Taxes Went Down

My last paycheck (3/13) reflected -$30ish bucks in taxes. I called HR to confirm that this is the new tax base. Nice little raise there, and much needed since our budget is, as always, tight as ever and I have the psychological need for a safe cushion, unlike DH who would spend every dime if he could.

Boooo Economy

So the rumor I heard is true. The public library has no funds for programming this summer. This means my Teen Skin Care program will probably get no bookings; at least, I haven't received a single phone call and it's already March. Usually my summer is getting booked by February. Crap! That was an extra $1,040 I made last summer. Well, at least my summer will be freed up so I can spend time with the baby in July as well as work on my documentary.

Balance

Although I keep inching our debt repayments (CC's) as close to maximum as possible, I still struggle with paying the debt off AS FAST AS IS HUMANLY POSSIBLE compared to breathing easier, having a life, and reducing marital strife.

I redid the budget today again--and when I say "budget" I am actually speaking of one of our many budgets via Excel spreadsheet. The budgets are:

1. A household budget that consists of my and S's take-home salaries.
2. Another budget that consists of my salary from Job #2.
   
3. An overall budget reduction spreadsheet.
   
4. All of our numerous savings accounts, of which there are roughly 12, each with its own purpose.

Today I redid budgets #2 and #3. I reduced that particular CC payment from $300/month to $200/month for a few months, thereby extending that CC payoff by a couple of months. But if it means we don't have to WORRY so much and I can take Thursday nights off from Job #2 from now on and I can relax more and not be so uptight about spending an extra few bucks here and there, then it's worth it for me, for my mental health, for my marriage, etc. etc. I keep having to remind myself of that!!!

I HATE AT&T Universal Mastercard

Those bastards! I have been with them since I went to Spain as a college student in 1992 (or so). I have transferred 2 other CC balances to them so they can be paid off at the APR rates of 6.9% and 4.9%, respectively. I had another portion with them that was at a reasonable ~10%. Well, logging onto their website today I see that my next payment due is more than I expected. A closer look at the most recent statement revealed that the 10% portion has just jumped up to 17%!!!!!!

I called them up, furious and demanded them to lower that rate. They said I can either accept the new terms or I could reject them. If I chose to reject them then once my card expired it will automatically be cancelled. I said fine, I reject!!! Assholes. I am not surprised though. Like Dave Ramsey says, they are all snakes.

Budget done thru Sept. 2009

I have done the household budget through mid-Sept. 2009. I tried to remember occasional irregular payments (life insurance, vehicle inspection, etc.) but I am sure I forgot one or two. The final adjustment I've made is to add 2 haircuts for me since I totally forgot about those. Regardless, the budget looks pretty good and this is with lowballing DH's take-home salary. In other words, the budget has a good amount of wiggle room and this is a worst-case scenario so I do feel like breathing a big sigh of relief. Of course, it is not set in stone since I am also guessing at how much extra $ I will be bringing home during the summer when I start to teach skin care classes at the public libraries again. I should start to get bookings for those hopefully this month and next and then we'll have a much better idea of what my extra summer income will look like. Speaking of which, I did give myself a sizeable raise. Last year I charged $80/class. This year I raised it to $95/class. DH agreed that I should keep it under $100 for the psychological effect, but that's still a good sized raise! So last year I did 13 branch libraries; perhaps with my increased fee I'll do less this summer but that is all right with me since that is a lot of work running around and doing all those classes!

Gas is $1.39 near my house so again, one reason the budget is looking good is that I went ahead and reduced my gas costs projection a little more in the beginning of 2009 since it does not seem that gas prices will jump anytime soon. I still have my summer gas costs at a high rate, however, and I am NOT adjusting those. Credit card APR's and payments are currently still low and the first jump in rates does not occur until April. The next APR jump is in May and the final one is in Oct/Nov. But I will worry about those when they happen. Who knows, maybe DH's salary will increase by then anyway, either to a raise or promotion at work or he will be working at the jail by then making $28/hour.

Regardless, I have now spent one entire year contributing the minimum (2%) to my retirement account and I am itching to get back up to the 10% neighborhood. So when DH's salary goes back up for whatever reason, I am going to open up a Roth IRA toot suite, even if it's just a small one while we're still paying off our debts. So the end of 2009 looks pretty good and we should be completely out of debt by early-mid 2010. Dare I even imagine what that will feel like?

A Diamond Ring

I told S the only thing I want for Xmas (for reasons that are way too complicated to get into here) is a "real" diamond ring, since all he got me before we got married was a little diamond promise ring. I did the leg work, went online and looked at rings on websites, went to stores and tried some on, hunted for the deals, and found what I believe to be the best deal right now. I found a beautiful 1-carat ring that was "originally" well into the 4 figures--almost $1,200!!! (Though Kay Jewelers has the same ring for almost $1,500.) Well it was reduced well into the 3 figures!!! On top of that it was reduced further as an in-store purchase this week! On top of all that, I had a 15% off coupon!!! S picked up the ring last night before the sale ended this week and I can't say which I had more fun looking at, the ring or the receipt! The thrill and art of the deal! And here it is:

Budget Help with Low Gas Prices

Last night I saw gas for $1.47. It is $1.49 by our house. Lord, I know we are in a recession--and have been for the past 12 months at least--but these low gas prices are really, really assisting us and our budget. I have lowered the gas budget through Christmas and they are saying these prices will continue to stay low awhile longer through the new year.

I have to take the car in tomorrow to possibly get it fixed. It's making a weird noise underneath, could be suspension, shocks, axle, I don't know. So the budget will be able to now support the cost for this as well as a good chuck of our +$200 shortage for property taxes due Jan. 31.