I spent a couple of hours trying to find a name for what I'm planning to do. The title says it all. I have tried many times to get myself under control with no success. This time I'm going for extreme and illogical measures. Nothing else has worked so why not. I was also trying to decide if I should get a part-time job. I decided not to because I have tried that many times and then end up spending more because I have more. It may sound crazy but perhaps the less I have the less I'll need. I'll do a reassessment later.
I decided on "extreme poverty" as part of the title because that's where my monthly budget leaves me. Water and Electricity $103; heating $80; landline, internet and cell $93 (my luxury items); car and life insurance $45; pets $40; food $50; gasoline $10; Misc $37; gifts $25; yearly expenses $135 and debt repayment $565. Debt repayment is close to 48% of my income. The yearly includes, property taxes, property insurance and the rest of the things I pay once a year. The budget may sound impossibly low but I've been trying it for a while.
Another illogical thing was using every single cent I had saved to pay off my credit cards: $4260. Yes, I know savings for emergencies. If I have a huge emergency, I have plenty of credit (lol), meanwhile I save the interest I was paying. I don't even consider my mini-van breaking down an emergency. I'll just stay home. My daughter can take me to the grocery store in the middle of winter. Otherwise, I do need to walk more.
The other illogical things are: 1. the $10 for gasoline. I figured out finally that when I go out I spend 99% of the time even if I don't have to or want to. (shop-a-holic) I'm planning on doing lots of home projects instead. 2. $80.00 for heating in an area where we get 20 degrees below on a regular basis and 40 below a few times during the winter. I actually save during the warm months to then supplement the really cold months. That amount includes a plan of repairs for any of my appliances including the furnace so it's even less than it sounds. I keep the house at 62 degrees during the cold months. I'm used to it. I've been keeping track for a while, the furnace only come on if the temperature outside drops below 26 degrees. I've been doing projects to make the house energy efficient even though it's around 80 years old.
The electric company sent a man (for free) to access the house's efficiency. He gave me a few pointers but in general he was impress with what I've done and how low my utilities use is. I'm not a handy person but there are quite a few things that can be done by anyone. I will talk about that in the future.
I know this stuff can put anyone to sleep but I want people (assuming that someone ever reads this) to know it's possible to do a lot with a little money. My plan is to repay the money that I will need to payout in the no so distant future and then use the entire amount allocated for debt to pay off the house. Good night.
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