazines for Easter and springtime, and a few DVD sets - season one of House, season one of Little House on the Prairie, and one season of Bob Ross painting. All are selling well - we should get about $90 or so for those three DVD sets together. NICE!

Okay, I guess I did have more to say than I thought. More proof that I need to stop by more often. :)

Have a nifty weekend -