Ill Gotten Gains

I am going to take the advice of TeacHer and Smallstepsforbigchange and put most of the money in savings ($1000) and use a small portion for debt repayment ($500).

I am also working on becoming more responsible with the little bit of extra money I get, so with the $400 I had left over after I paid bills I kept $100 for shopping and am going to make a $300 payment to my MasterCard.

This is how I spent the $100

$35 - Petsmart
2 boxes of cat litter (Need)
Cat Food (Need)

I saved $4 by using my PetPerks card

$14 - Jo-Ann
Fabric (Want)
Velcro (Want)
Insul-Bright (Want)

I saved $2.80 by using my 40% off coupon.
I am making coffee cozies as Christmas presents for my coworkers, each one will cost me $2.80 to make. Once completed I will post them on my other blog.

$39 - Walmart
Frozen Pizza (Want)
Frozen pre-cooked, pre-cut, chicken breast (Need)
Mozzarella Cheese (Need)
Chicken Slices (need)
2 Cadbury Chocolate Bars (Want)
Oreos (Want)
Ritz (Want)
2 packages of wraps (Need)
A Pomegranate (Need)
Cesar Salad Dressing (Need)
Parmesan Cheese (Want)
Sinkers (Want)

I am usually a Target shopper, since I am trying to get my financial life in order I have decided to get off my high horse and become a Walmart shopper.

I realized that I would stop wasting so much money on junk food if I would make and bring lunch to work. If you couldn't tell from my shopping list, this week is chicken cesar wraps and a little baggie of either Oreo's or Ritz. If I had only bought needs I would have saved $15. Maybe next time I wont buy desert.

As you can see I have decided to break everything I buy into the categories of wants and needs. This way I think of every purchase before and after I make it.

November Spending Plan - Part 1

I was finally able to get in contact with Sallie Mae and for the low, low cost of $150 my 3 Sallie Mae loans are in forbearance for the next 3 months. I know it will cost me in the end but my money is so tight right now that I have to think short term over long term.

My cash break down is

Paycheck - $850

Sallie Mae - $150
Electric Bill - $170
Master Card - $70
Gas - $24
Sally Beauty Supply - $31 (I needed a new blow dryer)

Total - $445

Surplus - $405

Over the next 3 months I will have $1500 cash from not paying my student loan. The question now is what do I do with the money?

A. Put it in my savings account
B. Pay off my Master Card (again)
C. Put half in my savings and use half toward credit card debt

I could use some advice.

Please Forgive My Absence

After a short hiatus and a small financial breakdown I have decided to resume posting on this blog. I started to get depressed and made some bad financial decisions that now I have to pay the piper for. When I posted on this blog regularly I was making a lot of progress, so I see that I need to come back in order to recover and make more progress.

Future posts will be copies of financial post from my other blog.