We've been spending a bit more than we should, and a car and a tooth misbehaved, but after Grump cashed in some savings it appeared we were FINALLY getting our debt under control. Then just this past weekend, while we were in Jacksonville visiting Grandma and Grandpa, we got a fateful text. Sweetie's sister in the Philippines needs to go to the hospital for some expensive surgery, again.
The only silver lining in this cloud is that medical costs in the Philippines are much less expensive than here in the American Empire. We estimate our total costs will be less than $2,000.00. We already sent $1,500.00 tonight, wired over via Western Union.
So what are we to do about this? Grump considers the sister a "financial black hole", but even he is not heartless enough not to help her.
I suppose the only humane response to this is to put aside the financial concerns for the moment, and just thank God that we have the savings to be able to help her. The fact that we seem to pay out thousands of dollars in medical costs for her every other year is a bit irritating; the fact that we are still stuck paying off some of her STUPID husband's debts is extremely irritating. (Only $1,000.00 left on that mess, thank God!) I wish she could somehow get her life together and stop being such a problem, but honestly I'm not sure she ever will. And despite Grump's bitching, we will help her.
Maybe someday Grump will finally learn that it is not his money that he is saving, but rather God's money that has been entrusted to him, and that it is truly a BLESSING to be able to help others?
If you're the praying type, (and if you're not, WHY THE HELL NOT?), please pray for us, particularly Sweetie's sister, that her physical (and financial) problems heal, and that Grump changes his attitude, and realizes what a gifted position in life he has.
Monday, June 22, 2015
Sunday, June 7, 2015
Weekends and Credit Cards, Part 05
Due to some bad luck, (house and car repairs), and some "high living", (a trip to Callaway Gardens), our AMEX credit card balance was skyrocketing to the moon! Applying some of the $7,000.00 Grump took out of "retirement savings", (NOT a tax qualified account!), to this debt helped knock it back a bit, as does the money Grump earns pounding away at Clickworker. (Some of that $7,000.00 will go towards rebuilding our short-term emergency fund.)
At the moment, our official AMEX card balance is about $1,200.00 . However, we went to Atlanta this weekend, and ......
Our first (and supposedly ONLY) stop was the Atlanta Botanical Garden, where we had a great time. We have memberships there, and all our admissions would have been free, except Old Grump forgot to bring a guess pass for Lola, so it cost $20.00 for her to get in. (We paid for this expense with cash!)
After walking around the Gardens for hours, we were super-duper hungry. Sweetie wanted to go to The Cheesecake Factory at Lennox Square, so off we went. Our late lunch/early dinner was very good and very filling, but it did cost nearly $90.00, (including tip), and that went straight to the AMEX card. After eating Sweetie wanted to go shopping; specifically, she wanted to buy some shorts for Kuya at Brooks Brothers. The shorts weren't cheap - being over $40.00! - and of course that expense also went on the AMEX. If you add in a pizza night and some grocery shopping earlier in the week, we easily added over $200.00 to the card.
Including pending expenses from this weekend, I estimate our credit card balance to be about $1,500.00 . Not horrible, but certainly not good.
I've been trying to limit the AMEX card to just car stuff, (gasoline, maintenance, and repairs), but life, and, quite frankly, our own choices, keeps throwing other expenses our way. Will we ever knock our balance down to zero, and STOP paying the ridiculous 17.5% interest on our unpaid balance?
I can control my own spending, more-or-less, but there are five people in this family, including two who are just young children. We do what we can, but short of draconian measures it's hard to live on the salary of just one job. This isn't a plea for sympathy, just a statement of fact. As it is, we live better than 90% of the rest of the people on this planet, so we really have no complaints about our lifestyle. It would just be nice to eliminate that nagging last bit of credit card debt, and get that irritant out of our lives.
P.S. - 11/June/2015 update. Just this past Tuesday Grump broke a tooth whilest chewing on a cough drop. He went to the dentist today, and was told the tooth needed a crown, (cap). The total cost to us after insurance, which went right to our AMEX card, was $780.00 . Phooey!!
At the moment, our official AMEX card balance is about $1,200.00 . However, we went to Atlanta this weekend, and ......
Our first (and supposedly ONLY) stop was the Atlanta Botanical Garden, where we had a great time. We have memberships there, and all our admissions would have been free, except Old Grump forgot to bring a guess pass for Lola, so it cost $20.00 for her to get in. (We paid for this expense with cash!)
After walking around the Gardens for hours, we were super-duper hungry. Sweetie wanted to go to The Cheesecake Factory at Lennox Square, so off we went. Our late lunch/early dinner was very good and very filling, but it did cost nearly $90.00, (including tip), and that went straight to the AMEX card. After eating Sweetie wanted to go shopping; specifically, she wanted to buy some shorts for Kuya at Brooks Brothers. The shorts weren't cheap - being over $40.00! - and of course that expense also went on the AMEX. If you add in a pizza night and some grocery shopping earlier in the week, we easily added over $200.00 to the card.
Including pending expenses from this weekend, I estimate our credit card balance to be about $1,500.00 . Not horrible, but certainly not good.
I've been trying to limit the AMEX card to just car stuff, (gasoline, maintenance, and repairs), but life, and, quite frankly, our own choices, keeps throwing other expenses our way. Will we ever knock our balance down to zero, and STOP paying the ridiculous 17.5% interest on our unpaid balance?
I can control my own spending, more-or-less, but there are five people in this family, including two who are just young children. We do what we can, but short of draconian measures it's hard to live on the salary of just one job. This isn't a plea for sympathy, just a statement of fact. As it is, we live better than 90% of the rest of the people on this planet, so we really have no complaints about our lifestyle. It would just be nice to eliminate that nagging last bit of credit card debt, and get that irritant out of our lives.
P.S. - 11/June/2015 update. Just this past Tuesday Grump broke a tooth whilest chewing on a cough drop. He went to the dentist today, and was told the tooth needed a crown, (cap). The total cost to us after insurance, which went right to our AMEX card, was $780.00 . Phooey!!
Friday, June 5, 2015
Online Income Statement - May/2015
If you've read my Online Income Statement for April/2015, you'll already know that I'm concentrating solely on Clickworker now. All the other ways of "making money online" are a waste of time. at least for me, and at least at the moment.
Clickworker/UHRS has been good to me! These are the payments I received in May/2015:
May 6th - $6.81
May 14th - $23.97
May 20th - $30.19
May 29th - $50.56
This is a grand total of $111.53 for the month of May, which is WAY BETTER than anything else I've tried.
Also, notice that the amounts paid keep going up! This trend won't continue, of course, (I may never break $50.00 again), but I'll be very happy if I can average more than $30.00/week. Yeah, it's not a huge amount of money, but it sure beats the heck out of zero!
Let me repeat some of what I wrote last month. I truly believe Clickworker is the only website worth bothering with, and wrote a quick review of my experiences with it here, “http://buyingnirvana.com/words/clickworker-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/”. I would highly recommend everyone to give it a try. If you do decide to sign up, please consider doing so using my affiliate link, http://www.clickworker.com/become-a-clickworker?utm_source=765696&utm_campaign=CW4CW&utm_medium=email .
Clickworker/UHRS has been good to me! These are the payments I received in May/2015:
May 6th - $6.81
May 14th - $23.97
May 20th - $30.19
May 29th - $50.56
This is a grand total of $111.53 for the month of May, which is WAY BETTER than anything else I've tried.
Also, notice that the amounts paid keep going up! This trend won't continue, of course, (I may never break $50.00 again), but I'll be very happy if I can average more than $30.00/week. Yeah, it's not a huge amount of money, but it sure beats the heck out of zero!
Let me repeat some of what I wrote last month. I truly believe Clickworker is the only website worth bothering with, and wrote a quick review of my experiences with it here, “http://buyingnirvana.com/words/clickworker-the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly/”. I would highly recommend everyone to give it a try. If you do decide to sign up, please consider doing so using my affiliate link, http://www.clickworker.com/become-a-clickworker?utm_source=765696&utm_campaign=CW4CW&utm_medium=email .
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