The word ‘budget’ brings up in me just about the same feelings as the word ‘schedule’ does. *shiver* Schedule is definitely way worse, it practically gives me hives. And I know I really need a home budget, I’ve been thinking about it for several years now. You can see how I get right to things, can’t you? Hey! Some things need a little bit of thinking out first, you know! Like five, six years, yeah that sounds about right.

Each year, as the year comes to a close (since 2005 was ending I believe it was, when my feeble brain first started venturing down this path) I decide that next year is going to be the year! The year I sit down and keep track of things and get myself together and act like a real adult! And so far, it just has not happened.

I think if I had a very helpful budget worksheet that guided the way, showed me everything I need to keep track of and how I need to do so, that would be so helpful and I would just be such a good, on top of things, aware of what’s going on in my world, adult person.

I know one year I considered using some budget software because I got some free package in the mail, but, it was so promotional that what it really led to was a very expensive (for me) program that you had to buy to really get what you need out of the software. Ugh.

Well, this is a new year and I do plan to do better this year, so maybe THIS is the year!!!

I sometimes worry about not having been to college, and I kind of keep it in the back of my mind that I will, indeed, go someday. And then I get to talking with my friends about their experiences. And I thank my lucky stars for my ‘free education’ I’ve gotten online. I really have learned an awful lot online, and I continue to learn more every day.

My friends, however, are working their tails off to pay off student loans. The friend with whom I was talking yesterday has been out of school for eight years and her husband has been out for twelve – and they are still working on paying those college loans! Oh my freaking gosh! Ouch! Remind me not to go to college, ok? Gah!

I have heard many stories just like theirs, where people are horribly in debt by the time they get out of school. It sounds like such a nightmare. I know that much like credit card debt, there are companies out there to help people handle their debt from school loans. And just like with credit card debt, there are creepos out there preying on people bogged down my student loans.

John’s got a list of helpful and scrupulous websites where people can go to try to find their way out of student loan trouble. Debt is such a scary thing, so many of us suffer with it, and it just chaps my hide that there are low-life’s out there that would actually take advantage of people in their time of need. Ugh.

That’s what I’ve been told…

• You have exceeded the maximum number of payments allowed on this account.

And which fine company do you think has shared this lovely information with me? The electric company, perchance? Yes – the electric company. You know, Alabama Power Company – the ones that want me to pay them extra money for not having enough money – now won’t let me give them any money! WTH??

Nutters, I tell you, it’s just plain nutters. See, I’ve been paying them bits and pieces here and there as I can, and it just so happens that in the last two weeks, I’ve been able to send them four or five different payments.

And I had $200 I could send them on Friday, but, it was on two separate cards – which would mean two separate payments. I paid the first one, no problem. The software then asked me if I’d like to make another payment. Why, yes – I would. How did you guess?

So I head back in to do just that and that is when I received the lovely message above.

And yet, it is due to be cut off on Wednesday. Just lover-ly.

One more chapter in the ongoing saga of Lisa VS. Alabama Power. Heh.

Yesterday at lunchtime I was getting so hungry and I so badly wanted to order some Chinese food for myself. And it just so happened, my friend in South Carolina, Tsoniki, of Me Being Crafty, was Twittering the same exact thought!

I’ve got a wee bit of money in PayPal, so I could easily order myself something. But, I’ve got bills due. Bills that I haven’t enough to pay. So what does it matter, anyway? Oh me, oh my – I’ve been listening to someone saying those words for too long! I’ve made them my own! Ack! Banish thee, financially irresponsible thoughts! Be gone from my level-headed head. (Level-headed? Ok, maybe no one ever went that far in descriptions of me, but, close – they came very close!)

So I dissuaded myself from the carefree spending of money on one’s self for lunch and went digging in the fridge to see what goodies I might find hiding in there! Gaze, thee, upon my sumptuous spread:

Gorgeous, isn’t it? I thought so. I was so intrigued by all of the color – that I just had to take a picture and show you! I’m doing a lot of that lately, because, I’m completely in love with my new camera.

I feel better knowing I didn’t give into spending that money, and I wound up with a perfectly lovely and delicious lunch! My eyeballs were definitely bigger than my stomach – I definitely couldn’t finish all of it. That’s okay, though, because, they were all leftovers.

…to pay us what you owe us, so, we would like you to pay us even more

What the heck?! I’m late on my electric bill, because, the darn 100 degree days just did. us. in. Our darn bill is $359! And I guess I had a slow blogging month, or maybe I would do better to say, an unproductive blogging month. Things have just been so busy around this house, that it has been really hard to get much work done online! But that is a whole ‘nother sack o’ potatoes! (I need an office with a door, to lock the family out, so I can get some work done!)

What I’m really bitching about here, though, is that, for two weeks, I’ve been bustin’ my rumpus trying to get all the money together for that stinkin’ electric bill, among others….when I get this just loverly letter in the mail from them:

The electric service account at the above referenced address indicates a delinquent payment record. As a result, a deposit in the amount of $250.00 must be paid on this account.

See what I mean? “You can’t pay, so pay us some more.” That’s intelligent. Gah.

This same thing happened to me at the bank a couple of years ago – it was just like credit cards, you’re drowning, and in your dire struggle to get caught up – they push you back down under the water!

Life makes so much sense sometimes, doesn’t it? Ugh! I am almost there – to the original bill amount, that is! But, I still don’t have the total amount – I have until tomorrow. Wish me luck! And feel free to help out, if you’d like! All you have to do is click on my pretty Hippie Spelunker mug up there in the top left, and you will be taken to PayPal, where you can send me a buck or two, if you like. I only need $69 more, and I’m trying to avoid the pawn shop, but, I’m definitely not ruling that out – Mark’s got lots of watches, maybe even some Luminox watches. He loves those darn dive watches, but, they might just pay a bill this month!

I will work better this month. I will work harder this month. I will work more this month.

Work better, work harder, work more.

My new mantra. Heh.

Mark and I have been together for fifteen years and we have been renting for fifteen years! Do you know how much money that is that was just basically flushed?! We were, of course, young and just starting out when we got together. So it made sense that we were renting back then. And just about the time we were getting more financially stable, credit card offers came in the mail! One right after the other! And – you guessed it! We wound up in a heap of trouble! Well, we are almost out from under all of that mess, and thinking about buying again.

But all of the millions of details that go into lending and mortgages can really get confusing! But, there is a wealth of information to help us out at America’s Lending Partners. And they have two main mortgage and lending services that they offer.

If you choose to use the 4 Loan Offers service, you will submit your information one time and then you will be contacted by four different lenders, and deal directly with them.

Or, if you choose to use their new Mortgage Planning service, America’s Lending Partners will do all of the work for you. Your Mortgage Planner will conduct a personal consultation with you, offering their guidance and expert advice. And with this service, they will do all of the negotiating with the lenders for you.

LendingPartners.com has been such an informative website for me this afternoon – I’ve learned so much! Their help center is packed with information – a mortgage library, articles, and even several mortgage calculators. Their site has been very helpful for me!

You can do this with the PAYjr Visa Buxx card. This company is really great – I really admire what they are doing! They help parents teach children about managing money and how to be responsible for their own chores. And this is the first re-loadable, prepaid card on which teens can upload their own images and designs! So their cards can be just as cool as they want them to be! And they are having a card design contest for kids, also. People can go on the website and vote for their favorite designs. And the winner will receive a new Apple Macbook and other cool stuff, too! And check this out – if your child submits a design, and people choose it to use on their own card, your child will earn royalties on it! This is just cool from all directions!

My husband and I are in some debt and it makes life so difficult! I’ve been reading up on ways to help us get in a better situation and today I’ve been looking at a very helpful site, GoldStarCredit.net. There is definitely a lot of good information available on that site. First, I was reading their section on Debt Help, in which there were a number of interesting and informative articles, found on the left sidebar. The page on Collections Information really explained a lot of what we have been going through.

I have always wondered if it was bad to order a credit report – I thought I had heard that that was bad to do too often. But this site says that you should really stay on top of your credit report and order one at least once a month. Eeks! That sounds too frequent! I’ve never actually ordered one, but, I sure would love to see exactly how bad ours really looks! Funny how it can feel as scary as a bad report card in high school!

We would really love to get a mortgage in our name, but, I’m not sure how soon that will happen. We recently applied for one, but, were turned down because of our credit. I did learn a lot about the different types of mortgages on the Gold Star Credit site, though. I think it’s probably a good thing to learn and study about all of these things as we go along toward our goal of cleaning up our credit and owning our own home!

My friend, Cat, is from the UK and moved over here to the US later in life. I always love talking to her about the differences between life here and across the pond. I’ve learned some interesting things from her. One time I think we were talking about the different ways that we serve toast than she is used to. And more recently we were talking about the differences in things like healthcare and car insurance.

So then I was investigating UK car insurance online and I found it interesting to read their different terminology. One of the things that this website that I was looking at talks about is breakdown cover. And the cool thing about the breakdown cover is that it covers you, not your car! So even if you are in a friend’s car, you are covered! That is totally awesome!

One of the other interesting terms was keycare cover. As long as your keys are attached to the key fob, they will help you recover your keys. And they say they recover 90% of lost keys! Wow! I imagine they have a GPS tracking system in the key fobs. That is pretty cool!

It really sounds like some pretty good coverage over there in the UK, and I just love hearing about the different ways the same exact things are handled – especially in the same language! You know what I mean?
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