Ok - So last time I posted I apologized for taking so long to post again and I can only do that again. Our situation is still not any better (in fact it is getting worse) but we aren't giving up yet. I've decided to ask for help today. I've added a donate button to my blog so that I can accept donations to help feed our cats and the stray that doesn't leave our porch. My fiance and I are only eating one time a day but they can't deal with that and since Joshua got sick last year, we need to make sure he is taken care of. I've never been one to ask for help but you have to do what you have to do. I donate to United Way every year but when I called them to ask for help they didn't have the resources to help.
I'll try to do a better job at posting!
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Monday, February 1, 2010
Monday, August 31, 2009
Enough is Enough!
OK! So I've had enough of watching all of these people say they make hundreds, even thousands of dollars, working from home while the rest of us toil away for nothing. Do I believe these people? No, of course not, but is it possible? Of course - anything is possible! What the heck! I've selected a couple of sites that didn't require money upfront and started my research on affiliate marketing.
The big key to any successful venture (after cash), is a plan. My plan? Don't know - I just know I want to make money now! That should be enough to drive my success (right)?
Seriously, I started thinking about the number of times I had to look for a payday loan just to get tossed from one website to the next to the next and how frustrating that was. I did keep filling out the forms, though, all the while thinking the next one would be the last one. Why not get in on that action? I've been on the receiving end and did eventually get my loan but had to go through about 20 hoops to get it. Now I have my own link to payday loan sites and get paid each time someone fills out an application (even if they aren't approved). Sounds like a scam, right? Probably is - I've had 180 visitors to my site since last week and still haven't made enough to be paid but I only paid $29.95 for the web hosting after my 7-day trial and if I already had a website, I wouldn't have had to pay that. You could probably have your local provider host your site and have that cost included in your monthly internet bill but I don't trust our provider.
Am I making money while I sleep? No. Am I making money while I'm awake? Depends - if I get a good ad on Craigslist I will see a flow of traffic later that day. It is difficult to post though, without people calling it spam. Frustrating! So far, it has been 6 days and I've earned $147.00. Not bad considering I haven't spent money on advertising yet.
Anyway, I will keep you posted if this pays off. I am not going to struggle through another year of being broke. If I have to get another 2nd job, I will but I am going to pull myself out of this!
The big key to any successful venture (after cash), is a plan. My plan? Don't know - I just know I want to make money now! That should be enough to drive my success (right)?
Seriously, I started thinking about the number of times I had to look for a payday loan just to get tossed from one website to the next to the next and how frustrating that was. I did keep filling out the forms, though, all the while thinking the next one would be the last one. Why not get in on that action? I've been on the receiving end and did eventually get my loan but had to go through about 20 hoops to get it. Now I have my own link to payday loan sites and get paid each time someone fills out an application (even if they aren't approved). Sounds like a scam, right? Probably is - I've had 180 visitors to my site since last week and still haven't made enough to be paid but I only paid $29.95 for the web hosting after my 7-day trial and if I already had a website, I wouldn't have had to pay that. You could probably have your local provider host your site and have that cost included in your monthly internet bill but I don't trust our provider.
Am I making money while I sleep? No. Am I making money while I'm awake? Depends - if I get a good ad on Craigslist I will see a flow of traffic later that day. It is difficult to post though, without people calling it spam. Frustrating! So far, it has been 6 days and I've earned $147.00. Not bad considering I haven't spent money on advertising yet.
Anyway, I will keep you posted if this pays off. I am not going to struggle through another year of being broke. If I have to get another 2nd job, I will but I am going to pull myself out of this!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Everything is Due....Now What?
OK - Well it is Tuesday, June 17 and everything is due. The light bill ($220 with late fee) and the mortgage ($730 with late fee) are due for sure - everything else I can push off another week. My big plans for selling everything over the weekend didn't pan out since I didn't have enough in my account to run the classified ads and we had enough rain on Saturday to soak our plans for a yard sale. Now I am looking at E-bay and Craig's List as a last resort. We have some parts from our Firebird that we can sell and my fiance is willing to part with his stereo and some 10" Sony speakers. The yard sale can be back on at any time this week - I just need to show my fiance how to run it so that he doesn't let everything go for a quarter.
I've always kept in touch with my bank that holds my mortgage so I e-mailed my collection department contact last week and told her what was going on. She said to let her know as soon as I can make the payment but that I couldn't go past 30 days or they would start foreclosure. You see, the same friendly neighborhood bank that I mentioned in my initial post holds the note on my mortgage and I am convinced they love to make what is mine (OK so the house won't be mine technically for another 28 years) theirs. All of the late fees, check fees, etc they have collected from me over the past year could have been used to pay down my mortage enough to drop the PMI.
Don't even get me started on PMI. Where in the hell do they come up with these things? Insurance for the bank so they don't lose their shirts when you can't afford your mortgage. On the flip side, PMI makes my loan $200 a month more expensive than someone with great credit so they are almost charging me $200 a month to insure that I do lose the house. I should have fought when they came at me and said I would have PMI and it would be that high the morning of closing but we were already moved out of the rental we had been in for 10 years and we had no where to go. Everyone has called it a case of predatory lending but who cares? I signed the papers and here we are. I thought because it was a fixed rate and a reputable bank, there was no way they could do that to me but how niave we are at our first dance, right?
I have been reading some very inspiring posts lately from others in similar situations and really liked the post from "Reggie - Another kid with good credit" who is working through his debt by listing his goals and then checking them off as he accomplishes them. I know that works - I see it in my business dealings every day. Setting budgets, goals, etc are great if you are a person that can stick to them (which I am). My trouble is my fiance. He doesn't plan, he doesn't worry (until it's too late), and he doesn't budget. When I left for work this morning I tried to tell him that today at noon the lights would be shut off (along with his beloved cable) and he wasn't even phased. On the other hand, I didn't sleep last night out of worry. Instead he tells me that "everything is going to be fine - it always is". It must be great to be so stress free!
OK - so if I call the local municipal utility they may let us slide another week and I may have a few more days on the mortgage but I know how quickly those days will go by and if I don't do something soon there will be no more extensions. I started to look through loan information for people with bad credit on line yesterday and I quickly decided that I didn't want to do that to myself. First, I don't want to dig myself in further by borrowing to pay bills. Second, they all seem to want one thing - access to your checking account. That's just what I need - more people taking money out of my account! I think I'll stick with selling things and plain old overtime.
Sorry this post is so long - I had to take a break this weekend due to a nasty sunburn I got while we were working in our new veggie garden. This is the first year we've gardened together - it's been really fun but it is soooo much work. Now, if we could just grow hamburger, eggs, and milk we would be set. I could keep the cows in the backyard but they would probably eat the garden and then there is the chicken! It probably wouldn't live long enough to lay its first egg with "our children" in the house! Maybe I should just plant soybeans - you can make everything out of them these days!
I've always kept in touch with my bank that holds my mortgage so I e-mailed my collection department contact last week and told her what was going on. She said to let her know as soon as I can make the payment but that I couldn't go past 30 days or they would start foreclosure. You see, the same friendly neighborhood bank that I mentioned in my initial post holds the note on my mortgage and I am convinced they love to make what is mine (OK so the house won't be mine technically for another 28 years) theirs. All of the late fees, check fees, etc they have collected from me over the past year could have been used to pay down my mortage enough to drop the PMI.
Don't even get me started on PMI. Where in the hell do they come up with these things? Insurance for the bank so they don't lose their shirts when you can't afford your mortgage. On the flip side, PMI makes my loan $200 a month more expensive than someone with great credit so they are almost charging me $200 a month to insure that I do lose the house. I should have fought when they came at me and said I would have PMI and it would be that high the morning of closing but we were already moved out of the rental we had been in for 10 years and we had no where to go. Everyone has called it a case of predatory lending but who cares? I signed the papers and here we are. I thought because it was a fixed rate and a reputable bank, there was no way they could do that to me but how niave we are at our first dance, right?
I have been reading some very inspiring posts lately from others in similar situations and really liked the post from "Reggie - Another kid with good credit" who is working through his debt by listing his goals and then checking them off as he accomplishes them. I know that works - I see it in my business dealings every day. Setting budgets, goals, etc are great if you are a person that can stick to them (which I am). My trouble is my fiance. He doesn't plan, he doesn't worry (until it's too late), and he doesn't budget. When I left for work this morning I tried to tell him that today at noon the lights would be shut off (along with his beloved cable) and he wasn't even phased. On the other hand, I didn't sleep last night out of worry. Instead he tells me that "everything is going to be fine - it always is". It must be great to be so stress free!
OK - so if I call the local municipal utility they may let us slide another week and I may have a few more days on the mortgage but I know how quickly those days will go by and if I don't do something soon there will be no more extensions. I started to look through loan information for people with bad credit on line yesterday and I quickly decided that I didn't want to do that to myself. First, I don't want to dig myself in further by borrowing to pay bills. Second, they all seem to want one thing - access to your checking account. That's just what I need - more people taking money out of my account! I think I'll stick with selling things and plain old overtime.
Sorry this post is so long - I had to take a break this weekend due to a nasty sunburn I got while we were working in our new veggie garden. This is the first year we've gardened together - it's been really fun but it is soooo much work. Now, if we could just grow hamburger, eggs, and milk we would be set. I could keep the cows in the backyard but they would probably eat the garden and then there is the chicken! It probably wouldn't live long enough to lay its first egg with "our children" in the house! Maybe I should just plant soybeans - you can make everything out of them these days!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Is your Stomach in Knots?
Hello!
I'm just starting my new blog. I'm new to this process so please be patient as I catch up with the 21st century!
Let me give you the basic backstory to my decision to start this blog. I'm frustrated, sick, tired, and out of options when it comes to dealing with my debt situation and I need a sounding board. I've been lied to, taken advantage of (plain out screwed over), and spent many nights crying and fighting with my fiance over money even though we said we would never fight about money.
First of all, I am not unemployed. I am employed for a countertop manufacturer in a small town that is a major supplier to our nations' top home centers. I am in charge of pricing, costing, reporting, commissions, and database administration. I was a project lead when implementing our new ERP system and it was in German so I have worked in international business.
Now you may be thinking that I make $80,000, $100,000 or even $120,000 per year to do all of this. Well, at one point I was making $40,000. I thought for my age and education level that was a fortune. Then the housing bubble burst. All of a sudden I found myself making $26,000 or facing being laid off (code for fired in our business). I had just bought a house and had bought a new (2 year old used) car the year before. How do you go from making $40,000 (plus overtime) to making $28,000 and make ends meet in a small town? You get a second job. You move. You sell everything you own. You prioritize your debts. I only had a few options for a second job since most businesses in our town close at 5:00 and other jobs in my field are rare. Move? Not an option at this point as my parents are here and my fiance was moved from town to town as a child after his father died and now loves the stability I give him by being a creature of habit. We don't own anything but what we did own we sold for a fraction of the cost we owed on it. I prioritized my debts. I got garnished.
When I took the pay cut I was told "Don't worry - we will recover and this will bounce back". That was over a year and a half ago. I did the right thing. I called all of my creditors and told them what was going on and they all were willing to work with me - at first. My employer then told me I would get my wages back in 30 days, 90 days, 120 days...you get the picture. Eventually, I got frustrated and got a second job. It didn't pay enough to make up the difference - I started to get garnished by Beneficial and the picture got bleaker. My earnings at my local video store were not enough to cover my pay cut and the garnishment. Then the local video store filed bankruptcy last month and I got let go. Now I am down to my primary job that is being garnished and in Ohio they garnish 25% of every paycheck. They don't allow you one check a month to live! Once you get garnished, it seems as thought there is nothing you can do but file bankruptcy. But wait! The new bankruptcy laws make bankruptcy too expensive to file. It costs $1,000 to file and $1,000 right now may as well be $1,000,000. I live paycheck to paycheck and most of the time not even until the weekend after my paycheck is issued.
I know I am not alone. I read every day about the foreclosure and unemployment rates in our state. I see people suffering because they can't afford what they could afford yesterday and it hurts. I was an honors student, in the top 10% of my class in high school (out of 183 students) and attended Miami University after high school. I left college due to a family situation in my first semester and have forever paid the price. I understand my bad decisions and get so upset when I read other posts where people who have never had bad luck condone debt and the inability to pay.
I want to make things right but banks can only let you go so long. I understand that. I tried debt consolidation last summer - they stole $900 from me before I could blink an eye and when I tried to fight back I was told to hire an attorney. Right - an attorney - if I could hire one of those, I wouldn't be here. I got a grant from HUD to save my house last fall. Now I am facing losing the house again. I am a good person. I don't deserve this. My stomach hurts. What do you do to battle debt? I am trying to fix this and if you have been through this or are one of the many that are going through this, you should find my posts interesting.
I'm just starting my new blog. I'm new to this process so please be patient as I catch up with the 21st century!
Let me give you the basic backstory to my decision to start this blog. I'm frustrated, sick, tired, and out of options when it comes to dealing with my debt situation and I need a sounding board. I've been lied to, taken advantage of (plain out screwed over), and spent many nights crying and fighting with my fiance over money even though we said we would never fight about money.
First of all, I am not unemployed. I am employed for a countertop manufacturer in a small town that is a major supplier to our nations' top home centers. I am in charge of pricing, costing, reporting, commissions, and database administration. I was a project lead when implementing our new ERP system and it was in German so I have worked in international business.
Now you may be thinking that I make $80,000, $100,000 or even $120,000 per year to do all of this. Well, at one point I was making $40,000. I thought for my age and education level that was a fortune. Then the housing bubble burst. All of a sudden I found myself making $26,000 or facing being laid off (code for fired in our business). I had just bought a house and had bought a new (2 year old used) car the year before. How do you go from making $40,000 (plus overtime) to making $28,000 and make ends meet in a small town? You get a second job. You move. You sell everything you own. You prioritize your debts. I only had a few options for a second job since most businesses in our town close at 5:00 and other jobs in my field are rare. Move? Not an option at this point as my parents are here and my fiance was moved from town to town as a child after his father died and now loves the stability I give him by being a creature of habit. We don't own anything but what we did own we sold for a fraction of the cost we owed on it. I prioritized my debts. I got garnished.
When I took the pay cut I was told "Don't worry - we will recover and this will bounce back". That was over a year and a half ago. I did the right thing. I called all of my creditors and told them what was going on and they all were willing to work with me - at first. My employer then told me I would get my wages back in 30 days, 90 days, 120 days...you get the picture. Eventually, I got frustrated and got a second job. It didn't pay enough to make up the difference - I started to get garnished by Beneficial and the picture got bleaker. My earnings at my local video store were not enough to cover my pay cut and the garnishment. Then the local video store filed bankruptcy last month and I got let go. Now I am down to my primary job that is being garnished and in Ohio they garnish 25% of every paycheck. They don't allow you one check a month to live! Once you get garnished, it seems as thought there is nothing you can do but file bankruptcy. But wait! The new bankruptcy laws make bankruptcy too expensive to file. It costs $1,000 to file and $1,000 right now may as well be $1,000,000. I live paycheck to paycheck and most of the time not even until the weekend after my paycheck is issued.
I know I am not alone. I read every day about the foreclosure and unemployment rates in our state. I see people suffering because they can't afford what they could afford yesterday and it hurts. I was an honors student, in the top 10% of my class in high school (out of 183 students) and attended Miami University after high school. I left college due to a family situation in my first semester and have forever paid the price. I understand my bad decisions and get so upset when I read other posts where people who have never had bad luck condone debt and the inability to pay.
I want to make things right but banks can only let you go so long. I understand that. I tried debt consolidation last summer - they stole $900 from me before I could blink an eye and when I tried to fight back I was told to hire an attorney. Right - an attorney - if I could hire one of those, I wouldn't be here. I got a grant from HUD to save my house last fall. Now I am facing losing the house again. I am a good person. I don't deserve this. My stomach hurts. What do you do to battle debt? I am trying to fix this and if you have been through this or are one of the many that are going through this, you should find my posts interesting.
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