A Dime at a Time

Navigating life and finances

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Thanks for the reminder, Hallmark…

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but I’ll save my money and celebrate it my way!

Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day and I’ve done nothing for my DH.  That’s right, absolutely zilch.  I’ve never really understood the hoopla around so many of these holidays.  Do we really need a reminder from Hallmark to express our love?  Shouldn’t we already be doing this for the special people in our lives?Call me unromantic, but I honestly don’t feel the need to rush out and spend money that we really can’t afford just to let my DH know how much I love him….all because Hallmark is telling me I need to do so!  I already tell him this every day.  If he doesn’t know by now how I feel about him, we have some serious relationship issues!

Despite how I feel about these “Hallmark Holidays” I will still acknowledge the day wish my DH a Happy Valentine’s Day, but I’ll also continue to do it my way all year long.  I much prefer to give random surprise personal notes throughout the year.  They don’t cost me a thing and I like to think that they are a lot more meaningful than some card from Hallmark!  My frugal self will even take it step further and look for the Almond Joy candy he so much enjoys…but he also knows me well enough that I’ll wait until it goes on clearance the day after!

Do you do anything special on these Hallmark Holidays?

Lucy

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Snowflakes

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This time the green kind!

Don’t you just love receiving unexpected money?  Who doesn’t?!  For those of us who are snowballing our way out of debt and are already budgeting every dollar, we refer to this unexpected money as a snowflake.

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Don’t leave money on the table!

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Digging out of debt takes focus!

I almost left $3.29 on the table.  Well, not literally.  It was $3.29 that I had coming back to me from Walmart’s Saving Catcher app.  Thank you to fellow blogger over at One Family One Income for the reminder to collect what I almost left behind.  This was from a shopping trip I took last Saturday.  Had I waited another day or so, I’d have lost out on this money.

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Changing the Family Tree

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Could this just be the year?

Great news!  Our two kids and their spouses are going to see Dave Ramsey and his daughter Rachel Cruze!  Yes, they are going to a Smart Money event and I am one very happy momma!

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Thousands of people can’t be wrong…can they?

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Following the “Dave Plan” takes trust!

Last night I found myself awake at 3 AM.  So many thoughts were racing through my mind.  At this point in our journey, it isn’t surprising that each and every one of them revolved around money.  In all fairness, I can’t really blame Dave Ramsey for this sleepless night.  Over the years I’ve lost countless hours of sleep because of our finances.  Last night was a little different though.  I found myself questioning not only our own journey, but the journeys of others.

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Please don’t leave me hanging!

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 In light of several blogs that have recently seemingly disappeared, I am reposting this.  I know that some of these disappearances are the result of the recent security breach of Equifax but others, who knows? I appreciate those who have given their readers a heads up.  Yes, internet safety and privacy is a huge issue and one that must be taken seriously.  But, while we must be careful with what we divulge, I also don’t want to live my life in fear of the what-ifs.  That being said, please don’t leave me hanging!

A heartfelt message to all my fellow personal finance bloggers!

How many of you have ever watched a television series or read a book that leaves you hanging?  I’m not talking about the ones that eventually return with a new season or a sequel; I’m talking about the ones that seem to vanish into thin air, never to be seen or heard from again.   I’m sure most of us have.

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Debt Free Calculators

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By following your plan, you will be debt free in a million years!

Have you ever played around with one of those debt free calculators?  You know the kind.  Enter your numbers, interest rates, etc and it will give you an estimate of how long it will take you to get out of debt.  While an estimate of a million years is obviously stretching it, for someone who is already in their 50s, the number may as well be a million years.  Depressing, huh?  Could be, but it doesn’t necessary need to be!

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A Change in Targets

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Rearranging the debt snowball

Come up with $4,000 and then $10,000 worth of debt will “magically” go away.  Hmm, doesn’t that sound like a good deal?  Let me share…

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Snow, snow, snow and more snow!

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The white stuff, not the green!

I’m beginning to think that all my talk about snowballs has Mother Nature confused.  According to the weather reports, she is preparing to dump 12-18 inches of the white stuff across our area.  Those are not the kind of snowflakes we need for our snowballs! Yesterday we had what looked to be about 5 inches. This next heavier round is supposed to start later on tonight.  This will not only add to our plowing bill but may also cost me a few hours at my job.  I think I’ll try and get a few hours in today.  Again, that will depend on the weather.  Right now it is super windy which usually means extreme drifting so it isn’t looking promising.

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We have it straightened out

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Sure you do.  Until the next time.  Sigh

Can you tell that I’m not holding my breath that our credit union did indeed fix this payment problem?  After 4 calls, they finally took their money which had been in our account since the last week in January.  After logging on this morning, I see yet another issue.  Our payment is supposed to drop by $210 with our March payment.  No change seen.  I’ll give them a couple of weeks.  Hopefully their system just needs to catch up to reflect this.  Again, I won’t hold my breath.  On to a far better topic…
We now have an extra $50 added to our baby emergency fund (EF) thanks to “dripping pennies” from Swagbucks.  I always cash out for PayPal deposits and then have that money transferred to our bank account.  I am eager to get our baby emergency fund up to $2,000 so we can resume our debt snowball.  Another $700 and we will be there.    

I think about the amount we still need and it really doesn’t seem like a lot of money to me.  But, it is a lot of money with an already tight budget.  It would be (and often is) easy to get down in the dumps when thinking about it.  DH was feeling much like this yesterday.  There are a lot of emotions attached to not only having debt but also with deciding to get rid of it!  The way you look at money changes.  With DH already doing everything he can, it is now my turn to be strong.  $700…I’m coming after you!  I’m going to view this as something that must be achieved by the end of the month.  Good thing I’ve always enjoyed a challenge.  My plan of attack:

  • Make a savings thermometer.  Told you I was a visual person!
  • $200 already budgeted for savings.  BOOM, now down to only needing $500!
  • Earn another $50 from Swagbucks
  • Tighten up the grocery budget.  With DH being away, this is reasonable.
  • Continue working any available extra hours at my job.
  • eBay more items.  Not my favorite platform to sell on, but still a way of bringing in more money.  
  • Possible $210 savings from decreased mortgage payment in March, but won’t count on our credit union straightening this out before the end of the month.  Sad, I know.  

“You make way too much money to be this broke.”  I hear Dave Ramsey telling people that on a regular basis.  He would be absolutely correct in telling us the very same thing.  With these words in minds, I am going to do something about it.  $700 really isn’t a lot of money and today I am feeling empowered to do something about it!

What are some of your financial challenges? Better yet, what are you doing about them?  

Lucy

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