check-up

well, i'd say i'm at about 90% accuracy for balancing my checkbook. that's quite a feat in my world. i'm really terrible about keeping it up through the whole month. we're now at 2/3 of the way through & i'll be doing a more thorough check this weekend (if i don't procrastinate) to get it up to date.
go me!

credit card fiasco

here’s a listing of my delightful cards with & without balances

hills visa debit-this is the debit card for my checking account. obviously a positive balance on that one.
orange mastercard debit-this has an available $165 overdraft, but this is also a debit card linked to ‘savings’ with ingdirect & earns interest (savings=about $15 in there)

wamu/providian-this one changed names while i had it, but zero balance finally! it also gives me a free monthly update of my fico score (765 through transunion!)
gap-my weakness, but i haven’t shopped there too much recently, besides using it to pay for jeans that s needed. he's slowly paying me back. (interest, i know!)
ucbnd visa-couple hundred balance because i'm stupid & had to take out a cash withdrawal because I had to pay my chiropractor for out-of-network services nearly $400. dumb, dumb, dumb! paying back & hope to have down to zero again by christmas. this is also linked to the bank where my mom works. even stupidererer.
capitalone visa-paying down the balance from a balance transfer. approx. $1000. eep!

bank of america cubs mastercard-card in my name & s has a balance that he's paying on it, so as to get a credit history.

and thus is my current shameful credit card debacle.

August Goals

1. Do not use credit card.
**I have one major credit card, a debit card, Macy's card and a Sear's card. My major credit card has major debit. I owe Citi Cards a 1/3 of one of my checks every month and it scares me.

2. Find a way to actually save money.
**I live paycheck to paycheck. I need to find a way to cut expenses and create some sort of savings or just be able to deal with emergencies.

3. Sit down with husband and try to make him understand the cold sweats I get every time I pay the bills.
**I pay all the bills every month. I tell him what his half is and he pays me back. Unfortunately, it takes him a month and a half to get me my money and I need it for next month's bills.

Those were my goals this month. I've already failed at number one. It seems that my break lines on my front wheels were at 3%. According to Dave (the wonderful mechanic) I was risking my life every time I got on the road. I have a Mazda 6 and I love my car. Dave informed me that Mazdas are one of the most expensive cars to repair and I'd have to agree. I didn't have the $200.00 I needed to fix the car, they don't have payment plans, I used my credit card.

Failure so early sucks.

bill pay

reminder to myself to make payments & jot them down on my much-neglected checking register.
rent
electric
cell phone
car/toyota
bank loan
cable
visa

day 1

i have 7 open major credit cards (visa and mastercard only, but this counts 2 debit cards, one of each). that is a lot. this does not include any store cards i have, but never use (ie kohls, gap, victoria's secret). i do not currently plan to close the cards i do have, but just pay down the balance. i’m taking the ‘smallest first’ approach, rather than pay off the highest interest rate method because it is simply more encouraging to me to get one or two out of the way and then work on the bigger ones.

what are your interest rates on your card?

here is an article with suggestions on grocery shopping:

eating on $100/week

i also plan to pre-publish my monthly/daily plans to make sure that i pay my bills on time. getting a paycheck once a month, on the first, makes it difficult in many ways to budget, but it can also be a good thing because you know at the beginning of the month just how much money you will have to make it through those 30-31 days.