Resolutions….

Posted: February 6, 2012 in Debt
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2012 financial goals2012 has arrived, and they say that however you spend your new year‘s eve is how you will also be spending the rest of the year as well.  Well, it was a banner year here at my place!  I spent the night in much the same fashion as I do every year….. on my couch…. with my dogs….. watching tv….. eating chinese food.  Yeah, nothing to write home about.  But I personally think that this is a good sign.  I mean, sitting on the couch being a lazy ass costs a grand total of ZERO dollars (well…. minus the cost of the sesamie chicken).  So fortune must have a low budget year in store for me, right?

Things were on an upswing with the paying down debt thing, but then one of our vehicles started having unexpected issues, and seeing as how it was locked into a sub-prime loan with horrifying interest rates, it seemed like a golden opportunity to unload the dead weight and upgrade to something more reliable.

On top of a new year, I also recently celebrated another birthday… the 27th one to be exact, which means I officially am down to 3 years to achieve my 27th birthday goalsfinancial freedom goal.   That includes having all outstanding debt paid off, except for a home loan (which I do not have yet but need to have one before the next 3 years is up).  Oh yeah, and a healthy stacked bank account.  I’m sweating in my proverbial boots.

But I have faith.  2012 is going to be a good year.  And a frugal one, too.

10 Cash Generating Methods For The Truly Desperate

Posted: December 15, 2011 in Savings, Uncategorized
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hair pullingSTRAPPED FOR CASH THIS HOLIDAY SEASON?


Here are 10 cash generating ideas that will get those presents under the tree without putting you in debt.  Proceed with caution…. some of these methods are for the truly desperate.

Roll Change.  You might be amazed how far this one will get you.  Change is lying around everywhere, so spare changegather it up and start rollin!  I actually take this one step further.  I have a vase in my bathroom that I throw all of my loose change throughout the year in.  Around Thanksgiving I roll it all up, and put all the money towards Christmas presents.  Last year I rolled $350 in change.  You can also toss loose bills in the vase over the course of the year as well to get the tally up even higher.  (P.S. Don’t be lazy and use Coinstar.  Just suck it up and roll it yourself.  It’s actually very relaxing, and extremely rewarding.  You can even get the coin sleeves free from your bank)

Sell Clothes At Plato’s Closet:  The nicer the stuff, the more cash they give you.  I once sold them a couple pairs of jeans and got $30. Thats a Beef Summer Sausage from Hickory Farms.  Keep in mind when cleaning out your closet…. items must me laundered and in good condition.  They only accept name brand items, and the max they generally will dish out for a single item is $100.

Get A Seasonal Job: One that offers quick cash like waiting tables.  People tip big around the holidays.  I waitressspeak from experience here, and there are big bucks to be made with this one.  Bonus points for working on Christmas Eve.  I once made 200 bucks in tips on a 4 hour shift on Christmas Eve.

Ebay Your Junk:  They say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.  We’ve all got crap lying around that we aren’t ever gonna use again, so why not sell it?  Not only will you pocket some extra cash, but you will free up some closet space as well.

Yard Sale your junk that isn’t worth selling on Ebay:  People freakin’ love a good yard sale.  I’ve known people that yard sale as a career.  This is a much better option for those little things you have lying around that you never ever use.  Ask your friends for their junk, to maximize your selling potential.  Just make sure you post up signs around the neighborhood to drum up interest.

Pub Trivia.  For all you brainiacs and jeopardy fanatics, enter your local Pub Trivia contest!  There is usually a pretty good payout to the trivia winner!  Or for those lacking Mensa level IQs, there is always Bingo.

Collect Cans.  Why let dirty hobos have all the fun?  Think about it…. you get something like 10 cents for can collectingeach can you turn in.  You gather up 300 cans and you have just pocketed yourself 30 smackeroos.  Not a bad gig.  I know some residence-impaired individuals who support a hefty binge drinking habit using this method.

Fiverr.com:  Okay this one is for the truly desperate, and I have no personal experience with it, so I can’t really give it a thumbs up or down.  Anyway, you set up an account, and tell the world what you will do for $5.  And people purchase your $5 service online.  Example:  For $5 I will write your name on my nuts with a sharpie marker.  (don’t use that one though, I call dibs on it.)  You be the judge.

Swagbucks:  Again, I have never used this one, but I hear that with a lot of dedication and time invested, there is an actual payoff.  You use Swagbucks as your search engine just like you would Google, and over time you accumulate loyalty rewards points.  Every time you reach 45 points, you are awarded a $5 Amazon gift card.  You can also win prizes and enter sweepstakes.  Sweet.

Sell Yourself:  You don’t have to be a strumpet turning tricks or sell your kidney on the black market.  Thereno hookers are other methods of selling your goodies….

Plasma:  Blood banks need plasma, and they will usually compensate you for your time.  35 and up is the average going rate for plasma donation, and you will be helping someone in the process.  Plus, they screen your blood for communicable diseases before hand, which is a major perk for anyone, namely strumpets.

Platelets:   Same gig as the plasma… platelets usually take about 2 hours for a donation, but you can donate more frequently, which racks up the cash even quicker.  $50 is average payout for some platelets.

Hair: The approximate going rate is $5 to $10 per ounce, although some people can get pretty arrogant, and proceed to list their hair on types of hair ebays for top dollar.  I saw one women with a buy it now price of $2000 just for her hair.  I find this pretty laughable, seeing as how that is equivalent to the down payment on a Ford Focus, and nobody’s hair is that freakin’ nice.

Sperm: $50-$200 is the going rate for a good specimen.  This one takes a certain type of guy, but I think they give you the option of even being part of your little spawn’s life.  Just think…. you could have present money AND a bouncing baby boy for Christmas this year.  Score!  (literally…. with yourself..  bwahaha)

Nude Modeling:  Sometimes local artists and colleges need a nude model.  I would avoid answering want-ads and craig’s list posts for this one though…. seeing as how people are psycho and could be planning to ax murder you.  So make sure the gig is legit before you commit.

Store Cards Suck Like 10% Off Hookers

Posted: December 12, 2011 in Credit Cards, Uncategorized
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A side thought on Christmas shopping…..  now I’m gonna be honest.  I have not done one lick of holiday shopping this year, thus far.  None.  I have been avoiding the whole experience like the plague!!  (aka… Im freakin’ broke.  BROKE!)  And truthfully… I haven’t missed it.  I am not really that big on shopping to begin with.  I find it dull, and I find commission-hungry cashiers to be obnoxious and pushy.  Furthermore, our business has made me a fairly recognizable figure…. and the constant mingling and shameless self promotion can turn a simple shopping trip into an exhausting ordeal with a quickness.

My last post touched on how holiday shopping is heavily laden with pressure.  Consumers are pressured to buy bigger and better, and the tried-and-true American method of paying for things we can’t afford normally is to CHARGE IT.  Just ring it up on a credit card, and pay it back later.  What a novel idea.

Okay anyway, in order to drum up business this time of year, many stores will offer promotional coupons, one day sales, lay-away options, and my own personal favorite…. the store credit card!  Simple premise…. you sign up for a credit card with whatever store, you get 10% of that day’s purchase, and you get to charge it to your personal store credit line.  Freakin sweet, right?  I get a discount AND I get to charge it, like it’s free money at my disposal!

Not-so-much.  The problem with these store cards is that their interest rates tend to be super high…. we’re talking like 20% or more which is awful, sub-prime even.   And the real kick to the nuts is that it lowers your credit score to apply for new credit.  And this will keep affecting your credit score anywhere from 1-2 years from the date of the credit report pull.  Which in lamens terms will drastically reduce your chance of being approved for credit which you actually need.  This is because of two reasons.  Number one, obviously lower score means less of a chance of getting approved for loans, and also less desirable loan rates.  The other reason is because applying for multiple lines of credit within a short amount of time makes you look needy and desperate.  And nobody likes needy and desperate people.  Especially not Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac….. although I’m convinced those suckers don’t like anyone.

Point is, if you have any desire to apply for credit to buy a new house or car over the next year, then don’t get baited into opening new credit lines at department stores.  The 10 bucks you might save on your hundred dollar purchase is not worth limiting your luck with lenders on the cool shit like houses and cars.  I hold tight to the idea that when it comes to gifting, if you can’t pay in cash, you have no business buying.  I know that this is not always feasible for everyone, so if you have no choice but to charge it, my advice is to use a card that is already in your wallet and has the lowest interest rate.  Good luck out there….

The Goose is Getting Fat, and My Wallet’s Getting Thinner….

Posted: December 11, 2011 in Debt, Uncategorized
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Ahhhh Christmas time….. so full of magic and joy…. and copious amounts of spending on presents for people you don’t even fucking like….

What is it about this time of year that makes me want to tap into my inner Grinch and scream “Bah-Humbug, everyone!”  Don’t get me wrong, Christmas is cool and all, and I like presents just as much as the next person (even though as I get older, the presents get significantly crappier and less desirable… maybe I just need new friends.)  Everyone wants to blame the lack luster Christmas spirit on the fact that Christmas has become too commercialized over the years. But I counter, has Christmas ever really been anything but commercialized?  Not in my lifetime at least.

Last Christmas was spent at the in-laws house, complete with present service for… let me think…. 9 kids in total.  This was the first Christmas all of us had spent together in…. well, ever probably.  Life has scattered all the BF’s siblings across the east coast, and getting together is a luxury that is generally avoided. Anyways, the whole event turned into a demented Griswold family Christmas (complete with the  ridiculous amounts of Christmas lights, of course.)  At some point sibling rivalry took hold, and everything became keep up with the Jones’,  and who could spend more money and look like the coolest aunt-or-uncle ever.  Now I reiterate, we are by no means rich….. and yet there we were buying multiple lap tops, PSPs, and DSis, just to keep face so we didn’t look like the loser aunt and uncle who buys crappy presents.

On Christmas morning, these kids were not even visible behind their mountains of presents…. and after the great present unwrapping ceremony which left the giddy children intoxicated on gluttonous gifting glory, there were still tears shed, because DSi’s were the wrong color, and one kid got more presents than the other.  So what does all this overindulgence have to tell me?  That we are all slaves to the system?  That Christmas is simply an institution that we must buy into like sheep?

Nope.  It tells me that I’m a fucking idiot for blowing all that money.

Yes.  Capitalism tells us that we must spend spend spend in order to provide a bountiful and rich holiday for our family.  American fundamentalist ideals dictate that the quality of the holiday is determined by a dollar amount…. not by…. okay, I’m gonna go out on a limb here….. LOVE.  Wait I’ve got another one lying around here somewhere…… oh yeah, TRADITION.

Exhibit A:  Here is a shining example of Capitalism at it’s very finest…. On black friday this year, jolly bargain hunters literally stampeded Wal-Mart like a heard of ravenous bison for a $2 Waffle Iron.  Literally.  Stampeded.  Wal-Mart.  FOR A WAFFLE IRON.  I don’t know about you…. but I’d be pissed if I got a waffle iron for Christmas.

HO HO HO you greedy bastards......

Exhibit B:  Another awesome example of all that is morally repugnant about this holiday.  L.A…  a woman uses PEPPER SPRAY on fellow shoppers in order to secure a discounted XBox.  Now I know L.A. is like a whole different planet, and the star-dust in everyone’s eyes generally makes its inhabitants act all crazy-like, anyway.  But this woman is a real gem.

A right jolly old elf

There is so much pressure on the American parent to create the perfect holiday…. it’s so easy to say, “if I just buy the perfect gifts, and buy the perfect tree, and buy the perfect food, etc… then I will then be able to essentially buy the quintessential Christmas, and have the perfect holiday memories to cherish forever!!!”  (cue the rainbows and butterflies….)  And so we buy…. we dip into savings…. we overdraft…. we max out credit cards with intentions of just paying it back later……. But let’s be honest…. when the dishes are put away and the shreds of wrapping paper are being towed to the trash, what we are left with is debt and guilt.

Truthfully, yes, I think that the holidays are overly commercialized.  But the holidays are simultaneous with giving, and therefore, this is something that is unavoidable in a sense.  And let’s be honest…. the extreme pressure to buy things is never ever going to go away.  But here’s the kicker…. we as free thinking human beings have the ability to actively choose to buy things…. we choose how much to buy, and when we buy. The part of me that is fundamentally jaded simply thinks that the vast majority of people are greedy and our intense need for instant gratification outweighs our sense of restraint and financial self-control every time.  We are consistently overindulgent on just about everything, and the holidays are just another excuse for us poor consumers to blame our shmorgishborg of ritualistic mass spending on the big evil corporations and their devious plots to bankrupt us.

And so I post a challenge.  You see, Christmas is the last major holiday of the year.  In the truest sense, it signifies the closing of the year and the beginning of another (among other things of course).  The time passed could have been good or bad, affluent or humble.  But it is in these times of change that we have the opportunity to resolve to make changes in ourselves and our environments.  Does that mean stop buying things?  Hell No.  Christmas without presents would suck.  But don’t get lost in the circus….. stand up to the pressure.  Make a reasonable budget, and stick to it!  And finally, and most importantly, keep in mind that our worth as a parent or a friend is not measured by the dollar amount we spend.  The traditions and togetherness we share will trump any gifts we give.

I say that buying my kids ten thousand dollars worth of presents will not buy them one ounce of character.

Okay, I’m done ranting for now.  Hallelujah…. where’s the Tylenol

Free Fun, and the joy it affords me….

Posted: December 9, 2011 in Uncategorized
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When trying to live on a budget and save money in order to pay down debt, it often becomes necessary to go off in search of good ol’ fashioned FREE FUN.  Or at least inexpensive fun….. depending on just how much damage you want to do to the debt-o-meter.  Examples of free fun can be going to the dog park (if you have dogs and are into that whole doggy play-date sorta thing)  Same goes with the actual park, although generally you must possess kids to go to the actual park , otherwise you run the risk of looking like a creepy pedophile.

When I want some free fun, I like to paint.  Painting is not free entirely…. obviously you must first invest in paints and brushes and canvas and what-not.  But once you have all that junk, you can tap into your inner Picaso, and bust out some masterworks… free of charge!   Okay, so I load up and head to my local craft store, and I’m totally pumped to get my paint on….. The plan is to get a set of Acrylic paints, a handful of brushes, a palate, and canvas boards.  Boy was I in for a rude awakening……

Ever hear of the term STARVING ARTISTS?  Yeah, they don’t call them that because it sounds cute and trendy….. these people are HUNGRY, living off Ramen Noodles and other equally unappetizing garbage.  Well they are OBVIOUSLY starving to death because craft supply stores charge so freaking much money for their art supples!  I mean COME ON!  100 Bucks for a set of paints!  30 bucks for a big fat paint brush!  It’s highway robbery!

In all fairness, they do offer some budget friendly sets, that cater toward the rookies and the broke-a$$es.  But I dare-say that the difference between the 5 dollar paint set and the 80 dollar paint set that I ended up settling for, would be substantial.  So I sucked it up, bought the $80 paint set (not the most expensive, but not the cheapest either… compromise is key, people!) a handful of brushes at 3 bones a pop, a palate (99 cents, thank you very much!), and value-canvas boards for about 10 bucks.  All in all I spent a little over a Hundred bucks for the whole shebang….. which is wayyyy more than I wanted to spend, but truthfully, it could have been a lot worse if I didn’t practice the tidbit of restraint that I managed to muster.

I am happy to report that I have already put my painting supplies to use quite a few times as of this writing, which makes my $100 seem more like an investment than a loss.  Because honestly, I could have just as easily blown that hundred bucks at the movie theatre, or out to dinner.  I personally think the zen-like trance painting affords me was worth every penny, although this might not be the case for some.  The point is, with little or no investment, there are things we can do to entertain us without having to sell our first born son to do so.

Credit Cards Are Evil….. And I Hate Them….

Posted: October 22, 2011 in Credit Cards, Debt
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Bob Hope once said, “A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don’t need it.”    You ain’t $hittin’ Bob!

I pulled my credit report a couple of days ago, and with sheer mortification, saw what I was up against.

Fico Scores: Experian: 494 Equifax: 558 Trans Union: 608

If you know anything about credit scores, than I am sure there is some serious snickering going on right now.  Credit ranges are as follows.

  • Between 700 and 850 – Very good or excellent credit score.
  • Between 680 and 699 – Good credit score.
  • Between 620 and 679 – Average or OK score.
  • Between 580 and 619 – Low credit score.
  • Between 500 and 579 – Poor credit score.
  • Between 300 and 499 – Bad credit score.
So basically, I am Low at best and Bad at worst.  Things working against me are:
  • Amount of Delinquent accounts, either paid or unpaid
  • Amount of Collections Accounts
  • Lack of established credit history
  • No open credit accounts  (i.e. revolving or installment)
I really tried hard when I was younger to establish a good credit history; I had a handful of credit cards, but times got tough, cards got maxed, then went unpaid, and now the balances sit in collections.  My student loans also failed to get paid, so those loom ominously on my credit report in Default.  And let me tell you, it was a very quick and easy process to trash my credit so thoroughly.  So why does it have to be so freaking hard to claw my way back into good credit standing?
Step one to rebuilding credit is to take out new credit cards so you can being establishing a good payment history with revolving credit lines.  Bad thing is, with crappy scores like mine, the only place to look for cards that will give people like me credit are companies with sub-prime interest rates and appallingly low credit limits.
For those that can’t get approved for any credit cards with dismal scores, you have the further option of taking out a secured credit card.  These cards are considered “secured” because you use your own money as collateral, and however much money you put in is how much the company will establish as your credit line (ex, I give Bank of America 500 bucks for a secured credit card and they issue me a 500 dollar credit limit.  Then they are happy because if I fail to pay them, they get to keep my deposit.)  And then after a year or two of good payment history with the secured card, companies will usually issue you your deposit back, and your credit line will become unsecured.  While some of these secured credit card companies do report monthly to the big 3 credit bureaus (it’s always best to check that they report before you sign up for one of these secured cards, because if they don’t report, they won’t do squat to help you rebuild your credit.)  I would use this only as a last resort if you can’t get approved for an unsecured credit card, because they build your credit much slower than a traditional credit card, plus you have to use hundred of dollars of your own money to get one, and that just sucks royally.  Total salt on the wound, insult to injury.
Ok so I applied for 7 cards.  Applying for that many cards is generally frowned upon as well.  Applying for lots of credit all at once makes you look desperate, and I guess lenders don’t like desperate people .  Makes them think you’re gonna be irresponsible with there money.  Applying for too much credit all at once can also lower your credit score.  And I get that.  But my credit score already sucks, so I don’t think 5 or 10 points is gonna be the end of the world.  And I’m desperate.
At the end of the day, the only card I was approved for was Capital One Platinum Visa with a credit limit of $300.  I also applied for an Orchard Bank Classic Mastercard, which I prequalified for a credit limit of $300, and after submitting, it said I was approved, but I had to send off $39 for an application fee (and then it said in fine print they could still deny my application).  Still waiting to hear back from them.  I am really hoping I actually do get approved for the Mastercard as well.  It has been a week since I put the check in the mail, and still no word.  My fear is that I over-applied for too many cards, and now I will get denied because of it.  Orchard Bank is notorious (along with Capital One and First Premier, which I didn’t apply for because their application fee is much higher and they are very stingy with limit increases) for issuing unsecured cards to the least credit worthy.  It was my goal to get approved for 3 credit cards so I could begin establishing a strong revolving credit history, but if I can get two, I will be satisfied.  I will be pretty bummed if I only get the one.
So for now I will play the waiting game, checking my mail box daily with bells on my toes, and checking my application status online daily as well.  Here’s to keeping my fingers crossed…..

Adventures in Coupon Cutting

Posted: October 20, 2011 in Debt, Savings
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A couple of nights ago I decided to crash out on the couch with two of my little dogs, because I had just taken them to get spayed earlier that day.  Anyway, I felt bad for them, and wanted to give them some extra puppy lovin’.  Well my couch is kind of hard, and the girls wandered around all night refusing to get comfortable and sitting on my head and things like that.  Long story short, sleep was in short supply.

What better to do when you can’t sleep than to watch a bit of the old boob tube…. well, at 2 in the AM my viewing pleasure was limited to infomercials, and Extreme Couponing.  The decision was tough.

After much debate, I chose couponing, hoping it would lull me to sleep out of sheer boredom.  You see, I have always been of an anti-coupon mentality.  Coupons make me feel like a cheapskate…. I mean really…. all that work just to save 25 cents on deodorant that I wouldn’t normally buy if said coupon had not dictated the purchase.  Plus, they hold up the poor suckers behind me in line.  And I HATE when I am held up at the grocery store by ad matchers and food stampers.

Ok, point made.  So I’m watching Extreme Couponing…. and let me tell you…. it is FASCINATING.  I mean these crazy beotches dumpster dive for coupons like it’s their freaking 9 to 5.  Watching these women go ape shit over 100 free bottles of mustard that they are NEVER EVER going to use is quality viewing entertainment for the whole family.  And then I get this rediculous hair-brained idea….  I COULD CUT COUPONS AND USE MY AWESOME SAVINGS TO PAY DOWN MY DEBT!   Seemed like a really good idea at 2 in the morning.  I now question my lucidity.

I then proceeded to stay up until 6 in the morning scouring the internet like a damn coupon pillaging pirate, signing up on every coupon website I could find, subscribing to coupon newsletters, loading coupons onto my grocery store cards that I dug out of the bottom of my purse, and “Like”ing every facebook site that would give me a free coupon if I “Like” them  (which reminded me of elementary school when I used to give kids my tater tots at lunch to be my friend).  I still need to unlike them so people don’t think I actually like that stuff.

That morning, I matched my glorious new coupons to my local grocery store ad, finding sales that I also have coupons for, and making a list so I don’t get distracted and buy a bunch of un-couponed junk I don’t need.  And I spent the entirety of my next day on this same task.  Now at this point it’s Sunday, and I’m really obsessed.  I’m Hulu-ing “Extreme Couponing” marathon style, and tearing apart my Sunday paper and cutting out each Smart Shopper coupon in a manic frenzy of frugal euphoria.   My goal was to go to the grocery story Sunday night and pull off my magical coupon adventure, but to my dismay, I spent too much time analyzing my intended coupon budget, and did not budget in the time to ACTUALLY use them.  So Monday it would be……

And Monday it was.  Let me tell you, it was a beautiful thing.  From watching those dollars tick down one by one, to each overexagerated sigh from the man behind me, my adventure in couponing was everything that I hoped it would be and more.  I even managed to rack up $45.00 in savings between coupons and store sales…. not bad for a coupon rookie!

Will I cut coupons in the future?  HELL YES.   Will I ever have the pleasure of paying absolutely nothing for a thousand bucks worth of diapers for the baby I don’t even have just because my coupons made them free?  Ehhhh, PROBABLY NOT.  But hey, I saved some money, and I feel P-R-E-T-T-Y darn good about that.

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