Just noticed that I haven't tracked or posted my "extra earnings" since January 2008! Wow! 6 months. I so need to get back to tracking.
Tracking spending is difficult. Tracking earnings should be easy and fun!
I'm going to take a look right now and see if I can figure out my extra earnings for this month.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
July 2008 Budget
Just realized that I never posted our July budget, so here it is. We certainly haven't stuck to it exactly but we are headed in the right direction.
July 2008 Budget Expenses | |
| AUTO-Excise Tax | $0 |
| AUTO-Gas | $350 |
| AUTO-Insurance | $138 |
| AUTO-Maintenance | $25 |
| CASH-Clothing | $100 |
| CASH-Dining Out | $120 |
| CASH-Gifts | $0 |
| CASH-Grocery | $400 |
| CASH-Kids Allowance | $50 |
| CASH-Parties | $0 |
| CASH-School Lunch | $0 |
| CASH-Spending | $160 |
| DEBT-Equity Loan | $2,850 |
| DEBT-Visa | $0 |
| HOME-Cable/Phone | $181 |
| HOME-Electric | $220 |
| HOME-Furnace | 0 |
| HOME-Mortgage | $2,328 |
| HOME-Oil | $0 |
| HOME-Trash | $0 |
| KIDS-Bball | $0 |
| KIDS-Misc. | $0 |
| KIDS-Piano | $0 |
| KIDS-Preschool | $0 |
| MISC. | $0 |
| PERSONAL-Cell Phone | $0 |
| PERSONAL-Contacts | $0 |
| PERSONAL-Life Ins. | $0 |
| PERSONAL-Newspap | $8 |
| PERSONAL-Rx | $20 |
| PERSONAL-Braces | $100 |
| PERSONAL-BR Sports | $0 |
| PERSONAL-Vacation | $500 |
| TRANSFER-To Sav 2 | $7,100 |
| TOTAL | $14,650 |
| INCOME | July |
| 1st Paycheck | $2,588 |
| 1st Commission | $9,000 |
| 15th Paycheck | $2,588 |
| Church Pay | $100 |
| Babysitting Pay | $0 |
| Other | $700 |
| Transfer from Savings | $0 |
| TOTAL | $14,976 |
| CASH FLOW | July |
| Beginning Balance | ($332) |
| '+ Income | $14,976 |
| Subtotal | $14,644 |
| '- Expenses | $14,650 |
| Subtotal | ($6) |
| Save For Next Month | ($6) |
| Ending Balance | $0 |
| SAVINGS FLOW | July |
| Beginning Balance | $10,642 |
| '+ Transfer to Savings | $7,100 |
| Subtotal | $17,742 |
| '- Transfer from Savings | $0 |
| Subtotal | $17,742 |
| Ending Balance | $17,742 |
Risky Business
I signed up for a craft booth to sell my jewelry at our local Harvest Festival on October 5th. I'm pretty nervous about it!
First I was nervous because it is a "juried" craft show, meaning that a jury (panel of judges) has to approve your items before they will allow you in the show. Luckily this went well and I got in!
What I'm nervous about now is all the fees! I had to pay $145 just to be in the show. And now I have to purchase my own 10'x10' tent! This will cost between $79 - $140 depending on how nice of a tent I get. I'm not sure if I should get the cheapest or if the old adage "you get what you pay for" will apply and lead me to regret going cheap (although $79 isn't exactly cheap!).
So, right off the bat I will have invested $224 on this show. My pendants (which is what I will predominantly be selling) sell for $6 each, so I'll need to sell 37 pendants just to cover my entrance fees!
Of course, I am hoping to sell more like 300 pendants! So, we'll see.
This seems a bit too much like gambling!
First I was nervous because it is a "juried" craft show, meaning that a jury (panel of judges) has to approve your items before they will allow you in the show. Luckily this went well and I got in!
What I'm nervous about now is all the fees! I had to pay $145 just to be in the show. And now I have to purchase my own 10'x10' tent! This will cost between $79 - $140 depending on how nice of a tent I get. I'm not sure if I should get the cheapest or if the old adage "you get what you pay for" will apply and lead me to regret going cheap (although $79 isn't exactly cheap!).
So, right off the bat I will have invested $224 on this show. My pendants (which is what I will predominantly be selling) sell for $6 each, so I'll need to sell 37 pendants just to cover my entrance fees!
Of course, I am hoping to sell more like 300 pendants! So, we'll see.
This seems a bit too much like gambling!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Savings Balance Update: $16,200
So, as of today, our total in Savings is: $16,200.
This breaks down as follows:
Emergency Fund: $1,000
DD1 Braces: $1,200
Boiler: $6,000
Vacation: $4,000
Expenses: $4,000
TOTAL: $16,200
This is as hefty as our Savings has probably ever been. We will very likely dip into it to put more money towards debt once we find out exactly how much the new boiler/heating system will be and see how much extra we can come up with to put towards the debt without this money.
It feels pretty good.
But being debt free will feel even better!
This breaks down as follows:
Emergency Fund: $1,000
DD1 Braces: $1,200
Boiler: $6,000
Vacation: $4,000
Expenses: $4,000
TOTAL: $16,200
This is as hefty as our Savings has probably ever been. We will very likely dip into it to put more money towards debt once we find out exactly how much the new boiler/heating system will be and see how much extra we can come up with to put towards the debt without this money.
It feels pretty good.
But being debt free will feel even better!
Debt Balance Update: $23,169
Well, there it is. Our current debt total is $23,169. Very close to where we started ($44,000). It'll be tough to get that to zero by the end of the year, but where there's a will there's a way!
In The Money
Well, I have been busy busy busy! The new on-line pendant shop is doing well. I landed my first wholesale account and now my pendants will be sold in a gift shop in Maryland (yippee!)!
Orders have been coming in fairly regularly and my PayPal balance is almost $500 - pretty good for only about a month.
The only problem - is the constant one . . . I have not taken the time to TRACK the income and expenses! Both for my jewelry businesses and my personal finances! I know it's an excuse but I just haven't had the time. I have been staying up until 2am most nights just to stay on top of everything else. (And the housekeeping is suffering too - believe me!)
So, I need a plan to make a change - but don't have it in place yet.
It's great to be earning this extra money but I need to make sure that it goes to the right place - the debt!!
I did make a large payment to our HELLoc - $4,000 (which was really to cover 2 months of snowball payments) - so our total debt should be down to around $23,000 - which is just a little over half of what we started with ($44,000). After almost a year and a half I wish it was less but I am still holding out hope that we could become debt free by the end of 2008. We have a nice big cushion in our savings ($12,000) to cover low commission months, our new furnace, and my daughter's braces - but there could me money left over for the debt.
I do still desperately want to be debt free - so the goal is still there. Just need to find the time to focus more energy there!
Orders have been coming in fairly regularly and my PayPal balance is almost $500 - pretty good for only about a month.
The only problem - is the constant one . . . I have not taken the time to TRACK the income and expenses! Both for my jewelry businesses and my personal finances! I know it's an excuse but I just haven't had the time. I have been staying up until 2am most nights just to stay on top of everything else. (And the housekeeping is suffering too - believe me!)
So, I need a plan to make a change - but don't have it in place yet.
It's great to be earning this extra money but I need to make sure that it goes to the right place - the debt!!
I did make a large payment to our HELLoc - $4,000 (which was really to cover 2 months of snowball payments) - so our total debt should be down to around $23,000 - which is just a little over half of what we started with ($44,000). After almost a year and a half I wish it was less but I am still holding out hope that we could become debt free by the end of 2008. We have a nice big cushion in our savings ($12,000) to cover low commission months, our new furnace, and my daughter's braces - but there could me money left over for the debt.
I do still desperately want to be debt free - so the goal is still there. Just need to find the time to focus more energy there!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Still A Fan Of Associated Content
Just wanted to let you all know that even though I haven't written anything new for Associated Content in at least 6 months, I still get a payment of $4-$8 every month for the views of articles I wrote in the past. It really is a great deal. If you haven't yet, check it out here and consider signing up to write for them!
Hello!
We just got back from a trip to Banff Canada. It was lovely. It was a reward trip for my husband's company. If you surpassed your yearly sales goal you got to go with your spouse. It was a very nice 5 day trip. We got lots of gifts and nice meals and even got to spend an entire day at the Spa complete with massage! I felt sooo spoiled!
Then I got a phone call from my sister. (She was nice enough to come stay with my kids.) My 9 year old daughter had a mosquito bite that got infected. They had to bring her to the emergency room because it was Saturday afternoon and the doctor's office was closed. They ended up having to put her on iv antibiotics and even considered keeping her over night! I was so stressed out I just wanted to come home. Luckily they ended up not keeping her overnight, but we wanted to come home. We tried to get a flight on Sunday but it would have been an extra $1,900. As much as we didn't want to we stayed and came back on Monday as planned. I was so happy to be home! My daughter is doing well and the infection is healing.
I'm so happy to be back home with my kids!
Then I got a phone call from my sister. (She was nice enough to come stay with my kids.) My 9 year old daughter had a mosquito bite that got infected. They had to bring her to the emergency room because it was Saturday afternoon and the doctor's office was closed. They ended up having to put her on iv antibiotics and even considered keeping her over night! I was so stressed out I just wanted to come home. Luckily they ended up not keeping her overnight, but we wanted to come home. We tried to get a flight on Sunday but it would have been an extra $1,900. As much as we didn't want to we stayed and came back on Monday as planned. I was so happy to be home! My daughter is doing well and the infection is healing.
I'm so happy to be back home with my kids!
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