ISF Fees:

I had $190.50 in bank fees = $180 in bounced checks + $10.50 in using other ATMs.

That's not all...

Over the limit fees.

3 of them.

$29 bucks a pop.

Yowza!

In 3 months I lost $277.5 in fees. That's a freaking car payment! That could've paid off the target card!! And what makes it worse is, most things I went overboard on, w/in a week I returned most it.

*sigh*

I post this here now b/c not again. Before I attending the class on Sunday, I was already emotionally changing. I'd silently vowed to myself, post September 30th, no more credit cards.

Since doing a budget, I'll now keep a log and will track my daily spending. I think twice before eating out, b/c in my third eye, my cash balance is burning in my retina.

****

And while I'm confessing, I don't know if I want to share my total financhial picture, I don't know why. It's not like I'm Oprah and we all know she's worth billions. But I'll share my gross monthly income. You can do the math and we'll leave it at that.

I've locked into a monthly budget, and while I averaged $93/mo in over the limit/ISF fees, they were NOT facorted in...lol

Based on the class I took Sunday, I will take 10% of my gross and put towards my snowball. That leaves living on 90%, less my fixed expense and I can still put away a set portion for yearly expense.

I'll explain all this in more deetails in the next few days, and will have hard numbers to go w/the logic.

I'll post my budget each month and the following month check in to see how I did. I'm going strictly cash, no using the debit card for non-bills, even things like gas. I have a budget for it each month. I'll take 1/2 out. For the most part, that's my car allowance, in other words, it should be enough to get me to work and back. Plus a weekly jaunt to the movies, which I can do every other week. If one week gas goes to $5 bucks, say after the election *cough*, then Renee can only do the basic trips, work and back and no running around town.

Months ago a game plan like that would've made me all depressed and deprived, but now I'm super motivated. While I don't beat myself up about throwing away monies, I am a bit irked, after learning how compound interest works against me when I have so much debt and while it seems like I lost "just 200 dollars", in the future, it ends up being in the thousands if not tens of thousands interest monies I'm losing.

That's my mindset right now, eliminating this debt, to make room for wealth andfinancial freedom.