2 months without blogging! Disgusting!

I haven't blogged my finances for almost 2 months, simple reason is that my finances aren't as bad as they used to be so I guess it's not a priority in my life but I am sure this will be the cause of me falling back where I started so am going to try blog at least twice a month. I have been living rent free for the past 2 months and been saving about R2500 but my car broke this month which also set me back about R2500 so even there. I need to have major repairs to my car in the next couple of months including a R5000 service in January. Next month is my 3 week long trip to East London and then I have got a small job in January and will make R1000 babysitting my nephews for a week that will cover my travel costs for this trip! How cool is that. I am also joining gym this next week too which will be my new entertainment for a while or until March next year. A new problem I have is that my healthy living is a bit hard on the finances so I need to relook my eating plan and budget accordingly.

The end of an era!

My shop cards...I already said goodbye this year to any loan I had that was killing me with interest (that was over R20 000 in personal loans). I still have an interest free loan with work and my student loan that is almost interest free and costing me R200 a month. The beginning of this year, I also closed and cancelled 2 shops cards and had 2 left that totals to about R10 000, I am very happy to say that both those shop cards will be closed by the end of this year. I have also updated my side bars and have am proud to say that my accounts are under R60 000 now, I have a R5000 bench mark to feel good about myself, I actually do the same thing with weight, everything is in 5kg goals. I am sure to have it down to under R50 000 by January. Anyway...will keep you posted!

Snowballing

So much has happened since I last blogged and I apologise for the lack of posts but I have had an absolute crazy time at work, and so the money keeps rolling in! The unexpected income...Since my last post, my work has so graciously allowed me to rent a townhouse from them till the end of the year for R1000 a month, that is R1500 less than what I was paying, it is fully furnished and has DSTV (cable, I think it's the same thing). The next thing that happened is that I cleared up a bit extra money last month with the cellphone credit I received from the mobile company and I decided to pay it off on my Kilimanjaro credit card, my interest on that card alone is about R500 a month! But even though I paid more into it last month, the interest didn't go down! That ticked me off and now I've decided to snowball from the lowest balance so that I can snowball that money into the next lowest balance. My lowest balance at the moment is my one shop card, I don't have the figures with me at the moment but I believe it's standing on around R3500, I will update it tomorrow when I am back at work, I plan on paying about R3000 on that card by the end of this month, that would mean I can clear the balance by the end of next month and have an extra R170 to put into the next shop account which is standing on around R5500, plus the R1700 I'm saving on rent and petrol, so that would be an instalment from R350 to R2220. My car is also breaking, so that might mean car repairs soon, but I've decided not to let that worry me for this month, hoping to just get all my car repairs done in December with my major service.

Yes, yes, NBS!

Okay, my heading to most will not make any sense. It's a old South African bank that had the cutest little Cockatoo that nodded it's head and a voice went "yes, yes, NBS". Now the reason for the heading...my cellphone (mobile) company has knocked almost R700 off my phone bill. What that means for me is that R700 will be going into my Kilimanjaro credit card. It may not be much considering that card is just sitting on R29 000 but I was already going to pay R800 into that account this month so that will make a payment of R1500 into that account this month! Can anybody say awesome! Please watch those side bars on the 15th of this month to see what a difference it makes to my credit card section, oh, and I sold one of my cellphones this month and got R650 for it, so in actual fact, I am going to pay another R300 into the very same credit card...just because I can :), that makes a grand total of R1800 off on that card this month. They are so going to love me this month!

Feel good poeple!

Totally Bleak

I try every 15th of the month to update my debt balances on my blog, because of a busy week and a trip home in between I could only do it today. Most of them have gone down, not much but at least by something except the credit cards, they have gone up! How is that possible when I pay them R13oo a month? Well apparently it is and they said they will take more money out my cheque account this month so I've had to ask my car to debit their money the day I get my salary paid in or else they won't be paid.

I am going to think long and hard this weekend about my debt goals and what I have for them for the next 6 months. Finances I believe should be planned 6 months in advance as to avoid getting any surprise expenses that you know are either annual or some how periodic.

Finances are supposed to be a happy thing to bring down but how do you bring them down when the charges are exceeding the actual payments? I am going to try bring my cellphone bill down by R200 so that I can start putting that money into my credit card (Kilimanjaro of course). I'm sure that will make some sort of difference.

You Live and You Learn

Since the last time I blogged, I have had two bad things and one good thing (financially) happen. The bad things: The credit card company (Kilimanjaro) went and took R3200 out of my bank account without my permission. I was devastated and it felt like I had gone into shock. After much crying, screaming and begging, the bank manager came through and refunded the money (which was my rent money so you can understand my stress). Secondly, my mobile company did not disconnect my cellphone contract and charged me for a whole month that I wasn't using the cellphone. That is still an ongoing arguement and I'm hoping to get it sorted it out in the two weeks that they promised.

Now for the good side...my company have got me a cellphone which they are paying for, so basically I don't need to use my phone anymore. I want to cut that billing to the bare minimum, so I should save about R200 a month.

I'm feeling quite despondent about the whole debt free thing. I am starting to think that living life is a lot more better than punishing myself for living it in the past. Not sure if that makes sense but I miss my reckless days. Maybe it's just a phase at the moment, but I'm tired of just dealing with creditors and giving them all my money and they are never happy, they just want more! If only they would just spend a week in my life and see what I'm going through to pay them and get the fools to understand.

That is my news!

Going going gone!

Okay, the tax refund is almost finished because I went and bought 8kgs of cat food for my cat, that means I don't have to buy cat food till the end of October. I bought my plane ticket from East London to Johnnesburg because I'm catching a bus down as it's half the price and I also bought the bride's pamper party gift and my sister's birthday gift. Otherwise, I had a good weekend with my cousins. I also bought 2 new pairs of earrings. some head bands and a lovely clip in the shape of a dragon fly. I also bought some nice food stuffs for the home and feel quite content watching Sex and the City Season 2 disk 1. I probably didn't do the most wisest thing with the tax refund but I know that if I didn't go to my friend's wedding, I would regret it in later years and the plus minus R1500 this trip is costing me would seem like change.

I have a cousin who rocks, she is more than a cousin to me and is treating me to go to a ladies night next weekend for my sister's birthday party and she is also throwing out her old bed to me! Yeah yeah yeah! I hate my present bed, it is low, as it has no legs and it the wood hurts my back as my matress is so thin. I must say that I was very lucky that my mom had a sister who met a man that made my cousin my cousin.

At the moment, I am busy waiting for my sister to arrive and have made a poor man's paella - some sausage and tinned muscles fried in peas, onions and a yellow rice. There is nothing better than a warm cooked meal on a Sunday night and the shopping spree really did bring back memories of credit card shopping without a budget - better than any drug I tell you.

Happy saving all!

Tax Refund Update

Just thought I would mention that I received R2330 for my tax refund this year. How cool is that??? Anyway, if I get leave, I will be going to East London for my friends wedding and having my car licenced. It expired end of June and letting Molly have her annual vaccination.

Clean Vs Debt

Okay, my major shop card called me on Friday and was willing to cut my monthly repayments down to about R250 per month, me, not thinking, says "no, let's rather make it R350, as I've been paying that anyway". Now, I'm thinking...I could get a maid to spring clean my place once a month for R50 (the people in the main house said I could use their maid for that price) and use another R40 to have my car cleaned once a month. I really spend so much time cleaning at the moment and find it such a waste as my weekends are precious. I just have to phone and see if I can ask them to revert back to what they offered me!

Just a thought...

A bow down to the major shop card!

My major shop card, the one with a balance of over R6000 has agreed to let me pay them R350 if I cut up the card! Done along time ago so that's perfect! Yeah, perfect start to the weekend!

Money Money Money, must be funny - in a rich mans world!

Update on the tax return!

According to the tax calculator on the webpage for SARS, I should get back around R2000! How cool is that??? So that means, I will be able to buy a bus ticket to Queenstown, maybe fly back to break the trip, buy a wedding gift and maybe have my brakes on my car sorted out OR have the tyre replaced - I can't weigh out the benefits of either one. It took my landlords girlfriend really quick to get her refund, I hope they don't take the "up to 90 days" that they promised to me.

I did a mid grocery store stop today and got 18 rolls of 2 ply toilet paper which I will split with my sister at R75.99 and was forced to buy Whiskas for R36.99 for a kg and I treated myself and bought 4 guavas for R8.50. I might just buy a whole box after pay day. I love guavas and they are healthy and feel I deserve it, even though it's R40 for a box and I usually budget R20 a month on fruit.

On a goodnight note, may I just praise the fact that it is past half way of the month and a week away from pay day, almost a month closer to reaching my goals :)

Income Tax.

Well I was speaking to my landlords girlfriend this morning and she told me that she got R1400 back for income tax this year. Ka Ching! So guess what I'm doing today? I have already registered for e - filing but have no clue how to use it so now I am No. 40 in the queue waiting to speak to SARS so I can figure this out. Maybe this just might be my ticket to East London for my friends' wedding next month :) I will keep you posted, but hold thumbs in the meantime!

Getting wiser!

I have basically taken a day off work today, I am at work, but just doing as little as possible and taking advantage of the fact that most my colleagues are attending a course (including my boss).

I have made a decision to tackle the Kilimanjaro credit card first and when that credit card is paid off, then I will definately do my Kilimanjaro trip as a reward. I got this credit card in 2005, my very first credit card and now it is exactly 4 years later. I remember the first thing I bought on this card was a violin which I sold in 2007 and also some clothes (wait, I'm actually wearing the top today!).

I am paying ± R500 a month on this card a month on charges alone, the second highest interest I am paying is on another credit card which is about R190 a month on charges. You times that by 12 and do the math on how much money I am throwing away on charges.

Well on some good news. Work has provided me with a laptop to use which will save me in buying my own computer for a couple of years at least and the wear and tear on one and they are going to get me a phone to use after hours - AWSUM!

My landlords girlfriend is also catching a ride with me to work and back for the next 2 weeks and giving me R100 a week (which is half my petrol) so I'm quite stoked about that as well.

Interest!

Okay, I had to phone the varsity place again.

University Finance = 15.5% p.a (NOT TOO SHABBY)

Interest!

I decided today to find out just how much interest is on every account that I have outstanding, wait for it:

Credit Card (Kilimanjaro) - 18%
Credit Card (Middle Amount) - 23, 5%
Credit Card (Lowest Amount) - 21%
Shop Card (Highest Amount) - 23%
Shop Card (Lowest Amount) - 21%
Vehicle Finance - (14%) (LOVELY)

The lady at the varsity collections place didn't seem to understand English too well so I am still waiting to find out how much I interest I spend there. Will keep you posted.

I need to do some homework to figure out if I must the smallest amount or the highest interest amount off first. Any ideas?

Maybe I am taking this debt / credit thing a tad too serious...

This is what always happens to me, I have this strange addictive personality, no matter what I'm doing I over do it and it takes over my life. When I spent, I SPENT! Now that I'm not spending and going postal over getting out of debt, I have stopped doing everything else and would consider stop breathing if I knew it would save me a Rand.

I am thinking how much fun is too much? Yes, in East London, it was every weekend a party or doing something which put me in this mess in the first place, but one night a month and at what cost? It's impossible to go out with just R100 as most the places charge that just for entry alone and I'm not a fan at accepting drinks from ugly people just because I'm poor.

My sister is taking me out tomorrow night and sponsoring me R100 for the night and it's her birthday in just two weeks time (how crap do I feel), but I've decided we must take our own cars and when the R100 is finished, I am leaving. The last time her and I went out, I ended up spending R75 of my own money anyway (half of which was on a stupid jukebox) and money which belonged to my work that I had to pay back the end of the month!

One thing is for sure, that when I do my networking course next month that I won't go out on principle of concentrating on the course but it's only for 3 weeks.

Again on my addictive personality, this is the problem, all I am thinking about lately is amounts, interest, percentages, time, months and the stupid thing is that I know constantly thinking about it is going to make it seem like a lifetime than the 8 months that it really is. I need to start doing free and cheap stuff to get my mind off this debt thing. I am only starting to run again on 5th September, after my course is finished and Winter is over, but I might start gym at work as well around that time.

Still no news on my East London trip as yet :(

Have a good weekend!

Why I Hate Credit Card Companies...

My major debt problem, besides my car, but my car isn't a financial problem as I keep up to date with those payments as I find transport a necessity, it's a credit card, a credit card that is sitting just over R29 000. I need to give it a name...okay, it is now Kilimanjaro as this very card is the reason why I am not climbing Kilimanjaro this year and it is a personal finance mountain. Now the thing that pisses me off the most about this card is that they are charging me around R537 a month on interest and late charge fees. Is it just me or is that just super duper crazy! That is more than I spend on groceries a month, I am feeding an employee at Kilimanjaro Silver Card Company every month. Somehow I don't think I am going to my friends' wedding next month and my other friend's baby shower. I will look back at photos of their wedding on their 25th wedding anniversary and I will not be there. The next time Kilimanjaro Credit Company Ltd Pty sends me a card and I think to swipe, I will always remember that I had to miss my friends wedding because of them!

Ka Ching!

Crunch time of my choices????

I am in a sticky situation:

Two of my very good friends are tying the knot on the 15th August and my other friend (who tied the knot in December last year) is having a baby shower the 16th of August. All of this is in Queenstown and East London (where I used to live and ± 800 and 1000km away respectively). Now, do I give these things the skip on my road to being debt free or do I hustle and bustle the cash on the basis of important occasions. These are my friends and I really want to share these occasions with them but I am broke! Eish! I have called my mother and given her a prewarning that I am attempting to get this money out my step father, and now that my dad and I are on non talking terms, he is of no hope of helping.

What to do, what to do???

Advice!

One way of getting out of debt that still is questionable is whether to pay off the lowest amount you owe first then get that debt out the way and add it to the next lowest OR... to pay off you highest interest debt first even though it is a larger amount????

Any input would be greatly appreciated :)

The weekend blues!

I had a fight with my father yesterday and it has put me into over drive. He helped me with R2400 to pay off my cellphone account and last night carries onto my brother how much he has helped me! I wish I never needed or used anyone's help as it is always just a means of being slave driven and used against you in the future!

I am having yet another quiet weekend. It's only a week after pay day and I am broke, this is a normal occurrence for me and it will remain that way until the end of April next year. March is annual insurance month which knocks be back just over R7000 and I'm starting to save for that from December. My car has hit the under 4000km mark for a service, a major service which is going to hit me back R5000 (this is the very reason I had a fight with my father - he cannot understand why I can't drive him around even if he gives me petrol money). Cars cost money to run unfortunately, not just fuel. My tyre is worn, my brakes are shot, my one light is dim and as from 01st July, my car is now not licenced - my mom and step dad are trying to organise that for me in East London still as I can't do that in Johannesburg. I have 21 days grace though.

Joy to the credit card companies, every day they get richer and we get poorer with late payment costs!

Let's begin...broke!

I wish I had begun this 3 months ago, but again I am kidding myself. In reality, this should have begun in the midst of 2007, after the NCR Act came into effect funny enough. I was the fool that bought a R120 000 car in June 2007 (3 months after I had settled my car debt for my first car off) and then still took a R13 000 loan from an extremely scary loan company and was paying 37% interest back! What crazy minded person does this in one month???? Me, I shyly admit - a moderately educated person with a good employment history and a knack for money (I always believed), making it - YES, managing it and keeping it - NO!!!

Oh well, "shit happens", one would say.

I am now 25 years old, just moved out from home (which I believe was my first problem) and growing up finally. I am still single (a handicap on it's own apparently as the saying goes "two heads are better than one" and so are two salaries!!!). Let me not forget to mention that I moved 1000km away from home to force myself to grow up. Mommy never expected rent from me or for me to pay a dime towards food - all of which was spent on a lifestyle that is best described in MGMT's Time to Pretend or Party Karate - black belt sen say!

In March this year, I decided to give all debt the boot. I managed to pay off the horrible 37% loan from my pension money that was paid out and another, yes, you heard right, another loan that I took for R16 000 in March 2008 and of interest I don't even know! I also managed to pay off two shop cards and am now left with debt (excluding the car) of R63 000 with the car you add another R85 000.

I am keeping this diary to always remind me of this so that history may not repeat itself and also to get and give ideas and inspiration for those who share my swipe now pay letter ideal!

I have now been handed over to attorneys by one credit card company but all hope is not lost. I will still pay them in full by December 2010!

Keep smiling and paying with cash :)