actyourwage | Recent Entries

Is this an appropriate place to rant about college textbook prices? Particularly when the textbooks are (1) rented (2) ebooks (3) that I already have in dead-tree format?

That's $180 I have no choice but to put on the credit card I just paid $300 to. So much for paying off that card on payday next. (Which happens to be my birthday. Happy fucking birthday, Ellie.)

elliemurasaki

Between Christmas and not spending shit, amazing how the money piles up. I seem to have four hundred dollars to spare. That's more than a third of my current goal for the rainy-day fund (goal, $1000, current total, $0). That's also enough to pay off the lowest-balance credit card (current total, just shy of $400). But not both.

Advice?

ETA: Taking the advice to put $100 in savings and $300 on the card. Next paycheck, this sucker is going down.

jamethiel

Hi guys. It's been a while since you heard from me, huh? I thought I'd give you a quick update.

( Read more )

Current Mood: chipper

red_trillium

It's been awhile since I've checked into this comm and my life has taken a roller coaster ride since then.

Besides a couple deaths in 2011, I had a very very stressful year at work from about March to July/August. It isn't completely over (not that I ever expect to be stress-free at work) but it isn't at the level of impacting my mental and physical health like it was. This had led to a lot of impulse buying, often in the name of "pamper myself" in trying to find ways to de-stress. While I was supposed to be saving for a trip back to the US next year, I'd also slip and spend $ where I should have been saving it.

I got through that and started making in-roads to pay my cards down a bit in preparation of the trip, but knew I was no where near where I should have been. I figured we'd have to get a personal loan to pay for the majority of the trip and planned to use my bonus from work towards the trip.

In mid-November my wife got the shocking news that her area at work was being restructured & after 31 years, she was made redundant. They were only given a 2 week redeployment period so didn't have enough time to find another role in the company.

As hard as that has been on us both emotionally, it's allowed us to seriously look at our financial situation. We started looking at what bills we had, our household situation & finances & what she'd get paid out (the pay-out capped at 25 years).

We've paid our debts off. We traded our old car in for a slightly newer used one that won't need major repairs the old one was due for. We've set money aside for the trip next year. I am in the process of transferring the rest of the funds to our savings and may look at options for putting funds on a small deposit to earn a bit of interest.

It is odd. I am debt-free for the first time since I graduated from high school (and that was in the late 1980s). The circumstances are sad but it does feel liberating. And odd. That is an interesting (and slightly sad) comment on me and the mentality in the US (where I lived most of my life).

We are both serious about staying debt-free. We just can't afford it. Her health issues mean we won't be able to have the same income again. It won't be easy to survive on a much-reduced income but I think we can do it if we try. We will keep our cards; we need them to book flights, hotels and car rentals (even if we pay cash for the hotels & car they still insist on a card they can 'hold' money on for damages) but will reduce the limits after our holiday.

We've also used some of the funds to set up a booth at a local craft business. December brought a little bit of money in from that and we can build on it. Every little bit extra will help.

It's a new world, one I have no clue how to navigate in. We still have bills, the daily things we can't just get rid of like rent, electricity, the internet/phone bill and stuff like that. I'll keep a small payment to the savings and a token amount to our respective discretionary accounts so we aren't tempted to just blow the budget. I'm scared, worried my income won't be enough or I'll loose my job through a mistake or a restructure (constant at my company the past few years it seems). But it's made for an interesting start to 2012.

all_adream

I haven't had a credit card in years, since I crashed and burned with them long ago (partway due to their errors and then extra charges based on that and me refusing to pay since it was robbery. They ultimately sued me, the dogs). I learned my lesson, and have been doing fine without one for a long time now. I just applied for one in order to improve my credit scores since we plan to buy a house, and was accepted for one that has a low credit limit, was free the first year and costs a little after the first year ($19.00, which might be worth it for me, and I could possibly even switch to one without a charge by then). I just want to use it and pay it off every month to keep getting better credit scores.

The best way I can think of is to (obviously) only use it like a debit card, only using it for amounts I have in the bank right then, and then me writing a check for it immediately and putting the check in the back of my checkbook or whatever, deducting it from the register right away, and then when the time comes for the bill to be paid, I'll have a check put aside ready for it and it won't be a surprise or hardship. In theory, I could write down the figures if I planned to use it for a few things per month, and then write the check for that total *but still deduct the amounts from the register the minute I use the card*. This seems like it would work, as I have been using debit cards successfully and without screwing up for years--and I would resent paying interest for a crappy hundred-dollar purchase, so I won't fall for that--

Current Mood: awake

jamethiel

So. This comm has been a little quiet lately. A large part of this is because I lost the plot for a little while. I got out of nearly three grand's worth of credit card debt. Then I promptly got back into debt again. So this is going to be a post about what I have learned about getting out of debt and things I would do again, wouldn't do again and what didn't work for me.

( The first step. )

( Next: Try to stop. )
( Balance transfers )
( Pay yourself first )

( Minimum repayments are not your friend )

( Finally: don't short yourself )

( Some philosophical stuff about the use of credit. )

( A grab-bag of organisational stuff that I find helps. )

( Future plans )

So, how are you all doing?

Current Mood: chipper

elliemurasaki

Dead comm is dead. *pokes at it*

Hi, I'm Ellie, and I have problems with buying things on impulse. This may be related to my thousands of dollars in credit card debt. I have a full-time job which, after monthly expenses, gives me four hundred a month to pay down credit card debt with. Somehow the debt keeps not going down. Does anyone have suggestions for ways to convince myself I don't actually need any of the books and probably don't need any of the crafting supplies I buy?

all_adream

Frankly, this person made as much as anyone I know in Vermont who isn't a doctor or lawyer, but calls it "penury". Regardless, the simply-listed points are helpful, I think.

http://funny-about-money.com/2011/01/22/what-i-learned-during-the-year-of-penury/

Additionally, I made this blog into a feed, which you can find on my page, if you wish to follow it here.

Current Mood: awake

all_adream

http://www.myamortizationchart.com/

There seem to be lots of them, but this came up and appears to work well. I hope it helps people!

Current Mood: awake

vass

The only debt I carry is my HECS/HELP debt (Australian student loans.) Mine is much larger than the average of $15,000, because I was at uni for three years longer than the norm for my course, and had to repeat a lot of classes due to disability issues which still affect me.

Australian student loans are government-owned, and are adjusted according to the consumer price index, but otherwise do not attract interest. No repayments are needed until the debtor reaches the repayment threshold, currently $44,912. I make nothing like $44K. I really don't make a lot of money at all.

If you make a voluntary repayment of $500 or more, you get a bonus of 10% on it, i.e for $500 the government wipes out $550 of your debt.

I don't like being in debt, even debt as benign as HECS/HELP. It hurts my pride.

If I saved as much extra as I could manage per month (on top of my normal savings) in a 5% savings account, then repaid that year's savings, including interest, and kept doing that every year until the debt was gone, it would take me 20 years (not accounting for inflation, because I have no idea how to do that, and I can't find a website that will give me a guideline. Any suggestions? At any rate, I hope and trust that it's less than 5% p.a.)

If I saved the same amount per month in a 5% savings account, then didn't repay it until I reached the target amount (again, without accounting for inflation) and then repaid it in full, it would take me 15 years.

Obviously, I'm hoping that I'll earn a higher annual income over the next 15-20 years, and be able to reach my goals sooner and form some new ones. But I want to start now.

The other thing to consider is that if I reach the repayment threshold, it will take me 15 years to repay my debt if I pay the minimum every year. And I don't know when (if ever) I'll reach that minimum threshold.

I guess what I'm looking for is support to do the smart thing and put the money in savings so I can repay it faster, not repay it five years slower just because it's psychologically more satisfying to see the numbers go down instead of seeing them actually go up through indexing.

all_adream

I can suggest a couple of books that might be really helpful for folks interested in cleaning up their financial situation, and I figured some of us may be looking at the subject again now with the new year.

My all-time favourite right now is Feng Shui and Money, by Eric Shaffert. It's humane, intelligent, readable, enough and not too much woowoo to interest me as a spiritual sort of person, and enough self-examination and basic "move this stick there and clear out your clutter there" to be feng shui. There are a lot of copies for sale cheap online, and I have bought a few extra and given them as gifts.

A more mainstream, but also socially-conscious, one is One Year To An Organized Financial Life, by Regina Leeds. This gives a "think about this concept for the whole month", and then says things like "Week one", and presents a basic lesson and suggestions for actions etc.

The good part about each of them is that even doing a little bit, cleaning a little bit of crap or going through one pile of papers etc., helps and can get you started on more success. No effort, even browsing through it, goes to waste.

I hope these are of some use to someone! Good luck to us all!

Current Mood: awake

willidan

Is anyone a member of a warehouse club? Anybody have any pro or con stories to tell? I'm thinking of joining Sams, but haven't quite gotten to the point of justifying the $50 a year membership fee.

Edited 11/14: I'm convinced. I'll take some of my Christmas money and invest in a membership. Thanks!

Current Mood: curious

jamethiel

Hello, actyourwagers! I'm jame, your friendly mod. Sorry I've been so absent of late, my life kind of exploded a couple of months ago and it took me a while to adjust.

Just a quick modly note before I ramble on: it's great to see so many new people here! There are a couple of people who I haven't approved yet, largely because their journals have no userinfor/public posts, and haven't got an approved email so I can't send them a message. If I haven't approved your membership yet, could you please comment to this post stating you've read the rules (check the comm userinfo) and you'll abide by them? Thanks.

( Cut for rambling about the next steps on my financial journey )

Current Mood: chipper

sibyllevance

I really hope I'm not off topic here (this isn't about debt but it is about managing money) but I was wondering how many of you allocate a specific budget to an area of their life so they don't spend too much in that area.

Specifically, when it comes to books, DVDs, CDs, concerts, theatre tickets, seeing a movie at the cinema - do you set aside a specific amount of money at the beginning of each month or do you just go with the flow?

I have a friend who goes to the ATM the first day of the month, takes a hundred in cash, goes home with it and then hands her debit card to her parents for the rest of the month. But I'm trying to do this alone and libraries are not an option. I suppose you could say I'm looking for success stories in that area :) Thank you!

Not sure what tags to use, I apologize.

jamethiel

So, how did your tasks for finding out your debt go?

I've been thinking. For me, the process of getting myself into financial shape has been mostly one of organisation. Everything seems so insurmountable when you start.

It's one of those saccharine sweet truisms that the hardest part of a journey is the first step. But it's not the whole story, and I think I've worked out what's true for me:

The hardest part of a journey is the first step that you haven't taken before.

Take today, for instance. Yesterday I was rummaging through my filing cabinet when I came across some old receipts from last year for occupational therapy I received. Now, she'd mentioned at the time that I could claim from my health fund for this but it was something I'd never done before and I stuck them in my filing cabinet and forgot about it. I did briefly investigate claiming online but it didn't appear to list my provider as one that I could claim for.

So I hop onto the website today. Turns out that I can't claim online as the receipts are more than 2 months old. So I download a claim form and fill it out and stick it in the post today. I have no idea when it will be processed but that's $120 for five minute's work and 60c for a stamp. And I could have avoided the stamp if I'd gotten onto it at the time.

Another task that I swore I would see to is the transfer of my previous superannuation (401K, to Americans) funds to my new fund. There were multiple forms to fill out, I didn't remember what all of my funds were and I stuck it in the too hard basket. Then I received a note from Choice (Australian consumer testing, very good, the only magazine I subscribe to) about a site that finds super funds where they've lost contact with you.

So I went and filled out my details for a laugh. Turns out there's two super funds that have lost track of me. So I filled out the forms and then I got to the part which needed some numbers (business number and product identification number). I had no idea. But instead of giving up, I actually did something (for me) revolutionary.

I asked for help. I rang the fund and said "I want to transfer funds. I have my old fund details here, but I need to fill in these fields. What do I put in them?"

She told me and I filled it out. Then I went and got a pharmacist to certify some copies of my license and I posted it. So my super can now all be together and incur fewer fees.

The point is with both of these tasks is that at the time, I was so tired and stressed that I just couldn't cope with even thinking about starting the steps I needed to take to achieve them. Now, if it happens again, it'll be a doddle. If I ever have to claim something again, I absolutely know what I need to do. The known holds no terrors for me. It's the unknown that makes me panic and throw up mental blocks.

So: This week's challenge, should you choose to accept it.

START THE NEW FINANCIAL YEAR OFF RIGHT.
What administrivia do you have to do to get yourself in position for the new financial year? Do you need to file a tax return? Set up an automatic payment? Review your position. Break it down into small steps and if you don't know, ask!

Current Mood: chipper

jamethiel

Comment on this post with what you've achieved over the past week! Let us know what you're going to do over the next week!

( My achievement )

Current Location: on the train
Current Mood: chipper

jamethiel

Hi Guys! The next challenge is:

FIND OUT WHAT YOUR DEBT IS.

( Cut for your flists. Talking about my personal situation and then a segue )

jamethiel

Hey there! I've got a few people in the queue for comm membership who for various reasons haven't given me a statement of "I have read the comm rules and will abide by them" I understand that people have differing levels of time/access to the internet but if you've applied for membership and it hasn't been approved, if you could please just comment to this post with the necessary statement! Thank you.

In addition to that, I would like suggestions on possible posts or challenges or what to do with the community next. Anon commenting is turned on (will be turned off after this entry has been up for a day or two) so if you have any feedback or suggestions, that would be great!

Current Mood: chipper

jamethiel

(Yes, I do realise that's the most pretentious subject line ever. Moving on)

I am in an unusual position at the moment. I am two months away from getting out of credit card debt. Easily, with no extra repayments beyond what I'd already budgeted for. My other short-term goal, a yearly train ticket has been achieved. It's sitting in my wallet right now and I've got an automatic debit into an account that I can't touch that empties once a year so I've got next year's ticket set up.

What do I do now?.

I do have longterm goals. Of course I do. But the thing with longterm goals is that I can't concentrate on them too much or I go crazy. They're so far away! My short-term goals are finished, my medium term goals are now short-term goals and they're either achieved or a blink away from being achieved.

I do have another medium-term goal which I'm going to start--building a cushion of three months salary as savings. I think I can make progress on that but it's going to take a while. I could break that down into smaller goals and then look into places where I can shove the money so I can't touch it? Term deposit or the like? Does anyone have any suggestions?

I suppose I could start saving for a computer as I think my laptop is getting to the end of its life? I might also set aside a small amount of money for a celebration of some sort, only I've retrained my brain to such an extent that I don't really WANT anything. Maybe I should save for a good suit.

I don't know! Tell me what to do!

Current Mood: thoughtful

vass

I decided to let the diet Coke go until May. But I started the vegie hot dogs vs chickpeas thing right away. Last night I soaked a full kilo of dry chickpeas, and early this morning (yeah, I need to see my sleep psychologist) I put them in the crockpot. They are now fully cooked, and sitting on the kitchen bench in their cleaned-out takeaway containers, waiting to cool down so they can go in the fridge. Unfortunately, one cup of chickpeas has three times the carb content of one serve of two hot dogs. I will have to deal with that. They’re much lower in sodium, which would be great if I were monitoring my sodim intake.

I have visions of hoummus dancing in my head.

Current Mood: accomplished

Acting Your Wage

(no subject)

(no subject)

Getting back on the money management thing

New Financial Situation in a New Year

an idea for not messing up credit cards--

How to get out of credit card debt, Redux

(no subject)

article about "a year of penury"

An amortization chart people might find helpful

Student loan advice

Money-related new year's resolutions?

warehouse clubs

Hi there!

Do you have budgets?

Not at all difficult once you get down to it

End of the week celebration post come early

Next challenge:

Another mod post

"And Alexander wept, for there were no more worlds to conquer"

Update on the saving plan

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January 2012

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