Some in, some out..

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!

Easing out the web hosting process

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.

Mya Moola loves extra moola

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.

Getting the financial aid right

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.

November recap & progress update

Well, this month felt pretty stagnant. Even though it was a three-paycheck-month, that largely went to establishing my Emergency Fund. So I take back that “stagnant” because that was definitely a great move. Having that $1k set aside for emergencies makes me feel so much better.

Here’s a look at my updated progress bars:

A few notes:

• Emergency Fund: Set this up this month, and even managed to earn $2.80 in interest on it! Not too shabby. Feels great to have this.
• 401k: This increased by $884.84 – mostly due to my now-defunct deduction increase to 10%. I did that for a couple pay periods and it felt great, but last week I decided to drop my contributions back down to 4% (the max for the company match) to focus on debt reduction. I also reduced the goal to $6,000 (from $10,000) since I’m now only counting the vested portion of my 401k.
• Credit Card Debt: Man, this is the category that I’m most anxious about, and is going the slowest it feels. The holiday season has thrown a wrench in my plans, as I’ve been using “surplus” money for gifts and travel. *sigh* In any case, tis the season is over soon, and I can get back on track. Still, since I’ve started blogging, I’ve reduced my debt by over $1,000, can’t be too mad at that!
• Extra Income: This has been a good month for extra income. Didn’t sell anything on Ebay but I did take some clothes to the local secondhand store when I moved, and they paid me about $48. In addition, I signed up with PayPerPost this month, and I’ve made some good headway there.

Goals for December are to escape the holiday at least somewhat unscathed! My big problem is having to go to stores to buy folks’ gifts, because I’m not to be trusted in a mall (as evidenced by my little spree the other day). So my focus is to get in and get out, without spending all willy-nilly.

Health care for all in ‘08!

I got into a big political discussion with a good friend of mine the other day, discussing which presidential candidates we favor (or abhor), and which are the hot button issues for each of us going into next year. I feel pretty strongly about social security, and both of us found we feel really strongly about health care being made available to everyone. Honestly, it’s really sad and nearly unbelievable to me how many people in this country are uninsured. You look at Europe where health care is largely made available to all, and it’s so puzzling that a country as rich and advanced as ours wouldn’t have figured out a solution yet.

Paid Twice has been talking a lot about health coverage, as her husband’s company has undergone some changes. I rarely go to the doctor but I’m really, really lucky to have excellent coverage from my company. I honest never really thought health care was a big deal (the foolishness of youth) until my junior year of college. I had a friend, not a student, whose index finger inexplicably started swelling up. And I mean HUGE. It was so swollen and hurt to even touch it, but he had no health insurance, and just kept saying that he couldn’t afford to go to the doctor. That really hit home to me.. it just seemed so sad.

I have a lot of friends in Florida (my home state) that I worry about, because they work in the nightclub/hospitality industry, and pretty much none of them have health coverage. Most of them are close to my age, some a little older, but none of them seem to grasp how important it is to have coverage of some sort. It’s a hard thing to fathom I guess when you’re making all that cash, but if you get hurt, watch how quickly that dries up! One of my friends broke her leg and was out of work for 2 months, and she was just fortunate enough to have a bit of money saved and generous parents.

I’ve never had to shop for personal, individual health insurance, but a friend of mine was looking a few months back, and was kind of overwhelmed at all of the options and pricing she had to do. I wish I’d known then about places like People’s Health Insurance, which offers consolidated info and rate quotes for affordable short term health insurance. That’s my only friend that’s shown any concern with planning for her health, outside of my friends who have coverage through their employers I mean. I really wish there were a way I could convince my “nightclub friends” how important it is for them to make these provisions.

Until then, I’ll definitely be looking for candidates who support health care for all in ‘08!