The Hustle of Sistah Ant

I spent too much.  My savings goal for the month is shot.  I wanted to just get presents for my mom, dad, mister, and grandma.  But I wanted to give things they’d really appreciate and get something out of, and busy listening to Mister Ant and Mama Ant, instead of my inner miser, I didn’t cheap out on them, although I could have.  I got people what they asked for instead of just thinking of something on my own.  I just sat down and did the math last night.  I’ve spent over $100 on each of my recipients.  Shame on me.  I didn’t set a budget or anything.  And too much of the money I should be saving will be spent on ensuring that I enter 2009 with no credit card debt.  Darn it.  Mister Ant told me to get over the guilt, think about how happy I’ll be when I give my gifts, and take solace in the fact that all my bills are paid.  But I still feel like I should have done a better job of controlling my spending.

I can’t say enough about having an extended warranty.  I’m so glad I have it.  When I took my car for inspection the other day, they told me that my car failed because one of the dashboard switches is on the fritz and needs to be replaced.  Cost for parts and labor?  Over two hundred dollars.  This means I’d have to come up with the money to get it done by the end of the month when my 2008 inspection sticker expires.  I told the inspector I’d pick my car up that evening and get it fixed at the dealer’s.  I suspected that my warranty would cover it, so I called Honda Care and they said that the repair is covered under my extended warranty.  Sure, I have to go to the dealership, again.  But it’s definitely worth over two hundred dollars for me to go there before bringing my car back to the inspector to pass inspection.  Yay!  Go warranty!  I’ll be done with this foolishness by the weekend, just in time to miss the last-days-of-the-month rush at the inspector’s shop.

I did okay over the weekend, but not as good as I could have. 

I spent $20 on pizza.  This is coming out of my groceries budget, so that’s $20 less that I have to spend on real food.

I went $6 over my $50 holiday spending budget.  However, there were some good things too.  I went holiday shopping at Forman Mills, where you truly do get more for your money, so I bought twice as much stuff as I thought I would be able to.  I don’t know if Forman Mills exists outside of my area, but anyone within earshot of a Philly radio station knows all about it.  Think Marshall’s or ValueCity, but in a warehouse.  My mom used to take me there when I was a kid, and I remember that was the place to go back in the early nineties for gear when you didn’t have a lot of money… I’d been meaning to go there for a while, but you guys know I don’t shop.  It took present-hunting to get me out there.  Man, I love that place.  Another good thing is that I sent out my Christmas cards, and I already had a book of stamps and leftover cards from last year.  I cut my list down to the number of cards I already had, so what could have cost me maybe $20-$30 dollars ran me about a dollar and some change this Saturday.  I’m almost done shopping - my other recipients will get cold hard cash, and I want to get one more present for Mister Ant.  This time last year, I was done.  Sheesh.

I spent $20 more dollars on a credit card over the weekend on a business expense.  One of my goals for 2008 was to look into generating a side income, and I know there’s only a few weeks left in the year, but better now than never.  I started laying the foundation for a possible side income yesterday.

I did it.  I didn’t know how I’d get through December, but I have a plan. The holidays and my car inspection, among other things, made this month more of an adventure than another hum-drum month.  But the key was looking at the calendar, taking account for upcoming expenses, and being flexible.

Now, if I can just stick to the plan…

Thanks for being patient with me during my little hiatus.  I promise, it’ll be worth the wait for more regular posting!

There’s a lot on my mind right now.  Missing time from work for important meetings and a doctor appointment this week will make my next check smaller.  I’m not finished Christmas shopping.  I still haven’t taken my car to the shop for its inspection.  I still have Christmas to travel for.  And I’ve got to pay this month’s bills and clear the balance off of my credit card.  I’ve been really distracted lately and I haven’t dealt with any of this by budgeting.  To my credit, I know better than to go spending money all willy nilly without a plan, either, so I think I may have spent about six dollars since I got paid last Thursday.  But it’s cool.  Today, I’m going to get down with a calendar, my online bill pay, and a calculator, so I can plan this stuff out.

As usual, I’m trying to be tight with my money.  This week, I got $20 cash back from a register.  I told myself it was all I could spend until payday.  Well, payday is here.  And I still have a few bucks.  Amazing.  I know I’ve been saying that a cash allowance wouldn’t work for me, because I lose track of cash easily.  But hey, it worked this time.  Maybe I’ll try it again for the next week.

I was watching Parking Wars on A&E.  That show is hilarious!  I love this show.  The funny thing to me is that people make dumb parking decisions, don’t pay their tickets, let their insurance or registration lapse, ignore warnings given to them by the Parking Authority, and then… when they get the boot, or they get towed, they’re mad at the fees.  They complain about having bills, having kids, trying to make a living… I don’t understand it.  The show is shot in Philadelphia, and I live here.  I’ve had a few tickets.  You get two weeks to pay them.  The ticket comes with a convenient little payment envelope, and you’ve got two weeks to pay it.  Not only that, I’d say at LEAST 95% of the time, parking restrictions are clearly stated.  I’ve never gotten a ticket that I didn’t at least know it was possible for me to get because I was doing something wrong, like parking illegally really quickly to run in and out of a store, or forgetting to feed the meter.  Whenever I’ve gotten a ticket, I wasn’t surprised.  If I didn’t keep my insurance up, or I didn’t get my inspection sticker or my registration, I wouldn’t be surprised if I got towed.  ‘Cause that’s what happens when you don’t follow directions.  And if you can’t afford to pay $26, or $41 or whatever other ridiculous fee for parking, why would you park in a way that could get you a ticket that would cost you that much in fines?  It’s just stupid, and I feel like if you’re poor, you can’t take expensive chances like that.

I learned the hard way ONE time.  I overslept, my car was towed from a "No Parking 7-10am weekdays" zone during rush hour while I was asleep, and I had to come up with over $200 to get my car out.  That was over 10 years ago.  I’ve never made such an expensive mistake with my car since then.  I’ve had maybe four parking tickets in that time, and I got them by taking a chance because I knew I could afford each one I got.  But back during my poorest days, in fact even now, I read the parking signs, I feed the meters, I stay away from fire hydrants, and I pay my registration, insurance, and inspection.  When my income was at its lowest, all I could afford to do was stay out of trouble, because I knew I couldn’t pay for tickets, towing, storage, fees, and court costs under any circumstances.

Following directions is often cheaper than not following them.

You know what?  You wanna be lazy and not come to fix the leak from the bathroom in the upstairs apartment?  After all this time we gave you to get your mess together… We have been more than tolerant, more than patient, more than accommodating, and you have always gotten your rent on time.  Keep playing.  See if you get your January rent.  We have a new friend, and his name is ESCROW.

Slumlord.

November was good to me.  I hit my My Own Home savings goal (it seems like that took forever).  My IRA recovered a little bit.  I also escaped November credit card debt free (only to put Cyber Monday Christmas presents on my credit card on December 1st, but I digress).  It’s nice to see the line in my NetWorthIQ bar graph definitively pointing upward!  Last month was so discouraging in comparison.  One cool thing I noticed this month - I am at the point where the total of my assets is greater than my net worth deficit.  This doesn’t mean much, but psychologically it tells me that I’m closer to the light at the end of the tunnel than to the darkness at its beginning.  I have amassed assets worth more than my net worth hole.  I’m thankful for that.

I took a nice little vacation for Thanksgiving, hanging out with Mister Ant and his family.  It was pretty low cost, considering the lower gas prices and that staying with family means that you spend less on lodging and food than you otherwise would when traveling.  I did not go Black Friday shopping - I haven’t given up on Christmas presents completely, but it just isn’t my first priority right now.  I think I’m going to be a last minute shopper this year.

When we got home, there was a pile of mail waiting for me.  I got my annual Social Security statement.  Good news - I finally have enough credits to receive less than 80% of the retirement benefits that I’m entitled to one day if the program isn’t already legislated out of existence completely.  That was good for a hearty laugh.  That reminds me, I’ve already started on my goals list for what I need to accomplish next year financially, and muscling up my IRA and starting a Roth are my greatest priorities along with tackling debt… I’ll get more into this at the end of the month.

But speaking of debt, I got two of those "Direct Loan" envelopes in the mail.  Each letter just extended the courtesy of telling me that in accordance with the repayment plan I chose, Uncle Sam will be deducting $13 more dollars a month for my student loan payments, starting this month, so I’d better adjust my idea of what to deduct in my check register.  Sigh.  I know it’s only $13, but no one wants that kind of news.  Y’all just don’t know how happy I’ll be when I get to tell Uncle Sam to get out of my money.  I hope that the next time I get one of these letters, two years from now, that I’m already paying more than twice the minimums every month just to get rid of the loan altogether.

Oh yeah!  And - I hit my revised goal for the My Own Home fund!  Yay!  I’ll calculate my Net Worth for you guys tomorrow.