Some recent events:

• Partner forgot to lock the doors to his car and someone opened his door at  night between midnight and 7am, taking only a dollar and an old iPod Nano device he got for free. Since then I started locking the garage door which I really should’ve been doing in the first place.
• Starting to think about applying to other companies again. My bf said I should focus on how to make 60k in the next two years. That is not going to be an option at my current company. I don’t even think a base of 40 is likely.
• Got a raise. Slightly more than I expected and earning more than my last job, but still not anywhere near where I want to be. Don’t expect to get another one for the rest of the year.
• Likely not getting a bonus. We didn’t meet numbers as far as getting our customers to renew and our director basically said we’re f*cked. He hit home that a large part of that was people not taking accountability for their work. Would’ve been an extra $4-500 or so take home pay.
• Pretty sure the guy I used to work with / was DJing on the side got fired or was on the verge of it. He really wasn’t even trying.
• Sold bf’s old phone on ebay for $50. Cost me $13 to ship.

It’s 3:30AM and I’m having the worst sinus pain right now and my nose has been running what seems like nonstop for the past 24 hours. The weather in Dallas is especially cold, some nights even colder than NY. I really loathe seeing the doctor. Quickly prescribe a medication that is likely to wreak havoc on my gastrointestinal system. I may or may not call in sick for MLK Day. I have never not worked that day though perhaps I should on principle.

For the first time in a while I might have more than 2k in my bank account come next paycheck. ::Knock on wood::

So in 2011 when my partner and I moved to Dallas, I was very aggressively looking for jobs. Basically anything remotely related to the banking industry which I spent several years in. One of the companies I interviewed with was a consulting group that basically had larger banks as clients and took outsourced work. I was on the fence for some weeks. I wasn’t thrilled about the idea of working in banking again. Basically it was very repetitive, pressuring people to sign up for products they might not really need or be able to afford and one mistake stays on your record forever. I specifically wasn’t too thrilled about the idea of talking to people whose homes were foreclosed on or very close to that step.

I reached a breaking point where I was willing to do something that my heart wasn’t really in for a paycheck. The idea of $30/hr when I was making $0 and ineligible for unemployment wasn’t bad either. So I interviewed there and made a good impression with the recruiters at least in my opinion. A total of 3 interviews, then after waiting a week I didn’t hear anything from them. At the same time, the company that filed for Ch 11, laid me off after 6 weeks and bounced my paycheck made me an offer. I was told they couldn’t make me an offer at the last minute because their client pushed back their start date. 3 Months later another recruiter there approached me and I ignored the e-mail.

Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. I never want to beg an employer for a job, I want it to be a mutual fit between alignment of my skills and what the organization is looking for in a candidate.

To make a long story short, they laid off all employees in their office this week. I would be jobless again and probably unable to collect unemployment since the people who worked there are considered contractors.

I was listening to some audiobooks the other day and a part touched me personally about perseverance and giving up. A lot of people you meet completely give up on their dreams or the ability to earn more / acquire more skills throughout life. I am guilty of it myself, there are always times when I wonder if this is as good as it gets. Successful people take more risks and area always on the lookout for new opportunities.

I kind of like entertaining the idea of being a modern-day Renaissance Man. Not sure if I can pull it off, but I am constantly interested in learning new things provided I have ample alone time to let my mind wander and process.

OT, it’s raining like crazy here in Dallas. Super glad we got the roof fixed and the brickwork out back fixed because surely there would be water damage after neighbor’s foundation work and sizable gaps. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Wrote a decent blog post tonight, thought I posted it and deleted the original file. Guess the moral of the story is don’t blog when it’s time for bed. We all make mistakes.

Fail Often, Fail Fast, Fail Cheap

I will retype / repost tomorrow. 🙂

I started this blog in April 2012. This was about a month after getting hired in my current role. A lot has happened this year.

• Beginning of the year I had 3300 of credit card debt. Since September I have had 0.
• Before June 2012 I was renting a 3br/2br floor 1300sq ft apartment for 1285/mo. Today we have an 1800 ft townhouse with a lower monthly payment. My partner’s company covered the bulk of our closing costs. 3.5% down payment, under the 20% so PMI is involved but still the mortgage payment is around 1020/mo while still building equity.
• In February I got laid off from a company I worked at for a mere 6 weeks before they filed Chapter 11, bounced my semi-monthly paycheck and haven’t been paid for the time I worked since.
• Visited New York. The trip itself was fun though getting sick, laying out a couple hundred for a housing situation, missing my flight, paying for a cab and getting into a heated discussion with my bf all put a dampener on how much fun I had.
• Networking – I made some new friends at work and outside. Some of them are not exactly complimentary to me though. The ones who spend $100 on a dinner without flinching, I’m really not at the same level they are.
• Car – Been doing preventative maintenance. Got new front rotors and pads, though the rears need to be done soon. In June I got a great deal on 4 tires for 396 installed.  Need to get my CVT drained and filled soon. My car was built 5 years ago and though it’s not the most fun to drive, it has been pretty reliable other than the one hot day when a valet left it on.
• Living less paycheck to paycheck. Weeks have gone by where I literally didn’t have enough in my accounts to not have to tap into credit. Knock on wood, I am 2-3 weeks ahead and plan to increase this buffer to several months.
• Applied to over 30 jobs positions this year between losing my job in February and starting a new one in March. Went on an interview for a job that would pay near double my current salary and due to a technicality was not offered the job at the last minute.

I could have accomplished much more this year, but I’m celebrating all the baby steps along the way.

Month 9 Update

$1800 in the bank before my 2nd loan  payment to Sallie Mae. Estimating my new balance after payment but today my balance is 42361.98. Assuming the same amount goes toward principal as last month I will owe around 42057.

January 2013 Sallie Mae Update.

2013 is just around the corner. Here’s to making headway in getting these loans paid off!

I also started reading Early Retirement Extreme by Jacob Lund Fisker. It’s a good read, packed with information. I’m only on Chapter 2. I never really connected the dots before, but now it makes more sense on how people can retire early and how liberating living below your means really can be over time. I’m beginning to see how working constantly can leave little time to develop new skills to make a person more competitive in the marketplace. Basically an ongoing cycle of experienced workers being phased out by recently college graduates who have time to undergo more training.

Early Retirement Extreme

Slightly bummed out overall with the way life is going. I’ve become a bit boring, trying to spice things up a bit and not be a slave to work. Lately though it’s like I go to work, eat dinner, watch some tv show I’m only half interested in watching to begin with, veg out on my laptop and repeat. Trying to find people to meet on craigslist who don’t sound shady, but that is an ongoing process…

I am on a budget yes, but I also want to find ways to keep things exciting. I’m grateful to have a job and be able to pay my bills, but the 33k salary I earn plus overtime and the occasional 700 or so pretax bonus isn’t enough. Started looking at job postings again and it’s a bit overwhelming and discouraging. I really don’t want to start this whole process over from scratch.  However… I do see the writing on the wall. I don’t think I will get a bump up to a higher paying position in the next 12 months.  Just because of how the division and positions are structured. You basically need to put in close to two years before you’re considered senior and even then it’s like a $5000 pay raise. Most of the people who have been with the company that long have left. I suspect we will have a lot of churn some next year around the summertime in particular. I’ve had 2 managers since I started and both have gone to other areas of the company. Soon I will be reporting to my 4th manager in less than 9 months. I like all my managers but big picture I don’t see a whole lot of growth for me here without putting in 3 years minimum. Of course something unexpected might open up. It seems that’s often how it works. Can’t sit and twiddle my thumbs waiting though.

In other news, I’m making a big shift again in my health after some recent issues that have come up. Basically there are times after eating certain foods that I go into a diabetic-like shock where I will start sweating, feel lightheaded. I know being overweight and addicted to certain foods isn’t helping. I plan on doing a fasting blood test to see if there is a serious medical issue or my body is just having a reaction to excess sugar consumption. 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all the people who have been looking at my blog this year. I am happy to be able to be able to share a few hours each week sharing my journey to become debt free with each and everyone of you.

My bf and I recently saw the Trans Siberian Orchestra at the American Airlines Center in Dallas. Bought the tickets from a guy on Craigslist. It’s not the first time I’ve bought / sold something on CL, but I always have my guard up since I know there are a bunch of scammers out there. The cost was 150 for both of us, plus $10 for parking and around the same for tolls.

I thought the show would be boring and uneventful but it really wasn’t. They played Christmas music infused with rock, blues and a pyrotechnics show. Not sleeper music by any stretch and that was a good thing.

This Christmas, I didn’t go into any credit card debt. I didn’t buy any gifts for my friends or parents. They know I’m in the midst of getting my financial house in order. I felt no guilt for not buying them any gifts. I’d much rather spend time with people who are important to me than buying expensive items they probably will quickly forget anyway.

Tonight we had some friends over for a Christmas feast. Good food, some alcohol and crazy kids running around. I honestly don’t think I was ever that wild running around. Today I’m very even tempered, no-nonsense. Definitely not the kind of person who would want to deal with children all day.

It’s interesting to see opposing viewpoints on the same issue. Take one in particular. Person I work with who doesn’t pull their own weight so to speak, always comes in late and leaves early, does probably 50% of the work I do, living on a social networking site. Complaining about coming into work for 4 hours and getting paid for 8 and his commute in general. I can identify with some of what he’s saying, but I also have been on the other side of the equation. On days when you don’t have work, you don’t get paid. Those doing contractual work or self-employed. I’m grossing around 175-200/week extra by giving a few hours over the weekend and an hr or so a day in the week. He does a side job that is much more time-intensive and probably earns about the same but off the books.

Raises are coming up soon. Should get one on the paycheck after my next one. I do work pretty darn hard at my job. I’m thirsty for success. Even a very slight 3% raise would be an extra $20/week or 1040 a year. That’s two months worth of loan payments. Also if I can sustain the 8 hours overtime a week (debatable), I basically will be grossing 33% more. We shall see…

Had some more plumbing issues two days ago. I was all ready to get showered up, then head off to the gym (yeah I’m one of those people), when all of a sudden my bf is telling me to turn off the water.  I only got my feet wet.  Then I go downstairs and witness the horror.

Backed sewage all in the shower, toilet backed up and overflowing, on the floor. Not the best way I wanted to start my Saturday morning. On top of that our friend was visiting us from out of town. It’s the first time she’s been to our new house so we wanted to cast a good impression.

I approached our usual handyman / plumber / electrician, but he was busy doing other jobs. After 7 hours passed and no word from him, I called him. He said he wouldn’t be able to come so I had to take matters into my own hands. I used a local service to schedule a plumber and they came within 2 hours. Plumber hooked a machine up to the line that ran pressure through and pushed out two large blockages in the pipes. I suspect the issue was exacerbated by putting tissues into the toilet but have no way to prove it.

Cost was $405 as it was a Saturday evening. Bf covered 300 and I covered the rest. The work our handyman did in the summer was about the same. Crossing my fingers that our sewage issues are put to rest once and for all.

I’ll spare you all a picture. It was gross. I did the cleanup myself without gloves. Lysol cleaner with bleach, soft scrub and plastic bags were my best friend that day.

What’s funny is the day before I got paid. 3 weeks worth of work, 14 hours of overtime. My paycheck was 66% more than it is normally. I joked around with bf that as soon as I make some extra money something is going to happen. Sure enough not even 48 hours later…Murphy’s Law?

Still not holding my breath on the issues with getting paid from my previous employer. Since February I’ve been waiting for the $1600+ owed to me. No word yet from the bankruptcy court. My intuition says things are slowly drawing to a close however.

Thanksgiving we had friends over, I drank too much, ended up losing control and rushed to bed shortly thereafter. First time alcohol has done that to me since I recall drinking. Clearly bourbon is not designed for me. I’m not drinking for a while now. I never really enjoyed the taste of alcohol and it was more or less always a social thing. I didn’t experience any of the craziness on Black Friday.

Recently had my 2nd anniversary with my boyfriend.  At times it has gone by very quickly at other times (such as the 6 months I spent looking for work) it went by slowly. I have so much gratitude to be with someone who cares so much about me and is on the same financial page as I am.

I wanted to purchase a new Motorola Razr Maxx HD for him, but there were some complexities involved in moving his unlimited data package over to the new phone through Verizon. Simply put, he has another month left in his contract and they had no interest in grandfathering the old plan. AT&T does it, Spring offers unlimited, why Verizon can’t do it is beyond me.  He uses less than 2GB/mo but that’s beside the point.

Since the phone didn’t work out, I did have a plan B. We went to a fancy Indian restaurant in Dallas and had a great meal. Service was great, food was delicious and the ambiance could not be beat. Lots of earthy elements and an upscale feel to it all. The bill came to about $120 between the two of us. I put it on my credit card and really didn’t think any less of it.

Next we have Cyber Monday… I was really looking forward to finding some amazing deals and thought I would overspend like oh so many people out there. I ended buying just a Light Tungsten ring for myself from Tanga.com for 14.99. I really wanted to buy the $49 23andme.com but by the time I got to their site it jumped to 299.99.

On a more somber note, a guy I hung out with a few times in NY and would consider a friend died in a car accident about 2 weeks ago. He was always a caring, funny guy who was bubbly with a lot of energy. Only 27 years old, he dropped off a friend home after partying and we presume he fell asleep at the wheel. That marks 4 people I’ve met who have passed away in the last year.

In addition, my great aunt who I said was believed to have leukemia is presently on life support. I would see her at least once a month from the time I was around 6 to 12 or so. She is frugal, but always made due with what little she had. Between a crazy workday and hearing this news, it’s really been a lot to process.

One of my managers is moving to a different area in the company. I think she will be a great fit for it, but that also means starting over from scratch with someone who doesn’t really know me. Time for bed now.