An Onion Article About Blogging

Classic.

You can read it here.

"I'm just doing this for me, after all."

One Month Challenge - Day 15

The legendary debt warrior Debt Blitzkrieg has joined us in monitoring daily spending. We hope she finds it as useful as we have.

Misc (sun shade for my feminine "ride", compact flourescent bulb - green points!, etc.): $15.00
Groceries: $63.95 ($3.00 in coupons, free 2 liter of soda)
Sigh........dining (Basil): $7.98
Diet Coke (Basil again): $0.75
Parking for free movie: $2.00 (used free passes to see "Hot Fuzz" while every other resident in the city was trying to get into "Spider-man 3")
Car and rental insurance: $103.56
Extra credit card payment: $10.00

Total: $203.24

I'm off the rails. Need to reign this s--- in. The first couple months were great, now I've fallen off the wagon and and in the gutter, mumbling to myself and not noticing I've wet my britches. Not good. But we're seeing how much eating out is costing us - we're trying to act how we'd normally act, and unfortunately this is how I used to act - offsetting the stress of debt with yummy sandwiches slathered in honey mustard. Perhaps some Cheetos.

The new debt numbers are in! The debt now stands at $15,504.19. Down from $18,264.53 in January. $2,760.34 paid off so far this year. Need to do better. The goal is to get under ten large by year's end, even if it means just getting to $9,999.99.

NCN On The Telly

NCN, one of the best debt bloggers around, got profiled on television! Check it out....here!

What Do Your Clothes Say About You?

Lately I’ve noticed I’ve accumulated a lot of shoes. I feel bad about it. First of all, I don’t usually throw shoes out unless they’re seriously out of style (circa 1985) or if they’re so worn out I have to purchase band-aids at the end of the day. Actually, I still have problems throwing them out because they may be just the shoe to complete the perfect outfit for some upcoming unknown event. I’ve also noticed that although I do have cheap shoes ($20 and less), as I’ve gotten older I’ve tended to spend more in the $50-$60 range for footwear. Now I know that’s cheap compared to $600 Manolo Blahniks, but it’s still a large portion of my clothing allowance. I especially feel guilty since the two sons I buy clothing for each got a $50 pair of shoes last fall and that’s it, while since then I’ve bought three pairs at $50 and a couple at $30. Plus Basil puts me to shame because he often buys thrift store shoes for $10-$15, and wears them until his socks are getting dirty from the many holes in them.
But that’s where most of my clothing money goes. Everything else is on sale, and usually cheap. Plus if I really like something, I wear it until I’m forced to retired it from public viewing due to holes or stains (and then they sometime become “paint” clothes). I have two skirts I bought at Target for $20 each (one black - one grey) that are a classic style and I’ve been wearing them to work (on and off) for nine years. Other times, I do a quick scan of what I’m wearing and realize that the jeans were $9 and the shirt $10 (both on clearance), and the shoes (at $50) are the most expensive thing I’m wearing.
Basil and I both love to thrift shop, though we’ve cut back lately, and for the men in the family we’ve found great t-shirts for $1.50: a red one that says “MENTAL” for Basil, one that says “Vietnam Break Dancing” for Number One Son, and one that says “I [heart] hip hop” for Number Two Son. You can’t find t-shirts like that just anywhere.
I also have a favorite pair of jeans that are around six years old that have one knee totally ripped out, and a patched hole in the back by the pocket, plus I recently spilled beige paint all down one leg. The other day I had them on with a frilly lace beige top while I was trying to decide whether to wear a skirt or jeans. Basil said I looked good with the torn, stained jeans, so I added cool shoes and an armful of bracelets and went bohemian for the day.
So what interesting frugal clothing stories do you have?

One Month Challenge - Day 14

Bianca dining: $5.79
Groceries: $29.46

My $2.65 Meal

This is just a post explaining my $2.65 meal yesterday. I didn't really want to eat out, but we wanted to go to one of those super warehouse stores to get some cheap crafty supplies, and as we don't have a card for one, my friend at work volunteered to take me on our lunch break. This friend eats out every day and can't understand why I don't always want to go out to lunch with her (it's not her because we sit next to each other and talk all day long and wouldn't have it any other way). So when I mentioned the warehouse, she said "Sure! We can eat lunch there, too!" Now, since she was doing me a favor, I figured I'd better eat out with her. Wow - what a bargain! I got a gigantic slice of combo pizza (sausage, pepperoni, mushroom, onion, green pepper and black olive) for $1.99 and a refillable glass of Diet Coke for 55 cents! Not terribly healthy, but cheap. My friend got a large hot dog and a drink for $1.50, but if you wanted to eat healthy, you could get a chicken Caesar salad for $3.69. Plus you don't need the warehouse card to get the food.
I told Basil I'd have to take him there sometime, because 1) it's somewhere new and 2) Basil is always up for cheap food.

People Using Plastic For "Micro-Payments"

When Kai Ryssdal is isn't narrating my stamp purchases, he's reporting things like this: "MasterCard says its quarterly profits jumped 70% over this time last year. Cardholders used the plastic 16% more, spending $509 billion."

I'm a little disturbed by a credit card company's profits making a jump like that, but deeper in the story there may be some better news, particularly when it comes to debit cards.

From the story:

"Analyst Anarag Rana of Key Bank Capital Markets says the card industry is reaping the benefits of the push to go cashless for small purchases.

ANARAG RANA: These guys have an initiative to penetrate the sub-$20 transaction market. That marketplace that was sort of insulated from, you know, card-based payments for some time.

And it's not all about racking up credit card debt, either.

David Robertson is publisher of the Nilson Report, which analyzes the card industry.

DAVID ROBERTSON: What is happening in the United States is the great use of the debit card. We're now a debit card country more than a credit card country."

You can listen to or read the transcript of the story here.

One Month Challenge - Day 13

Working and the Crafty Side Business are taking their toll on yours truly. Fell asleep on the couch as soon as I got home tonight. I'm getting burned out. Here's the numbers for today:

Crafty Side Business supplies: $21.10
Dining (Bianca): $2.65
Fuel: $37.82 (Grrrrrrrrr...$3.57 a gallon for regular unleaded. When I'm gassing up I actually make a growling sound in my head. If I was in a cartoon a dark squiggly line would be in the air above my furrowed forehead)

While our dining out seems to be something we're not quite ready to give up completely, at least we eat cheap. This couple trying to dispense debt dropped $300 on dinner the other night. Makes $2.65 sound downright frugal.

We haven't paid to go to the movies since December. There was some talk about paying to go see Spider-Man 3 this weekend (matinee, natch), but the advance word from people I trust that have seen it is "stinky." We'll pass. The movie will make a billion dollars, we just won't be throwing ours on the pile. Instead we're hitting some free museums this weekend, taking advantage of Bank of America's program, which Bianca detailed here.

Can I Afford Jury Duty?

It finally happened. I got summoned to jury duty. Almost everyone at work as been called, so I suppose it was just a matter of time. Before moving to this state, I was summoned once, but when I called the weekend I was supposed to, I didn't have to go in. I later received a notice asking me what month would be good for me to serve. Since I knew I was moving out of state in July, I put down September, and sure enough, that August I got a summons, only now I could say I'd moved out of state. I know, I know, I should want to perform my civic duty. At a previous job I had, the company paid you when you went to jury duty. A co-worker there said it was great - she just read a book and then got dismissed. Got paid for a day AND did her civic duty. Not the company I work for now.
I really wouldn't mind serving except for the financial hardship and the fact that I hate courthouses. Somehow I always feel like I've done something wrong as soon as I've walked inside one. I was a nervous wreck just getting my maiden name changed back after I got divorced.
Plus, there's the financial hardship. Unfortunately, they now put that you must suffer from EXTREME financial hardship. It's all relative though. It wouldn't be extreme if it were only for one day, but if I lost five days of work, then it's extreme. Also, I work four 10-hour days, with Monday off. So if I have to go in on a Monday, no big deal, but any other day is a quarter of my workweek. I debated the fact with my co-workers and everyone had a different way to try to get out of it, mostly not entirely ethical. I finally decided to be as truthful as possible. I'm going to put down that it will be an extreme financial hardship, and if they question that, then I'll have to go, but I'm not going to pretend that I can afford it.

One Month Challenge - Day 12

Rent: $1,400.00
Credit card payment: $186.00
Postage for Crafty Side Business: $6.30

Total: $1,592.30

Whew. That's quite a day.

More real posts coming soon. We've been life-swamped.