Writing it Down Makes Sense...(and other random thoughts)

I feel as if someone felt sorry for me and changed my light bulb, because I had an aha moment this morning and I could see the light bulb over my head! LOL!
Write down what you spend, keep track of every dollar, save your receipts, this will help you get a grip on your finances. Why have I IGNORED this advice for so long? Yes, I've tried it in the past but wasn't consistent or disciplined enough to see real progress so I let it go. Well as I shared with you in my previous post, my check book is BALANCED down to the penny, this here people is history in the making. This morning as I was going through my checkbook and adding up my cash receipts, I noticed a lot of frivolous spending $116.23 to be exact. Do you know what I could have done with that money? EXACTLY! I got paid this morning so what I'm going to do is transfer $116.23 into my ING account...YaY me!

WRITE IT DOWN! It's working I see, I'm not paying NSF charges and it feels good to know exactly where your money is going.

I cut my living expenses...I think. I moved from a three bedroom ranch style home with a patio, yard and screened in porch (can't forget about my fireplace) I paid $900.00 per month rent, the house was a bitch to heat and cool (oops can I say that?) I had gas bills ranging from $150-$330 and electric bills ranging from $125-$323 most months we were right at the high end of that range. I had to pay a yard man to cut my grass, well he wasn't really a yard man...he was a crack head who walked our neighborhood with his lawnmower and gas can cutting my neighbors yards. They trusted him so how could I not? (We were the only black family living in that neighborhood so I gave the brother some play). Something was always leaking so my water bills were extremely expensive for a family of four $100-$125. I had direct t.v., at&t, cellphone service for three phone (family share) and not to mention car insurance on three vehicles.

I MOVED! I had been living in that home since Hurricane Katrina destroyed our home in New Orleans and I appreciate my landlord giving us a place to live (well he didn't give us a place to live he RENTED it to us) But it was time for a sister to raise up outta there. So I found an apartment *faint* I have NEVER lived in an apartment, it's four bedrooms two baths. A large living/dining room area, a HUGE kitchen with plenty of cabinet space. I have a nice front porch to sit on, (I see black people) you just don't know how much you miss your people until you move away from them. My 19 year old and 16 year old sons no longer have to share rooms. The arguing hasn't stopped completely but I have more peace and quiet. My favorite feature of the new apartment is I only pay $450 dollars a month! Clean, safe, affordable housing and the best part of all....my mommy lives three doors down from me! I only cook on weekends!!!! How cool is that?

*I got side tracked*
Anyway just the move alone has cut my expenses, I need to see how the electric, gas and water bills compare, I won't be able to report on that for a few months though. I did have to get a storage because I had a lot of furniture that couldn't fit in the new apartment...(I had a love seat in my bedroom at the old house) I had my own fridge because when the old one broke the landlord never replaced it. I guess he has to replace it now! I'm thinking about having a garage sale I can't see me paying $70 bucks a month to store that stuff for more than a year. I told myself I'm keeping it because my oldest boy will be 20 in May and since he decided college was not for him and he wanted to drive trucks and do carpentry, he has until he turns 21 to get those Trades under his belt and then his bedroom becomes my prayer/sewing/scrapbook room. Those things in storage become HIS, FOR HIS FIRST APARTMENT!

I'm a reformed shop-a-holic and I have my moments. I can say this though internet window shopping has curved my urge to impulse shop. Another way I'm staying on the reformed band wagon is I NEVER pay FULL PRICE! I just refuse. I know coupons and discount codes don't give you a license to shop but when I need a new shirt for work because I burned the collar off of my nice black dress shirt (trying to save money by not putting it in the damn dry cleaner) having a discount code makes me not want to kick myself.

Yesterday my oldest boy child came to my office and insisted that I come with him downstairs to the credit union. He opened his OWN savings account. I was so proud of him! He is on his way.

Dollar Bills Yall...

I know it's been a long time since I've reported on here, and I wish I could tell you that my finances are all together and my credit is repaired. But I can't I've failed miserably with tracking my spending, over the past year I've paid outrageous NSF charges because of my inability to balance my checkbook and I have the dispute letters in my purse, haven't mailed them yet. Now I actually need to revise them because when they were drafted I didn't do that correctly so my procrastination did help in that instance.

The spreadsheet...I did create it and can I just tell you I hated it!!! I don't like having to MAKE myself sit down and enter data but that is apart of learning discipline and gaining control of my finances. DISCIPLINE is a LEARNED behavior and am I ever learning. I am pleased to announce that after paying almost $200 dollars in NSF charges I've gotten a grip on my checkbook and reality. The reality is I can't AFFORD to give away money like that, and the reality concerning the checkbook is...IT's BALANCED! For the first time in almost a year and a half my checkbook is balanced down to the penny. My ING account is still going strong and I've even taken advantage of some of the saving opportunities my bank offers. So I've had some good with bad mixed in. In my next post I will report on how I cut my living expenses and my shopping habit.

I, 1BrokeSista promise to post at least once a week on dis here blog!