Doctor/Dentist Bills, Red Cross, End of Month

I received a bill from one of my doctor's for an appointment I went to in December.  I've actually had 2 other appointments since that appointment, but for some reason they messed this one all up by putting in the claim 3 times!  Pretty unorganized of them!  So now I have to fit in a payment of $125.32 to them.  I'll take care of that this weekend and get it out in the mail on Tuesday.

I've also received some more of the claim forms for my boys' dentist appointments.  So far it looks like I'll owe them $209.30 at least until I get the last claim form.  I underpaid on a couple of appointments and overpaid on one.  This is not as big as a deal because I was pretty much expecting it.  Plus the dentist office has not sent me a bill as yet either.  So we'll wait and see on that one, but I'll probably go in as soon as I've received the last claim form and settle up with them.

On the sidebar you'll notice a banner for the American Red Cross.  They are one of the few organizations that I support and believe in.  I do not in any way receive money or endorsement from the Red Cross for placing the banner on my blog.  

Since today is the last day of the month I'll probably be closing everything out.  It looks like I'll have $38.17 to transfer over to my emergency fund (other than the normal $117) from my round up fund from the checking account.

These are the final month end numbers:

Groceries: $379.07

Dining Out: $249.53

Gas: $540.41

DH's Work Lunches: $108.06

I'm not sure if I've missed anything.  The progression bars will be updated in a week or so when the mortgage, truck payments, and emergency savings are shown to be updated in their systems so I can get exact numbers.  Though I believe the emergency fund will be above $3,000 and the truck loan will maybe be close to $7,000.

It's Payday Again!

Another payday and thank goodness for this one since I had totally misjudged what I needed for the last two weeks as mentioned in another post.  I am so glad that is over!

My "Loan Payoff Savings" has lowered to $9.69, but the reason for that is because I was able to make another extra payment on the truck.  I just made payments for November (regular, but early, payment) and December (extra payment)!  I only have 34 payments to go and on my way to making the goal!

Again it's slow because I really do not have any other bills to pay until the next payday.

Payoff Date Goals

Things have been kind of busy here dealing with storms, college classes, the boys going back to school, and their activities starting back up.  But at the same time the finances have been kind of slow going.  There just hasn't been anything much to talk about.  So I was looking over my posts here and realized that I never gave any dates of when I'd like to get everything paid off.  

I guess I do have something to talk about now!

1. Pay off truck loan early: My goal on this is to completely pay it off by December 2009.  The original maturity date is October 2011.  Once it is paid off, then I'll also be downgrading the insurance coverage so I'll be saving some money there, too.

 

2. Start paying down Heloc until student loans come due: This will be done from January 2010 through June 2011, which is when I should have to start paying on my student loans.

3. Pay off student loans as quickly as possible:  I do not have an actual payoff goal on this as yet until I see the final damage.  I'll have a better idea around the summer/fall of 2010.  But know it will be paid off early.

4. Finish paying off Heloc:  This will also depend on other factors like how much I paid off prior to student loans coming due and what my work situation is like once I start paying it off again.

5. Work on paying off mortgage early:  The original maturity date on our mortgage was January 2034, but we knocked it down to August 2032 with an employee loan through the bank as I worked with them at the time we bought the home.  We paid that loan off a long time ago!  My ultimate goal would be to pay off the mortgage somewhere between 2020 and 2022 or sooner.  Again it will all depend on paying off the other debt, my employment situation, and any other things that happen to pop up.

Updates and What's Going On

Well, Tropical Storm Fay has now completely left us.  We still had a few (very few) remaining storms come through yesterday, though we were able to get out of the house for the afternoon.  No damage so that's very good!  One down; ?? to go.

I still got the mail during the storm...yes, the poor mailwoman still had to deliver the mail!  I received a letter from my 401K plan saying that I have under the minimum $1000 and if I do not call by a certain date a check will be cut minus all the many fees and penalties they take away from you.  I know I received a check for all the funds to roll them over to my new Vanguard IRA.  Or at least that's what they told me!  So I took a look online and it's a whopping $3.13 for company stock!  $3.13!  It was probably some dividend or something that got applied after the check was cut.  So fine...cut me a check.  I'll probably get like $2.00 or something.  It's just not worth my time calling them to have it rolled over to my IRA.  Let the IRS get the 20% penalty or  $0.62...LOL.  I could always put $3.13 into my IRA and then get my $0.62 back at tax time.  Maybe.

I also received the explanation of benefits sheets you get from the insurance company for the boys' first visits to the new dentist.  I'll probably owe them in the $200 range.  Not bad considering they only charged me $50.70 for those appointments at the time.  We'll see what happens with that when the bill comes in.  

I've started updating the sidebar and progression bars.  It still needs some tweaking here and there.  My classes start tomorrow so my time will be limited until I get myself on a schedule.

Ebates and storm

I received my first check from Ebates a couple of days ago.  It was for $16.42 so when I deposit it I will place it in my Loan Payoff Savings.  I believe I'll be able to send out an additional check with that.  Also for those interested though not yet signed up with Ebates, you can join now and earn $10 for using them.  If you go through my referral in the sidebar, I'll also receive $10, which will help towards paying down that truck loan!  This current offer expires September 12, 2008.

I haven't been posting much due to Tropical Storm Fay.  It has sort of taken over everything here in Florida.  We still have power, but it is basically stalled over us right now.  We are currently in the center of the eye waiting for it to crawl over us so we can get the east side of the storm over with.

I'll post again when things calm down and return back to normal.

Fuel and I Messed Up

Firstly, I want to ask what is up with gas?  The prices are going down, but it is still costing us the same to fill up!  There is something seriously wrong with this!  If it goes up a penny, then our cost skyrockets, but when it goes down .20-.30 cents, then our cost doesn't go down.  Totally crazy!  We're already up to $309 for fuel costs this month.

I readily admit that I messed up for this 2-weeks already.  I was so used to the boys being out of school that I didn't budget in the costs of them going back very well.  Plus groceries were more than normal due to school lunch items.  So I'm going to be short during this 2-week period.  Therefore, I'll need to take some out of the different savings funds I have set up to get by.  Not a lot, but enough to lower a few of them and have to play catch up later.  Thankfully, they are not areas where I need a lot of that money right now anyway and I have plenty of time to catch up.  

Oh well!  I guess it happens on occasion.  As long as it doesn't happen all the time, though I do now expect I may need to do some additional tweaking for the next few paychecks to get back on track.

Answer to Comment Questions

I received this comment and thought I should answer it in a post:

dedicated said...

Stupid Question - Does the loan company require that you make your regular payment amount? Or do you do this for ease and record keeping? Do they have a limit on how many payments you can make a month?

Or maybe you are just trying to show in your minds eye the car is being paid off, by the shrinking payment book coupons?

Just curious. Not that it matters since you will be 4 months ahead on payoff it is all good.

Firstly, I don't think they are stupid questions at all.  I would probably have the same questions.  And if you don't ask, then how do you know?

I'm not really sure if the credit union we got the truck loan with would take partial payments, though I don't see why not.  

Yep, I do this for ease and record keeping.  I know it seems like a waste to write out separate checks when I'm mailing them all out in the same envelope, but 1) I don't use checks all that much anyway so I've got to use them for something--LOL; and 2) it helps me keep track of them better.

I don't know if they have a limit on how many payments can be sent in at once.  So far the most I've tested it with is 3 payments at once.  I would think they would just be happy to get their money.

Oh yes it is definitely nice to see the coupon book start to get smaller and smaller.  Our maturity date is supposed to be October 5, 2011.  My goal is to have it totally paid off by December 2009 or sooner.  I can do this by making at least 2 payments a month with some extra payments thrown in during the two months with extra paychecks.

Thanks for the great questions!  I hope that has cleared it up, but if not feel free to ask me some more questions.

2-Week Pay Period: August 14, 2008

Yesterday was the end of the last 2-week pay period so I did all the normal things.  I had $6.00 left over so I transferred that over to the Loan Payoff Savings.  Plus I transferred over the $125 that usually went towards the Heloc payment.  I now have $226.03 in there--$6.73 more to go before I can make another extra payment to the truck loan, which should be December's payment.

Been kind of lax...

...with everything!

Good thing I have all my bills paid right now.  I guess it's because I'm on "vacation" until school starts back up.  I need a regular schedule even if it is only at home.  

Luckily there haven't been any major expenses these past couple of days. *knocks on wood*

I'm waiting for the end of this 2-week pay period, which ends this Thursday night.  I'm hoping to see that I've stayed on budget.  We're cutting it kind of close this 2-week pay period.  I've already "paid" all my bills for the next 2-week pay period through bill pay -- well I've scheduled them anyway.  I decided to only pay the interest on the Heloc this month (plus extra just to round it up to the next dollar) and try paying by bill pay this time (usually I send a check).  We'll see how it goes.  I'll be putting the extra money towards paying off the truck loan.  I really want that truck loan gone!  Technically my next payment isn't due until November, but I'll be continuing to make payments anyway.

So here is my plan:

• Pay off truck loan early
• Start paying down Heloc until student loans come due
• Pay off student loans as quickly as possible
• Finish paying off Heloc
• Work on paying off mortgage early

The last two should be easier because I should be working again by then.  The student loan payoff will take a while at the beginning since I won't be working right away, but should take off once I'm ready to get a job.

Freebies, Grades, Textbooks, and Things to Sell

Today was a day of more stuff in the mailbox.  Both were for my husband though.  

First was a gift card I ordered for him through MyPoints.  I use it almost exclusively to help pay for his work lunches.  He really enjoys going to Subway so I got him a $10 gift card.  I have enough to order another one, but I have to wait for the pending points to go through first.

The second was the Gillette Shampoo for Men sample from Walmart.  And they even enclosed a $1.00 off coupon, too.  I more than likely will never use it.  If anyone wants it, just let me know (use the e-mail in the sidebar, leave me where to send it, and I'll mail it to you).  It says it's for "$1.00 off on any one (1) Gillette Shampoo or Conditioner (Excludes Trial Size)."  It expires on 10/31/2008.

I finally received my final grades in for the summer term, which ended August 1st.  For those of you who are new here, I went back to college a couple of years ago to finish up my degrees.  I completed my A.A. in Social and Behavioral Sciences in December 2007.  I'm now working on my B.S. in Criminal Justice with a minor in Psychology (I keep on meaning to add a second minor in Sociology) and 3 certificates: Behavioral Forensics, Criminal Profiling, and Victim Advocacy.  My plan is to finish up by the end of December 2010.  To do this I need to take some classes during the summer, though not as many as during the spring and fall terms because I have the boys home with me, too.  I just finished 6 credit hours--Basic Learning Processes and Personality Theories--and I got A's in both classes!  So far all my grades since transferring to the University have been A's, including the classes they transferred to completed my B.S.  It's a lot of hard work, but it'll be worth it.  Now let's see if I can keep up with it!  The fall term starts in 2 weeks and I'll be taking 13 credit hours:

• Statistical Methods in Psychology--4 cr.
• Police and Society--3 cr.
• Cultural Diversity in Criminal Justice--3 cr.
• Prosecution and Adjudication--3 cr.

The textbooks for these classes as usual were outrageous!  Unfortunately, buying them from the school book store was easier for me this term instead of searching out for the better price.  Two were in bundles and another was a new edition (so no used available).  I was able to get the last two books as used, but couldn't find the right editions elsewhere.  So needless to say I ended up paying $506.79 in total.  I am unable to drive to the campus bookstore to pick up my books so I had to have them shipped, which added $14.75, plus $33.19 for tax, and $458.85 for the books.  The federal loans along with the grants will help reimburse me for now--at least until I have to start paying them back.

On another note, I'm starting to get some furniture ready to be put on Craigslist.  I have a nice mirror on a stand, two computer desks, and a bunch of other stuff that I really would love to get rid of now instead of waiting until I get up off my butt and have a yard sale.  My garage and living room are getting a little crowded.  I'm also thinking about putting some more books and stuff on Half.com.  I've sold on there before and feel kind of comfortable with them.  I would love to get rid of the rest on eBay, but I'm not sure if I'm comfortable enough yet or not.  I've heard of so many seller problems and I just don't know if I want the hassle.  Maybe I'll check out the eBay store.  I won't make as much, but I also won't have to wonder how much to charge, handle the shipping, etc.  I'll have to look into that.  The important thing right now is to try to make something off of my old useless stuff and get rid of it.

Landline Discussion

My husband and I have been discussing this whole landline issue for the last couple of days.  He has done some research looking for different options.  It seems that the services available to us either take something away we really want/need or are more expensive.  Or they are not available at all to us as of yet.

Our conclusion?  We're going to stick it out for a little bit with what we have.  

You see our small city is starting to really grow.  All kinds of new things are going on: a new town center is being built with shops, offices, medical facilities, a movie theatre, townhouses, etc.; new developments (business and home) will be happening over the next 20 years out on U.S. 1 (though we won't wait 20 years to change phone service); new roads are being built.  

All this growth means, hopefully, better services and more competition.  We'll be holding out with the hope that the infrastructure will improve drastically over the next couple of years along with the prices/services available.  

In the meantime, we'll keep an eye out on anything interesting that can replace our landline (re: extra unnecessary expense), while still providing us with the internet services we require.  And we'll even look into replacing our paid security system with a homemade system to cut those costs--though that really is an entire other issue all together.  Maybe I'll touch on that issue later along with the costs associated with setting it up (*makes note to self*).

Landline and Internet Service

I'm a little frustrated--OK, I'm A LOT frustrated with AT&T.  Just because they are becoming a monopoly again, they are able to do whatever they want with what they charge for their services.

We currently pay $37.95 for our DSL service with a voice line which we currently pay $12.45 for the basic residential service.  It was $11.25 last month, but I just found out they raised it without telling me first.  Nice!  Then they charge various fees and surcharges that total $10.07 for a total of $22.52 for the landline.

So we decided to look into naked DSL figuring we'll save a bunch of money by getting rid of our landline.  We'll also save because we'd have to get rid of our security system, too, which we would replace with our own self-made system.  The problem is that AT&T in an effort to continue earning as much as possible charges for the same DSL package $42.95 or $5.00 more since they'd be losing out on the landline charges. 

Talk about a rip off!

I know I'll still be saving money, but I'm so frustrated with them that I really don't know if I want to go through the hassle to get it all done.  I wish we had other options, but even if we went with another company we would still be paying AT&T because they own the lines.  So they would charge the other company to use them, who in turn would pass it on to us.

Then they try to shove their bundle packages down your throat.  I've figured it out before and we pay a lot less without the bundle package.  Our internet and landline was bundled automatically when we signed up, but they are not part of the bundled packages they try to sell.  Our dish plan is billed separately and I have it automatically deducted.  And our cell phones are separate with a family plan (used to be Cingular, but that also got bought out by AT&T like our BellSouth service) plus we get a discount with my husband's work.  I wonder how many people actually save money with a bundled service.  I suppose if you downgrade a service you would save.  We already have the minimum services other than the dish plan and internet.

They were stopped from becoming a monopoly in the past and now because of deregulation they are able to go right back to where they came from and become a monopoly again.  I guess history does repeat itself!

Free Samples, Town News, and Filing

I got some of the samples in today:

• Oatmeal Crisp sample
• Mario Badescu samples including: Enzyme Cleansing Gel, Special Cucumber Lotion, Glycolic Eye Cream, Drying Mask, Collagen Moisturizer SPF 15, Drying Cream, and Strawberry Face Scrub.

I also got the water/sewer/garbage bill today.  It went up to $68.00 from last month's $66.22 so I'll need to look into that, but they do say they are on conservation rates so the more used the more it costs.  We'll see.  

But the neat thing about getting the bill is that it comes with a little newsletter about what is happening in our city.  I knew they were building some new fire stations (3 to be exact), but what I didn't know is that the one replacing an old station I go by all the time is being built for free due to "an exchange site agreement" with Kohl's Department Store.  Apparently they agreed to pay for it to be able to build their new store on the main road where it would get more traffic instead of behind it on the street over.  

1. That is so cool that the city actually agreed to it and was smart enough to see a way to save us taxpayers money and still get a new fire station.  The entire city is a PUD so I supposed it only could take place since both sites were within the PUD regulations to make the switch.
2. I'm excited to know that we'll be getting a Kohl's and so close to where I live.  I've heard a lot about it, but I've never had one near me to shop.  I guess I'll see what all the fuss is about when they finally build it.  I don't expect that will be anytime soon because the old fire station is still there until the new one is built.

The other news I actually got on Saturday from my DH.  He stopped by our local Albertson's, which is across the street from where this new Kohl's is supposed to be, and he found out they are closing down.  We don't shop there much, but it is the closest grocery store for quick pick-ups and stuff.  The cool news though?  Publix bought them and will be opening up there after a little remodeling!  I love doing my grocery shopping at Publix.  The one we usually go to isn't really that far away, but this one will be much closer.  Yay!  

On filing news, I've started scanning a bunch of documents and magazines articles/recipes into folders on my computer.  I am determined to get my papers down to a minimum!  But it will be a long, long time before I'm totally done.  My goal is to do a little bit at a time while keeping up with anything new that comes in as well.  We'll see how it goes!  I also need to buy some more CDs so I can back everything up once I'm done.

July 2008 Net Worth Updated

I've updated my NetWorthIQ for July.  It went down by $437 or 0.30%.  Not good, but not bad either considering most of the decline was due to credit card use (dental costs, school clothes, shoes, and supplies, etc.).  I'm expecting this month's net worth to be worse as well as September's.  My college textbooks will be charged this month for the fall term.  September I'll have more in student loans, but my credit card will go down because of it to reimburse for the textbooks.  Always a plus with a minus.  As long as I can continue paying down the truck loan, I'll be happy.  That was down 7.36%.

Interest Received: 7/31/08

The interest was showing today:

• Mortgage Savings Account: $0.95
• Checking Account: $0.24 (I moved this immediately into my round up fund to be transferred into the emergency fund at the end of August)
• Emergency Fund: $7.98 (I so do love my emergency fund!)