Gasping for Breath

Right now this is my current living situation:

Rent: $287.50
Utilities: $63
Gas: $80 (usually use only $40 because I can walk to work)

I've lived with my current roomate for 3 years, I love my current roomate and wouldn't really want to ditch her except that I'm working really hard to get out of debt so if something else comes up I'm tempted to change things up a bit.

Another friend of mine had to move for the umpteenth time and finally threw up her hands and put an offer on a condo. Her offer on a new condo was accepted. The condo is 3 bedrooms, she and her current roomate are looking for a third and have offered it to me. So this is the potential new breakdown:

Rent: $200
Utilities: $60 (potential 1/3rd of electric, water, and cable)
Gas: $80 (possibly more because new place is 8 miles away from work so I'll actually use all of my budget)

Now I haven't seen the place yet so I don't know for certain if it's something I'd want to do.

The other potential cost is her $140 monthly condo dues. I don't know if she's going to want us to help her out with that as well. Which would really just make it all even out for me.

Of course there won't be any room for my stuff that I'm pulling out of storage so that $60 I'm trying to save from not having storage I think I'll have to spend $45/mo for the stuff left over for storage.

I'll probably ditch the gym for good because my schedule is going to be changing up so much, so that'll be another $30 savings.

Anyway, lots to think about. I haven't told my current roomate yet because I want to wait and see if I like it etc. The other nice thing about this possibility is that I wouldn't have to move in right away, I could wait a couple of months. Which would mean I could go through my storage stuff more, get rid of more crap, and give my roomate time to either find another place or find another roomate.

Oh yeah and it'll take a while for everything to process for them to be able to get into the house. Which is sad because I think they only have less than 3 weeks to be completely moved from their current residence.

Well they didn't let me pull my little stunt of basically using the $50 rebate for the phone to pay for the accessories. That's ok, I do still need the accessories (I don't have a handsfree, I always loose them after about a year but they're handy when I have them, and I do get use out of the car charger because I like to let my phone completely die before recharging) but not so much the leather case. I'm going to try reselling that, we'll see how that goes. The nice thing about getting this stuff from the store is it comes in the individual packages so I can resell it easily.

Ok so here's what I got. Motorola v325, Free with my New Every Two deal (well they charged me $50 for it because I'll be sending in the rebate so that's encouragement to send in the rebate). Accessory pack (handsfree, car charger, leather case) for $35 [it was $50 in store but I mentioned that it was $35 online and she said they'd honor the online price], Car mount $15 (was $20 but I got a 25% discount on it). I need the car mount because I plan on making use of the VZ Navigator option on the phone and having it be mounted somewhere in the car will be handy for that. Plus it'd be nice to have a place to just put my cell phone and not wonder where in the car it fell.

All told, $99.96 will go on my next statement. I'll send in the $50 rebate after I'm past the 15 day trial period to make sure I like the phone. Which makes my total $49.96. More than I was hoping for but all things considered not a bad deal. I'm going to hold off on buying/downloading any new ringers for my phone til I'm sure I like it and it's paid off.

My phone is definately on its last legs. Today is the day I can upgrade under Verizon's 'New Every 2' program which gives me $100 towards a new phone. The plan, at present, is to get a Motorola v325 $119.99, an accessory pack $35, and a car holder $19.99. All told that's $174.98. Minus the $100 for the phone that's $74.98. Will request that it go on my account, so the bill won't actually be due until 9/20. And there's a $50 rebate on the phone, if I mail it off right away I should have it before the bill is due. Making my total purchase price $24.98. Now I'm assuming that the accessory pack is the same price in the store as it is online. The only reason I'd get it is because I need a car charger and a handsfree, and seperately that's like $45. Plus the accessory pack comes with a leather case. If the store doesn't have it at that price, then I'll just wait til I get back to work to order it online.

I'm so excited about it that I'm going into work an hour early just so I have time to go to the Verizon store and get everything during a lunch break (we are at work for 8 hours, just eat at our desk so don't really have a scheduled lunch break which I really like especially since if we want a break we can come in early or stay late to make up the time).

Today at church some friends of mine and I were talking. A mentioned that the reason she didn't pack a lunch yesterday (we did work projects all over the city, 400 volunteers and about 40 projects total) was she didn't have any food to pack. She just started a new job after her internship had been over for two weeks, plus she had to move because her lease was up, and the money was tagged for other bills that she couldn't let go any further. I said 'let me take you out shopping to just get essentials for the week'. At first she thought I was joking, then she realized I wasn't and said she was really tempted. In the end, she let me take her shopping. She just got the basics, plus a couple other things that I encouraged her to buy. Grand total, $25. Total I had left in my grocery budget before today, $37. So I didn't spend any more than I had available, and I'm pretty well stocked for this week. Plus I get paid on Friday. So shouldn't be a problem to keep any spending to $12. As we were leaving the store she commented that when she's able perhaps she can return the favor. I didn't want her to feel beholden to me, this was my gift to her not something she asked for, so I told her instead to perhaps return the favor to someone else if ever she was able and the need arose. She said 'oh like pay it forward?' and I said 'exactly!' I knew the concept just forgot the exact title.

I broke down and put gas in my car today, the second $20 that I usually end up not having to spend. But with going out to my brother's house last weekend I knew it would happen. Plus today I decided to make a couple trips to my storage until to attempt to clear it out. 86 miles later... Ugh. That's another reason to get it cleared out, then it won't be so far away! I was looking in the clear plastic bins as I was putting them in my car and thought 'why am I keeping this?' about some of them. When we first bought the bins years ago, we only put stuff in it we really wanted to keep and gave away or tossed a bunch of stuff in the process. I think it's time to do that again. However I have sooo much stuff to go through that the thought of going through the plastic bins just doesn't sit well with me. So I will wait until I've gone through all the papers I've pulled out of storage. This project is taking a lot longer than I anticipated. I look at whats left and really don't see how I'm going to find room for all that stuff. Even with selling some of it and recycling/shredding a good chunk of it. But it will get done.

I really don't mind the storage project taking longer so long as my timeshare transfer goes through! I heard back from my buyer. I had told her that they listed the dues as being due 9/1 instead of 12/1 like I'd originally mentioned, however my check to them for the dues cleared my bank two days prior to the transfer contract being drawn up. She would prefer (and I don't blame her) to have it in writing that the dues are not due until 12/1. So I'll be calling them on Monday and hopefully they can fax something to me instead of having to wait another week for paperwork. Ok I just checked the postmark, it actually only took two days to get through the mail the rest of the time was probably spent waiting for the contract to be drawn up. Anyway. If they can fax it that would be wonderful. And then I can get this party started!

Ok I think this entry has gotten too long. I could break it up but I'm lazy.

Ok now this is sort of bugging me. The gal who wanted to buy my timeshare was all over emailing me every couple of hours (it seemed like) asking questions, verifying things, etc last weekend. I got the paperwork yesterday, emailed her that I'd received it and asked for her mailing address so I could send her what she needed to fill out. And I've heard nothing back. I know I keep telling people that sometimes people go out of town, etc, and can't check their email so to be patient. But it just seems odd. So I'm waiting til Monday, since that's when I can mail it out anyway (I have to have something signed and notarized first) and worst case I have her phone number to call her. *crosses fingers* I'm really hoping she's not backing out of this.

Since I don't know if people go back and read comments I'll address the question that was asked there. The reason I would consider a less paying job (esp when I'm trying to get out of debt) is that I got a second degree a couple of years ago but I have no practical experience in it. I really want to get that experience but I know starting out with no experience I have to take a pay cut. However, if the right job comes along, that still pays all my bills, but that has more room for advancement, I would take it. Where I'm at right now, there's no room for advancement and the company's been struggling off and on so I get a cost of living raise (3%) if anything annually. But where I'm at pays my bills.

I'd love to find a part time job where I could just get experience, and I look for those too. Something where the money doesn't matter because I've got my bases already covered, that works around my current work schedule. I still haven't found it yet.

Oh my second degree is in Accounting. I am just looking for general bookkeeping, ar, ap, staff accountant type of work.

And I'm not actually actively looking for another job. Just now and again I check craiglist to see if anything catches my eye.

..doesn't mean you shouldn't. I know this. Really I do. But I got so excited when they told me in July that I wasn't required to make a payment til August that I used the money to pay off other things. And now I'm paying for it, in another respect. My payment to my consolidated student loan this month, went completely to interest. Next month will too. Finally in October, I'll actually pay off approx $30 towards principle. In November I should be back on track. Ugh.

Ok now if my transfer papers will just show up so I can get them filled out and sent off and be done with my timeshare then I'll have that money to use elsewhere! I'm getting anxious about it now but I know things take a while to get mailed so I shouldn't be.

I've been emailing a gal all weekend about her taking over my timeshare. I finally spoke with her today after verifying a couple of things she'd asked questions about but I didn't have an answer for. After explaining that I had to request the transfer paperwork from the company, she said to go ahead and do that. So I called the company and found their rules have changed slightly. Instead of them just sending out the paperwork and us returning it with a check for the transfer fees, I have to pay the transfer fees up front and then they'll send the paperwork. I went ahead and did so, charging it because when this goes through I can pay it off right quick. I figure the sooner I can get the paperwork and complete the transaction, the less of a chance she'll have of changing her mind. So...fingers crossed.

I'm so excited! He got a three day gig at Costco handing out samples (it pays $120/day and for that he'll do almost anything). Today was his first day and when he got home his friend T called and said congrats on the job! He replied that it was only a 3 day gig and she said no...congrats on the real job. You start Tuesday.

He is very excited. I am to. It's data entry for the cable company. It makes me happy. It makes him happy.

I'm doing what I can to help instill financial sense. Like for example our conversation tonight:

Him: So I've decided what I'm going to do with my Costco money now that I have a real job.
Me: What's that?
Him: Get my driver's license!!
Me: Good idea.
Him: Oh and once I get caught up on all my bills, I've decided that before I get all those piercings I want I'm going to invest in some nicer clothes and not wear them as often.
Me: Not a bad plan. Don't forget to start saving, for a car, for emergencies.
Him: Oh yeah, that too.

Yipeee!!! I'm not going to bug him about paying me back, I know he will once he gets everything squared away. Right now Verizon is being nice, even though he's over 2 months past due on his cell, because he's looking for work (so he can pay his bills) they let him have incoming calls only. So that takes precedence over me.

Oh and as an aside...I haven't relisted my timeshare but when I was on craigslist I did a search for the name of the company just to see what other people were trying to sell theirs for. I found an add for someone looking to buy, though she wanted more credits than I have annually. I emailed her anyway and she's tempted. So we'll see if anything comes of that. I've learned not to get my hopes up too much until the papers have been notorized. I'm even willing to pay the $150 transfer fee if someone will just take it off my hands!!!

I had a screening interview and tests this morning at a staffing company. They have an entry level ish staff accountant position that one of their clients is trying to fill. The benefits cost way less than I'm currently paying, there's no pre-existing condition clause, but their max pay is about $5k less per year than I'm making right now. I did forget to ask if benefits start immediately. If they don't then I'll be going to Costco for my meds and putting off my next checkup as much as possible.

I checked a paycheck calculator and figured out that the monthly net (based on federal and state withholdings) is about $172 less than I'm making right now. Uhh. I know that has to do with benefits that I have to pay for ($125/mo pre tax) and the 3% I have going into a 401k account.

So I could concievably take the job and make ends meet somehow, providing they opt to interview me and like what they see. Plus I'm putting up my timeshare for sale again in September (decided to start doing that quarterly) and if I can get rid of that it will knock $170 off my required monthly outflow. Which would put me at breaking even. Give or take. Not to mention I'm trying to knock off a couple of things anyway.

I'm really excited about the potential to actually use my second degree. Just hoping that it all pans out. Sounds like a good company and it's a bit larger than my current one (currently there's 9 employees in my company, new company there's 100 on the payroll). So more potential for movement or at least raises possibly. Guess just will have to cross my fingers and hope.

It makes sense. Apparently the apartment complex where I rent a garage from (my friends live there so I pay them the extra charge for the garage and they include it in their rent) requires 30 day notice if you're going to not have it anymore. Originally my friend had told me just to let her know when I didn't need it anymore.

This adds a whole new twist to things. I don't know that I'll be able to clear it out this month. I want to, but my weekends are crazy busy. If I give a 30 day notice right now, can I move everything out in time? If I wait until I know I'll have it all cleared out though that means shelling out extra $$ for the rest of the time. Argh! I wish it wasn't so far away. Round trip will cost at least 2 gallons of gas, and since I've been surviving on only 7 gallons over a two week period, that's a lot. I may stop by and make an assessment of things on my way to my brother's on Sunday, since I'll be passing right by.

I'm assuming that if there's any overlap, ie the 30 days isn't given at the start of a month, then the excess will be pro-rated. I can deal with that. Just need to get off my butt and finish clearing out the space where I'm intending to store it.

I thought I'd try something new this past pay period. Since my cashback cc was paid off, and it gives me 5% back on grocery and gas purchases, I decided to charge (within my budget) all my food and gas purchases and then pay it off right before my next payday.

Well tomorrow is my next payday. I didn't use all of my budget, there was 22.89 left over all together. However, I did have to charge my recent auto repair as well to the card so I do still have a debt outstanding. So when I made a payment just now, I put the entire amount I had budgeted to try and eat away at the auto repair.

I'm not sure what I should do about this next pay period, seeing as how I'll have a blanace that will carry over. At least this first statement it won't have any interest applied. Normally I could possibly scare up the difference with my extra check that I get on the 5th but since I lent (gave) my brother $200 for rent I have to make that up too.

So I might just pull the cash out and carry that around so there's no additional charges to potentially incur interest since I can't pay the balance in full just yet. Or I may continue what I did before: use the card for food and gas and pay my entire budget towards the card even if I don't use it all to try and eat away at the auto repair charge and hope that Sept 5th I can pay the difference. Fortunately I did call them and lower my interest rate by 3% so that's a good thing at least.

I got an Explanation of Benefits from my insurance company regarding my last dental visit. If I'm reading it correctly, I still owe the dentist money because the insurance company didn't pay for as much as they anticipated. Usually it's the other way around, the insurance company pays for more and I wind up with a small credit. Of course, I don't know for certain. I will wait until I get the bill from my dentist. It just frustrates me to no end that there seems to be no end in sight of medical things that need to be paid RIGHT NOW.

Not really sure how to make this pretty but you get the idea. I'm just excited it improved a bit, even if my retirement fund went down. Darn stock market.

Assets $ Diff % Diff
Cash $332 ($71) -17.62 %
Retirement $21,947 ($226) -1.02 %
Cars $2,455 $75 3.15 %
Total Assets $24,734 ($222) -0.89 %

Debts $ Diff % Diff
Student Loans $36,493 ($548) -1.48 %
Credit Card $15,520 ($111) -0.71 %
Other $17,237 ($228) -1.31 %
Total Debts $69,250 ($887) -1.26 %

Net Worth ($44,516) $665 1.47 %

As much as I tried not to touch it, it's pretty much empty now. I have $13 in my wallet. And no way to replenish it since I'm not using cash so much for purchases. I think I'll still have the container around for the rare occasion that I babysit or I sell something. But for now, I'm done with it.

Went out to dinner tonight, spent $9 on food plus $1 on tip. Ugh. Unplanned but I haven't seen my friend in forever so it was a good thing in the end.

However I also wound up spending all of my grocery budget. I passed by the meat section of Safeway and noticed BOGO on ground turkey and $1.00 off some small steaks on top of the $4.00 savings already tacked on because I have a club card. There's still a few BYOB BBQs coming up so these will come in handy. I hate rushing out and buying something that day since I buy too much, it sits out too long and I can't reuse it. This way I can individually package the meat and freeze it. Pulling it out only one at a time when I need it. I also got a small roast, I'm going to see if I can come up with a crockpot recipe for it. Normaly I don't buy meat unless I have specific plans for it. But it was a good price and I can get it frozen or cooked before it expires.

I also splurged on a deli sandwich for lunch. I didn't feel like eating what I had at home. Which was silly because I have plenty of food at home.

The only thing I didn't buy was salad mix because I just didn't like their prices. I may stop by Fred Meyer's to see if they have it on sale.

All told I spent $25.82 and saved $13.93 The other stuff that added to my list was I realized I needed to bring a side to the BBQ on Tuesday and decided to make my carmel apple salad again. I have enough apples at home for a second, just didn't have the rest of the ingredients (whipped topping, crushed pineapple, butterscotch pudding mix).

We went to the brewfest. It was way too crowded for my tastes. I'm not much of a beer drinker, not to mention I'm supposed to 'avoid' it per my doctors orders. But I had sips of my friends' tastes. (You buy tokens for beer, $1 per token. 1 token gets you a taste (1/3 of the mug) and 4 tokens gets you a full mug.) The best I thought was the Ned Flanders something or other. A close second was the Watermelon Wheat. The rest, too icky for me. I did cave in and buy an Elephant Ear though, $4.

Went for pizza afterwards and my friend paid but didn't say whether or not I should pay her back. It was just a slice anyway. Since I see her often I'll just treat her next time.

Today is the big church BBQ & Baptism out at a local park along the river. It's supposed to rain though so I'm going to call my friend that's in charge of a bunch of stuff and make sure it's still on. It costs $3 to park per car so I'll definately be spending that today if I do go.

What's leftover in the grocery budget is roughly $2. But gas budget still has $20 so I may borrow from that, or borrow from the dollar jar, to get salad mix to get me through the week.

As planned I only spent the $3 for the movie last night. Though by the end of the movie I was wishing I'd opted for pizza as well since I was HUNGRY. But it was midnight at that point and just went home.

I pulled the cash out of my dollar jar, easier to pay with cash instead of debit, and I just marked the set aside amount in my Quicken register as being less by $3. (Instead of the Envelope system I enter things I set money aside for in Quicken with a date set just far enough ahead to when I expect to pay it, keeps things seperate and gives me a total of what's left over).

The item I put in a make offer on eBay expired before they replied to my offer. I suppose that's as good as denial. Problem is the total cost of the item is almost as much as my entire 'personal' budget from a paycheck. I get paid twice a month so that's a little over two weeks. I really don't think I want it that badly. Though I may see if there's enough cash left over next time around, and if it's still available for sale. But I'm not making it a priority.

I'm annoyed because I thought I had butterscotch pudding at home so I didn't buy it when I picked up the rest of the ingredients for the salad I'm making tomorrow. And all I have is vanilla. So that means a trip to the store just for that. Fortunately, I can walk to the store. I'm trying to figure out anything else that I might possibly need while I'm out, and I'm coming up empty. So I'll probably take a couple of dollars from my dollar jar so I don't have to use debit for such a small purchase.

I finally gave in and sent my friend $60 for the storage unit. It just wasn't going to happen this month that I could clear it out. Next month, I'm shooting for next month.

I have too many clothes! Seriously. I have two bags in my trunk for goodwill. My closet is full. My dresser is full. And I have piles on my floor. This stuff needs to go! Hopefully I can make some progress on it. I'd like to sell it but I just don't have the time or energy. I am making a box of other crap to sell so I will hopefully make some money off what I'm downsizing.

I didn't spend anything yesterday, except gas. I don't have anywhere to drive to until Sunday, that'll be good too. I think the $20 I put in will last til next week Friday when I get paid. Which means I'll have only used half of my gas budget.

I'm planning on walking to work today. Possibly going to a cheap movie tonight ($3) but that'll come out of my 'personal' fund. Plus the theater is close enough to walk to. Tomorrow is a brewfest with free admission. I can't drink per doctor's orders, I'm just going with friends to be social. And I can eat before hand and bring in my own drinks so long as it's sealed. I picked up a 32 oz gatorade for $1 when I was at the store yesterday just for that purpose. We might also go to the movies on Saturday after spending the day in the sun. Either we'll go to the cheap theater ($3) or if we go to Regal I have coupons to make the tickets cheaper ($6 or $7.50 if it's new). But the movies they suggested aren't really ones I want to see so I may bail on them at that point.

I keep running out of time to do everything. It's really frustrating sometimes. Right now, all I want to do is veg. But I've only got 3 German classes left and I need to start clearing out my storage unit. Unfortunately it looks like that'll be by end of August now instead of by end of July.

My friend picked up something on eBay that I just decided I had to have. It had a 'make offer' button though and I put in an offer of $10 (not including shipping and insurance). The buy it now price is $24.99. We'll see if they take it or not. She did a 'make offer' for $24.99 including shipping at insurance (an additional $7) and they accepted it. I have a feeling I bid too low. If they don't take it I'm just going to wait til my next paycheck and decide from there.

So went to meet friend at the mall so we could have dinner and study before the movie. Only when I went to buy food I realized I'd left my wallet at home. Oops. Friend lent me $6 and I pulled 6 ones out of my dollar jar to pay her back tonight with. Anyway, got rather dissapointing pad thai at the food court and then we studied a bit. Around when we told people to meet in front of the theater, we went and found a couple of guys from our group waiting. Walked over to the line and found another couple already there. Love it when people actually show up on time for things.

After the movie we hung out and talked for a bit. When I went to leave though I found out I'd left my lights on. Grrr. I have one of those nifty power station things (so you can jump your car without needing a second car to connect to) but I'd lent it out to someone who I haven't seen in about a month. Called one of the guys who had left the theater but hadn't left the mall yet and he bailed me out. The battery wasn't dead, just didn't have enough juice to start. It's all better now though.

Of course I couldn't go get gas afterwards though because my wallet was at home. D'oh!

This morning I walked to the gym and on the way home I stopped at the store to pick up things that needed restocking plus I have two bbq's that I'm going to that needed me to contribute. One on Thursday I need to bring my own meat plus dessert and one on Sunday where I need to bring a salad. I found a four pack of polish sausages for $2.39, figure I'll freeze two of them for use next time there's a byom bbq, and picked up a pack of generic Oreo's for $2. That takes care of Thursday. For Sunday I'm making carmel apple salad (technically a dessert but I don't care) so I needed whip cream, crushed pineapple, and apples. I spent about $22 total.

I might need to go back on Friday because I think I'm almost out of salad mix. But it goes bad so fast that I don't want to buy it til I need it.

Friend of mine forwarded to me a couple of job opening that looked to be right up my alley. Better pay, using skills I need to use, etc. Unfortunately the application deadline had passed on both of them. One of them was only a couple of days ago so I emailed an inquiry to see if they were still accepting applications. Alas, they aren't but now I have another couple of places to keep an eye out for potential jobs.

And finally I transferred $50 out of my savings so I could write a check to L. A bunch of us went on a mission trip last May/June only we fell way short on raising funds. About $8k short. So L used her credit card to pay the balance for the plane tickets. When we got back we did more fund raising type things and came up with another $2600. Which is good. But still leaves a balance on the card. So until someone comes up with another grand idea to make some money, we all are pitching in to pay off the credit card. It'll be interesting to see how that plays out.

I wasn't sure what I was doing after work and if I needed to get someplace right away as opposed to having time to walk home I wanted that flexibility. Plus I'd called a friend about a computer part he was looking for that I had extra and if nothing else, the car would be useful for dropping it off at his place since I don't know when I'll be driving again. Well ok, I know I'll be going out Thursday but I don't know if I'd have time then.

Anyway. Home community decided to go to the movies tonight to see An Inconvenient Truth. You can get free passes via http://www.inconvenientchristian.org so long as you go back and tell them what you thought of the movie. Actually the pass is good for two people. I'd been meaning to see it and just hadn't gotten around to it. So this fills all sorts of voids, it provides something for the group to do, that's free, and air conditioned. Although fortunately it's only 80 today so AC isn't a necessity just a nice perk.

My friend that I'm taking German with is going to be my second ticket and she's already going to be at the mall where the movie is playing. So I'm going to meet her there after work and we'll study and perhaps eat something while waiting for everyone else. Which may entail spending some money since I wasn't planning on eating out.

Then my friend that I was going to drop the part off with calls and says he's going to be coming to the movie tonight. Sweet! That means I don't have to drive all the way over to his house. Not that far but not that close either.

I need to get some gas at some point. I'm getting dangerously close to that E. Perhaps I'll do it after the movie on my way home.

I know they say it takes 7 to 10 days but has anyone actually requested a Balance Transfer to be mailed to them in the form of a check? I've been watching the status. It's gone from Pending to Open to Approved. Is Approved the last step? Should I start watching my mail for it now? Or will it be another week?

I am down to $71.69! That makes me so happy! However, I'm going to pay $100 on the 5th because the bill was sent the day before my appointment and echocardiogram. The appointment will be $20 and the Echo will be about $145. I'm expecting that since they have billed my ins for the Echo before, they'll bill me for the difference they're expecting me to have to pay. And chances are good that in September I'll have the balance providing they bill me for it. If they wait, I should have it for certain, which will make them happy. Either way, definate end in sight!

I also talked to K today. He checked his mail and there was a check from P for $100. Which really surprised him since when he ended the convo he basically said he didn't expect to see any of it back but P insisted they would pay. It means he should definately be able to pay his rent and possibly buy food or throw a bone at Verizon for his phone bill. Other good news is the bar he hangs out at for their free wireless, is hiring him on for bussing on the weekends. He didn't even apply for it he's just there all the time and the bartenders know him now and know he's hurting for work. Hopefully something will come from that.

It's still fairly warm here. It's 84 right now, with 93 listed as the high. Ugh.

Intead of paying back money I took from my dollar jar I just left it in the bank. Reason being, lunch cost more than I expected so I took that out of my food budget. I put $5 back into the dollar jar, that's what was leftover after contributing to gas and buying water, ice cream, and postcards. Lunch ran me $14 including tip. But we did lots of walking, climbing up large sand hills, and went on a 5 mile hike. And the temp was only about 75, it was lovely.

Sunday I didn't spend anything except gas. I picked up doughnuts for the volunteers at church, went to a bbq in oregon city, and then went to an open house in north portland. Fortunately I don't have anything I need to drive to until Thursday.

Here's some pictures from my camera phone of the coast:

Up above the beach I love to visit in Pacific City



Funky rock



My friends ahead of me hiking down one side of the sandy hill we climbed up.

Argh! I had a nice post ready to go, clicked something on accident and now it's gone. Anyway...

I am ditching this hot weather and going to the beach tomorrow, carpooling with friends. I'm borrowing $20 from the dollar jar because it's already in the form of $10 and 2 $5s. I'll pull $20 out of the atm and put it back in it.

I picked up a couple extra items while at the store picking up my meds. Spent $35 on meds and $10.74 on other stuff.

I'm buying some face wash (that will last me at least 3 months) from a friend who sells Arbonne. She's giving it to me at the wholesale price so spending $14.63 of my Personal budget on that.

Totals at end of week:
$30.00 for gas (in bank)
$64.09 for food (in bank)
$20.00 for food and gas on beach trip (in wallet)
$15.37 for Personal (in bank)
$35.91 for CC2 (in bank)

I'm also planning on packing snacks to take with me so I only spend money on one meal out tomorrow (that's what the other $10 is for)

Remember that big long spiel about not using my credit card to help out my step brother? Well... yeah.

I waited to see if my dad and step mom could help him out at all. They couldn't. I heard that the dude at the bank said even if he could just get $1k together he could keep his truck. They only have the one vehicle and with her being preg and having lots of appointments, loosing the truck would be huge.

So, I offered him $2k. I spoke to the guy at his bank, explained that I can put in the request for the money (he can't process a credit card) but it'll take a little bit for it to get to me. He's leaving for vacation next week. He'll be in touch with me when he gets back and we can talk and see where the money is. But for now, til he gets back, the truck is safe in my step bro's hands.

I was able to get in on Citi's 3.99% balance transfer deal, yes it had a 3% fee but all of that will be paid back by my step brother. And it's better than getting a cash advance which would have been at 22.something%. He's going to set up an allotment to auto transfer money to my account every time he gets paid, he's looking at getting a parttime job, and dad and step mom have also offered to pitch in to pay me back since they couldn't come up with it initially.

I will be ok with making the payments if for some reason he can't. I wouldn't have done it otherwise. Plus with dad and step mom in the mix, and them knowing how hard I'm working to get out of debt, I have every reason to believe it will be taken care of.

And in other brother news, K has asked for help with rent. I was anticipating that and expected him to ask for $300. But he only needs $200. So I will transfer that money over tonight. If he doesn't pay me back it's ok.

Last night I left a message at the shop with the sound of my car trying to start. They think it's the ignition relay. $100 for the part, $50 for labor. I'm ok with that since they didn't charge me anything for trying to find the problem earlier in the week, and they had it for 24 hours (not that they worked on it that whole time but still).

They said they can do it today, so it's there right now. Fun stuff. Fortunately today I called and got my interest rate lowered on the card I was going to put it on as well. I'd been putting it off since I wasn't really using it so didn't see the point but now that I might have to carry a small balance for a statement or two, I figured it couldn't hurt.

CC1, the one I got lowered by 5%, the new statement reflected the interest changes. Oh. My. Gosh. My minimum payment and the amount of interest charged both dropped by $90!!! Now, I still don't have enough to fully pay the minimum on my own so I'm sticking with what I was doing before. But if I can clear out the storage before the end of the month, and have $60 I can start putting to my credit card, then I'll stop paying bills with my credit card just so I can make the minimum payment.

I'm so ok with all the potential outflow of money that I don't have, it's kinda scary.

Ok so car started fine for the shop. Picked it up on Tuesday, drove it to pick up pizza, then to friend's house, then to get gas, and finally to home. Wednesday didn't drive it anywhere, walked to the gym, walked to work, friend drove to class. Today, started just fine, helped a friend jump his jeep, went to dr's apt, stopped by church office to pick up stuff for Sunday, went to work. Go to leave, won't start. I left work a little early but even though I called the shop (they close at 6 and I normally get off at 6) they didn't answer and I went to voice mail. I tried a couple of more times to start it, called back and left a message but I don't know how audible it will turn out.

So now I'm looking at walking home. Normally not a big deal but right now it's 93F and I wore flipflops because I didn't think I'd have to walk. I just started wearing flipflops again, haven't worn them since grade school, and am not sure they're the greatest thing to be walking home in. Not that I have a choice.

For those who asked, this is what it's doing. I try to start the car like normal, push the clutch in all the way, turn the key, lights go on, engine does the initial thing/sound/whatever but it never fires (that's the mechanic's word for it I call it catching, it never catches). It just stays at that initial part for however long I have the key turned. It doesn't need a jump, that is definately not the problem.

Ugh. It's ok, it'll all pan out. Eventually. I had plans to go to the store tonight, in fact I sort of need to as I have nothing for dinner in the house. Well not true, I have some hummus and crackers and could have cereal and yogurt. But had planned to pick up dinner stuffs when I was out. So I may just walk home and borrow roomates car to go to the store. Or just walk home and go to the Zupans nearby (Zupans is a spendy organic type store) and just get enough to get me through tonight. Which at this point includes a pint of ice cream (Ben n Jerry's style) or a small tub of cookie dough (to be consumed by the spoonful raw).

I came back up to my office to fill my water bottle so I'd have it for the walk home. But I'm going to try starting my car one more time before I walk home. Though if it does start, I'm leary of going to the store. If anything, I'd prefer to leave my car overnight at work vs overnight in the store parkinglot where it might get towed.

I'm so annoyed right now but I'm staying out of it.

Brother 1 (I'll call him K) was in the Army stationed in Afghanistan for a year. During that time he racked up quite a bit of hazard pay that he didn't have an opportunity to spend. Brother 2 (I'll call him P) was planning a wedding and couldn't get a loan to pay for it.

P approached K about borrowing money (upwards to $9k) for the wedding since K wasn't in need of it right now anyway. That also covered honeymoon, rings, and all sorts of stuff not just the wedding itself. They didn't work out any sort of payment plan just it was understood that it would be paid back.

P owed me a smaller amount from buying the original engagement ring and had been paying me back at a rate of $100/mo. He finished paying me off about 2 months before the wedding. He said once he finished paying me off he would start paying back K. Since I was the only one at the time with access to K's accounts he should have still sent me money every month. But he didn't. However it wasn't my arrangement so I didn't say anything.

K came home for two weeks or so, just long enough for the wedding, then went back for a couple of months. When K finally got out of the service, he went to live with P temporarily while he looked for work. The arrangement was that K would take off from the balance the amount of K's portion of rent.

K found a job, and an apartment, and moved after perhaps 2 months. The payments from P were sporatic at best. Soon after K got settled in his apartment, he got let go from his job. I floated him for a month or two because I also owed him money but I finally got all caught up and we are square now.

P and his wife bought a house out in the middle of no-where. Timewise the commute is about the same but distance wise it's twice as far. With the house they bought furniture and appliances. Now they have all this other expense and have apparently 'forgotten' about their debt to K.

K approached him, since he's out of work again, about giving him money. P hasn't given him anything for at least two months and K asked for $200. Not unreasonable all things considered but P went off on how it's not his fault that K quit his last job and that P is just trying to better his life.

Umm ok. P chose to borrow that money. That money was an obligation that he chose to take on before they decided they needed to 'better their life'. Grrr.

I just don't see how his negligence to pay has anything to do with K quitting his job. Yes, he's in a bind because of it and yes, he's asking for more money than usual but P has missed a couple of payments and it's only fair imo to ask for more.

They got into a huge arguement about it yesterday and I'm doing my darndest to stay out of it. I don't think P will talk about it with me but if he does bring it up I will say my two bits and be done. I will not bring it up, I have been asked to stay out of it so I will to the best of my ability.

I suggested that K write up a statement outlining the agreement to pay, what payments have been received and when, the balance owed, and options for paying it back. Even told him he should send it certified mail (signature required so he knows they got it) and ask them to sign and return the page stating what payment plan they are going to follow. I don't know if he's actually going to do it but to me it's the best way to get out there what he needs to get across without them interrupting.

We're nearing the end of the month. K has had no luck with interviews yet. He's headed down to Starbucks right now to apply. His friend is a supervisor and said he'd put in a good word for him. Even if he gets hired though, he'll still need rent money for August.

I am going to drain my resources and help him out this month, he'll pay me back because he doesn't like to be beholden to anyone. I'm prepared for it so I think I can swing it. At least this time he shares rent with someone.

I'm trying hard not to play mom so much, and it is hard. But we all make poor choices. And life is a learning experience. Since this is such a small amount of money, I am giving it to him knowing that if he doesn't pay it back it's ok. I know he will but it's just one of those things to not lend anything you can't bear to part with since it may not return. (that's my paraphrase)

Hopefully he'll cool off and things will be right again. I really want to involve myself but I know better. It's just hard because for about 7 years (2 officially, 5 unofficially) I was their guardian so the drive to play Mom is great.

My echo showed a VAST improvement, more than the dr expected. Which means the meds are working and we'll keep on the current path without adding any more in for now. And I don't have to go see her again for three months! Which will be nice for the clinic bill. I haven't gotten a copy of the latest one but I believe it's down to $71 now. Plus $20 for today's appointment plus I'm not sure how much for the echo. So I'm planning on still paying a full $100 on the 5th. I think the echo is like $145. But it was billed with a bunch of other tests so I don't recall for certain. I'm just excited that a] it's working like it's supposed to and I am getting better and b] I don't have to go back for a while!

She also said my current diet isn't good, I need more protien in the mornings. So I'll be changing that around, which actually will be cheaper. That works for me as well. Of course now I have a ton of fruit to be eaten. Ah well.

1204.69 Salary
0.60 Left over from last check
-------
1205.29 Total to work with

100.00 Rent (save for August)
93.17 Auto Insurance
250.00 CC1*
60.00 Student Loan (58 payments left)
25.00 Savings
10.00 ING Savings
121.00 Consolidation (save for August)
100.00 Food
60.00 Storage **
170.47 Timeshare
65.01 Electric
35.00 Medical
40.00 Gas
30.00 Personal
20.00 Offering
------
1179.65

25.64 Left Over

* Minimum payment is 417, the only way I can make that payment is to take the money I pay on my cell phone ($66) and my cable bill ($59), put that in as part of the $250 out of this check, and then use the credit card to pay those bills. Not the best of strategies but right now that's the only way to make the payment.

** I'm working really hard to try and empty the unit by the end of the month so hopefully I won't actually have to pay it anymore.

I was going to put the left over amount in my savings account but I think I'm just going to leave it as a cushion so I don't start borrowing from the money I hold out rent and loan. If it's still there when the next paycheck comes then it'll go into savings.

I also think I'm going to start using CC2 (currently empty) for grocery and gas purchases and then pay it off at the end of the payperiod. Because CC2 gives 5% cash back on grocery and gas purchases. I'll still keep within my budget and pay it off before it can acrue interest. It's a game, yes, but I think I can pull it off and make some money out of it.

I'm on Equal Pay with my electric company. That means they take the last 12 months of usage and divide it by 12 and that's what I pay for the next 12 months. Then they review my usage again, make adjustments for the difference, and I get a new payment for the next 12 months.

I thought that June should have been the month that it changed, if it was going to. I also knew that the winter was super cold and that chances are it would go up due to more usage of the heater. But with it being spread out over 12 months it wouldn't be so bad. And we don't have AC so there's nothing to balance it out in the summer. However in June it was the same amount so I thought we just had the same usage.

Anyway, I got my bill in my email just now for July and it went down! From $66.77 to $65.01 I don't know why but hey, I won't complain either.