Sunday, May 13, 2012

Some Updates

So, here are some updates:

I got a letter from a collections agency claiming I owe Verizon $27.99 for a phone bill. FALSE. I have never had Verizon for my phone (just internet). It also claimed that Verizon had tried to contact me about the bill several times. FALSE! I will be calling Verizon tomorrow to inquire and make sure it is not a scam. If it is in fact collections, I will be writing a letter disputing the claim, since I have received no contact from Verizon about it.

Rumor has it that most pink slips will be rescinded on Tuesday after the school board meeting, but that 800 will not be rescinded at this time. No way to know if I'm in the bottom 800 until then. So I hold my breath and hope that I am one of the lucky ones. If I'm not, that most likely means unemployment for the summer and either getting called back in August or long-term subbing my own class in the Fall. I'm trying not to think about this too much, though it is making me want to beef up my savings in the next few months.

In July I will be losing about 1/4 of my paycheck all at once for furlough days we are taking in June. Luckily, July will be when I get my pay for the National Boards hours I've done this semester. I'm thinking I should break even on that deal.

I stopped putting money towards my house fund for now, so that I can get my Emergency Fund where I want it to be. I am also still putting $100 into my travel fund, but both of those savings accounts could be tapped for a true emergency, so I'm leaving the money where it is for now. If I add up what I have, I have almost four months of emergency expenses covered.

I'm keeping up with tracking my money and doing what I'm supposed to be doing, but the prospect of possibly getting laid off takes some of the fun out of it. Of course I'll still do it, but it's not as fun to plan for unemployment as it is to plan for paying off my student loan or saving for a house.

I guess this post is kind of a downer. Let me end on some positives: I lost seven and a half pounds in three weeks on Weight Watchers. Boo-ya! My Inbox Dollars check came so that's $27 more in my pocket. My mom gave me a $10 Starbucks card today that she didn't want, so that will be a nice treat. I have been successful in keeping my electric bill below $20 for the last three months!

There. It's not all bad stuff around here. I should have an update about the pink slip on Tuesday or Wednesday, so that will either be an even bigger downer or super super exciting. Fingers crossed for the latter!

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Little by Little

Today I made another lump sum payment on my student loan. I paid my $300 extra I've been paying every month and also threw in $28 left over from my April budget. This payment brought my total to 90% paid off! Holla!

I also found out that I we will be having furlough days in June, meaning on the plus side I get out a week early, but on the minus side I lose almost a week of pay from my July check. Ugh. That will definitely hamper my loan payoffs over the summer, but I still hope to be on track to be debt free before my birthday in October.

That's all for now. Just wanted to share my excitement in reaching the 90% mark! :)