Sabrina’s Money Madness

I didn’t have a good month in August at all. I won exactly 3 things.

1. $5.00 Discover card from a mail-in sweepstakes. It probably came in July with the other one but since it went to my Po Box, I didn’t get it until August.
2. $5.00 Pizza Hut gift card
3. A Stuffed plush animal (a $2.00 prize). It’s something small that I’ll try to find someone to give it to.

Hopefully this month will be much better for me. If not, I will definitely re-evaluate my entries. I can take the money that I’m paying for stamps and put it in my savings. It’s not a lot but it’s the small amounts that can really wreck your budget. I may end up buying a fixer upper in which case I may need of those copper farmhouse sinks or maybe a pedestal sink for the bathroom. I know I’m going to need something and I want to be prepared.

If push comes to shove, then the sweepstakes will definitely be the first thing to go.

This time I’m not moving buildings, but we are changing our seating arrangements. Several of us are getting actual cubes, instead of where we are now. Our work-leaders are getting offices and some of my coworkers are shifting around.

I have to spend the rest of the day filling boxes and containers with all of my books, work supplies and files. Luckily we have a moving company that will move the boxes for us. Even though I already moved a bunch of the small stuff to my new work area. It’s easier than throwing everything in a box and then trying to find it tomorrow morning.

Now I just have to remember to go to my new desk tomorrow.

Today is my first day back from vacation and I wish I was still out on vacation. It was so depressing to walk through the door today. Vacation time is way too short. Especially since I’ve only worked at this company for 4 years so I’m still at 2 weeks vacation.

On the bright side, next Monday is a holiday so this will be a 3 day weekend. Now I’m just hoping that this week flies by. I need more time off!

I’m on vacation this week and I really wanted to go away for a few days. I didn’t play my cards right so I had to make alternative plans. I wanted to go on a short cruise but I didn’t have anyone to go with me on such short notice. There is a 3 night cruise that was pretty inexpensive. The price was less than $300 per person but to go alone I would have paid double. Since it was last minute, I couldn’t come up with that much cash so soon.

I was really looking forward to hitting the beaches in the Bahamas too. Plus I could have gotten some good cigars while I was there. Cubans are illegal in the US but not in the Bahamas. Not to mention all of the great shopping I could have done while I was there.

I am not going to be in this boat next year. I don’t know where I’m going or for how long but I will go on a real vacation.

Bummer. One of my banks is offering a bonus if you use your debit card to pay 3 “regular” bills. Including utilities and cell phones, insurance, cable etc. The catch is that you have to pay at least $50.00 each time. I only have $20 direct deposited into that account twice per month. With a $30 bonus that they owe me from the last promotion, I’ll have $145 by the October 1st deadline.

I don’t mail deposits to this bank or use any kind of ach with them either. They’re strictly a cash in-cash out bank to pay my credit card balance every month. I think this particular bank may even charge for ach transfers. And of course, I’m not paying that.

Oh well, I can’t take advantage of every promo that comes my way.

The only problem is that I can’t use any of them. I don’t need any work done on my car right now so the coupons are going to waste. I had a gift card that I actually sold on eBay because I wouldn’t have had a chance to use it before it expired. When I called the company that issued it, they said that it was basically a “use it or lose it” coupon. So I sold it to someone who could use it.

I sure hope I’m still getting coupons and deal offers come late September or early October when I really need them.

I will pay my bills regularly but I’m not gonna go on that credit plan that my credit card offered me. The main reason is that I heard they’re going to “balance chase” everyone. Basically, once you pay down your balance, the company will lower your limit to just over that amount. In effect, you won’t improve your utilization because your limit keeps getting lowered.

What I plan on doing is using an extra cash that I have and throwing it at my credit union credit card. They don’t play these silly games and I’m not worried about them lowering my limit. It’s a pretty low limit card anyway, so it’s not like I can go much lower.

Once I pay off my lower limit cards, then I’ll concentrate on the higher limit one. By then I won’t care what they do with that particular card because my other cards will be paid off and I’ll have some extra cash in the bank for emergencies.

That’s really the way it should be anyway.

I’m pretty happy about it too. It wasn’t a lot of money because I only invested in 2 loans for $25 each but it’s still something. I read a lot of comments about Lending Club before I got involved with it but I was still pretty skeptical. I didn’t know if these people would take their obligations seriously or if they would blow their money on vintage t shirts or Teva sandals or something. But I got 2 people who are taking their responsibilities seriously.

I think I’ll still wait a month or two before I pony up any more money for additional loans. I will say this though, I’m pretty excited for what’s to come in the future.

Which is very surprising considering it’s a small unit. It was so hot yesterday that I turned the air on and within 10 minutes I could already feel the difference in the air temperature. I went to the bathroom a little while later and while it was still hot in that part of my apartment,  I could tell that the air had reached over there as well.

I ended up turning the air off after about 2 hours because I was starting to get cold. I felt like I needed to grab a electric blanket to keep the chill off. Believe me that was a good thing because I slept like a baby last night.

I had so many problems getting this air conditioner up and running but I’m glad I followed through because I am reaping the benefits of it right now.

I think our human resources area just realized what I’ve been saying for a few months now about our payroll changes. Most people realize that we’re getting 3 checks in September and that we’re getting 2 checks in October. But what most people aren’t taking into account is that the 1st check in October will only be for 1 week. Then we get a full pay 2 weeks later.

We’re gotten flyers at work, tons of emails and a brochure sent to our homes. It’s starting to finally sink in for a lot of people. I’ve been planning for this for a few months so I’m pretty good with it. I just hope everyone at works adjusts their budgets accordingly come mid-September.

I need another air conditioner. The one that I have that I finally got to work is small and has very low BTU’s. I had to get it that way because a larger unit would not have fit into my windows. Anyway, it cools the room that it’s in but the rest of my apartment is still blazing hot. I’ve decided that next year I’m getting a portable unit for my bedroom area.

I already know that it will set me back a minimum of $350 with tax so I’m starting to save now. That way I can pay cash and be done with it. Since I don’t have any major expenses within the next year I should be ok. I do want to buy one of those wholesale laptops that I saw, but that will have to wait until after I get the air conditioner.

I can always borrow a computer if it comes to that, but I’ll roast in my hot box of an apartment and that’s not good for my health.

It was about a week and a half ago when it was extremely hot outside. The air conditioner doesn’t fit into my window properly and there’s nothing to brace it against. However, it was over 90 degrees and the air temperature made it feel like it was over 100 degrees. It didn’t matter if I was sitting on the couch, laying on a latex mattress or standing in front of the fridge, nothing was working and it was pure torture inside of my apartment. So I had to get that thing in the window some type of way.

I sat it in the window but after 20 minutes or so it the condensation started to pool under the unit. That was bad because the plug is on the front of the unit and the water would have been right on it. My window turns out but it doesn’t turn all the way out like most of my neighbors, but it worked in my favor. I was able to brace my air conditioner on the bracket for the window. Then tilt the unit backwards so the condensation flows out of the back and falls to the ground. I then just boarded the window with the box and tape and it’s gonna stay that way until the middle of September once the weather breaks.

It’s not pretty but as long as it works I don’t even care.