Monday, September 3, 2012

It is UGLY...the August Screw-Up

I updated the side bars.  I didn't want to.  But I did.  CC4 (Discover) is out of control.  Granted, I know where the money went, but it is still bad. 

I mentioned before that Discover offered a Cashback Bonus of $150 if you spent $1,000 per month for July-Sept.  We figured groceries and gas would cover that.  Easy Peasy.  Gas gets 5% extra cash back for the same period of time.  Then we sort of figured we would get 1% back for all the other stuff....so we started using it, and we outpaced ourselves.

There were several things that factored into the out of control number.

1) My surgery.  As I mentioned, G-man blew through a ton of money (about $500) in a matter of days.  That greatly impacted the amount of cash we had that could go towards re-payment of the card.

2)  Back to school.  Shoes, clothes, school supplies, haircuts.  We did a piss poor job budgeting for this. 

3)  Food.  OK....this number is slightly skewed at the moment.  Due to our massive re-stocking trip this weekend, it appears like we have spent $1000 on food.  But in reality, about half of that is the budget for September, and we are only 3 days in.  The only things we should need in the next several weeks are perishables and milk.

4)  Small splurge for me.  I got my hair cut and colored.  It wasn't in the budget. 

5)  Layout of money.  There were a few expenses I had to lay out money for.  I have received in cash most of it back.  There is one more that I need to voucher, and will get a check later this week.  The problem is that some of the cash ended up being spent elsewhere, instead of re-paying the card. 


The bottom line is.....we aren't ready to responsibly use this card.  We will use it for gas only in September, to get the bonus 5%.  This amount (plus what we spent this weekend) will bring us up to the $1,000 we need to spend for the month to get our $150 bonus.  And beyond that....no more. 

I am trying to get this card back to where it was (under $500) by mid October (2-3 paycycles).  October is a 3-paycheck month for G-man, so that will help.  But I am unhappy with myself that we got into this mini-mess. 

Additionally, we had to take $300 from our EF to fix the washer.  I was very bummed about it.  So I would also like to try and replace that money....and keep on target to get the EF to $2,000 by year end.  In total, that is $570. 

I am really hoping that G-man gets some overtime in the coming month (it pretty much has dried up since June).  Not that overtime is a permanent solution by any means.  But it would definitely help to reset everything.

So there it is....our August screw-up.  

9 comments:

  1. :( That's too bad... Can you live without the credit cards? You can't spend what you don't have... ;)

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  2. That's why I no longer have or want a credit card. I always have good intentions of being able to pay it all off but then other things would come up. It's just too tempting to charge it and get back into that snowball of debt. Being forced to not have credit cards (bankruptcy) has really changed the way we handle and look at money and it's for the better, for me.

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    1. That is why mine is put away too. I think "oh whats a $100, I'll pay it back"....and two months later...my balance is higher and I haven't paid a cent back. Some people just should not use credit cards and I am one of them.

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  3. I too am awful with credit cards. I allow myself one for travel but mine is out of control with surgery, travel, bathroom plumbing crap. I had good intentions but when I am frantic and I spent most of July and August frantic I am a dope. Lets form a club.......

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  5. Well, now you know stuff.

    You know you need to find a way to work with your husband so he doesn't go wild with the spending when the routine is disrupted. You know you can't have access to a credit card. You know sometimes you need a small splurge on yourself :)

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  6. sounds a lot like mine.... we find ourselves doing well for 3 or 4 months then we pull the cc out & it goes crazy again! it's bad.... we need to break ourselves of that stuff too.... it is what it is....

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  7. As I have said before, August is our pitfall month. It is just a high emotional month, and I really think our judgement gets compromised. On the positive side....there were no major purchases (like a living room set!).

    If G-man hadn't gone wacky, and I skipped the hair cut, that would have saved about $300. Plus, remember....we did a month+ of grocery shopping that normally would be spread out.

    Anyway you slice it....it isn't good. But at least we only let it get 1 month ahead. July we used the card and paid off the purchases weekly. And actually decreased the overall balance. Now we have to fix our mistakes.

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  8. Eh I don't think it's really that ugly. You tried something, it didn't work, you learned your lesson, you're fixing the hiccup, and you're moving right along. Onward and upward.

    P.S. I second another commenter-- you need to budget a PickMeUp for yourself-- especially in August.

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