Back to Reality
Ok, the holidays are over and it is back to my reality. Which is.... I am not so young and I am somewhat broke. I am also very motivated to become financially independant.
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POSTIVE NOTES
I finsished another Christmas gift today. So far that is 3 gifts completed and only my dad's Christmas gift to finish. his Birthday gift is done but I have been adding a couple things here and there to it.
Total cost for my oldest sister's gift= Maybe $5. I purchased clearance scrapbooking materials for pennies on the dollars during the first part of the year. I also received the second gift certificate from Mypoints today. I am sending a total of $50 in gift certificates and a bunch of scrapbooking material.
I placed it all in a fancy Victoria Secret's box that someone in my building did not want after they took the wedding gift out. I don't normally use such an odd reused box for her gifts as she can be a little snooty. But I thought it would be funny to let her think I sent her lingerie. The card will say something along the lines of, " Here is something I thought you and Bruce could enjoy." She opens the wrapping paper finds a Victoria's Secret Box and rolls her eyes. She then opens the box to find scrapbook items and another box with the gift cards. The gift card box will have another card with something along the lines of, " I hope you and Bruce enjoy a nice dinner out together." I am curious to hear what she has to say about the packaging.
I am going to continue racking up Mypoints at no cost. I would like to see If I can complete my dad's gift with the Mypoints. That would allow me to buy his gift at no cost to myself. Hmmm... I wonder if I could rack up enough points to purchase the ER DVDs I want at no cost. Sounds like a new goal to me!
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ANOTHER POSITIVE NOTE
I followed up with the person handling my Stupid Debt. I sent an email to corporate letting them know I have been unsuccesful in contacting my contact person and their supervisor. I sent a copy to the president of the company.
I also called corporate and discovered my case has been transfered to another person. I called and left her a message and I hope to hear from her in the next 48hrs. I am feeling confident about this person.
DUH note- I may actually owe $5000 the receipt I found was not what I thought. LONG STORY. The $5000 is only an estimated on the high side. Better to not owe as much as I thought, than to owe more than I thought and to be blind sided. I am going to stick with an estimate of $4000.
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I made further contact with the person who hit my car. I misplaced the contact information so I wrote a polite note and taped it to her door. I am surprised that she has not left a note for me since she should have already contacted her insurance company. I am seriously thinking she is going to be paying this out of her pocket. As long as I get the money, I do not care who writes the check. I am still alittle concerned over this situation.
Normally it would be a major priority. At the present time, I have higher priorities. I was focusing on and balancing work and the Church Festival. I need my job but I am no Holy Roller. I can't say why it has been such a priority to work so hard on this festival. I think a lot of it is the socializing. I work a great deal and I don't often take advantage of social opportunitites. I also have very few female friends. I adore the women in my church and I cherish working with them so I suppose I valued their companionship more than I do the money I will receive from the car smasher person. Awwwwe, I do value things more than money. I might not be so bad after all.
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Update on this month's goals
1)Getting to work early - decent. I have only been late once. That is not a normal problem for me. I just wanted to focus on getting there ealier.
Turning paperwork in daily- That would be a big fat negative. I HAVE to get caught up this week.
2) Follow daily schedule- better,in light of the fact that in my job the schedule will change due to circumstances. I have been cutting back on exactly what I schedule. I find if I don't overload my schedule, then I can focus more. At the end of the work day if I only lack one item to finish, I find it easier to push myself to finish that one item.
3)Complete ALL paperwork daily- see #1
4) complete all follow ups in less than 24 hours- yep- doing good on that one.
5)Turn time sheets in FIRST thing every other Monday- That will be this next Monday.
6)Have all Stupid Debt paperwork completed and submitted.- Hey, I am doing well on this one. I am down to 2 pages out of 11 left to complete. I will finish those after I speak with my contact person this week. I should have my paperwork turned in next week. Then it is just a matter of 6-8 weeks for processing and then the fun begins.
7) Set aside an additional $300 toward my Stupid Debt.- I should be on track for this one. I have $260 left for 3 weeks of gas this month. I have already set my car insurance aside. The next mileage check will hopefully be set aside intact.
I then have one more payday before the end of the month. Mileage is included on our payday. That mileage will be set aside for August's auto expenses. Any mileage left over at the end of the month will be applied to Stupid Debt.
8)Clean and organize LR- Well.... it is still a work in progress. I have several items from T&T sitting here that need to be put away. I have part of my bags packed for this weekend sitting here. I have merchandise sitting all over the place. I have been setting a timer to work for 30 minutes on important stuff. When the timer goes off, I set it for 15 minutes and use that to clean up or do other chores. I set a timer ( purchased for .50) for 30 minutes. That is all I allow myself at one sitting. It is a Flylady trick and I find it quite handy.
9)Take my lunch 4 out of 5 days each week- This week has been a complete bust. I did just pack my cooler with Ham and Cheese sandwiches and some small snacks. I am currently brewing tea as I type. So today ( Thursday) should be good to go. Friday will be the same. I am doing fair about eating out of the pantry. My goal is to have it empty by the end of the year.
10)organize a solid work wardrobe in my current size and next one down.- This is in progress. I did pick up a number of solid additions to my wardrobe.
I took a recipe box and placed dividers in it. The dividers have each a size from currentsize to goal size at the top. I then placed index cards between each divider. On each card I write down an outfit. I am still working on the style I want to use for my index cards. I have been writing one main items on each card and then listing additional items that coordinate with the main item. I can't decide on whether to use bottoms or tops for the main items as a rule. For the most part I have listed the bottoms and their coordinating tops. Dresses get listed as one outfit on a card by themselves. I will adjust as needed. I like this plan. I think it will be a big plus when it comes to tracking clothing. I will be able to see what I have, what I need and different ways to wear each item. Should be a money and headache saver.
So far I have 7 outfits on index cards in my current size. I need to set aside time to put different outfits together. I know I have more than seven outfits.
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I used the Energy Saver bulb I got at T&T. The bulb blew in my DR and I just swapped it out.
When my next door neighbor moved recently, I received a few compact energy saver bulbs. I used two of those this week also. I purchased a lamp for my desk ( T&T of course- and it is FABULOUS). I put two in there. Very Nice! I have been swapping out old blown bulbs for the new energy saver ones. By the end of the year, I should be completely converted.
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I got the final tally on my car tags. The total will be $100.70. I have the funds set aside in my purse. I will be paying for my tags this Friday!! Another bill down. I just need to complete the transaction.
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posted by Casper @ 8:50 PM
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