Hello! My name is… Imelda Bettinger

wife, mom, computer geek, photographer talking about total randomness

Townhall for Hope

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04/07/2009 | This and That | 1 Comment

More of what I don’t need

I really have taken this coupon thing and store specials to heart. Since my last post I have only bought a few things from the store but have used coupons for about 50% of the items and picked items that were on sale another 25% of the time. I never really even noticed the bright yellow SALE tags and just grabbed the brand I was used to. I’m much more aware now.

I do my monthly budget on the 20th day of the prior month. I thought I would jump start this to see really where my money was going for Oct and really see what I could cut out for November.

Things I am cutting out in Nov.

  • Lawn Care – Matt can find the time to take care of the yard and not pay someone
  • Car washes – Will do this at home in the yard
  • Car services – We just paid a few hundred bucks for a break job on the Trailblazer and want to really hold off on any other car service for Nov., even though the Mercedes has needed repairs. I’ll just drive the TB more in Nov.
  • Vanpool fees – Already paid up until Jan. 09
  • Target – I have got to stay away from this store unless I have a coupon for something. I bought about $300 worth of random crap I probably didn’t need
  • Books – Since the new Barnes and Noble opened up in Pearland we have gone weekly, buying books for each of us at full price books. We should take a few of our old books to the local Half Price Books to try to sell. That way we can get “new to us” books much cheaper. I don’t usually reread books so this could also be a good way to declutter some bookshelves.
  • Gifts – I bought a lot of gifts this month, just because I wanted to. I have Matt birthday, my dads and my sisters birthday as well and will stick to a budget with their gifts but need to refrain from my random acts of kindness for the month of Nov. I still have a ton of stationery and stamps so I can still keep up with my letter writing
  • Gym – I don’t go to the gym, I walk on my own in the tunnel system when at work or around my neighborhood. I also bought a new little Yoga book that I will also practice at home so bye bye gym fees
  • Hair care – Mason, Danielle and I are good for haircuts for the month. I have a coupon for Matt!
  • Nails – Danielle also are good on manicures and pedicures until the 1st week of Dec. I also have a free Massage coming to me so that can be a free way to pamper myself

My husband’s work also pays for our home internet as well as his cellphone so that also saves us some.

With being more aware of where I spend money, hopefully I can find more money to put into savings. We are also planning a weekend trip to Rockport in November. Would rather do that than buy random crap from Target! Also, I may be able to save enough money to finally buy a flash for my camera!

November is going to be a fun month!

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10/16/2008 | Close to Home | 2 Comments

Dave Ramsey: YOU fix you!

Dave Ramsey

I am a huge Dave Ramsey fan. He and his program totally helped my family get out of debt. He has a great response to the $700B bailout plan. His advise is just great life advise. Take care of yourself! Take responsibility for you.

Question: Dave talks about something that he finds very disturbing. It has to do with people’s attitudes toward Washington, and what they think will come out of there.

Dave Ramsey’s advice: By and large, 70% to 90% of you wanted something to be done to calm the economy, but you didn’t want $700 billion in new debt to bail out Wall Street. The stock market has had record declines since then. What’s going on?

You need to remember that you need to take control of your life. It’s disturbing that people in government totally disregard what the people tell them to do. It’s disturbing that the market goes down and the media panics about this. It’s disturbing that greedy banks made loans to people who couldn’t afford to repay, and people signed up for the trip when they couldn’t afford it. It’s disturbing that Washington ignores its constituents and takes huge strides toward socialism.

All of these things are disturbing, but none will cause this great nation to cease to function. They are not the beginning of the end. But the most disturbing thing is some people’s reactions. Don’t react based on fear or panic. Another negative reaction is that you are looking to Washington to fix your problems. They have never fixed your problems, and you want Obama or McCain to fix things. There has never been a president who can fix your problems. They always say they can and they never can.

YOU are in charge of your destiny. YOU are in charge of your life. When you look to Washington to solve your problems, we’ve got the seeds to destroy this country. It’s time for you to change your life. It’s not Washington’s job to fix what’s going on with you. If you are waiting on Washington to change something, you’ve got a very long wait! It is YOUR job to take care of you. Don’t sit around and watch TV and panic and think you can’t do anything. I’ve made and lost money, and every bit of that had to do with me being smart and diligent or stupid.

Quit blaming Congress or looking to them to fix you. YOU have to fix you! When you wait on the government to fix your life and wait for money to be taken from others and given to you, that’s a spirit of envy. The only system that works is capitalism functioning under moral restraint. Go be somebody!

Originally posted Monday, Oct 06, 2008 at:
http://www.daveramsey.com/tdrs/index.cfm/2008/10/6/YOU-fix-you

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10/07/2008 | Things Others Say | 1 Comment

I need to …

… Stop Buying Crap! I don’t need to make any more money, I just need to get back to managing what comes in and what goes out better. Help me not buy stuff I don’t need please.

Stop_buying_crap

Stop_buying_crap, originally uploaded by unaesthetic.

I should probably also stop eating crap too.

Got any tips to spend less? Please leave a comment.

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08/27/2008 | Close to Home | 4 Comments

Financial Peace University Online

Dave Ramsey is now offering his full 13 week Financial Peace University now online. Beat Debt and build wealth.

From the site:

Bringing the power of Dave Ramsey’s proven Financial Peace University to a new internet audience, FPU Online gives you the tools, motivation, and encouragement you need to take control of your money and truly change your family tree!

FPU Online gives you complete access to Dave’s ultimate financial money-management course and complete suite of online money tools for 16 weeks. Class is in session 24 hours a day, seven days a week!

We used Dave’s plan to get rid of over 70K in debt in 19 months. We are now working through the other baby steps now. If you are in debt, give Dave a try.

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10/18/2007 | This and That | No Comments