Guys! Thanks so much for all of the well wishes. Things are indeed on the upswing already “Trouble don’t last always..”

I’m headed out of town today, I’ll be gone for a week or so. I promise not to spend unduly and I promise to come back ready to put in the (PF) work.

Thanks again.

Sorry all, anyone who may actually still be reading. I’ve had some relationship stuff going on that is taxing all of my energy..

Ok, so I’ve totally SLACKED on updating, but in good news, yesterday was an awesomely groundbreaking day for me. Drumroll please… I paid off my credit card with the highest interest rate! And when I say high, I mean HIGH. As in, over the past year or so, they’ve jacked it up to 30.24%. So yeah, I sent in a payment of $579.73, and that bad boy now happily sits at $0.

I didn’t stop there though, I also put $545.27 toward my card with the next highest interest rate, and its balance is now under half of its limit. Finally, I paid off my Target bill through my regular monthly payment, so that’s also at $0.

Total snowballed: $1,144.36

A great day indeed!

So, to recap, remember this atrocious list?

Card 1 – 30.24%
Card 2 – 29.99%
Card 3 – 23.99%
Card 4 – 23.15%
Card 5 – 22.80%
Card 6 – 21.21%
Card 7 – 20.24%
Card 8 – 18.24%
Card 9 – 18.00%
Card 10 – 14.99%
Card 11 – 13.90%
Card 12 – 9.90%

Slow-going, but going!

Also, my December spending was so bad, that I’m probably just going to wait until Feb. 1 to update my progress bars, to get a fresh start on where I actually am.

Not much in the way of progress, though well under my spending limits at least. I actually bought a new suitcase off of Ebay out of my allowance, and refused to let myself feel bad about it since it’s coming from money I’ve allotted to spend. If I’ve spent less on entertainment, seems fair that I should be able to buy that.

In other news, The Boy paid me back some money he owed me (we split certain Christmas presents and transportation costs) and so I was able to put a big chunk towards my American Express. Of course, this is just cleaning up the MESS I made over the holidays, so I don’t really consider it progress. I just worked up my budget for this coming paycheck, however, and it looks like I’ll be able to put a big hunk of money towards one of my cards.

I also have about $400 in random money in checks in my purse that I’ll be depositing today.

Getting back on track slowly but surely..

Guess who’s bizzack?! Guess who also made a mess of her finances during the holiday season. Seriously, a disaster. I was doing good for a bit, but my problem is, I’m simply not mentally strong enough to be in malls yet. I have serious impulse control issues, I should have done all my Christmas shopping from the safety of my computer. So, alas, I have nothing productive to report, outside of minimum payments towards credit cards, and I did some serious damage to “spare cash.” Serious as in all gone. *sigh*

What can you do but get back on the horse, right? Redoubling the efforts. I’m actually planning (hoping lol) to be a much better person overall in 2008, and my personal finance goals are right at the top of the list. I literally didn’t read any blogs while I was gone, so I’m still catching up on everyone else’s feeds and goals for the new year.

My most immediate goal is to pay off all of my credit cards. Period. Yes, I need a larger Emergency Fund (currently only $1,000). Yes, I need more retirement savings. Yes, I need to pay off my car. Yes, I need to pay off my student loan. But the credit cards MUST GO.

I had about $42 in my PayPal account from PayPerPost payouts, just put in for that to be transferred to my BoFA account, and I’ll pay that out on a card as soon as it hits.

I can do this, I know I can. And I will.

+++ In small good news, procrastinating on joining the gym paid off, as they’re waiving the enrollment fee for the entire month of January! Going to join today, and happy about saving that $50.

I forgot to mention, but if it’s not already obvious, I’m out of town for the holidays! Not doing much computer-ing at all. I’ll be back soon with goals and updates for the new year. Cheers!

A little frustrated with Comcast. When I moved out of my old apartment, I called to return my equipment and cancel service, and was told that I’d be owed a refund of $62. Shortly after, I got an e-bill from them via Bank of America saying I owed my full month’s rate of roughly $150 (not sure why it was this high even, it used to be around $120). Anyway, I just figured I owed one last month, and then I’d be getting a pro-rated refund.

I get home yesterday to find a bill from Comcast saying please don’t pay ANYTHING, and that they owed me $62. Grrrr, so now, I’m going to have to call and work it out with them so I get my refund of about $210. But of course something like this would happen to me over the holidays, but of course. On the bright side, that’s money I can’t spend during the holidays, and I can apply it to debt when it finally comes in.

Speaking of spending money, I took back those clothes I bought a few weeks ago, but I succumbed again this week. I don’t entirely feel bad because I bought a coat and a couple sweaters to get me through next week when I’ll be up north for Christmas. It’s FREEZING where I’m going, and let’s just say I consider 60 degrees to be cold.

And I’ve yet to do much, if any, Christmas shopping. I know, I’m the worst! The plan is to go today and not completely break the bank. Yay for the holidays!

Outside of this PF blog, I’ve had a personal blog for going on 5 years now. I started at one of the popular diary-journal-ish type sites, but quickly moved on to my own domain and hosting. At the time I remember looking at site after site after site of web hosts, trying to determine which package I needed by offerings, cost, etc. I literally was a bit overwhelmed at all the choices and options, it was a lot for a newbie like me, which I was at the time. In the end, I ended up just going with a “real life” friend of me who offers some hosting packages, which was best for me because I was able to pepper him questions and requests. At some point, this blog could get moved to a domain, in which case I’d be shopping around again.

If you’re in the market for a new host, http://www.webhostingchoice.com seems like a pretty good resource. It lets you plug in certain requirements, things you’re looking for in a web host, i.e. bandwith, storage space, and price range. Then they give you a list of places where you can get hosting, from big companies to smaller resellers. Seems like a pretty handy thing to have around the next time I’m shopping for a new home on the web.

Happy Tuesday folks. I got a nice surprise in the mail yesterday in the form of a $93.16 check from my old apartment company, for a deposit refund. Though, I could swear I didn’t PAY a refund. Unless my parking fee included a deposit for the clicker or something. In any case, unexpected cash is always welcome!

I also have a $62.29 refund coming my way from Comcast, though I also have one more payment scheduled to go out to them. And I’ve got about $65 to be paid out from PPP. I’m also following in Dimple’s footsteps, and skipping my December car payment. My highest rate credit card is a whole 23 percentage points higher on the interest rate, so I think my $277 monthly car payment is better served there. Altogether, I hope to put all this toward the card with the highest rate, which will very nearly pay it off, it’s current balance is $590-ish.

Of course, this is all provided I can escape the holiday season unscathed. Though if it comes down to it, I’d rather spend the cash than charge another single thing.

Man, I am tired people, let me tell you. I’ve been staying up entirely too late this week, and I’m feeling it. Can’t wait until tomorrow after work when I can just veg out for a few days. There’s nothing better than coming after work on a Friday, and not leaving again until Monday morning. Though I think I made a few social promises, so I may have to venture out just a bit.

Last night I was up late on aim, talking to my younger cousin who is a sophomore in college. She currently goes to a big university up north, but recently put in an application to transfer to my alma mater (woot woot!). She’s a little worried, not only because they’re pretty selective, but because they are also really, really expensive, and rarely offer financial aid. I was fortunate enough to get a full scholarship from them, or otherwise I would have had to go elsewhere!

So right now she’s waiting to hear back about acceptance, and also trying to figure out how she would afford it for her remaining 2.5 years of school. I’m really proud of her too because she’s doing it all on her own. Her mom helped her when she was in high school, but I think little cuz kind of feels like she should do it herself since it’s her second-go-round. As for me? I couldn’t even tell you what a FAFSA looks like, as my mother always, always did them for me. I know my mom used some websites that walk you through it, so I referred my cousin to those. My big thing is for her to only borrow what she actually needs, and not overdo it to the point where she’s getting these huge refunds that she will waste away and have to pay back later.

I referred her to a few instructional sites since the FAFSA is where it all begins. And sidenote, I always thought that word was hilarious to say! FAFSA! Not FASA, but FAFSA! You have to get the name right. It’s one of those words (well it’s not really a word but you know what I mean) where if you say it enough times, it starts to sound really, really odd. FAFSA! FAFSA! FAFSA!

Haha, I’m clearly delirious from exhaustion.