Hey guys!
I am having trouble deciding when to update this. I feel like it definitely needs to be weekly, but I struggle with when. On a non-pay week, I feel like nothing is happening, and on a pay week it might not be until Saturday that my payments go through on all my cards, and all my balances are recalculated. Today is a perfect example of that. I think I should just start updating on one specific day of the week, no matter what the situation is. At the very least, it would be most useful for the sake of data collection and analysis!
Currently I am at a standstill with regards to new and exciting updates. At this point I am just going through the motions with all the tactics I have put into place until something major pays off! With that said, it has been about 10 weeks since I started this blog, so I’ve decided to revisit the Action Plan to see how I am doing, and where I can make changes!
ACTION PLAN (written 7/12/17):
To Tackle Rolling Balances:
1. Stop leaving a balance on my credit cards: I have one commitment* in the end of August that will require a charge, but if able I will use my bank card for the expense instead. Aside from that, I will not charge anything else without paying at end of term (barring an extreme emergency situation.)
UPDATE (9/29/17): Turns out I had already placed this purchase on my Discover card, so I had started with a clean slate! I would say I completely broke this rule, since I discovered the magic of Cashback Rewards. With the exception of my BCP, for which an action plan still needs to be decided, I haven’t left any outstanding charges on my cards since I started this blog. They have all been paid off biweekly.
2. Pay double minimums: Starting in August, I will be making credit card payments every pay period, as opposed to every month. That means I will be making 26 payments a year instead of 12!
UPDATE (9/29/17): I have been steadfast to this rule!
3. Round Up: I will round up all of my rolling balance minimums (car and credit payments) to the nearest ten. Example: A $24 or $29 minimum would round up to $30 payment.
UPDATE (9/29/17): I have been steadfast to this rule!
4. Balance Transfers: One of my top tricks to keep a high credit score and diminish interest paid is to take advantage of good balance transfer offers when I receive them! Any offer with no fee to transfer and with a lengthy 0% APR introductory rate could help alleviate the crunch of credit card debt in many ways! Firstly, in a very immediate sense, you are typically relieved of any payment for several weeks after the transfer. You won't incur any added interest for the 0% APR timeframe. If you're lucky enough to get it all combined onto 1 card, that means you are down to one monthly minimum payment, which certainly simplifies things! And finally, the largest factor that impacts your credit score is your percentage of credit being used vs what is available. When you open a new account with a balance transfer, your credit line has just increased, thereby lowering your percentage of use!
UPDATE (9/29/17): I have been on the lookout, but I haven’t found any good opportunities for this yet. My next credit card application will probably be the Southwest Rewards card when they have their next 60k points promotion.
To Reduce Regular Spending & Save Money:
5. Savings Account "Allowance": This is a method I already employ, but I will adhere to it more religiously. After each paycheck, I calculate my bills for each pay period, and subtract the figure from my checking balance. I divide that figure in half, and place one half in my Savings Account. One of the reasons I do this is because my expenditures each pay period vary heavily, as my largest expenditure (RENT) far outweighs the rest of my bills. Because of this, I squirrel away the extra, but generally take the money back to cover rent later. Where I have failed in this more recently is taking money back for unnecessary/frivolous expenses, and the buck stops here.
UPDATE (9/29/17): I am still doing this, but it is impossible not to take ANYTHING back from my floating savings. To combat this, I just made another separate untouchable savings account.
6. Food "Allowance": One of the purposes of this blog is so I may be extremely authentic and keep myself honest and accountable by airing my dirty laundry on the internet. That being said, my biggest frivolous expense is "extra" food that is outside of my typical grocery store shops. I live and work in Providence, which has no shortage of awesome food, and I have gone totally crazy taking advantage of all the city has to offer! I know myself, and at this time it is unrealistic for me to commit to making and bringing lunch every day - I need to live! - but I will set a daily allowance of no more than $10 to be spent on extra food on the weekdays. And if that seems like an easy goal, you try living next door to a Whole Foods hot buffet!
UPDATE (9/29/17): I have some lapses, but I have actually been really good at adhering to this rule! I pack lunch a lot of the time, and I make a point to stay around/below the $10 threshold when I can’t.
7. Term Payments: Whenever possible, pay all term bills (auto and renter's insurance) at once. This is how I used to roll when I lived in New Hampshire, but everything costs more to insure down here in Lil Rhody! The benefit of this is that you can save a lot more in the long run if you pay all at once versus monthly installments.
UPDATE (9/29/17): I have paid my entire Renter’s Insurance and SiriusXM bills to term! Car insurance is still a little too steep for that.
8. "Spare Change": Each morning, I will transfer the "change" in my Checking account into my Savings account. Example: $200.55 becomes $200.00. This is purely experimental, but it is a small step that could pay off well and be barely noticeable on a day-to-day basis.
UPDATE (9/29/17): I have been steadfast to this rule! Can’t tell if it really is making a notable difference, but it feels like I’m compounding interest daily, even if it is manual.
9. Limit Frivolous Spending: This is obvious and vague, but no money-saving list would be complete without it!
UPDATE (9/29/17): Trying, haha. I already hardly buy unnecessary stuff, and I limit my “frivolous” spending to certain video games that come out. I have stopped thinking I can afford
StitchFix at least.
To Gain More Money:
10. Raise/Promotion/Expenses: My job is salaried, which is great, but unfortunately no amount of overtime will net me more money in my paycheck. My best hope here is to get a good merit raise or promotion (luckily at least one of these is right around the corner!) I also get to travel on occasion and am reimbursed for mileage, which I could squirrel away to meet my goals.
UPDATE (9/29/17): Still out there, but I am not at liberty to divulge any more information at this time. J
11. Sell Stuff: My goodness, I have SO much extra STUFF to get rid of. First on the chopping block are the categories of: clothes, books, movies, & games. This step is really exciting to me just because having too much STUFF stresses me out, so I am excited to pare down.
UPDATE (9/29/17): THIS is where I have really gotten lazy in action and hit a roadblock. My
Swap.com box STILL hasn’t been evaluated, so I have been sitting on my extra clothes until I hear back. I have made no attempts at sorting or selling any other category of items. No excuse here.
12: Mechanical Turk: This is my when-I'm-bored "side hustle" which nets me a couple extra bucks a day from Amazon just for taking surveys and performing small tasks for people. It is more fun than anything. So far this is the only working-on-the-internet scheme that fits in line with my attention span, skillset, and level of commitment.
UPDATE (9/29/17): I still do this, and it is a somewhat reliable source of a few extra bucks a week. It basically funds my 52 Week Challenge.
13. Odds & Ends: This is my section for things that could significantly affect my financial situation, but aren't measurable or guaranteed. These would include: having a roommate, monetary gifts, tax refunds, and any other uncontrolled influx of money.
UPDATE (9/29/17): Decent in this arena. I got some birthday money, I sold my GNR tickets, and I am potentially getting a nice windfall from the state of Maryland.
So I definitely feel like I am making progress! This exercise has helped me see where I am lacking, which is the area of actively getting rid of stuff for cash.
Happy Friday!
M
