Prank on Debt Collector. Somebody's Got to do it.

When I was 19 years old I applied and interviewed with a collections company.  I didn't really have a huge understanding of what collections involved, but I needed a job and I was glad to get a call back.  I didn't get the job (I'm a poor interviewee) but looking back I'm so glad I didn't. 

At that point I felt like I had blown my chance at college and that I needed to get a job and stick with it.  I had no plans to go back to school because I had been there and done that.  I feel that if I had landed a job I would probably still be working there and hating it. 

And how depressing would it be to work in collections for years?  I know I would hate it.  Your job is basically to hassle people who don't want to talk to you and ruin their day.   And it's kind of sad because these collections agents are just doing their jobs.

But I found this video where this guy turns the tables on a collector that calls him. Not hilarious, but kind of amusing.

He says: "...but they're eating people!"
She says: "...well this debt is going to eat up your credit report if you don't take care of it."

Compounding Strategy for Paying Minimum Credit Card Payments

Everyone knows that if you pay only the minimum payment every month on a static credit card balance, it could take years to pay off.

The guy in the following video says that if you use a compounding technique to pay the minimum payments, you can pay off a $5000 credit card balance in five years instead of twenty-five years.

His suggestion is to divide the minimum payment in half, and then halve one of the halves to get two quarters.  You would then pay each payment weekly for the first three weeks of the month.

He uses an minimum payment balance of $100.  Divide $100 by 2.  That's $50.  Now divide $50 in half--that's $25.   So you now have three amounts of $50, $25, $25.  He instructs to pay the $50 the first week of the month, $25 the second week, and $25 the third week. 

I'd think you'd have to be about a month ahead to do this because when I don't pay the full minimum when it's due they count it as late.   Also, I don't think I could do this because I'd likely find other ways to spend the money before time to pay for the next week. 

But this may be a good idea to try if you have the discipline and know that all you can afford to squeeze out is a minimum payment. 

The Ultimate Sacrifice. Giving Up Cable Television.

I've heard Suze Orman suggest many times that people in debt cut the expense of cable TV. 

I never thought I would ever do that.  I am pretty much a homebody so TV is my entertainment.  I 'need' it.

But if I think hard enough about it, I spend more time on the internet than I do watching television.  When I come home from work, I hop on the computer, first thing.  My DVR clogs up with shows I don't get around to watching. And if I look through my playlist, most of my favorite shows air on the basic channels.  My Divorce Court, X-factor,  Dr. Phil are available on regular channels.

I would miss Sister Wives on TLC and watching Teen Mom on MTV, but I could compromise and have my mom tape these occasional shows for me at her house.  

I signed up for the free trial at Netflix.  It costs $7.95 a month so if I like I may see if I can watch the things I miss there, or substitute it for TV altogether.  It sure would beat $118 a month for cable and that's money I could be putting toward paying my credit cards and such.   If I give it up totally for a year, that's over $1200. 

My biggest concern is that if I give up my cable, I also give up my DVR and I won't be able to record shows when I'm not home. Can I make that sacrifice? 
 
I think I'll ultimately just reduce my cable package to the basic channels and find alternate ways to watch things I may want to watch on the higher channels. 

How I Got Into Unnecessary Debt (this time)

The first step toward change is admitting that you have a problem, but to be honest I don't have a huge spending problem.  Here's what happens:  I'll clear out some credit on a card and then I'll buy things because I know I have the room available to do it.  At first, I do plan to pay it off soon but the more I buy, the more I'm like "Screw it."  

So yes, sometimes I can be impulsive and once I give myself permission to buy one thing or two, it's easier to give in and take it further. 

At the beginning of this year, I had very minimal credit card debt.  But late last year I acquired a website that I've had to spend lots of money on to have designed and configured.  The most expensive project cost $1400 and the other little tweaks cost hundreds that added up tremendously through this year.  Then on top of that I've used the cards for things like gas and fast food whenever there was space on them.    It just felt like, the balances are already more than I can pay right now---what's $20 more here or $5 there?  

But that ends now. 

Saving Money at the Grocery Store. Debt, Your Days are Numbered!

I just returned from my first trip to the grocery store since resolving to get my debt under control.  I think I did a decent job.

Like I said in a previous post, one of the things I'm trying to do to save money to apply toward my credit card debt is cooking at home for the week and taking my own lunch to work.  I use the word 'cooking' loosely. 

After all my bills I had about $100 left to buy food, so my goal was to spend no more than $75.  Something came up at work and I had to shell out $40, causing my available grocery funds to be reduced to $60.

I was very careful and my sum total came up to about $56.  Right under the nose!

The first key for me is PLANNING.   I found a couple recipes online and wrote out the ingredients as my shopping list.   One thing that helps is that the recipes have similar ingredients.  For example, both of the recipes use chicken breasts and cheese.  So I bought a large package of both.  I may be able to make one of the recipes twice.

Think about what you already have in your cabinets. I had to stop and catch myself when I thought about buying things I already have.  I have about 5 cans of tomato soup in my kitchen.  I like tomato soup, but I don't like these that much because when I bought them I didn't realize that they were the low-fat kind.  So on my way to the store, I was thinking about buying some regular tomato soup but then stopped like "Wait a minute."  I should just eat the ones I already have and save some money.

I can use the canned veggies I never open to complete a meal. 

Then there's that avoiding impulse shopping thing. For the most part I did very well, but I'd have some points deducted if I were being graded.  I know I said I was just going to drink free tap water--- and I will primarily....but I came across 2-liter sodas for $1.00 each and bought 3 of them.  That's not that bad, is it?   My second slip-up was my go-to weakness--a pint of Haagen-Dazs Strawberry ice cream!  It costs nearly $4 but I had to get it.  I also bought a casserole dish I could've done without, but I wanted to make sure I had the right baking dish.

So all in all, I think I did well.  I hope I can actually cook something that turns out to be edible enough to eat for the week.  This is kind of exciting.  I feel like I'm beating the machine or something.

P.S.  I just finished eating a portion of the chicken casserole I just made.  It's a keeper.  It was pretty easy and something I am sure I can make again.

Paying Off Credit and Fighting Impulses

Today is Friday (payday!) and I just finished making my bill paying rounds online.

My strategy for this paycheck was to go ahead and pay the whopping minimum payment on one of my credit accounts and throw crumbs elsewhere.  So I just paid $540 on the card with the $2812 balance, bringing the amount owed down to  $2272.  Of course that's before they add on the finance charges and interest for next month.  

But my new credit grand total is (drumroll!!!!) :  $9790.78

Ugh.  That's still a large amount, but it's progress, right?   The bad things about paying so much on this particular credit card are that (1.) the account is closed and (2.) even if it were accessible the balance is still over the credit line, even after my payment is applied.   This means that if I need gas or something before I get paid again, I won't be able to use the card---in other words, that money is just gone. 

I have about $75 to grocery shop and hopefully my plan to cook for the week (or try to) will work out.  I will have to eat in the cafeteria at work one last time, but after today, no more.

Last night I almost fell into the trap.  I tend to be overcome with random interests and I'll buy a bunch of stuff and then put it to the side a couple weeks later (wasting money).  My latest kick is makeup.  I've been watching tons of makeup tutorials trying to learn this or that.   I've actually been practicing but the finished product never looks like it should.  I think most of it is my technique but 'they' say that the more expensive brands like MAC and Urban Decay are more pigmented and blend better than the cheap stuff. 

So anyway, I sat on my computer at the MAC cosmetics website actually contemplating buying 15 eyeshadows for $196.00.   Or I could get 4 for $57.  I was seriously considering it.

But then I thought about the goal at hand.  First of all MAC is way overpriced (it costs $15 for just one eyeshadow color!) and if I had caved, I probably would find myself still unable to create the look I want.   So I decided that I should continue to practice with the inexpensive low-end 88 color palette I have.  As I improve my skills, I can move on to better quality products when I know what I'm doing. 

And probably most importantly, I likely wouldn't wear the makeup out of the house anyway!  I just like the art of transformation and I just want to know how to do it if I wanted.  Maybe I could then do some Youtube videos or create makeup tutorials or something.

In other words, it's a fledgling hobby and I don't really need to spend all that money on it right now. 

I have the palette from Coastal Scents.  I paid about $12 for it a couple years ago. 


In the end, I did order an eyeshadow base and a blush from another makeup site for less than $20.

I'm kind of proud of myself.  

Three Things I Can Try to Sell For Debt Reduction

I really don't have that much that's worth buying, but when I think about it there are a few things that could go on Ebay today.  My only issue with selling stuff is packaging and shipping it---but if I'm serious about paying my debts, this is no issue, right?

So here are a few things I have around the house that I may put up for sale in the coming weeks.

1. Hair Steamer

I bought this hair steamer a couple years ago, but I've used it less than 10 times.  It's supposed to hydrate the hair with steam, but it's more of a pain than any help to me.  I paid about $119 for it.  Maybe I could get about $40 for it.

2. Sewing Machine

I tend to get bright ideas for hobbies that soon fall to the wayside.  I thought I was going to be like the designers on Project Runway and learn to sew my own clothes so I bought a cheap sewing machine from Walmart.  I think it was about $80.  I don't think I ever took it out of the box.

3. Insanity Videos

I would hate to permanently part with this DVD set, but I can find alternate ways to exercise.  I paid about $140 for it if Im not mistaken.  Maybe someone will value that it's a complete set and not just individual DVDs. 

So among these three items, I could probably get about $100 to pay one of my credit cards.  Not much, but every little bit helps, right? 

We'll see.