About Me

September 1 Check In

September 3, 2010 · By Sandy Smith

Disclosure: This content is for educational purposes and should not be considered individualized financial advice. Some links on this site may be affiliate links, which means Yes, I Am Cheap may earn a small commission if you make a purchase or take action through those links. This does not change your cost. We only share resources we believe may be helpful to readers.

When I disappear like this you know that it’s for work. I can’t miss my check-in though so here goes.

August 1, 2010
Student Loan #1 $843.89 @2.47%
Credit Card #1 $1,193.20 @13.99%
Credit Card #2 $2,633.44 @14.24%
HELOC $42,332.66 @3.125%
Student Loan #2 $37,747.21 @3.3-7.5%
The bed $849.00 @0%
Personal Loan $0
Car Note $0
Total: $85,599.40

Emergency Savings: $1,152.02
Emergency Savings Goal: $3,000

September 1, 2010
Student Loan #1 $695.31 @2.47%
Credit Card #1 $938.73 @13.99%
Credit Card #2 $0 @14.24%
Credit Card #3 $3,221.59 @0%
HELOC $41,974.38 @3.125%
Student Loan #2 $37,678.40 @3.3-7.5%
The bed $699.00 @0%
Personal Loan $0
Car Note $0
Total: $85,207.41

Emergency Savings: $963.20
Emergency Savings Goal: $1,500

Let’s review my internet income.

Internet Income in August
Google Adsense $2.23
Sponsored Tweets $0.52
Commission Junction $0
Cash Crate $0.25
eHow $0.53
Total: $3.53

Whopping difference in income from last month. I had no time to work at it so all of the income earned was truly passive. I did nothing. 🙂 A couple of things are different this month. The first thing that you will notice is that I added another credit card. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to have 0% interest for the next few months, so I transferred my balance over. I also added some money to the balance because I had to purchase 4, count ’em, 4 new dang tires. All I can say is that construction is bad for rubbers, and winter is coming anyway. Between the cost of tires and installation I paid $500. You’re thinking that I should have used my emergency funds, but I also had to pay taxes for the investment property that I purchased so I used some money from that. That’s the reason for the drop in my savings.

I am tempted to use the balance of my emergency savings to pay off credit card #1, but I won’t do it. I need to maintain at least $1,000 in the emergency account. I’d really feel better at $1,500 but what can I do?

I need to step up my online earnings. I should have more time in September to refocus and get things done. I want to end the year with a decent number. I really need to eliminate one of those credit balances to keep my motivation going. Wish me well.

About the Author

Sandy Smith

I started this blog years ago as a way of keeping myself accountable to my own debt reduction plans. Now I'm using this site to help others get out of debt, and learn about personal finance so that they can live their best lives.

More from Sandy Smith →
Favorite Free Resources Extra Payment Calculator
Student Loan Forgiveness
FHA Loan Information
Learn Claude Coding
More About Us About Us
Featured In
Advertise
Contact
Products & Services Shop
Debt Planner
1:1 Coaching
Speaking
Legal Disclosures
Terms & Conditions
Privacy Policy
Contest Rules