The Insanity of it all!

I have all my bills set up for auto payment (well except for two.) I am nervous about it but it is going. I think it will be great when we are on vacation and the bills are just paid without us having to worry about it at all. I also want to make sure that we plan a certain amount to spend on vacation so that we don't accidentally overdraw our account.
I was going through our bills today since our autopay starts up on Friday and we should really be doing so much better than we do each month. We were amazing in June and we really stayed within our means. We did not go crazy buying things we don't need and it felt good. I don't think we lacked for anything and we actually had money left over at the end of the month.
We are debating renting a car or putting the money toward tuning up my car for the road trip instead. My husband's car needs the air conditioning fixed and so that is going to be really expensive so not an option right now. I think after this vacation it will be easier because we can start putting the extra money toward savings instead of toward the vacation.
On the other hand it is going to be really difficult because I am going to have to go back to school and won't have as much time (or patience) to be so indepth with our finances. Some days it feels like a full time job.
Today was Ramit Sethi's birthday (I am not a stalker - he sent everyone on his mailing list an email.) He asked us to list the things we have used and been successful with from his book I Will Teach You To Be Rich. I actually had a lot of things listed that I have done and been successful with. I am so proud.
I still have not implemented everything but I am getting there!

Earn $100 extra Per Month Challenge - June

In one of Ramit's emails he talks about how it is important to try to earn extra money. He does consulting/freelance and so I think it is MUCH easier for him to do this. As I mentioned I am a teacher and so I think it is difficult for me to do this unless I am interested in getting a second job- which I am not because I am also a wife and mother.
So I challenged myself this month to try to figure out how to come up with extra money. I did not start out by trying to come up with $100 like Ramit recommends but as I started doing it I figured $100 was a good goal.

Now it is not recommended by Ramit to sell things as a continual method of earning more money (unless you are making things) because eventually you will run out of stuff. Unfortunately I make nothing so I did sell stuff to earn money and this will have to be my option until I run out of stuff. I have a lot of stuff so we will see how far this gets me.

I started out by selling books online through bookscouter.com. It scouts out places that buy back books (such as Amazon.com) and then links you to their site.

So book selling so far:
-$2.25
-$9.50
-$16.00
-73.20
Total - $100.95
Then, I went on Craigslist and did a beta test on a website and got:
-$20.00
So for June, my total thus far is: $120.95!
I think I still have a couple of book orders still out there that are coming soon so my total for June might to up. If they get here in July I am counting them towards my July total.
I am also planning a garage sale for two weeks from now to help me with my July sales.

I know this has nothing to do with money but it is my release and so I write about it anyways. I love to read and I started reading my Maeve Binchy again. I am starting from the beginning so I am starting with Light a Penny Candle. I have read all of her books two or three times each and I just love them so I am starting again.

OoOooOoOooOOO - Ramit!

So in my email this morning was Ramit's IWTYTBR newsletter. He is accepting letters from people who would like a personal consultation on getting themselves automated. A thirty day automation make over. I just finished automating my bills but wonder if he could help me start to save and invest. I don't know if that is what he is looking for. As he states, he is going to be inundated with emails so I need to hurry up and decide if I am going to try to win or not. I wish I had readers to ask the opinion of them. (I am a Libra and have a terrible time making up my mind.)
In my quest to make more money and reach my goal of $100 this month, I finished my Beta test for a new website. I read the email this morning that contained the survey and I did not read it all the way through. I was supposed to reply as to whether or not I was interested in participating. I did not. (NUMBER ONE RULE that teacher's teach about assignments: Read the whole thing before you begin!!!) Anyhow, I finished it and submitted it and I hope they do not say that since I did not reply it is invalid.
I am searching money making options online and it is scary. There are so many scams out there that I hate to fall victim and ruin myself in the process. I am now searching Craigslist to try to find something (like the beta test- that was on Craigslist.com and it was perfect...unless I don't get paid because I did not follow directions.) I hope more opportunities like that come along.
I used to answer questions on JustAnswer.com and made a tiny bit of money. It was more for the fun of it. I have not answered in a long time however and I lost my status as an expert. I need to wait to be accepted again...it is a pain. I figure if I can do that a few more times I can get some money into my paypal account to use to sell Ebay items.
Summer is going to run out fast and I am going to have a full time job again. I hope that it all does not fall to the wayside like so many other times.
I think I will enter the competition. I will never know unless I try.

Forget about it!

I just returned from my cousin's daughter's birthday party. There were a ton of cousins and aunts there and even some cousins from out of state. It was a really fun time. I did not spend any money (well aside from the gift Barbie Make-Up Set and Disney Ariel, Slippers, Costume, Dress up Pretend Play Light up Shoes Girl Size 9/10) and I really enjoyed myself. I think I need to just forget about it sometimes. I get caught up in the money, spending, saving - all of it that I need to take a step back and breathe.
Now that I am back from my party though I need to finish an assignment for a beta test for a website that I signed on for. It is actually fun and I think I will stay on the site as a member after I am done. I am supposed to earn $20 dollars from the survey when I am finished.
According to I Will Teach You To Be Rich writer Ramit Sethi, we need to make more money. He suggests trying to earn an extra hundred in the first month. Selling my books so far has gotten me 12 dollars in hand. This survey is twenty dollars. More book payments are coming - hopefully before the end of the month so I meet my monthly quota. I know that nobody reads this but just in case someone does today, do you know of any ways to make extra money that have worked for you?
Well, I need to go and earn my twenty dollars.
On a personal note, I am reviewing a book called Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani. In re-reading it I am reminded of how wonderful a writer she is and how I love this book. I think I will start it again.

Dreamer - I'm nothing but a dreamer!

I play the lotto. Not faithfully which would increase my chances of course, but I do try to remember to buy a ticket (or send my husband for one.) My best friend Marlene (a math whiz and math instructor at a college) does not play the lotto. She thinks that it is a waste of money. I might agree if I did not KNOW of someone winning. My brother won $100,000 in the lottery! I could do so much with that amount. Of course I am greedy and really would love to win in the millions. What would I do with millions? I am glad you asked.
I would quit my job. Flat out. I would never be one of those noble suckers that say "Oh, I would never quit my job." Forget it, I would be so gone. (If my boss ever reads this, please note that this is not a reflection of anything but my desire to be free to do whatever I please with my day.)
I would pay off my house and do all the renovations I have dreamed about...just to see my current house in all it's potential. Then, I would move to a bigger house in the oh so perfect part of my town. I would pay off my daughter's tuition as well as the tuition of my neice and nephews. I would start paying things off for my family and husband's family. Bills would be paid people. In full! It would not be fun to be rich and fancy free alone. I would want to bring all my loved ones along my happy path with me.
I would then start my travels. I would buy a house with a vinyard in Strasbourg, France. Of course I would have to have people to clean for me and keep up our property.
I just get giddy with the potential of financial stability. It makes me drool.
Alas, it is a dream. Reality is that I am going to have to keep digging my through it all. Right now we are being very conscious about our spending. It is not what we usually do but it is making me feel more settled. I think getting rid of old things is helping me too. I feel like I am freeing up space for the new. A new less cluttered life. Financially stable life. I can't wait. It is my dream (next to the lotto.) Thankfully this dream is in my hands and not up to fate.

What am I doing with my time aside from trying to get finance savvy? We own all the DVDs of The Gilmore Girls

We started watching them again from beginning to end. It is such a well done series. Witty and smart. I love me some Gilly Girls!

Bills Bills Bills

Trying to be organized and ensure that we pay off our monthly bills on time is such a pain. We accrued a bit of debt when I stopped working to stay home with my daughter. We are trying to get back on track and into smart spending and saving. It just seems that as soon as you finish with the bills more bills come in! What an exhausting process. Yet another reason my dream job is to be either an heiress or a princess is that I would have an accountant!
In our organizational process we are making sure that our bills are on time. We finished automating our bills. First of all yes, I did skip a chapter of Ramit's I Will Teach You To Be Rich because it was on investing. We are heading out of town next month to visit family and we are not saving money to invest right now it is all going toward getting the car up to par and the trip. I will have to go back to that chapter upon our return.
We sat down with all our bills and decided which bills needed to be paid at the beginning of the month and which needed payment at the end. We went on our banks website and signed up for auto-payment. It was unbelievably easy and I can't believe that I did not do this earlier. Mind you I am a bit nervous that something horrible will happen like our checks won't get deposited or something and then we will drown in it all but in reality I think it will turn out great. I think it will be REALLY helpful while we are out of town.
You know, if you are reading this (which I know not a soul is because I have one of those trackers on my blog) and you are in college or fresh out of college you really should buy this book. I wish I knew more about finances when I left college. I would have been so much better off now than I am. 'nuff of that - like I said, I am not going to lament my past but ensure my future!

On a personal note, I am thinking of re-reading my books by my favorite author, Maeve Binchy. My husband bought me one of her books called Echoes, but as it turns out I already owned it and read it. I might read it again what the heck. She is an amazing storyteller if you ever feel up to looking into her books.

More Money

One of the tips from an email I received from Ramit's I Will Teach You To Be Rich newsletter was about earning more money. He of course gives tips for freelancers but I am not a freelancer. (That would be so cool as a teacher...I will teach 18 students this year for this amount. Every time you the contract changes my money goes up! Haha!) I already mentioned my selling old books via bookscouter.com and my intention to sell old DVDs but as Ramit points out I am going to eventually run out of things to sell.
Obviously as a teacher I am never going to earn a whole lot more than I earn now. I have my Masters degree and am at the highest pay for my field. Unfortunately it is not that much. So unless I go into administration (a lot of work for not much more than I am making now) I need to think of more ways to make money.
Ramit suggests perhaps selling something that you make. You need to be sure that it is something that people want. I am not sure what I can do that people want. I am a very creative person in general but not specifically you know? I was browsing blogs the other day and so many people are so amazingly talented. The artists, the jewelry makers - these people can really sell their wares. I don't have wares. I wish I did. I have hobbies but I guess I don't make as many as some people. I guess more importantly I am not sure if people want what I do. My family of course thinks what I make or do is great but what are they going to do tell me how awful I am?
I wish I could get paid to read. Is there a job to pay readers?