Frugal GAB

Now that we have rung in the new year (and a new decade) it is time to set some  Financial Goals  for this year. I kind of hate the word resolutions, so goals it is!  I think it is important to write down what you want to accomplish so you can get focused and have a written reminder throughout the year.

You can break you goals down however you like, but I believe having several be more specific and measurable  is truly important.  For instance, instead of simply saying “Make more money” break it into smaller goals, like “ask for a raise of $xx amount”, or “increase sales to $xx per month”, or even “start new xx business”

Here is my rough draft of goals for the year. I will be breaking each into even smaller parts as I tackle them individually.

Reduce Debt:

1. Pay off remaining hospital bills
2. Pay off AmEx
3. Pay at least 1/4 of BOA

Increase Income with goal of extra $300/month:

1. Reopen eBay store
2. Expand Amazon offerings
3. Research other options like  jewelry biz

Savings/Buffer/Emergency Fund

1. Goal of having a buffer to live off last months income
2. Increase emergency fund to $1000
3. Funnel extra into savings

Have you set some financial goals for this year?  Are they vague, or have you drilled down to more specific and measurable goals?

Here’s hoping you and yours have a very Merry Christmas!

In our quest to reduce our monthly expenses this year we made several changes to the various services we subscribe to.  Sounds pretty simple, huh?

First to go would be DIRECTV; even though we were very pleased with their service it was just too much for our budget this time around.  To replace that we took advantage of a great Basic cable deal from Metrocast: Free basic cable for 1 year with High Speed Internet.

Next we needed to then drop our DSL that had been with Verizon, but at that moment in time had just switched over to FairPoint Communications. The initial transition was not great and service was spotty, so the final decision to drop their DSL service in favor of the Cable Internet deal was sealed.

The third change would be the phone service. We are not big talkers, with either local or long distance, so no huge “everything” plan would be beneficial financially. After much consideration we chose Vonage and their lowest $17.99/mo plan with plenty of minutes for our needs. You can now port your land line number to Vonage,  and that was a nice perk  so Mr B&W would not have to change his business number.

So far so good, right?

WRONG!  First our number porting date came, and all seemed fine, we could stop using our Vonage temporary number and go back to our old number that everyone knew. Well suddenly we had people saying I called you and could not get through, it rang and rang and the answering machine never picked up.    We were wondering if perhaps this change to Vonage was a bad idea, and called Vonage about the problem, but all seemed okay on their end. Then some more info came to light.  We kept track of who could not get through and when.  Also we plugged a corded phone into the old land line jack to see if it would ring, and did! Sometimes. It turned out that the only people who could not get though on Vonage (but could get through on the land line) were also local FairPoint customers.  So with mystery solved we contacted FairPoint.  They said the number porting went through and maybe it would  just take a few extra days.

A few days came and went and the same problem occurred. Then we received a bill from FairPoint with new charges past the disconnect date, along with charges for the disconnected DSL service. Another phone call was in order. After a 45 minute wait on hold  I was told the problem was sent to repair (or tech or whatever they call the service department), and also next month the bill would be zeroed out from the disconnect date, so do not pay anything (as if I was actually going to!).

Now it all gets a little fuzzier, but still problems with calls coming in persisted and then the next bill is still wrong. To give them credit they did have the DSL charges fixed, but still showed both past due and new charges on the phone service we no longer have.  So that is two months running. Are you still with me here?

If you know of the FairPoint switchover you would know that many, many customers had issues with billing and service during this time. So I tried very hard to be patient. I trusted it was fixed and patiently waited for the next bill to arrive and  miraculously say Total Due $0.00!  I felt worse for the businesses who needed phone service set up and could not get it done for weeks going on months, and were probably losing customers. My little bill error seemed insignificant in comparison.  The local newspaper reported that billing errors were common, people had trouble with automatic payments and other various issues. I was starting to wonder how long my bill would sit unfixed, being past due according to them, and if it would get reported to a credit agency.

So the next bill comes and I open it with nervous energy, look and it has yet another month of charges! Now I am mad all over again.  Yes, another phone call, another wait, and another promise it will be fixed next time. UGH! At least the promise of fixing the local call situation was finally resolved.  Somehow it took just the right person to believe me that the only calls I am having trouble with are those from other FairPoint customers.

Unfortunately the next month the billing was still wrong! I think we were up to owing about $133 for service we do not have. What are we up to 4 months now? Even I have lost track. Anyway on my next phone call (which pleasantly surprised me by only having a 4 minute wait time) the customer service rep assured me that all was fixed and the appropriate credits would be issued.   I thanked him with a little trepidation.

Fast forward to today, August 15th, 5 months (minus 2 days) from the original disconnect date.  Our trusty mail carrier delivered our  FairPoint bill today, and Mr. B&W stole all my fun by opening it himself. Drum Roll please…

Total Due $69.14

Ha Ha on me! Yes we got credit for some months, not all, and we are still being billed for Long Distance.

UGH I am dreading Monday morning where I will have to call up my friends at FairPoint yet again.

Wish me luck, will ya?

Oh yes, sorry with all the ranting and raving I forgot to mention we did cut our monthly budget by over $70 with the changes we made.  Not too shabby!

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So what prompted me to travel along a more frugal path?  Well, it started a few years back with some old debt (surprise, surprise) losing one job, taking a lower paying one, and having a child! When we decided that I would stay home with our last child, we knew we had to make some sacrifices along the way.  I am sure many of you can relate.

Now budgeting is something I always did, or so I thought. Really what I had done for many, many years was review the previous years spending, figure out what the monthly expenditures were for bills, put that amount in the bill paying account and use up the rest for all the other random stuff, like clothes, dining out and fun.  Hmmm,  a good start, but not a solid plan.

I really learned a better way to budget after doing the beta test for the Financial Peace University online course from Dave Ramsey.  Many people find Total Money Makeover more to their liking; I read the book, and it is very helpful as well. (tip: check it out at your local library) I understand when it comes to Dave, you either love him or hate him, but for me a lot of what he teaches works.  In upcoming posts I will touch on the points that really worked for us.

In order to live on less it became important to be more discerning on how our money was spent.  Naturally determining wants vs. needs became key.  As I share this journey with you I will talk more in detail on what has worked for us, and I hope you will chime in with your tips as well.

So are you with me? Are you following a more frugal path these days?

Often when one hears the word “frugal”  it conjures up a bunch of other words, a few of which are listed in your standard thesaurus:  thrifty, cheap, tightfisted,  miserly, stingy

Gee, is it me, or do they all sound so negative?

I prefer some of the more positive synonyms like: penny-wise, economizing, provident, prudent; or the definition in Merriam-Webster where it says: reflecting economy in the use of resources.

Now that sounds like being frugal is a very good thing!

So what do you think of when you hear the word frugal? Is it a positive or negative connotation? Do you call yourself frugal, or like others to think of you as such?

Welcome to Frugal GAB!

I am happy to have you join me in this  little adventure in living more frugally.  After becoming a SAHM about 5 years ago I have slowly followed a path that has changed my (and my family’s) behavior with money. We are striving to make the most of what we have, spending less, saving more, eliminating debt and making sound financial choices.

I hope you will follow along with this blog and help contribute to the discussions!

Thanks for stopping by!