May Wrap-Up & June Goals

May Wrap-Up

I'm disappointed with May's progress. I received my Stimulus Rebate and yes I put mostly all of it in my savings account, but it was to replace money that I had previously spent. Therefore I didn't use it to boost my savings. I used it to bail myself out. I barely put any of my excess funds toward debt repayment. I can't say that Mother's Day or my eldest daughter's birthday were the reasons for my lack of progress. I spent a lot of money eating out in May. That's senseless because I had $44 left in my grocery budget. I'm seriously going to start sinking if I don't get my act together. So in June I'm going to try something different. I'm going to post my June Goals here and hopefully at the end of June I'll have accomplished them all.

June Goals

1. Do not charge more than $100 on my credit card.
2. Save at least $28 in my money games.
3. Replace the $79.13 that I owe my Christmas Fund.
4. Save at least $49.39 toward repaying my mom for my previous car.
5. Save at least $6.87 in my ING account.
6. Pay at least $150 extra on my car note.
7. Don't go over budget on my youngest daughter's birthday.
8. Lose 8 pounds!
9. Take a lunch at least 2 days each week.

Wish me luck!

Credit Card Spending

My credit card spending is getting out of control. These last couple of months I've nearly maxed out my card and used my extra debt repayment money to pay it off. I've got to get it together.

I guess I can consider this another ripple.

I'm Trying to Stay On Top

Children
I've been feeling like I'm on the verge of being overwhelmed for over a month now. There is so much to do. My oldest daughter is graduating from elementary school and going to middle school. The middle schools in our district aren't very good, so I'm trying to get her into one of the local charter schools. We've been writing essays, making copies, filling out applications, attending informational meetings, etc.

On top of that her birthday is May 7th and last year when my life was simpler I promised her that she could have a slumber party with 3 of her best friends at a hotel. So, I'm also party planning. Her birthday is during the week, so we are having the party next weekend. I pre-planned most of it, but now I have to do all the shopping and I hate shopping.

The science fair is coming up and this year both of my darlings are doing projects. They are picking them out as we speak and I'm sure right after the party we will get right on that.

Work
Work has actually calmed down just enough for me to try to catch up on some of my data entry, but they keep trying to find other things for me to do. It's driving me a little nuts.

Home
Tomorrow I have another appointment with the Homebuyer's Organization. Maybe I'll actually get some concrete information about my situation this time. That reminds me that I really need to get a handle on things and get that second job before the summer. I'm thinking about applying at a bookstore, since I love to read.

Money
My sister repaid the loan I gave her. I'm happy about that. So in a few days once the check clears my EF will be back at it's proper balance.

I can't wait to get my Stimulus Rebate, so I can repay my Savings account for our Spring Break Vacation. Some of it will go toward my car note. I slacked on that a bit this month. I'm also going to put a little aside to repay my mom. I can't wait until I have it all saved up to pay her. She's not expecting it and I think she'll be so happy.

I've been buying bottled water by the case and keeping it in my car for lunch. I usually go through 2 cases a month. I've been saving the bottles because my mom recycles. She takes all her bottles and cans once or twice a year. I decided that I'm going to recycle my water bottles and put that money into my money games account.

Books
I've been listing more and more of my books on Paperbackswap.com. I have a bunch that I need to mail out right now. So far all the books that I've ordered have been in excellent condition. So I've been trying to read at least 30 minutes each evening with my little darlings. I read for a few hours on the weekends to relax. I've been going through about 2 books a week.

BL @ Work
I was supposed to weigh-in unofficially yesterday, I think, but I forgot again. I've really got to start making my health more of a priority. My head is hurting right now and I hate that because I rarely get headaches. Of course I'm sitting here typing like an idiot instead of trying to figure out what's wrong with me. I guess I better go.

Ripples

The last couple of weeks I have been so tired when I come home that I don't really want to deal with my finances at all. I guess the "newness" of this responsibility has worn off. It's like when I was 6. I really wanted to learn how to iron clothes. My brothers were 15,17 and 18 so they did most of the chores. I was still too young to do anything right. I would see them ironing their clothes and my father's clothes. (My mom ironed her clothes and mine. My brothers probably would have burned mine because I was such a spoiled brat.) I thought it looked so fun. I begged and begged my mom to teach me. She wouldn't because I was too young and probably would have burned my hand and then dropped the iron on my foot. LOL! A few years later, when my brothers had all moved out and I was older - I had to learn. I was super excited - the first few times. By time summer rolled around and it got hot I was "over" ironing. I began to question why, since both my parents worked and I was the only child left at home, they couldn't afford to put their clothes in the cleaners. LOL!

This week I've been spending money like crazy. I've eaten out several times and used my debit card (Misc. money) because I only have like $45 cash left of my $200 monthly allowance. Sad to say I would have used my credit card if I hadn't been smart enough to remove it from my wallet and my bag. The LIE I've been telling myself in order to carry my debit card is that I need it for gas. My gas money is in that account, but I gassed up yesterday (at a truly horrendous $3.43/gallon) and now the need for carrying this card is over.

So the time for reckoning has come. Remember Susan Powter? The nearly bald- blonde haired lady who lost a ton of weight and was always screaming:

STOP THE INSANITY!!!!

Today Susan is yelling at me about my finances. So I'm holding myself accountable TODAY and tired as I am I will:

1. balance my checkbook
2. pay back my misc. fund
3. take my debit card out of my wallet
4. only carry my debit card when driving the 3 short blocks to the gas station

Otherwise my budget seems to actually work. The numbers are do-able if I can just get over my mental block of telling myself I'm trapped. For goodness sake I give myself $200/month. I can do plenty with that.

BTW, I thought Susan Powter was crazy at the time, but a few years ago after her fad died down I purchased a couple of her used videos on eBay and I really liked them. Go figure.

So I'm labeling posts along this line - Ripples. Ripples are the tiny waves that occur in water when there has been some small disturbance to the water. They let you know it's time to stop floating and to start swimming and paying attention. You could ignore them and continue to float, but you'd end up somewhere very different than where you wanted to go. I'm sure there will be more. Nothing in life comes without obstacles.