I'M REAL GROWN NOW! I'VE GOT THE CAR INSURANCE TO PROVE IT!

A few days ago I blogged about having to buy a new vehicle. At the time, it was still an idea I was toying with, now it is full blown reality and yes, I now have the car note and car insurance to prove it. Well, it's a used vehicle, or as the salesman told me, the new "politicaly correct" term is "pre--owned." I mean, does it really matter? Used or pre-owned, it is still new to me.

I won't tell you exactly what type of vehicle (it's not the one pictured above) I bought, but with the number of kids and other family members I have, I ended up having to get a BIG SUV. Yes, I am fully aware of the fact that gas is fast approaching $4.00 a gallon, and no, my SUV is not the most gas efficient but I did get a pretty good deal on it considering the low mileage and all of the extras that it has. Now reality is seriously setting in since for the first time in my adult life, I have to pay for my own car insurance. Yeah, I know, I'm approaching the 30 years of age mark, and I have never had to pay for my own insurance. I am blessed to have good parents who have paid my car insurance since I started driving. As a matter of fact, they bought my last few vehicles. I gave them back the one that I had. I really wanted to keep it since the gas mileage is better than my new SUV, but the least I could do was to give it back to them since they graciously gave it to me.

Now I must admit to you that I am SCARED out of my mind to have all of this financial responsibility. Yes, I can afford it BUT the whole car note and car insurance is new to me. I must admit that it has caused me to save money big time in other areas of my life. I discussed on last week the amount of money I was spending a month on coffee. I have started making my own coffee at home! I no longer spend $1.43 everyday to go to the convenient store and buy it. Okay, I did backslide on Monday and I bought some because I forgot my cup of coffee at home. But otherwise, I'm doing just fine. I'm cutting out the number of trips I make out of town and I've started staying at the office for lunch instead of leaving and driving all the way home. I just put a sign on my office door that says "At Lunch, Be Out in an Hour", LOL! Anyway, I'll talk more with you later on this.

My Life, My Love, My Finance

Love ya,

Ms. High Maintenance

Life Change + Family Change = I Have to get a New Car!

Yeah, I know I was supposed to be discussing my long term goals today, however, situations have changed and are presently making it impossible for me to continue driving my car. I have a 1999 Ford Taurus that has about 126,000 miles on it. I got it back in 2002 when it had about 18,000 miles on it. A lot of people talk about Ford cars and say they are crappy or FORD = Found On Road Dead---but I will tell you, I love my car! Aside from having to get my transmission rebuilt in 2005, I have had no problems with the car. True, when I got it, I didn't want it, but hey, beggars can't be choosers. I was in my senior year of college and my parents helped me get it since the car I had at the time was going into a "car coma". My parents paid most of the notes on my Ford, but I did pay some of them as well. My car has been paid off for several years now, and unfortunately, our relationship is nearing the end of the road. (Tear, tear).

If you read my Introduction, you know that my family structure has changed significantly over the last 2 years. I now have a set of twins, a son, and a 5 year old cousin who I keep a lot of the time. Oh yeah, I almost forgot about Mr. High Maintenance--I do have a husband now as well. If you count it all up, there are 6 of us (give or take 1 when the 5 year old isn't with us) and a Taurus only seats 5 people---4 comfortably. I have delayed buying a new vehicle for several months now, but the safety of my family is now dependent upon it--or at least that is what I keep telling myself. My son is having to ride in the front seat of my car sometimes, and I don't advocate for kids under 12 sitting up front with the air bag. So, to remedy that situation and just the regular problems of having an older vehicle, I am forced (yeah I said I am forced) to get a new ride.

When I first started searching for a car, I was sure I wanted a mini van. I thought, a mini van would fit my whole family comfortable and they actually make a few cute ones now. Mind you, until I went to the car lot this past Saturday, I was dead set on getting a mini van. One of the car salesmen talked me into test driving an SUV with the 3rd row bench, and I was sold. I now no longer want a mini van which is probably (not probably, I know) more gas efficient by far and in some ways cheaper. BUT, the SUV I drove would last us at least the next 10 years and it has plenty of room and even a DVD player for the kids. For the type of vehicle it is, it is very well priced. YES, I did my homework. I compared the price of this vehicle at this particular lot to the same type of vehicle at other lots. I had my best friend (BFF) call the dealership the SUV is at and ask about the price to make sure that the price I was given (after negotiations) was a fair deal. My BFF was quoted a price almost $1,000.00 more than I was quoted, so I feel pretty good about that.

Ooopps......I have got to go, I am being called on to do some real work at work. Hmph, the nerve of these people who pay me actually want me to work! (LOL) Just kidding. I'll get back with you later and continue my "Car Buying Saga"

My Life, My Love, My Finance

Love ya,
Ms. High Maintenance

My Financial Goals

I shared with you on yesterday that I am not where I would like to be financially. Most of that is because I'm working my first "real" job so of course I now have to pay back those things called student loans and then the dynamic of my family has drastically changed (for the better) . Anyway, here are a few of my short term goals. I haven't listed all of them, and I will periodically update you on my progress. I'll get with you on tomorrow with my long term goals. I was about to do short and long term goals today, but my twins say otherwise.

SHORT TERM GOALS -- To Be Completed Within One Year

1. Invest in a 529 College Savings Plan for Skateboard Boy (SB)-- SB is 9 years old and will be 10 this year. I plan to open an account for him by the end of the year with at least $$1,000.00. I have looked into my state's 529 College Plan and it seems pretty straight forward. I've also looked at the plans from other states near me, but if I invest in those, I wouldn't get the tax benefits offered through my state. Unfortunately, my employer does not do a payroll deduction for 529 Plans. My how I wish they did!

2. Find a New Bank!-- You might wonder why this is a goal, but it is. I live in a small town where there are only 2 banks, so you can imagine that they try to milk the customers out of every penny they have. Of course, Mr. High Maintenance insist on us banking at the same bank, but I refuse to pay a maintenance fee of $10.00 a month on each checking account I have at the bank! I have a total of 3 checking accounts which means I pay $30.00 a month in fees! What the heck! If you figure that out for a whole year, I am paying my bank $360.00 . Are you serious!? At first, I was banking at this wretched bank because it was convenient and I live in my husband's home town and he has always banked there. Code for "I have always given away my hard earned money to them." Yeah, I'm not feeling it. I have got to do better. I will be ending this banking relationship really really soon!

3. Educate myself on investing and start investing-- As I told you on yesterday, I don't know crap about investing. Yes, I should know. Yes, I'm embarrassed that I don't. What do I plan on doing about it? Educate myself. I am working on a list of books, blogs, and websites that I will be reading throughout this year to get myself up to speed on investing. Stay tuned for how my progress is going.

4. Save $1,500.00 in MY Personal Savings Account -- This account is separate than the account me and Mr. High Maintenance have together. To some of you, this might not be that much money, but as I told you before, I am working my first "real" job and starting my career, raising a new set of twins and a 9 year old, and Mr. HM has 2 new businesses.

5. Curb My Spending Habits -- I spend about $1.43 everyday on a cup of coffee . Well, actually it is coffee and cappuccino mixed. I know that is relatively cheap compared to what you spend at Starbucks, but as I said, I live in a small town. The nearest Starbucks is an hour away which is a good thing . If it were one closer, I would truly be broke. Anyway, if I didn't buy coffee every work day, I could save $7.15 week which is a little over $28.00 a month. I'm addicted to coffee, but I' m optimistic.

I spend roughly $24.00--$50.00 a month on my nails. I'm still up in the air about cutting this expense. People look at my hands all the time. I like them to look good---but at the same time, I want to go on a "spending diet". We'll see how this goes as well.

Since I just had twins, I haven't gotten back to my original size. Frankly, I don't want to either. I was a stick. Now, I have a little "meat on my bones" and I like it. The only problem is that I can't fit anything I wore before I was pregnant. For that reason, I have to constantly buy new clothes, especially for work. I will have to figure out a way to cut down on clothing cost. Maybe buy a few key pieces and mix and match? I don't know. I'll figure it out.

Like a lot of other people, I like to eat out. I have already started working on cutting this out. I feel much better when I cook my own food anyway.

Now that I've published my goals here, I feel compelled to really stick to them. I'll give you an update in a month or so on how it's going. Blog with you tomorrow!

My Life, My Love, My Finance

Love ya,

Ms. High Maintenance

Allow Me to Introduce Myself

Hello! I am Ms. High Maintenance. I have been thinking about starting a blog for several months now, but I never got around to doing so. Now that I have a million thoughts in my mind about my life, my love, and my finance, I figure now is the best time to get all of those thoughts out and on paper---well, out in the blogoshere. My main purpose in starting my blog is to hold myself accountable. I mainly wish to hold myself financially accountable, but I also want to hold myself accountable in other areas too. You may ask, what does starting a blog have to do with accountablity. Well, it is simple! Once I publish my goals, my aspirations, etc. on this blog, I can actually "see" what I want to do, and I can plan and act accordingly. It is one thing to say in my mind, "I want to be a millionaire" but to actually write it down (or type it out) and figure out a way to get there, is priceless. So, in essence, this is my way of holding myself accountable.

MY LIFE
Within the last two years, I have had some pretty amazing things happen to me. I went from being a graduate student single parent of one child to a graduate with her first "real" job, a new marriage, and a set of newborn twin girls. I'll talk about my kids from time to time here. My son is referred to as Skateboard Boy (SB) and my twin girls are "the twins" or Diva and Princess. My husband is Mr. High Maintenance which is funny because he is pretty frugal and can go a week without spending a dime for anything. Yeah, I can't do that.

My first real job is proving to be very challenging. I had a bad day today with a client, so I'm chilling and not doing anything productive for the next hmmmm.......well, the rest of the day. You'll hear a lot about the new lessons I'm learning, the experience I'm gaining, and of course the occassional complaint about this job........but I really do like it, most days.

My best friend and I are talking about starting a small business together. We plan to get something off the ground by years end. The more I write about it here, and actually hold myself accountable, the more likely it is going to come to fruition.

MY LOVE
I love my family! I'm sure you'll hear a lot about my immediate family, our goals, etc., but you'll also hear about my brother ans sister. They are characters in and of themsleves. My sister is a college student, so the stories I get from her keep me laughing. When she gives me some good ones, I'll be sure to pass them on to you.

MY FINANCE
The main point of me having this blog is to set financial goals for myself and my family and to actually work towards achieving them. Since this is my first job and my husband owns two new businesses, I don't have a lot of money. Well how can I call myself Ms. High Maintenance you may ask? Easy, I have champagne taste on a beer budget! But I make it work for me! I don't buy name brand purses, etc. However, I'm not broke either.

I feel that I should be allocating my money better and learning to save more and spend less. I have a 401K plan that I don't quite understand. I want to invest in the stock market, but I don't know crap about it. Yes, I have a long way to go. I have a large student loan debt that I keep hearing is good debt, but let's be honest--What is good about owing someone money? Well, I guess I can say that no one can ever come and repo my degrees. I have not ever really had to pay a car note, but with the changes in my family life, I now need a new car to accomodate them.

I would like to buy a house within the next few years but all this talk about the "alleged" recession and the hard and soft real estate market has me confused. I say all of that to say that it is time that I stop making excuses and educate myself. If you knew my profession, you would be ashamed of me for not knowning more than what I do. To that end, keep reading! Grow with me as I grow in financial knowledge and freedom. If you're already "free", watch me become free and grow! Watch me live, learn, and love better!

My Life, My Love, My Finance!

Love ya,
Ms. High Maintenance