Out of Nothing, I have Been Sustained

On yesterday, my pastor preached a sermon that was so on time for me and my current situation. It applied to several areas of my life---my finances, my job, my marriage, etc. The overall message was that what God has commanded to sustain us, will sustain us. Whether God has blessed us with a handful, or a truckload, we need to learn how to be content and thankful for what we have. We are not to despise the jobs, the money, the income, and the things that we have been given. If we have been given what we consider small blessings and are not able to accept those and be thankful, then how can we expect God to bless us with more? The things that we (I) have been complaining about are the very things that we have been given to sustain our lives.

This is only a portion of my notes from the sermon, but it really spoke to me. I have a bad habit of complaining about the job that I have, the amount of money I make, and the things I don't have. Truth be told, I am extremely blessed. I live in a 4 bedroom 2 bathroom home that I do not own, but that I do not have to pay rent to live in because it is owned by my father in law. That is a HUGE blessing. I have a job that I actually don't mind going to everyday that pays me decent money. I have my own office and I can pretty much do what I want when I want, so long as my job gets done. I get to travel on my jobs dime and not my own. I have a wonderful husband and wonderful children. I don't have many friends I see on a regular basis, but I am thankful for my best friend and the friendships I have in the blogosphere. I have wonderful parents and siblings who keep me laughing. I have more clothes in my closet than I can actually find time to wear. I don't say any of this to brag, but to brag on Him who made all of this possible. This is just a sampling of the blessings that have been bestowed upon me. I would be typing all day if I tried to list everything.

With this in mind, I am challenging myself to be more thankful, grateful, and to praise Him for even the smallest of things. On my financial journey, I have been focusing too much on where I want to be instead of where I am right now. I must learn to be content in whatever state I am in. Contentment doesn't mean that I have to stay in the same shape, but just to appreciate the state I am in now. Besides, how can I expect to be moved to another level in my spiritual life, in my finances, or in my career when I can't see the beauty in the right now?

My Finance: The Non-Book Review

I am in the process of reading Women and Money by Suze Orman. I have been dying to read "Girl, Get Your Money Straight" by Glinda Bridgforth. There are no book stores like Books-A-Million or Barnes and Noble near me. Within the last 2 months, I have gone out of town several times. Each time I go, my first stop is a book store to see if I can find "Girl, Get Your Money Straight." I have been to a total of 6 book stores in 3 different states, and alas, I have not found the book yet! Uurggggghhh! I am getting frustrated. When I finally get an opportunity to go to the book store, all the customer service reps tell me, "We can order that book for you!" Well, I'm going to take their advice and order it myself---on Amazon. Before I spend the money, I am also going to check my local library. Their hours aren't conducive to my work hours, but I guess I'll have to make the time. I got the Suze Orman book for FREE back in February or so when it was available on Oprah's website for free download for a limited time. I guess I'll do my "real" book review when I either finish Women and Money or get "Girl, Get Your Money Straight".

My Financial Confessions: Part II

You may remember that I posted my first financial confession here last month. I figure it is time for another dose of reality. Okay, here goes.....................my current student loan balance is $95,357.06! This is the balance AFTER I have been making payments on time every month for almost 2 years. The original balance was about $100,000.00. I have 2 degrees, a bachelors degree and one I won't discuss here. This is an astronomical amount of DEBT!

As an incentive to take a job with the company I work for, my student loans were to be paid by the company for approximately 2 years. Guess what? On August 7, 2008, it will be my second anniversary with this company. That now means I have to find an extra $500.00 a month to pay student loans. The good thing is that I have been making payments in addition to the payments that my job makes, so I am several months ahead on payments. That should buy me some time to figure this out.

I do not regret taking out this amount in student loans whatsoever. I was a single parent when I was going through school, and student loans helped Skater Boy and I to survive, so I am grateful. Mr. HM has student loans too, but they are not nearly as much as my loans. I feel better to have gotten this confession out in the open. I do have a potential plan of action to tackle the debt. I will discuss it another time. I have to research that option a little more.

My Life, My Love, My Finance

Love ya,

Ms. High Maintenance

My Finance: Going in Different Directions

Mr. HM and I had what we call "The State of Our Union" address last night. This is when we discuss our relationship, our goals, our future, etc. It is kind of like when Mr. President interrupts every non-cable channel on television a couple of times a year to address the citizens of America and tell us what his new plans allegedly/supposedly are. Well, we do that in our marriage every so often.

Our main discussion last night was to talk about our goals in our careers and in our finances. You should know that for the most part, Mr. HM and I are in the same career field and we used to work for the same firm. I had all these grand plans about increasing my contributions to my retirement account, saving for our kids 529 College savings accounts, saving 6-9 months of salary in case of a job loss, increasing the amount in our emergency savings account, and taking steps to advance my career. All of that is a bit too ambitous right now considering the amount of student loan debt we both have and the daycare expenses for the twins. However, I feel that my career goals are doable (is that a word?). Mr. HM left the company that we were both working for in January to pursue his own business. That alone cut our income by half making a lot of my (maybe our) financial goals impossible. In order for me to advance in my career, we would have to move (which I really want to do) possibly to another state.

Half way through our "State of the Union" discussion, I realized that we are going in two vey different directions. Then I thought, how can you have a functional marriage when you do not have similar goals? Mr. HM doesn't seem to have the same financial aspirations as I do or the same career goals. Each of these issues may not seem important or connected to you, but trust me, in our relationship they are interconnected and I have left out some details. Does that mean we love each other any less? NO! What it does mean is that we have a serious problem that we need to figure out how to solve immediately. When we got married, we had similar career goals and financial goals. How do we get back to that? Is it necessary for us to get back to that point? I don't know. Stay tuned. I'm sure we'll have a "State of the Union" talk almost every week now.

My Finance: I Received Unexpected Money! God is GOOD!

The secretary at work gave me my mail today as she normally does everyday. I did not read through my mail until after lunch. When I opened the very last envelope, there was a check from my employer in the amount of $80.96. I looked for a letter in the envelope to see if there was an explaination as to why I was receiving the money. No explaination. I called the Human Resources department and they told me that they owed me the money for past mileage that they previously had not approved. God is awesome! This is money I can pay put in my savings account! I am headed straight to the bank as soon as I leave work.......well, as soon as I pick up the twins.

Cost of Gas Goes Up......Mileage Rate Goes Up

I do a lot of traveling in my own vehicle for my job. As you know, I have a big SUV. Sometimes I drive my husband's sedan, but most of the time, I'm in my vehicle. Mind you, my travel for work seemed to have doubled as soon as I got a new vehicle. Today I received an e-mail from the "powers that be" at my job saying that the state in which we live has gone up on the mileage rate for state employees travel, therefore, we will follow suit and increase our mileage rate. Our old rate was .43 cents a mile. The brand new rate is an astounding increase to .45 cents a mile! Ummm.......am I supposed to jump for joy over a .2 cents increase? I don't know, maybe I'm ungrateful? Maybe my gas tank is ungrateful? Maybe no one else has noticed that gas is $4.00 a gallon?

My Finance: Staying on top of Medical Bills and Insurance Companies

My twin girls were born late last year. I have been having the biggest ordeal with my insurance companies over

the medical bills for the girls and myself. I had a very problematic pregnancy and was in the hospital several times. The medical bills for the 3 of us were no joke! Princess was in the hospital for a little more than 3 weeks after she was born. Diva remained in the hospital only a week or so. The hospital bill, not including the doctor's bill, radiology lab, or anything else was over $20,000.00 before my insurance paid. The bill for Princess was about $65,000.00 before insurance.

I have been disputing my health insurance company and the hospital for over 7 months about the medical bills--mainly billing errors on the part of the hospital. I have gotten frustrated and fed up with talking to so many different representatives from the hospital and insurance company that I just wanted to give up and scream! But when I thought about all the money I pay in insurance premiums, it was enough to fight on! On this past Monday, I saw VICTORY!

All the bills that were supposed to be paid by my insurance company that didn't get paid, finally were paid by my insurance company!

If you have a dispute with your insurance company or medical provider, fight it to the end! I even had to wrestle with collection agencies who my accounts had been sent to because my insurance company had not paid! Make sure you keep a record of who you talk to and the time of day it is and that date. Ask for a reference number for the telephone call. If the insurance company turns down your claim, don't just end it there. Appeal their decision. Black Enterprise

magazine had an article in their May 2008 Edition entitled "How to Fight Your Insurance Company-and win" I couldn't find the article on their website, but you may want to try to google it and chekc it out.

My Life, My Love, My Finance

Love ya,

Ms. HM

My Finance: Spending On the Weekend

Last weekend, I went on a business trip for work. I live in a rural area where the closest mall or legitimate shopping center is about an hour away. With gas prices the way they are, I only go to the nearest metropolitan area once every couple of months. Since I was in a metropolitan area, I did some much needed shopping. YES, I am still trying to save money, but it is semi-annual sale time at Bath and Body Works and Victoria's Secret. This is the ONLY time of year I shop for lotion, bath gel, and spray mist from these stores! I stock up and buy enough to tide me over until the next semi-annual sale which is in late December of this year and early January of next year. Yes, I know these sales like clockwork! I also needed a new suit for work for a conference I have to go to later this month. Actually, I need 3 new suits, but I am buying them one at a time as my money allows. I only buy suits at Ross Dress for Less and at TJ Maxx because they are much cheaper there than say, at The Limited or somewhere. Here is a list of my spending (not including gas and food because my job reimburses me for that)

Store Purchased Item Regular Price Sale Price
Bath and Body Works 1 Plumeria Shower Gel $10.50 $3.33
Bath and Body Works 1 Plumeria Body Splash $10.50 $3.3.3
Bath and Body Works 4 Plumeria Body Lotion $42.00 $13.32
Bath and Body Works 1 Sheer Fresia Shower Gel $10.50 $3.33
Bath and Body Works 2 Sheer Fresia Body Splash $21.00 $6.66
Bath and Body Works 3 Sheer Fresia Body Lotion $31.50 $9.99
Victoria Secret 5 Personal Items $25.00 $20.00
Victoria Secret 2 My Desire Body Mist $21.00 $8.00
Victoria Secret 3 My Desire Body Lotion $31.50 $8.00
TJ Maxx 1 Pant Suit $280.00 $49.99

Side Note: My husband went with me and Skater Boy, Diva, and Princess are on another vacation visiting my parents. So I will count alone time with Mr. HM as being: PRICELESS!!!!!I ended up saving a LOT of money off of things that I find essential to my life. Mr. HM doesn't understnad why I can't just use the regular lotion he uses, but he doesn't complain either when I smell like my plumeria or freesia lotion! Plus, those are the things I consider to be High Maintenance for me! I would go through and total up the savings amount for you, but I'm at work, and I need to get back to serving the needs of my clients! HA HA

My Life, My Love, My Finance

Love ya,

Ms. HM

Disclaimer: I do not receive any money or other benefits for mentioning any of the stores named in my post on today. They are merely stores in which I enjoy shopping. I am not affiliated with them in any other way.