Creating a New Financial Life in Middle Age

Ticked at myself (and credit cards are EVIL)

tschultz@1scom.net (Lady T) — Sat, 16 May 2009 13:03:22 PST

A couple of weeks ago I decided to transfer most of the balance of one of my Juniper credit cards to a Capital One card with a much lower APR, and I paid off the remaining balance on that Juniper card to bring it down to zero. (Side note: they immediately lowered the APR on the card...

What would you do? -- ADVICE NEEDED!!

tschultz@1scom.net (Lady T) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 18:04:13 PST

I currently contribute $200 per month to my 401k, which gets me a company match of $100. I've been reading advice from various financial gurus (Dave Ramsey, etc.) saying if you have credit card debt (which I do) and a small or non-existent emergency fund (which I do ... a small EF...

It's been awhile ...

tschultz@1scom.net (Lady T) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:47:29 PST

... since I last posted! My gosh, time flies!

I got moved into my apartment a month ago, and I LOVE IT! Moving was the best thing I have done for myself and my kids in a long long time. We purged big-time, and got rid of years worth of JUNK. (I gave a LOT of stuff away at...

Garage sale was less than successful ...

tschultz@1scom.net (Lady T) — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 16:15:23 PST

Well, I guess it always could have been worse, but I didn't get rid of nearly as much stuff as I wanted to! I made $350 but my biggest objective in having this sale was to get rid of stuff so I don't have to move it next week. (In fact, I can't move it next week because I will have...

I've Paid Off 30% of My Debt!!!

tschultz@1scom.net (Lady T) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 19:20:30 PST

Since I started actively concentrating on paying down my debt (just over a year ago), I've paid off a hair over 30% of it!! Not only that, I'm below $10,000 now, woo-hoo!! I just updated my chart on the sidebar ... check it out, the chart says it all!! I'm STOKED!!

Something Weird, and Motivation to Declutter (Finally!)

tschultz@1scom.net (Lady T) — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 18:32:45 PST

What finally gave me the motivation to declutter? I'm moving!! I am SO excited ... I hate moving, but I am sick to death of the place I've been living in because the landlord does LESS than the bare minimum as far as maintenance and repairs go and the place has become such a dump...

Paid off that stinkin' WaMu card!!

tschultz@1scom.net (Lady T) — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 15:53:31 PST

I got my bonus on Friday, and set up the payment for the WaMu card today ... it's just over $1,600 and I will be thrilled to stamp it "PAID"!! I had intended to put $400 towards the smaller of my two Juniper cards as well, but my bonus wasn't as much as I was expecting because of...

Work bonus that I forgot to blog about!

tschultz@1scom.net (Lady T) — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 20:28:46 PST

When I posted the other night about my work bonus, I completely forgot to mention this!! My company's basic match on 401k contributions is 50% for up to 6% of the employee's base pay. When the bonus amounts were announced the other day, a separate announcement also came out that...

An Ex-Con's Perspective on Personal Finance

tschultz@1scom.net (Lady T) — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 20:37:56 PST

Check out this guest blog entry over on MoneyGrubbingLawyer -- it's great!!

I'm SO excited!!!!

tschultz@1scom.net (Lady T) — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 19:21:59 PST

I had my performance review at work today, and it went really well. Then, this afternoon we all found out what our bonuses are going to be, and at the end of next week I will be getting a little under $3,000!! Of course there will be taxes taken out, but I am taking $2,000 of whatever...

APR on some of my CCs was lowered!

tschultz@1scom.net (Lady T) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 13:42:59 PST

I don't get paper statements on my credit card accounts; I went paperless for everything I could a long time ago. I track my CC accounts diligently so I can keep up with the percentage I've paid off monthly, and recently I've noticed some interesting changes in some of my APRs. One...

AP news article + other bits-n-pieces

tschultz@1scom.net (Lady T) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 22:00:12 PST

The AP had an interesting article today titled "Fallout begins after dismal holiday season." It said that some experts predict we will see more stores closing than we've seen in 35 years, with "thousands of stores and whole malls" closing down. It also said analysts expect the...

It's Official: We've been in a recession for a year!

tschultz@1scom.net (Lady T) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:58:12 PST

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The National Bureau of Economic Research said Monday that the U.S. has been in a recession since December 2007, making official what most Americans have already believed about the state of the economy.

The NBER is a private group of leading economists...

Happy Blogoversary to Me!!

tschultz@1scom.net (Lady T) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 10:20:16 PST

I started my blog here one year ago today! I have really made some good progress, and look forward to making even more during the coming year. A few changes that I have noticed about myself in the past year:

1. I have not used credit cards AT ALL in 2008. This is the first year...

Suze Orman Marathon on CNBC Tonight!!

tschultz@1scom.net (Lady T) — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 17:03:29 PST

If you missed Dawn last week, tune in! I bet it will run once or twice tonight!!

Update: First show, right off the bat! A couple of things I missed the first time I saw it: (1) they have TWO flat-screen TVs OUTSIDE in the patio/pool area, and (2) their MINIMUM credit card payments...

Saturday Night's Suze Orman Show

tschultz@1scom.net (Lady T) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 21:40:09 PST

Did any of you see Suze Orman tonight? I'm still watching it here in Texas, but the segment they just had on BLEW MY MIND. This woman named Dawn in California was on, talking to Suze, asking for help and suggestions as to what she and her husband can do about their $230,000 in credit...

Big day -- I voted AND got a flu shot!

tschultz@1scom.net (Lady T) — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 19:11:40 PST

I fully intended to vote early, but never seemed to get around to it (think I procrastinate much?) ... so I left work an hour early and went to do it. It went really smoothly -- there was only one person in front of me, and she opted for a paper ballot so I got to use the one-n-only...

Chase buys WaMu: 1st Order of Biz to Raise APRs???

tschultz@1scom.net (Lady T) — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 20:05:30 PST

I paid off a credit card this month -- my FIRST one since I started this blog -- and I was SO excited that I'd be able to start my snowball FINALLY!! But before I was able to post about that, as I was entering my credit card numbers into my spreadsheet, I noticed my WaMu balance had...

I got the job!!

tschultz@1scom.net (Lady T) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 07:57:24 PST

In my last post I mentioned applying for another position within my company. I interviewed for it last week, and learned on Friday that I got the job! I'm excited for the promotion, and for the extra money I will be earning as a result! My salary increase is 12%, and I will get...

End of Month = Another Baby Step

tschultz@1scom.net (Lady T) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 19:13:52 PST

I went ahead and updated my total CC debt on my sidebar, as well as my ticker. I have to keep my focus on the fact that my debt total continues to go down, rather than on the fact that it's going down so slowly. I started this year at almost $13,500 in debt, and now I'm just under...