Archive results for “July 2006f 2006”

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July Credit Card Debt & Finance Charge Update

I may have been apprehensive to move around my debt to secure lower interest rates, but now that I see the numbers – I believe I made the right decision. My mouth just about dropped when I saw that my finance charges are just a little over $100. Going from $400 just a few months ago to $100 is just amazing.

Overall, I am very pleased with July

Posted by Tricia on July 31, 2006 at 12:20 PM in Debt Updates | 5 Comments »
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The Carnival of Personal Finance is Up!

The carnival of Personal Finance is up at All Financial Matters.Â Lots of articles in a neat table form.Â Make sure you check it out!

Thank JLP for hosting this week

Posted by Tricia on July 31, 2006 at 8:28 AM in Carnivals/Festivals | Comment First »
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Living Life a Little Bit

With the death of my friend, it was a reminder that we need to live life a little bit. We have been spending very little money since deciding to pay off our debt, so I made a decision this weekend. Every member of the family would get one thing that they really wanted.

My son chose to get a Thomas the Tank Engine Train Set. He’s wanted one for quite a while, but the price was always pretty high for what you get. Luck have it – it was almost 1/2 off on clearance at Walmart ($17.00) so that was what he wanted and received.

My husband really wanted a game for our Playstation 2 called Guitar Hero. With the game, you have a controller that is a guitar and you use it to play various songs (most are well-known rock/metal tunes). We played it so much yesterday that my fingers hurt and I can see us playing it too much. Total cost was $69.00.

What I wanted was bass guitar. I have had them before, but I have sold them when money was tight. The last time I have physically touched a bass was in 2002 and I really missed playing. Getting one meant that we had to pay $279.00 for a cheap (but very good) starter set which includes the guitar and amp. While looking, I asked my husband what he thought since it was the biggest purchase of them all. All he wanted me to do was promise that I will not sell it.

We did end up spending quite a bit of money on things that we really didn’t need. We could live without the things that we purchased and I do feel a little bit of buyer’s remorse. In my mind the money should have gone towards our debt. But the main thing with our purchases is that they are useful and entertaining and they were things we really wanted. I believe they will more than pay for themselves in entertainment value in a short period of time.

Another big thing…

Everything was paid with cash!

Before starting this journey, we put purchases like this on our credit cards. Not anymore. It felt so good to not have to bring out my credit card. I felt like I had control of our money and paying with cash felt very darn good.

Posted by Tricia on July 30, 2006 at 8:31 PM in Life Experiences, Spending Money | 5 Comments »
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And Then Life Throws You A Curveball

I tried going to sleep, but I can’t. I found out about an hour after my last post that a friend of mine has passed away. Life sure does hit you hard sometimes.

I don’t know if I’ll feel much like posting this weekend. All I feel like doing right now is hugging my husband and son for the next few days and not letting go.

I’m going to share with you a few lyrics of a song sung by Gary Allan. He recorded this song shortly after his wife committed suicide. Gary, in my opinion, has one of the most emotional voices out there today and I feel this song shows that. While the song overall may be somber, if you listen closely you can hear the hope because life overall is beautiful (click on the name of the song to listen to it).

“…no life ain’t always beautiful
tears will fall sometimes
life ain’t always beautiful
but it’s a beautiful ride….”

- Gary Allan, “Life Ain’t Always Beautiful”

Posted by Tricia on July 29, 2006 at 5:21 AM in Life Experiences | 8 Comments »
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An Ode to Pfblogs.org

I may not be the best poet in the world, but I have something to say and I thought I would try some poetry…

An Ode to Pfblogs.org

You carry my blog’s feed,
update it all the time.
You do it all without receiving revenue from ads,
With pf bloggers’ best interests in mind.

Continually evolving,
making improvements time after time.
And while I am a friend of yours,
You are also definitely a friend of mine.

Thank you for all that you do and all of the updates made recently. I am lost without my daily dose of pfblogs.org.

Posted by Tricia on July 29, 2006 at 12:33 AM in Blogging Buddies | Comment First »
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He Made His First Million at 14

ABC’s 20/20 had a very inspirational story tonight about a young man named Farrah Gray.

Living in the projects of Chicago, he began contributing financially to his household at the age of 6. He took something that was essentially free to him (rocks on the street), painted them and with hard work and determination went door to door to sell them.

His story definitely didn’t stop there. He kept going and through other ventures he earned his first million at 14.

Stories like Farrah’s remind me of something that I keep in mind whenever life throws us a curveball….

Adversity Brings Innovation

If you are truly comfortable with your life, what is the motivation to think outside the box and improve things? I believe there needs to be some element of adversity to make things happen…to seek out improvement…to make a difference in your life.

That little boy is now 21 years old and while he won’t mention his net worth I am sure he is very comfortable financially. He took the conditions he grew up in and did something with his life. He faced his adversity head on.

“My story, though unique, is not unlike others who began with nothing more than a dream fueled by sheer determination. I believe my story will remind you of the kid in all of us who know no limits and believes anything – and everything – is possible.” – Farrah Gray

What a wonderful source of inspiration.

Posted by Tricia on July 28, 2006 at 11:45 PM in Keeping Motivated | 4 Comments »
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OT – The Mighty Metallica Now Available on iTunes

The day has come…Metallica finally decided that their fans could buy their songs individually. Their albums have been available online, but they didn’t want to sell their songs individually. I’m not sure what prompted the change, but for me this was excellent news.

I haveÂ enjoyed listening to MetallicaÂ ever since high school and I had all of their albums. Through the years I’ve sold them for one reason or another and I didn’t want to go out and buy them again. Especially not with our financial situation right now. I just listened to the radio and hoped to catch one of their songs here and there.

But yesterday I saw the news, hopped onto iTunes and downloaded my 4 favorite Metallica songs, including the ever-so-awesome bass solo by Cliff Burton. I haven’t heard that in a long time and it was music to my ears.

Thank you Metallica for finally joining iTunes.

Posted by Tricia on July 28, 2006 at 8:00 AM in About Me, Misc | 5 Comments »
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