Sagegirl's money ramblings

Well, since Merch has gotten the ball rolling, and with others joining in on the fun, I thought I would do my June update and mid-year goals assessment.

As far as my goals on the side bar--
1.Hubby is still job hunting and it is going slow. Financially we are doing fairly well, all things considering. He will find something but it is just going to take some time.
2. I paid off credit card ($97), personal loan to Mom ($303), made a small medical bill payment ($24.42) and made a collection payment ($150.00). So that means I paid off $574.42--57% of my goal!!
3. Still sitting at 26 lb weight loss. I plan on getting back to the gym starting next week.
4. I have opened the Roth accounts but they have not yet been funded.
5. We had the plumber come replace the leaky faucet near the deck, so we plan on starting the demo tonight and will hopefully be able to get the boards replaced this weekend.

I feel like we have made some good progress so far. I am planning on coming up with new goals for the next quarter but will have to give that a little thought.

I start my new job on Monday and am looking forward to getting done with my training (3 weeks) and jumping in to my new auditing position. It will be a transition, no doubt, but I am up for the challenge. Benefits will kick in at 60 days, so only 2 more Cobra payments!

Well, I decided to accept the job offer from my former employer. The benefits are too good to pass up and with hubby still job hunting, the benefits are a major plus. I am excited but was dreading telling my current boss. He made me feel guilty for a day or so, which made work this week very depressing, but he is over it now. I will miss him but am excited about this new opportunity.

On the financial front, I received the reimbursement check from the auto carrier covering my auto accident I had in 2006. So it is in the bank and waiting disbursment. $1000 will go to the EF to get that started. $600 is going toward rebuilding our back deck that is rotting under our feet. The rest will just sit for a while and we will decide later what we want to do with it. My stimulus check for $1800 is set to be mailed on 6/27 and we will sit on that until I figure out how I want to disperse it. I get paid tomorrow, hubby just got 2 weeks of unemployment check so I have to sit down and pay bills tomorrow.

We are supposed to go over to my sister's tonight for a cook out and swimming. Hubby and the kids will go over in the late afternoon and I will meet them there after work.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

I have a job interview tomorrow with my old boss at her new place of employment (she has been there over 3 years). She is hiring for what I do and has been trying to get me to come work for her for a while. I blogged this in my last entry. So, anyway, I am going to meet with her tomorrow. I am not nervous about the interview because I have know her for almost 9 years. But the idea of a job change still gives me butterflies. Here is my abbreviated pros/cons list for leaving my current job:

Cons:
1.I like my current boss--he is a decent guy.
2.The job I m applying for adds an extra 10 miles each way to my commute.
3.It is only 10 cents more per hour than where I am at.
Pros:
1.Full Benefits at new place-health/dental/vision/401K/disability
employee gym.
2.They give monthly bonuses (up to $300) for meeting goals, have quarterly incentives, and yearly reviews for raises (I haven't had a raise at current emplyer in 3 years)
3.I could gain some new skills and sharpen the ones I used to have--current boss still uses ledger cards for crying out loud-I have lost all my electronic billing knowledge.

So, anyway, I will go talk to her about it. She and I live in the same suburb and can could feasibly carpool a few times a week and share gas expenses.

In other news, I got a settlement offer from an auto accident I had Christmas Day 2006. (short story--guy made an unprotected left turn in front of me-no turn signal on his side-BAM-totaled my car that I had just paid off the previous month). Anyway, after reimbursing my group health plan that paid some expenses for my injuries, I would get a check for $2359--the least they could do for ruining my Christmas, right?

A previous supervisor of mine has been trying to get me to come to work for her for about 3 years--I keep declining because it is about 10 extra miles a day commute from what I do now. But, with hubby being unemployed and us losing all of our decent benefits we have had for the past 10 years, I am actually considering it. She has awesome health/dental/vision insurance and 401k, cafeteria plans, etc. I have no benefits or sick/vacation time where I am at now (very small employer). It makes me nervous to think of a job change. I am doing the pros/cons list right now and will post it later. She is a great person to work for and I enjoyed the 5 years that we worked together, which would be a big plus.

This would also allow hubby to lower (somewhat) his needs as far as employment goes. He would love to find a telecommute position so that he could work from the house and we could forgo daycare ($570 per month). Plus, he has had a blast being home with the kids. He has spent the past 12 years of our marriage in jobs that require him to work long hours and be on-call often. He has never had this much time with his kids and he is loving it. Although I do think he is ready to find something "professional" to do.

Well, all in all the May totals were good. We are starting June with a balance forward of $1066.85. I have a check due me today from my part time job which will add another $445.00. Then I get paid from my full time job on Friday $1079. This week's payment priorities are mortgage ($1247) and utility bills (water $87 and electricity $195). So I am feeling confident--today anyway.

Hubby's job hunt has stalled--he sent out another 3 applications and resumes but hasn't gotten any interview requests. The tech field has totally dried up around here, at least in his area of expertise. His unemployment payments are coming in timely and are helping out nicely ($378 per week) but it would be nice to have something steady. We are managing pretty well right now, all things considered and I am proud that we have been able to really focus on the financial situation. The lay-off caused us to really analyze what was important and what we were wasting money on. We have the budget wittled down and though there are still areas that could be improved, I am impressed at how easily we are adjusting to the sudden "one income" situation. Things could definitely have been worse.

Well, I have decided that with the current financial situation (hubby's layoff) that I prefer to make short term goals. So I am making a plan for the next two weeks to finish out May in the black (hopefully).

Projected income:
1.5/19 Hub Unemployment $378
2.5/23 Me FT job $982.00
3.5/27 Hub Unemployment $378
4.5/31 Me PT Job $404.00
5.Refund check Ins $459.00
Total $2601.00

Right now, my biggest worry is the payment for our COBRA insurance, which is due 6/1 and will be $1996.00. We will probably be able to squeak by, but it definitely doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room. Hub has decided to look for a part time job (he can work a certain number of hours a week and not lose is unemployment money). We will see what happens.

For those of you still unstimulated, like me....

From Yahoo News:


If you have your hopes set on a big "economic stimulus" payment arriving in your bank account any day now, you might have to wait a bit longer. The IRS has announced that a subset of taxpayers is affected by a glitch that is delaying rebates sent to them.

The issue affects people who used a service or software program to do their 2007 taxes and opted to have the fee for those services deducted from the stimulus payment and sent via direct deposit. A bug (which the IRS has not elaborated upon) means those payments will now have to be made via a check sent via postal mail.

In addition to this bug, the IRS has confessed that 1,500 checks or direct payments were sent to the wrong taxpayers. While some reports blame this problem on a computer glitch, the IRS says that it can't necessarily pin the issue on a computer problem. Check any payments received carefully to make sure they're actually yours.

If you have received a check or inaccurate (or duplicate) direct deposit, you are required by law to mail the check back to the IRS and/or report the issue to your bank. If you spent the money, you'll have to pay it back as well.

Finally, the IRS said today that 350,000 households aren't getting properly credited for children in the payments. Makeup checks will be sent out in July.

This isn't the first time the IRS has screwed up rebate payments. In 2001 it sent half a million taxpayers notices of impending rebates (in a similar stimulus/tax relief scheme to what we have this year) that they would never be receiving.

Still haven't gotten your payment? Best not to try calling the IRS, which is now dealing with a reported 2 million incoming phone calls a day. Instead, check the IRS.gov website and consult the payment schedule on this page. And be patient.

UPDATE: The IRS writes to say 1,500 taxpayers are affected, not 15,000.

Hubby's old supervisor (from 1 year back) called yesterday and asked if he is still looking for a job. He said the place he is at now is hiring and had hub send over his resume. Old supervisor says the pay is about $5K less than he was making when he got laid off but the benefits are really good, which would make up the difference. I am hopeful for this. He had two emails from places he sent out to yesterday expressing interest. We will see what happens.

Today, I am in the process of making a list of bills to pay, in order of urgency, and income I have coming in. I have been calling around tracking down refund checks I am owed for various things. I wish the tax rebate would show up--it should have been here last week according to my calculation. But it hasn't shown up yet. I tried calling the IRS but that was a complete waste of 20 minutes of my life.

An upside to hubby being home during the day is that dishes and laundry are done everyday. Plus, he makes me lunch of sandwiches or leftovers and coffee everyday. I enjoy seeing him and DS at lunchtime everyday. I live close enough to work that I can go home at lunch.

I am really anxious for him to find work so that I can start making a dent in that medical debt and start beefing up the savings. I have all these great plans waiting to be executed--as soon as we can get out of "survival" mode.

Well, hubby received his first state unemployment payment since becoming "a man of leisure". State of Texas sends debit cards, not checks, and weekly amounts are direct deposited onto it each week. So that is helpful. I am still waiting on my stimulus payment, which I thought would be direct deposited last Friday but, alas, no sign of it. I have a $440 check coming from my part time job, so all in all, we are surviving. He sent out 6 more resumes today and hopefully will get some interviews from those.
In a related note, we thought we were going to have to take DD out of gymnastics until hubby found a new job (fees for classes are $135 per month for 4 hours a week). But, her coach, who has a 6 week old baby, traded me class fees for babysitting two days a week. So DD was able to continue with classes and helps me babysit the baby. A side benefit is that she is learning to "work" to get the things she wants. A good lesson I think.
I feel optimistic that things will be looking up for us soon.

Well, this is the second week of Hubby's unemployment. So far we are managing, but it has only been a little over a week. We have done a great job of trimming discretionary spending and I have been doing well with the grocery shopping and cooking every night. DD has handled it fairly well, only getting upset once about not going to gymnastics classes in May. I told her if Dad started working again in May, then she would likely be able to return to classes in June, which satisfied her. I actually think she will enjoy the break--two extra "free" nights a week.

Hub got all is unemployment paperwork done on line and they have already mailed him a confirmation with an estimated payment amount. He has to attend a job fair type thing for our county sometime in May. He sent out four more resumes today and I am hoping something turns up. He has not had many interviews and there just don't seem to be many tech/telecom jobs in our area right now.

My part-time job (pet sitting) has picked up so we will have that additional income and we are preparing for a garage sale sometime in May. Right now we are current on all of our bills and are making plans for each new week on how to save/earn money.

He and I agree that while his unforseen unemployment sucks, and while we wished we had more in savings, we are better off than some we know. We are not in danger of having our utilities shut off, we have relatively low debt, and our mortgage is current. Things could be worse. On the upside, we are communicating much better about our financial well being, reviewing the checkbook and bills together, and planning together--which is not something we have always done. We are a team and we are lucky to have a happy healthy family.

See, if just have to talk myself into a positinve state of mind occasionally

Well, Hubby has had a few emails from prospective employers regarding his resume, but no interview dates yet. He has sent his resume out to about 40 places, including placement agencies and headhunters. In the meantime, we are making drastic cuts to the budget, virtually eliminating ALL discretionary spending. Worse comes to worse, he will get a job in the evenings, anywhere that will hire him, just so we can have some extra money coming in. We will withdraw DS from his preschool and he can stay home with hubby until hubby finds a job. That will save us $570 per month in daycare expenses. I guess this is an awesome opportunity to teach the kids (and ourselves) what is really important and how really all we need is each other, food, water, shelter, and electricity. Right now, I am seriously beating myself up for not being further along in my savings goals, as this is the prime example of what you establish that EF for. But, no use crying over spilled milk, so they say (not sure who actually says that!) Right now I gotta get tough and resourceful. Hopefully this unemployment will not last too long and we can get back on track. It does, however, make me that more determined to get our financial "act" together so that I don't have to go through this kind of stress again.

Hubby called me at the office this morning to let me know they had a meeting at work this morning and he is being laid off, effective 4/18/08 (nice two weeks notice). He is a contract employee, and the contract he was working on was due for renewal in June, but they decided that they are terminating the contract effective 4/18. So I am now stressed out, although I am trying to remain calm. He knew they project was likely to be "non-renewed" come June, so he had already been sending out his resume.

My Mom always tells me "things happen for a reason" and I am trying to trust that, but it is hard to find a way to find happiness right now.

So, hubby has done a good job of cutting our phone, DSL, and satellite bill. They are currently separate bills totaling approximately $188 per month. He is switching us over to a new company that can provide the same services, all on one bill, for $99 per month. So, starting next month, we will be saving $98 monthly on that. Also, he reprogrammed our programmable thermostat since the weather is finally getting warmer. So, we have had windows open and ceiling fans going most of today and it is almost chilly in here. Now we have to work on all that pesky "phantom" electricity we lose in the wall plugs.

Well, I am back after a two month hiatus. Things haven't greatly improved--I wish I could say I have made such good progress. but, I haven't gone backwards so I am at least holding ground. We are in the process of going over the budget with a fine tooth comb. I have updated my version of Microsoft Money and am working on getting everything updated.

Right now, I am stressed about the economy and hubby and I have decided to take an aggressive attempt to find ways to "bulletproof" ourselves so that this down turn doesn't hurt as much. This will include reassigning financial "duties" between us. I am going to be in charge of weekly bill paying, investments and insurance and the food budget. He will be in charge of trimming utility cost, car maintenance and gas conservation, and home improvement projects. We have a budget we are tweaking right now and I will port it on my blog as soon as I feel it is ready.

Our priorities right now are building the emergency fund and reducing our discretionary spending. We are also really analyzing needs vs. wants and trying to get back to a more simplistic way of living. It is truly a work in progress.

Well, Happy Jan 3rd everyone. Hubby and I had a nice discussion last night about energy savings. We made a list of the things we want/need to accomplish in order to get more energy savings, both consumption savings (going greener) and therefore more financial savings. This we are concentrating on keeping the thermostat lower (programmable thermostat is set at 65 from 10 pm to 6 am, and 69 from 6 am to 7:30 am. it goes back to 65 during the day, until about 2:45 when it goes back up to 69 in time for daughter's return home from school. Hubby changed the filters this past weekend and we have replaced another 4 bulbs with new energy-eff compact flours. We have several more to go on this.

So we are concentrating on electricity this month, then on to water.

I finished the budget and "debt reductions" spreadsheets but have been tinkering with them the past few days. It all looks pretty good so far. This weekend is the first payday to log in, so I am looking forward to seeing how I will divide it out and fund everything.

Well, I have completed the new budget and have to say I am somewhat optimistic. I feel like we should be able to work with this. Hubby and I are still looking at a few categories where we can trim the expense--specifically on utilities-electric, cell phone, DSL, and satellite TV. We both get paid this weekend so I will be able to do the first funding of the categories. I cannot wait to be able to enter the info on my spreadsheet!!

I have also done a debt re-payment spreadsheet to include all the debts listed in my profile, with the exception of the mortgage. The way I have the mortgage set up (twice monthly auto-draft) I make an extra principal payment each year. I am going to leave this alone for 2008 and work on applying any extra funds to debt reduction and building up the EF.

I should get an additional deposit from my employer into my SEP IRA--maybe next month. When I get to $2500, I have to look at investing in something for the long term, as it is just in cash reserves now.

My short term goals are to work to stay on the new budget and continue finding ways to save--more no-spending days, find better deals, be a smarter consumer.

Happy New Year everyone$$$$$

So, I have a few "year-end" items I want to take care of. I need to get everything downloaded into Microsoft Money so I can get it catagorized. Also, the last week of the year I usually purge the file cabinet and get things in order so tax time will not be near-scary. I need to come up with my specific goals for 2008, which will generally focus on the big ones-savings, debt reduction, and budgeting--all of which I didn't get near as much accomplished this year as I had hoped.

All in all, I am excited about the prospect of the New Year.

We had a really nice Christmas but, as usual, once it is all over, I am ready to move on. I always look forward to the New Year--always the optimist that we can start over, change bad habits, set new goals and actually stay on track. I am considering what goals I want to set for the New Year. It will take some thought.

So, today is payday. Hubby's check was already direct deposited and my 1/2 mortgage payment has been deducted. (I pay every other Friday which creates one extra payment per year toward principal.) I will get my check deposited today then I have a dividend check that should arrive today. I might possibly get a Christmas bonus check also (I got $500 last year, but it depends on how well the company has done this year--hopefully I will get one but I am not going to totally count on it.)

We have several gifts left to buy--we just have not had the time. We are more than half done and have done well with the Christmas budget. We never over-spend on our 2 kids and my hubby and I do not buy for each other. His parents are deceased and he is an only child, and my family draws names (so we will have 2 people to buy for). The only other gifts we buy are for the neice and nephews. We usually do pretty well on the budget at Christmas because there is not a ton on our list. We should be able to knock this out tomorrow.

I have to sit down and figure bills tonight and then make my grocery list--the Christmas Meal with my family is at my house this year. We are doing a brunch--everyone brings a dish and we will do the main dishes. Should be fun. I want to try to get a gingerbread house kit for the kids to do as an activity, but I will need to see what I can get on sale.

I am new to this site but not new to this delimma. I try so hard to live within budget and try to save but after 18 years of living on my own (married for 11 of it) I have nothing to show for it. I am tired of feeling like we are always struggling to make ends meet. My hubby and I make decent money--not a lot but we are not poor. And we never have anything left over. And I know that has to come to expenses. So, starting today we are going to be looking at where every last dime is spent. I have tried (unsuccessfully) over the years to track this but something has to change. I need to visibly see where it is all going. I have the checking and savings accounts set up in Microsoft money and now I just need to start tracking. and, I need to come up with ideas to make the money last longer. The budget belt is about to be tightened--as far as it will go.