I have been wanting to make a new post for a few days now, but every time I come to update, I shy away.  The truth is I’ve been making quite a few money mistakes lately.  I’ve been spending too much and it is making me feel horrible!  Much of the spending was done while we were on vacation.  I told Mr. Money how bad I felt about it, and he told me “relax, we’re on vacation.  You can spend a little extra.”  Granted, it really wasn’t that much money, but it was more than I had planned on spending.  Here are a few surprises:

• $30 each way for luggage on the airline.  Horrible!
• $2 for a soda or water on U.S. Airways. Not nice!
• $260 to board our dogs (a necessity)
• Around $280 for spending on things while we were in Colorado.

There are some things I wish we had done differently.  I wish we had set aside money specifically for this trip.  I think we would have been better off had we used cash, or even bought a pre paid debit card.  Having our checking account accessible was a bad idea.  But, it’s all said and done, and I need to get over it and move on.

Here’s my next guilty admission: I want to spend more money!  I have been trying to “green” our house and life and all I want to do is go to Whole Foods and our local health food store and buy natural laundry detergent, shampoos, conditioners, and food! I also think that part of my problem is that when I am home alone, I get bored and want to go out shopping and spend money.  I think that I need something to do, or to spend money to satisfy myself.  I need to work on this.

Help me jump back on the frugal bandwagon!  What are some things you do when you feel like this?

Posted under Budget, Money Mistakes

Yesterday I wrote about my bargains I got at our local Goodwill. Today I decided that instead of holding onto junk in our basement and shed for the yard sale it looks like we’ll never have, I would take the items to Goodwill so I can get a tax write off and make a donation and hopefully help someone in need. After all, what goes around comes around. I want good karma!

I have been holding onto these items and it was a hard decision to just drop them off. I keep picturing the boxes and bags with big dollar signs on them, like I just did a very unfrugal thing by donating the items instead of trying to sell them. This was my thinking: I’ve been waiting all summer to have a yard sale, I haven’t had time, the stuff is taking up space driving me crazy, and most of the items I donated ranged from 10 cents to a dollar. Am I really going to miss that? Probably not.  The money that I would have made would probably not be worth my time sitting outside, haggling prices with people.

Many of the larger dollar items I kept: a dehumidifier, pictures, tables, etc.  I figure I can always list those on craigslist and make some money off those items because those are actually worth selling.  The other things probably wouldn’t sell on craigslist.  When we get back from vacation I’ll need to list those as soon as possible.

Do you think I made a good decision?

Posted under Money, Money Mistakes

A few days ago I opened a new checking account for a very nice lady that came in asking about our free checking accounts. As I was talking with her about her lending needs, she asked me about “the loans that let you make flexible payments”, AKA home equity lines of credit. I was telling her about how they work; the minimum payment is interest only, so if you only pay the minimum payment you won’t get anywhere, but if you pay the amount you pay now on your mortgage, everything above the minimum payment goes towards principal. She thought it was a great idea, she’d be paying less than she pays for her mortgage payment each month, and it would free up some money for her and she’d be not as strapped for cash each month. I put an application in for her.

Declined.

I was a little taken aback, until I looked at her credit report. Her credit score? 494. That is the lowest credit score I’ve ever seen! I took a look and realized why it was so low. She had been 60 days late on her mortgage 3 times, and 90 days late 9 times. I was shocked. When I called her to let her know the decision, she acted surprised. I asked her if she had been late on any of her payments lately. She told me she’d been late a few times. A few times?? How can you be 90 days late 9 times?

This example is a perfect example of one of the sub prime loans and why it is a good idea to not get into a mortgage payment you can’t afford, and also why it’s important to make your payments on time. Because of her being late so many times, her credit score is trashed. I feel sorry for her, but on the other hand I don’t. She is the one that got herself into the situation, and she’ll have to get herself out.

Do you feel sorry for people like this who have overextended themselves?

Posted under Loans, Money Mistakes