Going for Not Broke

Every now and then, I go online and find a calculator that will breakdown how long it will take to pay down my debt. I like to see it amortized so that I can see at a glance how many months it will take for me to knock milestone amounts, such as $1,000, $5,000, etc., from my total debt. One of the best calculators I've found is at What's The Cost . This one gives users the options to see how long it will take and the total interest they'll pay if the take on their debt by balance and by interest. The problem, though, is that sometimes, once I see that how long it's likely to take, I start feeling rather overwhelmed by what we owe. That's what happened to me last night. I ran my debt on the calculator right before bed, then I had trouble sleeping. I'm trying very hard not to feel overwhelmed but rather feel spurred to action.

I mentioned in a previous post  that I haven't been showing much self discipline financially so far this year. Thankfully, for now, I'm having a spell of doing better. Sitting down and seeing exactly where I am helped get me back on track. Hopefully, I'll continue to do better. First off, I'm going scale back the anniversary party  I was going to hold for my folks to just a big family dinner. I was going to do games with door prizes, but now, I've decided to just make lasagna using my mom's best recipe. It will still be costly, because it will be dinner for at least 20 people, but it will still be easier on my pocketbook. The next thing I hope to do is to figure my checkbook* daily. I have a tendency to try to keep track of it mentally, then when I start to fear that I might've left something out of my mental total, I'll charge necessities, like gas or diapers. So far, for the last week, I've done better with my checkbook. And knowing exactly whe...

For several years, my husband and I have kept track of our total debt and spending with spreadsheets charting what goes up and what goes down. On a monthly basis, we would get together and look at where we stand financially. My thinking was that seeing just how much we owe would force us to keep that total in mind and strengthen our resolve to pay it down. Overall, I think it's helped, but it alone hasn't been enough to inspire us to eliminate all of our bad financial behaviors. If it were, we would've been a lot better off several years ago. It has, however, inspired us to be a little better about our spending. I know this because we haven't been as diligent about the spreadsheets since our daughter was born. I say "we" because my husband is further behind in his share than he typically is, too, but I haven't really even tried to keep up with my part, especially this year after all of the long trips back and forth to visit my dad in the hospital. Even...

See that wonky-looking stuff on the right of the screen? That's what my iMac is doing these days. All in all, I can't complain. I bought it in 2006, so I got seven good years out of it. I was in the middle of my twice-yearly freelance project when it started this, and at first, rebooting would get rid of it for a little bit. Not so much now. I want to buy a new computer, but I won't. I have a laptop that works fine but runs much, much slower. I'm in the process of transferring all of my necessary files to flash drives. Scribus Update I had mentioned in a previous post that I was going to use Scribus as I worked on my freelance project this time to see how well it worked. I knew my computer's days were numbered, and rather than buy Adobe InDesign again (which I'd have to do because CS2, the Creative Suite version I have, will not work on a new operating system) I thought I'd see what my other options were. Well, it was slow going key command...

Since 2006, I've had a freelance project that I work on twice a year. The work takes about two weeks, which would be a lot less if I didn't have a full-time job to do at the same time. It's given me my share of headaches, but for the most part, I've enjoyed the work. It gives me lots to read on local history, it's work I'm comfortable doing, and it pays decently. Now is the time of year that I have to work on it (hence my absence from this blog recently) but unlike in the past, I had a lot of trouble getting into the work this time. Rather than just diving right into it, I would find myself surfing the web, checking email, doing the dishes, you name it. My change in attitude could be due to a lot of things: I've got a toddler now to keep up with, my work schedule has changed, the format of the work has changed, and I've been feeling very behind in my housework. However, I think the ultimate reason may just be that for me, this project has run its cou...

The dry rice failed to bring my phone back from the dead , so my next step was to take it to a tech shop. For $30, they were able to get it to come on again, but it gave me a light shock a few times. Also, the battery life percentage wouldn't update without doing some reboot by holding the on button and menu button for 10 seconds or so, and even that only worked a few times. After that, the same key combination would just take pictures. In short, I now have a new smartphone, and, as much as I tried to talk myself into getting something else, I got another iPhone, which contributed significantly to the higher credit balance I mentioned last time.  Part of me is really disappointed in myself that I didn't just opt to go back to a dumb phone. After all, I got by just fine for years that way. But, just like I suspected I would, I rationalized the heck out of buying another because I didn't want to lose my calendar, the few apps I've purchased, and all of the other pluses th...

On Monday morning, I awoke to find my iPhone  partially submerged in water in the Eskimo Joe 's cup I keep on my nightstand. I remember vaguely waking up in the middle of the night and checking the time on it. My guess? Afterward, I tossed it into the cup. I've been kicking myself a lot since then. First, for buying the phone in the first place. It was pricey, but I had gift cards that I was able to apply toward it, plus I told myself it would come in handy as I try to grow my home business (in short, I justified the heck out of buying it). Secondly, as I was purchasing it, I thought, "Hey, I'll save money by NOT buying the insurance." Thirdly, I've really grown to love it, which makes me really, really, really want to run out and replace it right now. According to online sources that I came across thanks to the Twitter hashtag #iPhoneInWater (and my husband's friend who works on gadgets for a living), sealing the phone up in a bag of dry rice for thr...