I really like this group: They are called Love & Logic:
Avoiding the Back to School Shopping Nightmares
Dear Karen,
Nan took her children, Mack and Sara, shopping for school supplies. "What a nightmare," reported Nan. "Money is really tight this year but they don't care. They just kept begging for the best. They threw such a fuss that I finally decided it was easier to give in than to fight with them in front of everybody in the store. I had to use two credit cards and I don't know how I'm going to make ends meet this month."
Jody had a different experience. She visited with the kids about the family budget one evening. "We don't have as much money to spend on school supplies this year since Dad is out of work. This is how much each of you can spend."
"Tomorrow we'll make a trip to the store with your lists. Our job is to check prices. We won't be buying. After you have the prices you can figure out what you want to buy without spending more than your budget. I'll be glad to help if you need it. Once you have it all figured out make a new list. Then I'll take you back to the store to spend your money."
"Oh, by the way, kids," she mentioned. "If you can buy your supplies for less, you can keep the money that's left over."
Wouldn't you like to be a fly on the wall to watch these kids making their purchases?
It appears that Nan never learned that kids shouldn't dictate how the family money is spent. Nor has she learned how to set loving limits with her children.
Jody, instead, realized that tight economic times provide grand opportunities for teaching our kids how to shop, save, and spend money wisely.
I called Chase & asked them to remove the stupid $40 late fee -- they did. Because I paid 30 MINUTES AFTER their 4 p.m. cut-off on the due date (did YOU know that you have to pay before 4pm EST?) I also negotiated a fee by not responding right away -- I listened, said I'd think about it, and hung up. They called back an hour later & offered me more money. Sweet!
I still have to go back to the beginning -- I haven't looked at my budget in a while -- I was recently caught off-guard when I had $19 in my checking account, but I had just spent $100 at Sam's. Whoops -- glad I was in there making a deposit. But this says "Karen, where's your budget? What have you spent this month on ____?" Um. Not sure. Must go check.
That said, I am getting the big things right -- keeping expenses low, saving the difference. That may all change when the puppies get back next week . . .
My mom & kids had to go to A LOT of effort (costumes, finding a digital movie camera because they didn't bring ours to AZ) to bring you the little cheer -- so don't feel obligated to vote because of that, but please do look at them & appreciate them!
This is FUN!
Kids are at "grandma camp" but their video is on the way! It's cute. They are giraffes (nibbling on a "money tree" and that's all I can say right now!)
Mundane things here (which is what I'm learning this is all about): My utility bills for June & July were right around $250 inclusive of water, sewer, trash -- I think a lot of it is attributable to the timer on the hot water heater which means it runs for 2 hours a day -- instead of 24. The rain barrels help: I have not turned on a hose about the lawn or any plants all season. Still no TV (although I *did* call for & receive converter box coupons, which I might use today to get a couple of channels to keep me company when I'm all by myself). And I'm still waiting to hear about whether or not I have a salaried job . . . that will me a massive change for me.
I had to make a REALLY TOUGH CHOICE (and all by myself which made it harder): I decided NOT to teach my history class this fall because I'm facing a second surgery (I had one 3 months ago), and the older I get, the less bouncy I am after these things. I could not see working a 40-hour-a-week job (with extra projects on the side), doing my courier work (mostly just on the lunch hour), going to Zumba 4 days a week (and occasionally teaching it), AND teaching two nights a week -- when would I see my kids? And throw the surgery in & I would be a WRECK. I really hesitated about this one because it would essentially represent $4,000 that I could stash in savings, but I had to make a mental health call. It would do me very little good to win if I had to spend all the prize on therapists & Xanax :)
I did treat myself to (another) Sorrelli bracelet . . . ok, AND earrings . . . because I felt sorry for myself about my latest medical woes & frankly didn't think FAIRIES were going to bring me anything to lift my spirits (I haven't been able to rely on them to clean out the fridge either -- drat!) BUT may I be forgiven because they had a 25% off sale? AND the bracelet I got looks REALLY GOOD on me? I thought so :)
And this comment from Dave Ramsey helped me feel better about my stress: "The secret to saving? Focused emotion. The secret to saving money is to make it a priority, and that is done only when you get some healthy anger or fear and then focus that emotion on your personal decisions."
I like that. "Focused Emotion."
I know that when what I REALLY *want* to do it take a break (or a nap), what I really NEED to do it move faster/smarter/with more focus. And so I'm sending myself back to money boot camp. I've gotten financially flabby, I've been spending money like I don't have bills (but I *do* have a 5-tray vermicomposter! And heavens knows everyone needs one of those!), and I haven't looked at my budget in . . . well . . . a long time.
Now, I have been working REALLY HARD -- lately up to 16 hours a day (a grab a few hours' sleep & then hit it again), but I need to shore up the findamentals, for sure -- and I have no excuse that anyone else on the planet doesn't have (probably fewer).
So I'm starting by using up the things in my pantry & fridge/freezer, being mindful about cooking too much ("Hey kids, time to eat! . . . Kids?" Oh, yeah, they're not here . . .) and planning my menus/recipes around what I already have. I don't like this kind of structure -- I like NEW! even in my groceries, so wish me luck . . . but instead of running out to reward myself with an ice cream bar, I found on old (old, old) package of frozen rasperries & some Cool Whip & made my own little cold treat.
It's macro-economics, yes -- that "latte factor" that some think is nonsense, but I have to start back at the first rung since I've fallen off the ladder ;)
I'm in negotiations for a job -- A REAL JOB! -- with a salary, benefits -- and HOURS REQUIRED & Sick Days -- I've never had that kind of job -- my have all been the semester type or contract type -- this is a WHOLE OTHER COUNTRY for me -- but one I've been saying I want to travel to for some time. Now it's time to get on the plane, and I'm SCARED. I don't know if/when it will all go down -- I'd be doing the same work I do now, but with some certainty attached to it. We have looming deadlines as-is, and I haven't been getting much sleep.
The one thing that is most disconcerting for me is that I am confronting a lot of decisions (that I have little (no?) experience making and I don't have anyone to make the decision with me -- I have folks I trust for advice -- but at the end of the day, I have to do this by myself. And it's . . . well, I guess no more unsettling than anything else in the past year -- so Girl Power . . . right?
Hey, Michelle: If I get a contract signed, do I get to re-finance NOW????
I HATE CHASE I HATE CHASE I HATE CHASE I HATE CHASE
I am working on getting those on-time payments made. I am signing up to go paperless. I am opening, planning & organizing my bills . . . and when I tried to pay my credit card bill on line TODAY, JULY 14 (Due TODAY, July 14), I was given the option to accept the $15 "convenience fee" since it was after 4 pm EST (the call center is not in the Easten Time Zone, but the details seem to be arbitrary all the way around) OR -- I could excersize my CHOICE (my CHOICE?) to accept a $40 late fee because I was paying "late." When I called to ask if I was getting this all correct, my customer service rep, Elizabeth, thought that I might "get it" better if she explained it over & over (this was agitating me more & more). she said, "I'm waiting for you to make a CHOICE." She told me I could "take my chances," incur the late payment fee (this, it turns out, was not a matter of chance -- because it was 5 p.m. -- I was absolutely guaranteed a $40 fee), and then I could "call back later" and ask them to remove the fee. "But," I asked Elizabeth, "won't they remind me that I had a CHOICE? They would say, 'Miss Rubin' (I love that: "Miss Rubin"), you could have CHOSEN the $15 convenience fee. This $40 fee was YOUR CHOICE.
I'm about to hyperventilate at this point. All I can think of is "THIS is why the US CONGRESS actually passed legislation against these kinds of dirty tricks. Too bad for me they are only in force in 2010." Elizabeth DID take pains to say that this had been Chase's policy for the ENTIRE DURATION OF MY ACCOUNT -- as if it was MY fault for not researching this. And maybe it is. But these kinds of games of "hide the ball" are why I have so much financial trauma in the first place -- and desperately trying to get it right, I still get slammed with tricky fees. And I only charged a few items to try to increase my credit score because since I'd payed off all my unsecured debt, my score was reading that I wasn't "using" credit broadly.
So, what would YOU have done? I just want to cry. I feel so defeated.
And then I check my e-mail & get a payment confirmation that reads in part:
This service message was delivered to you as a Chase Credit Card customer to provide you with account updates and information about your card benefits.
The benefits? They omit the parts about the significant hazards to one's financial health from using their product without an advanced degree in finance and accounting. I guess I get to be as surprised as the smoker who ends up with lung cancer, eh? And I'm the one who watched the documentary Maxed Out in her spare time.
I withdrew $5k from my saving to buy a car with cash so that if/when I sold the Cooper (and the gamble was that I could sell it for more than $5,000) I could save the difference. The problem was, I HATED the car -- and I loooooooove my Cooper. I may try again, but this whole proposition is just outside my comfort zone.
I decided that mom needed a little "entertainment" and so I signed up for a Netflix subscription -- primarily because they have streaming movies you can watch instantly on the laptop -- in bed -- with BOGO Ben & Jerry's pints stockpiled from last week's Publix sale ;)
The first film I watched was a documentary called "Maxed Out." It was really, really, really scary & shocking. It highlights the predatory lending practices -- especially of credit cards companies -- and demonstrates the desperation of those caught in the web of exploitative policies of these companies -- they target the weak and are relentless.
If I needed a reminded to get tighter on my record-keeping, I just got it. BTW, one HUGE downside to relying on electronic banking TO THE EXCLUSION of keeping a simultaneous paper record is that when the program gets as "bug" (as "Mint.com has had for 6 weeks now), one might be utterly LOST about the state of one's affairs . . .
A bit of financial house-cleaning is in order, for sure.
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