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Thursday, December 30, 2010

Pleasant Surprise!

Well, I paid the cable/Internet this morning. It was $56.93 for both instead of $79.51 because I ended up with a credit when I downgraded my Internet speed. I redid the budget after the adjustment and found that the bills alone are below $400 this month. That doesn't include supplements and other items but it's a good start! I can work from that!

I hit the request payment button at $55.85, less than I'd have liked but more than I thought I'd have. I can pay both phone bills with that in the event I can't hit cash out again before the 15th. I've managed to earn $12 toward the next payout so far. That's not bad for a little bit of work.

I have just over $31 at Sidetick. I'm still holding out to request payment at $200. I may settle for $50 so I can reopen my savings account without causing problems in the budget. I have $10 worth of gift cards to use at Amazon.com. I think I'll go check to see if there is anything we need for under $10. I've got books on my Kindle application and a lot of paper backs that I haven't read yet so I'm going to focus on finishing what I have before I read any more books.

I plan to review each and every one of them in an effort to earn something from the readings. I also bought a new stain remover today that I can review. Well, that's about it so I'll be going for now. I'll update the other two blogs here later.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Earnings for last of December

OK I figured up my earnings for the rest of the month. I have $55.08 plus a little bit more ad revenue coming from Helium's second payday. That'll cover both phone bills with $11.48 left after they are paid. My balance at Sidetick is $30.56, I could request the $25 payout which is the lowest and have it the first few weeks of January.

I"m trying to wait until I have $200 to request payout at Sidetick; it's the largest amount you can request at once. That means I have to earn another $170.44 to get a balance of $200. That's the money for my tires, or at least most of it by the time I can get them bought. I have to get two oil changes after the first of the year so it's time to start looking around for specials. I still have to have the antifreeze put in my radiator.

My auto insurance bill came in today due the 3rd. It can be there by the 16th and be fine, they'll just send a cancellation notice. I know how much my light bill is thanks to budget billing but I don't know when it's due thanks to the holiday.

There are only four days left of my vacation. I've worked a few of them but mostly I took time off just because I never do.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Not looking Good

Well, I just called to cancel my pest control service because I can't afford $33 a month anymore. My other half is off taking out a title loan. Not the best idea but we don't have a choice, it's the only way we can get a loan and I don't want to overdraw my bank account. I need antifreeze for my truck and some in his car. My truck overheated this morning because apparently the thermostat was frozen shut. Theresa and I were on the way to a testing appointment for her which we're still trying to reschedule. Nice huh?

As soon as the Doctor's office calls me back I'm calling and reducing the cable and Internet since it's a bundle. That way I keep my ability to work and some television channels since we need an outdoor antenna that the hook up seems to have disappeared to in order to watch television without cable. Gotta love the new digital signals, they cost more than they're worth. I'm thinking downgrade the Internet to a slower speed and put the cable to expanded basic, limited basic is too basic to pay for just local channels. We'll see as soon as I find the rate sheet.

OK I'm going now.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Only one thing eliminated so far

OK so I've been going over the budget and have found one item that we can eliminate so far. We can get rid of the pest control and buy the store solutions to prevent pests. That puts a whole $33 back into my budget. Not much but it'll do. At least as a start. That $33 will buy approximately 3 packs of pull-ups a month until I can get Theresa potty trained.

A 55 cent bar of soap to wash dishes with saves approximately 45 cents before taxes are added. It's not much but it'll help. So far we have $33.45 less spent a month. I'm not making much progress here. Actually we're up to $22.45 when you figure that we've been running short on pull-ups and using cloth at home lately to keep from running out and Theresa isn't any closer to being potty trained than she was a year ago.

I have to find a prepaid option for my Internet so I can continue working and it can move with me. I have to cut off the cable completely and go back to the digital signal. That is provided I can find the wire to my outside antenna and then a small indoor antenna to watch television with so that we don't do without television all together. We have a VCR and a DVD player that doesn't have a remote so some disks don't play right but I can watch DVD's on my computer if I absolutely have to.

OK this has gone completely off topic so I'll be back later.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

figuring out the new year

OK it’s Christmas Eve and I’m writing a blog post. That’s fine the baby has opened our gifts and played until she voluntarily took a nap. I’ve been going over the budget for the New Year the last few years and just filled out a report for SSI. I have come to the conclusion that I have to reduce expenses and increase my income at the same time.

I’m also working on the list for next Christmas so there isn’t the panic and I don’t give into going over budget. I’ve figured up next month’s bills based on the amounts this month. (Does not include household items or supplements as of yet.)

Light Bill (budget billing) $200
ABA (4/5 wk month) $12/$15 (co-pay for financial aid $3 week without financial aid $55 an hour)
Auto Insurance (based on last bill) $42.14
Cable Bill (Internet included – special) $79.51 (will go up in February, reduce ASAP)
Pest control $33 (cheaper and easier than buying constantly to ensure nothing outside is inside.
Stone Creek (debt) $20 (fixed amount, can be paid off eventually or at 70% of total)
Phones $21.80 each for two = $43.60

Those all total = $433.25 (That does not include $55 a week child support that is currently a bit behind because of increasing gas and grocery prices. I’ll have to figure the supplements later because she’s out of one of her prescriptions and I have to buy the supplements that she’s running out of when we go back to therapy. There is still that bottle of fish oil that I haven’t ordered yet.

Next Christmas is based on this Christmas, at least for Theresa since she’s going to need therapy tools again next year. There are a few things that she did not get today that I have to buy her through the year but they’ll be on the list for next year anyway.

Finger paints, paper, coloring books (can print out the pages), play dough. (We can make that as a craft day.)

8 pack play dough $1 for small cans of generic at Dollar Tree.
Puzzles (age appropriate and younger) donate to the local Autism clinic when done
Dry erase markers, chalk, erasers
What else? I’ll be going through her toys just like I went through her clothes and am going through ours to get rid of what she’s not using or just doesn’t want to use anymore. Weird to be making the therapy list now; strange thing is that I have a feeling I’m still gonna need organization and storage containers when I’m done.

The grocery budget just went down to $229 a month for the three of us. It’s a good thing that I took Theresa off the diet or we’d be way over budget for food. She doesn’t eat a lot unless she feels like it. Oh well, I’m tired so I’ll be going now I have two other blogs to update and I haven’t gotten all the details of the budget worked out I just know that it’ll take $50 to reopen a savings account and I have to get two oil changes after the first of the year. I also have to get new tires on my truck mid year. Hoping the tax return will help a little bit with that.


Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Not going so well

OK the new work system won't work for me and the amount of money that I need isn't the amount that I'm going to be making. At least it's not looking like it is at this point and time. I have no idea what to do since this stress is making me sick. That's just what I need a trip to the doctor at $100 upfront because I don't have insurance at the moment. Funny thing is that if I could afford the insurance I wouldn't need it because that'd mean that I could afford the visit to the doctor's office. DUH!


OK let's see, Theresa has been out of fish oil for a couple of months because I keep forgetting to order it. I have a half of a tank of gas to get her to two appointments and the holiday visits until the next payday. Not looking good. The only bright spot is that the cable and Internet special aren't up yet so I don't have to disappoint the kid just yet by getting rid of the shows that teach her on demand. 


I figure that if I work seven days a week every available hour for a few months I should have it all figured out. OK the kid is destroying her packaging for one of her gifts which means that she won't have anything to put her stuff in before long. I'm still working on getting rid of the things we don't need and putting the things we can use where they can be found. Not buying things we don't actually need should save some money. OK I've got work to do so I'll be going for now.

Sunday, December 19, 2010

One more payment coming, I think

Well, Helium's recent changes are a bit annoying except for the twice a month payday. At the end of the month I'll have at least the minimum $25 to request it maybe a tad more. That'll cover one of my phone bills next month. Now to figure out how to cover the other one and everything else.

I guess that the rest of this month is going to be spent working since we have appointments just like it was any other time of year. I also have to figure out just how much work I have to do in order to get by. This is gonna be the most depressing thing I do this year.

The good news is that my kids have some form of Christmas. I guess in a couple years I can introduce them to homemade gifts. OK I'm exhausted so I'll be going. The worst news is that the grocery budget for the upcoming year is up in the air.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Broke and Irritable

I'm broke and irritable because I'm exhausted. Now I'm working with $46 but less to buy. I"m confused as could be right now. So there isn't much update going on. I'm going to bed now at 9p.m. Saturday I'll drop Theresa off at the clinic four hours and figure out what in the world I'm buying. OK I'm going away now.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

$61.41

That's the amount that I'll have left after the 2nd phone bill is paid. It's not due until Christmas Eve but I have to keep that money aside for it. Today is supposed to be payday and it better be. I'll be ill if it's not.

I've still got $193.99 left to buy food. That's a good thing. I need coffee, sugar, some more meat. I'll probably do a pick 5 for $19.99 since the portions are larger. That's five dinners, so maybe I'll buy 2 of them. I think we need peanut butter so that Theresa can have snacks.

I've got half a tank of gas to last the next four days and two days next week. We have a Christmas party and one day of therapy. That's all it has to last for other than a possible trip to my mother's house to see my oldest daughter.

Well, that's all for now. Work not going so well and as my income decreases I become increasingly irritable. I'll be back later.

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Changing approaches and learning something new

I give up. I'm changing my approach to work and learning something new. I'm trying my hand at writing news articles and learning to use third person which is rather difficult for me since I prefer to feel as if I am talking to someone instead of at them.

If I figured it right I currently have $21 for Christmas for three kids and a birthday present for one. I get an unexpected payday this month which will give me $30, I need to keep approximately $15 of that for gas just in case. I have no idea what to get any of them I just know whatever it is won't be expensive.

I decided to use Swagbucks for all my searches. I'm using the SB's to get $5 gift cards for Amazon.com. The goal is to save them up until October possibly November of 2011 and use them to help covers the kids gifts.

The bills are increasing next month so my work schedule is going to be even more hectic. Sadly enough I'm thinking of cutting back therapy to make up for the income decreases since gas prices are on the rise. Well, I'm not getting any work done rambling here so I'm going now.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Groceries

OK I went to the Dollar General and spent just under $38 on some food, baby wipes and trash bags. Not too bad until you realize that I got very little because of rising costs.

20ounce coke - $1.35
1/2 gallon milk - $2.95
chunk chicken - $1
2 cans of treat at $1.15 each
2 canned ham at $2.95 each

well you get the idea, when the budget is as tight as mine is lately you need to make money stretch a bit and this isn't making me confident that we'll have enough to get by until the next payday.

I got three bars of Colgate Octagon soap at 55 cents each at a different store.  I got one bar to do dishes and clean the walls with when the Zote runs out eliminating a trip to another store. The other two are for my laundry soap since I wanted to increase the soap content in it after this last batch.

That's about it so I'll be getting to work and house cleaning now.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Almost all the bills are paid!

Well, almost all of the bills in my name anyway! I have to payout $20, $21.80 and $21.80 the rest of this month. I've still got to buy the fish oil however. I keep forgetting. The rest of my bills total $ $63.60! That'll leave a little bit of money to get the girls Christmas and Theresa's birthday present. I'm thinking we'll skip the party again this year. It's a hassle and we have therapy the 23rd so I won't have all the time off that I thought I would. Oh well, I can still get plenty of housework and work work done during the time we do have off.

Tomorrow we go to the grocery store. I got paid a day early and we need food. Not to be rude but if I got rid of the overgrown toddler I'd spend 1/4 of what I spend now and have enough groceries to last the month in one trip. I've got to pick up a couple bars of Octagon to have on hand for when I need to make more laundry soap, I think I'll get a bar of Zote to mix with it. That's only $3 less if I go to two different stores to get the soap. 

I think that I'll go get a pick 6 meat for $19.99 and a few vegetables. I'll get the baby some milk, snacks and a bit of frozen juice maybe. She likes kool-aid. I got her pull-ups and some more wipes today so I don't have to buy them tomorrow. I do have to pack her bag with the juice and chocolate gold fish so I don't spend money on snacks while we're out. I think I'll buy myself another bottle to take with us when we're out. I need a water bottle for the fridge so that I can stop running water into a glass every time I want some.

The splurge I want is a new flavor cartridge for the filter. I need a new water filter for the sink so I can actually drink the water that comes out of it. I don't like water and my flavor cartridge keeps me from buying flavored bottles. OK I'm tired so I'll be going for today.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Not much accomplished today

I'm writing an article about water that I can't seem to get past the first paragraph on. I have another article to write but I can't seem to get started.

Theresa was sick today, that interruption I don't mind a bit to take care of her. The grown man acting like a two year old I do mind. What part of someone has to pay the damn bills is not understandable at 40 plus years of age. This is the same idiot that wonders why I can't stand to be around him.

Well, I have income proofs to find. Idiot was too stupid to say the word arrears so now I have to find everything and call the county to have it mailed to the office in question. OK this is gonna be a rant if I don't stop now so I'm gonna stop.

Monday, December 6, 2010

Wonder if I could blog for living

Well, some people blog for a living. I haven't written anything else lately so what could it hurt to spend a few days creating a website. Then spend a few hours a day writing postings. I'd have to create pages and pages of each subject. That's not right, I'd have to have specific pages devoted to specific things.

I have started to look for projects to bid on half a dozen times since Friday. Each attempt has resulted in reading one or two postings and stopping the search. Why? I have no idea what so ever. I need to be working right now, actually I need to be working double time to make up for taking so much time off over the summer and not doing much last month. The end of the year is always tight with the extra costs but this year it seems even tighter.

I was going to do reviews this week to see if I couldn't manage enough of them for an emergency payout. Well, I don't feel like so I'm trying to stretch what I have until payday. Then I'm trying to stretch that out indefinitely it would seem. Oh well, it's been far worse. I survived it then I'll survive it now.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Figuring it all out and I think I may just be OK!

OK so I won't be writing for a certain site that shall remain nameless anytime in the near future after this bunch of B.S. but I will continue to collect my hard earned revenue share. At the moment that would a bit over $9 since I requested payment on the 2nd. Now the payment schedule is going to include the possibility of getting what I've already requested on the 10th in addition to a second payment the 15th. That is if I can managed to get the $25 required by then. Another payment possibility comes at the end of the month. In theory that is fine and good. I shall see just how well my ad revenue does and if those twice a month payments can help at all. What I will not do is give exclusive rights to quality work for pennies. I can find a few minutes a week to rate enough to ensure I have the one measly star to continue passive income.

Associated Content does in fact pay less in ad share but I have received more in upfront payment on a single article. I'm working on an opinionish piece of sorts for them now. Display only but that is my choice. At the moment I have a whole $2.98 there. It's not much but it is a tank of gas for the car. Maybe I should post a few to Bukisa since they only need be approximately 250 words to post. Then there is wikinut that I have made my home for daily ramblings when I can turn what would otherwise be a blog post in an article of sorts.

Sidetick- the 7th of November I requested a payment of $25 which I got the $15th of November. Today is the 5th of December and I've managed to earn $19.19 since that time. I only need another $5.81 to request another $25 which will cover one of the cell phones with $3.20 left over. At the rate of 50 cents a day for doing the basic requirement that takes all of a couple minutes that'll take me twelve days to finish earning the minimum. $15 a month is the guarantee and I believe I can do better than that. I spend a couple moments each morning writing a short blog post that earns me a single tickbuck each time it is viewed. I also take the time every few weeks or so to upload a few odd photos to the site. I also earn by viewing new pages which takes just a few minutes and is what I'd be doing on other social networking sites for free.

I redid the budget today and I figured everything to be $475 a month. That figure did not include my husband of the moments child support or household items. I focus on one thing at a time. From the only reliable income source I have at the moment that would leave $131.60. Now comes the time to add up the rest of the monthly expenses. Those would include the little ones supplements each month.

The good news is that the bottle of vitamin D drops that I paid over $20 back in March and last nine months I can get for $5 a bottle! That's less than $1 a month for that tiny bottle. She gets 3 drops a day which isn't much but the initial cost can be horrible when you're budget is tight. Her magnesium citrate is $6 and last a few months. I have to buy complete powder ($35), fish oil ($63 for 8oz), and zinc ($4) on pretty much a regular monthly basis. That means there is an additional $102 that I have to have in my budget to pay for those. The rest of her supplements only come out every few months so I'll leave those out for now.

The monthly bills and those three supplements total $577.00. $606.60 - $577.00 = $29.60. That

While the figure may look nice to be leftover in a time when more and more people don't have anything left it is merely an illusion. There is still gasoline to get her to appointments and household needs to meet. Therefore I will be focusing on promotions, sites that pay quickly and picking up the occasional private client for a fast payment to make the ends meet. I want to become self sufficient and fall off the grid. I do not care to freeze, have a heat stroke or starve as I work my way toward that goal.  On the bright side I have found free books for my kindle app such as the one to the left of this post. 

Friday, December 3, 2010

Is My Income about to Disappear?

OK so there are some changes to the payment structure at a site that I used to work very hard on to make up what I needed for the month. I was looking through my earnings page and the highest I made in upfront payments was during the month September of 2009. I made $565 in upfront payments that month. That was enough to cover my expenses at the time.

Since then my income in upfront payment from the site has steadily declined as there have been a lack of titles that I felt I could write to or didn't have time to write to. The year since then has been spent working for private clients. I did it before that payment and I've been doing it since. Well until a few months ago when in a moment of I'm not sure what I stopped doing that.

Those private clients were the majority of my income despite the fact that I write for at least four writing sites at any one given time. I know have to focus more time to promote, and find new clients since I took so much time off. To top it off the bank account that's overdrawn will be closed the 29th if not paid in full before then. Then it goes to collections. Once again another blow to my credit that I had nothing to do with. Off to figure out what the hell to do.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Money Left??

OK I managed to take a look at the budget today. I figured the bills and only the bills to be $472; I didn't include hubbies child support because that would be his expense alone. The only one that he actually has since nothing is in his name except the court order that was put into the divorce for child support. That figure was below my reliable monthly income but there is another problem.

The figure I got didn't include putting gasoline in the car, cutting the grass or buying supplements. It didn't include household necessities either. That's not the only problem with the budget but it is a big problem. I'd love to reopen my savings account that was depleted over the summer months.

I wrote out the bills I had in front of me and paid one online. I paid the Internet bill online at no extra charge. I wrote a check for my auto insurance and light bill. My auto insurance was $42.14 this month, last month it was $57.23. If I'd been able to pay it off for the full six months it'd have been at least $100 less than I'll end up paying by paying it each month but I just couldn't come up with the full $250 I think it was this time.

OK I'm going back to figure out if I will ever have money left again.