Today's the last day to win an Amazon gift certificate!

Now, earlier in the month I had starred this contest in my reader but I totally forgot about it.

Today is the last day to enter to win one of three Amazon.com gift certificates at The Amatureist Financial Journey. Info on the contest is here.

Entering to win is super easy too! But you have to enter today since the contest ends today!

I sure could use one of those Amazon gift certificates too. Since I am focusing on debt paydown that doesn't leave a lot of money for fun purchases.

Good luck to everyone that's entering!

New lows for dollar. Again.

Don't you just love the economy?

You know, the one that Bush refuses to admit is in a recession.

And it seems like every day for the past few months the dollar hits an all time low against the Euro and the British Pound.

Guess what?

Today is no exception!

Today it got to $1.52 for a Euro!

Geesh.

I like turtles too

So, I have been addicted to this clip on YouTube.

It's Zombie Kid Likes Turtles. And if you just search by "I Like Turtles" you will find a ton of spoofs and whatnot of this clip.

It is totally random. And totally hysterical. I just can't stop laughing at it.

So, if you have not seen it - you must.

I sent $100 to Hillary Clinton's campaign - here's why

I am in full debt paydown mode.

And I have been making some hella progress, if I do say so myself.

And since I have been working so hard, I felt that it was okay to contribute $100 to something that I believe in. And that is the campaign for presidency of Hillary Clinton.

I am in the state of Ohio and I will be voting for Hillary in the primary.

I have been watching all of the debates and such and have even gone to a few events here in Ohio.

So, why Hillary?

First, I voted for Bill in '96 and I have no complaints about the Clinton years in the 90's. I would love to have that economy back.

Second, I am all in for universal healthcare. I am 29 years old and have no health insurance. It's not that I don't want it - I do! But I can't afford to pay for it myself.

Third, I am into her mortgage crisis plan of freezing interest rates. My parents are about THIS close to losing everything they own. Why? They got snookered into an ARM loan that they could not afford on a condo that is now worth less than they owe on it. They had to take out a home equity loan on their primary home just to make the monthly payment on the condo.

Fourth, she has passion AND experience. She's been figthing for things like healthcare for quite some time.

Fifth, her closet has already had all the skeletons pulled out. We all know about the skeletons in her closet. That means that the Republicans won't be able to pull out something crazy against her in the general election.


Why not Obama?

Yes, he is offering a healthcare plan. But I think it is delusional to think that just because it is there and affordable that people will take it. I know that 10 years ago if I was faced with spending say $75 a month on health insurance or $75 a month on cds/dvds/concerts, etc that I would not spend it on health care.

He lacks details. I actually went onto his site to research his college affordability plan. As someone that got snookered into those high interest student loans this is something I am interested in. Specifically though I was curious about his $4,000 program for students that go into the Peace Corp. I wanted to see if this was in addition to the stipend offered by the Peace Corp. or you got it instead of the stipend (which is more). I couldn't find this anywhere on his site.

Using words that are not his. Sure, Hillary saying that thing about Xeroxing was snarky. But she had a point - his words are meaningless if they are not his and he did not footnote that fact. He also seems to be practically stealing things that she has said first. On her town hall before Super Tuesday was the first time I heard either of them talk about rebuilding the economy with Green Jobs. Then he started using the same lines.

I'm afraid he has some skeletons in his closet that will cause the Dems to lose the general election. Like this pastor and anti-semitic stuff. And what about that trial that is supposed to start soon with that Rezko guy?

Yes, he voted against going into Iraq. But what if there had been weapons of mass destruction there? Would he rather have not found out? And why does he fail to mention that Hillary was the first of them to speak out against the war when it was discovered that the reason for starting it was a sham?

His associations with anti-semitic people are a bit scary. I can think of someone else that got elected into office with a message of hope and change when their country's economy was in the crapper that also had ties to anti-semitic people. That person was Hitler.


**comments have been changed to moderated due to a vile comment that was left by an Obama supporter. All non-vile comments will be approved, others will be deleted.**

Frugal heating tip - candles

So, my computer sits by a window.

You know what that means - brrr, cold. And it is hard to type when your hands are frozen to the core!

Since I am trying to be frugal and pay down debt I do not want to crank the heat up. I mean, it does not seem practical to crank the heat up because it is cold in one room.

I have one of those little portable heaters that I thought about bringing in by my computer. But that will take electrcity as well.

Then I remembered something that I used to do when I was in worse financial shape than I am now.

Candles!

See, I have a bunch of candles that I bought super cheap a long time ago. And people are always giving me candles it seems. So I have quite a supply of them. And guess what, when you burn a candle there is heat! Hooray!

So, by burning candles in the room where I am on the computer, I am able to heat things up a bit just in this room. And if I close the door I can make sure that the heat stays in here with me instead of spreading through out the apartment. It's kind of like Clever Dude's Ways to Save Money #14: Block-Off Unused Rooms only much more ghetto :) But I don't mind being a little ghetto if it saves me some cash in the long run!

no insurance quandry

I've been doing some thinking lately. About health insurance.

I do not have health insurance. And it is not for lack of wanting it.

And my girlfriend has health insurance through COBRA. And that runs out in July.

So the question becomes, what do we do about that?

And she has medication that she takes monthly, that without insurance, is about $20 per pill.

I am beginning to think that maybe we should look into places like Starbucks that give part-time employees benefits. That means a second job, but it would also mean health insurance.

Not again!

I signed onto Yahoo and saw a horrible headline.

Fed Ready to Cut Interest Rates Again

What? Not again! I will never earn any interest in my ING account! Argh!

I just can't believe they are considering doing this again.

And I also read in another story how the dollar hit an all-time low against the Euro. Again. Now it takes almost $1.52 to get one Euro. If this keeps up I'll never be able to afford to go back to Europe!

Credit card #2 update - almost there!

Well, I am almost there.

My statement was available today for credit card #2. The finance charge was $50.62.

So that's it! I only have $50.62 to get credit card #2 to a zero balance!

Hooray for that! Then it is on to card #3. So, I guess I need to see which card that is!

alternative income is awesome

You may have noticed a lot of "commercial breaks" lately. Apologies for that. However, that is one of the ways that I am earning some alternative income. And I am using every single cent of that alternative income to make some debt payments. And it is so awesome.

Sure, writing commercial breaks about random things is not a whole lot of fun. But getting decently compensated to do so makes it a little fun :)

And besides, I do not have to do it forever, right? I just wish there was some way to filter those posts out of my feed so that feed readers do not have to get them. Argh.

Starbucks and their closing tonight

So I saw on CNN that all of the Starbucks stores were closing for a few hours tonight.

Apparently every single employee is getting re-trained. And it is happening at the same time across the board. I suspect it is some sort of live video teleconference thing.

I think this is interesting.

Clearly they are losing a lot of money by closing all of their stores for 3 hours. But they are doing so for a good reason. I know I hate experiencing inconsistency in restaurant chains.

Smart money is not so smart

So, I saw an article on AOL today from Smart Money on 5 ways to get extra cash fast.

I found Smart Money's list, well, less than smart.

The top 5 ways to get extra cash they listed were:

1. Borrow from friends


2. Sell on ebay


3. Use credit card checks


4. peer-to-peer lending


5. dip into your 401k

eek! what kind of advice is that?!?

I'll give them the eBay one. And the peer to peer lending is not all that bad.

But the rest? Come on!

Where is sell stuff on Craigslist?

Where is sell cds/dvds/books to a store that buys those items used?

Where is 'look for odd jobs on Craigslist' ?????

I just can't believe their advice!

health insurance - gotta get it

So I had a thought earlier. You see, I was outside and slipped in the snow.

Thankfully I did not get hurt.

But what if I did? I have no health insurance!

Then I thought - why am I living where it snows a lot if I have no health insurance?

Surely I must be crazy. That is like added risk.

Ugh. Need a new job with health insurance.

hooray

I just logged into the account for credit card #2.

It shows a zero balance! Hooray!

But tomorrow is the closing date for the statement.

So I guess on Wednesday there will be a balance on there for the finance charge. I should look and see how much that usually is. I think it is around $80.

So once that is paid off it is all over for credit card #2!

Visa IPO May Be Largest in US History

So I saw today a story on the Visa IPO.

Apparently, the Visa IPO may be largest in US history.

And how large is the largest?

Well, it could raise almost $19 billion from an initial public offering, according to a Yahoo story.

Argh, Visa! is what I say.

But, if interested, they will offer 406 million shares at $37 to $42 per share.

Can't wait to see balance = zero

Well, I scheduled that auto payment on Friday. Now I just gotta wait for it to show up on the account.

Sometimes it takes a few days for it to show up on the credit card page. I can't wait though. I really hope that I can login in later and have it say that the balance is zero.

And then, it's on to the next card!

Today is the day

Today I get paid. And I already have some money in my checking account.

I was holding onto it to pay off that credit card.

And now that I get paid today it will be time.

By Monday credit card #2 will be history. Oh yes, it will be gone.

i heart snow days

I grew up in the South. So I did not see a lot of snow growing up.

Now I live where it snows a lot.

I love to see the snow. But I sure hate driving in it!

And just like when I was a kid, I love snow days!

Of course, I think if schools are closed that jobs should be too. But apparently they do not feel that way. Bummer.

That's why I take my own snow days sometimes. heehee

argh, gas prices!

I am trying to spend as little money as possible each month. So I have been making a budget. A pretty strict budget too. And I am trying to stick to it so that I can maximize the money that is going to the debt pay off.

But the gas prices are killing me!

I put a $100 amount for my monthly gas budget.

I'm gonna go over though, I just know it. And I hate that. It's money that could go to a credit card :(

Do you sneak food into the movie theater?

I saw an article on Cinematical about a man in London protesting the cost of snackies at the movie theater.

Apparently he was kicked out of the theater for bringing his own food.

Do you bring food into the movie theater?

I rarely go to the movie theater as it is so darn expensive! I think I have seen only two movies at the theater this year - Harry Potter and Hot Fuzz.

When I do go the movies I usually bring at least my own drink. There is no way I would pay those prices if I didn't have too. And I have never been searched or gotten caught.

What I hate are people who bring in things like a personal pizza or a stinky sandwich. That is really gross.

Almost there

I transfered some money from PayPal to my checking account the other day. Sadly not all of my PayPal transfers are showing up yet.

But even so I am only about $100 away from having enough to pay off Credit Card #2! Hooray for that!

I am sticking with having it paid off by the end of the week. Of course, I'll still get a bill next month for the finance charge. And then it will finally be gone!

Credit card #2 update

Well, it is getting closer. I can see the pay off date in the near future for credit card #2.

In fact, I just paid $750 on credit card #2 last night. And guess what?

That leaves less than $1000 on that credit card!

Target date for payoff of credit card #2 is Friday!

However, I have an out of town funeral to go to, so it might not happen till Sunday.

Paying off debt is fun!

New ebay fee changes

The new ebay fee changes go into effect this Wednesday, Feb. 21.

As someone that sells stuff on ebay I find the new fee changes to be pretty lame.

In case you missed it, the insertion fee amount is going down. But they are more than making up for it with the final value fee changes, which have increased. The base amount for the FVF was 5.25% and now will be 8.75%.

Most of the stuff that I sell on ebay I also sell other places online. So, I am thinking that I will end my relationship with ebay and just sell my stuff on the other places.

I wonder how many other people are saying goodbye to ebay over this new fee change?

More info on the changes can be found here.

Credit card companies are silly

Paying off credit cards is fun. And it reveals just how silly credit card companies are.

I paid off a credit card.

And then the most amazing thing happened.

They raised the credit limit for me.

Wasn't that nice of them?

How silly they are to think that it will make me charge it right back up.

Of course, the sad part is that this little tactic works on a lot of people.

Ah, but not me. I'm on a mission. A debt reduction mission.

And I suspect that this is not the first card that will get a credit limit increase as I pay them off.

No, we won't

Some people just do not get it when you say "I'm in serious debt paydown mode."

I don't know why. I feel like there is not any plainer way to say it.

Last night we were asked to go play Rock Band sometime soon. Then we were told that after playing it we would be heading out to purchase it for ourselves.

In unison we shook our heads 'no' and replied 'no, we won't.'

Apparently this was humorous. And apparently the thought is that we will indeed be purchasing Rock Band after playing it in a couple of weeks.

Except I already no that we won't. A night of fun will not change that.

Next on my list

That next credit card on my list is so gonna be history by the end of the month. In fact, I just paid $300 more on it last night. That leave about $1500 or so left for the balance. And that balance was $3350 when I started in on it this month. It will be my next credit card casualty. Muah hahahaha.

Who knew paying bills could be so fun?

whoa, Hillary Clinton was the minimum wage to be $9.50/hour

I have my tv on CNN to see the results of the Potomac primary. Hillary Clinton is speaking now and I am hearing the speech from the other room.

She just said she wanted to raise the minimum wage to $9.50 an hour to help people get out of poverty. AND she wants to make it so that Congress can't give themselves a raise unless they raise the minimum wage.

That's awesome.

This is the first thing I've heard about this from any candidate. Are there others saying this that I have just missed? If so, let me know.

Carnivals everywhere!

Welcome to everyone that is coming here from the carnivals that I participated in this week.

First up is the Carnival of Debt Management. As previously mentioned, check out the 38th edition of the Carnival of Debt Management at Credit Card Lowdown. Many thanks for including me.

And also check out the Carnival of Personal Finance this week. Carnival of Personal Finance #139 is up at My Dollar Plan. Also many thanks for including me.

And the carnival love just keeps on coming! Many thanks to Mrs. Micah for including me in the 46th Carnival of Money Stories.

Need shopping cart software for your site?

If you are trying to make some extra money online with an e-commerce site then you need to make sure that you have some good shopping cart software for your site. There are a lot of choices out there when it comes to shopping cart software and you should look at Ashop Commerce first for your shopping cart.

You will find that Ashop Commerce is a leading provider in the industry when it comes to hosted shopping cart software. What I like about them is that they have a free 10 day trial where you can try out their shopping cart and you do not even need to have a credit card for the trial period! There is also a demo that you can see. There are various pricing plans available and they all appear to be affordable.

So if you need some ecommerce software you should check out Ashop Commerce today!

Credit Card #1 officially paid off

Last month I paid off one of our high interest credit cards. At least I thought I did. Then I got a bill for the finance charge. D'oh.

But now, it is officially paid off. Let the cheering commence now.

Carnival linkage

Check it out.

The Carnival of Debt Management #38 is up at Credit Card Lowdown. And I have a post included in it. You will find my post down at the very bottom of the carnival.

There are also some other great posts on the carnival you will want to check out.

My fave was the exciting Countdown to Debt FREEDOM! I can't wait till I can say that I have one debt left!

Worse than the big bad wolf

I don't know how weather is where you live today but it is hella windy where I live.

I live on the 3rd floor (top) apartment in my building. Each time the wind blows, which is approximately every 3.2 seconds, I am afraid that the top of the building will just blow right off.

Okay, so maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration but it is some strong wind I tell ya. Weather.com says it is 40 mph gusts. I looked out the window in my computer room to see a small tree bent over in the wind earlier today.

And after lunch I peeked out the window again. What I saw was slightly funnier than a bent over tree. Instead of seeing the green grass that separates my building from then next one I saw something else.

Shingles!

There are shingles from the roof all over the ground!

However this concerns me for a couple of reasons.

1. I am on the top floor. So if there is a roof leak that means a leak in my apartment. And it is supposed to be a "wintry mix" tomorrow.

2. My car is in the parking lot on the other side of this building. Hopefully nothing else has flown from anywhere and landed on the car. I am planning to get rid of it in a few months and really do not need any damage to it before that happens.

Of course, it's too freaking cold out for me to go and check. Earlier when I looked at weather.com it had the wind chill below zero. The actual temp has dropped 5 degrees since then. I guess I'll check out the car when I go to work in the morning.

But I'm sure it's fine. It just might have a few shingles on it.

My secret to debt reduction success

I sure with that paying off debt was as fun as racking up all the debt was!

You see, most of my credit card debt is a result of a bit of a travel addiction. It was fun at the time, but the fact that I am still paying for it is not so fun.

So, sometimes it can be a struggle to stay on the path to debt reduction. I mean, you get a paycheck, you look at how much you need to gas and food for the week and then you send the rest of it out to a creditor.

It is easy to see how that cycle is less than fun. And it is no surprise that many people fall off the wagon so to speak. It's repetitive and boring. And it's painful to have nothing to show for a week of work since you had to send it all out.

But if you have been looking at my debt roundup reports, especially since my getting serious about debt reduction post at the beginning of December, then you have seen that I am finally making some steady progress here!

It's because I have a secret. My secret to debt reduction success is making it a game. I have been challenging myself. Last month I challenged myself to see if I could get my credit card debt down to below $25,000 from $28,245.41.

If you look you will see that I didn't make it below $25,000 but I was really close at $25,391.73. (But now I am below $25,000!!!) And my new challenge is to see if I can get below $20,000 by March 1st.

It might sound silly but it really works. I think if I was just making payments and not doing this I would be making zero progress. Proof of that is in this blog, just look at all of the debt roundup reports before December. I'd make a little progress then the numbers would go right back up. Well, that's not the case anymore!

So, there you have it - my secret to debt reduction success. Give it a try and I bet you'll see the same results as me!

The proof is in the TP

I am so freaking serious about debt reduction. And the proof is in the TP.

You see, I am a bit of a TP snob. I will only buy Cottonelle or Charmin. But there are cheaper options.

This week I caved in. The Angel Soft without a coupon was cheaper that Cottonelle or Charmin with a coupon. You know you're serious about debt reduction when you stop being a TP snob.

Riverdancing as a battle tactic

The people that live below me have an addiction. An addiction to really loud music. And apparently they have one heck of a sub woofer or something cause the bass is amazing.

I think that people who do things like this in an apartment are clearly stupid and there is no way to reason with them. You can't knock on their door and appeal to their common sense or just plain sense of decency.

You have to play on their level. So, here's what I'm thinking - when their music is louder than my tv (like now) I should take to riverdancing in my living room. With really heavy shoes on.

Debt roundup #12

As of 1/31/08, here is where I stand:

• Car loan = $12,264.67 (last month was $12,498.62 )
• Credit cards = $25,391.73 (last month was $28,245.41)
• School loans = $155,383.88 (last month was $155,262.48 )

Last month saw a major breakthrough on the credit card balance with it getting under $30,000. This month I was hoping to get under $25,000. It was close, but not quite.

Student loans balance went up again! It seems that interest that had been accruing on those student loans got posted to the balance. Again. Hate that.

The challenge? See how close I can get the credit cards to $20,000.

Also of note is that while the decrease in credit cards was not substantial my net worth increase was. Net worth is still totally negative though.

Last month's net worth = $(183,996.21)

This month's net worth = $(178,848.26)

more on Super Tuesday

Just heard on CNN when the first polls close. The first polls are set to close in about 4 hours. That makes it around 7pm eastern time.

And the last polls to close are in Cali. It looks like the last of the polls close around 11pm eastern time.

Whew, it's gonna be a late night with CNN. So exciting!

Super Tuesday

I'm pretty stoked about Super Tuesday. In fact, I am home from work this afternoon to watch the coverage on CNN.

Not a lot is going on right now. However there is one result in.

It is from West Virginia. They did a republican convention there that was kind of like a caucus.

Mike Huckabee won that one.

thoughts on starting a business

I would like to make a crapload of money this year. That way I can pay off all of the stupid debt that I am in. I think a good way to make a crapload of money is by starting a business. The question is what type of business.

It seems that the easiest way to make money thru a business is to resell things. You know, buy stuff wholesale and then re-sell it for profit. Of course, what do you choose? What sells best? or more appropriately, what has the least risk?

ugh

I was working on my balance sheet for the month of January some last night. That means I took a peak at my IRA. All I can say is "ouch."

I am down about $90 total. I have my IRA split between two funds. One of them has lost almost $130. And the other one is still up a little. Man that is painful. And I wish I had some extra cash to buy in some more at these low prices.

And my Sharebuilder account is ony down like $5 from last month. So that is not too bad I suppose.