Off to a good start
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| Tue, 07-14-2009 - 4:33pm |
Hey guys,
Over the last few days, I feel like all I've been doing is running numbers. I think I've finally found a budget that's going to work for us. My past mistakes have been that my budget wasn't comprehensive enough. I'd always forget things. This time I hope I haven't forgotten anything.
To get myself started, I've done the following things:
1) I've cashed in some credit card rewards points and gotten a $5.00 gift card from Sears, a $10.00 gift card from the drug store and $60.00 in gas gift certificates.
2) I've started cleaning and de-cluttering my house and have designated the spare bedroom as the dumping ground. In a couple weeks I will have a yard sale. With the profits (which I don't expect to be much) I will start my e-fund. I would be thrilled with even a $100 to start. Every little bit helps.
3) I've organized my fridge, freezer and dry food cupboard and will be planning all my meals around what I already have. Hopefully this will leave me some money from my grocery budget so that I can snowflake to credit cards. In the past, my mistake was to take any leftover money and use as "bonus" money for entertainment or eating out. Now, I will ONLY use what I've designated to that category and any overages from other categories will be snowflaked.
4) I've taken my $1900 AMEX balance (18.5%) and transferred it to my credit line which is about 5.5%. And in a couple weeks my PC M/C promotional interest rate of .97% will expire so I will transfer to my visa, which I currently have an offer for 4.99% for. This will get me down to just two credit cards. The balances on both will be quite high, but at least it's easier to manage.
5) I'm working on getting a no fee bank account.
6) I'm researching frugal ideas online and frugal meals.
7) I'm looking into different survey sites, etc. to hopefully earn some rewards. Although there seem to be fewer options for Canadians.
Anyway, that's all I can think of for now. It feels good to get really serious, although I am feeling overwhelmed by the amount of time it will all take.
T.


T-
Great job, I wish I had time to do the things you are doing with regard to the declutter.
Good job! You are off to a strong start.
Don't forget to utilize things like kijiji.ca or craigslist to sell items. You would be suprised what people want to buy and I have found they tend to pay more then garage sales (I sold a bag of clothes that I no longer wear for $100! A box of books for $30 etc etc).
Keep up the good work and
Bex -