Mariejensen2007's Personal Finance Blog

I found out about taking surveys from an ad someone here had. The site is vindale.com I have found I have actually made money doing this. You do need a credit card though. Mainly you need it to sign up for free trials, if at the end of the trial period you don't cancel then bingo, they charge your card. For instance I made about $30 signing up for blockbuster free trial. I got three movies to watch free and then I cancelled. I had to fill out a ten minute survey that was very easy. Some surveys have acquisition fees or shipping fees of the free samples but those are pretty minimal.
You should try it unless you are shy about picking up the phone and cancelling a trial membership, or think you will forget to. I myself have a huge calendar right next to my computer right next to my phone Otherwise try it! So far I've made $76 for about a half hours work.

No credit card use for 40 days! yeah!!

Now I'm not going to use my overdraft OR credit cards for 40 days. The overdraft is really a credit card anyway-it's one of those fancy atm cards with a Visa sign on it. When there's no money in your checking it goes over to your credit. This month I'm going to try and pay it down and then the credit could be used as a EF fund only if absolutely needed. I'm also going to try the snowball effect for my credit cards this month for the first time. This is exhausting. I think I am one of those people who keeps myself in debt subconsciously on purpose so I'll always have something to chip away at for fear I get bored.....isn't that silly? As if there aren't perfectly wonderful things to do in life other than tally the credit card bills for hours and hours every month

Top ten things about my job as a greeting card designer:

10. Knowing it's not life or death.
9. I get to listen to whatever radio station I want.
8. The only one that can veto the designs is me.
7. Knowing someone is getting a card I've designed and smiling.
6. Seeing my cards in stores.
5. Buying fancy Japanese paper.
4. Latte breaks.
3. Faxed in orders.
2. I get to use a 100 year old letterpress.
1. Having a job that I love and work that I'm proud of.

Today's credit score is up to 742. It is a pleasure to know it can go up 40 points in a month.

Ebay earnigns from a purchase of $170 turned out to be $340. That's a nice profit!

30 days of no credit card use! 10 more days to go to reach my goal, then hopefully it will stick. Because I did not use credit cards at all I have depleted my EF fund and also used the overdraft on my checking. I am going easy on myself this month though because next month I don't think I will have to do that as there will be no cc charges.

It's wonderful to think I can't possibly use my credit cards because I took drastic measures and cut every one of them up! I am not even tempted anymore by the credit card checks that come in. really what was keeping me having any at all was the thought I'd need one for an emergency. This has forced me to be responsible and now I have around $600 in the EF fund.

I bought clothes to sell on EBAY and am doing an experiment. They cost $170. Nexttime I write I will put down the profit made and add it to the EF fund!

18,500 was the goal but the unforseen happened all last month. Plane tickets to a funeral, taxes and large car ticket items totalled 10 grand. Last month I was at 24,640.99 and this month I'm at 26,549.08 and I don't think I included the dentistry stuff last month cause I didn't consider it debt. It's not as bad as I thought when I consider how much I actually did pay off from last months added debt. Next month's goal $20,000!

On a positive note ING is at $185.62

My credit score this month is 708. I guess it's because of the mix up in payments with the same name.

I went to Jeremy's today. That's where I get clothes to sell on EBAY. It's mostly clothing from Anthropologie that isn't in season and is about 50% off. This is good because I sell these clothes on EBAY and bad because I want to buy clothes for myself. I picked up 6 items equaling about $140. Then I put back 4 of the items. It came to $40 for the two items. I didn't use the c.c.which I'm glad about. However, I'm a little disappointed about spending anything at all....Just two days ago I didn't have a dime and now that I've been paid why is it I always feel I have excess cash when I have credit card bills to pay??? While in the checkout line I heard a patron say, "I go shopping and my BF says who is this Jeremy anyway? Jeremy's is like my crack dealer she said. Only instead of crack it's clothes!"

I borrowed $600 from my work. $100 for the rental car, $500 for the repair and DH put $185 on his c.c. I just got paid so am paying them back. It will be nice not to have it all on the c.c. bill when I open up next month's statement...

Good News: 5th day no credit card use.

Bad News: My car broke down today (on the free way, with two small children and no cell phone!) It is costing $650

Good News: We are all ok. We had to wait 1/2 hour on the freeway until CalTrans came and pushed us out of traffic.

Bad News: CalTrans pushed us to the only available open spot there was-a bus stop. I got a $250 ticket for parking at a bus stop. They don't care that it was an emergency and I had my car towed within the hour.

Good News: After some time, I was able to reach my mom who came and picked us up. I rented a car dropped my 18 month old at daycare and my four year old son and I went to his school field trip to the zoo, only two hours late.

Bad News: The other day I cut up every one of my credit cards. I always kept them around for such an occasion only to rack up non-emergency debt, so I said enough is enough.

Good News: I have no credit cards to charge non emergency debt

Bad News: I have no way to pay the $650 with no credit cards.

Good News: I get $2000 on the 1st.

Bad News: The car will probably be ready tomorrow and I've used up my EF fund

Good News: I have learned what an EF fund is really for

Bad News: Not sure what I should do to come up with the money in the meantime. I could possibly ask my grandmother for a loan, write a credit card check to myself or the car place, borrow my husband's credit card.....

Good News: reading any suggestions that moght help!

Never having really understood the $20 challenge, I think I vchanged it's meaning two or three times to fit a different challenge of my own that I'd understand. This one is sticking. oI am challenging myself to not use credit cards for 40 days (Just like lent but more fun!) I have officially survived day number two. It's harder than you might think.....

I accidently paid my Working Assets Visa credit card payment to my Working Assets Phone bill. Now I have a credit on my usually low ($30)long distance bill for $230, and a missed payment on my usually high ($4500) Visa bill.

I received my discover card statement thinking I was going to have a much lower balance than last month. It was higher than last month's by about $200 I forgot I spent $250 on Turbo tax-one for my husbands corp., the other income tax. Then I learned I have a 19% interest rate and interest alone is $51. That made me frustrated enough to find both of my discover cards and another credit card and cut up all three. I am going to try cash only for the next 40 days. That is my new challenge! Today my grandmother took me and my son out to lunch, gave me $20 for gas, and bought me a new belt. I resisted temptation from 2 of the cutest sweaters you've ever seen in the Thrift store. It's been a great day.

My credit score went down from 761 to 722 but next month I am sure it will go up!

$24,640.99. Next month I will check in on April 28th and my goal is have a balance og $18,500. I think I can ...I think I can...

Haven't posted in awhile. Once I start spending like crazy I put the blinders up and ignore ignore ignore. I see it right here on paper...er...computer screen that I haven't written an entry since February. Within the last month I've probably put around $8,000 on credit. Almost $4000 for a new transmission and repairs, another $3000 to fly to Ohio with my son for a funeral, another $1000 for taxes etc etc. I am going to take the blinders off now, get all my owings in a row again and pay it off. Totals coming up next! In the meantime I've been reading all of your blogs. What a wonderful community to come to and share.

So I tried watching The Secret video. Very interesting, the laws of attraction. I have to keep remembering to put out the positive instead of the negative. This whole time I've been saying I'm underneath a mountain slowly chipping away only $20,000 more to pay. I've turned it into this: I have an abundant supply of wealth and am paying off everything! There are so many points to remember I got a little overwhelmed. I remembered this-they said try starting small-attract a cup of coffee. Think of the cup of coffe and it will be there. I thought of the most scrumptious capaccino with frothy foam all day and all night. The next day the restaurant next door to my work got a $3000 espresso machine and I was their very first customer. In all the years I've worked next door they never sold coffee. I also remembered to think of the perfect parking place. It happend three times! Right in front of wherever I needed to go there it was a parking place! I am going to move on to bigger things now that I am open to this ! How exciting! Has anyone else gotten specific results?

I have not read the book 'The Secret', but more or less believe in the idea of laws of attraction, which perhaps can extend to money. More than just money but abundance. I am picking a 'number' to try and make monthly. I am putting this out there. I have the right to abundance in everything in my life including health, and happiness. Abundance attracts abundance....I'm giving it a try starting now.....

As of 1/1/07 I have officially saved $153.76 in my Ing savings account. $28.76 of that was interest/bonus earnings from Ing.
remember:
Life is good.

Buying the car: $3000
4 new tires: $565.00
New transmition: $3000
(166,000) Tune up + all filters changed etc., etc., and two window motor replacements: $1400
Exhaust manifold + boots replaced $700
4 day Enterprise rent a car $187

$8852

JanuaryDiesel:$55
Biodiesel: $115 (full tank + two carboys of 5 gallons each)
Total gas: $170

I think I am one of those people in denial. I had to put $1500 for dental work on a credit card. I am saying to myself "That doesn't count" because dental work is not like going on a shopping spree. Since it is on a creidt card though I guess I will throw it in there with the wracked up total amount. We'll see what it is when I do the count this month.....BTW Capitol One offers a dental credit card where if you use it specifically for dental you can get a 1.9% rate.

I realize every day there are so many little freebies that it is impossible to add them up. Thanks to the universe for providing. I bet if I did add them up they would be the exact amount I had to pay for a new transmission, which I had to do yesterday. So I figure me and the universe are now even for awhile.

761 for January 2007
Up 4 points!
yeah!

From my previous debt total of $20423.85, I have 'discovered' a second Discover card, balance being $254.23 Bringing the real total up to $20678.08. Now that we have the real starting number, after paying down all the cc's, (except the cc overdraft which went up) my totals are as follows: Still lower than last month, but not by much. Providian: $8794.45
Patelco: $4953.96
A.T & T.: $1184.33
Chase: $1752.26
Discover 1 $3365.83
Discover 2 $187.39
Total: $20,238.22
Down by $439.86

On Fridays I go out with my Grandma for lunch. She lets me pay only twice a year. I try to sneak the money into the cashier beforehand but she gets really pissed off so I stopped. Today she bought my son a pair of shoes and four pairs of socks, plus our lunches. She says we are the only grandkids out of 6 she buys anything for because the others never even call. We go out to lunch every Friday. She is 87 and very very cranky but has a good heart underneath it all.
I never really did understand the $20 challange so I'm making up my own. It will be to add up for a year things I wouldn't have bought but certainly could use.....like everything I generously received today...

$300 extra prop. mgmt work
$300 extra prop. mgmt work
$615 art studio income
=$1215
-$830 preschool
=$385
-$1070 daycare(went up to $1040+30 late fee)
=$685 onto overdraft by the time all the checks clear....I have a large 685 number posted on the left hand side of my computer screen. I wish it were in red but I think buying a red pencil might break me. This is the EBAY goal to get to by the end of January. I need to make $40.29 extra per day. I am going to make a small pice of art every day. It will be posted under Vandercook4 should anybody become wildly interested in getting more in debt...I mean interested in small art collages. I do letterpress should you have any requests....Goal-Feb 1st overdraft starts going down instead of up.....

We are late on both kids tuitions. Preschool and daycare equal $1820. yeah-that's for one one year old and one four year old. Can you believe it? Or is it just like that in California? I have about three hundred dollars and need to pay the $830 on Tuesday...So $530 will be on the overdraft....I used to buy high end clothing for pennies on the dollar, fix them then sell them on EBAY. This required about two to three hours a day and I made about $90 per day. When I did it every day it was around $2700 per month minus exenses. Not too shabby but I don't have the time, maybe I could do it once a week.... Like I mentioned in the bio I am sleep deprived. Any extra time goes to the emergency sleep fund.

I spent $50 Christmas money on a tank of biodiesel today. Another goal of mine is to find where to buy that stuff cheaper! When you go to the actual station it's more than gas. I've heard you can make it for almost free-or buy it from private parties for around 1.00 per gallon.......I am going to track my spending on the vehicle then see if I can't muster up more energy to bike ride or roller skate at work.....heck both are free with benefits.

I got my paycheck and allotted $1000 for the EF fund. Out of the $1000 I bought 4 new tires. Which technically wasn't an emergency but I'm guessing I wouldn't feel that way broken down on the freeway with two screaming kids in carseats. I have an older Mercedes which is built like a tank and very heavy and hard on the tires. I got the best kind which were pricey but supposedly will last on that type of cars the most. $585 was the bill. $415 left now in the ef fund. I also have the Ing Direct orange savings account with $148.20 in it. I put in $5 every two weeks. I purposly do that so I won't even notice. They gave me $25 just for opening it. No strings attached.

I have decided I spend way too much on presents. I can't get away from the fact that I want to give people things that are worth a lot, as I think they themselves are worth it. I am not a person who calls or writes so I am going to try writing a letter every day. I love getting letters in the mail. Instead of gifts people will get cards-little works of art with words.......at .39 a stamp its only $142.50 per year to mail 365 letters. What a bargin! Come on people do it with me! It will be fun, I promise.