Navigating life and finances
Yesterday I learned some sad news about one of my siblings. My brother who is only two years older than me has cancer, and things do not look good. At this point, I don’t know too many details but do know it is serious enough that his case was escalated to get him to an oncologist sooner than later. It is times such as these that you realize how short life can be. Tomorrow is not promised for any of us. [Read more…]
Wow. What a month it has been! The biggie, of course, being that The Beast (aka Discover) was PAID OFF IN FULL and the car being ever so close! The $3,500 finally cleared and is reflected in the balance. I have scheduled yet another payment towards it, this time using our regular bank. The funds came from my job taking care of the baby, $50 from M-Turks and a little from the “comfort zone” of our checking account. I’ll be receiving another check on the weekend plus we are still waiting on the refund from our insurance company for the canceled policy. Now to the good part. The following is where we now stand. As always, I like to give a brief overview of our numbers. [Read more…]
Ugh. Seeing our checking account with more than enough funds to pay off our car loan, well, I just had to do something! No, I didn’t pay off the car. What I did do was pay November’s mortgage payment. Tempting as paying off the car was, I also know how important it is to take care of the four walls. So, as I like to tell Hubs, we can now live here for yet another month! While it doesn’t save on interest making the payment some two weeks early, it does remove the temptation of using the money elsewhere. Not that paying off the car would have been a bad thing. But, the remote possibility of not being able to cover the mortgage with Hub’s next check certainly wouldn’t have been too smart! Now with that big payment out of the way for another month, I can again focus on getting that darn car paid off! [Read more…]
There isn’t a lot going on right now here at A Dime at a Time, so I will focus on a few highlights of the past week. [Read more…]
We did it! Discover (aka The Beast) is meeting its demise. Just yesterday, I picked up the check from the sale of our travel trailer. I wasted no time bringing it to our local credit union and was shocked when they were able to clear the funds without any wait time. I had figured there would be at least 10-day delay. The teller did need to place a call to the bank the check was drawn on, and then told me I could use the funds immediately. So, after I got back home, I went online, scheduled two payments and hit submit! One will kill off The Beast, and the other $3,500 will significantly reduce what we owe on our car. With Monday being a holiday, those accounts should be receiving their funds on Tuesday/Wednesday. You know I’ll anxiously be checking to see the impact! [Read more…]
Wow, my first week of being (primarily) self-employed sure went by fast! In addition to working in my FBA business, I also put in an extra 12 hours taking care of the baby. A week ago, the baby developed pneumonia (thankfully caught very early), so the family has decided it is best to keep him home rather than send him to daycare. I don’t blame them. Although the kiddo is doing well overall, he is medically still compromised. Less exposure to others (especially during cold and flu season) really is in his best interest. The timing worked out well for me (and them, too!) as I have now agreed to cover two six-hour shifts with him. I did put a condition in for when and if I need or want time off. I figure this still gives me four full days to work my business. On the days I’m taking care of the baby, I’ll combine that with some shopping and shipping of boxes. [Read more…]
A significant change for me this past month. I (along with the support of Hubs) made a decision. It was a decision for me to be officially self-employed. This past Friday was my first full day in my new role. Yep, I quit my office job and will now focus primarily on my business. I still plan on taking care of the baby 1+ day a week (the + is for the occasional extra hours they ask me to cover.) I know. A lot of you are saying “What?” There are many reasons for the change. Family is first, but also the math. [Read more…]
No, I still don’t have any official numbers on where we are with our debt payoff. I completely missed my mid-month update, which was a combination of time getting away from me and honestly, not having much to report. As things stand right now, we are hovering around a $700ish decrease for the month. Certainly not great, but with having to use our sinking funds for our driveway and also taking an impromptu mini-anniversary trip, we are still playing catch-up. I plan to have more solid numbers posted at some point this coming weekend. Looking at some upcoming expenses and wage changes, I’m also feeling the need to do some budget tweaking. [Read more…]
A couple of days ago I was poking around A Dime at a Time and discovered a link which brought me to a post over on MoneyMow. Let me give a quick disclaimer before I go any further. Being in my 50s, I tend to be a bit technically challenged. Going into the admin area of stats, referring links, and whatnot tends to overwhelm me-hence I don’t go there very often. I’m just happy to have a platform on which to express my thoughts and hopefully serve as an encouragement to others. That being said, I was beyond humbled to have seen (albeit several months later) that A Dime at a Time made MoneyMow’s List of The 30 Fastest Growing Personal Finance Blogs Of 2018! [Read more…]
Oh my. I’ve been awful at keeping A Dime at a Time updated. Shame on me! I’m still alive and plugging away at our debt. Hubs came home for eight days, and that kept me busier. When he is home, my own life tends to take a backseat. I’m more than okay with that, especially considering how little he is home. [Read more…]