Old House Walk Thru

Today was the walking thru of my old house with the Property Management Company to assess the wear and tear as well as what will be taken off my deposit.

We spent several days cleaning and polishing but short of hiring a professional cleaning service, we did the best we can.

They did find a few things that are in need of repair but I’m at a point where I cannot care. We’ve lived there for 4.5 years and as I have previously posted I HATE HOME MAINTENANCE.

My deposit was one month rent plus cat deposit ($1500 total), so I dont expect to get everything back, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

 

 

Next Step- back to YNAB

As I’ve posted previously, I use Quicken Online to keep track of my finances. So far, it has been very helpful in that I can see a timeline of my income and expenses.

But, there is one part of it that makes me uncomfortable and its not necessarily with the program itself, it is how my finances are viewed on a paycheck to paycheck basis and I DETEST having my finances viewed that way. So, it’s a problem of how I want to budget and not how I’m budgeting.

On YNAB, I could look at my overall monthly, sometimes yearly budget and I felt more in control. Eventually I need to get back on YNAB even if I dont have the one month buffer. Something has got to give.

When I look at my budget from paycheck to paycheck, I see too many shortfalls and not enough surpluses and I KNOW they are there.

So, the next step is to get back on YNAB.

 

Getting back on track

We finally made it!

We moved into our new apartment on Saturday and I have taken this whole week off work so I can clean out the old house and get our new place together.

The move was somewhat painless as it only took two trips in the U.Haul but everything was out within 5 hours. It’s so nice to have teenage nephews that are willing to help!

Anyway, I’m happier than I thought I would be about our new place. It’s so beautiful and secure. We have an internal security system and I havent slept this well in months!

As for the financial aspect, it’s been relativity painless which is what I’ve been counting on but now the plan to get my finances back on track really begins.

But, I’m happy with the decision to move and my head is alot clearer.

Next up, goals to get back on track.

 

Giving to friends

The big move is less than two weeks away and I am so excited about it! It means a whole new situation for us and we’ll finally be able to get out of this deep hole that we are in.

The packing/purging has been a steady thing each weekend and the house is really close to being in good shape but there’s only so much I can do. Afterall, we still need to live here and it’s not too fun looking for things in boxes when you’re in a hurry!

One part of the purging that I thought was cut and dry was what I was going to donate to Goodwill and what I need to give away to friends and family.

For instance, Christopher has clothes that he has outgrown but I hate to donate them when I have a friend with a son three years younger.  I know how expensive it is to buy children’s clothes and everytime I start to take the outgrown clothes to be donated, I think of her and her child.

But, it can get pretty expensive to mail these items and especially right now as I’m in a cash crunch. Also, I have no intention of asking her to pay for the shipping.

So, I’ve decided to just hold onto them until after the move and slowly mail a package here as I can.

I know that she would appreciate the clothes and I want them to go to someone that will use them.

 

Holding my breath- 10 days and counting

In 10 days I will be able exhale a sigh of relief!

In 10 days my forward flowing cash flow problem will come to an end!

In 10 days I get paid and I can catch my breath!

In 10 days I will be able to fully throw myself into this move by buying the rest of the boxes that we’ll need.

In 10 days I will be able to buy Christopher his Halloween costume.

In 10 days I will be able to buy a few extra groceries that I havent been able to the past 3 months.

In 10 days my problems wont be over but they wont be as intense.

In 10 days….

 

Amost out of the woods- October

I’m so glad that tomorrow is October! I wasnt sure if I would make it and we’re not out of the woods yet but October is more promising month than the past few have been.

In October:

• I get paid 3x- whereas I only budget for 2x(the extra paycheck will finally bring me out of this financial hole that I’m in- at least as far as my checking account)
• We move to our new apartment- HOORAY!
• I finally get to turn off the A/C (actually that was today but I’ll count it as October)- Another HOORAY because my electricity will drop to a more manageable amount($200 because of the heat is NOT normal)
• Christopher’s allergies/asthma gets better because the air isnt so hard on him.

But, it wont be until we finally move and I’m able to calm our expenses down will I see the full affect but I’ll take anything I can get!

 

September Randomness

Alot has been going on during the month of September:

* I gave my 45 day notice to vacate my house (I was only required to give 30 days but I am anxious to move!)
* I turned 38 on September 22nd!
* I finally broke down and got my haircut(shorter than usual so it would take longer to grow out- hee hee)
* We have started packing as well as purging and boy does it feel good and bare in the house!
* The world did not end when I was not able to pay the minimums on two of my credit cards. (more on this later)
* I finished Knitting my 3rd Prayer shawl.

There are alot of baby steps going on in our lives but we are managing to keep our chins up and know that we’ll get through this and come out stronger in the end.

 

KUWPFB(Keeping Up With Personal Finance Bloggers)

There has been a post that has been on my “drafts” for some time now but I’ve only recently wanted to finish it.

It’s about KUWPFB(Keeping Up With Personal Finance Bloggers).

When I first started this blog, I was so excited to find a community of people that were so deeply interested in their personal finances. To read about their successes and failures was a daily inspiration. I learned and am still learning so much.

But, then it occurred to me that there is a danger to personal finance writing. The danger of keeping with other other Personal Finance Bloggers. It is very similar to KUWJ (Keeping Up With the Jones’), but instead of competing with your neighbors and family, you must keep up with other bloggers!

It became and is still for me, very overwhelming to not become envious when I read about someone who is debt free, has $50k in the bank, a fabulous job and the like, when I’m struggling to keep the lights on and put food on the table.

Dont get me wrong, I’m also happy for those people because they worked very hard to get where they are but it can mess with your confidence.

But, I also realize that we are all in different places in our lives and everything happens for a reason, so I continue to plug on and chronicle my successes as well as my failures because afterall, this blog is a chronicle of MY journey, not theirs.

In the end, I know that I will continue to strive to have financial peace because of my desire to KUWPFB if nothing else, so at least it keeps my on my toes!

And who knows, perhaps someone out there will learn something from my story!

 

Lessons on what I can control

Our move is less than two months away and the cleaning/purging is still going on but everytime I begin, I’m reminded of an aunt of mine.

When I was younger, we (my sister and brother included) would stay for a day or so with my dad’s sister. It was never more than two nights because her and my uncle have two kids of their own, so the house could get pretty noisy.

Anyway, my aunt and uncle had this really big house on the hill and what struck me the most was how clean it was! My aunt didnt work and I often wondered how they paid for such a huge house and still were able to send their kids to private schools, take yearly trips to Hawaii and yet their cabinets were pretty empty.

Well, one day my aunt decided to confide in me that they were moving because they couldnt afford their house. She told me that the house payment was $2k and they only brought in $3k/month. After the house payment was made, that didnt leave them very much for anything else.

In order to make up for the lack of $, she made it her goal to make sure her house  was spotless because it was something she could control. I still think about that when I am low on $.

I’m not sure of their financial position today because I havent talked to her in a while, but I could pretty much count on the fact that if I went to her house, it will still be spotless.

There are a thousand lessons in what I’ve just posted but the only one that sticks out is to try to work on the things you can control and let the rest go. Right now, I can control the cleanliness of my house/car/person but I cannot control how my finances are spiralling out of control.

But, I have hope that I will be able to work on those things soon.

 

September Musings

Now that August is closing, I am looking forward to September with optimism but there are a few glitches in the horizon.

Until I move to our new place and am able to get our finances to a steady place, it’s going to be touch and go. Only two more months to go!

For starters, the credit card that spiralled out of control in July is going for the jugular with me. I had attempted to get the late fee adjusted ($39) and not only did they refuse, they increased my minimum payment to $506.00!!! Times have changed and the credit cards are no longer even trying to play nice with their customers. Oh well!

But, I dont have the $ for that payment so I’ve decided to stop beating myself up and will only be making a $150 payment. Once I get on my feet, I will catch up but the damage is done and there is not much else they can do to me. YOU CANNOT GET BLOOD FROM A TURNIP!!!!

My other 3 cards will be receiving their minimum payment one day before their due date and all other bills will be paid on time and in full. At least I can do that and I’m glad to be able to say that I can.

My registration for my new car is due in September and thankfully I will receive a credit for the Jeep’s partial year but it will still be around $200.00. I should be able to fit that in somewhere.

All in all, September should be another interesting month but there is so much hope on the horizon and I’m grateful for all that I have.