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Saturday, September 3, 2011

Finances

Okay, I admit it, I'm bad with money.  I'm not awful, but I could certainly do better.  And recently, my husband has been working less overtime and we're starting to feel it.  So, I thought it would be a good time to start cutting back on our Whole Foods visits, cutting coupons and packing lunches (Brown Bag Challenge anyone?).  We also got rid of cable tv and our house phone.  We have cell phones, Apple tv, and Netflix, so we should be fine.  We watch too much tv anyway.
I've definitely never had money to burn, even growing up and I just don't want to spend my life broke and in debt.  So, before it gets too out of hand, I want to get rid of the debt and stop living paycheck to paycheck (living off credit cards in college, may not have been the best idea), I long for the day when I have one credit card that I never carry a balance on!  I applied for the Citi Simplicity card to transfer all my balances to a 0% interest for 21 months.  Citi card was my first ever credit card, I applied for it on campus just to get the free t-shirt for my now husband, BIG MISTAKE!  If only I knew then, what I know now.  But, I was hoping since I've been a customer of theirs for so long and I always pay my card on time, they'll approve me for this new card.  We'll see.  It would definitely help me get my finances in order.
In the meantime, I also got a second job to help get back on track quicker.  It actually sounds pretty good and I'll be doing some writing and editing, as well as editing video.  Which I've never really done but am excited to learn.
I realize that at my age and with the idea of starting a family on the horizon, it's time get things under control!
I was inspired by this blog post as well.  And I even put The Total Money Makeover on hold at the library.  We are also in the process of switching to an ING electric orange checking account.  I've actually had the savings and checking accounts for years, but I never used the checking account.  So, I ordered a new card with my new last name and added my husband to my account.  There are no fees, unlike our current bank that charges us to use our debit card and take our money out of the bank and the overdraft charge is substantially lower than the other banks.  When you're not rolling in it, sometimes you overdraft your account and most banks like to just kill you with fees if that happens.  Basically, banks steal from the poor.  It's no secret.  For now, my ING account still needs to be linked to a regular checking account to deposit checks, but I'm hoping they figure out a way around that very soon because quite frankly, I hate my bank.  And when I do finally start making some real money, I'll be sticking with the bank that didn't try to steal from me when I was broke!

1 comment:

  1. That's awesome that you're organizing your finances! That's the first step and it's never too late!! I need to really start getting organized and do a new budget as well. With my son doing after school activities, paying for school, holidays coming etc, it's so easy for money to get tight. The 2nd job sounds great! It will most certainly help out with money and give you another thing to put on your resume - always a good thing! =)

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