Compulsive Debtor's Finance Blog

Despite having very good medical insurance, I am facing more than $3,000 in uncovered medical expenses for my daughter over the next 7 months.

In the big scheme of things, this is nothing when you consider those with no insurance or those with $2 million in medical expenses. Not to mention, my daughter's condition is not life threatening in any way.

But it still stinks to have that kind of expense staring you in the face.

I think I'm just going to go to bed and be depressed now....

As some of you may recall, I've been playing the Grocery Game for the last three week. Each Sunday I get a list of deals for my local grocery store and then I go shopping with my coupons and supposedly save a bunch of dough.

For instance, yesterday I saved $93 on my groceries, but I still spent $150 overall. This to me is not "saving" necessarily since my bill usually hovers around $100 weekly.

Honestly, I don't know if I have the self-control to play the Grocery Game. I found myself buying things like candy bars and weird processed food that I wouldn't normally buy but did just because the stuff was a good deal.

Next week is the last week of my trial membership. If I'm not able to lower the grocery bill considerably, then I probably won't stick with it. I have already come up with a menu for next week and do have most of the ingredients on hand already -- based on purchases I already made while playing the grocery game. But, I don't know if I want to make it a habit of eating hot dogs and processed crab cakes just because they were half off.

Once I got over not going on a beach vacation, I got off my pity pot and put together a three-day trip to the mountains with my daughter while my husband is gone.

We are taking the train to a town with a huge hot springs pool. Normally, we could drive there in 5 or 6 hours, but I've always wanted to take the train and my daughter aspires to one day be a train conductor so she'll have fun. I was able to get the train tickets, a hotel, pool admission, and two breakfasts for $326, which includes transfers and taxes. I'll still need to bring spending money and pay for other meals, but we can eat cheap.

My husband is going to ride his bike across the state with a bunch of other crazies in a couple weeks. Then, after two days at home, he'll be leaving for a business trip. He'll be gone 11 days in all.

Long story short, my daughter and I can not afford to go with him -- or even take a long weekend getaway this summer. Granted, we will be hanging at the neighborhood pool between OT and vision therapy appointments and all my jobs, but it's not the same. I WANT TO GO SOMEPLACE ON VACATION!

Sure, mini me and I can go to the amusement park and I can even farm her out to some relatives if the going gets too tough, but I STILL WANT TO GO SOMEPLACE ON VACATION!

Also, I've spent my first weekend off in a long time cleaning up the yard and garden and cleaning the carpets while looking after my daughter because my husband's been at school or work the whole time.

Yes, I am feeling a bit abandoned, lonely, ticked off, pathetic and generally unhappy. Living within my means really sucks right now. Where the %*#( is my credit card?!?!?!??!

Some of you may recall that I recently invested in a composting bin. It's about a quarter full and is slowly producing compost.

In the meantime, I'm busy preparing the vegetable garden for planting. This means hauling bags of compost and peat moss from the garden store home since I don't have enough organic material on hand this year. Because I'm experimenting with

lasagna gardening -- and because some wannabe greenthumb built five huge raised beds in my back yard years ago (I must have been optimistic when I did this...) -- this has been a costly endeavor.

So far, I've spent $200 on material for two of the three beds. I ran out of compost today, so I have decided to experiment with the other beds by throwing plain grass clippings in whenever the "recipe" calls for "compost."

I've already planted snap peas, lettuce and arugula in one bed; and they are coming up. I also stuck five tomato plants in the ground today. My plan is to continue working on the clean up of the other beds this week and get everything planted by Memorial Day.

Once there is no evidence of weeds, dog poop or muddy kids, I'll share pictures with all of you.

As promised, I considered all your money-saving advice (from all two of you)....

Question: Do you eat out or have a coffee habit? Do you have a soft drink habit? Smokes? Magazines? Books?

Answer: We eat out maybe once a week. I believe in not living a life of deprivation so my monthly spending plan includes an "eating out" category with $255 in it.

I don't have a coffee or soft drink habit. I don't smoke. And all my books, magazines and DVDs come from the library.

Question: Do you keep a record of what you spend? It's quite surprising when you see it in black and white - your areas of waste show up quite clearly.
And don't forget to check out the bigger areas - like getting a better deal on insurance, comparing power providers etc.

Answer: I am an active participant in a 12-step program for compulsive debtors (DA). And, as a result, religiously record every time I spend. And, I haven't forgotten to check on the bigger areas. I'm getting a great deal on insurance and I only have one choice for power in my area.

Any other ideas?

Turns out I saved $33.37 playing the Grocery Game. I was dutifully impressed, but I'm still waiting to see how the savings add up during the trial period before committing to a regular membership.

I have not tried the jam/chili sauce recipe that one of you suggested, but I might since I ended up with two pork roasts instead of the one I thought I was getting. Apparently there was a 2-for-1 deal that I didn't notice.

We rarely eat meat, but I was craving some comfort food so thought I would make a roast. I haven't made one in 6 years, so I need to brush up on my carnivore cooking skills.

I just want a simple pork roast with some mashed potatoes, green beans, rice and mushroom gravy (yes, the kind mom used to make with Campbell's soup....) Mmmmmm...I can already taste it!

A friend recommended that I play the

"Grocery Game." At first, I thought this involved play money and buying little plastic houses until she set me straight.

I'm not too keen on the whole concept of buying processed food and I really don't need 10 pounds of apples or 10 sticks of deodorant (OK, well maybe I do....). But I decided that for a 4-week trial period that would only cost one buck, it was worth checking out.

I have my groceries delivered, so I first checked to make sure I would still qualify for all the deals. I did, so today when the Grocery Game folks published their weekly list of deals in my neck of the woods I promptly highlighted all the non-perishables that were worth stocking up on.

Before I even added these items to my cart, my grocery bill for the week would have been just under $50. This posed a problem since the store only delivers on orders of $50 or more. When I've been short previously (a rarity, but it has happened), I've added a case of water to get the bill over the $50 mark. (Yes, I drink bottled water, but that's a whole other posting....)

Today, though, I started adding a few of the deals I found playing the Grocery Game. I threw in 2 jars of grape jam (one can never have enough sticky fingerprints around the house), 2 jars of picante sauce, and some anti-bacterial soap.

My entire bill came to $53. Not bad for a family of three and two hungry dogs. We'll have to see how the Grocery Game goes as far as ultimate savings. I'm not completely sold on it, but should I start craving picante sauce mixed with grape jam maybe I'll change my mind.

My readers have spoken ... all three of you (thanks for caring, Mom)! I think we're all in agreement that I should not be messing with my retirement funds to pay off my debt.

Now, how to pay off that debt a little faster? Ummm ... well, I could take any of the following actions:

1. Rob a bank (Highly unlikely since I don't look good in prison garb)

2. Get yet another job (Not gonna happen since I'm already working two official jobs, plus various unofficial ones; and I do occasionally require my beauty rest.)

3. Win the lottery (Also highly unlikely given the odds and the fact that I keep forgetting to buy a ticket)

4. Sell my stuff to raise more cash (Hey, this might actually happen since I'm hosting a garage sale in a couple weeks -- come over and buy my junk if you're in the neighborhood)

5. Sell my plasma (This could happen, too, if I get desperate enough)

6. Sell my body (Uh ... yeah right! Did I mention I'm old?)

7. Cut back (Already happening ... we got rid of cable a while ago, we've given up the exotic getaways and gotten rid of the private lear jet. But, sorry, the hired help is staying for now -- wouldn't want to throw mom out on the street since Mother's Day is Sunday after all!)

8. Keep chipping away at the hulking pile of debt just as we've been doing (The most likely course of action at this time. One third of any extra income goes toward the debt -- in addition to our regularly scheduled payments.)

Feel free to send your own suggested action plans for paying off my debt. All suggestions will be seriously considered.

I'm not great about responding to your comments, but I do read them all.
For instance, Jim asks why we don't use our savings to pay off our debt. Good question, Jim. Here's my response:

1. Most of our savings are in 401Ks. To take the money out would cost us mucho money in taxes.

2. I'm old (41) and am married to an even older spouse (50). When/if we retire, we don't want to be eatin' Alpo. Organic dog food maybe, but not Alpo.

So am I wrong to think this way? Should I be paying off my debt with my hard-earned retirement fund?

Your thoughts please...

The folks at Dollar Buy Dollar posted this today and let me just say that Discover has managed to wipe that smile right off of my face!

http://www.dollarbuydollar.com/

I try not to post more than once a day, but I just have to say that whenever I read blogs about saving money by anyone 25 and under, it brings a smile to my face -- especially when I see 17 and 18 year olds starting Roth IRAs and working so hard to reach their financial goals. These folks have it figured out. Too bad I didn't at that age....

I'm still undecided about the value of doing online surveys that pay. I signed up on a number of different survey sites a while back after reading posts here about it being easy money.

For me, it has not been easy money for numerous reasons:

1. It seems like the surveys take too much time away from my business and my family.

2. I have yet to get one to pay off because I've either not made it all the way through a survey since I didn't fit certain specifications or the prize for the survey was something other than cash.

3. I saw a huge increase in junk email after signing up on three or four different survey sites.
I abhor junk email.

So for now I'm just trashing all the surveys, but I would be interested to hear what others think about surveys for pay.

Thanks to a slight decline in some stock holdings, my contingency fund fell $374.47.

I can't complain, though, because overall this stock has done very well throughout the years and I do expect it to bounce back.

In the past, I wouldn't have even noticed this drop in stock value because of my chronic case of vagueness when it comes to my finances. But, I'm happy to say, that I am now learning to live in clarity when it comes to money, so there's hope for me yet.

Here's what I'm reading this week:

Black Monday by R. Scott Reiss.
A hold over from last week's list. ... When a plague attacks the world's oil supply, life as we know it comes to a screeching halt. CDC epidemiologist Gregory Gillette is on the case to save the universe.

Blood Makes the Grass Grow by Johnny Rico.
The raw, uncensored story of Johnny Rico's time fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan with just a touch of dark humor thrown in for good measure.

A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of Boy Soldier by Ishmael Beah
Just started it, so all I can say is that it's the story of a boy soldier in Sierra Leone

and, now, for the financial-related part of the post...

Green with Envy: Why Keeping Up with the Jonses Is Keeping Us in Debt by Shira Boss
A not-so-in-depth look at how our neighbors and their luxury lives are keeping us in debt; and what you can do to avoid this ugly little trap. It's a fast read, but feels scattered and superficial at times. Yet, Boss dishes the dirt on her neighbors, which is always worth a listen.

As always, save your money and take advantage of the FREE resources available at your local library. Otherwise, you'll end up broke and in debt like me!

You'll notice I updated my debt and savings figures. Fortunately, the debt did go down ever so slightly and the savings did go up.

In my vagueness, I still haven't figured out all the pension account balances and such. But, it is on my "to do" list -- along with 100 other things.

As I tally my spending plan up for the last four weeks, I've noticed a huge drop in spending for groceries -- to the tune of $300 saved.

How did I accomplish this?

Well, primarily by not going to the grocery store.

Yes, you heard me right. I QUIT going to the grocery store to shop. Instead, I'm having the groceries delivered from my local store. The $9.95 delivery fee and $5 in tips to the delivery person each week is nothing compared to the money I used to spend on impulse purchases.

Not to mention, I also find myself buying more store brands now because I actually see the huge difference in price between the generic stuff and the name-brand items. The grocery store's online shopping feature lists items from cheapest to most expensive, so I can easily see what's going to be the best deal. And, guess what? The generic stuff really does taste the same.

Two of my many jobs involve reading books for pay. Some of the books are new releases, some are upcoming releases and some are long-ago releases.

Even though this is a financial blog, I thought I would start a regular feature listing the books I'm currently reading -- as if any of you care. However, to keep this in the financial realm, I recommend that you borrow these books from your local library or go to someplace like

Paperbackswap.com instead of rushing over to Amazon.com or some other for-profit business to buy them.

So, without further ado, here are the books I'm currently reading:

Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic by John De Graaf, David Wann and Thomas H. Naylor

Black Monday by R. Scott Reiss


Deception Point by Dan Brown

Yeah, well, I know that would make him happy too, but we're talking about something else here....

We're talking CAFFEINE!!!

Yes, in addition to his little alcohol fetish, my husband has become a coffee freak of late. He says it's my fault because I "made" him go to Starbucks in Times Square last fall and I "made" him get a grande mocha -- even though I personally don't drink mocha or any type of coffee for that matter. Now he has to have a coffee or two every day.

As we all know, though, that can get expensive and we are trying to pay off the debt here so Starbucks twice a day is just not going to happen.

Instead, my husband has been scoring his caffeine from the free dispenser at work. (At least he says it's free. For all I know, he's been stealing it in a fit of caffeine-induced insanity.)

But what to do on the weekends? Ummmm.... Perhaps make coffee at home????

The problem is that we don't have a coffee maker -- at least my husband didn't think we did. So last night he asked me to find a used coffee maker when our neighborhood holds its community garage sale in June. (An annual rite of passage each summer in the suburbs, followed immediately thereafter by "Big Trash Pick-Up Day.")

I, however, did one better than that. I climbed up to the tallest shelf in the kitchen and dug way back behind all the unused kitchen gadgets. Lo and behold what did I find but a two-cup coffee maker that I have owned since my days as a single girl living large in the big city.

Oh, but wait, we have no coffee filters for the cute little coffee maker.... Once again, I did some digging around where no woman dared to tread in at least a decade or two and found the filters as well. (OK, actually, I made my husband dig those up, but I did tell him where to find them....)

So you think all this would have landed me a big kiss or at least a "Thank you, honey, you're GREAT!"

Not even!

Instead, the caffeine fiend ran out the door as fast as he could and sprinted to the nearest grocery store in search of coffee beans.

This morning I walked in the front door after my run and was greeted by the smell of freshly made coffee. And, oh yeah, a very happy husband. To think I didn't even have to put out.....

Forgive me father for I have sinned. It has been 9 days since my last blog posting...

Oh, wait! I'm not Catholic! But I am repentent for the delay in postings.

I've just been crazy busy with work (yes, I do have a job or two or three or more depending on the week....)

The biggest change in the last 9 days is that I have migrated to Windows Vista thanks to the arrival of my new computer.

A needless expense you say? Not in my line of work and considering my laptop fried itself beyond repair a month ago.

Fortunately, I had been saving for a new computer for my business, so I paid cash for it. A first! I'm sure the credit card gods are not happy.

They probably also aren't happy because my husband and I have started to live within our means. We're contacting our CC companies and are explaining to them that they are all getting paid the full amount owed, but on our terms. Then we're sending them their monthly payments -- but based on what we can afford, not what they say they want. We (well, mainly, I) give them the whole DA spiel and they seem to be OK with it as long as we send them something each month.

Now before you start telling me how that's just going to ruin my credit score and blah, blah, blah, let me explain that I am not my credit score so I don't really care if my credit score is zippo. I already own a house and two perfectly good cars (although I am saving for a new one and hope to pay cash), and I really don't want or need anymore credit.

As long as I keep paying the credit card gods something, I have to believe they will keep playing nice.

(I just need to preface this post by saying that I do not drink unless I'm sitting on a beach and I'm having a frou-frou drink with an umbrella sticking out of it.....)

Last night my family attended a birthday dinner for my husband's brother, who will be moving to the Pacific Northwest soon. As my brother-in-law prepares for his move, he is cleaning out his condo in order to sell it. He decided that my husband should be the recipient of his entire bar collection.

When my husband told me this on the way over to the party, I envisioned bringing home a few bottles of whatever. What I forgot was that said brother-in-law used to be a bartender and had been collecting a vast range of alcohol for years.

As a result, we came home with three huge -- and overflowing -- boxes of alcohol, most of which has barely been open.

My husband enjoys a glass of wine or two with dinner, but he essentially now has the makings of his own neighborhood bar. We're talking BIG bar here, folks.

If I were doing the $20 challenge, I'd say we just saved at least $500 -- if not more -- on alcohol. But since I'm not doing the challenge, all I have to say is:

CHEERS!

Yeah, YOU! Look to your bottom left (at least it's on your bottom left today). I've posted some of my fav financial/debting links.

I'm too busy making money to post much today, but in the meantime check out some equally entertaining and enlightening sites.

I've discovered the key to not spending money -- don't leave your basement all day.

Yes, I hibernated in the basement office working and as a result have my first no-spend day since starting my blog.

I should be jumping for joy, but tomorrow I have to pay $20 for Mini Me's OT appointment; plus the housekeeper is coming so that's $80; and the dog is going to the groomer, which will cost $50.

Maybe I should just barricade myself in the basement for the rest of the month...

My beloved laptop has finally passed on. After months of being on life support and three weeks of drastic measures by the computer geeks down the road, I agreed this morning to pull the plug.

Yes, I'm a tad sad. That laptop and I got through grad school together. ...

Alas, I must get over my grief and decide what to do about a new computer. I have been using my husband's computer for the last three weeks, but we don't play well together when it comes to computers so we both agree it's time to invest in a new computer for me.

Fortunately, my business account has all but $300 in it to put toward buying a new desktop computer. But I'm kind of leaning toward evoking my squatter's rights in the basement office until fall when I should have enough saved for a laptop and docking station set-up.

My husband won't be happy to hear this, but what's he going to do? Evict me? (I don't think so....)

Meanwhile, I'm struggling with essentially emptying my business account to buy a new computer. The old me would have charged a new computer on my Visa card as soon as the laptop started showing signs of distress, but the new me is having a hard time with the thought of actually spending money I have set aside for just such an occasion as this.

Because half of my income comes from my home-based business, I truly need to spend a little money here to make money. But I'm just not ready to -- at least for today.

I'm relatively new to the blogging world -- just started goofing around with it a couple weeks ago to show my husband I could. Now I've discovered one can actually make money blogging.

I'm not sure what all this entails. Do I have to upload naked photos of myself (some of you might get a cheap thrill...) or just agree to have some big ol' ad for Viagra displayed across my blog's banner? Of course, I could just include a link to Paypal and have some dumb sucker send me money to pay off my debt "just because." However, this seems a bit too much like begging so I won't go there.

I have to admit, the idea of making money by blogging sort of intrigues me. Yet, at the same time, would I be selling out to the corporate jungle and consumerism?

Ummmm ... something to ponder....

The one bad thing about depositing all my change at the bank: NO pennies for poker tonight. Fortunately, though, between my husband, Mini Me and the coin cup in the car I've come up with $3 to join the ladies for poker tonight. All is not lost (although the $3 probably will be before the night is over...)

In the "sometimes I amaze myself" category: I was determined not to overindulge Mini Me for Easter this year. I budgeted $20 on the Easter basket (not including eggs and a bit of chocolate, which came out of the grocery fund). I managed to load up on a bunch of little do-dads for her (lip gloss, watercolor paint, a 99 cent kite, etc.) and MADE a beautiful Easter basket. Yes, MADE!!!

OK, maybe not "MADE" as in "weaved," but I took a white florist basket I was going to toss in the Goodwill bin, two ribbons salvaged from gifts that someone had given us and some glue that's been taking up shelf space in the garage; stuck them all together; and just like that have a beautiful Easter basket that didn't cost me a dime!

Speaking of tossing stuff, as I took Mini Me to school today (they don't let 6 year olds drive yet in my town), I noticed a number of everyday household items sitting out by the curb awaiting the trash man. On my street alone, I could have picked up:

1. A lawn chair
2. A patio table
3. A garden hose
4. A shovel
5. A barbecue grill

Basically the beginnings of a complete outdoor patio set and garden supplies.

Yes, as my husband will tell you, I'm guilty of throwing away my share of perfectly good stuff too (i.e.: his entire wardrobe from our pre-dating days). However, I'm beginning to see the light -- and the landfill issues.

Recycle this stuff, folks! Give it away, sell it, turn it into decorative lawn ornaments. Just don't toss it in the landfill to go to waste!

I've noticed numerous postings on emergency funds lately and I have to say that for all of you building up those EFs one dollar at a time "Good for you!"

I have a lot of debt (look to your right if you don't believe me), but I also have a lot of savings (look to the right again...)

So why don't you just use some of that savings to pay off your debt, you may be wondering?

Ummm ... well, let's see:

1. I'd like to be able to keep paying my bills and feeding my family should my husband or I ever lose our jobs or get too sick to work.
2. I'm old (but not as old as my husband) and would like to some day retire and not be eatin' Alpo.

So whether it's an emergency you're saving for or retirement or a new fence, keep up the good work on the savings front. (And, no, I'm not laughing at those of you with $40 in your emergency funds!)

I'm up early because I've been obsessing about compost all night. More specifically, composting bins.

I'm all about "simple living" these days and one of the things I'd like to do is re-use more stuff instead of throwing it out. Plus, in an effort to beautify the swamp on the east side of my yard, I thought I'd actually try sticking something in the ground and watch it grow this summer (I'm also all about cheap thrills.)

I've been reading up on turning waste into composte and pricing composting bins. I'd like to get one used, but haven't seen any being offered on Freecycle or via my neighbors' trash heaps; and I'm not the handiest of girls with a hammer -- if you know what I mean...

So, after careful consideration, I've decided to purchase one. (Yes, I know it goes against the whole goal here, but I've got a lot of crap I need to turn into black gold as quickly as possible....)

This alone is a stay-up-all-night-to-obsess kind of endeavor. Because of the little problem I have with compulsive shopping and debting, I have to plan out each trip to the store carefully or it gets ugly.

So over the course of the last 8 hours, I have mapped out exactly where I'm going to buy my composting bin, how much I'm willing to spend (no more than $40, which I have in my hot little hands all ready to throw at the first sales clerk who will take it), how I will not be tempted to buy anything more than the bin, and what I will do if I feel myself beginning to slip.

Wish me luck -- and time leftover for a nap this morning....

I hauled two GIGANTIC Tupperware containers full of change to the bank this morning -- almost throwing out my back in the process -- and was delighted to find that I had amassed $348.02 in pennies, quarters, nickles and dimes. It's currently all residing in my checking account, but I'm debating between putting it in the new car fund or the new fence fund.

Meanwhile, here are some other things I found in the coin jar:

$11.50 in Pesos
$1.10 in Euros
500 Yen
2 safety pins
2 buttons
1 flimsy metal ring that looked like it held a key at some point
1 gold circle that's the size of an eraser head
1 McDonald's Monopoly piece good for a free small drink (expired in 1996)
Enough lint to fill two or three belly buttons

All but the foreign money now resides in the trash.

I have a passing fancy in information overload and design. I can honestly say that the new look is an information design disaster. Hopefully it is just a bad April Fool's Day joke.