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Housework - Yuk
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Posted by: pickone
I was reading a book about organization (something I have desperately needed for a long time) and it said to get my house cleaned up first, then get my bills organized and my budget going.
I don't like doing this kind of stuff, but would like less chaos in my life. I've let spending get out of hand and never have had a budget before that was easy enough for me to understand. (I made a "D" in accounting in high school).
Please pray with me for favor and mercy. I just pay enough on my bills to keep the wasp nests stirred up. I thank you in advance for any ideas and prayers!
Father, in Jesus' Name.....help! Amen.
Posted by: akabezalel
The reason they want you to clean the house first is to make a space where you can function without clutter... HA! Will never happen if you are more worried about the budget.
Try this.
1) Get ALL your current bills in one box and put it aside for a day or so while you do the rest of this, this is so you don't get confused or lose them.. done that... big pain!
2) Find a place in your house where you have
A) a table or desk away from your computer!
B) a comfy chair.
C) a small filing cabinet
D) a shredder or fireplace near by.
3) Take everything not bill related off of and out of the desk or table. This is your work station.
4) Put all the other, non-current bills and other things like reciepts, garauntees etc... in a box and put them aside for now, you can sort and file them LATER not now.
5) get a calculator, 1/4 inch grid paper, checks etc, pencils, pens, calender, coffee cup 
.
6) take the current bills box to the table and sort them out.
Rent/Mortgage
2nd Mortgage
Other Loans... car, student etc
Utilities
Gas
Phone
Cable/DSL
Major Credit cards
Store Credit cards
7) now go through things like utilities and phone and cable and decide how you can reduce the price.
- Do you really need HBO or can you cut back to the expanded basic with digital?(trust me you are not missing anything!)
- Do you really need the BIG package for the phone or do you only use one or two features? (I fell for this one, I only use the call blocking and special ring features with caller id, I never used call waiting, call forwarding or any of the other features. Also, if you only call one or two people long distance in the month like we do it costs less to use pre-paid phone cards for long distance and have your long distance fee removed from your bill, they cannot charge you for something you do not use.)
- Do you really use the BIG trash can or can you call and order the smaller size? (This alone may save you 200-300$ a year! It only works though if your city supplies your cans to you.) Order or request the recycling trash can and bins for paper and glass and the yard waste can. (Here in Tacoma these are free, ask your company about this cause even if you are using the BIG can now you can cut back to a smaller one if you recycle in free cans!)
- Do your utility and gas companies have budget plans? If so, call and use them they really do help!
- Call and ask if there are any special rates going for your cable or DSL. (I had a special rate for the first year with comcast but when that rate came to an end I called and asked for a lower rate before I called other companies, they locked in the rate I had been paying per month for the next 2 years and I will do it again then. Saved 32.00$ per month!)
- MAKE THE CALLS!!!
8) go through your credit cards and call them to see if they will reduce their interest rates. (This does not always work but sometimes it does. What are they going to do? Bite you for asking?)
9) Make a list of your credit cards, their balences and the percentage rate of interest and minimum payment... ie:
Master Card $4673.00 19% $233.65 per month
Sears $305.00 12% $15.00 per month
Place them in order of amount and then interest... put all the 18%'s together starting with the one with the most money charged... etc... down the line.
Take your smallest one or two and send double payments until they are paid off.
Example from the above list of credit cards... send Sears 30-45$ each month and get them paid off with in 6 month or so. CUT UP THE CARD!!!
- When they are paid off that money does NOT go in your pocket!
Take the money you were paying Sears and add it to the top of the next credit card payment in your list.
If you have two that are fairly close in amount but one is higher in interest than the other, pay the extra to the one with the higher interest rate because it is hurting you more than the lower interest one.
Keep doing this with your credit cards, adding the growing amounts to the next bill until they are all paid off.
CUT UP THE CARDS!!!
You can continue this with your mortgages or car loans also! Eliminate the credit cards first then add the entire amount that you were paying to credit cards to your high interest car loan or 2nd mortgage.
With loans anything over your payment due is a PRINCIPAL PAYMENT! And as the Principal goes down you have less and less that can have interest charged to it. Even if you paid as little as $5 per month more than your payment it would save you hundreds in interest at the end of the loan!
OR...
PUT THE MONEY IN A SAVINGS ACCOUNT EACH MONTH!
10) Get out the grid paper and make a list of your bills and paychecks. (We get paid every two weeks so I have a beginning of the month bunch of bills and middle of the month bunch of bills)
- Divide the bills up in a way that makes it easy on your pocket. Try to make the different paydays even with the amount of bills. For example, my first of the month bills are the Mortgage and Gas bills and the middle of the month bills are the 2nd mortgage, utilities, phone, and cable (I don't have credit cards anymore
). They both add up to a little over 600.00$ each pay period leaving 200.00$ a pay period for groceries, car gas and pet food.
Yes we do tithe... I do not owe the tithe it simply belongs to God so I give it to Him, it comes off the top not the bottom.
- Use a new page of the grid paper each month and if you have automatic bill pay at the bank use it!
Bill Pay makes life SOOOOO much easier! by taking payments out of your account on a given schedule set by you it cuts the late payments and missed payment down to nil! You can even go to your bank to ask for help if you cannot figure it out for yourself.
REMEMBER!!!
PAY OUT LESS THAN YOU BRING IN AND SAVE THE REMAINDER!
I hope I didn't leave anything out! If you have questions ask I will try to help!
Posted by: pickone
OK. I am having problems. My stomach hurts when I think about paying bills and I haven't done anything past what I started way back when. I am having an anger problem. I am being childish and I know it and am having a hard time helping it.
Also, my bank recently let me know there was a Beneficial loan on our credit report which is not supposed to be there.
I just got a note that I am being charged off one account - they were mean! (No excuses!) And a few others who are very polite and have worked with me before. I want (and God wants) me to pay them all off or make payments on them.
There is a stronghold over me and it needs to be knocked off and I don't know how to pray about it or what it is. Although anger is a factor, I know how to get rid of that. Can you help me pray?
Lord, pull my feet out of the spiderweb! Don't let my anger pull us in deeper! Give me or Carol or someone else the words! In Jesus' Name I ask these things....Amen!
Posted by: pickone
Thank You for the words, Lord. Thank You for helping me pay bills today! Hallelujah! Amen.
Posted by: Sulten
I relate to your frustration... I've always heard it's goodto proritize so the most important things are taken care of each day. I'm not good with writing lists though and at best try to do this mentally. If you're like a lot of us prayer warriors, when you log on here you lose all track of time and space. I'm falling behind in other things and feel disorganized right now. Someone told me that if I put the Lord first in my life, that I would have more time for all the rest. I'm trying to achieve a balance and find what works for me. Have you ever sat down to pray on here and had all kinds of interruptions? I may not be the best one to ask, but I sympathize and will pray for you. lol Bonnie
Dear Lord, please bless pickone with insights and wisdom in ordering her life and bless her with all she stands in need of at this time. In Jesus Name Amen.