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Feb 28, 2018    |       5 comments

Book Club: Beginning Tracking

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I completed my first read thru of Your Money or Your Life and am so excited for our book club discussion in a few weeks. With that being said, I have decided to start my work on the varying steps. Therefore tomorrow, I will start tracking EVERY penny in and EVERY penny out. I decided that the first of the month was the ideal time to do that…and it’s key to moving forward with the steps.

The Book

I read a chapter a night, and after the first chapter have not had any more reservations about the process. The concepts around Enough, Purpose and Values that are stress throughout the book really speak to me. I’m trying now to reveal too much. But needless to say, the theories presented in this book really speak to the heart of the matter for me. My relationship with money.

Book Club

My thoughts for our discussions is that we tackle a chapter a week. Is that too slow? I will post a synopsis and my opinion every Monday (beginning March 5th) and then we can use that for discussion for the week. I’ve never done an online book club, if you have suggestions I’d love to hear them.

With that being said, I am going to begin my tracking so that by the end of March I’m ready to do a full month’s analysis. I’m sure it’s going to be pretty funky since I essentially have no steady income, but I’ve got to start somewhere, right?

While this downtime is a bit stressful, I’m fully utilizing it to get my head on straight and focus on some things I really need to master. For those of you who have read this particular book, do you have any other books you would recommend? I am excited to move through this journey of changing my money mindset and relationship.

 

Feb 27, 2018    |       18 comments

Hope’s February, 2018 Debt Update

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It seems like a lifetime ago that I did my last debt update, but it was just two months ago.

Debt Balances as of Feb. 26

Creditor
Balance

(as of 10/14/17)
Interest
Min. Payment
Car$8,2737.00%$308
Credit Card$5,01417.00%$36
Summer Camp (2018)$1,4310.00%$0
Student Loans$34,0732.88%$307
Taxes (State)$5,8000.00%Re-negotiating
Self Lender$67910.57%$97
Collections 1 (Medical)$186$0
Collections 2 (Apartment)$499$0
Collections 3 (Ex-husband)$5,8216.25%$246
Computer Equipment$022.90%$0
Amazon$026.99%$0
Total$61,776$994
There does not seem to be much needs explaining. I am only paying the minimum due on each debt right as I job hunt.  The tax debt is being renegotiated because the state’s number were evidently based on the federal tax returns that were returned saying I owed $18,000 but have since been corrected.  (Issue was the result of my adopted sons’ last name change.)

Cash on Hand

As of today, I am down to my last $200 in my everyday account. I have not received my final paycheck and have not heard whether my unemployment benefits have been approved. The local career center for the Georgia Department of Labor representative told me to call back tomorrow. It sounds like my employee is continuing to dispute my claim. No words!

They are also still holding my 401K hostage with their approval process. It’s been two weeks since I requested the move. I made another phone call to Voya today, and they said since I had already called the employer, they would prompt the account manager. I don’t know what good it will do, but my hands seem to be tied.

Next Steps

Needless to say, I’m applying like a crazy person.  I think last count I have applied for over 153 jobs through LinkedIn and have now added Indeed, Guru and several other job sites to my daily hunt. Do you have any other suggestions of places to look?

I will begin drawing from my savings at the end of this week if nothing else comes through.  This makes me so sad, but also so grateful. But mostly mad!

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