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Archive for March, 2005

Unexpected expenses

March 19th, 2005 at 09:45 pm

The past couple of weeks were filled with unexpected expenses. DH had a formal work party, and I needed a dress and shoes. Then one of our dachshunds injured her back, so that set us back about $90. She's still a little sore but we're hoping for the best.

I haven't been able to put extra money towards my credit card bill lately. Looking on the bright side, we were able to use cash for these unexpected things. It feels luxurious to just pay cash instead of having to charge something. I keep chugging along and selling things on E-Bay that we have around the house. I'm really determined to get back on track and pay my Mastercard off!

One new thing I'm doing is selling on Half.com. That money also gets direct deposited into my bank account. Instead of me choosing when to transfer the funds over, it is automatically done on the 15th and 30th of each month. I just started doing this Thursday, and have already sold 8 things! The total so far is small (about $35), but every little bit counts. I sold DVD's that the kids have outgrown and a couple of books I'm no longer interested in.

Our bedroom is still clean and uncluttered. To you that may be no big deal, but for me it's really great! Also, the kitchen is getting less cluttered. I'm very slow but trying to move in the right direction. In one corner we had a canister set and a basket/wrought iron set, plus a plant and other random items. The canister set and basket set together fetched about $240 on E-Bay! I wiped the countertop perfectly clean and moved the microwave from it's awkward spot next to the fridge, to the now empty area. It looks much better, so streamlined and clean. The microwave is much more accessible and I don't miss the items I sold.

This week I'm selling another basket set; a wrought iron stand and basket that stood next to the entertainment center. As soon as I moved it out to take photos that area looked better.

I'm looking forward to using these funds to get control of my finances.

More E-Bay auctions listed today

March 7th, 2005 at 06:28 am

Nick's auctions that I put up last week ended, and he got $64 for five video games! For a 10 year old kid, that's pretty good. I'm going to try and talk him into depositing $10 of that money, and keeping the rest for himself. I'm glad to get a few more things out of the house, and hopefully he has already come up with more things he wants to sell. It doesn't make sense to keep toys around that aren't being played with.

Stephanie gave me three of her video games to list, so I did just that today. I have four items listed myself. One ends Wednesday and the rest next Sunday. Keeping my fingers crossed...

Here is something really strange that happened. I listed a Disney DVD that is new, still sealed, and retired. We expected to get around $30 for it. Guess what it ended at? $102.50. Wow! I'll be more excited when they actually send the payment. The purchaser has good feedback, so hopefully everything will be fine. That's a lot of money to go towards my credit card bill!

I'm still waiting for my jury duty pay. It should come to $135. Another auction fetched $6.50. So, hopefully by the end of this week I can pay down $244. Just another dollar more and I'll be below the $2,000 mark. That will feel really good.

Nothing much else going on. We ate out far too much this week. Some nights it's so easy to just pick up a $5 pizza from Little Caesar's. We all love that, and it's not TOO much more than what a home cooked meal would be. Yum!

I wish you all a good evening, and until next time-

{{hugs}}

playing hooky today!

March 2nd, 2005 at 06:16 pm

The kids have another snow day! They had one yesterday too. We have a lot of snow piled up and the bus routes are still snow covered. So, I'm playing hooky from work. I've been fiddling around on the computer, but need to get up and do some housework. In a minute... LOL. Stephanie is crashed out on the sofa and Nick is cleaning his room.

DH came up with a new house rules/chore chart list last Sunday, and we started using it Monday. Monday we leave the TV and computer turned off. I thought Stephanie was going to have a heart attack; she stomped her feet a lot. I was able to peacefully read, and Nick played with his toys. It was very different for us and nice, but definitely quiet!

I'm planning to list a couple of things on E-Bay tonight. I'm putting the money towards my credit card bill. It has gone from $2,553.14 (February 1st) to $2,244.52 (March 1st). Over $300.00 is pretty good. I hope to beat that this month.

Our bedroom looks good. I've been trying to dispose of one bag for the Salvation Army a week (paper grocery bag size, or sometimes kitchen trash bag size), and one trash bag full of "stuff". You know, school papers that have been hanging around, etc. When I do laundry I've been putting clean, unwanted clothing into the Salvation Army bag. I've been losing weight and plan to reward myself with a new outfit just before Easter.

I am definitely a "messie"! But, week by week I keep trying, and now our bedroom is showing the results.

I've been tracking our spending in a pretty journal that I have. It should be an eye opener at the end of the month.