My Late Weekly Money Check-Up! 6/23/11

Hi all :) I hope that you've had a good week so far. I apologize for the silence. I was away at a conference since Sunday and wasn't able to get online to post.

Here's my late Weekly Money Check-Up, courtesy of My Pretty Pennies :

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on a credit card payment! I'll be so happy once those darn things are paid off.

2. Today I am thankful for automatic cars with cruise control. I know it sounds funny but I had a long ride to go to the conference and was able to use cruise control for most of it. My previous car was a standard and shifting was a pain in the butt. Now, with an automatic, I easily cruise for hours without the annoyance of having to shift along the way.

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free thing I did last week that made me happy was starting to read a new book. I love getting into a new story. There's something exciting about cracking open a new book and seeing where the journey takes me.

4. I will consider this week a success if I follow our budget and menu over the long holiday weekend! Temptations, temptations, temptations!

5. For the 4th of July, I am hoping we have a cookout at the beach or bay and go see some fireworks. I absolutely love fireworks!

New Job Possibility...

My husband started a new job earlier this year. It was full time hours, close to our house and it seemed like an ideal situation. Unfortunately, it wasn't. The owner is very dishonest about the company. In addition, there are no benefits, no paid vacation time and no paid sick time. Since then we've downsized and moved about 30 miles away so the commute hasn't been great on the new car or our wallets.

So, now we're on the job hunt again. We found one last week and applied for it. He got a call back within minutes of applying from the agency that is handling the position.

I did a little more research and this job seems great. It's for a much larger company so there could be growth opportunities and the benefits are AMAZING! The best part is that it's just over 4 miles from our house! He won't even have to get on the highway (or "freeway" as they call it out here). I know it may sound crazy but I'm convinced that this "freeway" could be the death of us, so I try to limit the occasions we have to go on it. (People who know the San Diego highways that go as wide as 8 car widths at some points, know what I'm talking about!)

Anyway, the hubby went in for an interview yesterday! He thinks it went great. My fingers are crossed. We'll see what happens! I'm a big believer that it will work out the way that it's meant to. That still isn't gonna stop me from wishing real hard that it works out in our favor though :)

Today is a good day!

Earlier this week I was mentioning to a co-worker that I need to get my hair trimmed. She knows I'm on a budget and understands that I've been holding off on spending any extra money. It's been over 8 months since I last went to the hairdresser!

My co-worker then shared with me that she used to be a... wait for it - hairdresser! She offered to bring her scissors in to give me a "quick dry trim" - since that's all I was really looking for. As you'd imagine, the ends were getting a little frizzy after eight plus month with no trims.

She brought her scissors in today and during lunch she trimmed my hair. It was just what I needed! My hair looks way better now and the best part is that it didn't cost me anything! (In truth, I'll probably give her a little something on payday since I know money is tight for her too but it's definitely less than I would have spent at even Supercuts! Not to mention, I didn't even have to drive anywhere to get it done.) Today is a good day :)

I'll be out of debt before...

For some of us, it seems like it's going to take FOREVER to get out of debt. While doing my normal morning routine of getting ready for work, I sprayed a little perfume on myself. I happened to look down at that bottle and noticed it's about 3/4 full. Suddenly it hit me - I'll be out of debt BEFORE I finish that bottle of perfume! What a great concept. A visual reminder of something that will go down as my debt goes down, but there will still be some left long after the debt is paid off.

The thought put a smile on my face :)

It may sound like a small thing but I'm a very visual person and this will help motivate me to look at the bottle each day and remember that. There are many things that are going to happen before I get out of debt... the calendar will change several times over, the seasons will come and go, I'll celebrate another birthday, another anniversary, etc. One thing that won't happen though... I WILL NOT USE UP THAT BOTTLE OF PERFUME BEFORE I PAY OFF MY DEBT!

Good Idea : Find something that you can use as a visual reminder to help motivate you to stay on course.

My Weekly Money Check-Up 6/20/11

Here's my Weekly Money Check-Up, courtesy of My Pretty Pennies. Sorry I missed a few days last week. I was laid up with a pinched nerve. Feeling a bit better now and glad to be back :) Hope your week is off to a good start!

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on a fun weekend out. My hubby and I went out this weekend and got a little off budget :(

2. Today I am thankful for chiropractors! I had never been to one before and I had to go to one a couple of times over the past few days. They have gifted hands and seem to know just what to do to provide relief.

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free thing I did last week that made me happy was go to Sea World! My husband won tickets on the radio (for the first time ever) to a party that the radio station was having THAT NIGHT. He won the very last pair that they were giving away, so that was kinda cool. It was a spontaneous, fun and free evening :) We enjoyed it!

4. I will consider this week a success if I can tweak our budget a bit to fix our night on the town.

5. My night-stand contains; on top - a lamp, a candle, my jewelry box, and my best wife trophy :), inside - a couple of magazines, chapstick, my ear plugs and eye patches.

I hope you all have a great week! It's the official start of Summer, it's bound to be good :)

Someday I'll get used to it...

I logged into our bank account today to check in on things. I do this regularly so that I can catch any issues before they become costly problems. I'm not one to offer much advice, but I recommend doing this, if you don't already. Here's what I saw:

CHECKING
Account Name: Checking
Account Number: xxxxxx4502

Available Balance: $0.16
Current Balance: $0.16

I shouldn't have been too surprised since that's what I have written in my checkbook. But for some reason, my stomach dropped when I saw it and I got nervous! All of our bills are paid, we have plenty of food and my hubby gets paid in 2 days. Thankfully, we have our emergency fund if something major were to happen. I had to take a moment to tell myself "You're doing it right. This is what it SHOULD look like when you are doing zero-based budgeting." Someday I'll get used to it!

Making Memories

I was over at Blogging Away Debt reading Bek's post today called "Scars." I have a soft spot for Bek's debt challenge as she is one of the very first blogs I started reading when I got serious about getting out of debt. Today's post was great! She mentions how she likes the scars on her body in a way, because they have taught her lessons in life. I totally get that. I feel the same way. Sometimes I don't mind when things get dinged or stained because it makes a memory.

All too often we go through life on auto-pilot without many events along the way to help us remember things. They could be scars are on your body, like with Beks. Or a material item that got "christened" along the way. Like a stained comforter that reminds you of the time the kids made you breakfast in bed and the maple syrup ran off the pancakes onto the bed. You may have been disappointed at first by the stain but the memory of how you all jumped in bed together and watched the Saturday morning cartoons will stick with you for a lifetime. These are the things that life is made of.

Beks made a connection from the scars on her body to her financial scars and I think it's great to share:

"It had me thinking about my financial scars. You know the ones. They sit on your credit report and remind you of what an idiot you were. Every time I run my credit report, I see old car loans, old credit card high balances, student loans, and other financial mistakes I’ve made. Even though the financial wound has healed and the balances have been paid, they still sit as big, fat scars on my report. I’ve still got a few years before most of them drop off but I kinda wish they never would. Just like the ones on my face, those scars serve to remind me of my bad decisions and I’d prefer NOT to forget them.

Next time you look at your credit report and it’s not what you’d wish it would be, you can be a little grateful for the scar. It’s a good reminder of what an idiot you were and how far you’ve come."