Debt Free Alpha

Plumbing Issues (continued)

December 18th, 2012

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.
Wheat Belly

December 10th, 2012

Wheat Belly Weight Loss Book

At the beginning of the year I started making changed to my diet that were pretty much in-line with both the Paleo and A tkins diet. I lost a fair amount of weight but ran into some obstacles. The first being energy levels. Cutting back so much on carbs meant that my body had to rely on fat and muscle for energy instead of carbohydrates. The only dessert I would consume was 80-90% dark chocolate. This lead to insulin level spikes at work, where I would become dizzy or lightheaded if I didn’t eat food with carbs and fats. I was very heavy on protein and veggies, but my breeath reeked and I was always in a constant fog.

Needless to say I couldn’t sustain such a stringent eating regiment for a prolonged period of time..

Right after turning 22 (when I started a bank desk job), my weight began to spike. 8/5/04 I was 188 pounds, which at the time was in-line where someone of my height should be. My body was not nearly as muscular as it is now, but I moved around with ease and some level of ignorance that I would never get fat.

There have been periods over the last few years where my weight would spike, My highest on record was 223 pounds in August 2011. This was shortly after leaving New York, being in temporary housing for a month (no real kitchen) and having the stress of moving and no job constantly looming over my shoulder.

As of weighing myself this morning my weight was a more respectable 211.6 (down from 218.6 on 11/24). Lower than my ideal, but a big step in the right direction. While I am cutting back on carbs this time around, I do consume them and am putting less of a shock to my system.

Wheat… Of all the ingredients of foods I consume I would say it has been the most monumental in my weight gain. I recently went to see the new James Bond Skyfall movie. At the concession stand I got a bacon cheeseburger and fries. Ordinarily it doesn’t bother me but this day was a little different. I experienced what some would consider a mild diabetic shock, where my body started to sweat and I had some light shakes. I have never been diagnosed with diabetes, but this was a wakeup call to me that some changes need to be made to my diet.

So right now I’m feeling pretty good. Cutting back the wheat, working out and the pounds just seem to almost be melting away. It’s kind of weird. I’m hitting up the gym less than I did before but the pounds are still dropping. I know the holidays are going to be a particularly tough time. Heck yesterday I attended a company party and did shots before drinking more at the event. Even with two plates of food (only a nibble of bread), I still managed to not gain any pounds.

So this is all a work in progress. I no longer view any one dietary plan as being 100% correct in all instances. You can lose weight in lots of ways, but the question is which is the healthiest and which can you maintain over the long-term.
Month 8 Update

December 2nd, 2012

Hello Macintosh. Oh wait… Hello readers of my blog. Still paying down my debt.

On IBR (Income Based Repayment) for the last two years. I logged into my Sallie Mae account and see that 2157.50 was applied to principal that was accrued interest. I read somewhere that the government would cover interest payments for some IBR loans but apparently not mine. This is a real-life example of interest accruing interest. Not happy about that but I don’t think there’s a whole lot I can do about it.

Two consolidation loans:

Interest that has been rolled into principal aside, after the next payment I will have roughly 42,250 in student debt. An incremental step from the 45159.35 I had between credit cards and student loans when I started this blog. I have a little over 800 in my bank account before my monthly bills are coming out.

I went out drinking with some friends, a low calorie margarita and two beers spaced out over about 3 hours. On the way home I started to feel really sick. I don’t know why but it seems like my body is rejecting alcohol. My blood sugar gets a lil wonky afterward.

This week has been a particularly emotional one. My great aunt whom was ~65 and had leukemia passed away suddenly earlier this week. My mom spoke to her Monday morning and on Wednesday she was gone. She was a good person. Opinionated yes, but a great cook, always welcomed us into her home, frugal and always had a good work ethic. Services were held for her Saturday in Alabama, 10 hrs away from me and over 17 for my folks in New York. We couldn’t get there in time given we were told the day before and the cost for a last minute flight was just too much money.

According to the CDC, the average US life expectancy is 78.5 years. I hope I live until my 70s or older. The odds aren’t in my favor, but starting in my 20s I want to do everything in my power to make that a reality. I’m a believer in the power of decisions over time working out in my favor. Like working out and having my health monitored frequently.

Pushing myself hard with the overtime still. My bf said if I work 7 hours a week in OT he won’t make me pay the 350 for car insurance that I owe him. Gotta love positive reinforcement! 🙂 Even with the Holidays I expect to come out ahead at the end of this month.

Our Christmas Tree 2012.

To me Christmas is less about the gifts and more about sharing time with the people you care about. Half the gifts people give are forgotten about not long after. I understand we have to do things for political reasons, but at the end of the month as Suze Orman would put it, stand in your truth. Don’t buy expensive presents if you have unmanageable credit card debt and/or no emergency fund. Pay yourself first and donate a toy to a child in need through a local toy drive. We did that several seasons ago both at my jobs and college. It’s great to see how far $20 can go to make a child happy who may not have a stable family environment or whose own family simply didn’t have the resources to provide more than food + shelter.
Anniversary & Cyber Monday

November 29th, 2012

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.
Before You Take Out a Student Loan…

November 25th, 2012

Before taking on student loans you can’t afford, take a look at some of these comments. I was wise enough to fortunate enough to keep my expenses relatively low. Not everyone is though and one could argue that the more expensive colleges offer more chances of earning more income after graduation.

Good-bye Debt (with less than 5 figures a year)!

I was on Yahoo! homepage this morning, and this article popped up:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/9-unbelievable-student-loan-horror-stories-165512874.html?page=all
If you are considering taking out a ton of loans, read that article and read more stories at http://www.consumerfinance.gov/blog/chime-in-on-private-student-loans/

If those stories don’t scare the sh!t out of you, then I don’t know what will.
I definitely discourage everyone from getting private loans. There is absolutely no regulation on their interest caps, and they can sink to low levels of scumbaggery when it comes to collecting debts. You can almost never discharge loans in a bankruptcy situation, so I really advise you students out there to think long and hard before taking out loans.

I’m not saying NEVER take out loans- it it’s the difference between needing an extra $1000 or staying out of school one semester, take the $1000 loan. Like I said in a previous post, taking out a loan can help improve your…

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No bueno / pipe issue…

November 24th, 2012

On the plus side I could’ve went on a crazy shopping spree and have this expense come up…Having our handyman / plumber fix this today. The problem is the roots from the trees in front of the house have gotten so deep and wrapped around the pipes that go into the sewage system. The bleach bottle is not there for dramatic effect, it was covering up the drainage hole so roaches wouldn’t enter the house. I saw about 8 roaches altogether enter the house through there since June (despite cleaning, traps, sprays) and this was was working fine..

Not sure if I or my bf will be footing the bill. Hopefully it’s not too much. It’s almost noon and I haven’t showered yet.Hope no one seeing this was about to eat…
Black Friday Thoughts…

November 24th, 2012

Typing this at 2am on a Saturday so have mercy. Simply put I drank too much on Thanksgiving Day. I’m what many would refer to as a lightweight, especially with darker drinks. You’d think that at close to 220lb I would be able to handle my liquor better. I slept for 4 hours after the jolting experience, luckily I was home already. Then I got back online and went back to sleep. Hungover for a big chunk of Friday. Feel as if I’m to the point where I never want to drink again.

The urge most people feel to spend money they never had to begin with is lacking in me. Parents are a couple thousand miles away and they know about my financial situation, no kids and friends too know I’m broke. I do want to spend money on my lover though, he goes out of his way time and time again to make me happy.

We met up with two friends today. Both make substantially more money than I do. I would guess 3-4x. One dropped over a G on a Stella Mccartney handbag. Is it the wisest thing she should be doing with her money? I would say hardly, but at the end of the day she can afford it. It’s also a form of retail therapy with some of the other events that have happened over the past year.

I put up a vision board earlier this week. Nothing is on it. Two big things I think are going to be a weight log and a monthly debt log. I’ve been in a mega-rut lately. Been poor with the student loan cash put aside, then sadness about my great aunt being in and out of the hospital (possibly leukemia..), my 2nd grandmother’s passing in July, a homophobic grandfather who I’m not out to, deceased grandmother, father and never knowing his parents and my mom / stepdad (who recently underwent cancer treatment) being hundreds of miles away. I really try not to let the weight of it pull me down but there are times when it gets ‘heavy’. I think my experiences make me standoffish about people in general. Don’t let them get too close because of the pain of losing them. I’m not really sure what a ‘normal’ family is like.

I have a lot of surface friends in Dallas or people I work with, but not one that I hang with independently of my bf. I think that too has been making me a little crazy. In NY there were like 5 different people I would do things with. Half the things my bf / his friends are into I have no interest in such as Rupaul’s Drag Race, anime tv shows. Idk, I’m just in bitch-mode. This too shall pass.
Home Repairs…

November 18th, 2012

Fortunately nothing too major, but could’ve been if left neglected for a prolonged period of time.

1. Gutters cleaned – no one wants water dripping in areas it doesn’t belong.
2. Roof work completed between the brick and shingles on the roof. If we got this fixed at the time the house was purchased it would run us $200.
3. Downstairs shower handle fixed. Couldn’t get hot water in the shower, only lukewarm. Obviously an issue when guests are over and we don’t want them using the shower next to our master bedroom.
4. Upstairs faucet leaking. Drip drop, about 2 times every second. The USGS has a neat little chart to show water usage. By estimates we were wasting 5-11 gallons of water a day and possibly increased energy usage by keeping the hot water heater turning on and off. Needed new o-rings, valves and handles.
5. Back door fixed. Neighbor had foundation work a few months ago and ever since then the door wouldn’t shut right.

What amazed me is the price our contractor charged. Only $400 total between parts and labor. Lots of others would have tried to charge us hundreds more. We will definitely have him do more work for us in the future.
Overtime – Cha cha cha

November 17th, 2012

Putting in extra starting this week. 45 hours a week minimum. 50 is the ideal. No excuses. Need the money, will split it up in a way that helps me keep my sanity. My commute is easy. The amount of time I would have spent just driving to another company alone would be close to 3 hours. I hate using my Windows Dell laptop, so I can just do work on my Mac when I have the time. Gotta come up with a system that works for me. 🙂
Saving Grace

November 12th, 2012

Sold hearing aids on eBay that belonged to my stepdad’s mother a few days ago. They sold for 299.99 less shipping fees, listing fees and PayPal. I agreed to split the profit in half with him. Not including the money I owe back, I have about ~~$30~~ -75.68 (after my cell phone bill hit) to my name until payday.

Splurged and went to see the new 007 Skyfall movie at IMAX with a friend yesterday. Literally been months since I set foot in a theatre and other than a momentary insulin spike after having a burger and fries I enjoyed it a great deal. I still get shows and movies off the net through other means.

Recently attended a networking event specific to my industry and ran into people who left the firm I’m with at some point in the last year. They enjoyed the sense of camaraderie and the breadth of things they learned while they were there. Also emphasized how many have left and work in places making a much higher salary.

Last year I grossed less than $15k, this year I will make a little over twice that. Next year my goal is to make 40k+ and not be unemployed at all (6 months last year and 1 this year didn’t help at all) even if things aren’t advancing as quickly as I want.

Student loan payment is due 12/4 452.76, roughly 25% of my net income. Two paychecks to save money for this. I am confident I can do this, though my stress levels are rather higher right now…