Today's date 9/20/2011. I'd like to take a moment and clarify my situation. I moved from Bayfield Colorado on July 3rd. I moved here with just enough money to get here, the aforementioned u-haul, two dogs, two cats, and ownership of one horse (although she has not arrived here yet and will not til next spring), one flatbed 5x8 trailer. These are my assests. Value? About $2100.00 No car, no home, no job, no money. I had arranged to live in my sisters motor home in her driveway til winter if it was available and it was. I immediately went down to the human resource office and applied for food stamps. The least I could do was offer some food contribution. I receive $200.00 a month in food stamps (now called food benefits).
I did manage to get a job and began working in a financial brokers office on August 3rd. Not too bad in today's economy to land a job in 30 days and considering I do not have a background in finance. I am a former Preschool Teacher/Business Owner, that's how I got the job! This intrigued me and inspired me to see how far I can go in the world of finance. So the end result is this blog, and a lot of work ahead of me.
I made an "end of the year" budget...sort of just layed out my income and some bills that followed me here that need my attention and need to get paid. I am only working 16 hours a week and take home $287.00 every two weeks. So I set up my budget for every two weeks and factored in everything from cell phone to dog food.
Already I have some goals that I'd like to see achieved. There are things I would like to buy and need. So, I made a short list of some goals and the cost involved in getting these items. Guess I need to prioritize that list some. It seems a little random and tires on the car that I borrow to get to work and back are probably more important than a snowmobile! Ok so....
Today I spent many hours pouring over my credit report. It is my understanding that in order to secure your financial future you need to take a proactive stance. Already I feel empowered by simply taking the time to get my credit report and credit score (which is rated 560-567) a very poor credit score! Yes I know how it got that way. Actually in my life I have not put much stock in the whole "credit" thing, byt the way I am 50 years old this year. I found that the more money I made the more I spent. So my spending habits were atrocious. After reviewing my credit score I feel as though I have a place to start. A jumping off point, a launch pad. I enlisted the help of Privacy Guard, a credit reporting , identity, and life assistant kind of program offered by my bank. This is not a plug for them but they were really helpful and answered my 50 questions and stayed on the phone with me for as long as it took, and believe me it took a long time, to answer my questions. I have not yet bought those penny stocks that I mentioned I would...procrastination. I feel as though I don' t have enough information gathered in my little pea brain yet. I am working on it though for I have been taking some really small online e courses in stocks and options. I am happy to report that I now understand what a stock option is. I am going to participate in a "webinar" this evening too. We'll see how that goes and what I learn.
Wow, after reading through this I guess I'm on the right track. That's it for now...TTFN!
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