Showing posts with label About Me :). Show all posts
Showing posts with label About Me :). Show all posts

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Blog Love and Secrets Shared

So I was doing my normal blog reading and read a post from Cash Only Living, in which she talks about the joy of paying bills - which we can all appreciate :o)

In her blog she references another blog called Married with Luggage. I wandered over there and found myself suddenly reading for hours. What an interesting story they have! They are traveling the world for 3 years. In one of the blogs she mentions starting over and shares some things that she's never shared on her blog before. It was so honest and real. I loved it. She explained that she got the idea from Corbett Barr on his blog.

Next I went over to check out Corbett's blog and he has this great piece called "How to Re-Introduce Yourself and Kick Your Watered-Down Self in the Ass!" He's right on many levels! There is "Real Me" and there is "Business Me". You guys have been getting "Business Me". It's kind of a challenge for me because my career requires the "Business Me" to be on all day. I find it hard to let the "Real Me" come out sometimes. I decided that it's time to try!

Here are some thing about the Real Me:

- I'm an ISFJ. I'm super introverted! I'm very flexible in my thinking. I can go either way on many topics. I am turned off by super opinionated people.

- I'm a craft whore. You name it, I've probably tried it. I am creative by nature and I think I can turn each craft I try into a big moneymaker. This is how it goes down - I find myself intrigued by one craft or another, go to our local craft store, spend way too much money buying all the supplies I think I need to get started and then get bored with it and give it up. They've all ended up in this huge "Crap Closet" (as my husband lovingly refers to it as). These crafts have followed us around from move to move. I think it may be time to let it all go.

- I'm not an angry person but I find it hard to forgive certain things.

- I swear a lot! I tend to use swear words more as adjectives but not from a negative place. I just find that it makes my vocabulary a bit more colorful when I throw an f-bomb out.

- Gambling is my release and I probably spend way too much doing it than I should! Long ago my husband and I discovered our mutual love for casinos. They are fun and exciting. We tend to go there regularly to have a good time. We get free rooms and food for playing. We find that we'd rather spend our "fun money" doing that than going to the movies or an expensive dinner. Looking back at what we've spent over the last few years though, we could have probably bought a car!

- I've been married before. I married a great guy that I thought I'd be with for my whole life but along the way we grew apart and I realized that the lifestyle he wanted was not the one that I wanted. I'm a free spirit, I love to travel and try new things. He's very set in his ways and wasn't willing to change. I decided that I had to end it and move on. To this day, I carry a huge amount of guilt because of this decision. I'm lucky to say we are friends now. I shared with him that I was getting married, he has recently found someone and he is now engaged. I truly wish him the best.

- I love a good cigar.

- I'd cut off a finger if it meant I could have free massages weekly for life. There are a few things that really relax me and they are in order of awesomeness - a glass of wine, a soak in the hot tub and a kick ass massage.

- I've lived in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, California and Nevada. California has been my favorite thus far. Although it's super expensive to live here, I tell myself it's the cost for rain/snow free days and warm nights. I enjoy being near the ocean and always need to be a short drive or walk away from it (that's why Nevada didn't work so great!). Sure, the seasons are wonderful, but I've had it with shoveling snow and shivering. I can't do it anymore! Life is too short to live somewhere that you don't love. My environment is really important to me. I need to enjoy it.

- I'm not a super physical person and it kinda freaks me out when people are with me. My family was not a bunch of huggers. I'd honestly like to be that person, I really would. It just doesn't come natural.

- Too often I take on the personality of the people around me. This can be a positive and a negative.

- I never really met my biological father. I saw him once at my Grandparent's house but that was about it. Although I have a good step-father, I always wished I could have had some type of relationship with him.

- I don't have much interest in politics. I guess I'd label myself as liberal if I had to give myself one. I think people should be free to do what they want. Life is too short to restrict people. I love gay people (my sister is) and I believe that anyone should be able to marry anyone they want. I support a woman's right to choose. Who am I to tell someone they should or shouldn't do something?

- I don't watch the news. I find it too depressing. People who know me think I'm ignorant at times but I don't care much. If it's a big enough deal I'll hear it on the radio or catch people talking about it. The news just makes me sad.

- I love being spontaneous. I used to be a planner. I used to need to have everything planned out but as I get older, I love spontenaity. I love the idea of packing a bag, getting in the car and seeing where we end up. Sure, there's still a small part of me that wants to research hotels and restaurants before we go so we don't end up somewhere crappy, but I guess that's all part of the experience. I'm learning to let go as I get older! This is a good thing.

- I look forward to retirement. No, I REALLY look forward to retirement. I have a vision of sitting on the porch on a rocker with a glass of pinot in my hand while I play a game of scrabble. To me, that would be wonderful.

- I have the hardest time saying "NO"! Ugh, this is something I want to change. I'm so worried about being polite that I don't always do what I want to do. Then later, I resent that I didn't. Same thing goes with speaking my mind. I don't do it enough and when I do, people think I must be having a bad day or pms'ing because it's so out of character for me.

- I love tattoos! I only have one but would love more. I feel as though your body is your canvas and a cool way to differentiate yourself before you go is to color it up a bit.

- I have a pretty long bucket list. I feel as though my life really started once I left my ex-husband. Before then I was too timid, too scared to take chances and try new things.

- I always wanted to work in film. I have had a passion for film as long as I can remember. I wanted to go to film school but it didn't happen. Who knows what the future holds though? That's one thing I love about my husband, he supports my desires and is flexible with our lifestyle so if I wanted to pursue this in the future, I know he'd have my back.

- I have a death mix. It's a mix of songs I'd like played at my memorial service when I die. It's a compilation of songs that have touched me along the way. I try to be pretty choosy with it since I don't want to put hundreds of songs on there. I see myself being cremated and having some pics around celebrating my life and this mix playing in the background. Some friend have told me that it's creepy but I say fuck it. I don't care. This is my life and I can design how I want to go out. Oh speaking of that, I fully support Euthanasia! I think that people should be able to check out whenever the hell they feel like it. Pull the plug, pop a pill, whatever they damn well please.

So, that's a little more about the real me. I just felt as though I should put myself out there a little more, share who I really am. I challenge you to do it too if you aren't already.

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Where things stand!

So, I've been dying to get back on here with an update of where things stand. Here it is:

Credit Card #1

$19,624.15 - But honestly, this one is in flux... Due to the upcoming nuptials, this balance may actually increase a bit. I am literally cringing as I write it, but I want to be truthful. I'm still putting a couple of things on it, so that we can have some flexibility while on our honeymoon.

Credit Card #2

$19,063.37 - This one is not going to increase. Stupid Chase! Actually, I take that back. It's probably in my best interest that this one won't increase. Technically, this account is "closed". Not sure exactly what that means or how it will effect my credit score. (My apologies if I should have used affect instead, I still get those confused!) Anyway, the story with this one is that I was waiting on a large deposit to clear my bank before paying my card one month. I had the minimum payment in the checking account already, but wanted to be good and pay extra. So, instead of paying early, as I normally due, I waited until a few days before it was due and until the deposit hit the checking account. I then made a large payment to Chase and patted myself on the back for doing so.

Unfortunately, a few days later I got an email from Chase that my payment didn't clear and they were charging me a fee for the "missed payment" and for the item not clearing! Then I got an email from my bank as well, letting me know that they were charging me a fee for overdrawing the account! Aggghhh, I was so angry. I chastised myself for not just making the minimum payment earlier, since I had it in my account. Turns out that the bank places holds on large checks for several days. It looked as though it had cleared online, but actually hadn't. Oh well. Lesson learned, I thought. Turns out that Chase took that opportunity to jack up my interest rates to double what they were! I had been a card holder for about 15 years by then, without a single late or missed payment. I called to complain but they said it was their right since I "missed" a payment. The only option they gave me was to "close" out my account and retain the current interest rates while I paid it off. I selected that option and I really look forward to paying this off and being done with Chase.

Car Loan

$21,868.20 - This is a new one to join the club! As you may have read in a previous post, I recently bought a new car. For the first time in my life! I've never really had a car payment, besides $50 a week when I was a teen for a couple of months. Otherwise, it's been used cars, bought in cash - all the way. I have to admit that I'm loving my new car! It fits me. I know I won't be loving 60 months of car payments, but it was a necessary evil.

Grand Total (drum roll, please)... $60,555.72

All I can say is, "Wow".

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

And so the journey begins!

I've been thinking about blogging for a while. Unfortunately, I couldn't come up with the topic I wanted to discuss. After finding the "Blogging Away Debt" page (which is great by the way!), I knew what my topic of choice would be... debt. I've got way too much of it and need a plan to get out of it! Being a bit OCD (self-diagnosed, of course), I thought that this would be a great way for me to come up with the grand rescue plan, actually write it all down and face the cold hard truth - that it's time for a change! (Why is it that the "Time to Change" song from the Brady Bunch just came in my head?)

Anyway, let me introduce myself :) My name is Steph. I debated using a fake name, to maintain my confidentiality and keep the mystery alive, but a) it's only my first name b) I'm an honest person at heart and c) I'd like to be open and keep this blog truthful to the core! So, more about me... I'm in my mid 30's, live in sunny California, recently got engaged (as in this past weekend), and have a good job in Management.

Okay, here's the juicy stuff... I am somewhere between (drum roll, please) $38-40K in credit card debt and after having to buy a new car this past weekend, add another $21,868.20. The car was a necessity, as the old one had over 302K miles on it and was not likely to last much longer, even after repairs. Sure, I could have tried to get something used or less expensive, however I have no savings and nothing for a down payment. With these options, I did what I thought was appropriate and went with the new car at .9% financing. I did lots of research beforehand and overall, felt that I got an okay deal on a car with a good reputation of quality. As far as the cc debt, I've put that range down because I have a few things waiting to post. I'd like to take my new statements as they come in and log those amounts down for better accuracy. So the final number is yet to be tallied!

I'm hoping this blog will help keep me honest and give motivation to others in a similar situation. Please feel free to ask questions and post your thoughts and feedback along the way. I know the situation I'm in and I'm not looking for guilt trips or lectures. I hope you'll join me on this journey and maybe start your own blog. Support is welcomed and appreciated as I buckle down and try to dig myself out of this mess!