$1000 free on BoA credit card & blog updates!!!
You will not believe this story. I haven’t heard anything like it yet. I was chatting with the small coffee shop owner down the street from where I work today about business, money, the economy, and credit cards (we were talking about AmEx mostly). He mentioned that he has $3,000 on a bank of america credit card. They told him that if he paid off $2000, they would clear the card. In other words, pay $2K and they will eat $1K. I guess they just want some money right now, very very badly. Is it the Merril Lynch purchase?
Egads, I wish *my* bank would do that for me!!!!!!!
Now, let me mention that I was there dropping off post cards for my upcoming art show next week. I haven’t been buying coffee at all anywhere lately, but I couldn’t go in, drop off some post cards for my upcoming art show without at least buying a coffee, so I did. I am still under my coffee budget this month; I’ve been doing quite well and am proud of myself (the eating out budget however, is a much different story, grr).
Sorry for the lack of posts lately; I haven’t been much inspired and I no longer have internet access at home (the router that we were borrowing had its password changed).
I did recently pay $400 towards my debt – I couldn’t help it that I couldn’t wait until my March 5th paycheck. I already knew I’d have enough. I still have an extra $800 leftover too. Debt stats are updated, and my EF is chugging along. Hopefully more to say tomorrow. I have to unexpectedly go in to work for 4 hours of overtime on Saturday, which will give me some internet time to catch up.
Don’t you all wish you had BoA debts right now???? Anyone else with a similar story?
How I made the change
I’ve never actually explained the reason I started my debt-free journey, so I thought I’d tell the story.
In 2004 I had no debt. I had a business with an ex-boyfriend, and it went well, but when we split up, he wanted me (understandably), to pay my half of the inventory expenses of purchasing the items we sold. Before that, he was the one fronting the money (he had the income, he started the business, and I was younger, in school, with no available income). I had to take out an SBA loan to do so. I was also in the last year of my degree at college. I would make money, but then never quite pay off the SBA loan. Then, in the next 2 years, I decided it wasn’t working out working together like we were, so I wanted to break it off completely. I had to take out a personal line of credit from the bank to pay out my share. I could have slowly paid it off but I didn’t.
At this point I graduated from college, and tried to make a living making art. Not fully successful, but I was so used to not having to hustle to pay the bills that I basically rested on my laurels. I got a part-time job in the arts about a year after I finished, but that didn’t fully pay the bills (on $12/hr, part-time, no benefits, and I was responsible for all taxes). After about 2 years I realized it was a big problem, and had to get a real job. I couldn’t live on borrowed money anymore. So I did get a job, also in the arts. It’s a good job, pays relatively well, for the industry, but wasn’t like I was making $60K a year, either. It was a liveable wage, not excessive, but just enough.
So fast forward to last year. I would go through cycles of binging and purging. I would buy a lot, and use my loans to pay for my living expenses, since I had used them all on other inconsequential things. Then I’d get a big paycheck and pay it all on the loans, not leaving enough for living expenses. You see the problem.
I realized by last summer that I was in really bad shape but didn’t know what to do. I always wanted to see if I could find a credit counselor to give me some advice about how to go about fixing things. I’m not adverse to paying off my bills, but I couldn’t quite figure out how to do it. I thought I might be able to be pointed to some method of consolidating everything together, with a lower payment, and just one bill due a month. (I see now that that would still have been a disaster).
About this same time, a very good friend had been telling me about her family’s debt troubles and how one of her friends, who is a debt lawyer, was helping her family figure it out and turn her credit situation around. I thought to myself, Hey! This is what I’ve been looking for! I called her up, made an apointment, and stopped in for a visit. That’s when it got scary, fast.
The whole meeting was about which bankruptcy I qualified for. I had just gotten promoted to being a manager, with a relatively large jump in salary. Along with that came required longer hours, and a lot more overtime, as I stayed late to close the building several nights a week and picked up extra shifts as much as I could. I was making a lot more than I had been. Apparently I may have been making too much – I would probably fall into the chapter 13 bankruptcy income bracket. If you make over a certain amount, then you can’t just wipe the slate clean like with chapter 7, you have to be put on a mandated budget, pay a percentage of all your debts and be on this program for 5 years. It was horrifying and a serious wake-up call to what bad shape I was in. I mean I knew it, but I didn’t really KNOW it, at least until that point.
I didn’t feel like there was anything else offered to me. Maybe that’s what most people want to hear and that’s what she was offering. Either way, I said ok, let’s do it, and left with a hefty pile of paperwork to fill out. Oh, and a really heavy feeling in my stomach.
I was scared enough to immediately start assembling all my information together, as needed, for the paperwork. The first step in the process was to pre-qualify for bankruptcy. I had to prove my income, see which chapter I fell into, 7 or 13, then go through some on-line counseling session to prove I was ready for it (I think that’s what the process is; I didn’t actually go through it, as I’ll get to shortly, but that’s what some of the details I remember from my meeting).
So I began getting my debt house into order. I found all my bank statements, my pay stubs, you name it. I started figuring out how I spent and on what in the last several months. The previous 4 months of budget history was really enlightening. I was spending like crazy, with no rhyme or reason. I was oblivious to my bank account balance, with the resulting overdraft fees coming as no surprise to anyone who has been there. Overall, it was really dismal.
It was at this same time, feeling terrified and sick to my stomach, that I thought there’s no way, what does bankruptcy really mean? Is it really “no big deal” like our culture makes it out to be? So I thought I should do my homework. I turned to the internet and started looking for bankrupty information. I wanted to see people’s stories of who had been through it, how it went, how difficult it was, and what the ramifications of it all were. I found a few blogs, but nothing that really was what I was looking for. Instead, I found all these websites about personal finance and getting out of debt, on one’s own.
Wow. Maybe all of you reading this can understand what an amazing concept that was to me. I didn’t really have anyone to talk to about this. I briefly mentioned it to my boyfriend, but never to my family. I have never even really gone into depth with my friends. So to see a community of people struggling (successfully) with it, and telling their stories, their innermost feelings about it, and even HOW to do it, well, it was really inspiring. I got hooked. I started reading blogs day and night and saw that it was possible to do this myself.
I never did get my questions about bankruptcy answered to the degree I wanted, but I decided not to pursue it after all. I decided to do it myself. By mid-October I had put my first budget together. I continued to read blogs all the time. Then in early November I decided to start my own blog. I figured, what the heck, I was infatuated with the subject, and maybe it would help me stay focused on it, longer.
The rest is public history. You can read my progress yourself.
The things that have changed is that I feel knowledgeable and finally in control of the process. I know there’s a light at the end of the tunnel and I am confident I’ll reach it. It will take a few years, but I can do it, and I’m satisfied knowing the journey will be a success.
Upcoming art show expenses
My big upcoming coffee house March art show is coming up soon. There are three pieces that I don’t yet have framed in one of the photo series I’ll be showing, so I have to do some reframing. Do you have any idea how expensive professional picture framing is???? Very. It can cost up to $150 per piece. I have shopped around and can purchase works from discount places and wholesalers, and artist supply houses, or I can get them from our company’s frame shop. There is an employee discount, but it is still quite expensive.
I’ve decided to get the materials through work anyway, even if it is as much or just slightly more than some other locations. I’m doing this for a few reasons. First, I won’t have to drive all over town to pick things up. I can get them in 1 location. Then, I still have to assemble them myself (luckily I know how), but they have all the materials I need – a large working space, clean area, hardware for hanging, etc. Plus, I have one framed duplicate work that I can then open, and swap the art in, and refit it without any additional expense; it’ll at least save me framing 1 piece. I’ll have to hinge the mat and the backing together, hinge-mount the photo to the mat, fit, assemble, and seal the piece, then put in the D-rings and wire on the back.
The total damage will be $199. The best part of it all is that I can pay over time since it’s through work (we’re a small company so I can get away with this). I have a $50 photo budget per month, so this way I can use Jan and Feb’s saved mini-payments and then pay the rest in the next few months and not have interest or have to use credit.
I think I can get away with using some prints I have in my portfolio – I have one of every print in the same size (14×14 inch), so I shouldn’t have to pay to reprint them.
There is one more fee – I’m splitting the printing costs for the 500 postcards with the business showing my work. My half will be $55. I should be able to pick them up this weekend. Last chance! While I keep an anonymous profile on this site, anyone that emails me at debtmaven at live dot com with your address, I will mail you a postcard. (It’ll be quite pretty, colorful, tasteful, and not offensive in any way. I promise).
It should be a good show. I haven’t shown this work in this part of Seattle and it’s in the midst of Seattle’s big first thursday art walk (the professional gallery walk location for downtown). They are always packed, a lot of professionals downtown go through there. There is a 30% commission, but oh well, sometimes that can’t be avoided.
I’ll probably have to buy some black foam core and some heavy paper for printing my artist statement; miscellaneous expenses: $10. Total cost: $199 + $55 + $10 = $264. Luckily the other 12 are already framed!
Now I just have to start work on a new series I have in mind. I will be part of 2-person employee show at our frame shop in May, which is coming up fast!
A cheap & delicious dinner & lunch idea
I was too tired to go to the store last night and I came up with a good way to use up bits and pieces of food around the house, which makes a fabulous dinner and left over lunch. It’s quite inexpensive, too!
Roasted vegetables (my favorite vegetable preparation, like EVER)
Carrots, cut into thin pieces (quartered and in 2-4” lengths)
Onions, sliced into thin long chunks
Red potatoes, cut into small chunks
Fresh rosemary if you have it, or dried herbs de provence if you don’t
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Chop everything up, put into a oven-proof pan (non-stick if you have it, you’ll use less oil). Drizzle with oil to coat – you can always add more later on, so make sure not to drown it, add salt/pepper and herbs.
Cook at 450 in the oven (middle to upper rack is fine). Cook for up to 45-55 minutes, stirring occasionally to turn the veggies so they don’t just brown on one side. Add more oil if needed. I usually do the first turn after they start sweating, about 20 minutes. They will carmelize more and more, so you can actually cook these until they are quite dark, or stop when they are sweet and not very dark at all. These are super super sweet, very delicious, and a favorite of everyone that has ever tried it. I think the fresh rosemary is ideal. If you don’t live in a climate like Seattle where you can walk down the street, find a ginormous rosemary plant and snip a little off (they are the size of shrubs here, really!), then buy some in the supermarket.
French or Beluga lentils
Cook in 3x the amount of water over a small simmer. Make sure to use the small dark lentils, not the light green ones that you buy for lentil soup – these will totally disintegrate in liquid; the french/beluga varieties will hold their shape better
Add bay leaf, some diced onion and celery
When finished cooking, salt to taste, remove bay leaf. For a non-vegetarian option, add diced ham or sausage and a drizzle of olive oil.
Meat side dish
A third option is to put some nice sausage on the side (one is plenty), or even an egg – poached or fried on top of the lentils, but hard boiled would also work for take-lunch-to-work. My latest favorite is a chicken apple sausage (or pork apple).
This is cheap, relatively easy, you can make a ton, and have several meals out of it. I had it for dinner last night and lunch today. Yum! I’ve been eating too much meat lately and have gotten away from vegetarian roots. Plus there’s something about lentils and winter time that go hand in hand.
Site updates & housekeeping
A few housekeeping items to take care of. I added a new blog to the blogroll: Dog Ate My Finance. They’re a consistently fun read, and better yet, they don’t have ads. I guess I can understand the desire to HAVE ads to make extra income, but I kinda don’t like it. I don’t think I’ll ever have ads on this site; it goes hand in hand with my non-tv watching (like for over 10 years), alternative non-commercial radio, alternative lifestyle. It’s all about the journey, and I’m not going to care about a few extra dollars every month. Maybe if my readership was in the thousands per month, but it ain’t.
I’ve also increased my savings. In a week I’ll be up to 75% of my emergency fund total (I have a a $25 transfer scheduled monthly to keep my free checking account free). Right now I have $725, and on the 20th, it will be at $750. Not bad, and the whole process of saving it has been painless. I’m contributing $125 per month, and will have my total reached in April, as long as it doesn’t get used.
I’ve also contributed to my mini-funds, so the totals are rising.
Not that I expect to need it, but if some calamity was to befall me, I could easily raise $1,500 without using credit. It’s nice to know that that’s available if I ever needed it – between the EF, the mini-funds, and extra in my checking account.
Slowdown at work
This week saw some big economic changes to our department. First some background:
The months following New Years are typically slow. Add in the economic slowdown this particular year, and we have been super-slow. I have 11 employees that I manage (which doesn’t include the 4 project managers that I don’t, so there are 15 crew that I can send out on jobs, depending on client requests). Once day this week I told 6 permanent, “full-time” employees not to come in (Tuesday), and again on Thursday, I had another 4 not work. This coming monday is a similar story. The unfortunate fact is, there are more days without work than with.
Well our company, which is small, and about 50-60 employees, has been struggling with how to cope. The other departments are all fine, their work hasn’t slowed down or isn’t affected. It’s been a stressful few weeks, having to deal with employees upset on not having regular work and the impact on their paychecks, understandably.
Well, we finally announced that starting this coming week, all employees in this department, other than the office staff, will be (temporarily) going down to a mandatory 4-day work week (if we even have that much). Two weeks ago I had client after client yelling at me about their bills and how they didn’t want to pay nor did they feel they should. Last week was all about my employees being upset on the lack of work, plus my first employee discipline (I’m new to being a manager and absolutely can’t handle confrontation). So I was expecting this week to have a lot of fallout after the announcement.
It went over surprisingly well – I think they were all expecting something to happen. One of them, who has been here years, is very experienced, and has the second highest seniority out of the group, mentioned that he was glad we said something. Every day he was wondering if he’d come in and find out he was layed off.
There is a bit of good news: my hours will not be affected – I have to answer phones and be at my desk no matter what, even if the crews under me don’t have work. I don’t have anyone else to share my work with, so I can’t not work. Either way, the recession has come calling and it sucks.
I’m not sure it will be enough. I was also asked to draft a temporary layoff letter, “just in case.” I hope we don’t need to, but we may not have a choice. If we do lay someone off, they will at least have the benefit of getting unemployment money, which is better than nothing, with no work available. 0
Keep your spirits up all, it’s depressing out there!
Supermarket Score!
We have a local chain of markets, Thriftway, that have a weekly special. I’ve just gotten in the habit of once a week, since they have a location close to work, going over for lunch to pick something up (cheap or to supplement my brought lunches). I check out their circular, which comes out on Wednesday. I go through and buy the mega-cheap items (there’s usually only 2-4 that I really want and that are a worthwhile deal).
Today they had progresso soup cans for $1.50 each (instead of $3.29 normally). Score! My bf and I bought like 40 cans. He may go back and buy more. He’s trying to stockpile enough non-perishable food for a year. At that price, it’s great for lunches at work, economical and easy to bring in a pinch!
Oh, and in light of my previous post on overspending on indulgences, if I don’t go there to “buy lunch”, they are also adjacent to my bank, so at least once every two weeks I have to go and deposit my paycheck (alas, no direct deposit available), so there’s another excuse to go shopping.
Last week was 2 lbs of frozen shrip for $7. This week I also got good bread, 3 for $5 (2 are going into the freezer tonight), and very cheap Barilla pasta (half price). I think I now have a large supply of pasta for a very long time. I just wish I could get good angel-hair (that’s my fav).
Still spending on small indulgences
Last week I did amazing. I brought lunch to work every single day. I also made coffee every morning before going to work, and didn’t buy any extra cups or snacks once. This week I’m not doing badly, but I got tired and instead of scrounging late at night for dinner, we elected to go out for a cheap meal (meaning I didn’t get a drink) which also doubled as lunch today.
Today was super cold, and a coworker asked me if I wanted to walk and get coffee down the street, so I went and bought a hot chocolate, which I didn’t need and didn’t even finish. $3 with tip. And right now, I’m sitting in a coffee shop to use the internet for a few hours with the bf who is studying for his legal paper assignment. I am mega hungry and bought a day-old croissant and tea (the cheapest things I could find). $4 with tip.
Oh well, while I’m not rabidly spending, and while I try to minimize what I do spend, I still need to reign in the small indulgences. There’s just something about going to a coffee house, sitting for several hours, reading blogs and email, and using the free wi-fi. At least I carpooled this morning, so I saved on gas for a change (my bf and I work at the same place, though we have slightly different hours).
DebtMaven 