Keep Your Balance Paid

A few days ago my aunt and I were discussing credit cards and using them during tough times.While it's tempting to rely on a line of credit to make it through hard times, it's not always a wise decision.

Many credit card companies are taking advantage of the economy by charging extra fees and raising the interest rate on purchases. And even if you think your card has a very reasonable interest rate, keep in mind that while it's tempting to put that fast food night out on your card, what was a simple $10 meal could very well turn into an expensive $100 meal if you're not careful.

However, having a positive line of credit can be a good thing when it comes to apply for some jobs and even renting a home. It can also help when there is a true emergency and you need a little extra money before payday arrives. It's when you decide not to pay the balance right away that the trouble starts.

Keep your balance paid and your credit card can become a positive advantage. Don't pay your balance and you're setting yourself up for a trouble of debt. Believe me, I've been there and done that, and it's no fun!

December Financial Update

With the holidays being here, this month was far and few with freelance earnings. It was a sad disappointment and to makes matters worse, we had to break down and use the credit card to put a down payment on my husband's eyeglasses.

December 1-15th

Private sales: $150.00
Adbrite: $0.22
Payperpost: $5.01
Payu2blog: $10.00
Kontera: $0.00

Total: $165.23

Problems With Our Police Departments

Over the Thanksgiving Holiday, my father bought the Joplin newspaper to read. In it he saw an article about the misuse of government issued credit cards. I know that the military must follow strict rules when they use a government card, so I wonder if police officers are issued government cards as well.

It makes me wonder because sadly in the past I've read about several police officers stealing from the evidence room or a local grocery or department store. Do they not have a spending allowance for clothing or police issued equipment such as 5.11 Tactical Knives or tasers?

I know they certainly don't make enough money starting out. So maybe that is the reason? Maybe the government or cities should be looking into situations such as these if they're not already doing so. But, if they are, I guess these officers would not be stealing for the pleasure of it or to make ends meet.


Please Note: This is a paid post and is sponsored by la police gear and payperpost.

Mid-Week November Financial Update

Because of the holidays I've been way behind in both posting and working and job opportunities online have been rare. I also had to use the credit card that is not a closed account to get my husband's glasses.

Usually when we pick up glasses from the eyewear shop, they've already filed his insurance and we get a check to pay for the glasses. Well for some reason this time, they didn't file his insurance. So in order to get his glasses we had to pay half down. Unfortunately half down was nearly half of what my husband and I make in a week, so we couldn't afford it out of pocket. So, I had to use the credit card.

The good news is, just as soon as we do get the check from the insurance company, that amount will go back on the credit card. Well, that is unless, something else goes wrong, sigh.

Here is a breakdown of what I've made online for the last two weeks of November.

November 15-30th

Payu2blog: $30.00
Payperpost: $27.50
SocialSpark: $7.04
Adbrite: $0.00
Kontera: $0.00

Total: $64.54

Credit Cards vs Money Orders and Checks

One of the things I've been seriously wondering about is whether to look into some form of credit
card processing since I do all of my work online. If I ever open an online business shop, I make just do that. I know it's faster than someone sending a money order or check and so much safer for both paying customers and myself.

I mean think about it? What customer is going to want to order a product and then send a check or money order and hope that he sees his product in return? And how am I to know that the check is trustworthy? I'd have to wait 30 days at least for the check to clear and the customer would have to wait just as long to receive his/her product. It would be an inconvenience for both of us. Using a form of credit card processing is so much easier and faster and in my opinion, the only way to go.

Please Note: This is a paid post and is sponsored by MerchantAcceptance and Payperpost.

Paying Off Old Debt

Today I was able to put an extra payment towards old debt. One of the credit cards that I've been paying off from my previous marriage is now down to a $700 balance! Prior to that it was at $760, so I paid the $60 down plus the $9.00 interest rate to make it to the balance it's at now.

I am so very excited and cannot wait to get all of this old debt paid off! It is always a great feeling when you don't have to take your entire paycheck and pay it towards credit card bills! I am hoping to be able to pay extra towards another credit card next week, but we'll see how it goes. We'll still need money for the holidays and a trip to Oklahoma, but there may be room for debt reduction as well.

September Financial Update

Things are getting better since I've been pulling in a little more money. Even with the loss of a certain company's sales, things are going good. I have added a new company this week called Adbrite. I've already made some sales with them which is awesome since I just started with them this month.

Here are totals for my last two weeks' of September:


September 14-30

Payu2blog $25.00
MySurvey $10.00,
Cashcrate $1.00
payperpost $52.00
SocialSpark $21.45,
Private Sales $180.00
Kontera $0.05
AdBrite $1.03

This brings the total for the two weeks to $290.53. Now while that might not be a tremendous amount of money for some people, it's really decent for me and almost as much as I made when I work at microtel here in Independence, Kansas. Plus, if the next two weeks goes really well, it will be a little bit over what I need for bills, which means I can put more towards one of the credit cards that I am aiming to pay off.

There are only two credit cards that I need to pay off and their now both under $900! The card that I used for emergencies only is no longer being used, due to the interest rates being taken out two times a month. Was this a mistake on their part? As it turns out, no. So the card is not worth keeping in my opinion. If we ever decide to get another credit card for emergencies, I'll take closer look at the fine print the next time.

Speaking of credit cards, my husband was offered one at the bank where our mortgage is. He was pre-approved for $1500.00 and the interest rate was 5.9%. That's really low and something sounded a little fishy to me, so at the time I convinced my husband that he should hold off on applying for it.

Plus, I have this fear that if he does get the card, he'll be spending the money on non-emergencies and we'll be right back to where we started. With the economy as it is, we certainly don't need any more financial debt!

BTW, if you haven't already, be sure to check out Work at Home Mom Revolution's post on: Recession-Proof Strategies for Work at Home Moms and Dads. It's scary to think just how bad this economy has gotten and that we're having to do a bail out. And what if that bail out falls through? What then?

Credit Trouble

I'm not fond of credit cards. Most people who use them, have no idea how much trouble they can cause. I'm one of those people. However, I do believe in having one card for emergencies. And by emergencies I mean a real emergency, not that great little cocktail dress you found on sale on the clothing rack.

If you can't abide by that rule, then you probably shouldn't own any credit cards at all. I for one am closing out the one credit card account I do have open. My reason for this is that I've learned that charges for two different interests rates per a month.

I might consider another card to build up my credit again and use for emergencies, but right now it won't be happening.

If you're one of the smart ones who knows how to use a credit card wisely, a high limit credit card may be ideal for emergency use. The reason is, if you apply for a credit card that only has a credit limit of $200, it might not be enough if you need to pay a hospital bill or buy a plane ticket home when your car breaks down halfway across the united states.

The only downside to applying for a high limit credit card is the fact that it's a lot more money you'll need to pay back and you're bound to get stuck with a higher interest rate if you can't pay it off all at once. Credit can be such a hassle at times!

An Update On My Goal

I haven't had much time to really update my blog or do any work online, due to a tragic death in the family and my birthday being yesterday. Unfortunately this put me behind, so I may be working a lot of hours in the near future unless I get some outstanding paying jobs.

Here is an update on what I have been making. Obviously my goal has not been made for the credit card payment this month and I won't be making an extra payment towards it. I will have to try again for next month.


August 11th
Google Adsense: $1.60
Kontera Ads: $0.00
PepperJam Ads: $0.00

August 12th
Google Adsense: $2.22
Kontera Ads: $0.00
PepperJam Ads: $0.00

August 13th
Associated Content: $4.00
Payperpost: $10.00
Google Adsense: $0.00
Kontera Ads: $0.00
PepperJam Ads: $0.00

August 14th
Google Adsense: $0.78
Kontera Ads: $0.00
PepperJam Ads: $0.00

August 19th
Google Adsense: $0.08
Payperpost: $8.00
Kontera Ads: $0.00
PepperJam Ads: $0.00

Update on my Goals

Its been a busy past few days since the kids start school tomorrow. There is a meet the teachers at school, so we're headed to that today and then after that, there is a back to school event going on at the park.

Before I head out, however. I wanted to share an update on my goals. I had about $40 saved for an extra payment towards the credit cards, but I had to use it for today's school events, bathroom pvc pipes to repair the kids bathroom and pvc thread tape to repair the pipe in our own bathroom. Then my husband needed money for drinks at work. The good news is I still have about $15 left, so it's going directly to the savings account I recently opened.

Here's a quick update of my income lately:

August 6th
Private Sales: $50.00
Google Adsense: $3.98
SocialSparks: $10.91
Kontera Ads: $0.00

August 7th
Google Adsense: $3.03
Kontera Ads: $0.00

August 8th
Associated Content: $4.00
Payperpost: $5.00
Kontera Ads: $0.00
Google Adsense: $0.00

August 9th
Associated Content: $4.00
Kontera Ads: $0.00
Google Adsense: $0.00

August 10th
Payu2blog: $5.00
Payperpost: $5.00
Kontera Ads: $0.00
Google Adsense: $0.00

It's been an impressive week, especially for Google adsense! I hope that it continues to be!

An Update on my Goals

I managed to make an extra payment towards one of the credit cards I am paying off. Because of the extra payment, That will bring the credit card to exactly $800. I am hoping to be able to pay more towards that credit card, next month.

Also, I was able to put $25 back to a new savings account for emergency funds. I might also have enough to buy a lawn mower for the yard, this Friday.

We finished all of the school supply shopping today for my husband's children. So that takes care of all of the kids. It's been a great day!

Here are the latest break downs of what I am making online to help pay the bills and make my goals. As always, thank you to those who have been visiting ads from google adsense. Every little bit makes me one step closer to paying off the debt and buying a car.

July 31st
Payu2blog $15.00
Google Adsense $0.00
Kontera Ads $0.00

August 1st
Payu2blog $5.00
Google Adsense $0.00
Kontera Ads $0.00

August 3rd
Cashcrate $3.00
LoudLaunch $4.00
Google Adsense $0.00
Kontera Ads $0.00

August 4th
Associated Content $4.00
Google Adsense $0.67
Kontera Ads $0.00

Update on My Goal

Well, I am behind again, but at least I have been working towards my goals. If you're not familiar with what I am doing, I want to pay off the credit card debt I have and buy a car. Those are my main goals. I have other financial goals as well, but those are the first on the list. Unfortunately there were days I wasn't able to work at enough money to put towards my goals. However, there were other days where I made more than enough to put towards my goals. So in the end, it all equaled out. I would like to put more towards the goals to get them paid off faster, but that's another story, another day.

In the mean time, to solve the problem of my hubby not wanting to budget, I am just paying the bills as I get them. So far he's doing good with putting the amount needed for the house in the savings account. :)

July 28th
Socialspark: $25.99
Google Adsense: $1.26
Kontera: $0.00

July 29th
Associated Content: $4.00
Google Adsense: $0.03
Kontera: $0.00
July 30th
Associated Content: $4.00
Google Adsense: $0.00
Kontera: $0.00

An Update on My Goal

I am a bit behind on updating my goal. I actually have about 3 days worth of online work. I worked for an hour on the weekends just to catch up for last Thursday. I am no longer in need of help with my kids. I want to thank everyone who contributed with helping my kids. As of now I am working towards two goals. One is to pay off two credit cards and the other is to save for a car. I'm not even sure which one to start with first. I'll need a car since I am headed back to Oklahoma in September/October for a court date for my kids.

But the credit card I used for emergencies is still claiming an over the limit fee. This means I will have to make a $125 payment this month instead of the usual $40. I had used the card to put the car rental on because they wanted to hold way too much money back from our checking account. This was still an enterprise thing from when I picked up my son. What enterprise did not bother to tell me is that they hold the same amount on my credit card and didn't return it in time, so the credit card charged an over the limit fee. So, after I pay the card's balance back up, I am officially closing that account. I can live without the credit card. Emergency or not.

July 24th
Payu2blog: $10.00

July 25th
Private Sales: $50.00
Kontera Ads: $0.06

July 26th
Payperpost: $30.00
Kontera Ads: $0.05

July 27th
Payperpost: $5.00
Google Adsense: $1.93

Paying Down Credit Card Debt

Instead of paying insurance for a year in advance, I've decided to begin paying off a credit card. The reason for this is, the interest rate on the credit card is much more than what we'll be saving on insurance. Right now the credit card I am wanting to pay off is not in use whatsoever. It's a closed account, so there will be no using the card for any reason.

The balance owed on the card is about $1200. I figure if I can knock out at least $100 or that amount in about 2 weeks, that's doing really good. This will all depend on whether or not I have enough work to keep me busy and also whether or not I'll have to make up any extra towards our house payment. I'll be posting updates and noting the amount being set aside for the credit card debt as much as I can. The way I figure it will take me about $12.50 a day extra to meet my goal. That's not bad at all! :D

If I find that the 12.50 can be easily made, I'll increase my goal for the two weeks after that. I am hoping to have that credit card paid off by December! In order to accomplish that, I'll need to make at least a $150 payment every two weeks. That's $18.75 a day. Not too bad, so we'll see what happens! I am very excited about doing this.

Another goal I need to be working on is buying a car so that I can pick up my kids without having to spend nearly $200 every trip. That's getting to be quite a bit! So I am going to see what I can do with the car goal as well.

Debt and Credit Cards

If you're trying to get out of debt like I am, many people will tell you to avoid credit cards. For the most part there is some truth to this. When you're trying to get out of debt, credit cards can be a big problem... especially if you love spending money. For some however, credit cards can be a blessing if they are used the right way.

Take Mint Credit Cards for instance. They offer no interest on balance transfers for 13 months. This can be helpful when you have other credit cards with high interest rates. You can transfer high interest cards to Mint Credit Card and pay off those balances in 13 months. After that the interest rate is at 14.9% for most consumers. Still not bad for a credit card rate.

Mint Credit Cards also offers a 24 hour customer service line and you can manage your account with them online. Less hassle! How cool is that!

If you have other high interest rate credit cards, you might want to give them a shot and see if this offer is right for you and apply for a credit card from them.

This is a paid post and is sponsored by payperpost.

Gettting a Better Credit Card Rate

Not too long ago I was reviewing my credit card rate when I realized the company is increasing my rate once again. Have I missed a payment? Been late? Nope. They just seem to be losing customers, so they have to make money some how.

After doing a little research on Mint Credit Cards from UK, I realized they definitely have a better credit card deal than the company I am currently with. Not only do they have a great introductory rate, but they've lowered their APR. Something my credit card company refuses to do!

0% on purchases
0% on balance transfers
0% on added balance transfers
14.9% APR variable

How cool is that??? I know that's a heck of a lot lower than my credit card company. As a matter of fact, it's nearly half the rate! Now if that doesn't entice you, they also allow you to manage your card by mobile text and they have a 24 hour customer service line. Not bad, not bad at all!

This is a paid post and is sponsored by Payperpost.