Archive results for “September 2009f 2009”

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Let’s talk about hidden cruise costs…

My husband went on one of those cheap cruises to Mexico for my brother’s bachelor party. It seemed like a really good deal – $99 for the three day trip.

‘SEEMED’ being the operative word here.

Would you like a towel to use at the pool? Sure, that will be $22.99 – and he didn’t get to keep the towel. He didn’t realize the towels had to be returned by 9:30 at night and was fined the full $22.99.

Endless soda with your meal? $4.99

Oh, and let’s not forget the mandatory gratuity of $150 per cabin.

What started as a ‘cheap’ bachelor party turned out to be quite a zinger to the pocket book… a $230 zinger to be specific.

Be very careful when cruising and be aware of any rental fees and times. You can check your tab at any time to see what you are being charged for, so it’s a good idea to check it daily.

Posted by Beks on September 29, 2009 at 5:00 AM in Confessions | 12 Comments »
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How’d I do in Vegas?

Vegas, in all its glory, was fun. We had a good time but…

I was hit with some unexpected expenses.

Friday, we were invited to a club by a promoter. Our drinks and cover charge were free. Woo Hoo for night one!

Saturday, the bridesmaid/ trip planner took us to a nice dinner at the Palms. None of the prices were on the menu but she had told us we would pay $75 for the dinner and for an all access wrist band to the clubs. After the meal was finished, the bill arrived and I was quite surprised when I was asked to pay double and pitch in for the bride to be (the bridesmaid/trip planner had told us she would pay for the bride to be but then decided not to pay).

I was really upset, especially since the bridesmaid had known the full price but had accidentally added incorrectly when telling us the individual price a few days earlier. Plus, when she decided to not cover the bride to be for anything but instead, divide it among us, I felt deceived. Had I known in advance, I could have made a better decision about going or staying home.

Yes, I could have made a huge scene and demanded more money from the bridesmaid but…

This bride to be is my future sister in law and it just wasn’t worth it to ruin the trip.

So…

I paid way too much and we’re not going to make any progress this month.

Sometimes we just make bad decisions.

Ugh.

Posted by Beks on September 28, 2009 at 9:06 PM in Confessions | 8 Comments »
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Life After Credit Card Debt – September Update

Tricia here with a quick monthly update. Like Beks, I have been sick for the past couple of days. Thankfully, it doesn’t appear to be the flu. It seems like the cold I get when the seasons change.

This month was supposed to be a better month. It was a better month for our discretionary spending since we started a cash based system. It’s our necessary spending for health (supplements, specific healthier foods, etc.) that really hurt. I don’t regret spending the money, but it is really hurting our bottom line.

There’s also the wonderful surprise we received on September 2 from our health insurance company. They decided to raise our rates 28%. Oh, and the first payment with the new rate was due today. That’s an extra $115/month we have to now pay – and we didn’t even get a 30 day notice. If we didn’t need their health insurance, I would have cancelled it right then and there. I understand that rates sometimes need to be increased. We’ve dealt with many companies that have raised rates recently. But giving less than a 30 day’s notice is dirty in my book. We are fortunate – we had a little bit of wiggle room to be able to cover it this month. I know that there are many families that didn’t.

With everything going on, I am still very grateful. We are still credit card debt free and we are still holding our head above water. We’ll keep plugging away with increasing our emergency savings and paying off the rest of our debt, even if sometimes it feels like we are spinning our wheels. Eventually we’ll get some traction

Posted by Tricia on September 25, 2009 at 10:43 PM in Life After Credit Card Debt | 11 Comments »
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Back to Work…

I know you’re tired of hearing about it and I’m tired of living it but…

I’m still sick.

My doctor says she can squeeze me in on Monday.

If I’m still sick by Monday, I’ll shoot myself and save her the trouble of an insurance claim (totally kidding folks, it’s the fever talking).

I was able to drag myself into work today. I completely forgot about the pre-scheduled site visit between me and oh… 25 or so other people.

Hmm. Perhaps showering would have been a good idea.

I scrambled to meet the project manager who took a look at my shoes and said, ‘Thank God! A woman with sense. Thanks for wearing closed toed shoes. Whenever we go on job walks, all the women wear open toed shoes and it’s very dangerous.’

I did not see the necessity in mentioning that my sick nauseated 5 in the morning haze prevented me from finding my cute pink strappy sandals… or even a hair brush for that matter.

Seven hours of 100 degree heat and ‘Yes’, ‘No’, ‘Maybe’, and ‘That’s only legal in Thailand’ later, I was allowed to return home.

Sorry no financial updates. My brain is a blob and I plan on spending the next 48 hours under my big fluffy comforter.

Have a good weekend.

Posted by Beks on September 25, 2009 at 8:45 PM in About Me, work | 3 Comments »
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Insight on the Cash for Clunkers…

I’ve missed three days of work and counting thanks to the flu. Rather than feeling better, I feel worse. My sister lovingly said, ‘I think that’s a sign of the swine flu.’

Thanks. Now I’ve got THAT to worry about.

In all my sitting at home time – most of which is spent in complete misery – I am able to squint open my eyes and read some of the daily news. I stumbled upon this headlining article at AOL…

http://autos.aol.com/article/cash-for-clunkers-greenwash

I found two quotes particularly eye opening…

‘Three revealing line items in a separate CNW survey noted that the drain on the family coffers would be offset by reducing the pay-down of credit card debt, deferring home improvement and removing money from non-targeted savings.’

and

‘Other critics groused that Cars for Clunkers took $2.8 billion from the general roster of 300 million citizens and handed it tax-free to a small group of 700,000 citizens.’

What are your thoughts?

Posted by Beks on September 24, 2009 at 5:00 AM in Credit Cards, General Personal Finance, Good Info | 12 Comments »
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Good News on the Legal Front…

I’m still sick but I got some good news today – news my poor husband had to read to me since I’m sitting in bed with an ice pack on my flaming hot head.

As I’ve said earlier, my husband and I are involved in litigation. Someone has been suing us over an incident that didn’t involve us and didn’t occur on our property. After two YEARS of legal paperwork including nightmare depositions asking insanely personal questions, our attorney finally believes what we’ve been saying all along – we don’t own the property.

We had to hire two experts to support our claim. Sure it seems simple but this is California – aka lawsuit country – and frivolous lawsuits are common. Even my parents have been sued before!

Obviously I can’t elaborate since the case is still pending but it’s a big deal to finally have someone – ANYONE – certify what we’ve been saying.

The trial is still set for Christmas but I’m hoping the new facts will cause the judge to throw the whole lawsuit out.

Ugh. Maybe I can finally cross out the ‘lawsuit’ line item in our budget.

Posted by Beks on September 22, 2009 at 5:00 AM in :) | 11 Comments »
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Sick…

Sorry for the delayed update. I’m sick… again.

One of the guys who attended the bachelor party in Mexico got the entire bachelor party sick. Once home, they quickly spread the flu to their spouses… myself included.

Currently, I’m sitting with a napkin up my nose (I ran out of tissue about 3 hours ago) and I haven’t showered. Fortunately, my husband pretends not to notice.

Sorry but I’m going back to bed. I thought you weren’t supposed to get sick in the summer!!

Posted by Beks on September 21, 2009 at 9:30 PM in About Me | 4 Comments »
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