6 posts tagged “money”

For me, the weekend actually started on Thursday afternoon when I went to the ER.  I started getting another headache on thursday afternoon, and since the reports from my MRA weren't finished, the nurse on call at the headache clinic recommended that I go to the ER.  Since it wasn't confirmed whether or not I had an AVM, I didn't want to take the risk of a rupture if I did.  Plus, I wanted something for the searing 8 hours of pain I was about to endure.

I got to the ER at 1 pm but didn't get to see a resident until 8 pm.  It was pure insanity.  There was a woman who came in with signs of a stroke who waited almost as long as I did.  That's how backed up they were.  Welcome to Killadelphia.  They gave me touradol for the pain, which barely even took the edge off.

Anyway, FANTASTIC news is that by that time my MRA results came back and they were NORMAL.  WAHHOOO.  I can't begin to tell you how relieved I am.  I mean, aside from the obvious reasons, the cause of my headache is really getting narrowed down.  I have an appointment on wednesday with my neurosurgeon, so hopefully he'll have some more answers.  If it is occipital neuralgia, hopefully I'll be on track to prevention and pain refief.  The ER sent me home with a steroid pack (yucky) and a big dose of Depakote (aka Depadeath).

Needless to say, I haven't spent any money this weekend :)  Actually, that's not true.  Yesterday I bought pet food.  But that's in the budget!

So, my parents came to the ER and then took me to their house where I recovered over the last few days.  The headache was finally gone by Saturday, although I do feel a bit of the burning sensation starting up again in the base of my head.

On a better note, my tax refund was deposited into my acount on Friday and was immediately transferred to my ING savings account.  It kills me not to put that towards a credit card, but I know that I need to start building an emergency fund since I won't be relying on credit cards anymore.

I really can't begin to tell you what a huge relief (and how liberating) this has all been...finally getting to the clinic, finally getting a hold of my finances, learning about finance and investing...I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.  It feels like anything is possible.

I've worked my budget so that I have aalmost $800 a month to pay towards my credit cards.  Now, that's some serious frugal living.  How awesoime will it be when I have $800 extra dollars a month to just put into savings?!?!?!?!!!!  Anyway, I'm now paying off my Washington Mutual (evil people) card.  Hopefully that will be completely gone in another 2 months.

So far, the cat has been put on lower quality food.  It bothered me at first, but them I reminded myself that our family cat lived almost 19 years on Friskies and she was just fine.  The dog, however, is still eating the $1.79 cans of Merrick.  But I am switching to making my own dog biscuits/treats, which are ridiculously easy.  Chicken livers/giblets are only .79 at the supermarket.  So I just cook them up or add some flour and bake them and he gobbles them up.  I'm still going to splurge every now and then for a Flossie, though.

I can't begin to tell you how much $ I've saved by bringing my lunch and not buying Starbucks.  It's a strange feeling to go through an entire day and not spend any money.  It's quite easy to do.  I'm sure millions of people have been living financially responsible for years and this is no suprise to them.  But to me, it's all still new.

I'm still selling on eBay (check out my stuff I'm girlandadog).  Right now I'm pretty much just trying to sell off all of my books.  Over the weekend my father gave me some old books to sell to see if I could get anything for them.  My parents have been inspired by my leaf turnover and are beginning to "downsize" themselves.  My father must have 1,000 books (and he's actually read them all).  All hardback.  I'm pricing some of the antique/rare books, but so far I don't think I'm going to get much for them unless I start the auctions at .01, which is always kind of risky for something that is actually worth something.

Still selling my clothes at a nearby consignment shop as well, although that really doesn't make any money.  I've basically been using whatever cash I get as my weekly cash (which I'm actually not spending, but it's cash on hand in case I need it).

The only major expense I've had is a medical expense - I finally had my appointment at the headache clinic, which had an out of pocket uninsurable cost of $400.  I'm okay with it, because the headaches have gotten really serious.  The neurosurgeon feels that I may have an avm.  Best case scenario is that one of the major nerves leading to the brain is inflamed/pinched.  I have an MRA scheduled this week.  In the meatime, he gave me a nerve block (needle inserted into my brain stem area, FUN), which didn't really help that much.  Hopefully it won't be the worst case scenario, which would mean I'd have to go out on disability for awhile and only get 60% of my pay.

I'm worried, but I'm more relieved that I finally found a doctor who took me seriously and didn't just brush me off saying that my "migraines have changed." 

Money wise, it's been a good week.  I had two full days where I didn't spend a dime.  Of course, that was because I was bedridden with a massive headache.  I know I've written about my headaches before, and I finally have an appt scheduled for this coming week at the Headache Clinic at one of the local medical schools.  I am very excited, even though it will set me back about $400 that most likely will not be reimbursed through insurance.  But when it comes to my health, I don't mess around.  I don't mind spending this money.  Besides, I have $300 in Visa Gift cards that I'll be using, so it really will only cost me $100.

Anyway, I finally paid off the Gap credit card entirely.  Wahoooo!!!!!!!  I've made approx. $100 on eBay so far, and I'm waiting on some more auctions that are about to end.  This is very exciting.  The money goes right into my PayPal account which then goes right to the credit card.  I also negotiated a fantastic deal with Chase bank after threatening to close my account.  Two years of interest free payment for a one time fee of $63.  If I make a purchase, the rate is RIDICULOUSLY high.  Which is okay, because I've already destroyed that credit card.

I did my taxes last night and went to efile them today but the IRS website is down.  Don't forget, if your adjusted gross income is below $50,000 (or is it $55,000?) you can file online for free.  My refund should be about $1000.  Higher than I prefer, but I really can't take anymore exemptions that I already do.  I can't decide between giving that $1000 to the credit card company or put it into my emergency fund (which currently only has $20).

Purchases made today:  1 coffee

But I deserved it!  Seriously.  Yesterday one of the attorneys in my office (who also happens to be one of my closest friends) mother went into the hospital.  Very serious.  She had a trial today that I offered to cover. 

I haven't had a trial trial (like a real trial) in....3 years now?  Those dumb Megan's Law hearings don't count to me.  Nothing like meeting your client the morning of trial.  It was a drug case, an excellent case for the defendant as there really wasn't much tying hiim to the evidence. 

Which STRESSED me out.  It's no big deal when you think/know your client is guilty.  But when you think they aren't, or you think you should win....that is stress.  Combined with feeling kind of rusty in a courtroom, my nerves were a little frayed.  Plus, I only have one suit that fits me right now and I was worried that it, too, would end up being a little too tight.

So after a late night of preparation and a sleepless night of toss and turns, the case ended up being continued anyway because the Judge was out sick.

Go figure.

But after all that, hell, I needed a cup of coffee.  Better than a beer, right?

Now, the old me probably would have headed over to a little boutique and bought a shirt or some other little present for myself.  That's my problem.  Emotional spending. 

The thought to do that never even occurred to me today.  Now that's progress!

Okay, I haven't exactly paid off a credit card in full but I am darn near close.  Today I sold the remainder of my gold jewelry for a cool price of $1070.  Which will go right to the $1385 balance currently on my Gap Visa.  I get paid on the 15th and so the remainder of the balance will be paid off the 15th.  I think I may actually have enough to cover it now, but I don't want to mess around with my loan deduction.  That leaves 2 credit cards, one with about $7,000 and the other with about $2500.  I may do a balance transfer on one of them, depending on whether I can negotiate anything. 

The morning got off to a great start, too.  I won a $10 Amazon gift card just by posting at wise bread forums.  I'll save it for now - it'll come in handy if I have to buy any gifts.  Today I ran down to the nearby consignment store and sold a Cynthia Rowley dress for the price of....$24.  UGH.  But, that dress doesn't fit, it's been sitting in my closet for 3 years, and it's ugly.  $24 more dollars that I didn't have that will go to the credit card company.  I also sold another item on ebay for $25.  I'm trying to think of the combined effect of these little sales rather than just the individual low price...At least the rest of the clothes that I can't sell can go to charity for the tax deduction.

I also ran over to the ING cafe today to donate a winter coat.  And they gave me a free coffee!

I cannot tell you the amazing weight that has been lifted simply by finally admitting the problem and doing what I need to do to fix it.  I am so excited to feel what it will be like to owe nothing to the credit card companies...and to know that part of any excess income I have afterwards can go to the principal on my student loan...

I've also subscribed to the Dave Ramsey podcast.  I've learned some interesting things.  Especially that comparatively speaking, there are people out there WAY worse off than I am.  I think the biggest lesson I'm learning is that so far I'm really not missing all of the needless spending...like on the "treats" or the Starbucks or makeup.  I know it's only been about 2 weeks, but I really thought that the withdrawal would be much worse than it is.

Okay, I did buy a dog bone today (for the dog).  But that's been my only expenditure since last week!  That's huge!

Did I mention this in my last post?  I can't remember, so I'm going to post about it anyway because it makes me so happy. 

I was a gold freak back in the '80s.  Yeah, think Mr. T.  Me and my gold rope chains and gold hoops.  Well, all good things come to pass - now I HATE gold and the price of gold is high.  I haven't worn gold since 1980 and I never will ever again.  Blech.

So, last week I gathered a few old 14 K gold rope chains and 4 rings that ex-boyfriends gave me.  Tacky, tacky, tacky jewelry.  I saw that a nearby jewelry store was buying gold, so I figured I'd sell it.  I thought at most I'd get $30-40.

I walked out with $430.  Cash.

I immediately crossed the street to the bank, deposited it, and transfered that $430 over the my Gap Visa credit card, which had a balance of $1700.  Wahoo!

The good fortune didn't end there!  I then called my cable company to downgrade my cable.  Basic cable in Philly starts at about $60.  I also have internet and On Demand.  My bill was $130 a month.  I was going to downgrade to the most basic of basic packages.  Fortunately for me, however, the employee on the phone couldn't figure out how to enter the right codes into the computer to downgrade my package.  After a few minutes, he gave up in frustration and gave me a new 6 month promotional package -- for only $69 a month I'd have the EXACT same package that I was paying $130 for!  Wahoo!

I then hiked over to Urban Outfitters to return a sweater I'd gotten as a Christmas gift.  I only wore it once and the seaming had come undone.  Normally, I probably would have stashed it in the back of my dresser and forgotten to return it until it was too late.  I took it over, made my exchange, and got some $ back because the sweater was now on sale!  Wahoo!

Then I darted on over to ING and got a free coffee.

I went home over the weekend to collect the rest of my gold.  Based on what I sold last time, I think I have well over $1000 in jewelry.  Well, let me rephrase that.  Chase Visa will have about $1000 in jewelry.

I've also been putting up some things on ebay  - yarn, computer stuff, crafting supplies.  I'm making quite a return on the yarn.  Stuff that has been sitting in the attic for the last 2 years.  I never realized the amount of EXCESS I engaged in....It's kind of disgusting.  There's just so much STUFF.  Stuff I don't need. Stuff I bought to feel better but never really felt any better after I had it for a while.  Kind of like how gum loses the flavor too quickly.  I'll post more on this later - my tendendcy to engage in retail therapy.

It's a new way of living for me.  Bringing my lunch to work, not eating out, not buying 2 starbucks everyday.  I thought it would be really hard, but it's kind of liberating.  For the first time this month I won't be panicking when my student loan payments are deducted from my checking account - there will be at least $300 left over so they won't bounce.  That feels a helluva lot better than any new pair of Steve Madden shoes feel.

By the way, these  things really do work.  (Just saw an informercial on them, thought I'd pass on some good $$$ saving advice).