Debt $ense

As I find bits of money rolling my way from unexpected sources, I’m beginning to think it’s a matter of karma - getting my financial house in order is resulting in some unexpected windfalls.

Back in the fall, the annual United Way campaign was a big deal at my company for the first time in a long time. I decided to donate - I haven’t done much for charity since I moved down here for various reasons - and figured out what would work with my budget. Then the HR lady explained the fair-share concept. If you donated your “fair share,” defined as the equivalent of one hour of pay per pay period, you were entered in a drawing for a $100 gas card. Since my fair share was about what I had planned to donate anyway, that was a no-brainer.

I won the gas card. (Covered most of my gas to my parents and back for the holidays, which was nice.)

Now that I’m making a concerted effort to stay within my budget and pay down debt, I’m finding little bits and pieces of money rolling my way. The latest is the class action suit against Epson, which should net me $25 plus a store credit I’m unlikely to use. I still have to check mine against the models listed, but it looks like it includes mine. I’m also the only one who submitted an entry for the design contest at work, which I hope means I get something. Since I’m earmarking most or all of that money for debt repayment, I’m hoping it keeps the karma flowing.

I’m going to stop checking my 401(k) balance for a few weeks. It’s just getting too depressing, and for no reason.

“No reason?,” you ask. “You mean you’re not concerned about the falling stock market?”

Sort of. In a big-picture sense, the falling stock prices could signal an economic slowdown, which could be bad. But I have enough seniority and usefulness at work that my job’s unlikely to be in jeopardy. And it means my retirement fund is worth less, but with 40 years to go until retirement, that’s not a huge concern either. There’s plenty of time for it to bounce back.

And zooming in a bit, the funds in my portfolio that are really falling are the two aggressive ones, which makes a fair amount of sense. The others are doing fine. So I’ll use this time to buy more shares in the funds than I normally can and be in good shape for when the market swings back up later this year.

But until then, I’ll stop checking every week. No need to undo all the good psychological effect of my declining CC balance by fretting over my declining 401(k) balance.

Thanks to some internet research, I think I will be heading over the mountain to buy running sneakers next weekend.

I used Runner’s World’s shoe finder feature to research NB sneakers that are good for my biomechanics (i.e. non-runner feet). I found five models that aren’t the ones I own. That’s good, because then I can alternate models, which will keep the same areas from getting stressed and reduce injuries.

The price range is $130 to $75 for the five. The pair I have now are on the high end of that scale, so I’m willing to alternate them with a pair that’s not as high-tech. Doing so will prolong the life of both pair, and buy me time to save money for a high-tech pair next time. (I think I just need to budget $10-$15 out of every paycheck for running sneakers.) The other good thing is I get a $15 percent discount for turning in the old pair, and having two will allow me to actually do that, yet get all the milage out of a pair of shoes.

If I figure in the 20 percent discount, that means the prices range from $104 to $60. ($60, $72, $76, $80, $104) I wrote down the model numbers, and I plan to try all five pair on. I expect that one of the three less-expensive pair will work, but the two higher-priced models got really great reviews from runners with similar issues as me, so I want to test them out. I figure if nothing else, I’ll get a sense of which models work for my feet, which means I’ll have a greater ability to search online for sales in the future.

So it looks like I’ll be able to get new sneakers and only take $15 extra out of my budgeted weekly money. If by some chance I do get a gift card, I’ll save the extra money for the next pair.

I spent some time this morning looking over my Christmas paper and other supplies, and toyed with some preliminary designs. Now to pick four or five basic designs, with color/pattern variations, and make mock-ups so I can figure costs and prices.

My other task for this weekend is researching craft fairs in the area to find a few that are the right time and fairly inexpensive to reserve space at. I know of one locally that I checked out last year.

I might also show my sister the cards when I go up in August. She has a card business at craft fairs, and my style of cardmaking is different enough that she might be willing to sell some of my cards in exchange for a cut. (She also doesn’t like me to “copy” her and was irked that I was making cards last year for relatives. She simmered down (I think) when I pointed out that she was the one taking me to craft stores to get me hooked, so she couldn’t really complain about the logical progression.) We shall see…

I’ve noted that I’m saving for new running sneakers, which generally run me about $100. I just got a coupon in the mail for 20 percent off - between today and May 31. That knocks the cost down to about $80, but because I wasn’t planning to buy until late June, means I’ll only have about $50. Do I cut way back on everything else for the rest of the month to free up the $30 and risk running out of money, or do I wait until I have it saved and pay the extra $20?

First, before anybody suggests cheaper shoes, that’s not an option. Skimping on them is penny-wise, pound-foolish because I have feet that were not designed for running and not buying the right kind of running sneakers leads to injury issues, doctors’ bills, physical therapy, etc.

Second, I prefer this particular brand - New Balance - because they come in widths and I have wide feet. Unfortunately, that means buying them at either a specialty running store or the NB store because local sporting goods stores don’t stock the shoes in anything other than normal width. They’ll just send you to the NB store if you ask for an 8D. *RME*

Now, I can probably find the extra $30 out of next week’s paycheck, but it means I’ll be cutting the rest of my budget pretty tight. That could cause problems if I have an unexpected expense because my pinch-point account is pretty well depleted.

OTOH, it is my birthday next week and I generally get some cash, so I could skip my plan for a nice dinner out and use that money to pay for the sneakers. I also asked my parents for a gift card to the NB store knowing I would need sneakers, so I might get some help there.

So do I go ahead and buy them and cross my fingers, or wait until I have the money saved and lose the 20 percent discount?

Hmmmmm…

And in the cheering category:

We had a job candidate in today, so when I came in I had an e-mail letting me know I was taking him to dinner. Another meal on the company.

My friend loaned me two academic style manuals so I can use those when editing/proofing papers. I figured out rates and now just need to make flyers. The college graduation is Sunday, so I figure I have at least a week before summer classes begin. (I checked their Web site, but they don’t list summer session dates. *sigh*) Fortunately, I have a laser printer at home, and I can use Quark to output a PDF for printing.

As for the crafts, I looked at supplies this week while I was in a metro area with lots of shops and got a sense for what types and sizes of cards are available. I also have a few stamps in mind to get as I get more into this. I’m going to be spending time this weekend designing cards, both stamped notecards and Christmas cards. I made cards for my coworkers last year, and several liked them so much they still have them on their desks. So I figure if I can pick a few designs that work with all the paper I picked up last year after the holidays, I can make batches of eight or 10 cards that I can sell in packages.

Once I get these inital steps done, I’ll have to set aside two or three hours a day to work on both jobs. When the editing work is heavy, I can cut back on card-making, and when editing is slow (start of semester, between breaks), I can spend more time making cards.

My goal: By the end of 2006, be making an average of $150 a month combined from both jobs. That will give me enough to meet my debt repayment goal, plus enough extra to add a little freedom into my budget after the debt’s gone, yet still let me put aside the same amount of money each month toward my car/house/vacation goals.

Aleta asked me to weigh in on dealing with unexpected expenses on a budget, and I mentioned some of the big ones in my last post. But she was more concerned with the little things, like having to buy OTC medicine while traveling because you get sick, or a toiletry item you left behind.

I have to say, I’ve been in the position where those little expenses do a number on you. I actually didn’t remember a razor on this week’s trip, but had enough in my household pocket to buy a package at Target. A year ago, I probably wouldn’t have had enough, and would have had to use my credit card, and would have figured “it’s dumb to use it for only $3; what else can I get?” You now know one of the reasons I ended up with five-figure CC debt - reasoning like that.

Now I try and think ahead. To keep with the current example, I have all my toiletries in a handy carrier (L.L. Bean) that was a Christmas gift a few years back. All I have to do is unhook it from my bathroom door, fold and pack. I always keep Advil on my desk at work, in my medicine chest and in my purse. I keep spare contact case and solution in my purse, as well as a hairbrush. I have three tubes of lip balm - home, desk and pocket. It’s an inital outlay to get the multiple copies, but since they all get used eventually, it’s not a waste - and knowing I have whatever I need cuts down on those unexpected expenses.

Same with food. I keep couscous and generic seasoning (cajun right now) in my desk drawer at work so I always have an inexpensive meal handy if I run out without lunch. I try and keep enough in the cabinets that I can get through an entire paycheck without buying food if needed. (But we won’t discuss how unbalanced my diet would be during those two weeks.)

Like you hear in a lot of places, I think the key to not getting hit with the annoying extra expenses is planning ahead to reduce the possibilities. You’ll still get them sometimes, but they’re much less likely.

I also try and keep $5 to $10 unspent before the next paycheck comes out. That also gives me a cushion against unexpected expenses. If I don’t use it, it goes to savings to help pay down my CC.

As for the big expenses, I try and stash $50 a week into a savings account linked to my checking account. That gives me some flexibility for one-time expenses (car insurance) and unexpected expenses, like this month’s dental bills. If I hadn’t had that cushion to cover my parents’ and grandparents’ anniversary presents (originally planned for my semi-annual wardrobe update), I would have been sunk the last couple of months.

After all, I could take that $50 and put it toward my CC every week. That would boost my weekly payments now to $195, and probably close to $260 by the time I get my annual raise and make a few other changes. That would definitely get the CC paid off by the end of the year. But then I wouldn’t have the ability to cope with unexpected expenses, which means they would go on my CC. So I keep that “pinch-point” account funded to reduce the risk that unexpected expenses will torpedo my budget.