money

$$$

/ money

I tend to freak out over money. Because I am definitely not as responsible with it as I should be. Like, right now. My checkbook figures are quite low. Let’s not talk about the savings account. But, all is not lost. My bills have been paid, and the ones that are coming up are covered as well. Federal Direct Loans granted me another forebearance with is a definite blessing. So, I just really need to take the time and make a budget. THEN STICK TO IT.

(The credit cards have been locked up, by the way).

I have everything I need. My problem is that there is so much I WANT!

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Blabber

/ friends, money, recap

Journal time! YAY!

So, I had a fantastic weekend, yes I did. Friday, Craig, Chris, David, Aidan and I went to Japanese Steakhouse for lunch. That was good stuff. Once all the food is done, and drenched in ginger sauce, wow. That must be what food is like in Heaven.

Friday night–oh snap, what did I do Friday night? That’s right. I slept. Glorious, glorious sleep. Aidan and I went to bed at 6pm. It was awesome and desperately needed.

Saturday, we went up to Medina reconveyne with some of my old roommates from Harrison House! It was so much fun. Lee is still as crazy as ever. His personality is just great. He’s an awesome storyteller, too. At one point, he was telling us about how he got caught in a tornado while coming from Ann Arbor. He said he was driving along (they’d told him to get out because they saw the storm coming–they wanted him home and safe), and then he checked the sky. It was three colors. Sunny in front of him, grey on top of him, and GREEN behind him. And then he said the quote of the night: “When the entire sky is green, that’s a problem.” How fantastic is that? Well, anyway, for those of you who are curious, he ended up stopping the car and getting into a large overpass and hanging on. He was the first car to stop, then tons of others did too. The amount of hail was amazing, I guess. I don’t know what I would have done in that situation. Tornadoes terrify the living daylights out of me. It’s incredible that he knew what to do.

Anyway, they wanted us to sleep over, but I’m a dork and I forgot. So, I didn’t pack anything. No diapers, no contact solution, no medicine. So, we’ll have to go again. I took pictures, they’ll be posted in my photo album soon. Hopefully tonight.

Sunday was church day. There was no Sunday school which was great because I was tired! So, we went to church and then to Chipotle afterwards for lunch. That was fun, most definitely. At home, I tried to get Aidan to take a nap, but he wasn’t having any of that, so I finally gave up. Chris was doing yard work. Then we farted around on the computers (actually, only Chris farted), then headed over to Chad and Christy’s for dinner. They ordered pizza, and it was yummmmy.

Not too much happened over the weekend, but I had fun nevertheless. Again, just spending time with my friends. Seeing those I love at church. It’s awesome. 🙂

So anyway, yesterday, I was coming home from Walmart. By now, I was ready to be home. Heh. So was Aidan. But when we got to the tracks, a train was going by. Okay, whatever. I can deal. So, the train is going along, going along. And then it stops. Then it starts going BACKWARDS. By now I’m muttering “What in the bloody hell…” They let the gates up and people were allowed to cross. I’m guessing the train messed up or something. Let me tell you, it’s a bit unnerving to cross tracks and the train is RIGHT THERE. Never mind that the thing was stopped!

Last night, Craig came over. They helped maneuver the heavy TV around so I could hook up the electronics properly. It really is a sad day when you’ve lived somewhere for more than a year and you want to watch an MMC tape and remember that the VCR is not hooked up. But now, the VCR, DVD Player, Super NES, and the Playstation2 are all hooked up and ready to play. Yippee skippy. AND it looks nice there, not all cluttered. Not sure what was going on with all the extra cables and cords in the back, but it was not cute at all.

I can’t wait to show Aidan the Super NES! 🙂 He’ll have fun playing, I think!

*SIGH* So, I’m really truly going to crack down on the credit card use. I need to do something. And I will. Two of them are almost paid off, and I will have reached my goal of paying off a credit card by summer. Only it will be TWO that I’ve paid off. Yippee skippy! But then I have to work on the big ones. I know I can do it if I would just IGNORE THE BLOODY SALES!

So, I’m downloading budgeting material. And I’m going to have an allowance. Meep. An allowance of no more than $50 a month for fun stuff. More than likely that allowance will be lower. But I have to focus on paying off the cards, but most importantly, NOT RUNNING THEM UP AGAIN. So people, pray for me, think of me, keep me in line, okay? I need help. It’s been proven that I don’t have the discipline to do this on my own. *Sigh* BooHoo.

I just wish I was normal.

So, the friendship thing. Craig and I are emailing about that right now. I was telling him how there are some people who you can spend hours with, and then when it’s time for them to go, you still don’t want them to go. That doesn’t happen often and with a lot of people. So, I think it’s very precious and rare when it does. That’s how Jen*Jen and I discovered we were best friends I think. Well, it was one of the factors. 😉 She had come to stay with us for a while and when the weekend was over, she needed to leave and I WAS NOT READY FOR HER TO GO HOME! I feel that way about Craig, about Kelly P and Tyler, Kim and Tina also. Like, I really don’t want them to leave when it’s time to go. I also don’t ever want to stop hanging around Joshua or Abe or Monica or Katie or Mr. Matt. I just love all of my friends so much.

Yes, I am a dork. 🙂

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Ramble-Bamble

/ money, shopping

This will probably be a ramble-bamle entry. Sit back and prepare yourselves! 🙂

First, I want to point out my one horoscope:

Pinching every penny? Polishing every dime? Put ’em all down — you have better things to do with your time, frankly. The almighty dollar has nothing on you and your charming smile.

Heehee. If only it were really true… 😉 As it happens, Chris is freaking out about money and for once, I am calm. I gave myself a $50 shopping limit today and only went $2 over (and that’s just taxes and stuff). I got 4 pairs of CUTE panties (they all have silver charms on them!), a pink striped polo, a purse, and 2 necklaces. I think I did pretty well. I’ll be posting pics at Shopaholix soon.

But anyway, back to money. We are dealing with some tightness, but it’s nothing that doesn’t happen every summer. We have our seasons. Seasons of when I’m doing great, and seasons of when it’s REALLY choking. I feel that as long as I’ve paid all my bills and have enough for gas and food, with a little something-something put aside in the savings, why not treat myself to some things here and there? Okay. All the time. :O I think we’ll be okay.

I have to go shopping tomorrow for a few things. I’d thought about going to Target, but I think Wal-mart would be a better choice. Just in terms of location and in price. I need the following things:

[ ] Diapers
[ ] Girly stuff *ahem*
[ ] CG smoothers face powder
[ ] Max Factor Lipfinity lipstick #84 (Intense)
[ ] Extra sugar free gum

I’d LIKE to buy the following for Aidan, but they will have to wait til next time:

[ ] Booster seat
[ ] Toy computer
[ ] Potty (!!!)

So moving on. Adventures in driving. I’d like to know a few things. Like–did anyone else know that when you go through a yellowish-reddish light that you’re supposed to hit the ceiling of your car? And what does it mean when two cars drive close together on the freeway with their hazards blinking? Are they caravaning? See, this here new driver still has lots to learn.

My friend Dave sent me this link: http://www.smalltime.com/dictator.html. It’s GREAT! I tried to pick a tricky one, and it STILL got it. So GO PLAY. 🙂 It’s fun. I did trick it on two tries, though, so that was pretty cool.

At Easton, there is this place that sells Belgian waffles called Belgian Iron Works. Today, they had samples. Aidan and I shared one, and we both liked it. I shopped a little bit, then ended up back at the place. We shared another sample, then I decided to get a couple. Chocolate chip and cherry vanilla. WOW. I mean… WOW. I’m addicted. They are sooooo good. Can’t wait to go back and get more. MmMmmmm. Belgian Waffles. Yummmm. :þ They cook them right in front of you, and they use dough instead of batter. Again. WOW.

I went to see my friend Vicki today. She’s very sad because her sister moved to South Dakota to study paleontology in grad school. So I went to be a support and to help her with that adorable little son of hers. Aidan and Abby–my goodness. Children. :þ

See, it’s happening again. All the stuff I think of to write while driving, I forget as soon as I get to the computer. Annoying!

So, I guess I’m gonna run now. I want to get to bed before midnight tonight. Gosh, I just wish there was more time. More time to sleep, more time to hang out with my friends, more time to write, more time to fart around on the PC. Well, I am taking another 1/2 day tomorrow (YAY) and my Friday evening is WIDE OPEN!! So, we’ll see what happens. 🙂

Good night!

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Protected: $$$ Woes

/ money

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God & Me

/ money, ronni, spirituality

I often wonder what God sees in me. Or why He bothers with me. For example. I just spent the last oh, say… 3 months shopping like there is no tomorrow. Racking up the debt quicker than I could say “charge it.” (I never actually did say such a thing, mind you.) This is not the first time I have done this. It’s obvious that I am foolish with money. Just downright stupid.

So, why did He allow me, once again, to have a consolidation loan? To bunch all these bloody bills into one lump payment, and get rid of the cards quicker than if I’d tried to pay my pathetic minimum payment(s) each month?

I DESERVE to have to struggle. I deserve to eat those diarrhea-inducing Ramen Noodles every day. I deserve not to have new clothes/books/CDs/etc. Because I spent frivolously, foolishly, and unabashedly. I had my reward before the payment. Now it’s time to give back, right?

So, now what? Well, the plan is this. To put the credit cards on LOCK DOWN. That’s right, folks. LOCK DOWN, okayyyy? And Chris and I will work to pay off this loan. (Not all the debt is mine, I am happy to say. Thanks to the accident and other things, he has his fair share in there as well). Perhaps I need some financial advising. Oh, who am I kidding? “Perhaps” needs to eliminated from that sentence entirely. Gosh. This is a bit embarrassing. But here goes:

I NEED FINANCIAL COUNSELING!

There, I said it. Whew. Do I feel relieved? Hmm. Not really. But admitting the problem is the first step, right?

Hi. My name is Ronni. And I’m a bit of a shopaholic. I use shopping, and the acquiring of new goods, to medicate pain/loneliness/sadness/stress, etc. I personally agree 100% with the term retail therapy. I need help.

Everyone: Hi, Ronni! =D (kool-aid smiles, Prada bags, Jimmy Choos, and Miu Miu skirts peek at me from every corner, threatening to do me in even before I begin).

Maybe… just maybe, I can finally learn to be more responsible with my money. Even more importantly, I must FOLLOW THROUGH with what I’ve learned. Stay responsible. Build up my savings. Live faithfully in spite of the American Way of materialism and consumerism. I can do it.

Dang it.

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