Posted on: March 30, 2009 by Matt
Over the weekend I received my cell phone billing statement for last month and was slightly surprised to see it was about $40 higher than usual. I knew it would be a little higher due to some data usage from our impromptu family vacation but I think I expected it to be closer to $10. A while back I canceled my data plan as I rarely use the package and living in a rural area the data feature is roaming constantly anyway if it is even available. I figured that I should not bother paying the $25 per month to carry a service that I do not use.
However – while we were out of town I used my phone to look up a couple bits of information while we were looking into lodging. The total transmission was around 1160 KB and the price breaks down to about $0.03 per KB which total out to an extra $34.80. Nothing earth shattering but still a bit higher than I had hoped. Not much I can do about it now but learn my lesson and make sure that I do not use the feature again unless I am willing to invest the extra $40 for the information. I suppose I am off to work on updating my budget to accommodate this now…
Posted on: March 25, 2009 by Matt
With all the economic stimulus talk buzzing around lately I thought I would take a minute and put my one little wish out there with all the other ideas. While I believe there are a lot of great areas the stimulus package will address the one that I do not believe is listed that I would (selfishly) add would be a forgiveness or rehabilitation program for privatized student loans.
I am sure that I am not the only person struggling with paying off old student loans that fell into bad standing. Federal loan programs offer several methods to get back into the good graces of your lender but the private programs leave you in collections and generally unable to get back into good standing. I have yet to find a program that will work with you to get your private student loans out of a collection or default cycle and removed as bad debt on your credit report.
I am not saying we should just waive all the bad debt – I took the loans and made a mistake and want to repay the debt. I would like however to have a program to get the loans back into good standing and off my credit report. With the loans in good standing with a reasonable payment the $20,000 I have in collections would not be such a source of stress in my life and it certainly would not prevent me from moving forward. There are all sorts of programs coming up for people behind on their mortgages – why not something for those that would like to get other aspects of their lives back on track?
For me - getting the private loans I have rehabilitated would allow me to move forward with several other areas of my life. Right now these loans are the primary reason that I am unable to look into buying a house (they are the only negative item on my credit report). My job is steady, I pay my bills on time or early and am in otherwise good standing. However having the $20,000 in a negative report on my credit report inhibits me from moving forward.
Anyway – I do not expect anything to come of my little rant but if a program did come up I would certainly be excited! In the mean time – I will just continue to work on repaying the debt as quickly as I can. It will take a long time but it is my next big obstacle to overcome while working towards my goal of owning a home.
Posted on: March 24, 2009 by Matt
The life of working in a home office has proven to be a bit too much for me to handle. There are too many expectations for me to meet from the home front in addition to having my work obligations and it was causing some discord in the house. So I have spoken with my boss and received permission to get some office space in a local business. I got lucky in my search and my girl friend’s mother offered me an office in the back of the print shop they own for $150 per month.
While it works out to be a pretty good deal for all of us involved I am still a little hesitant. I have already moved into the new space and really like having a little bit of freedom to focus. However I am not sure that I want to continue with my current job. I am good at my job and able to prove my worth (not in the billable numbers department so much but in other areas) on a regular basis. The problem is that I do not find the work rewarding. In the past I have looked at my job as a means to make lots of money and afford to have the lifestyle I wanted. At this point the job is to cover the bills and help me pay off my debt.
Anyway – I have been reading Dan Miller’s 48 Days To The Work You Love at night and have been thinking a lot about finding what I really should be doing to find a sense of fulfillment. I am only in chapter 3 now but hopefully I can wrap it up in the next couple weeks and make some progress with finding work that I want to do, not just work that I have to do to make ends meet.
Posted on: March 23, 2009 by Matt
I have been meaning to get my taxes done for a couple of months now and finally decided to give H&R Block a call. I called them earlier in the week and scheduled some time on Saturday to go in and have them take a look at my taxes. Normally – I have no problem filing myself but this year I moved and continued to work for a company in another state. This lead to being a resident of two different states and paying income tax in one state only. I was worried about the risk of error and figured I would give the work to a professional.
Overall – I was pleasantly surprised with the entire experience. The cost of having my taxes prepared was a bit higher than I thought it should be at $233 but the cost was offset by the increase in return due to deductions I was not aware I could claim. There was about a $400 increase in my federal return from working with H&R Block so I still ended up in a better position than I expected.
The state items on the other hand appear to be pretty close to a wash. The state of Colorado will owe me about $1,500 and the state Vermont will want just about that much back. After getting the states all taken care of I get to keep about $40 as a middle man fee.
Finally – I was able to save some time having someone else handle my taxes for me. In previous years I have spent about two or three hours to get my taxes done and reviewed. On Saturday I was at the H&R Block office for about 45 minutes. Not too bad – I could complain about the fee being so high for such a short amount of time but I prefer to look at it as investing in time for myself!
Posted on: March 20, 2009 by Matt
Well I am running a little behind schedule on posting today and way behind on reading and comments this week. Work has picked up a bit and I have a little less free time. Anyway – here are a few links for kicking around this weekend if you are interested:
Ok – I know, short list this week. Fact is I did not have a lot of time to read for a long list. I just happened on a few that looked good. Hopefully next week will look a bit more solid.
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