I told you I would and I am: Debt Hater is moving to a new Wordpress blog: www.debthatersblog.com
All my posts are there now.
The blog is evolving, so bear with me.
Also, please know that DebtHater on Typepad will cease to exist by the end of September.
I am working on redirects, but you can update your bookmarks, blogrolls and feeds now.
Questions? Leave them in the comments or holla at me debthater at gmail dot com.
And you can get me on Twitter @debthater
DH
"D'oh!" That's all I can say when I lose money the silly way -- on fees and such that, if I lived right, I'd never have to pay.
Granted these are small potato items (usually), but they're also the kind of things that you really should never encounter. There are plenty of way bigger ways to lose money through poor planning or neglect, but this list is the niggling, silly things that should just never happen. When they happen to me, I feel a mixture of all out fury and head-slapping "Duh!"
These things ain't cheap. In the last week, I've gotten two for $32 a pop! Both times, I was rushing to feed the meter, when the maid was already printing the ticket.
Stupid.
Avoid parking tickets by planning ahead -- bring that roll of quarters with you and fill that meter up. Giterdone quickly so you won't need to refill. Otherwise, take public transportation or park in a garage -- both are always cheaper than a ticket.And those fees ain't a nickel anymore; try anything from a quarter to a whole dollar for each day your item is late.
Libraries are really generous these days and you usually have three weeks with an item before it has to go back (DVDs you still generally only have a day), so you have time -- read it, watch it, and take it back.
Most people I know who have library fees don't have two or three day fees -- they have three and four month fees! Really? You know you didn't read that book or watch that movie over and over -- it was sitting under a pile of unopened mail. At that price, you could have paid for a month's worth of Netflix and bought a book!Overdraft fees. There's no reason to ever, ever pay an overdraft fee. That's all I have to say about that.
Finance charges on your credit card. You know the name of the site and the name of the game -- never have a balance on your credit card at the end of a month. I don't do this since I've been out of debt, but you have to keep an eye on your statements -- sneaky banks can change your billing period at will and mess you up. They also like to schedule payment due dates on weekends, when your bank isn't delivering any checks.
Fees, just fees period, on anything, suck. But they can almost always be avoided.I do this with groceries whenever I don't plan and make a list. It may sound unimportant, but it's a money waster when you rebuy PERISHABLE items that you already have -- having twice as much doesn't mean it lasts twice as long.
The lipliner that's nowhere to be found -- drop $12 at MAC, come home and find the missing liner sitting somewhere obvious, mocking me.
The combination locks I have piled up because I couldn't find them, then bought new ones.
Silly. Avoidable. C'est la vie.Wednesday afternoon, AOL's WalletPop published Vera Gibbons "Paying off bills pays off: Top five female debt bloggers" featuring yours truly and four ladies blogging about living life in debt, getting out of debt and being debt free.
Don't miss these women! Check out the Walletpop post and check out these blogs (and follow the bloggers on Twitter like I do!).
DHI met Anjuan Simmons (@Anjuan on Twitter) at the Blogging While Brown Conference and was glad to make the connection!
Check out his article 5 Must Read Blogs for Black Entrepreneurs on Black Web 2.0 which features yours truly and some up and coming business people sharing valuable information for those of us who are serious about running our own businesses or polishing our personal brand.
I am following all these folks on Twitter as well.
Have a helluva Saturday!
DH
I save 10% of my income specifically to give it away. I call it tithing, but tithe is a loaded term.
If you are not Christian, then you probably don't know what tithe means. If you are Christian and were brought up in church and or attend church now, you know exactly what it means. Depending on your experiences and your family's attitudes, the word tithe may conjure up very different reactions.
In my family, it brings tension.
At the church where I grew up, the pastor would preach a fiery sermon, hopping up on tables, marching up and down the aisles as the organist and drummer punctuated every step, every turn and every pronouncement with thundering sound. There were shouts of Amen and, occasionally, someone would break out in a holy dance.
When all the exhulting was through, the pastor proceeded with the tithes and offering portion of the service. This part could take longer than the songs, sermon and announcements combined. In my church, the offering would more than likely start with the pastor saying something like "The Lord has put on my heart to ask 20 people to share $100." The usual suspects would get up and share their Benjamins. When he got 20 people -- and he'd wait until 20 people shared -- he'd then say "The Lord has put on my heart to ask 40 people to share $50." You get the picture. And we'd go this way until he finally got to the rest of us, who were asked to share what we could. But that was the offering, not the tithe.
So what the heck is the tithe?
Put short and simple, it's 10% of your income offered to the Lord. There are plenty of Bible verses that explain the concept and the requirements, but I won't get into that here.
But this isn't simple at all. You can get into debates about whether this practice was under the Old Covenant, but not the New Covenant. About whether that was a practice for a millennium ago and no longer applies. Whether it's 10% of your gross or net income. Whether tithes are sufficient or whether you should tithe and add extra for offering.
My family has gotten into shouting matches over it. My grandmother contends you should only give what you can afford. My aunt says that's not biblical. My cousin and her husband fought over him writing checks for 10% of their gross income when she insisted only 10% of net was necessary. They fought over whether that was biblical. For years, I was riddled with guilt for only giving $5 here or there, which was nothing close to 10% of anything.
I am Christian, but I won't lie, I haven't belonged to a church nor regularly attended services in about three years. Thus, I pretty much figured the whole tithe thing had nothing to do with me. But then I started thinking about my journey out of debt.
It was not all about me being disciplined. There were people that helped me considerably along the way. I blogged before about how a close friend of my family paid off my school loan without asking or expecting to be repaid. It wasn't a fortune (hooray for scholarships and Pell grants!), but it was still a few thousand dollars I didn't have to repay. My mother helped me out with some bills while I was getting my career together out of graduate school. I did laundry at my aunt and uncle's house when I visited and I never had to pay for meals when I went home.
Then there were just those nights where I'd pray for help -- despondent about my finances and clueless as to how I was going to get through a month. No, money did not magically appear on my kitchen table in the morning. But, almost without fail, something or somebody would provide extra income or make a bill go away. Maybe it was a freelance opportunity that came through right on time. Maybe it was a big check for birthday or Christmas that I was not expecting. Maybe someone would give me something that I thought I would have to buy -- but they didn't know I needed it prior. Or maybe it was a friend offering to cover dinner when I didn't ask or expect her to.
Answered prayers? I certainly believe so, but you can call it what you want. So, biblical or not, I decided that I wanted to be open to being the vessel that provides those same blessings to someone else.
I save 10% of my gross income expressly to give it away. Some of it I have given to charities. I've given money to friends raising money for causes they believe in. I've given money to causes I believe in. My brother got his financial act together and has nearly paid off his own debt. I gave him some money as a reward for his diligence and tenacity. My cousin finally got his act together and moved into a new place, with a new job. I gave him mpney to help him on his way. I give to my alma mater. I plan to establish a scholarship there in honor of my grandmother -- the family matriarch whose generosity has been our saving grace.
Ten percent of one's income is a lot of money. Most people are only saving 10% of their income period. But I figure, while I have it, why not share it? The time has been and may come again where I am relying on generosity. I don't know about you, but it feels good to be able to give without crossing my fingers, begging or stalking people to make sure I get it back.
Now, don't get this confused with being the First Bank for Your Broke A$$ Family and Friends. NO SIR. I am not advocating that at all. If people try to guilt you into giving to them because you have and they don't, tell them how to get their own. If they don't want to hear it, shake the dust from your feet, so to speak.
I'm talking about being the resource that, at some point in your life, someone was for you. Bless someone the way you've been blessed. Advance something you believe will make your community, some distant community or the whole world a better place.
I think most of us can tell the difference. You can feel it.
DH
I decided to save six months of living expenses because that's what I needed for my own peace of mind. For most single people with a steady job, three months of living expenses is typically recommended and should be sufficient.
Besides that amount, which I call my emergency fund or e-fund, I also save for travel, presents and gifts, and "tithes," which is essentially money I set aside to give away to various causes, people, etc.
Years ago, when interest rates were sky high, I jumped on the hi-yield savings account bandwagon. I opened an online only savings account and declined a debit card for it because I wanted it to be difficult for me to get that money. At the time, I earned upwards of 4% on my balances, which previously was unheard of for account balances as small as mine.Times have changed significantly and now a hi-yield interest rate might be 1.40%. Now my savings account balances are ten or more times higher than they once were, but I'm earning about the same amount in interest. That sucks.
Occasionally, I'll ladder CDs to squeeze more interest out of my accounts while keeping that money liquid, but, these days, a decent CD outside of a credit union will still only get you 1.55% for a year. What's the point!
So what's a girl to do with her rainy day fund? Unfortunately, I haven't found a satisfactory answer in my research. Money market accounts and hi-yield savings accounts will keep your money liquid yet less accessible than what you have in checking, which I think is precisely what you want. But you pay for that convenience in not-so-fabulous interest rates these days.
You could invest it, but then it wouldn't really be savings. Your savings could decrease when the market dips, but then again, you could earn way more than you would in a savings account when the market increases. Still, you lose liquidity, which is the whole point of an emergency fund.
So, while I am utterly dissatisfied with 1% interest on my savings, having being spoiled by the high rates of a few years ago, liquidity is of paramount importance to me so it's probably better to let my cash stay put where it is.
If any of you know something way better, let me know!
We can nickel and dime ourselves into debt.
I wonder if most people in considerable consumer debt got there by drips and drabs, not by deluge. I bet it started with a few missing dollars here and there in their checking account or charged to a card. Those tiny amounts of money can eat big holes into your finances. How many times have you heard people say they're drowning in debt but they have no idea what they bought?
I almost tried to explain that to my little cousin, who couldn't understand my brow furrowing over $4 I couldn't account for.
I am visiting my family for the holiday weekend and, as is typical, I've already spend a wad. I was hosting my mother, brother and grandmother in D.C. for a few days and they wanted to eat out each day. I paid for one meal, paid for myself another and then insisted we eat breakfast at my place where we could eat for pennies instead of dollars.
After that, we drove up to visit the rest of our little clan, and I went to the mall to do some tax-free shopping. So, this morning, I sat down with my remaining cash and receipts to check where I am on budget for the month (yes, just four days into the month!). As I added everything up, I couldn't account for $4. So I recounted, readded, rechecked and still couldn't account for the $4. My nosy little cousin sat down beside me at the table and, all up in my spreadsheet, started reading off some tallies. He saw me muttering to myself and checking my accounts.
"What's the matter?" he asked. "I'm missing $4," I said. He said, "Four dollars? What's the big deal?"
I turned to him with a sharply raised eyebrow. Four dollars?! What's the big deal about four dollars?!
I'm sure some of you are asking the same question: "Calm down Debt Hater."
Four dollars isn't the point. As I climbed my way out of debt, there were two things I learned the hard way:
1. You MUST have a budget.
2. You really HAVE to know where every dollar goes.
Lesson one taught me lesson two and vice versa. I tried several times to go without a budget (Suze Orman even said in Young, Fabulous & Broke, the first personal finance book I ever read, to forget about budgeting because no one sticks with it anyway and we don't need it. She didn't have to tell me twice!).
I really wanted to skip the budget to get out of having to keep track of
every penny. I was never a fan of numbers and handling money that way was akin to handling dirty diapers. I didn't want to do it. But each time I tried, there would be $4 missing here, $10
there, $2 here and by the end of the month it'd be a shock when I
didn't have the cash to cover a simple, and expected, expense.
I got in the habit of getting receipts for absolutely everything and writing down any cash that I spent. If I was off by a dollar at the end of the month, I didn't trip, but I made sure to be careful. I didn't always get it right (I have many posts about how I screwed up my budget in a given month), but the habit of keeping close track is ingrained now. I know where every dollar went. Except, this $4 I couldn't quite figure out at the moment.
So I turned to my nosy little cousin and asked him what he planned to buy with his recently acquired birthday money. He was deciding between a new i pod nano and some Teen Titans figures. I said to him "Suppose you took your money to the mall, got to the Apple store, whipped out your cash for your nano and then the cashier said 'You're short $4'. Would you to him, 'Four dollars? What's the big deal! I have the rest.' Do you think he's say Ok and give you the i pod?"
He smiled. "No," he chuckled.
"That's the big deal."
DH
Woo hoo! I finished June with $10.43 remaining in disposable income. This is despite carrying over a $230 deficit from May because of the bank's mistake and subsequent overdraft charges.
How did I do it? Not with frugal spending practices, not this time. I finally got paid for some freelance work I had done a few months back and I got a reimbursement from my FSA. Voila, May deficit and then some paid back.
Report for June
End of the month: $10.43 in the black
Saved: $1,931.54 (31% of my monthly income)
Total Net Worth: 42,826.31
Why, you may be asking, isn't my net worth $1,900 more than it was last month?
Added into this amount if my travel fund, which I am always saving money in, but I recently used money in it for my vacation this month.
And... that's about it.
I spent more than $400 on meals and random snacks out. That's a heckuva lot of money for just little ole me. But I did eat out a lot this month!
Other than that, looking forward for a fiscally sound July!
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