Category Archives: “KA-CHING!”

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“The Double D’S; Debt Detective”

"KA-CHING!"

“The Double D’S; Debt Detective”

“As of my last post back in God Knows When!?”, I have managed to remove three fast loans from my profile…until three weeks ago.

 

“WHERE HAVE MY DREAMS GONE TO NOW? TROUBLE BREWED IN MY HORIZON”

When we least expect things to go wrong…they sometimes do. My spouse had to go into the hospital for surgery and she would not get admitted unless a down payment was given ($3000) of the unknown total amount for the surgery. I am still waiting for the total as I write this. She has been out of work recovering for the past two weeks, today was her first day back. Hope she is handling it well. Even with health insurance (she had a $5000 deductible) things can get really expensive when it comes to anything dealing with medicine.

 

BACK ON THE SADDLE AGAIN

“Let me get my sorry ass out of the hole and off the dirt again.” I am determined to make 2015 my year out; no matter what gets in my way…Okay-okay, so long GOD gives me the strength. So…I had to renew my fast loans and know I am re-figuring how to get out of them for good. I was down for a while having to get them and having to figure a way to stay on top without filing for bankruptcy. I have decided to call on my creditors and inform them why I am not going to pay up until the following month, hope they understand.

 

NEW PLAN OF ACTION

I am selling my 2005 Dodge truck and hoping to get around $6000 at least. I have been busily building wooden outdoor decorations for the holidays and that has proved fruitful, at least for now. I also wrote two books, “Halloween Projects for the Family” and “Christmas Projects for the Family”. They both can be found in Amazon.com using the titles. I hope someone discovers them soon. I have two projects pending for Christmas, they are the characters from Frozen totaling $250 profits. I intend to save money from all those projects, selling metals, and what not until I have enough to pay off one of those fast loans. Of course, selling the truck will save me, but I intend to go after all my bills one at a time until I have no more. Tomorrow I intend to refinance my little girl’s car through our credit union in hopes to save a little there as well. We will see what comes down by the end of this month.

 

Best wishes to you all strangers and best of luck.

C-Ya Later!

“THE DOUBLE D’S; DEBT DETECTIVE, ZEROING IN ON DEBT!”

"KA-CHING!"

 

“THE DOUBLE D’S; DEBT DETECTIVE, ZEROING IN ON DEBT!”

I have taken an unprecedented approach to ending my debt and towards financial freedom using multiple avenues that I hope will work. From quitting work to collect my 401 k saving, to selling aluminum cans and metals, to adding ads to my websites that might generate some much needed income. I am cutting back on some of those automated paid creditors and removing some altogether. Please sit down and take a short trip with me. You might find some of this interesting.

 

 NUMERO UNO

The first order of business today will be to do away from my cable company. They kept charging me more and more for internet use and “HD” TV. I have an old antenna that should give me the regular channels that we normally see. I will keep the internet connection unless I find a better deal elsewhere. The internet is something that both my daughter and I use on a regular basis. I intend to save a little bit over $50 dollars every month.

 

NUMBER TWO

My sights are set for Sprint phones services. I get charged $270 dollars every month for three phones. I can get a better deal from T mobile for $140 and I get to keep my old phones and number. That’s a saving of $130 every month.

 

NUMBER THREE

I said goodbye to the gym for a saving of $10 dollars a month. $10 dollars might not sound like a lot of money, but if you do the math it will add up. That’s $120 a year.

 

ADDING THE +’S

All this adds up to $190 extra dollars every month, but again; some of this numbers are are estimates and I will have to wait a couple of days to find out the real numbers. At $190 extra I can zero in on a fast loan with a $170 dollar monthly payment. I intend to double the payments to remove them as soon as I possible can. The estimated time is five months, but we might be able to get rid of them in as little as three months if we bonus at work.

 

MAKING MONEY

I intend to invest in a pallet of stuff that I can sell in the Flea Markets next month. I have read that such pallets go anywhere from $350 to $500 dollars, but the return in investments are almost three times higher. I am also adding things on Craigslist that I can sell without too much trouble. I will continue to save up on aluminum cans and other metals to cash in on them. As I get more ideas I will list them on this portion of the blog and if you have any money making ideas, please feel free to add them to the comment section. That would be great. “Okay-okay…”

“THE DOUBLE D’S; DEBT DETECTIVE, ZEROING IN ON DEBT!”

Let me get at them!

“THE DOUBLE D’S; DEBT DETECTIVE, DOING WHAT’S BEST FOR YOU.”

"KA-CHING!", ,

“THE DOUBLE D’S; DEBT DETECTIVE, DOING WHAT’S BEST FOR YOU.”

 

 

THE PLAN

March the 7th 2014; its Friday afternoon and today was my last day at the Home Depot a place where I had worked for fifth-teen plus years.

My goal; to climb out of a debt hole and to eradicate debt in my life for good.

The plan; collect my 401 k savings and pay off as much creditors as possible. Target the least amounts, payoff, and continue every month until all are paid off. “Sounds simple enough?” Here we go…

“THE DOUBLE D’S; DEBT DETECTIVE, DOING WHAT’S BEST FOR YOU.”

 

 

THE WAITING

I would have to wait five weeks in order to collect my 401 k savings and then the plan was to return to work doing the same, earning the same as before…or so I thought.

In my past post I mentioned that my bank account was averaging a -$1139 every month without me knowing it. I renewed four of my ugly fast loans to quiet things down and to give me a months’ worth of time to plan. A week before my last day I submitted my four week vacation pay to help me out during my time off (something that took three weeks to get) so much for making associates a top priority and helping out. For five weeks I would keep busy and earn money on the side.

 

 

HARD EARNED MONEY

During my first week from work I stopped some of my automatically paid bills. I tore apart my old 1967 Dodge Swept line truck. I had being practicing welding on it for a couple of months. Needless to say, took me two weeks to cut it up to sizes that I could manage and lift by myself. I burrowed my older brother’s truck and made four hauls to the metal scrap yard. I totaled $250 dollars which I deposited in the bank. To add to that, I had five large trash bags of aluminum cans which netted $35.   Because my vacation pay didn’t get in as expected I had to sell my welder and other things which also added to the pie equaling around $500 dollars. So far I have earned two weeks’ pay by doing this (I get paid $680 every two weeks). I will miss the things I sold, but I intend to beat my debt.

 

 

 FUTURE PLANNING

In the third week out; I invested $89 dollars in this program called “Advocare” that allows me to collect 20% of the sales that I make. I will start to sale health care products mostly online in hopes of making a few more dollars every month. Please take the time to check out my ADVOCARE site. I have personally started to use the sample they sent me and know people here at my new workplace that are using their products with really good results. Furthermore, I have added Google Adsense and have become an Amazon Affiliate. I have added their links in my other site called smoke fire spice.com. The site is about outdoor cooking and barbecue. As of today, I have one week with them. Will see how it rolls. One more thing; I got my vacation pay at the end of week three.

 

 

FEELING THE FUTURE…THE POWER OF INSTINCT

In the middle of December I went over to the competitor and told them I wanted to move over. There weren’t any opening then and probably would not be any until the end of February or beginning of March. I was preparing for the worst possible scenario back at the H.D. Call it “gut instinct or a mother’s intuition” etc…you know what I mean.

In the end of my third week from work I got that call for an interview. There were two full time openings and I was in. Because of my job experiences and because people who have known me that work there, I got the Department Manager opening. Took me an hour of interviewing, but in the end I was told to start Monday the following week. I was excited and best of all, I was even getting a tiny bit more than before.

 

 

DOORS CLOSE SO THAT OTHERS CAN OPEN

The fifth week is here and I have received what little I had in my 401 k saving, but it is enough alongside my not having to pay for health ins and other bills to bring down my -$1339 per month to a +$170. I will start zeroing in on other credit cards and any unnecessary bills to reduce my debt and increase the + amount.

 

 

LIFE’S JOURNEY

Should my last day be today I would feel confident and at peace to meet our Maker. I have been a good person all my life or at the very least…I cannot recall when was the last time I thought something awful about another person. Helping people here and there. Been a Big Brother to both man and woman. My old military friends called it dumb and some women call me “Goodie Good Shoes”, whatever the term; it is who I am.

 

In closing,  if you like shopping in Amazon.com, should you go to my site about barbecue called smoke fire spice .com (a future experiment), if you link to Amazon.com through there I will receive up to four percent of anything you buy. How cool is that!? You can help out by just doing that, it’s a donation without really giving out any money. Thanks in advance and should you want to put in your ten cents of thought, go ahead. I would be delighted to hear from you, whether it be your own story or that of another; it would be my pleasure to lend an EAR out.

Till next time…I’m going out to the study room to beat on some numbers!

 

 

“THE DOUBLE D’s; DEBT DETECTIVE”

"KA-CHING!",

“THE DOUBLE D’s; DEBT DETECTIVE”

 

 

THE LAST DAY…

March the 7th 2014; it is Friday and its my last day at work. For those who have checked out my Google page, you may know I have worked at the Home Depot for the past 15 plus years. I had to quit to collect my 401 k saving to get out of a hole; sure I could have gotten a loan, but doing so would have put me further in the hole in the long run.

 

 

HIGH HOPES?

I had spoken to our store manager when I gave my two week notice and he assured me not to worry. My job was secured and everything would be fine. So everything was fine until my last day there; Friday. I was introduced to my replacement and was told to train her and I might add; a different position would be created upon my return…but I would be considered a “NEWBIE”. As everybody knows, a new hire does not have any benefits and the pay is at minimal. My fate was sealed.

 

 

THE BET’S

Throughout those two weeks the bets were rolling as to whether the boss would keep his end of the deal or not. 90 plus percent of the people working there and my gut told me he would not. His past performance with people was negative; he was the “Give me-give me” type. So it came to no surprise on my last day, yet he continued to encourage me not to worry about it.

 

 

THE HORROR…

Its Friday afternoon, I am at my home and the lights go out… “Many things race through my mind” I don’t have a job anymore, did I pay the light bill? , did the check bounce? , it’s the end of the world, I DON’T HAVE A JOB ANYMORE etc, etc… and in the end; what the hell am I going to do. What appeared to be an eternity was one horrific hour that the lights where out. I just sat there on the sofa looking at that black television screen with pounding thoughts of impending doom. Not having enough money to pay the light bill, the water bill, the house bill, and way in the back was that terrible thought…not been able to pay my little girl’s Beetle.

 

 

THE HERBIE BEETLE

Back in 2012 I had gotten a loan from my 401 k savings and put a down payment on a car for my little girl. She couldn’t drive alone yet; she only had a driver’s permit. Also, we were going out of state to see the Grand Canyon and other sites. It was their first out of state vacation. I couldn’t resist the Beetle. My little girl loves Beetles and I knew she would adore this one. It came from the factory looking like “Herbie”. I had decided to buy her a new car instead of a used car because I didn’t have to worry too much about the car breaking down and buying her a car meant freedom to me. In the past I had worked the same schedule at work (4 am-1 pm) so that I could be there for her after school. I would pick her up from school, school events, and cook for her afterwards. “She calls me the chef, butler, and dishwasher dad among other titles.” What can I say? Every parent will do just about anything for their children and so did I.

 

 

REFLECTIONS

FLASHBACK TO the winter of 1985 West Germany; it had been the coldest winter since WWII; low crawling to an enemy position. Took me a good hour to go unnoticed. Mission accomplished. Desert Storm Arabia; the deep desert in 130 degree heat. Mission accomplished. I could make a list from repelling off Black Hawks and mountain sides to paragliding in the coastal waters of Costa Brava, Spain. “Message?” I got the will to succeed when I put my mind into something.

 

 

LIGHTS ON

And the lights come back on, both in the house and in my mind. I got a plan to climb out of that rabbit hole and a plan to eradicate debt in my life for good.  “THE DOUBLE D’s; DEBT DETECTIVE” is on the move!

“What are your thoughts on this? Feel free to add your ten cents worth.” Thanks in advance.

In the meantime…time is a wasting and Alice in some Wonderland awaits with a life line…if not; that is okay too. See you on the other side, I’m clawing and climbing myself out!

 

 

 

THE PROBLEM WITH AUTOMATIC

"KA-CHING!", ,

“THE PROBLEM WITH AUTOMATIC”

 

Sure its nice to have a car with an automatic transmission. Just shift it into gear and Zoo-om! It is also nice to have your bills paid automatically from your bank account…unless you forget about them and they start to charge more over time.

 

That is what happened to me several months ago. Over time my automatically paid bills where charging me more for this or that and the sad thing was, I didn’t even know until I had racked up a -$1139 bill ever single month! Ouch! I thought to myself the usual stuff people probably think of at times like these. “What the hell!?” The bills come in, the bank pays for them and charges our account for fees etc…every month the process continues. And on top of that came those really late bank statements each with their own bills for insufficient funds. Amazing my credit remains good.

It was heartbreaking and an eye opener for me. I quickly renewed some of my fast loans to quiet things down; there were four of them in total and I sat down to investigate the matter with a magnifying glass and into great detail I might add.

 

My start of my investigation took me to the bank, which I was lucky enough to personally meet the bank manager who was very helpful. You see, I am not the primary person to the bank account, so I was never given access to the bank account so that I could keep a better eye at it through on-line services. She logged me in and gave me a code so I could precisely do that. In the past I have had no such luck.

 

My investigation into past withdrawals and deposits led me to realize that my automatically deposited bi-monthly paycheck had shrunk from my usual $898 to just $630 dollars. Furthermore, my spouse who would also deposit $900 dollars at the same time in the past, was not depositing that amount any more. She had been depositing $680 at max for a very long time. In my defense, the rising cost of healthcare in the form of Health Insurances and I had bought a laptop and pad for our little girl for school, which was been charged to my paycheck every time I got paid and before it hit the bank. Furthermore, I had taken out a loan from my 401 K saving to go on a vacation the past year. It all added up to my shorter paycheck and since it was deposited automatically; I never knew until now. On my spouse’s side…she just likes money in her pockets. I don’t blame her; who doesn’t like money in their pockets?

 

That alone is a difference of $488, I had to find out where the remaining $651 dollars have being going to. During the past year our phone company, our cable, and other bills had grown to account for the $651 dollars. Now that remained was how to get out of that hole, which I knew was going to get deeper given enough time. I refused to renew bigger loans to catch up, instead I talked to my boss at work. I would quit work long enough to collect the remaining 401 k balance and use that money to pay off as much bills as I possibly could. I would no longer have extra money taken out of my paycheck and I would simply pay the required 30% tax to the tax man at the end of the year. It is the plan to date.

 

The problem with automatic payments can be catastrophic, but as long as you are totally in control and keep track of spending it can be a great time saving tool. What are your thoughts on this? Keep in touch to see what my plans are and how I intend to beat the -$1139 dollar hole, even up with it, and start taking control of my horrendous dept.

“THE PROBLEM WITH AUTOMATIC”  Time is a wasting…See you soon.