Well it came right down to the wire, but it looks like we will make our $3,000 payment against debt for February!
I was just about to post that we were only going to be able to send around $1400 when a check came, via UPS Overnight AM delivery, for a huge 2-day job that Stewart did in September 2008. He told me about it at the end of January, and I have harangued and pestered this woman for a month about payment. She gave me a thousand promises and excuses and yesterday I left her a message that said "This is my last call on the matter. If we don't have payment by COB on Tuesday, I'll simply turn this account over to collects."
Voila - $1,650 in the mail today!
So, by the hair of our chinny-chin-chins, we made February's goal. Extra work had been very light this month, and not much is scheduled for March either so I'd be surprised if we make next month's, but I do have a few sales in the works on eBay and we'll keep our fingers crossed!
Showing posts with label $36K_Challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label $36K_Challenge. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
36K Challenge - January Wrap-up
As I reported a few days ago, we did make our monthly $3,000 savings goal for January. It's a tightrope walk figuring out how much information to share and how much to keep back, so forgive me as I feel my way through this.
Here's a basic breakdown of how we made our goal:
eBay sales from fixed inventory: netted around $500
eBay sales from consignment selling: netted around $300
eBay sales from selling a camera we decided we could do without: netted around $440
eBay sales from other items I finally got around to selling: netted around $130
Total eBay income: $1,370
Extra income from photography jobs: netted around $1,305
Additionally, Stewart got a bonus at work which brought us above our $3,000 savings goal for this month. As soon as I make our bank deposits, I'll send that check off towards our equity line debt and watch the balance fall even farther.
February is going to be hard. We don't have any more big-ticket items to sell on eBay, Stewart only has a few extra jobs lined up so far, and no surprise Holiday bonuses are likely to be headed our way. My plan is to work hard at selling those small items I have lying around that can be gotten rid of, to chase one account that never paid Stewart for a big job several months ago, and to work hard to keeping our spending in check. I don't know if we'll make our goal, but I'm darn sure going to do my best to make it happen. Either way, we're heading in the right direction.
Here's a basic breakdown of how we made our goal:
eBay sales from fixed inventory: netted around $500
eBay sales from consignment selling: netted around $300
eBay sales from selling a camera we decided we could do without: netted around $440
eBay sales from other items I finally got around to selling: netted around $130
Total eBay income: $1,370
Extra income from photography jobs: netted around $1,305
Additionally, Stewart got a bonus at work which brought us above our $3,000 savings goal for this month. As soon as I make our bank deposits, I'll send that check off towards our equity line debt and watch the balance fall even farther.
February is going to be hard. We don't have any more big-ticket items to sell on eBay, Stewart only has a few extra jobs lined up so far, and no surprise Holiday bonuses are likely to be headed our way. My plan is to work hard at selling those small items I have lying around that can be gotten rid of, to chase one account that never paid Stewart for a big job several months ago, and to work hard to keeping our spending in check. I don't know if we'll make our goal, but I'm darn sure going to do my best to make it happen. Either way, we're heading in the right direction.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
A super-easy way to earn a ton of money!
Ready? Follow along:
1) Get engaged
2) Buy a nice ring when you're both single with great incomes
3) Have a random person ask if you'd remember to insure your ring
4) Insure your ring (Cost: something like $100/year)
5) Get married
6) Have children
Now for the important step:
7) lose your ring. Really lose it.
8) Turn the house upside down
9) Twice
10) Faint
11) Have bad dreams
12) Remember about the insurance policy
13) Find the rare opportunity when both children are sleeping at the same time
14) Call the insurance company and explain your stupidity.
15) Fifteen seconds later, learn that a check for an absolutely enormous amount of money is on its way to you. I can't believe how amazing my company was and how great they were to me. I was totally honest about losing the ring and evidently "Stupidity" is covered on our policy. They reimbursed even more than what we'd paid for the ring since they reimburse for what it would cost today.
The thing is, the amount of money we spent for a ring when we were childless and had two incomes is way more than I could ever justify spending now. So we're going to easily make our January savings goal. February's, too.
My plan is to put the whole check ($8,700.00) towards our equity line debt. I'm giving myself $3,700 to use for a ring whenever I feel like shopping for one. I plan to look at some of the great estate sales to find a "pre-owned" set - thusly avoiding the "blood diamond" issue and also increasing my buying power.
But for now I'm just sinking it all towards our debt and plowing forward as if it hadn't happened. We'll still aim to make January and February the old fashioned, non-stupid way. And when people think I'm an unwed mother, well then I'll just fit in with my neighborhood all the better. :)
1) Get engaged
2) Buy a nice ring when you're both single with great incomes
3) Have a random person ask if you'd remember to insure your ring
4) Insure your ring (Cost: something like $100/year)
5) Get married
6) Have children
Now for the important step:
7) lose your ring. Really lose it.
8) Turn the house upside down
9) Twice
10) Faint
11) Have bad dreams
12) Remember about the insurance policy
13) Find the rare opportunity when both children are sleeping at the same time
14) Call the insurance company and explain your stupidity.
15) Fifteen seconds later, learn that a check for an absolutely enormous amount of money is on its way to you. I can't believe how amazing my company was and how great they were to me. I was totally honest about losing the ring and evidently "Stupidity" is covered on our policy. They reimbursed even more than what we'd paid for the ring since they reimburse for what it would cost today.
The thing is, the amount of money we spent for a ring when we were childless and had two incomes is way more than I could ever justify spending now. So we're going to easily make our January savings goal. February's, too.
My plan is to put the whole check ($8,700.00) towards our equity line debt. I'm giving myself $3,700 to use for a ring whenever I feel like shopping for one. I plan to look at some of the great estate sales to find a "pre-owned" set - thusly avoiding the "blood diamond" issue and also increasing my buying power.
But for now I'm just sinking it all towards our debt and plowing forward as if it hadn't happened. We'll still aim to make January and February the old fashioned, non-stupid way. And when people think I'm an unwed mother, well then I'll just fit in with my neighborhood all the better. :)
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Challenge notes
So far so good on our big 36K challenge. Stewart reports at least three times he would have bought himself a little something and passed, and we're both feeling proud of that. We're not going to be able to keep a super-strict view on how each month went; with the way our extra income works, he might work an extra job this month and not get the check for another 6 weeks. So we'll have to play it a little loose and just go by what we actually have in-hand each month.
But we know that keeping an eye on our spending, and working to get extra income, will pay off. This week I've already listed four big eBay items that I've been putting off, and have spread the word that I'm willing to babysit a bit for friend's kids. Stewart's working on some big photography jobs, and doing his part by keeping spending in-check and supporting me when I go out "hunting" at CVS or the grocery store.
How are you guys doing on your New Year's Resolutions?
But we know that keeping an eye on our spending, and working to get extra income, will pay off. This week I've already listed four big eBay items that I've been putting off, and have spread the word that I'm willing to babysit a bit for friend's kids. Stewart's working on some big photography jobs, and doing his part by keeping spending in-check and supporting me when I go out "hunting" at CVS or the grocery store.
How are you guys doing on your New Year's Resolutions?
Friday, January 2, 2009
Frugal report: January 2
Today was great for taking advantage of our city and neighborhood.
First we walked down to the National Building Museum to meet an old friend of mine and her 3 year-old. The boys hit it off wonderfully and really clicked. My friend and I haven't seen each other in 10 years but it was really like no time had passed at all. Jack charmed everyone he came in contact with.
I packed lunches to bring, but I did buy some special groceries for the event so it wasn't totally cost-free.
Transportation costs: none (walked both ways)
Food costs: $8 (for 3 toddlers and 2 adults)
Entertainment costs: none (museum is free)
In other news...
My good friend on the street works part-time as a yoga instructor and occasionally needs babysitters in the afternoons and evenings for her daughter Sophia, who happens to be Nate's best friend. In in the spirit of our challenge, I mentioned that my doors are officially open for babysitting jobs.
She called today and I babysat Sophia for just over an hour this afternoon. She and Nate played and had a great time, and I added $15 to our income.
So much for city life being so expensive, huh?
First we walked down to the National Building Museum to meet an old friend of mine and her 3 year-old. The boys hit it off wonderfully and really clicked. My friend and I haven't seen each other in 10 years but it was really like no time had passed at all. Jack charmed everyone he came in contact with.
I packed lunches to bring, but I did buy some special groceries for the event so it wasn't totally cost-free.
Transportation costs: none (walked both ways)
Food costs: $8 (for 3 toddlers and 2 adults)
Entertainment costs: none (museum is free)
In other news...
My good friend on the street works part-time as a yoga instructor and occasionally needs babysitters in the afternoons and evenings for her daughter Sophia, who happens to be Nate's best friend. In in the spirit of our challenge, I mentioned that my doors are officially open for babysitting jobs.
She called today and I babysat Sophia for just over an hour this afternoon. She and Nate played and had a great time, and I added $15 to our income.
So much for city life being so expensive, huh?
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Challenge notes
For January 1st-
We're willing to: work harder and longer to earn extra money
We're not willing to: compromise mental or physical health chasing a dollar. If we need to cut back our hours, we will.
Today's frugality included two trips to pick up items I got for free on Freecycle - the first was for some soft lunchbags for Nate and Stewart, and the second was for some compost for the garden. It wasn't quite compost, but it was well on it's way; I'll do some more work on it and by this spring it should be ready to help enhance my container garden.
One of my frugal plans is to expand the garden this year to provide early and late season veggies, and my goal is to do it by having to purchase as little as possible. I'll try to grow my own seedling this year instead of buying them, and condition the soil I've already purchased with free compost. I'm also hoping to use Freecyle and yard sales to find a bunch of plastic window boxes; I have a scheme in mind for expanding the footprint of the garden this year! More to come on that.
Today I also took a trip to Harris Teeter to take advantage of Day 1 of their Triple Coupon days, and to pick up gallons of organic milk for Jack. I used to spend $4.39 for a half gallon of organic milk at Giant; I finally found Harris Teeters gallons for $5.60! That's a savings of $3.18 a gallon. I buy 6 at a time, take them home, pour a few cups out of each gallon (so they don't expand and crack), and throw them in our basement freezer. They defrost perfectly and save us a fortune.
So that's my frugal work for today: Freecycle and Harris Teeter gallons of organic milk. How was your day?
We're willing to: work harder and longer to earn extra money
We're not willing to: compromise mental or physical health chasing a dollar. If we need to cut back our hours, we will.
Today's frugality included two trips to pick up items I got for free on Freecycle - the first was for some soft lunchbags for Nate and Stewart, and the second was for some compost for the garden. It wasn't quite compost, but it was well on it's way; I'll do some more work on it and by this spring it should be ready to help enhance my container garden.
One of my frugal plans is to expand the garden this year to provide early and late season veggies, and my goal is to do it by having to purchase as little as possible. I'll try to grow my own seedling this year instead of buying them, and condition the soil I've already purchased with free compost. I'm also hoping to use Freecyle and yard sales to find a bunch of plastic window boxes; I have a scheme in mind for expanding the footprint of the garden this year! More to come on that.
Today I also took a trip to Harris Teeter to take advantage of Day 1 of their Triple Coupon days, and to pick up gallons of organic milk for Jack. I used to spend $4.39 for a half gallon of organic milk at Giant; I finally found Harris Teeters gallons for $5.60! That's a savings of $3.18 a gallon. I buy 6 at a time, take them home, pour a few cups out of each gallon (so they don't expand and crack), and throw them in our basement freezer. They defrost perfectly and save us a fortune.
So that's my frugal work for today: Freecycle and Harris Teeter gallons of organic milk. How was your day?
Our big 2009 challenge
In 2005, we spent a small fortune to repair some structural problems in our house and finish our basement, installing a full bathroom while we were at it. That same year, we ended up with no maternity coverage while I was pregnant with Nate and had to spend another small fortune to get COBRA coverage.
We put all of that money on our home equity line, and we're doing fine slowly paying it down. We've gone from about 70K in debt to about 58K. It's our only debt, but we'd sure like to see it gone.
Our big challenge for 2009 is to try to increase the rate we're paying it down dramatically to a tune of $3,000 per month. This will mean reducing what we spend (duh) and chasing extra income.
Right now, Stewart works full-time in IT, and works as a professional photographer at night. He'll start marketing his photography more intensely, and also try to pick up some extra computer work for people who need some help with their home computers.
I'll have to start back with eBay, something I've been avoiding for a few months. Oh well, I can do anything for a year, right?
We'll be using Mint.com to track every dollar we spend, and we'll do our darndest to put every single dollar on our credit card (which puts 2% of purchases into the kids college funds). Since we pay it off each month, we get the benefit of the contribution to the college fund, and we get an easy way to track and catagorize our purchases.
I hope to blog every day or two about our progress, about the little things we're doing each day to keep us on track. I'll also talk about what's going on in our minds; why we're making some compromises and not others. And I'll be showing off the great deals I'm getting at CVS, Harris Teeter, Target, and Giant Food!
Is anyone else having a big yearly challenge? What are your goals for this year?
We put all of that money on our home equity line, and we're doing fine slowly paying it down. We've gone from about 70K in debt to about 58K. It's our only debt, but we'd sure like to see it gone.
Our big challenge for 2009 is to try to increase the rate we're paying it down dramatically to a tune of $3,000 per month. This will mean reducing what we spend (duh) and chasing extra income.
Right now, Stewart works full-time in IT, and works as a professional photographer at night. He'll start marketing his photography more intensely, and also try to pick up some extra computer work for people who need some help with their home computers.
I'll have to start back with eBay, something I've been avoiding for a few months. Oh well, I can do anything for a year, right?
We'll be using Mint.com to track every dollar we spend, and we'll do our darndest to put every single dollar on our credit card (which puts 2% of purchases into the kids college funds). Since we pay it off each month, we get the benefit of the contribution to the college fund, and we get an easy way to track and catagorize our purchases.
I hope to blog every day or two about our progress, about the little things we're doing each day to keep us on track. I'll also talk about what's going on in our minds; why we're making some compromises and not others. And I'll be showing off the great deals I'm getting at CVS, Harris Teeter, Target, and Giant Food!
Is anyone else having a big yearly challenge? What are your goals for this year?
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