Working Towards the Goal – a Story of How I Lowered My Debt

One of my goals for this year is to get a handle on my debt. Oh, that sounds disastrous doesn’t it. I’ve never been over my head in credit card debt. I’ve never been over my head in mortgage debt. However, having two children means doctors and hospitals. Having bad insurance means a lot of money out of pocket. I was fortunate because I changed jobs the middle of last year and I received a significant increase in pay as well as incredible insurance. Unfortunately, the year and a half that I had bad insurance and not so great pay had left me in bad shape as far as my debt went. That being said, my goal for this year has been to eliminate the medical bills and pay down my credit card debt. This will also help me towards achieving my goal for next year.

In the month of January, I completely paid off and cancelled one of my credit cards. Theoretically I should have paid it off and kept it open, but it was a joint account in mine and my ex-husband’s name so closing the account was definitely the right thing to do in that situation.

In the month of February, I spent a large amount of money paying off every outstanding medical bill that I had. That was a HUGE accomplishment for me, and I’m not ashamed to say that I am really proud of myself.

Now it’s March. I’ve sat down and taken a look at the way I’ve been paying my monthly credit card bills. I always pay well over the minimum payment on all of them, but I would get frustrated and discouraged because I wouldn’t see much progress. It was suggested that I make a list of all my credit cards, balances, limits, interest rate and amount of time I’ve had the card. After deciding which card to pay off first – in my case it is the one with the highest interest rate which happens to have the lowest balance – I am going to pay one dollar over the minimum of each of my cards except the one that I’m working on paying off. I should have this card paid off in another two months.

You know, I used to focus on everything else except my finances. I never worried about the future and I was always living from paycheck to paycheck. It’s pretty sad, actually, because in high school I was planning on being a CPA. Life changed my plans, I made some decisions that I thought were right at the time but ended up being bad for me financially (although good in other aspects). Then I met a person who is pretty smart when it comes to finances. Although I often found it difficult to understand him, there where a few times when he sat down with me to explain some things and I understood what he was saying.

In a matter of two months, I’ve taken great steps towards reaching my goal for the year. The percentage of credit card debt that I have compared to my limit is at 77%. That’s still high, but it’s actually lower than it was two months ago. My credit score has gone up and I know it’ll go up even higher once my payments are reported. The thing that excites me the most out of all of this? My debt to income ratio is 27%.

All it took was focus and a little change in my spending habits. While I was calculating my debt to income ratio, I realized that I bring home a lot more money than I thought I did. I started questioning where in the world is all my money going? I took a look at my checkbook(s) and realized that I spend an awful lot of money eating out. This is my second week bringing my breakfast and lunch to work, and not only do I feel better health wise, but I have more money at the end of the week. I’ve been doing a lot more cooking dinner as opposed to ordering out and, in addition to having more money and eating healthier, I’m having quality time with my kids. I haven’t been spending frivolously on clothes or shoes (and shoes are definitely my weakness). Yes, I dropped $400.00 on new work clothes a month ago, but that was a planned expense. I would love to get the Coach tote bag that I saw, but instead of going and getting it immediately, even though I have the extra money to do so, I’ve been saving here and there. Do I miss eating out? Sometimes, yes. But another benefit of not eating out daily is that when I do decide to do so, I don’t feel bad about going to an expensive restaurant where the meal is $50.00 a plate. I miss going to the mall or shopping on Michigan Avenue and buying whatever I decide I can afford or whatever whim crosses my mind. But because I’m playing things smart and saving up for that expensive item, I’ll be sure about it in the long run (no buyer’s remorse) and I’ll have a sense of accomplishment for saving up instead of impulse buying. Right now I know where my money is, and it’s sitting in the bank as my cushion for emergencies (in addition to some of it being tied up in stocks, but that’s another story completely).

As far as my money and my debt are concerned, this has started off to be a very good year.

Quote of the Day

"I think that I am better than the people who are trying to reform me."

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Valentine’s Day

Oh yes, it’s that time of year again. The commercials are all for diamonds. The colors are pink and red. It’s the time of year when, if you’re like me, you REALLY start to feel like a loser. Even my 7-year-old son has a valentine this year. Oh yes. Isn’t life peachy. I’ve been with the same guy for the past year-and-a-half and, true to form, we broke up a couple days ago. Funny how I thought this would be the one holiday in the past 7 (including both our birthdays) that I might actually enjoy. Oops…wrong again.

Yes, I know it’s a Hallmark holiday. And I know that the gifts that are given on this day don’t mean as much as they would if they were given on an ordinary day. But it’s one of the few days a year when the man actually remembers to be sweet and romantic. Hey, I used to be the lucky one. My guy used to be sweet and romantic ALL THE TIME. Then he stopped. Now I’m lucky if he even smiles at me anymore.

One would think that at this age I wouldn’t be worrying about things like not having a valentine. One would think that I wouldn’t be worrying about being alone 6 out of the 7 days in the week. One would think that I wouldn’t be worrying about why won’t he add me to his Myspace. One would think that the petty bullshit shouldn’t even be happening. But it does. And so, once again, I had big romantic plans that now I get to do by myself.

As I sit here watching all the women in my office get roses delivered, I realize how much time I’m wasting. Now, I don’t even like roses. Wild flowers are more my thing….and I HATE daisies. But anytime a woman gets flowers delivered to her at work, well that’s a grand gesture that goes a long way.

Instead of feeling like a loser, instead of trying to fix a relationship that is undoubtedly nothing but a waste of time and full of stress and depleted of love, I’m going to get out and do something. I’m going to go to a museum. I’m going to take a trip to Florida. I’m going to stop feeling sorry for myself, stop wishing he would love me the way he used to, stop trying to reason with him. I’m going to get out and live my life, the way I used to before he came along. And hey, maybe Chris is right. Maybe I will meet my soulmate.

Let the Universe Take Control

Today’s my first “real” day back at work in over a week. I was really sick, lost a bunch of weight, missed a bunch of work….but I’m happy to be back. As typical of a Monday morning, I overslept. Well, I didn’t really oversleep, I just woke up really sad and didn’t feel like moving when the alarm went off. So I laid there and cried for about 20 minutes then got up and got in the shower. I got myself dressed, got the kids up and we were out the door. And then, happy Monday, my car wouldn’t start. I just spent $175 last week on my car, luckily while I was sick and didn’t need to go too many places. I ended up having to call my ex-husband, who is the only one of my friends that lives close to me (plus he’s a mechanic) to come and jump my car. Except it wasn’t the battery. He was able to get it started so I was able to get on my way. Huh….Monday isn’t starting off so great. I made it to the train, after missing the first 2, and managed to settle in for the ride. I forced myself to put on my happy face and clear my mind, although the song that was on my mp3 as soon as I turned it on was one that made faking a smile pretty difficult…Far Away…..yea.

So I get to work, hoping that I was correct and I did have a pair of brown heels in one of my filing drawers…which I did. Except…great…the damn drawer got stuck open. And that means that I couldn’t open any of the drawers above it or get my chair close enough to my desk to do some work. Yes, happy Monday. Finally I got tired of messing around with it so I gave it a great big kick….oww on my foot but at least I got the stupid thing closed.

And my day goes on. Why is there an empty water glass on my desk with a napkin shoved in it? Why is my desk calendar all wilted like it got wet and dried funky? Oh, wonderful, someone spilled a glass of water on my desk while I was out. Oh, maybe that explains why my computer isn’t wanting to cooperate today, too.

Well my Monday is almost over….only an hour and a half and I get to head home. Then I can take off my happy face, put on my pajamas and cry over my broken heart. Today my horoscope said that when I don’t know what to do, sometimes it’s best to do nothing and let the Universe take control. So here, Universe…I’ve been sending you energy to take control of this…positive energy since someone told me that I’ve been sending out negative energy…oops, what did you expect…I was sick.

You know, the thing about energy, the thing about the Law of Attraction….we have emotions. Yes, we can take control of our thoughts and think positive thoughts and send out positive energy, but sometimes the pain that we feel is very real. Our hearts can hurt. Our feelings can hurt. Our souls can hurt. And I think it’s important to feel the pain. I feel my feelings, good and bad. But the thing is, even when I’m in the middle of crying because my heart hurts and I miss the one that I love so much, I still know that things will get better. I always know that I have to cry at that moment, but I won’t be crying forever.

So here, Universe, take control. I’m going to cry and I’m going to feel my sadness. And I’m going to eat these yummy Girl Scout cookies because chocolate always makes me feel better. And when I go to bed tonight I’ll send out positive energy. And maybe when I wake up I won’t cry again. And maybe when I wake up my heart won’t be so shattered. And maybe when I wake up he’ll have realized that he’s tired of being so far away from me. And maybe not. But regardless, I’m going to sit back and do nothing at all. I’ll let the Universe take care of things.

U Godda Wanna

This Saturday night, February 9. The band starts at 10 and plays until 1:30. 115 Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park (115th & Kedzie). Hopefully I'll be well enough to go. My girlfriend Tracy's dad is in the band and I've been looking forward to hearing them play.





http://www.ugoddawanna.com

Life is too short

How many times have we said to ourselves that there's always tomorrow? How many times have we put off dealing with something today because we weren't in the mood or we were sick or we figured it would wait? I've been guilty of it plenty of times. What I've realized is that life is too short. There aren't any guarantees. There is no promise of tomorrow.

My mom would always tell me that I'm impulsive and I need to wait before I act. My ex thinks I just don't like to be told no. Well, they could be right. From their perspective. But from my perspective I think that like is too short. I think when situations arise, ignoring them or putting them off doesn't make them go away. What if the last thing that you said to someone was something cruel? What if you didn't apologize because you thought you could do it later? And what if there wasn't a later?

Life is too short. We need to stop lying to the ones we love. We need to stop keeping secrets from the ones we love. We need to spend time with those that we care about and let them know how much we cherish them.

Live today like there is no tomorrow.

The Winner Takes It All (and I've lost)