Compulsive Debtor's Finance Blog

Someone's ears must have been burning. One of my missing eBay buyers just paid me via PayPal. Now if the other person would just fork over his share....

When I renewed my two newspaper subscriptions a couple months ago, it came with a card for a year's worth of Time magazine for free if I checked a box. I would not normally pay to subscribe to any magazine since I can read them for free at the library or in any waiting room where I may find myself. However, this one was free, so I figured it was a good deal.

I had completey forgotten about it until the first magazine showed up today, which also reminded me that I need to call to change my newspaper subscription. I live in a rare city that has two daily newspapers, which I have faithfully subscribed to for years. But now my husband's work has provided an online subscription for him to both so we've decided to get rid of one of the hard copy papers. I'm keeping the other for the coupons and for loyalty issues that I won't go into here.

The thought briefly crossed my mind that they'll cancel my magazine subscription now, but in reality I know the agency that manages the two newspapers does not have its act together enough to pull something this complicated off (I'm lucky if they can hit my front porch with the newspaper on a good day....). So I'm pretty sure I'll be seeing that Time magazine in my mailbox for the next 51 weeks.

This coupled with the Fitness magazine that I also get for free (due to some reason that now escapes me) and Bon Apetit (which my mother gives me each year in hopes that I'll feed her something besides bread and water) should keep me in reading material for a while.

Ummm... It's been 72 hours since my first eBay auctions ended. I emailed all the buyers invoices within an hour of the auctions ending. All but two have either paid or said they're sending money orders. But what about those other two?

Should I be worried? Should I send them gentle reminders? Or should I cut them some slack and give them a week to get in touch before I nag?

Any words of wisdom DisneySteve?

I just came home to a freelance check today that put me over the minimum amount of income I had planned for the month. After I put money away for taxes on that check, I'm adding $137.74 to the challenge today. My challenge total is now up to $198.82.

Because I'm trying to avoid a.) working, b.) doing laundry, c.) cooking dinner, or d.) all of the above, I decided to do some housecleaning on my blog, so I added a few of my favorite websites over there on the left (your other left if you happen to be Mini Me....)

Most of the sites are finance-related and I do try to check them daily just to keep me focused on my goal of paying off my debt.

My four favorites are Daily Walks, which is just nice to look at; Debt Kid, created by a nice hard-working kid who is trying to right his wrongs (just like me -- although I'm no longer a kid);
Debtors Anonymous, which keeps me on the straight and narrow; and Merle Sneed, whose sense of humor I can relate to (humor is all important when you have as much debt as I do).

I hope to get around to updating the savings and debt numbers over there next.

I made another $41.31 (after shipping and fees) on eBay. That brings the challenge total up to $61.08.

I'm still waiting to hear from two other buyers from my auctions that closed yesterday. A third buyer is sending me a money order.

I also have 10 more items up for sale that will close over the weekend, plus a basement full of stuff to post still.

I was thinking about how dangerous this would all be if I were tempted to bid on items myself, but I'm not in the least bit interested in even "window shopping" for stuff on eBay so my compulsive shopping tendencies aren't kicking in. Good thing....

Today my first eBay auctions closed. Although I sold everything I posted, only one bidder has paid up so far (it's only been a couple hours since they closed so I'll give everyone a while before I start panicking....)

However, the one person who did pay up, promptly deposited his money into my PayPal account and I promptly mailed the item. Minus the shipping cost, I made $12.36 to add to my challenge money, which now is up to $19.77.

Just back from the dentist where I was pleasantly surprised to find a nice, laid-back dentist and a compentent staff.

As I mentioned while

whining yesterday, I had to switch dentists when my husband switched jobs. My old dentist was great, so it was hard to leave him.

Four months ago, I picked a new dentist from the provider list. He was within walking distance of my house. His office was high tech. And his staff seemed competent. Then, HE WALKED INTO THE EXAM ROOM!!!!

He looked like a poster boy for cosmetic dentistry. I had to keep my sunglasses on because his teeth were so huge, white and shiny.

Looks aside, he seemed OK until he started examining my teeth, and wanted to overhaul each and every one. As a devout flosser, brusher and dentistgoer for my entire life, I knew my teeth did not need anything more than polishing. There was one tooth my old dentist always kept an eye on since I've had some work done on it, but overall my mouth was and is in good shape.

Dr. Cosmetic Dentistry wanted me to spend about $10,000 out of pocket to fix things that didn't need fixing. The only thing good to come out of the visit was that I went home with a bunch of pens, notepads, golf tees (I don't even golf), magnets, etc., with his name plastered all over them. Of course, I ultimately would have paid for these "Welcome" gifts if I had gone back to him, but instead I ran the other way as fast as I could.

Now, four months later, I was due for another polishing (yes, I see the dentist every four months -- not six...). I picked another dentist in the same complex and was prepared to fend off more freebies and recommendations for unncessary dental treatments.

Instead, I found Mr. Rogers in a dental smock waiting for me. He said my teeth look great overall -- but wants to watch my one problem tooth. He didn't hoist any free junk on me and said he would keep my out-of-pocket expense down by documenting my previous perio visit (some fancy dental surgeon who worked on my problem tooth) in his records and on the insurance form each time he submitted a cleaning bill.

I thought this was very nice of him. Even nicer was that I didn't owe anything today.

I'm tired and miserable tonight. I've had a stuffed up head all day and I had to start my day off by driving down south for a work-related training session during rush hour and in the bitter cold. (There's a reason I mostly work at home in my nice WARM office where the commute consists of nothing more than stumbling out of bed and down the hall.)

The training session was incredibly long and incredibly boring. It was led by various managers throughout the organization -- including my manager -- so I couldn't sneak out. Instead, I sat there thinking how I really need to get one more regular, big client for my business and bale on the "office" job.

This has been on my mind a lot lately.
Physically, the job is wearing on me (it takes a lot out of a person when they have to climb up and down a metal pole all night. Don't believe me? You try it for an evening....). So I've begun to look around for another client.

Meanwhile, back to whining...

I was planning on another no-spend day today, but as I was driving back from the South Pole I realized if I didn't fill the car up with gas I would have to endure an afternoon ride home with Mini Me that consisted of her badgering me about how we were going to run out of gas. I was just not up to the challenge today, so $46 later I had bought myself some peace and quiet -- for all of about 20 minutes.

I'm trying to finish up a client's project tonight, but am having serious problems keeping my eyes open (they hate it when you fall asleep on the job....).

Tomorrow promises to be another "fun" day -- beginning with a trip to a new dentist. When my husband switched jobs, we switched insurance, which means finding new dentists for everyone. The first quack I saw started talking about replacing every tooth in my mouth so that he could make a buck. I ran as fast I could from that guy. I'm now going to someone else in his building (anyone want to bet what this guy will try to get away with????)

I've been rippin' on my husband since last night about

his dumb comment regarding saving -- and yes, it was just plain DUMB!

But now I have to say that my stepson is actually a very intelligent, good guy who I know ultimately will figure out that saving is best. He has not had the best role models (myself included) and he's often been put in a hard place financially because of the stupid things his parental units have done. (Thus the big bucks he owes his mother...)

As for my husband, well, he's a good guy too who has just taken a very looooong time to figure out the financial side of life.

In case you missed it, my husband responded to my post about his son being "too young" to save. Here it

is.

And my response to dear ol' Dad is: YOU'RE STILL NEVER TOO YOUNG TO MAKE SAVING A PRIORITY!!!!

The other day I wrote about

my adult stepson, who already has a very well-paying job just a year out of college. Today he got another well-paying job that is in the career field that he's interested in (as opposed to the other one, which is not).

I mentioned to my husband that I hoped he was saving some of his money and my husband said: "He doesn't need to be saving money. He's only 23."

I could not believe my ears. I'm still aghast by this thinking.

This is why we have more than $55,000 in student loans for his education -- because his father (and mother) were young when they had him and failed to save a dime toward his education (or toward anything else for that matter).

I know my stepson owes his mother a boatload of money and probably has a few credit cards he's paying off as well, but I see no reason why he can't be saving something toward his future -- even if he is just 23....

Not to gloat, but thank God my husband isn't raising Mini Me alone. She may only be 7 but I already have a bank account set up for her that her consignment money goes into (we re-sell her clothes). She's also got a college fund going and I make her put half her allowance into her piggy bank each month.

Today I went to see a physical therapist about a little problem I've been having with my knee. The copay for the visit was $30. I left with two rolls of tape for my knee and instructions to call him if I have anymore problems.

Ummm...and we wonder what is wrong with healthcare in America...

(Note to self: next time skip the copay and use duct tape from my garage to fix the bum knee!)

Why do clothing makers insist on putting tags on the sides of shirts right above your pant line?

Inevitably I spend each day scratching at my side because of the label or I cut it off and end up splitting open the seam.

I have thought about buying only shirts that have the label info printed directly on the shirts, but this limits me to primarily workout gear, which would be fine if I were a P.E. teacher....

Inspired by DisneySteve's return to eBay, I decided earlier this week to post some of my stained glass supplies to see if I could make a few bucks for the challenge.

I am now addicted to selling stuff on eBay. Forget about shopping. I just want to SELL, SELL, SELL!!!!

I originally posted 13 items at very low prices and was surprised to see most of them get bids. Their auctions end in three days, so today I decided to post seven more things. However, I decided to branch out and post things that we were going to just send to Goodwill or give away to Mini Me's school. They're perfectly good things, but we had no use for them anymore so I've now got 20 items posted on eBay.

I think my husband is worried that I might start selling all of his belongings -- weather he wants me to or not. So I'm going to wait a few days before posting any more -- and then I'll limit it to more stained glass stuff.

I think I also might do some reading up on eBay selling as well. Right now, I'm just fumbling my way through the whole process, but I'm sure there's a better strategy I should be taking in order to make the most on my items. Perhaps DisneySteve will share some insights there as well since he is to blame for my latest addiction. ...

The grocery man just dropped off my purchases. I bought $63.46 in food. Using coupons and in-store promotions, I brought that down to $44.03. With the delivery fee and taxes, my total came for $55.41 to feed the three humans and two dogs for the next 7 days.

Dinners will consist of:

1. Broiled Alaskan king salmon, rice and fresh asparagus

2. Stir fry shrimp and rice

3. Tortellini with tomato mushroom sauce

4. Macaroni and cheese

5. Fettucine with sage brown butter

6. Pork chops with apples and rosemary, stuffing and lima beans

7. Leftovers

I'm getting hungry just thinking of it...

I sold a book on Amazon this morning. After shipping, that leaves me $6.16 to add to the challenge so I'm up to $7.41 now. I almost have enough for two gallons of gas for that new car...

I decided to go grocery shopping in my own household store this weekend. I went through the freezer and basement mini-mart, and created a list of meals that should last us through the next two weeks.

I do need some things from the actual store to supplement the grocery list, but nothing that should cost more than $40 each week (that's for a family of three humans and two dogs). Part of that $40 will go toward sale items that I want to stock up on -- things like shampoo and aspirin.

Tomorrow is grocery shopping day -- although I don't leave the house to do it ever. I find it's best for me to pay the $10 fee and have the stuff delivered instead of risking my compulsive nature kicking into high gear at the grocery store.

I had my second no-spend day in a row. I'm not sure what has gotten into me. I even left the 'hood today and ventured as far as the "office" job.

I just informed my husband that I spent no money today. He then informed me that he spent no money either. Than Mini Me informed both of us that she didn't spend any money either.

This may be a family first!

While emptying the dryer just now, $1.25 fell out of someone's pants. As the one and only laundress in this household, the money automatically becomes mine, so I'm putting it toward the challenge. I'm on my way.....

Aside from driving my daughter around the corner to a play date, I did not leave the house or post anything on eBay (or buy anything online), so I did not spend any money. I must be coming down with the flu or something to be saving so much money....

Ralph asked me why I didn't pay off my massive debt with my massive savings, so I thought I would share my response with all of you in case any of you are wondering the same thing.

The reasons are many.

1. I'm old and want to make sure I have some savings to fall back on so I don't end up eating Alpo later in life.

2. Much of that savings is tied up in 401Ks, investments, etc., and the tax hit would not be worth it.

3. I'm still old and I won't be able to build my retirement back up should I dip into it.

4. My thinking is that until I retire the massive savings is only to be used in the case of a true emergency (i.e. I or my husband are not able to work and the insurance company doesn't dish out the disability pay fast enough; or disgruntled underlings take my husband hostage and I have to provide a ransom to get him back -- or to get them to keep him).

My self-created debt isn't an emergency. It's a mistake, but I am paying it off using my own hard-earned money.

People who know my husband and I -- but not about my debt -- always ask why I work. By all appearances, I should be one of those women who lunch/play tennis/get daily blowouts/etc. But I work because I am a compulsive debtor in recovery who is trying to make my wrongs right. Working allows me -- not my husband -- to deal with my problems. (My husband, by the way, has been encouraging me not to work as well, but understands why I keep at it.)

I have often thought what I would do if I suddenly got a $167,313.77 windfall. Would I automatically pay off all my debt? Well, DUH, YES!!! I'm not that much of an idiot after all. But I know that a windfall is not going to make my debting problem go away. It's always going to be there. All I can do is work my 12-step program one day at a time, not debt in any way shape or form, stay away from my triggers (i.e. credit cards), live within my means and still have a life while doing all this.

So that, dear Ralph, is my answer. Anything else????

Now that my 23-year-old adult stepson has returned to his sunny, warm state, I thought I'd share a few eye-opening moments that he experienced while visiting here at the North Pole over the holidays.

Despite having grown up here, he has never had to pay for his own skiing. Nor has he had to buy his own plane ticket to come back here from the tropical state that he chose to attend college in (at our expense).

However, because he is now a gainfully employed college graduate, he had to pay his own way this trip (well, up to a point....)

The first revelation that life was not cheap came when he went skiing and the lift ticket cost $86. He came home baffled by the expense, and wondering why people pay this much to be cold and wait in long lines.

My husband and I just smiled and said "Now you know why we don't ski anymore...."

Then there was the revelation over dinner the night before he left that his departing flight was leaving at midnight. I thought this was odd since I once was berated by his mother for making her poor then-20-year-old baby spend 2 hours in some strange city's airport during a stopover because I wanted to save some money instead of flying him back here on a direct flight.

But, apparently the thought of flying all night seemed appealing to said baby when it was his money and he could save a bundle on the red-eye flight.

I have to admit I'm enjoying watching my stepson deal with life's realities. ...

I have begun the liquidation of my stained glass supplies by posting 12 books of patterns on eBay. I also posted some of them on Amazon.

I kept everything fairly simple, so here's hoping they sell and I can start the $20 challenge.

If not, I will have to count on the freelance job coming through. I finished another project today and billed the client $150. Because I worked the other job so much last month, I only have to make $70 in freelance money this month to cover my basic spending plan income in January. I'm well past that amount already, so even if the auction stuff doesn't bring a decent price I'll do OK this month on the challenge.

Initially my plan is to split the extra income between savings and debt. Usually, I'm a firm believer in the 1/3 split, but I'm not feeling the need to fund my immediate needs right now as much as I'd like to fund the new car.

I have a whole room of supplies for making stained glass. However, I have not done anything with it in more than 8 years and do not anticipate getting back to it.

In the interest of de-cluttering and raising funds for the $20 challenge -- and thus paying off debt faster and/or saving for a new car faster -- I'm thinking of selling all my supplies.

I've never sold anything on ebay before, but I think I'm ready to give it a go since I've been reading up on it and feel inspired by DisneySteve.

My plan is to start small -- maybe sell some hand tools or something that is easy to ship. If all goes well, I hope to at least have my now-defunct hobby area cleaned out by summer.

Another thing weighing on my mind lately has been whether to participate in the challenge and -- assuming I did -- what "rules" I would follow.

I've decided that I need to rise to the occasion and join in all the fun, so for my challenge I'm going to keep track of all the extra income I make -- and save or put toward debt repayment -- above and beyond our household base salary of $8,316 a month. This does not include money I already have earmarked for savings or debt repayment -- just anything extra I put toward these categories from extra money that comes in. This also doesn't include dividends from investments, which are automatically reinvested as it is.

The tricky part for me will be to not blow that extra income -- as I've been known to do in the past.

I could get really optimistic and say I'll also count any money leftover from the basic spending plan at the end of the month (i.e. any of that $8,316 that I don't spend or put toward previously budgeted debt repayment), but I figure there's little chance of that happening -- since it never did in 2007 -- so why kid myself....

Since it's so early in the month, I have no extra income but I anticipate a few extra bucks later in the month so wish me luck.

One thing that has been weighing heavily on my mind lately is my car situation -- or, more accurately, my husband's car situtation.

He drives a '92 Honda Odyssey that we paid cash for in 2000. Every time we take it in for repairs, we expect to get a call saying it's not worth fixing. However, that has yet to happen despite semi-annual visits to the mechanic. This time, we both went so far as to start shopping for cars online. I'm pushing for another used car, while he's thinking of leasing or buying a new car. While we have yet to agree on what makes more sense, we have at least agreed on the model -- either a hybrid Toyota Highlander or Honda CRV.

But, once again, the mechanic put an end to our fantasy of driving something that isn't a rust bucket. Today he called to say the strange noise we've been hearing was a minor fix -- to the tune of $200 -- not enough to justify getting rid of it yet.

Being the frugal guy that he is, my husband was pleased by this, while I have mixed emotions.

A new(er) car would have been nice for all of us since the Odyssey resembles a rolling trash heap. Of course, the car payment we would have been taking on wouldn't have been so nice.

Ultimately, though, this means we have more time to save a bigger down payment, so I guess there's always that. For now, though, I'm going to invest in some of those new-car air freshners and hope that nobody notices the mold that has started to ooze out of the Odyssey's hatchback....

I also spent no money today, so there's my first no spend day for 2008. Here's to many more....

I just got back from two days of non-stop eating at my mother's house. She does a traditional Japanese dinner on New Year's Eve, followed by a full day of follow-up eating on New Year's Day. Then she sends all the leftovers home with us, so I won't be cooking or grocery shopping again until next weekend.

I've had a lot of financial stuff on my mind the last few days, so will hopefully be blogging a bit more as I share. But I now must go unpack all the goodies sent home by dear ol' mom.