I think I realized why I was able to pay off those credit cards this month. I got a phone call today from a family I sometimes stay by for shabbos. Things are... not good. She wants a divorce, but her husband won't give her one. He's out of work again. This is a fairly frequent occurrence. He's a hard and dedicated worker but somehow jobs never quite seem to work out for long.
He told her that they don't have enough money to make chicken soup for shabbos (or for her to go to the doctor), but he's planning on taking some $5,000 get-rich-quick course that teaches real estate investment techniques. I could hear the hatred in her voice when she told me of this plan.
The thing, though, that really frightens me is that this man who firmly believes in daas torah wouldn't listen when his rabbi sought him out to tell him that he shouldn't go to this "investment" class. His faith was the only thing he had left-- I'm more than a little worried about him. He's a good man, but his career and family life seem to be in tatters. I can only hope that his not allowing himself to be guided by his rav doesn't mean that he's losing faith entirely.
They are two lovely people who never should have married. I adore them both (when they're not together in the same room).
There is nothing that I can do except offer to be a buffer between them on shabbos and perhaps provide some comfort for their children.
I've offered to ferry the kids to museums and take them to the movies. Coraline is still in the theaters, I think. I haven't seen the movie, but I loved the book. I didn't think there was anything in there that either parent would find objectionable. (They don't have a television in the house, but they do allow movies and secular books.)
I think that this might be a good way to spend some of the money that I'm no longer wasting on credit card interest. (Don't worry, I'm still going to put the rest of the "extra" towards my car loan each month.) It won't really help anything, but it might make the children smile a little. If I could make them forget, even just for an hour, maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
tax refunds and bribes
My tax refunds showed up in my bank account yesterday, so I paid off all my credit cards in full (except for the 3.99% one that I'm treating as a bank loan). That leaves me with my mortgage (5.5%), my car loan (5.99%), the loan from the Bank of Mom and Dad, and that 3.99%-until-I-pay-it off credit card.
The plan is to transfer my credit card payments to my car loan and get that paid off a year and a half early. Then I can decide between putting the car loan payment amount towards the Bank of Mom and Dad, the mortgage or that last low-interest credit card.
But... I was feeling good from having paid those cards off and... (sigh) this is what got me in trouble in the first place. I started a new "I want" list. There's that tznius flannel nightgown I've been eyeing for ages. I also wanted some new pairs of stockings. And a pair of brown boots. I also want a new laptop and a digital camera. And to get my hair colored again.
Of course, my emergency fund is pathetically low, so I really need to start paying attention to that too. It's really not fair to keep going back to the Bank of Mom and Dad every time something breaks at the Lovely Lemon. (I keep telling myself that nothing else can possibly go wrong at the Lemon, but then a pipe bursts or the oven breaks or.... Come to think of it, I really should be saving up for a new oven.)
The nightgown just went on sale and I'm tired of making sure that my skirts are long enough to cover the holes in my stockings, so I treated myself to the nightgown and four pairs of cotton stockings. $500 of the remainder went into my emergency account. I deserve a little bit of reward for paying off those cards, don't I? And while I don't actually need a flannel nightgown, it would make me happy (and make me feel better about turning the thermostat down to 60 degrees at night). The new stockings should have been purchased months ago. I should get some new nylons, for those times when I don't want to look like a Bais Yaakov-wanna-be, but I hate the fact that they develop runs after only being worn once or twice. Stockings make much more sense.
The boots will be my bribe for next month... If I'm good (defined as not charging anything to the credit card that I can't pay off that same month and putting an extra $150 towards my car loan), then I can have the boots. After that, the "I wants" get a little more expensive. I can't exactly treat myself to a third of a digital camera as my monthly bribe. I'll have to figure something out.
I've also been toying with the idea of creating a tzedaka account to make it easier to keep track of my charitable contributions. I sent out a bunch of post-dated checks at the beginning of the year to each place, but I should probably start giving more since I'm having so much success paying things off.
The plan is to transfer my credit card payments to my car loan and get that paid off a year and a half early. Then I can decide between putting the car loan payment amount towards the Bank of Mom and Dad, the mortgage or that last low-interest credit card.
But... I was feeling good from having paid those cards off and... (sigh) this is what got me in trouble in the first place. I started a new "I want" list. There's that tznius flannel nightgown I've been eyeing for ages. I also wanted some new pairs of stockings. And a pair of brown boots. I also want a new laptop and a digital camera. And to get my hair colored again.
Of course, my emergency fund is pathetically low, so I really need to start paying attention to that too. It's really not fair to keep going back to the Bank of Mom and Dad every time something breaks at the Lovely Lemon. (I keep telling myself that nothing else can possibly go wrong at the Lemon, but then a pipe bursts or the oven breaks or.... Come to think of it, I really should be saving up for a new oven.)
The nightgown just went on sale and I'm tired of making sure that my skirts are long enough to cover the holes in my stockings, so I treated myself to the nightgown and four pairs of cotton stockings. $500 of the remainder went into my emergency account. I deserve a little bit of reward for paying off those cards, don't I? And while I don't actually need a flannel nightgown, it would make me happy (and make me feel better about turning the thermostat down to 60 degrees at night). The new stockings should have been purchased months ago. I should get some new nylons, for those times when I don't want to look like a Bais Yaakov-wanna-be, but I hate the fact that they develop runs after only being worn once or twice. Stockings make much more sense.
The boots will be my bribe for next month... If I'm good (defined as not charging anything to the credit card that I can't pay off that same month and putting an extra $150 towards my car loan), then I can have the boots. After that, the "I wants" get a little more expensive. I can't exactly treat myself to a third of a digital camera as my monthly bribe. I'll have to figure something out.
I've also been toying with the idea of creating a tzedaka account to make it easier to keep track of my charitable contributions. I sent out a bunch of post-dated checks at the beginning of the year to each place, but I should probably start giving more since I'm having so much success paying things off.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
tricky credit cards
I got an interesting reminder this month to keep my eyes open.
From http://www.lowcards.com/2009/01/credit-card-reward-programs-changing.html:
"This month, Chase added a $10 monthly fee and increased the minimum payment from 2 to 5% for cardholders who have carried a large balance for over two years and pay only the minimum each month. "While this minimum payment increase is good for forcing cardholders to pay down their balance, this monthly fee has created an outcry from affected cardholders," says Hardekopf."
It's a good thing that I've started paying attention to the fine print the credit card companies have started sending out. I was one of those who took advantage of Chase's 3.99% balance transfer rate until you pay it off in full. I canceled the card last month when they tried to raise the rate on new purchases. Even though I didn't use that card for anything except the 3.99% balance transfer rate, it was annoying me that they'd raise my rate when I hadn't done anything wrong.
It's a good thing I did, because I'm one of those people who carry a large balance (hey, 3.99% is barely over inflation-- it's lower than my mortgage, so it's going to get paid off last) and make a small payment each month. I would NOT have been happy to see a $10/month fee and increased minimum payment.
Of course, all of my cards are raising their rates now. I guess that's a good thing. It'll encourage me to pay off all my cards (except the one that at a lower interest rate than my mortgage) and stop putting on more than I can pay off in full each month.
I have this bad habit of starting to carry a balance around August each year and not pay it off until I get my tax refund.
From http://www.lowcards.com/2009/01/credit-card-reward-programs-changing.html:
"This month, Chase added a $10 monthly fee and increased the minimum payment from 2 to 5% for cardholders who have carried a large balance for over two years and pay only the minimum each month. "While this minimum payment increase is good for forcing cardholders to pay down their balance, this monthly fee has created an outcry from affected cardholders," says Hardekopf."
It's a good thing that I've started paying attention to the fine print the credit card companies have started sending out. I was one of those who took advantage of Chase's 3.99% balance transfer rate until you pay it off in full. I canceled the card last month when they tried to raise the rate on new purchases. Even though I didn't use that card for anything except the 3.99% balance transfer rate, it was annoying me that they'd raise my rate when I hadn't done anything wrong.
It's a good thing I did, because I'm one of those people who carry a large balance (hey, 3.99% is barely over inflation-- it's lower than my mortgage, so it's going to get paid off last) and make a small payment each month. I would NOT have been happy to see a $10/month fee and increased minimum payment.
Of course, all of my cards are raising their rates now. I guess that's a good thing. It'll encourage me to pay off all my cards (except the one that at a lower interest rate than my mortgage) and stop putting on more than I can pay off in full each month.
I have this bad habit of starting to carry a balance around August each year and not pay it off until I get my tax refund.
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