ZenQueen50's Personal Finance Blog

How do I add a TickerFactory ruler to show progress on my side bar?

thx in advance....

I am happy to say that I did not leave the house to visit stores or even eat out. I have the weather to thank for this. Today was an absolutely bad day for going anywhere. The wind was blowing so hard - gusts up to 49mph! There was certainly enough rain with that. I am glad no plans were made.

I did all my running around yesterday after work. Since I knew that the weather was going to be truly lousy on Mother's Day, I decided to buy a few groceries and pick up my prescription before heading home. Fortunately, my SO took me out to dinner Friday afternoon, and then afterwards we went to Barnes and Noble, just across the street from the restaurant.

So, I can thank the weather for keeping me at home and staying out of trouble.

Woohoo! It is finally working! I've reworked my budget (YNAB) and using the BudgetMap registers to keep track when I am unable to enter transactions online. I am able to avoid overspending in each budget category because I've given each of my earned dollars a job. Nothing gets put into a miscellaneous or other category. Also, as soon as a deposit from any source is made, it gets put into the needed categories.

I can't believe I've finally done it. It's all good.....

Had to run a few errands this morning; thought it was a good idea to hit Walmart very early to avoid the "herd." After all, this was a payday weekend.

I put together a list of items and associated coupons into a pouch, along with my debit card and checkbook from which I'd be making the payment. No worries about overspending because all that was in the account was my weekly "allowance" for food shopping.

At the checkout, the total for everything, even tho I slipped a wee bit, came to $25 and change UNDER budget; this also included the savings from the coupons. The money from the latter was taken out and put in a separate budgeting column titled "Coupon Savings." Perhaps I should title it "$20 Challenge" and save from what I get back using coupons and rebates.

Why not? Yes?

Looks like I am going to have to put the Challenge on hold, alas. With an unexpectedly high electric bill, high satellite dish bill and my health insurance premium having gone up because of my age - I turned the big 5-0 back on the 11th, it's all a bit over the budget for now. Thankfully, this is a 5-paycheck month for most of us, so that'll help.

Hopefully next month.....

I've decided to join the $20 Challenge, perhaps because it will get me disciplined in the true art of saving. At the same time, I can pass this challenge on to my kids - one's 23; the other almost 20.

I've got a pretty good start on the challenge. $86 to be exact. One way I add to it is by checking a newspaper vending machine at work for coins left behind in the coin return slot. I also believe in picking up coins, be it pennies or of the silver variety, and adding it to my coin jar. I don't like mixing coin and paper money.

Something else I do when I get my weekly paper check is to deposit an even amount into my checking account for paying bills. Then the odd amount of dollars and change will go to my Challenge Account.

I've decided to invest my money in SmartyPig where the savings yield is currently 4.30%.

I've decided to deposit my rebate check of $600 as a contribution in my Health Savings Account. I need to work towards my deductible, which is also the max amount I can contribute tax free.

The beauty of a HSA is that all contributions and distributions (medical payments/expenses)are tax free; they lower one's tax liability.

A worthwhile endeavor if you want to avoid paying too many taxes.....