starting over AGAIN!

I am having to start all over again, I am still wanting to be out of debt before I am thirty. That way I am not carrying my twenty year old mistakes into my thirties. to do that though is going to be tough. One of my mistakes is renting furniture, I know that I am paying a lot for rented furniture over paying cash but we could not afford all at once to buy beds for the children and a washer and dryer so I am stuck with. I did however make the decision to get rid of my rented bed and I am sharing a bed with my daughter now ( she is five ) I also share a room with both my kids so it was okay. I am currently having to pay more for the rent since my mom lost her job. I am also having to pay out of pocket about 150 a month for my sons treatment for his eyes since insurance does not cover autism. needles to say we are living below poverty level and trying to raise two special needs kids and get out of debt at the same time. i will continue to post as things come up for better or worse.

selling avon

Well I started selling avon last week and did better than expected for my first order, so I am hoping that it continues to go well. I am planning on looking at stores to rent out next summer, I am going to work my tale off this winter and next spring to see that it happens. I am taking the training courses and listening to my upline, I am also still selling items on ebay, and I am hoping to break into the candle business soon. with all the different ways of making money I am hoping to eventually start paying down my debt so that I can buy a home for my kids.

countdown to something new

next week I am able to start a new project, I am going to be able to order the candles, and other merchandise and hopefully get my website up and running, I am hoping to generate enough money this way to start paying my debts off. I have realized that I have a lot to look forward to in the future and I would like to be able to start over.The best way to do that is to pay off the old debt I had with my ex husband so that it does not hold me back.

Playing the waiting game

I am waiting on payday,then I will be able to stock my store, order my candles and hopefully get somewhere with avon. I hope something happens soon, being bored is bad enough, I am bored and broke

trying something again

I am going to try to sell avon as well as do the flea market and ebay. I am hoping that if I doenough things to generate income something will happen and I will get out of debt. It seems as if everyday I am finding new debts and no answers. I am glad that I gave myself three years because it will take all three to get started.

slowly getting nowhere

I have done everything this summer that I could to get extra money to pay bills and all I have managed to do is get further behind, I am going to attempt to again open a home daycare with low rates to help those that need daycare and can't pay a lot and hope that I can earn a little something on the side so that I can take care of my kids myself and pay my bills. i take one small step forward and two huge steps back everytime.

taking one step forward and then 2 steps back

I received my child support today, yea! it is always good to get money, I used every bit of it to pay back a loan I had out from two weeks ago ( i had to feed my kids) so I am going to renew the loan so that I can get clothes for my children and food for them ( school starts in 2 days, and they have outgrown everything and have to take their lunches) So I am hoping to go back to the flea market this weekend with more stuff and use that money to cover the bank.

living REAL simple (help I need a life saver)

When going over finances again i realized that there is not a whole lot of room for anything. I am just talking about basic necessites, clothes for the kids, haircut for my son before school starts. My downfall is that we rent furniture, nothing extravagant. the table we eat on, the beds that three of us sleep on a washer and dryer. we cannotget finanaced and we cannot do without until we save up for it, which would never happen so we rent. I helped a little bit with that last week when they came and got my bed, now I am sleeping on my daughters bed with her in the kids room. I have sold almost all of my clothes, my lamp, my jewelry box, some of the kids toys, some of their clothes, our books for the most part, some of our vhs tapes. Next weekend i am going back to the flea market to try and sell everything else that hasn't been sold yet. I am trying to get out of debt, I just buy what is needed not wanted, I am not buying school clothes this year, I only bought what I thought they would need on the school supply list. I had to write a check last friday so we could eat, now i am in the red at the bank, this week every bit of money I get isgoing to a loan I had to get last month to buy food ( we are feeding seven) and pay some bills. I know that i am lucky because i still have a roof over my head and i have a job interview today. I just think it is ironic that by trying to spend less and live as simple as i can i am getting even more in debt, now it is to the point that I can't provide basic neccestites for my children. I have tried to use local charities for them and they give me the third degree and assume that because Ilive with my mom (who financially is in the same boat) that I should not need help. giving up my bed has helped we are saving a 140 a month now. i just do not see it because i never had it to begin with.

results of a long weekend

Well we took a van load of stuff to the swap meet on sat and then again on sunday and managed to make about 125 dollars for both days. we are so far behind with utilities, banks because of checks that are out and life in general that the money is already gone. I put some in my bank to cover it and the rest went for furniture payments. Our downfall is renting furniture, butit is all furniture that we need, like beds to sleep on and dressers to use. But I realized that I do not need a bed so I am giving mine back to the rental place on thursday, the bed, the dresser, two nightstands and a hamper all one suit, all going back. It will save us about 140 a month, which will be seen just as soon as we get caught up. we are going back this weekend.

trying something new

Well I have everything in the living room priced and ready to go tomorrow. I am going to the local flea market and try to make enough to pay one bill off and buy food this week. If tomorrow goes well I am going to do this every weekend. I feel optimistic about it, but then I am an optimist. I can't believe how much stuff we have, even after giving four car loads to good will we still have about 12 or 13 large containers full of stuff, I also found some real bargains this week at thrift stores and I know I can mark it up and get a good profit. I have always loved going to garage sales and thrift stores, I love hunting for bargains, I just never knew what to do with the stuff I get piled up with, now I know, I am going to make it a business. It will be fun, I can get out of debt faster and then the collection calls will stop. And I can stay home with my children.
It is a win win for everhbocy. The hardest part will be waking up at 3:45 in the morning to make it there by 4:30 so we can get a spot. I am going to stock up on Vault.

Finding new ways

Well selling on EBay is going slow but I am going to keep doing it because it is fun and it allows me to make enough to pay my seller fees and get the little necessities that we need. I have also discovered a flea market that is run like the old ones i used to go to when I was little. So this weekend I am going to check it out. I have done a bit of research and have found out that buying cheap and selling for a bit more at flea markets is a huge business with where I could possibly make enough money over two years to stay afloat and get out of debt. If it works out I will go there every weekend year round and report on my progress.

finding a hobby,making money

For right now it is more of a hobby, but I am trying to turn it into a full time job. I started Ebay again 9 days ago and opened my Ebay store 3 days ago. So far I have made about $40.I am excited and I am going to try to double that in a month. I am still broke but I am able to buy the necessities and that goes a long way when you have kids. I am going to use any money that I earn to pay off debt and buy the absolute necessary items. Today I used some of the earnings to buy laundry soap. That definitely classifies as a necessary item.

simple- still broke

I am still just buying what I have to have, just food, supplements for my children, shots for the dog, pet food, and I am paying furniture every other week and loans three times a month and I am paying my share of the rent.I am still broke and still worried. I tried get a job and realized that leaving my kids in daycare would be the worst thing I could do to them, so I did the next best thing. I hired myself. I am selling stuff on Ebay and I am going to open an Ebay store next week and hopefully be able to within a year make a small but nice income with it.That way I am home with my kids and can still take care of them.

still hanging on...barely

I am still looking for a job, I am still broke, I lay awake all night worrying about finances, how I am going to buy food for my kids, how I am going to buy school supplies etc. I used the little bit of money I saved up over the past week to buy dinner at the store for the past two nights, my sister got another loan and I used that to buy diapers for my daughter, dinner last night, and dog food, it took all of it so I am still broke, I am worried about buying the supplements for my children that they need next week. I am still looking for a job I applied at seven places this past week and I have four more applications to turn in today. I am going to hopefully get a job during the day and put the kids in daycare then I am going to also try to get on overnights somewhere for awhile and work both jobs until I out of this rut.

finding light at the end

I am very far from finding light at the end of my long dark tunnel, but I did find hope. My children are on special diets and I have always found it hard to put them in daycare for various reasons. My mom works at a daycare and they will take my children and I can bring their food, so now i am on a quest to find any job with any hours that is in my town so that if I have to I can walk to work. I am also going to find another job overnight to see if I can get out of debt at lightening speed so that I can save money, buy a house and live happily ever after.

still haven't bought anything

It has been about three days since I have bought anything and then the only thing I bought was food for dinner. I never leave the house hardly anymore it is easier to save money when you don't go anywhere. It is also better for my sanity to not have to take the kids anywhere. I am still saving a little bit everyday to pay bills. I am also still looking for a job. I have applied for two so far and have heard nothing back. i am trying to get a job before school starts so that I can buy school supplies and shoes for my children without having to get a loan. I am afraid I am going to have to get one anyway to cover bills that are going to be due end of the month.I did manage to pay off one of the beds last week. that brings our furniture bill down to $100 a week which saves us $160 a month. I am not going to really see it though because i have to pay back loans end of the month.

so far so good

so far this week I have managed to put at least $1 in savings everyday, I talked to my credit card company and they are not going to charge off my account, they are giving me 1 month to come up with about $130 to get caught up, then I will not use it, I am going to pay off my debt one bill at a time, I am clearing out the house of all the stuff i do not need and I am not buying anything unless I have an immediate need for it. The kids are going along fine with it, they are sharing a room now, and starting next month we will be splitting the bills 4 ways so I will be savings on rent and utilities. i am still looking for a job, it is going slow. I am hoping to have one before school starts. i feel better since we have less stuff in the house. too much stuff can suffocate you. Now everything has a place to go and I am not tempted to buy extra stuff. i will keep posting on how things are going.

getting down to the basics

I am watching my spending, I have only spent $21 in three days, I am just buying things we cannot live without, and I am living without some things that I really need. I am going to pay off one of the furniture bills this week. Next week i am going to have a garage sale and I am going to send all of the money I make from it to my credit card. Tonight I am going to look for a job overnight so that I can make more money and still take care of my kids during the day. I am also not buying any junk food anymore for me,I am not wasting a single penny on anything that doesn't have to do with survival. I am cleaning out the house and selling anything that I am allowed to so that I can get out of debt faster. I have always lived simply, and I have always been somewhat poor, but I am really getting back to the very basics. I have discovered that peace of mind, not worrying about debt, credit problems and not having collectors clog up your phone lines and mailbox is far more important than stuff, I have also decided that since my children have not outgrown their clothes yet that I am not going to buy them school clothes this year, just shoes, supplies and my son will get a haircut. I am going to continue to post about my successes as well as my failures until I am living in a brick home on my own land and my credit score is almost perfect. $40,000 left to go.

The weekend on a budget

I like to go to garage sales, it is a hobby of mine, but this time I went with just $30 in my pocket and I promised not to go over. I just bought what I thought I could use, I got some clothes for my children, I bought a monkey from Aladdin, still in the box, I bought a few toys for my daycare and I got my mom some movies and books for her daycare and I got her a weed eater and I spent $32 I went two dollars over but that is not bad at all. I am proud of myself. everything was on a budget. we took the kids to the local theme park and got the special season pass for everybody. I already had mine and everyone else had theirs so I just bought my kids theirs. So now even when we are broke we will still have something to do. I bring my own food and drinks for everyone in a back pack, and with the kids being on a special diet we would have to anyway, but it saves us a ton of money. I bring bottles of tea and Capri suns and two kinds of chips and the older kids bring their own in their bag, the park charges $2 for a small bag of chips, I can get a great big bag for $3 at the store. I am still broke and money is still tight, but I am going to make it through to the end. I have my eye on the big house in the country. today I am going to try not to spend any money at all. I will report tonight.

making a new start

I haven't posted for awhile because I have been busy and I kinda fell off the wagon in saving and getting out of debt. If anything I am in even more debt now than I was. my student loans are going to default in about 3 months and I do not have any more options to pay them back. I do not bring in enough income to take care of my children and help with the utilities and rent here. I have four loans out now that I am paying back, one was for my sons birthday so that I could give him one, the other three are for various things like food, clothes etc. I am trying not to buy anyhting that I do not need, I did buy my son a power wheel because the one I got at a garage sale did not work and I knew that he would not understand why he got one and can't ride it, my daughter's works that I got at the same sale. I am also still buying most everything used when I do buy something. i got my son a dog in january, he is part boxer and part lab so he cost about $100 a month to feed and my daughter has a cheweenie (part daushund part chihauhau) she cost about $10 every three months to feed and we still have the cat but he doesn't cost much to keep. another new expense is that because my son is adhd and autistic, and my daughter is adhd I have put them both on the gfcf diet, it cost a fortune to feed them and I am still coming up with ways to feed them for less they are both doing better and are coming off their medicine, so it is worth the expense I am also no longer going to give myself a year to do it all. I am going to give myself till the end of my sons fifth grade year, he will be going into third this year so I have three years to get it done. I am going to quit eating out, quit buying junk for me and make more stuff from scratch. I am only going to buy school pictures in the spring and I am not doing book clubs this year, I am going to pay off my loans and get slowly weened away from borrowing money, I am going to then start paying my credit cards and get them to be at a zero balance then I am not going to use them. I am going to start saving first by saving my change then go up from there. I will report here every night and share my expenses, my purchases for that day and why I made them and what I should have done differently. This blog will be my accountability person. I am starting on 6/20/2009 and I shall conclude this blog on 6/20/2012
by then I should be debt free and own my own house in the country and also own my own daycare center where I will be a partner with my mom.

i am not able to get to the computer as much as I used to because I no longer have the Internet, but I will try to at least post once a week. About two weeks ago I thought about getting a job, so I went to Wal-Mart to apply when I found the cutest little yellow Labrador, so of course I take him home. Kayla named him biscuit. Anyhow that kinda threw off me getting a job. Our counselor thinks it is better if I stay home anyhow.
So we started talking, and came up with the idea of me starting a thrift store of my own, I am going to use the money made at the store to provide school supplies for the foster kids in Canadian county. since I have three foster kids at home it is something I know is needed. I started an organization last week. I am founder and my mom is co-founder. we are currently raising money to be able to pay for the store. I am still going to get out of debt. My goal is that by the time my son is 10, he's 7 1/2 now, that I will be out of debt, have our business going strong and that our organization will be well known in my county and that foster parents will not have to worry about school supplies every time a child is placed with them. I am going to keep posting weekly about the progress of the store, the organization and my debt balance.