ING Referral Bonus Links!!
Tuesday, Dec-9-08 – 21:27 pmI have three links for ING Referral bonus money.
Open an account with ING with a minimum deposit of $250 and receive a bonus of $25
Life is Tough, But Worth It
Wednesday, Jun-25-08 – 12:42 pmLife has been rough over the past few months. Well, our financial life has been rough. We found out we were pregnant in late April. Due to the previous miscarriages the doctor recommended taking it lightly at least during the first trimester. So my wife quit her nanny job and we’ve been living on my income only since then. We’ve been surviving on only one income. It hasn’t been easy, but well worth it.
What have we discovered since living on only one income?
We never really thought about our purchases. We ate out way too much and made way too many small purchases. Now we have to examine each and every dollar that we spend. We haven’t cut back on grocery spending, which would be rather hard given the latest price increases due to gas prices. While we haven’t cut back, we haven’t increased the spending either. We’ve learned to eat less and cook for more than one meal at a time(left overs galore). This has been rather good for my waistline as it’s been getting smaller without exercise.
As for the exercise part: Around the 2nd week of May, I started experiencing some mild back pain. It was manageable pain but not welcomed. Over the next 3 weeks it progressively got worse. Three Sundays ago, it got absolutely worse. So on Monday I called the doctor and set an appointment. He did a few tests, prescribed some much needed pain medicine and scheduled me for an MRI. I had the MRI and went back the next Wednesday and found out I had 2 herniated discs in my lower back. Over the past weekend my back started hurting even more. On Sunday it hurt so bad, all I could do was lay on the bed. Monday was spent the same way. Tuesday morning I got up to get my cortisone shot. It wasn’t easy barely being able to walk or sit vertically, but I made it to the operating center. The procedure went fairly easy and now I am able to walk around without assistance. There is still a bit of pain but nothing compared to what it was. I was advised I might need another one but when that time comes we’ll deal with it then. Thank goodness for good health insurance on this one.
As for the money part, now that we’re almost out of the first trimester, my wife has decided to get a job. She went out last Friday to one place. They weren’t hiring at that store but the manager called another local store and they needed someone as someone just walked out. She scheduled an interview for Saturday. Yesterday she received a call that she was being offered the job. That was a quick turnaround. It will not be anything comparable to her nanny income but it will be better than nothing. She’s only going to be working 25-30 hours a week. It will be good for her to get out of the house as she’s been cooped up in here for the past 2 months. The added income will be a great help. Some will go towards bills, but the bulk will go towards savings for the baby.
As for school, I escaped the Spring semester with a B in both of my classes. I think the professor just gave me a B for Calculus. I was certain I would be getting a C at least but no way thought I would get a B. This Summer I am taking 2 classes, one each 5 week session. This first session I am taking Consumer Economics. It’s a great class. It teaches about warranties, savings, interest rates, etc. It is somewhat boring for me as I am on the up and up on most of the subject matter, but it is a great class to take as I am learning some new stuff.
Still alive
Friday, May-16-08 – 10:17 amYes we’re still alive. Times are a-gettin tough, but we’re making it.
Monday’s Quote of the Week
Monday, Mar-24-08 – 10:53 amThe habit of persistence is the habit of victory.
- Herbert Kaufman
Location, location, location!
Wednesday, Mar-19-08 – 19:33 pmI just took a quick snapshot of my recent visitor map from my webstats.
(click on picture for full view)
It made me start thinking about where you live and how your finances are handled or mis-handled.
Being that this is a get out of debt blog, should I assume that the Eastern/Mid-Eastern (known as the heartland, IA, OH,etc) US and California are the people looking to change their lives or in more debt than the people in the Southwest and Wyoming-Montana region?
Because I have such little viewer/readership of this blog, I know its not a good representation of people out there reading PF blogs.
Are residents where my readers reside more aware of their own financial situations-hence looking for ideas on the web?
Are people in areas that have little to no readers of my blog less aware of their financial situation?
Thoughts anyone??
Monday’s Quote of the Week
Monday, Mar-17-08 – 8:29 amLife’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man.
But sooner or later the man who wins, is the man who thinks he can.
- Vince Lombardi (1913-1970)
Some more time missing income
Sunday, Mar-16-08 – 20:33 pmAs previously mentioned, my wife’s employer was out of country for at least two weeks. Well she received word it will be another two weeks. They are at least paying her for one missed week which is nice. So all-in-all, we’ll be missing another week of pay.
Luckily I’ve been working some hella overtime and I found out I’m getting a bonus by the end of the month.
Monday’s Quote of the Week
Monday, Mar-10-08 – 7:40 amThe wise man can pick up a grain of sand and envision a whole universe. But the stupid man will just lie down on some seaweed and roll around until he’s completely draped in it.Then he’ll stand up and go, "Hey, I’m Vine Man."
- Jack Handey
Monday’s Quote of the Week
Monday, Mar-3-08 – 10:55 amHave patience! In time, even grass becomes milk.
- Charan Singh
A minor setback with(out) income
Saturday, Mar-1-08 – 21:07 pmMy wife received a call Friday morning from the family she nannies for. One of their parents passed away. They are from India so they had to fly out that day to go there.
They’ll be gone for at least two weeks. This means my wife will be income-less for those two weeks. Hopefully it’s not any longer than that.
This caused us to readjust our "pseudo-budget" for this month. This will result in roughly $800 that we will be missing in income this month. I had planned to pay close to $1200 this month to credit card payments. I’ve reduced this to $650 for now and can go lower if needed. Our minimum payments are only about $275 so we still have some wiggle room if necessary.
When preparing our budget for the month I always leave about $300-400 of wiggle room for unexpected expenses. This help take this $800 blow to our monthly income.
Ways we’re trying to get some extra money this month:
* Wife is babysitting to bring home some extra money
* I’m working some extra overtime. With the previously mentioned raise I’m getting, my overtime pay will increase a tad bit as well.
If all else fails, we still have over $3500 in savings should we need to use just a little bit. Although I don’t expect us to.
In lieu of the semi-bad news, I do have some good news. Starting with my classes that I register for in 2008, my employer will now start offering 100% tuition reimbursement up to $8000 a year. Previously it was 80% up to $5000 a year. I don’t expect to get anywhere close to $8000 a year since they don’t pay back some of the fees. This gives me even more of an incentive to finish my degree!