Debt $ense

The self-eval was in my e-mail today; I have to finish it by Thursday. Fortunately for me, I started working on it a week or so ago. Looks like that’s tonight’s project…

I should get a self-evaluation this week to fill out for my annual review, which likely will be the end of next week or the beginning of the week after. Once my review’s done, I’ll know what my raise will be, effective July 1, and can adjust my debt repayment plan accordingly. That’s going to make the biggest difference in my chances to pay my CC off by the end of the year, so I’m a little antsy waiting to hear.

July 1 also will be when I update my financial goals, rebalance my 401(k) and generally get my financial house in order for the upcoming year. Once I find out what that raise will be, I’ll be able to start the planning process. Expect blog postings to pick up a bit during that time.

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…

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.

I stopped by the book fair today and got (in paperback) “Start Late, Finish Rich: for $2 and “It Pays to Talk” by Charles Schwab and his daughter for $3.50. New, not used, but with black marker on the bottom edge to show it’s a damaged book. (It still reads the same, so who cares?)

There were plenty of other PF books, including on of Suze Orman’s, several of Dave Ramsey’s and two of Jean Chatzky’s, but I didn’t want to spend more than $6. The Schwab book is one I’ve been hearing about lately, so I wanted to try that. I also wanted a David Bach book I could write in, but didn’t much care which one since the general principles are the same. (They also had Smart Couples, but that is obviously less applicable since my sweetie and I aren’t that serious.)

I also checked out the consignment store, but didn’t bring clothes up. Good thing, since they’re only buying summer stuff now, and they don’t buy on Saturdays. The next time I’m up there on a Monday for choir I’ll bring summer stuff. The good news is commission is 50 percent, and given the prices I saw marked on clothes, I could do very well on some of my items. But they buy seasonally, so it will take several months to fully convert everything. Still, it’s one source of income.

I talked with a co-worker last night whose husband is just finishing his graduate degree at our local college, and she agreed with Aleta that editing and proofing papers would be a great way to make extra money. We talked a bit about rates, so I have those figured out.

My other concern is figuring out how to handle payment, given my goofy schedule. I think I’m going to have two options - pay upfront, or set up an “account” with a balance, which they can replenish as needed. I can include an account statement with each paper so they know where they stand. Since so many things on college campuses are set up this way, I think it might be appealing to students because once they have an account, they can just e-mail me papers, rather than arranging to meet with me in person. That would be easier for both of us. And those who choose to pay as they go will still be paying before I do the work, so I don’t have to worry about not getting paid.

Now I just need to design a good flyer to put up around campus. That’s on my weekend to-do list.

I found a surprising amount of clothes in good enough condition to bring to the consignment store. If I can average $5 a piece for them (there are three nice blazers in the mix, one with the tags still on, plus a good winter coat), that’s at least $100. I’ve never been in this store, but the reviews online say it’s got good stuff, worth the prices that are higher than the other consignment stores in town. I’m hoping that means I’ll get a decent amount of money for the stuff. Now all I have to do is iron it and stop by the store tomorrow while I’m up that way. I’ll update once I get back.

My department head is running a design contest for the cover of our annual graduation issue. Prize is $50, which would be nice. (The potential professional feather in my cap is something else entirely.) I came up with an idea last night, but I need about six tassels to make it work. So I have to start asking around today about borrowing some because I need to create the cover this weekend. (Deadline’s Wednesday, but I’m out of town Monday-Wednesday.)

Not really. But I filled out a new W4 today to adjust my withholding from 0 to 2. It won’t show up on Friday’s paycheck - that’s already been processed. But our HR lady said it would take effect for the next one. I did a rough estimate based on my refund the last couple years, and the change should add about $32 to each paycheck.

That will let me bump up my payments again, bringing my monthly total to $644. Once I get my annual raise, I should be able to bump it to just over $700 a month. Those two adjustments, which won’t pinch my standard of living at all, get my payoff date to February.

I can easily make it to January if I cut internet at home, but I’m not sure the few weeks difference (three, I think) is worth it. Instead, I’m going to try and negotiate them down to a lower level for at least four to six months.

The good news is that the changes I’ve made just since I started this blog have taken my payoff date from late May 2007 to mid-February 2007. That’s a huge confidence booster! Now to see if I can turn enough of my clutter into cash to get that date comfortably into January.

Hey, gang. Sorry for the brief hiatus, but I was out of town for the weekend and didn’t have as much time to blog as I thought.

I spent some of that time thinking, and came up with the two possibilities I’m going to try to bring in extra income.

One is Aleta’s suggestion to edit/proof papers for college kids. A former co-worker now works at the college up the street from my office, and I’m going to check with her to see if there’s any place to register or if it’s just flyers on bulletin boards. I’m hoping to get that going for summer session, and I figure I might be able to bring in $75 to $100 a month once I get going.

The other plan is making hand-decorated notecards for craft shows. I figure I can make enough in the next several months to get a booth at the big craft show in the county during the holiday season. (I also can make holiday gift tags.) Between now and then, I plan to use word of mouth, as well as using them for gifts for people who can spread the word. I figure I should be able to net a couple hundred dollars from the craft show, possibly more. I’ll have a better idea as things get closer.

I also decided to go the consignment store/used book store route for old clothes and books, plus a community yard sale for miscellaneous other stuff. Again, I figure I can clear $200 to $300 from all of that, which will be a nice lump-sum payment toward my CC.