Financial Planning Day 2: Managing Credit Card Debt

Welcome to Day 2 of my financial planning mini-series.  Again, I am not a financial advisor.  I am just offering what has worked for me in hopes that it will help someone else achieve financial goals.  

"The average American household with at least one credit card has nearly $15,950 in credit-card debt (in 2012), according to CreditCards.com"

Want to pay off your credit card debt?  You must chart your debts first... Just like with yesterday's mini-series post on charting your income and outcome.  That's why in my FREE Budget download there is a tab at the bottom of the spreadsheet that says "Debt."  Document all of your credit cards and student loan debt on this page.  You will need to know how much you still owe on each account and what your APR is for each account.  What many sources have advised is to pay the minimum balance on all of your accounts, EXCEPT for the account with the lowest balance.  Do you often pay more than the minimum on your accounts to feel like you are doing some good? Go ahead and pay more than the minimum, but on only one of your cards.  The idea behind paying off your smallest account first is that you are creating an attainable goal for yourself.  In a shorter amount of time, you will have a credit card balance of $0, if you pick one card to pay off at a time.

Financial Planning Day 1: Know Your Stuff and FREE Budgeting Download

Over the holidays, I realized that I was being teased by my family for constantly wanting to talk finances and give advice to others so that they can live a little more comfortably.  My family was right;  I wanted to share my knowledge with others and once I started, I couldn't slow down.  I have been monitoring my expenses since always, but after reading some books, I have been following a little system for about a year which must be effective since I was able to buy my home.  Not only was I able to buy my home, but I am still living comfortably!  I am not claiming to be a financial advisor, but I can offer you the tricks I have used for myself on a really tight budget.  Keep reading for a FREE blank budget spreadsheet  download that I use for my own finances. 

My first tip is that you need to educate yourself on your own finances.  You MUST know what you make every month and you MUST know what you spend your money on every month.  It's pretty simple; you need to make sure you bring in more than you spend.  

In my spreadsheet, I have a column that says Week 1, Week 3, and Week 5.  I get paid bi-weekly.  Sometimes there is a 5th week in the month where I get paid.  This happens twice a year (usually May and October).  I don't include that money in my total monthly income since I just put that money towards my savings account or a bigger purchase when I get it.  Essentially, I budget for living on 24 out of 26 paychecks.  If you don't want to do that though and get paid bi-weekly as well, you could divide that 5th check by 6 and add that number in the Week 5 column.  But since that is not how you receive your money, it might be best if you just don't add Week 5 at all.  When week 5 happens, it could be a gift to yourself, spending money for the holidays, or a repair to a car.  If you get paid weekly, go ahead and change the week numbers in the spreadsheet to fit your pay schedule. 

ZipGrade Giveaway Winner

About a month ago, I announced ZipGrade and I teamed up to have a giveaway for their Zipgrade product for 5 lucky readers.  Unfortunately, we only have one winner as of now - and the codes expire December 29th!  

The winner is San Peterson from Unmuddlemath!  I will be e-mailing the code privately.

I will extend the giveaway right up until the 29th.  The next 4 to comment on this post or the original post about how this grade scanning app will change the way you teach and save you time, will win the ZipGrade product! (See original post) Don't let these codes go to waste!

Half-Bath Update for Free

I own 2 functioning toilets as of today! I'm having 2 girlfriends over tomorrow, so not only did I want my bathroom functioning, I wanted it to look a little less "under construction." Don't get me wrong, there's still more to do including re-painting the walls and spray painting the electrical plates white, but this'll do for now.

House Update and Living Room Reveal

I own a home!! I'm forever grateful that I have been blessed with achieving one of my top goals at such a young age! I always wanted to do it earlier in life, but it just didn't pan out that way.  It's ok though; I'm still excited about it.

(I made the sign myself!)

PROS: My colonial style home was built in 1900.  It has wood floors, details in the molding, a nice floor plan, just overall nice charm.  3 bedrooms, walk up attic, 1.5 baths, a flat backyard.
CONS: I already knew copper was stolen from the basement. It has quite a few issues (more like every pipe in the damn house needs to be replaced) to fix, but I'm ready for it. I know this old home is going to be perfect when I am through with it. 

Here is a glimpse of the good, bad, and ugly:

For a foreclosed home, it's in really great shape. But do you see what I see? Projects galore! Especially that bathroom!

One of the biggest projects is the unseen: plumbing. Lookie what my plumber came across 

Issue #1

Issue #2

Yuck! Rotted iron. I was 5 minutes away from having my basement dug up, but luckily it was fixable and I have running cold water. Hot water is another issue.

Have you ever taken a Kuerig shower? It's when you use the hot water from a Kuerig to bath your body. Not kidding. Between that and showering at my parents, I'm managing to keep up with myself. A few more tweaks to the gas line and I should have hot water and fuel for my stove for me to cook with. I can't wait. 

While the dirty work has been taking place, I've been busy painting the living room: 

Before

After: (for now)

Benjamin Moore Revere Pewter

Rug from Rugs USA w/ cat bed

All of the items (other than the rug) I already had. I'll buy decor I really want once I know the plumbing, electrical, roof, etc are all taken care of. As you can see from this last picture, I still have lots to do. Yes that's a bathroom vanity in my living room. It's just so nice to have at least one functioning room. 

Stay tuned to see how long I will have to live like this.  So far, it's been a little over a week and I have to admit, it's very hard to live in a house that is under construction.  I cry some nights.  Other nights I thank god for granting me what I wanted.  It'll be worth it, but right now it's definitely a struggle.  

ZipGrade Giveaway!!!

I've posted about ZipGrade twice before: Benefits of Using ZipGrade and Step by Step Guide to Using ZipGrade.

            

In a nutshell, ZipGrade is a grading tool app to assist teachers with the tedious and lengthy process of grading papers.  This app eliminates the tedious and lengthy part of grading by doing the work for you! Teachers can print the answer sheets from zipgrade.com and can scan each sheet using the camera's phone and receive a score in seconds.  

When I first learned about ZipGrade, I downloaded it and used the first 100 trial scans and was hooked.  The product, for a year's worth of use, costs $6.99 for one year for an individual teacher's use.  I am a couponer, and a deal seeker, and don't often buy apps, but this app was so helpful that I splurged.  It's been extremely helpful with freeing up some of my time.  And I know districts are moving away from multiple choice assessments, but this app can still be used for quick formative assessment: exit tickets, pre-tests, etc.  

The good people over at ZipGrade have been kind enough to offer the readers of I go by Miss FIVE FREE copies of ZipGrade so you too can work smarter, not harder.

 &

GIVEAWAY

All you have to do is: 

• subscribe to my blog
• comment below with how ZipGrade will help you with your classes (make sure you are logged in so I can contact you)
• have an itunes account

I will be using a random number generator to determine who the 5 lucky winners are.  The drawing will close on December 20th at 11:59 p.m. as codes will expire December 29th.  This is your opportunity to enhance the way you've been teaching. Good luck and drop a comment!

Are you a Droid user?  Download ZipGrade here!