My notice to credit card companies

Dear credit card companies:

I am done being a slave to you. You don't care about me you just care about how much money I'm going to give you. You are sneaky bastards. You hide behind complicated contracts so the consumer has no idea what they are actually signing up for. You hike interest rates for no reason. I'm looking at you Macys card. I always pay on time and you raised my interest rate for no reason. When I asked why you told me that everyone's interest rate went up.

You sit there and lie. You claim that it is important to do the best you can for your customer. It's quite insulting that you even pretend you care. You give politicians money so they won't pass laws that hurt your chances of screwing over the consumer. Why would a politician look out for our best interest when we are not funding their campaign for re-election? It's disgusting how much banks are tied up in our politics.

So this is me, telling you I'm done. We're done! Here's how I plan to finally be DONE with you:

The government is not going to put credit card companies and banks in their place but you can do something about it. Pay off your credit cards. I'm going to have to tighten my belt if I want to get this done but I know I can do it. I don't want to be giving banks my money. I want all that money I pay in interest to go into my bank account. It may take me a few years and I'm going to have to make sacrifices but to be free from debt will feel so amazing. Then I'm going to use my cash back card and pay off my balance every month (I'm doing this with one card right now) so the bank will be paying me to use their card.

I will never use Bank of America. If you can, use a local bank. You'll be helping local businesses and helping to end the tight grip these huge banks have on our society. Learn more here.

I'm working hard on setting up an emergency fund. This is one reason why I got into credit card debt. I would have a big car repair bill and I would charge it because I didn't have the money in savings. No more!

I feel like a movement is starting. People are tired of being a slave to banks and credit cards. The government is not going to help us but we can help ourselves.

Ginny gets cooking

My car is causing me way too much stress.  I planned on dropping my car off at the auto body shop to have the damage appraised yesterday but when I went to get in my car I noticed my tire was flat.  I haven't driven my car since the accident so I'm wondering if the accident had something to do with this.  I'm just so aggravated because if it wasn't from the accident I'm going to be paying for an new tire.  I have a little money in savings which should cover a tire but I just feel like my car is this giant money pit eating my finances.  I would love to get a new car but I don't have the money for a down payment right now and any money that I try to save keeps going towards this damn car.

Ok ok enough whining.  I'm going to have AAA put on my spare and then I will get my car fixed and hope that they determine the accident caused the flat.  That's all I can do.

The rest of the weekend wasn't so bad.  I made some chicken and orzo soup and it came out really good.

I've been trying to cook more on Saturdays and Sundays so I'll have left overs for the week.  I think I'm going to attempt egg salad today.  This could turn out bad but I hope it turns out delicious.  I've been really good about bringing my lunch to work.  I spend too much money buying lunch at work.  The past two weeks I've brought my lunch from home 4 out of 5 days.  This week I'm aiming for all 5 days.

Friday night I worked late and crashed when I got home.  I slept a good 14 hours and felt great, until I discovered the flat tire.  Saturday night I went out with Dave to our new favorite bar, Scholars.  Tonight I'm having dinner with Melissa.  And it's daylight savings!  Gaining an hour of sleep gets two thumbs up from this girl.

These faces are related.

I caught up with a few of my cousins this weekend over dinner at Margaritas.

I think it's a contest in life.  How many weird faces can we make in pictures?  Answer: a ton.

We also went through 3 baskets of chips.  Delicious and disgusting at the same time.  I love spending time with my family.

I downloaded the Hipstamatic app for my iPhone.  I hate buying apps because there are so many free good ones but I really really wanted this app.  I am obsessed with camera apps for my phone.  Look me up on Instagram under Ginntastic (duh).

This weekend flew by!  I was not very good with bringing my lunch to work last week but I did track all my spending and let me tell you, the money I spend on going out it is way too much.  I think tracking my spending is going to help me rein it in.  It's a new week.  I'm going to conquer lunch.  No eating out for lunch this week period.

Money goals for August

Money has been tighter than I would like around here lately.  I have no one to blame but myself.  I think it's time to set down some goals - short term as well as long term.  I'm a visual person and if I write something down I'm more likely to stick to it.  I've decided to set a few goals for myself for the month of August to help me cut back my expenses and save money.

August goals

1. Track every penny.  I need to see what I'm spending money on each month.  I know I'm spending too much money on stuff I don't need (like beer.....)
2. Clean out closet and sell what I don't wear.  I have some clothes that still have tags on them!
3. Pay off any fines on my library card so I can start using it again.  I might not even owe anything.
4. Add up all my credit card debt so I know how much I actually owe.
5. Put $50.00 into my emergency fund.
6. Bring my lunch to work four days a week.

I'll be going out with friends for drinks on Friday.  I'm bringing cash and when that runs out no more drinks.  Living in Boston, drinks aren't cheap, and even worse I live in an area where the bars serve mostly pricey - but delicious, craft beer.  I'm hoping using cash rather than my debt card will help me reign in my spending on beer.

Bring it on August.  I'm ready to save some money.

The semi-dramatic death of a laptop

My laptop is dead and I cried.  I cried because I don't have the money to get a new one and probably won't for a while.  This would be the laptop that I had fixed only a few months ago.  My budget is already super tight right now and I'm afraid of what other black money hole is going to open up in my life.

Last night there was a state of emergency declared in Massachusetts.  Western Mass was hit by at least two tornadoes.  People are dead and others have lost everything they own, and I'm crying over my laptop like a giant jerk.

I'm not usually scared of thunder and lightning but last night I was jumping and yelping.  I came back upstairs from moving my laundry and the storm had turned pretty bad in only a few minutes.  I was getting ready to turn off and unplug my computer when a huge bolt of lightning hit nearby and that was all it took.  My laptop was plugged in, there was a power surge and now it's fried.  If I had thought to unplug it a minute earlier I wouldn't have been weeping over my dead laptop.

I cry when I get frustrated.  I suppose that's better than punching or kicking things.  It's just the way I react when I'm really angry and upset.  I got it out of my system after a few minutes.  I won't be able to get a new laptop for a while but I refuse to use my credit card.  I'm going to save up and when I have the money, I'll buy a new one.  This is going to suck but I can't keep falling back on credit cards to get me out of situations like this.  I'll never pay them off if I keep doing that. 

A laptop is not a necessity but dear God I'm going to miss having a computer at home.  I can still get online at work and on my phone.  The weekends will be hard because I tend to watch a lot of Netflix instant.  I'll probably pick up a new hobby or perhaps obsessively clean my apartment out of boredom.  Most likely I'll sleep a lot.

Desperately

I desperately need a hair cut.  My hair is at a length where it's getting stuck in things.  This is not fun.  I'm quite broke at the moment though so if anyone is good with scissors and fine,wavy hair, please let me know.  I'll pay you in bubble gum and mac & cheese.

I have to come up with $870.00 this month.  There was a little mistake last year with paying for my parking spot that neither I nor the woman I rent the spot from noticed until I went to renew my lease.  So I have a double payment of $435.00 this month.  I'm freaking out a bit and praying to the money Gods that I can somehow manage to live very frugally the month of June and come up with this money.  The upcoming wedding I'm going to and the $105.00 I owe for my NKOTBSB ticket are pretty much giving me panic attacks.

Looks like June is the month of boxed wine and crazy long hair.