So stressed out!

I have so much to do before the end of next week...not even exaggerating, when I made my "to do" list on Monday, it was 2 pages of a legal pad. That's just before the end of the day next week Thursday.

And it's not even things that I could put off until after then - I think that's what's stressing me out so much. Summer school ends next week, so there are things that have to be done - grades, etc. The curriculum - I need to finish by next week, or my payment will be delayed until well into the school year. The stuff I'm writing for the state - she needs by mid-august, but if I want to catch people to preview, it needs to be done next week.

Then, there's the wedding party - bride's dress + 3 bridesmaids dresses.

The nice thing is that....if I get through the next week, and get everything done...and then get the wedding set to go and ready ---

Then after the 10th, I will have NOTHING on my calendar until I have to return to work on Aug 29th - or whatever that date is - the Thursday before Labor Day. We know we want to go to the Dells one day, and there's a few things we'd LIKE to do - but nothing that has to be done.

So...all I have to do is get through til next week and get everything done that's supposed to be done.

No problem, right?

so - until then, Associated Content is off-limits, so are eBay and local auctions. Focus, focus, focus...

Remember, all this together (including the summer school check) is...somewhere between $5000 and $6000 before taxes.

I can do this. I can do this. I can...I can...

:)

Five days to payday - and we still have $200 in the checking account.

Say wha...?

That's SOOooooo not like us. Granted, we had to use some of the slowly building BEF to get car repairs to the tune of $350. But, seriously. We never have this much 5 days before payday.

:)

And, that's not including the $25 money order we have from an ebay sale, nor the $80 I won at Ho-Chunk the other night on 2-penny slots. So...we're in really decent condition.

We got some groceries tonight, and filled up the gas tank so I can get to work - but otherwise, we're set for the week. That means that whatever's left on Friday can go to the BEF in the HSBC online savings account!

PLUS - the $25 money order, and the $80 from the casino.

Too cool - I can hardly wait to see what our savings will be up to! Once we hit $1000, we're going to start plowing away on the smaller of the BECC's - the one at 30% interest.

Oh - we also sold a text on half.com for $50, so that should be deposited soon, too.

(rubbing hands together in glee)

Oh! And we have over $100 in paypal that we can transfer over, too!



We'll have our BEF within a week and a half or so! (summer school paycheck is on the 26th)

Ummm...30%?

In preparation for getting our $1000 Baby Emergency Fund finished (hopefully within a month!), I went online to figure out our Baby Step 2 (this is Dave Ramsey's plan for those of you unfamiliar with the baby steps). This is to pay off all debt except the house.

So we have the smaller cc, HSBC, at about $3500, and the larger one, DM, at about $10,000. Then, I went back to check interest rates. DM - 27% for an old $2000 cash advance (which will be paid off LAST, of course) and 21% for the rest. HSBC - I thought was at 24%, but they jacked my rate up to 30% (!!!!) last September. OMG - THIRTY PERCENT!

Now, I know banks need to make money, I know no one forced us to use them - but 30% is usury. That should NOT be legal.

It really ticked me off - at myself for not even noticing, but also as a drive, a fire, to get them paid off. I want them gone!!!

Argh!!

All right - I did it!

I joined Associated Content...now I just need to figure out what I feel like writing about. :)

I've decided that August (after summer school and the wedding is over) is going to be my month to work on myself, the weight stuff, and the money stuff. I'm going to monetarize this blog and work on promoting this and the business. And I always dreamed of being paid to write...how fun!

A link -

Here's to getting out of debt!

Tomorrow is a work day with the state - the work I do will be paid $400 after it's all done. We'll have the Baby Emergency Fund (BEF) in no time...and we'll get that smaller of the BECC's out of the way! I have a goal - to have the BEF in place and debt down to $11,500 by the end of the year. We can do that!

Well, I worked on the wedding dress...

Well, I worked on the wedding dress for most of last night - it's coming along very nicely, with no real problems. Gotta love that. :)

We got a nice surprise in the email this morning - made a sale on half.com for $50! It's still the best place (for us, at least) to sell books that have some value. We haven't gotten a lot in the last year or so, just a few sales here and there, but there's no listing charge and it stays listed as long as you want. I'll count that money when it posts to our checking account with deposit.

Also got a money order today for an ebay sale - $25.24. I need to get those two things mailed out today.

I did some digging in our freezer to see what was in there, and found a VERY large turkey breast my mom had bought us last fall on sale (9 pounds!). I'm going to cut that in half, put half back in the freezer and put the other half in the pressure cooker tonight. Then we won't get sick of turkey, but we'll have a nice dinner with some leftovers for later.

My pantry is pretty full - I'm working really hard at "shopping" from there for dinners and adding in veggies, etc. We need to run to Walmart this afternoon and I'm going to check out the produce for some fresh veggies - we're out!

Not much else going on. I will get this paid off...I will get this paid off...I will...I will...

:)

Earnings Update

The last week has been interesting, even with my unexpected budget crisis.

Ebay sales ending in the last week gained us $98.00, which is AWESOME. We're waiting on money order payments for 2 of them.

I also got the unexpected curriculum writing check for $268 for the work I did a couple of weeks ago. That is set to help us with our budget crisis and get us through 'til payday.

I also did some returns - Walmart $9.66 and Menards $5.26, cashed in 2 lottery tickets (yeah, we enjoy them, but we only spend about $4 a month on them - every once in awhile we'll get a scratch off or the Powerball), so $13 there, and a return to JC Penney for $19.72. Not bad, hey?

We have also not been out to eat since last week Friday. Not long, I know, but significant for us, especially for me as I drive to work (it's just to easy to stop for an a.m. soda and muffin!). So I was really proud of myself for that.

I'm going to be working on some purses & bags with some of the extra material I have on hand, maybe some little girl's pouches and outfits, some whatnot bags. I enjoy making those. :)

I have the dresses to work on, too, which has been fun. Plus a load of things to make for me, of course, and a bunch of possibilities floating through my head for other reconstructed clothing. I need to get more posted on etsy to get that going.

I'm also leaning more towards playing around on Associated Content - sounds intriguing, and I even have dh interested in it. That would be good for him!

I am 3 pounds away from a 20 pound loss, which I have set aside money for a pair of earrings off etsy. Now...I just need to lose the 3 and decide which pair to get...

Budgets

I updated Quicken yesterday and man...well, let's just say I had a good day of beating up on myself just for being dumb. I talk all this great talk about getting out of debt, but the straight fact is that if we don't follow the plan, it just ain't gonna happen.

In the last 30 days, we spent over $120 on eating out, and over $400 on groceries. That's over $200 over budget for those items. IN 30 DAYS!

I'm just so ashamed...it's me, we both know it's me - dh is not the type to run out and get something to eat just for the sake of it.

The good news is...it's helped me to make a plan. I have meals all set up for the week, with things we have here at home, no additional expense necessary. We didn't go out this weekend - we had a possible auction for today and/or a flea market, but we stayed home instead and I shampooed the carpets (which really needed it and it was a good day for it anyway). We also need to get some stuff done around the yard. But - we have about $200 to get us through to payday (the 20th)...that will be tough. We can use the money from the dress that I got, but I really don't want to - that was set aside for savings.

Next month, we go on the envelope budget. It works for me, it helps me see what I have and how much is left. It helps me set some cash aside for the second half of the month (the whole "getting paid once a month" really screws me up a lot - it's been 5 years, you'd think I'd be used to it). I just have to get off the debit card and deal with it.

What's the saying? "Put your big girl panties on and deal with it"? Yeah. That's it.

We're grilling out tonight - lots of great food in the house, I love to pile stuff on the grill and have days and days worth of food. So we'll have that.

Ugh. Money.