The Fabulousness of Found Money...

Well not really found money, but forgotten money.



On my quest to get things paid off, I scoured my life for ways to get a little extra coin, here is what happened:

- I noticed a shelf and brackets that I was going to put up "tomorrow" for the last six months. In actuality this will never get done, and I don't even need the shelf for what I originally intended it. So I returned it to the store. Another $35 in the pocket. Granted this was gone as soon as I received it, as my son needed something (actually needed, not wanted - although we do spoil him pretty badly). However, I still think this is an accomplishment as I managed to buy something without it touching a credit card, or my actual budget.

- I filed an adjustment to my tax return this year which should yield me about $500. I knew about this adjustment before, but as I was going through the process I decided to look at past years, and lo and behold I found another $600 bucks that I could get back from 2005 and 2006. Now I just hope the government sees things the way I do.

- I realized that on a recent trip I took, (that I couldn't afford, but there is nothing I can do about that now). I had not applied to receive the state tax back on my purchases. Yet another $100 when it comes in.

- And lastly, the change jar. It's been sitting there for a while, but I finally rolled it. Only $29, but cash I didn't have yesterday.

Granted some of these things will take time to come in, but opening the mail to a big fat cheque will be nice. Here are some tips to "find" money in your life:

1. Rebates - How many times have we thrown out those pesky little rebate cards because the $3.00 rebate isn't worth your time. Well it might not buy a vacation home, but it money you didn't have before. If the take to much time to fill out, leave it in your purse or wallet for when you are waiting at the doctor's, or better yet in the bathroom for when you a couple of extra idle minutes in there. If the rebate is more than the postage to send it in. Do it!!

2. Returns - Scour your home for items you don't use that still have the tags on and return it!! Even if you don't have the receipt, or it is after the return policy period you can usually manage to get a gift card in the amount of the item (you might lose money as it may be at the current bprice, but if you are not using it you are gaining nothing by keeping it). Keep the gift card to buy things you really need, or use it to splurge for "free" when you have earned a treat for yourself.

3. Loose Change - Doesn't add up fast, but it does add up. If you can keep your fingers out of the jar, it could be pizza delivery on a really bad day.

4. Consolidate Accounts - Do you have a few bucks in Paypal, $2 in an unused bank account, etc. Clear out these amounts and gain a couple bucks. Yet again, not much, but something. Besides the sooner a dollar is paid on a credit card the sooner the credit clock stops.

5. Sell Stuff - Yes, the power of eBay and it's followers. I'm not going to spend too much time here as we have all heard this before, but remember anythign can sell. I just sold used balloons.

6. Check Your Records - Although you might not be able to pull out a tax refund like I did, be sure to check things like your tax returns, credit card statements, or anything else where someone could slip up or the amount could be negotiated. You can very often find mistakes that cost you money.

7. Clean - I have often times been amazed at what I have come across from cleaning. Gift certificates I hadn't used, tons of loose changes or bills in old wallets, purses, and clothes, even cheques I hadn't cashed at the bottoms of drawers. I even know someone who found $200 in an old wedding card. Plus, it's a free thing to keep you busy.


Happy Hunting!!

Starting Over Yet Again...

As you can see I updated my debt amounts the other day on my sidebar. I'd be interested to know the noise you all made when you actually read the total. Six digits worth of debt, makes my skin crawl.

You must keep in mind that some of this is from fees and such to get the equity loan, but my mistakes nonetheless.

A few little things to note:

Things are going to get worse!: Credit cards B-D have all had partial payments from the equity loan, so for 3/4 of the month they had a balance in the 10's of thousands at a disgusting rate over 19%. So therefore, the when the interest charge hits at the end of the month it will be big and ugly, coming close to doubling some of the balances. It's okay, I know this is coming.

Charging the Opportunity Cost: The equity portion is not just current mortgage less balance before the loan (well it is right now, but it will not be in the future). To make sure that the balance is the most accurate, I have maintained an amortization chart of my old mortgage, so the amount owing will be the current mortgage value less what my old mortgage value WOULD HAVE been on that date. I figured that if I didn't take into account where I should have been under normal mortgage payments had my financial life not gone to hell, then I would be attributing money I pay on my mortgage to debt reprayment and basically over accounting my actual progress. This is a process, I will not get thorough it quickly or easily, I have come to terms with that.

But there it is; the writing on my blog wall. Things are going to go better this time around. They have to.

Never Leave Home Without It...

So, I went grocery shopping today. Nothing new, but I have been trying to stay within or go under my budget as much as possible. Well, today I found the best tool for this...wait for it...my calculator!

Yeah, it may seem like a no-brainer to bring a calculator to calculate sales and determine if certain sales/sizes are worth the money, but I actually added up each item I was planning to buy as I put it in my cart. It provided a running tally for my items and I found myself really watching what I was picking up. It may have been a fluke, but I spent about $50 less than I normally do at the grocery store and still manage to get everything on my list (plus a couple extras- I'm only human).

I guess it just gives you a more in your face view of what you are actually buying, instead of waiting for the end, where you just buck up and pay the bill.

Getting Down to Business...

So the money for the loan went through today. Of course there will be clean up with some residual interest payments and a couple little things here and there, but we have now successfully consolidated two of our cards and are working to get the other ones gone.

It's a good day.

Things To Do In Bed...

Sounds exciting. Not so much. Last night me and my husband curled up under the covers and revamped our budget. Probably makes most people turned on just thinking about it ;)

So the other day we set our appointment to sign off all of the documents for the loan, but we were asked to bring in our credit card bills. I mentioned to the hubby, "so what are we going to say when she asked why they have increased over the past 3 months." Looking at me dumbfounded he responds "how did they increase?" This conversation continues in which he asks the hard question; Even with the loan, can we afford to live in our house, or do we need to move and start over? It wasn't a threat, and he was very level headed indicating that sometimes reality isn't what we want it to be.

So after the kids went to bed, we curled up with my laptop and hammered out a more realistic budget. It included a lot of things that I didn't include before that had been ending up on credit cards. Based on this budget, we have a small shortfall for about the next 3 months, but then we actually have an extra $23 per month ongoing. Not a lot but it's something.

We also estimated that it will be about 3 years before we pay off the residual on our actual credit cards. But at least we are moving in the right direction. It's weird how in the midst of your darkest hour, you finally start to feel better.

This communication thing was a long time coming, but much needed. Hopefully, the transparency will do us good.

Ding Dong the Debt is Dead (Sort of)...

When I mean debt, I mean 3/4 of the amount...

and when I say dead, I mean reincarnated at a more manageable interest rate.

That's right people, the consol loan came through (clouds parting, angels singing), but not for the full amount (boo!). I guess in these economic times, not to mention the ridiculous debt load we are carrying, it just wasn't feasible. However, about 3/4 of our debt just dropped it's interest rate by about 3/4 of it's original percentage. Small victory, but a stepping stone on the right path.

I feeling much better about this today.

$4 slap in the face...

$4...

This is the balance in our home bank account right now. After getting cleaned out by the tax man, and being on permanent standstill for that loan we are probably not getting, we are cash crunched beyond belief.

Granted there is a paycheque from the hubby coming on Monday (which is late, and I don't know how much it will be - damned commission work!), but it is already allotted to other things, like say the utilities bill.

I am exceedingly frustrated right now. I feel like I am just drowning and can't seem to find my way out. I know I just need to breathe and regroup (which is what I'll be doing this weekend, as what else can you do with $4 in your bank account).