Tag Archives: money

Halfway Through The Year

10 Monday Jun 2013

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Time to catch up and review.  We finished the guest bathroom, it looks great.  We’ve got the house scheduled for painting.  I’ve lost 15 pounds.  The heir finished up his school year and is now a senior.  All the credit cards and credit lines are paid off and current.  Things that weren’t on the list are changing cellular companies which saved $15 per month plus netted us 2 smartphones instead of one and unlimited data (that’s going to be my next post ’cause I’m danged impressed with T-Mobile right now).  Next up is taking a good look at my insurance policies – which I’m woefully behind on.

I’m not where I wanted to be with certifications, but that’s the focus of the next month and a half.  I’ve also been a slack blogger, but that’s sadly nothing new – I did add it to my regular to-do list so hoping that will improve things a bit.  I did complete a long term goal and haunt Craigslist until I found the perfect porch furniture – it’s gotten a huge workout.  By the end of summer I’m aiming to have the porch repainted, my hanging baskets up, cushions for a freshly painted porch swing and a ceiling fan over the table.

So much for a laid back summer, but I’m pretty happy with how the year has gone so far.  Happy June, everyone!

Another Year, Another Set of Resolutions!

01 Tuesday Jan 2013

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Last year actually went pretty well resolution wise, though there were things that didn’t get done or only got partially done.  This year the first resolution is to do a weekly blog article to keep up with progress (and because I’m a blog slacker who really needs to do a better job so my entire life isn’t Facebook postings).  Going to stick with the format from last year as it worked quite well – four categories of improvement, one new resolution per month.  Categories are – finances, health, home and (new for this year, replacing paperless) career.

For January:

  • Finances – have everything ready to file taxes as soon as the W-2 is available, shred old records, close out 2012, set up folders for 2013.
  • Health – this year we are going to do food and exercise logging using LiveScape & Endomondo with the goal of consistency.  January’s goal is exercise journal.  February is food journal.  The overall goals are to improve my 5K times and do a 10K this year.
  • Home – going to pick a room per month (2 months for the major projects) and do “the stuff that needs doing” in it.  January is the guest bathroom which needs the doorknob fixed (doesn’t close well) and toilet seat (scratched by dog) replaced, a mirror, new trash can and a top to bottom cleaning.  No paint necessary, though!  (Revision – door frame needs paint.  D’oh!)
  • Career – ITIL Service Operation certification complete.  This should have been done in December, but what the heck.

And we’re off!!!

Time’s Up! The Fine Art of Shredding

25 Sunday Mar 2012

Posted by in Changes & Progress, Paperless

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It’s the annual shredfest – anything that isn’t needed anymore goes into the shredder.  There is a great article on Bankrate on How Long to Keep Financial Records that I use as a rule of thumb.  If I have any question (or think I might have potential regrets), I scan before shredding.  Trust me, once the credit bureaus and IRS deadlines have passed, the house or car has been sold or the account has been closed, you can safely shred away.  Notice how many times I said “SHRED”?  A good shredder is an investment in keeping your identity safe – if you don’t have one, get one.

Total shredded and recycled this month – 6 tall kitchen can bags equalling 2 years, several banker boxes and a filing cabinet drawer.  Did I mention that shredding is also therapeutic?  Nothing quite like grinding, chopping and cutting (not to mention clearing out) after a stressful day.

Let Someone Else Do The Work!

03 Saturday Mar 2012

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  • The problem:  Too much manual labor on finances, too much paper.
  • The resolution:  Review 2011 for the timesappers and eliminate them.
  • The long term solution:  Set up autopays, paperless billing and notifications.
  • Before:
    Already on autopay: 3
    Not on autopay: 7
    Already paperless: 1
    Not paperless: 9 – yikes!
    With text or e-mail notifications: 6
    Without text or e-mail notifications: 4
  • After:
    Autopay: 7
    Not on autopay: 3
    Paperless: 7
    Not paperless: 3
    With text or e-mail notifications: 8
    Without text or e-mail notifications: 2

Step by step:

  1. Make a list of all regularly occurring expenses or deposits, noting whether they are paperless, autopay, online, and provide notifications or alerts.
  2. Determine what is needed for tax records (mortgage, credit cards, banking statements) and set up an alert to download and store to secure location.
  3. Access or enroll in all online programs, change passwords, record information needed to access in secure location.
  4. Identify which accounts are EPP (equal payment plan) or can be EPP and enroll.
  5. For each account:  enable paperless, enable notifications and alerts, enable autopay
  6. For each *changed* account: pay existing balance, check accounts for the next 60 day to ensure they are being paid.
  7. Review the prior year for occasional payments such as insurance.
  8. Add autopay dates to calendar or financial program with alerts.
  9. As appropriate, review costs and contracts, make adjustments or changes as needed, set alerts for contract expirations.
  10. Schedule regular transfer from checking to savings.

A few issues did come up – one of the utilities only allows you to enroll in EPP in June, so I set an alert in Outlook for May so I’d be ready to go for that.  Still battling my way through enrolling in anything online for my internet/TV – even calling technical support doesn’t seem to be getting me anywhere.  Not enrolling one of the credit cards for autopay was by choice, though I may change that down the line.  All in all I eliminated quite a few paper bills and one online bill paying day per month and one “drive around and pay the Luddites” day per month, which should save a good deal of time (and paper) over the course of the year.

2012 – It’s February Already??!!!

05 Sunday Feb 2012

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Wow.  January went fast.  And it was productive – I’ve posted on completion of two of the goals (one was modified – I put off full paperless bill pay for a bit, even though I got quite a lot of that done, my attention was directed at refinancing) and will get the other two up this week (I’ve not taken the “after” pictures yet).  To summarize January:

  • Finances – Set autopays, text/e-mail notifications, review 2011 and pick a location to start putting the “important information” as I come across it.  (Especially that which is needed for taxes.) – Substitution Goal
  • Paperless – eliminate one entire bookcase by sales, donations, trades or recycling.  Remove the bookcase from the house. – Complete
  • House – clean out the “Christmas clutter”, organize and pack up only what will be a pleasure to unpack next year. – Complete
  • Health & Sanity – time for the 2012 reading challenge and registering for my next 5K. – Complete

On to February:

  • Finances – 2011 taxes complete and filed.  This will be the earliest ever, but I have kept up with my filing and have all the information on hand, so we’re going for the record (and the early refund).  This will, however, finish up the “location for important information” and review 2011 part of January’s original goal.
  • Paperless – Set up auto-pays, paperless billing, equal payment plans and get finances into an electronic format to make life easier next tax season.  (Part II of January’s Finances goal)
  • House – Electronics clutter.  In January I moved the “family computer” to the upstairs spare room.  Time to redo the wiring, get rid of out of date hardware and electronics, sift through those chargers, cables and whatsits.
  • Health & Sanity – Certification updates since I’ve been a bit of a slacker.  And the traditional professional credentials and resume refresh – while I don’t plan to change jobs, this is something that is easier to keep updated “as you go” than to try and remember after a few years.

I should mention, that for all the flurry of activity this is spawning, I have to admit that the moments of panic and stress are decreasing and the feeling of positive forward movement is increasing.  Now if I could just get into the habit of posting regularly instead of in spurts. 😉