Do You Need Extra Cash?

So this will be quick.  If you are in need of extra cash go to https://www.instagc.com/420755
You can earn as little or much as you want.  It is great if you have a bill to pay each month that is an extra like Netflix.  I make sure I make enough each month to cover Netflix.  I get to watch my shows and movies and I never actually pay for it.

You can watch videos, take surveys, print coupons, and so many other things to earn points and from now until the end of the year they are giving you a bonus!  For the points you earn each week you will earn a percentage extra as a bonus.  The more points you earn the bigger the bonus percentage gets.  You could pay for your whole Christmas if you really wanted to.  I have been using it for a few years.  Last year I made over $400 extra dollars just using this site.  This year I am behind but I have still made over $100.  By the time this month is over I will have earned enough to cover Netflix for a year and have a little extra.  What are you waiting for?

Thanks for reading.  Until next time.

A Money Check In

So I was doing a series of posts on how to pay down your debt and save a little.  I shared how I use my small change to grow my savings and ways that I earn extra money and Amazon points so I can keep up on my spending and putting money away.  I do not make a lot of money by any means but I have putt away $500 in one savings and about $150 in another.  Plus I got all of my daughter's sweet 16 decorations for free so far.  Plus her gifts and I have already started purchasing her Christmas gifts.

I have been able to go without using my credit cards for quite a while now which is raising my credit score.  It is not rising in speedy leaps but it is rising which is getting me baby steps closer to where I want to be.  One of these days I will be debt free and be able to do what I want because my score will be amazing.  It will make it so I can get things I want and have low interest rates which will be like paying same as cash.  A lot of things I will be able to pay cash for because I will have money in my savings to do what I want with.

The secret is that it isn't a race to get there it is about taking the steps to get there.  If you are always trying to put away $20 but have to use it because that is a big chunk out of your budget then what is the point you are getting no where.  If you save a little at a time so that you really don't notice then you will not feel burdened by actually saving money.

Believe me if I can do this so can you.  Even if you just start by saving pennies.  After that you can work your way up.  The hardest part is starting.  it is like losing weight, they say the first 10 pounds is the hardest but once you do your body gets going and you can keep going because you are motivated.  Once you save $10 you will want to do $20 and then $30. It will be exciting to see your balance going up.

Get started.  Do not wait.  If I can do it on a single income you can make it work too.  I am here if you have questions or just need motivation.  Do not hesitate to talk to me.  I am happy to help.

Health Update

So Friday I went to the ER and found out I had another kidney stone.  I had symptoms for a few days but I am bad about getting checked out.  I always put other things ahead of my pain.  I know that I should listen to my body more but I just have things to do so if it isn't too bad I just keep going.  Well on Thursday night my body was really letting me know it had enough and by Friday morning it was telling me it was time to go, so after the water heater repair people finished I went in.

This is the second time I have had one and it is the worst.  It is the only thing I have found that beat childbirth and that is painful enough.  Although when you understand what is happening with a kidney stone you realize it is about the same principle of pushing a watermelon out a hole the size of a pea.  If you have never had to go through either of these there is really no way for you to understand this type of pain.  If you have done one or the other then you know the pain I am talking about.  If you are like me and have done both, well you deserve and award.

They gave me meds to help and decided this time it is small enough that they hope it will pass on its own.  While I am not looking forward to passing it I am hoping it does because I do not want to do surgery again.  The last one I had was so big that even after placing a stint it still would not pass so they had to surgically break it up so it could come out.  That was not fun and I have had lower back pain every morning in that spot since.

I go see the dr. for a check up in the morning and hopefully it will be good news.  I am hoping they tell me it is passing along well and should be out in a few more days.  Unfortunately between the meds and pain there was not enough energy to make posts so I am hoping to get caught back up soon.
Keep up the good work on paying down the debt and building your savings. You are doing great because you are trying.  We are in this together.

Use Your Opinion To Make Money

So getting back to to making some extra money I have some more ways to help you get some extra funds to help with paying bills and adding to your savings account.  Believe me they work.  I have actually cashed out from everything I am telling you about.  I am only going to tell you about ones that I have actually earned money from.  My two other posts have information about ways that I have actually made money.

As a reminder of one of my favorite is InstaGC (https://www.instagc.com/420755).  I was just able to purchase $140.00 worth of birthday decorations for $10 byways are  using the points I earned to get Amazon codes.  I really like this site because you can get cash or gift cards.  I have cashed out money as well but right now i am working on a sweet 16 party so it is going to that.  I do about $1 a day as my goal but there are some people on there that have made $20 a day.  I just want to do other things during the day.

My other ways are surveys.  They can take some time to complete and it does take some dedication but you can make some money.  One that I started in the beginning is Opinion Outpost (opinionoutpost.com).  You can get cash, Amazon codes, and some other things as well.  You take surveys they send to your email and they are worth different point values once you get the amount you need to cash out then you can get the item you want.  This one is also good because you can cash out $10 at a time which is nice because the others you have to earn $25-$50 before cash out.  That means you can have money faster so it is quite helpful.

Another is Survey Savvy (http://www.surveysavvy.com/?m=5766848).  This is hit and miss on getting qualified on the surveys but the reason I like them so much is because you can cash out for $1.  See I am very inpatient about wanting to cash out so this one is nice because I do not have to wait long.  As soon as my account is credited I can send for a check.  I really like that idea.  So this is a good one if you are like me.

Well if you are like me you don't want to read a super long page either so I am going to stop for now.  I will give you some more options to choose from in other posts so you do not get overwhelmed.  We are in this together and I am here to help.  I want to help you get the freedom from debt you are looking for and I am doing it with you.

Sorry I went Missing

I just wanted to say sorry for not posting in so long.  I need to get back to our debt reduction series.  I hope you are doing well and have been able to save some money and pay down some bills.  I have so much to go over that has happened lately.

To start I am working at home. With my daughter's health and her needing me more I have taken the step of being home more often now.  It has been a little challenging getting started but by the grace of God I know I am going to figure this out.  It will get easier as I get more used to the idea.

I am not losing weight like I had hoped and I have been in a lot of pain so I am back to the Dr. next week.  I know I need to get this figured out but I a a little worried about what they are going to say is wrong.  Hopefully it is not something that is going to be drastic to fix.

Well those are the big changes as of right now.  I am still saving and paying bills although my income is not as big right now but I know it will pick up in the future.  I just have to get the hang of what I am doing but a lot of my friends are working from home now so I know I can do it if they can.  I will be back soon.

We are on this journey together and I happy you are here.

Get Money Back From Shopping

I hope you are doing well with your savings and debt reduction.  It is such a great feeling to know that you are getting closer to living the way you want.  You should really be proud of yourself for taking this journey.  No matter how far you have gotten just be proud of yourself that you are continuing to work on it.  Some weeks will be easier and some you may have to make some adjustments due to an unexpected situation.  The goal is to keep going.  I have paid off 2 cards I have about $600 in savings and I am about to pay most of the balance off on another.

Today I am going to tell you how I get money back when I shop.  I like to use Ebates. You can check it out by clicking this link http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=beL25MhNpsK0Et5ppi%2FbBQ%3D%3D&eeid=28187 ( if you sign up I get a referral for this one)  You can shop at a ton of stores online and then depending on the store you will get either a percentage of your purchase back or a set dollar amount.  So far I have gotten back about $30 and my next check is already up to $16 from just making the purchases I already wanted to any way. Also I like that they have a reminder button you can download to your computer so if you are on the site of a company they work with it starts flashing so you can be reminded to get money back.

I have gotten money for buying things from Victoria Secret, Fingerhut, Amazon, Ebay, Kohl's, JcPenney, Jelly Belly candy, and I even got money back for doing my Taxes online with Turbo Tax.  It is really nice to get money back for buying things you need anyway.  Also during Christmas it is great because you can get some money back on all the gifts you buy so it doesn't seem so bad afterward.  Who couldn't use some money back after Christmas.

You are doing great.  Keep up the good work.  We are in this together and I know you can do this.

Making Money For Saving

Ok so now you have had time to go over all the other steps and get used to it.  Hopefully by now you have gotten the hang of things and have a system that works for you.  I know at first it takes some getting used to and sticking to it can be a challenge.  I have faith in you that you got this.  If I can do it I know you can too.

At this point you should have made a few of your weekly payments and even if it is small you should be seeing your balance slowly going down.  This is the goal.  No matter if it is a dollar a week or $100, the objective is to get the balance to be smaller.  It is not about how fast you go but getting the balance down is.  It is about still being able to eat but pay bills and start having an emergency  fund so credit cards are not always needed to solve an emergency.  We want those to be the last resort at this point.

So one way I make extra money is by using a site called INSTAGC.  To visit the site click http://www.instagc.com/420755  This can be used on computer or smart phone.  There are different ways to make money on this site.  You can watch videos, take survey, download games, even print coupons.  It is extremely easy.In my spare time this year I have made over $40.  Roughly $20 extra month so that is pretty good.  You can put that in your savings account or use it to make your weekly payments.  I have made about a $1 a day this month already.  Using my earnings from this site and another I will explain in another post I was able to buy my daughter a new backpack.  It cost $53 with shipping and I paid $0.  To the right is a picture that shows the type she got.  I got it from Amazon so I used my points for Amazon codes and put them on my balance until I had enough to pay for the whole thing.

So even if you only made $1 a day that would still be $30 extra a month.  That is $360 extra dollars a year. Think of what you could do to knock out debt or add to your savings with that much extra a year.  I am earning points as I type by watching videos.  It is really that easy.

In my next post I will go over some other money making tips that add up.  I hope you are learning on this journey.  Remember I am here with you taking the same journey.  We can do this together.

On To The Actual Saving

Ok so you now know how much you owe and how much you will dedicate to paying down this balance each week.  You have been thinking about the best way to use your taxes to your advantage.  You have put in the work to take back your money and now we are going to talk about how you can do all this and start to save some of it too.

I know when you are living paycheck to paycheck that building a savings account seems totally impossible.  The truth it is easier than you think.  Remember back when I talked about using cash only so you are more accountable for your money, well this is where that also helps your savings.

I want you to find a container it can be an actual piggy bank or a pickle jar.  It just has to hold money.  Now when you pay for something the change goes in the jar.  When the jar is full you roll it up and take it to the bank.  Now I actually save my $1 bills and my change but if you can not do that at least do the change.  It adds up and then if you need it you will have it.  You need to be dedicated though.  It means just because you want pop that day you can not go into the jar.  The savings isn't so you can buy a new t.v. later.  This is the saving you are building for real future emergencies.

Ok I am going to let all of this sink in.  I may not post for a couple days and if I do it might be on something different just so you can get working on this and get a feeling before I throw more at you.  Next we will start the different ways to earn some extra money to help with all of this.  There are so many different places claiming to pay you but through trial and error I have found some good ones that have helped me build up my cash.

Remember this is a journey and we are in it together.

Start Small

Ok so far we have talked about making your debt pay down book, and finding an amount that you are comfortable paying each week.  We made a quick side step and mentioned using tax money to pay some thing.  We will now get to the next step.  This is where the real work starts.  This is where you will actually start to pay off debt.

Every one has a different theory on this part.  Some say pay the bill with the highest interest rate while others say pay the amount that is smallest first.  Both are good ideas and can work.  I like the idea of seeing real progress though.  I want to know that me effort is making a difference in my debt.
This means I choose to pay the smallest bill first.  I actually just paid off one card and am now working on my second.  I feel like seeing a bill hit zero gives me motivation to keep going.  It is like having ice cream after a long day or your cheat day on a diet.  You can see that you are really making a difference in your debt.

So your job today is to find the bill that has the smallest amount owed.  I do not care what it is it just has to be the smallest.  This is the one you are going to work on first.  Now remember this is on top of your monthly payment.  So if it is big enough you will still get your monthly bill and you will pay the minimum that you always have but what ever the amount is that you decided was your extra amount you will pay this every week.

Currently I am working on my JcPenney bill.  I have $84 to go, so this week I will pay the $20 that I have dedicated to debt pay down.  I will have this bill paid off by the end of the month.  This will be the second bill I will have paid off and it is a great feeling.

Welcome to the journey.  I will be with you the whole way

Make a Commitment To Pay

In my last post I discussed the first step to getting out of debt and saving money.  Hopefully you have at least started putting together your debt down payment book.  I hope at this point you have a clear picture of what you are working with.

Now that you have seen the number it is time to start tackling what you can pay.  I know that having no extra money makes this part tough but you CAN do it.  I know because I am doing it right now.  You have to decide right now what you are going to commit to.  I do not care if it is $1, $5 or $50.  Right now you are making a decision about how much extra you are going to pay to a bill each week.  Yes I said each week.  It can be done and in future posts I will tell you how you can make extra money easily to put toward this.

Right now I just want you to make the commitment.  I personally chose $20.  It is a high number but it is what I chose.  Each week I pay $20 to the bill that needs to be worked on tight then.  This is not extra to every bill you are just committing to pay this amount to one bill so that makes it more achievable.

That is it for today.  I want you to look at what you can do.  Again if it is only $1.00 then that is where you start.  You may have to even buy one less pop during the week but you got this.  I make less than $18000 a year and I have picked $20 so I know you have $1 some where.

I happy to be on this journey with you and sharing what I have learned.  I know we can do this together.  You got this!

Flash Back To Savings

Awhile back I started to do a series where I was showing people how to pay down debt and save money even when you think it is impossible.  I know it is possible because I am doing it very slowly.  I have struggled for years and I am getting back to doing the work.  If I can do it on 17000 a year than pretty much any one can if they really do the work.

Today I am introducing the first part.  It is figuring out just what you owe.  You need to see the big picture in order to get it under control.  When you see it and know if it is growing or shrinking you are more in control of the situation.

How ever you want to to log it is up to you but you have to keep track.  I personally like to use a composition note book and do it by hand.  If you want to go digital that is fine.  Some people are really good at spreed sheets so that might work for you.  Also if you are a part of a couple you need to work together also so you are both on the same page.

You take all your bills and list them and the amounts that you owe.  Then make a column that says total and add them all up so now you can see exactly what you owe.  No matter the number do not beat yourself up.  What ever the number you can do this.  Life happens and you now need to face it and deal with things where they are right now.

Each month you will add and subtract based on  your statement,  You will add interest back to the balance and subtract any payments you have made.  So if you got charged $3.00 interest add that and if you made a $25 payment you subtract that.  Then you go to the total amount owed and do the same.  This way you keep an accurate account of what you owe.

Ok so you now know where to start.  I will keep giving you ways to get out of debt and save money.  If you have questions please comment I am here to help.

Serious Thinking

I have so much going through my head lately.  I want a change so I have a lot of things to accomplish ahead.  I could lose my job any day so that really puts a spin on the situation,  I need a job that lets me just work and has structure.  If I could afford to work for myself I totally would because it would make things so much better around here.  Sales jobs are just not my thing.  If some one doesn't want to buy something I am not one to really push the issue.

I want so much more for my daughters future so I have a lot of work to so there as well.  She only has 2 years until college.  It may seem like I have time but if you are a parent you know how fast time flies.  I want to give her the sweet 16 she is dreaming of and also give her the choice of whatever college she wants.

I want a better future for myself as well not just sitting on my couch because I am poor or do not feel good half the time.  I want to be able to enjoy life a little.  I think I need to make a check list of things I want to do do so that I can keep up on my goals, then as I check them off it will also help me have a sense of accomplishment.  I think I just want my life to mean something one day.  I am not saying I need to be mega famous but when my daughter talks about me to her grand kids I want it to be positive things.

I know we all feel this way at some point but I want to do something about that feeling.  I want to actually make that feeling go away and turn it into something positive.  I want to look back on my life and be completely at peace when it is time for me to leave this world.

Feeling Pretty Good

So for a long time things were really rough.  Then all of the sudden the other day I was sitting here doing my surveys and such and it hit me.  I was fine.  I wasn't stressed even though a lot of things were crazy.  I was relaxed and at peace with my situation.  I didn't care that things were going wrong. I was just enjoying sitting with my daughter and doing my thing.  It was a great feeling.

As you all know it has been a long time that things have been going crazy for me.  Every day I woke up worried about what was going to go wrong and would I make it just one more day.  This day it was all gone.  I wasn't worried, or stressed or anything of the sort.  I was just at peace.  It was an amazing moment for me.  It has been so long but I got there.  Every day since I have thought about that feeling and I keep it going.  Not every day is perfect and sunshine but I am still here.

I am also thinking about taking a big step into a career change where I am in charge.  I want to help people.  I want it to be in a big way though so I am thinking of becoming a life coach.  I can help people figure out what they want to do and how to get there.  I am not sure this is my true calling but it has been on my mind day after day for at least a week now so I am researching the topic.  I think it would be amazing to help others find their true passion and how to get there.

I am ready to change and do big things with my life.  I know I am poor in money but I am rich in faith and spirit.  I am going to make it.  So will you.

Better than the 52 Week Challenge.

Okay so a lot of people have been talking about the 52 week challenge.  It is meant to help you save over $1000.00 by the end of the year.  The goal is whatever week you are on that is how many dollars you put in savings.  So week 5 would be $5.  In theory this is a good idea but what about week 40?  Can you be sure you can put $40 in savings and not touch it?  Do you have that much money to put away at one time?

I know that for me personally I will never just have $50 to put in at once.  I want to save money but I need a way that works in my budget.  So what should you do?  Dollar bills and change.  All week long set aside any $1 bills and change.  For my bills I just use an old #simplyorange juice bottle or put them in a separate  part of my wallet.  Then when you know you are going to the bank you take it with you and put it in your savings.  This is far less demanding than having to have a certain amount each week.  You barely notice that you are saving.

It is also less stressful.  This way you do not have a certain amount to save.  You save what you actually have.  You don't have to worry about catch up weeks if you miss one.  I once saved over $100 in one month just by doing this.  I was able to use it to pay a bill that I was running short on later.

I absolutely recommend this method.  If you can't do the $1 bills right away start with your change.  It really does add up.  You would be surprised at how much you can really save by just putting spare change aside.  My advice is to just try it for a couple months and see how it goes.  Do not keep it at home too long though.  You want to put it in some type of saving so it can earn some interest.  Even if it is not a ton earning some free money is always nice.  Then as the interest comes in you earn interest on that interest.

So give it a try.  What is the worst that will happen?  You will save money and have some extra in case something happens. Oh the horror of having extra cash.  Just kidding but really give it a try I bet you will be happy you did.

Happy New Year!

So it is 2015.  Hopefully you have learned a few tips to give you a great year.  I am really excited about this year.  I feel like I am going to get somewhere.  I feel like that My debt is going to be gone this year other than student loans.  Those are going to be the last things I tackle.  I will be using the many I get from saving so much to make the payment.  It will be refreshing to know that is the end of my debt.

I hope that you guys will have a great year and start to get ahead on your debt.  It is really a great feeling to get to keep some of that money you work so hard to make.  It is tiring to go to work every day and have nothing to show for it.  I will be so excited when I start getting paid and the money is actually mine to do as I wish not figure out who I can pay this week and who will have to wait until the next payday.  I get 3 pay checks this month and taxes are right around the corner.

The best thing about taxes is you can pay off something.  I don't care if it is the smallest bill you have, pay it off.  That will free up not only your money but it will help free you from stress.  Then you can concentrate on other bills.  I already know what I am doing with my taxes.  I have been planning it for months.  I know what I want to accomplish when I get my return.  I know what I need to do to get ahead.

You should sit down and make a list.  It doesn't matter if you don't know how much you are going to get.  You know what you need to pay off.  So put it in writing from most important to what you would like to pay off but can wait a minute.  The goal is to be ready so when that money gets there.  You will have a set plan.  Then you follow it.  That is all there is too it.  Now if between now and then something major happens you can adjust the list but the main thing is to be ready and have a plan.  The problem is that most people get so excited about getting them they start thinking about all the stuff they can buy.  They make these purchases but never take care of the old debt so then they have all this new stuff but still no money.  Not a good plan.  You just start regretting what you did and then you really can't enjoy the new stuff.

So I hope you will join me this year in making this year our best debt free year ever.  I hope that you will find your way to becoming debt free.  What ever works for you I hope you will use it and get to a comfortable relationship with your money.

No Card No Problem

So I explained to you how I have ditched my Debit Card and use cash now.  I do have a couple credit cards for emergency purposes.  I would just like to clarify that.  I love using cash for many reasons.  I can see it go.  I know exactly what is happening to it.  When it is gone it is gone so there is no over drafting my account on accident.  As stated in my article about how to save money we don't have it helps me build up my savings with out even noticing it is gone.

When you use your debit card you just swipe but you do not really have that connection of giving it away.  When you have to physically give it to some one it clicks a little different and when they hand a little less back than what you gave them, that is a connection.  If you are out shopping and only have a certain amount of cash on hand to spend you know you can not go over.  There is no picking up a few extras because you know you don't have it.

Another question is now how do I pay my bill?  Well there is the old fashioned method  Write a check and mail it to whom eve you need to pay.  This does require buying stamps and with a few companies envelopes.  If you have a Dollar Tree near you this  is a great place to save money on stuff like that.  Then there is the newer method.  It is electronic withdrawal which the company can set up over the phone or you can set up an account with the company and make a payment each month or  there is .online banking.  I still have a checking account for certain things so I use my online bill pay.  My money get directly deposited in my account on pay day and then I go into my bill payer and tell the bank when I want the money o be sent to the company I am paying.  It is super easy and convenient.  You can even make payments to people so if you need to pay back "Aunt Jackie" who you only see like maybe once a month you can put her in your bill pay and then she will get a check right from the bank.

You have many options to help deal with this new adventure.  It does take some time and a little effort but if you stick with it you will find that you will see progress that is actually getting you some where.  It didn't happen over night but slowly I have figured out what is working and I am getting there.  Next I think we will talk about how to tackle paying bills in general especially if you get paid less than weekly.  Thanks for reading and lets get saving.

Hi

So I stopped writing for a bit because it looked as if I was only writing to myself.  I have since seen that there have been a lot of page views.  Not sure if I am really helping or not but with more people reading it can't hurt to keep going.  I will be writing another piece shortly.  This one will be No Card Got Bills:  How do I pay them now?

I will be discussing exactly how to pay and manage your bills even with out having your debit card to take care of it.  I know it will be tricky at first as most of us rely on our card.  I still have not reordered one and it has been at least 6 months now with out it.  I am actually enjoying it.

How Do We Save Money We Don't Have

So there are articles everywhere on how to save money.  They explain how to save a bunch and get your debt paid off.  The problem you ask?  Well they always use big number like saving hundreds or thousands at once.  Sometimes it is even you should save 50% of your income.  Well if you are like me you don't have that kind of money.  If you put that much in savings your bills would never get paid off.  So what is the solution?

Well I have tried a lot of things.  One thing that was useful was the envelope system.  This is where you take out the exact amount of money you will spend from your pay check and label an envelope for each thing you would spend money on.  For example your car loan, groceries, eating out if you intend on doing that.  You only take cash out of the envelope that you intend on using it for.  Once the envelope is empty you have no more money for that particular activity until you get paid again.  In theory it really does work, if you can stick with it.  I was able to for  little while but then I found myself sneaking a dollar from this envelope to go to the other envelope and then I gave up.  If you can do it then by all means go for it.  Just wasn't my thing.

What did work you ask?  Saving the money I already had.  Didn't I just say I had none to save?  Well that is the trick.  First you get a jar and a savings account.  Preferably find a saving that you will earn decent interest from.  Then comes the easy part.  Say you have a $20 and you spend say $13.75,   You now have 6.25 in change.  Take the $1.25 and put it in the jar.  Every time you get coin or dollar bill you put it in the jar.  You are less likely to miss small change than you are trying to put away a $10 each time.  Then when your jar is full you take it and put it in your savings.  Then the best part it is so easy.  You leave it there.  For me it is a little easier because I work at a bank so I can deposit mine as soon as I get them.

The beauty of this is that you don't really notice your money going because it is such a small amount at a time.  I mean will you really notice that $.20 cents is not in your pocket.  Most likely not.  It is actually nice to not carry around loads of change.  It adds up quicker than you think.  Before you know it you will have saved $100 easy.  Now you have options once it builds up.  My advice?  Leave it alone as long as you can.  Although if you have saved $100 and have a bill that needs to be paid off then do it.  The nice thing is what you can do with that extra money.  This will be the topic of my next post.

Remember if you have ideas please share.  We are in this together.  You may have a suggestion that I have not even thought of.  Thank you for reading and see you next time.

Where Is Everyone??????

So I am writing these posts hoping I am helping some one out there.  I would really like to hear any feed back you have.  If you want me to change anything or add something.  I really hope that something I have said is useful to any one out there.  I have more helpful tips to share but I want to make sure that people are actually seeing them.

If you have questions or even some input of your own I would love to hear from you.  I would love the interaction from you guys.  I am doing this to help you so what ever you want to add please feel free.  Just like in school, no question is too small.  You may have the same question as some else and if we share we can all help each other and make our lives a little better.

Ditch The Debit Card!!!!!!

Ok, so I know what you are thinking,  This lady is crazy!  You can not possibly  make it through the day without your little plastic friend.  It would bring an end to your world if you didn't have that little rectangle available at all times.  If you could not simply swipe the card through the reader then what would you possibly do?  It is ok I have a plan and a reason.

So true a debit card is convenient.  Yes it is way more simple than carry around cash. The thing is that problems can also arise out of a debit card that can really wreck your road to recovery.  Debit cards are so easy to use that a person can get carried away just swiping all the time.  One little mistake and you could be cleaning up the mess for an extra month or more.  Who wants to deal with all of that when you are already trying to get your budget together.

 1.  You go on a day of errands and have to hit 5 stores that day. You do good on the first couple of stops making sure you put your receipt away but by the 4th store you are tired and just want to be done and forget to get it.  While this seems easy enough, what if it is for gas and it only shows up as 0.00 because it is still pending and you wait 2 days to fill in your check book.  You forget how much you spent and guess you are $3.00 off on your guess now your book is wrong and you go about your spending.  Then BAM!!!! Over draft charge.  You may even forget to write it in all together in the first place and there it is a fee just because you forgot one transaction.  Now you are negative and either have to keep using the card and make it worse, use your credit card which will now incur interest or dip into your savings.  All of which defeat the whole purpose of what you are working for.

2.  You buy a trial of something because you can put it on your card and it seems cheap.  Then you forget to cancel it and now you are paying $80 for a trial item because they have your card number and can automatically bill you.  Once again you are hit with fees and looking to pay for everything you just did again defeating the purpose.

3.  As we have found time and time again they are not super secure either and when you are trying to save money because you don't have any, you can't afford an act of fraud.  Depending on the situation it could take 30 days before you get your money back.  My guess is if you are reading this then you can not afford to wait 30 days to get your money back

Now lets get to what you should do.  CASH!  That is right plane old paper bills and coins.  This is the perfect way to stay on track.  I am not saying no electronic use.  You can pay your bills online to save driving every where and wasting gas which of course costs money.  You keep track of how much you have after bills by doing that in a check log.  What is left after you get paid and deduct your bills is the cash you have to spend until your next payday.  THAT IS IT.

You only get what your check log says you have.  You then take out the cash and that is what you use.  This is also helpful because it is more visual too.  You are physically giving away your hard earned money which can be harder the less you have.  When you actually have to hand over a $5 for that one cup of coffee it starts to sink in that you are giving away a lot of money for one little thing.  You go out to eat and you have to use a $20 and only get a $5 back it really does hit a nerve and you will start watching what you are doing more.  When you only have $20 left and payday is still 4 days away you will be much more careful.

How do I know this?  I have been doing it now for 5 months.  I don't even have an ATM card now.  There are times where things have come up and unfortunately I have had to use a card or my savings and that is also life.  The important thing is that because I have been working to change my situation I actually had money on my card or cash in the savings.  I made sure to keep myself accountable.

It isn't always easy and I know every situation is unique.  I am not going to tell you to save $50 every check because I couldn't do it and still have money.  I am giving you tips to help you get the start you need and you can customize it to fit you.  I work at a bank so I can get the money out when needed but you may still need an ATM card just in case, that is what will work for you.  Until next time.  Keep up the good work.  I would love to hear if any one has been using my steps and how it is working for them.