The Money Pit

HA! All credit cards are once again under their limits!

And I managed to sneak an extra $15 to the Old Navy card, and an extra $50 to the REI visa.

I would have sent it all to Old Navy, only I panicked about the REI, thinking that the minimum payment wouldnt bring me enough under the limit.

I figured out how that one managed to get overlimit though. Brandus "accidently" used it instead of his own check card at the native store.

Twice.

On the same day.

*sigh*

oh well, he is leaps and bounds better than he used to be, so Im not going to do more than tease him about it.

But! Hey! Back under limits for all cards, and actually watching the numbers DROP! WHEEE!


I also managed to locate another $1.68 in change, bringing the piggy up to $13.55. As soon as I get to Anchorage on Monday, Ill deposit that, and hopefully send it towards the Old Navy card too!

My husband leaks coins.

I have no idea what he does, but everyday, I find anywhere from a few cents to almost a dollar in coins, usually near his chair or on the floor where he changes clothes.

So, I scoop them up and dump them in my little piggybank.

Today, I counted.

$9.98

Totally unfair. I just need two more cents!

*searches couch cushions*

ETA: HA! Found $1.89, bringing it up to $11.87

I know that cooking at home saves alot of money. And for the most part, we kind of HAVE to, seeing as we live in Nowhere, Alaska, which has no cars, no roads, and most importantly, no resturants.

But we find it so easy to run to the Native Store or the AC to just pick up a thing or two everyday. And, seeing as everything sold up here is VERY expensive, due to the shipping cost and handling added in, this adds up really fast.

Plus, we're currently eating junky freezer stuff. Frozen bean and cheese burritos (what, like those are HARD to make?), frozen fried chicken breasts, frozen french fries..

Not very healthy, especially as Im pregnant and need to be eating better.

We have some weird food things that go on in our lives anyway..husband Brandus is a vegetarian, but Im not.

I dont eat tofu, or most of the meat substitutes - although I like the fake sausage and veggie crumbles.

Neither of us eats seafood, mushrooms, or onions (although onions we bend on for flavoring)

Brandus is a GREAT cook, and can create things off the top of his head. Whereas, I HAVE to have a recipe to follow.

Finding things we will both eat is slightly complicated.

So, Im trying to get the kitchen cleaned up so that we can start doing more actual cooking, and less nuking or heating up.

I just need to sit down and plan some menus. Maybe I can make some stuff we can freeze and heat later.

Currently owed on the credit cards, according to online, up to the minute reports:

Discover - 6,697.95 (limit: 6,700)
Chase - 2,886.37 (limit: 3,000)
REI - 5,073.15 (limit: 5,000 ACK!)

Old Navy - 509.79 (limit: 600)

Total: 15,167.26

Ill have to edit this when I get home and can locate the latest REI card statement. I cant remember my online login information to look now! (FIXED)

Discover card is the only one that got used this month(at least, on purpose), and that was a $35 payment to ETS to get my Praxis score reports sent to the Alaska teaching license place. There was also a mystery emusic.com charge to the chase card that I have to track down, because i didnt do it, and the husband knows i would have to kill him.

Im very close to the limit on all, which looks bad. But when you realize we were OVER the limit on all three of the major cards, its very exciting to see the numbers starting to drop. Even if it is so.very.slow.

What's really sad? Before we moved in together, I HAD no debt. And we were doing ok, but then we went to Vegas for a long weekend (4 years ago), and to Disneyworld on our honeymoon (2.5 years ago), and to Italy for our first anniversary..and then brandus was in school and out of work for a year and a half..

Brandus's parents recently came into aLOT of money when Mimi (his grandmother) died.

So, when Brandus told me they wanted to "spoil us" with the money, my ears perked up.

"They want to pay off your car? Or your student loans?" I asked eagerly.

Oh, how little I knew.

No, they wanted to buy us expensive gifts and come visit us for Thanksgiving in Anchorage and take us shopping.

I think, oh! They'll pay for a Sam's trip! We're out of food, and we can get some nice food luxeries that we usually can't!

They came. They bought gifts.

And then we went to Sam's.

"Sure! We'll pay for it!" They laughed, throwing boxes of suger cookie mix (?!) and hummus and avacados in the cart.

And then? As we pushed the buggy to the front of the store to check out?

They DISAPPEARED.

And by the time we realized they weren't coming back in, and we're going to pay, everything had been scanned, and we couldnt pull EVERYTHING out that wasn't a necessity.

$500. Fortunatly, all of it is edible. Its just not all stuff we would have even agreed to if we had known it was going to be on OUR dime.

Wow, its been a while! Sorry about that, but things got WAY overwhelming.

We did make it to Alaska, sadly spending most, if not all, of our bonus checks buying (mostly) necessities.

And some toys. Because I have yet to develop the ability to exlain rationally to my husband that he has PLENTY of toys, and no, we dont need a lego robot.

And neither does your classroom, dear.

And it is expensive to live out here. Especially because, as soon as we got up here, we found out I was pregnant.

Which is awesome. But doctor's appointments are expensive, when you have to factor in airfare!

Roundtrip for both of us, from Kotlik to Anchorage, is $1280. If we BOTH have doctor's appointments, then our health insurance reimburses us for 90% of that.

Eventually.

But, they dont help with hotel costs, or food while we're in town.

Its expensive!

However, even with all that, we have STOPPED using the credit cards completely!

Ok, so, last month I had to use the Discover card once to pay for my score results to turn into the state teaching license board, but other than that, they are COMPLETELY UNUSED!

This is so very major!

It used to be that we would discuss it, decide not to use the cards, and then Brandus would convince me that we needed groceries, and we didnt have any other money...

But it's so exciting now to actually be able to see our credit card bills go down. Slowly, omg slowly, but still, DOWN!

We have three, and are close to the limit on all of them, but they are dropping! They are!

I will be trying my very best to update more often, as actually blogging about money helps me keep it in mind.

I dont like my job. This is not a secret.

However, right now, as i am doing MY job (manager's assistant) AND the manager's job, im getting paid really well. About $14/hour.

But i HATE it. i have a hard time convincing myself to come in every morning. I have to talk myself into not just leaving after lunch.

and the ONLY reason i do it, is because we need the money with brandus in school and not working.

So, last night, after his VERY LAST CLASS in school (except for his comps, which are June 7), when brandus came home and said, "ok, im done, you can quit," i very nearly passed out.

i would still have to get another job, anything really, because bills are still needing to be paid..and brandus says he can get a job easy, even if its a delivery job..

im torn.

i HATEHATEHATE my job. HATE. the people here are INSANE - the former boss got in trouble with the big boss, because she went to get ice cream and didnt invite one of our co-workers. im so not kidding.

plus the fact that one of my co-workers threatened to dock my pay due to me checking my email..she goes for five smoke breaks a day, but god forbid i check my email.

plus the fact that i got in trouble yesterday from the Ice Cream Queen for not checking my mailbox and jumping to do her demands immediately. screw the fact that noone helps me do two jobs, or even tells me HOW.

But, at the same time, its good money. and its really not that difficult of a job. its just sucking away my will to live. or to not stab a coworker in the face with my pen.

*clutches hair* why did he offer this to me?! its not fair!

Tomorrow, the brandus and i head off for the Sam's Club to start an experiement.

See, when we move to Alaska, the best way to go shopping is to go into Anchoridge and go to Sam's or Costco, because the shop in Kotlik is TEENY and expensive. So, you go buy everything for the month, and then hope you havent forgotten anything.

Im thinking that waiting until we get there might be a bad time to experiment, because it will be very difficult to get to a store if we forget something we really need.

So, tomorrow, armed with menus and shopping list for a month, we head to Sam's.

Im pretty good about only going once a week or less, but brandus would go to the store everyday to get something if i didnt sit on him everytime he wants cheesy poof or the stuff to make nacho cheesy dip.

So, this will be new for both of us. We have a good amount of things we can use already at the house, so we hopefully wont go too overboard.

I know that limiting shopping trips can help your grocery budget by a good bit, but im worried we will end up A)running out or B)wasting alot of food.

Anyone have any experience or tips to share? They would be very helpful!

*dances* with the half.com money and the money from my clothes selling AND the fact that i am currently working at a higher rate of pay:

Last months car payment AND the late fee AND a little extra were paid!

I never thought id be so happy about this. its ridiculous.

of course, until i moved in with brandus (he is a MAJOR impulse spender) - i HAD no debt and lots of savings. Sadly, its now the other way around. Most of that is student loans and him not working due to school, so its not really his fault, but at the same time..some of it is. some of it is COMPLETELY my fault as well - "sure we can go on vacation and put it on the credit card!"

But, my paycheck for last month was $600 more than the month before, which helped ALOT. we're still having to be tight, but at least we arent overdue on most bills now. i hope...

The money from half.com just showed up in my bank account, so thats $50 closer to the car bill.

And then! Yesterday, out of the blue, my mom sent me a check for clothes of mine she had taken to consignment - $100

Plus a pinecone survey check - $5

THE CAR PAYMENT IS MADE!

*dances*

we got lucky this month, i know, because i worked out a deal with Atmos, but i still have to pay the Xcel bill.

Plus, pry the credit card out of the husband's hands..which i did a month ago, but then he ran out of cash and located the card in my drawer. but, really, here's what i cant figure..

I drive to denver (an hour and some trip) once a week.

Brandus works 2 blocks from our apartment.

And yeah, he drives a larger car that takes more gas than mine..but how is he spending $160 a month in gas...when i only spend $80?

Brandus, who will admit he is awful with money, has a credit card.

It has his name on it.

It is an account in my name. We got it for gas, originally, and we have had MANY conversations over the use of the word "emergency."

"Honey, you asked me to get milk!"

No, you said, do you need anything? and i said, we're out of milk. Do you have money?

And he has improved in leaps and bounds. Last month even, he didnt use it at all!

But now, he's creeping back up there. And not on groceries. On STUPID STUFF. we've discussed the fact we still need another $100 or so to make ends meet this month. He knows. He DOES.

So, when i get the alert online that the card has been used, why is it always for fast food, AND FOR STUPID "TRIALS" THAT HE NEVER REMEMBERS TO CANCEL?

Columbia House Video has charged us twice! TWICE! At $25 a pop! And I cant call and cancel, because the account for the trial isnt in my name. And its not just this once!

Its making me CRAZY. He has his own damn credit card, and he KNOWS he is supposed to use it for crap like this. SO I WONT ACCIDENTLY KILL HIM IN HIS SLEEP.

Deposited $108 bucks into checking last night.

$40 - tutoring
$5 - pinecone survey
$63 - closed savings account

So, we're now only $60 from paying the car bill this month. WHOO.

Im waiting for $49 from half.com book/dvd sales, and we're hoping for another $40 from tutoring today.

Three more weeks until Brandus can get a part time job! And only five weeks until his summer student loans come in!

We might just make it, yet. WITHOUT me having to call my dad for help. YAY.

Just got emails from half.com.

Lost S1 has sold for $30.17
Joan of Arcadia S1 has sold for $24.99

Still need to list some of the "loose" (ie, not box set) dvds..like, Robin Hood and The Secret Garden. They're only going for about $7 each, but hey, every little bit counts. Plus, if we really get desperate, we can sell the GameCube. We bought it used, and we play it, but the money would come in handy..

Everything sold is going towards the remaining half (plus late part) of the car payment, which adds up, with late fees, to $260ish.

EEK.

But!

$260-55.16 leaves only $204.84.

i WILL make this whole payment this month. *glowers in concentration*

Havent had a chance to do more than glance over my art supplies, so that still needs to be done.

In fabulous news, my boss has agreed to compensate my time, starting two weeks ago, to the base pay Manager's pay.

Am I the manager? No.

Im the manager's assistant. and ive been doing my job AND the manager's job since the manager left.

Im hoping for a raise to at least $12.00 a hour, even if its just for this month. Right now, i make $10.70, which isnt bad, but that extra hundred or so would be such a huge help with bill paying.

We've been pricing things for Alaska. ACK.

The principal told us to wait until we got to Anchoridge before buying any of our major needs - but, if we do that, then we miss the good sales, and will spend more in the long run.

But we dont get the signing bonus until we get there..and we dont have any extra money to get outfitted at the moment.

Gah. Decisions, decisions.

I love the first friday of the month.

Almost four months ago, we discovered that the library was starting a film discussion group.

The movie is FREE (and on a big screen), snacks are FREE, and then there is a discussion after the movie.

We enjoy it so much, we are part of the organization commitee. which means we get to help pick the movies!

This month, we're watching Touch of Evil.

Looking forward to it!

In less then four weeks, brandus will be finished with his classes!

This means, in four weeks, he will again be EMPLOYED!! Oh happy day.

Im not teaching this year, due to severe burnout at the end of last year, and then came the joy of budget cuts. So, ive been answering phones and various admin type jobs, which has been fine.

But, at the end of last year, we talked about the fact he had practicum and student teaching this year, as well as finishing up his Master's classes, and we decided there was no way he could work AND do school full time+

And, we decided that we could live on my income and student loans, if we cut back some.

We did cut back, but not enough, and i wasnt tracking the credit cards well enough, so when we hit the credit limit on the discover card, it was a very bad shock.

we cut back further, and did ok. but then brandus needed supplies for school, and new clothes for teaching, and with one thing and another, we've run out of student loan money for the semester.

But! Four weeks! Four weeks and he is FINISHED! and he can become employed, and i can stop having panic attacks every month.

I keep reminding myself, we just need to get to August. Because we get our signing bonuses for Alaska ($3500 each) to outfit ourselves for the experience. Plus, our paychecks will be HEFTY. And we can start by paying off the credit cards! and brandus's car! and student loans! and SAVING.

At some point, i AM going to post the Alaska budget, but at the moment, it still needs alot of tweaking.

So far, the only thing we have a ballpark on is the cost of housing. We have a two bedroom, fully furnished apartment with utilities paid, including high speed wireless internet.

For $500 a month.

I get so frustrated with my husband.

Im in charge of the finances, because he cant be trusted with a checkbook, which he will freely admit to. We did a trial joint account when we first moved in together, and things ended badly.

I try to keep him involved, we go over how much we have, what our bills are, etc, but i SWEAR he has no concept.

I have drained my personal savings account, my personal checking account, my savings bonds, all in an effort to get us ahead.

His parents send "us" some money, and he buys dinner and toys.

We still need an extra $200 to get through this month, but hey! we have a replica of the Harry Potter sorting hat!

*facedesk*

Didnt make it to the bank today to drop in my piggy bank money. it was after five by the time i got off of work, so i stopped by walmart to pick up some bread and milk, and then headed off to do laundry.

$5 for two loads, washing, about $1.50 for drying. I usually dont dry, but we had so much to wash that it would have been very difficult to drag that much wet stuff back up to the apartment.

Listed some of the dvd sets on half.com. Lost s1 is up for a little over $30, and Joan of Arcadia is up to $29. plus some random books. all of which would be a very helpful addition at this point.

bought some batteries for the digital camera today as well. over the weekend, im going to start trying to clean out my art room and some of my art supplies. i cant drag them all up to Alaska anyway, and the rubber stamps can bring in some good money.

still have to do the menu plan for the next two weeks, and go grocery shopping.

Still have to call comcast. we dont have cable, but we do have internet, which brandus needs for class. we just need to get back on the promo price, and it will be a little easier.

we arent doing too bad, actually, i just panicked some today when i went to pay the xcel and atmos bills. usually, i wouldnt worry, but the student loan money for this semester is gone, and we still have two more months before his summer check comes through.

This month is tighttighttight.

I got paid $1140.00 on Friday, and its gone already. We had some extra in the account, but only a couple of hundred. So, assume $1300 to start.

through experience, ive learned to go ahead and deal with groceries and gas, or else we end up with insane charges on the credit card. then rent, then car payment, then everything else.

Discover was head hunting, so i paid the minimum for this month and last month on Friday, because we couldnt scrape enough together last month. Wave goodbye to $253.

So, I spent $204 at Walmart on Monday - the extra four was for sun burn stuff, i got a really bad one on Saturday. But $80 of that is for my gas (Brandus pays for his own), and $120 for groceries this month. Last month we had a little left over on the gift card, which i forgot to take into account.

Then rent is due today, which is $650.

Half of car payment went out, at $190. we owe another $190, as well as $85, which is late fee plus what we couldnt pay last month.

Tmobile was a nice surprise at $17.00, so that's been taken care of.

Comcast, Atmos, and Xcel, and the car insurance are still outstanding bills, and im not sure how we're going to come up with the money to pay them.

Current Planning:

Brandus is tutoring, plus his parents sent some money, so that will help. We have about $50 left in the savings account, and i just pushed the last $25 out of my personal savings account.

Will post on current schemes in a little while, once Ive gone through books and movies to see what can be sold, either through half.com or ebay.

Wish me luck.

This is, technically, my third blog. I have

Silverspiral.net. as well as the livejournal.

Family reads those though, and im not comfortable talking about my money situation with them.

they might offer to send me something, and that would make me uncomfortable.

Anyway, in August, we (being myself and Brandus, the husband) move to Alaska for a year to live and teach in a fishing village. We're both very excited.

The pay is very good, so i want some way to track ourselves as we dig out of dept that way.

At the moment, brandus is student teaching, as well as finishing up his Masters, so we are living on my income, which isnt much. And, with having to pay our normal bills, as well as prepare for our artic adventure, things are going to be tight.

to say the least.

so, im going to try and track expenses here, as well as have a place to rant about brandus using the credit card, or ask for help finding cheaper internet service.

I have to swing by Olive Garden today, and see if they are hiring hostesses.

otherwise, we're not going to make brandus's car payment this month.

I cleaned out the piggy bank this morning, and will be depositing $14 or so in the checking account this afternoon. Thank goodness I already bought our grocery and gas walmart cards. at the very least, we will eat today.