Time To Pay the Piper: Breaking $15,000!

Well, it has been too long since I posted. This is supposed to be my view, and you get nothing. Well, at least today you get debt pay off!

Minimum Payment = $15
Payment Sent (2/15) = $59.36
Attributed to interest = $9.36
Attributed to Credit Card Debt = $50

Now, last week, when my voice lesson got taken by the lovely Doris Davis, I absorbed the money because my budget is going to hell this month. Ms. Davis needed the time again this week (she is recording a CD), so I will call this week's lesson money Found Money.

Attributed to Credit Card Debt = $35

Total Debt: $14926
2008 goal Attained: $574 (of $5,500)

And ...

To top it all off, I discover this morning that I ruined one of my new sweaters this weekend.

I was so happy to find a sweater I really liked at Ross at the beginning of the season. Slate blue, half zipper, turtle neck.

I always washed it gentle cycle and laid it out to dry. Well, this weekend, when I laid it out, I hadn't washed the acne medicine of my hands enough and as the sweater dried, bleach spots started to show.

And why a nearly 40 year old man still has acne problems is beyond me. Sometimes I wonder if I get a zit everytime someone says they thought I was 25-30. I suppose you have to take the bad with the good.

Where Is the Restart Button?

How do you start a day over? This day has been just no fun.

First, I should tell you that with the way Christmas works for the adults in my family, everyone basically gets one gift from a chosen family member. Since I am single and without children, I thus get one gift. So, I always save up and get myself something fun. This year I decided on a Wii. I didn't come on to this decision until just after Christmas, and obviously, there were no Wii's to be found. But I thought, I am a patient man and surly there will be some around in a couple of weeks.

Well, more than a month later, ToysRUs finally has Wiis. I get up today, go over a bit early and see a really short line. Cool, thinks I. After all, it isn't the holidays, so there probably isn't the same kind of rush.

Survey says, X!

The short line was what was left of the bigger line as they started letting people in 3 at a time about 40 minutes earlier. The woman ahead of me said they were told there were six left after the last 3 went in, and she was #7, making me #8. Someone from the last 3 was after a Nintendo DS Cobalt blue, which meant 7 Wiis left. I was still #8 and left out of luck. And #7 had just gotten there, so if I didn't do one thing that delayed my arrival, I would have been #7. I knew I should have skipped breakfast. Most important meal indeed!

All area ToysRUses sold out within minutes and no other stores have any stock yet. I already used an Amazon certificate to get Guitar Hero, and still, after more than a month, I can't play it!

Then the end of the day comes. I go out, double check on when and if more Wiis are coming, and go to the grocery store. I get to check out and discover my wallet is left at home. ARGH!

That's it. I am done with this day.

February is Not Kind

Boy, I was being really positive and hopefull in January. I set an ambitious goal, and even made some great strides in achiving it.

Then came February. Things may not have been all so rosy after holidays as I thought and the balloon payment premature. Money is super tight right now. Crazy so.

First of all, I switched phone providers. That will cost me an extra $200 bucks right there this month. I had about $200 in my Amex Savings that I was hoping would go to the CCs, but it is now going to my bank account to get me through to payday on Friday.

And, I am basically paying for cell phone service twice this month on budget. And that budget just when up $10! We shall see if Sprint, who screwed up my account a few months ago, doesn't also ask for more money as they might think I had an "early termination." They better not is all I am saying!

Also, it looks like any "found money" will also go to off set the new phone service. I have no lesson this week, but unlike last month, it will not go to the CCs. I also have some rolled change that might have to be sucked into the void known as Chase Checking. I may make that $11 payment for no other reason than to get below the $15,000 mark though. Just to keep hope alive.

On the up side, Verizon is a much better service for me. I can text certain coworkers, whom I text a lot, for free, and talk to them for free. As is true with any Verizon customer. And, most importantly, Verizon seems to be the only service with a tower aimed at my apartment. Sprint was bad, and according to my I-Phone buddies, AT&T isn't so hot either.

Total Debt: $15,011
2008 goal Attained: $489 (of $5,500)

Attention Amazon Shoppers!

So, the 4th quarter of 2007 ended with my commissions totaling only $7.96. You need at least $10 in commissions for them to pay you, otherwise it rolls over. Most of that was earned in December, so I will thank the holiday shoppers who bought the following items:

-- The Black Swan
-- The Rough Magic
-- A Chorus Line (1975 OBC)
-- Broadway: The Great Original Cast Recordings
-- The Best of Broadway
-- Ultimate Broadway

It is very likely that at least $3 will be earned in the first quarter of 2008 and I will have something to add toward my debt goals!

Total Debt: $15,011
2008 goal Attained: $489 (of $5,500)

Staying Well

As I said in an earlier post, I wanted this year to be the best physically as well as financially. To that end, I have been trying to get in a regular routine at the gym. Granted, this week I blew it off 4 times, but I did go today.

I noticed something new today. Down by the treadmills and elliptical machines, they had a dispenser for hand sanitizer. And it was an automatic dispenser! You didn't even have to touch it!

Now, I am not a big fan of hand sanitizer. I think it is over used to our determent, but with all the sweaty hands that touch the equipment at the gym, including hands that are, getting, or have been sick in this time of cold and flu, this is certainly a great place for it. It is certainly easier to do than tracking down the spray bottle and wipe down your machine.

Milestone Coming!

In doing yesterday's Pipe Post, I noticed, I am only $31 away from breaking $15,000!

And, last night, I realized, I had $20 in found money to send, so that will make it $11. WOW!

I had a few receipts on my desk at work that I needed reimbursement for. I finally cleaned up my desk and took care of those. Now, it was penny ante stuff, so it only amounted to about $20 in cash, but I can use that money to pay for entertainment stuff this weekend and send the $20 that is in my bank account that would have been used for entertainment stuff, and send it to a CC.

Total Debt: $15,011
2008 goal Attained: $489 (of $5,500)

Time To Pay the Piper

Welcome February! Another bill is due. I only have two, but this is the bigger bear. January was a little lean, so I can only pay around the minimum payment, but it will still be progress! I am setting up an on-line payment now, so even though it won't be paid for two weeks, I want to report it as I act on it, if you don't mind.

Minimum Payment = $227
Payment Sent (2/15) = $227.90
Attributed to interest = $59.25
Attributed to montly budgeted expenses = 103.65
Attributed to Credit Card Debt = $65

Total Debt: $15,031
2008 goal Attained: $469 (of $5,500)