Hello Tuesday!  This is the day that we make an extra effort to pay down our debt and slide into retirement debt-free .  Most every Tuesday we apply extra cash (whether it be BIG or small) to our outstanding debt.  This helps keeps us aware of and accountable for our debt. And it all makes a difference.

Our only debt is a HELOC with an interest rate of 2.24% The minimum monthly payment goes towards the PRINCIPAL and the INTEREST.   I am chipping away at the balance until we sell my deceased mom's house that is currently being used as a rental. At that point, we will pay off the rest of the balance.  Until then, I will be sending in payment to this debt and/or to my taxable investment account every Tuesday. 

My last Transfer Tuesday was July 27,2021

Previous balance on last Transfer Tuesday Post  $ 65,901.95

Money Moves This Week: 

eBay 10% of weekly payout $5 (it was a slooowww week)

Money Move Fail: About a month ago, (in a quest to improve strength and mobility) I signed up for a mandatory 3-month subscription of Pilates for $89 a month. Only AFTER I signed the contract and paid for the first month did I find out my husband's gym membership had Pilates included in the membership plan. Good Grief. 

The mistake was mine. I did not look into ALL the classes that the gym membership offered before I somewhat impulsively signed up for Pilates.  Anyway, moving forward, I will definitely investigate the classes at the gym and compare both.  Who knows, I may discover that in 3 months Pilates is not the thing for me OR the best thing since sliced bread.  For now, I really like it.  

Future Money Moves: There have been some sales on Etsy, Posh and Mercari.  I am going to let that accumulate for a week or two and then disperse it to the HELOC/Investing/Savings.

Payment to the HELOC $5  (10% of weekly eBay earnings)

 

 New HELOC balance is $65,986.95

At the end of every month, I total up my monthly gross eBay earnings and then send 20% to a tax withholding account at CapitalOne. This month I sent $459.77 to that account.  July was a pretty good month with gross earnings of $2298.87 for this  part-time eBay seller. 

The Tax withholding account is currently at $2,913.47

I don't expect we will need all of this at the end of the year, but you never know.  I would rather be safe than sorry. 

Our AGI is affected yearly by a Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) from an inherited IRA. Due to the coronavirus 2020, I was not required to take a disbursement. The account was allowed to grow without interruption.   That is not the case this year. 

 

Having this account will surely cover any taxes owed to the IRS. 

I recently cashed out a CD that was earning 0.15% ( it was time to renew or cash out) and put that money into my taxable investment account at M1Finance.  

I put half into my Vanguard Total Stock (VTI) and half into my First Pie which is a collection of personal stock picks. This is the balance as of today BEFORE the transfer of $1000.00

Here is where my portfolio sits as of Sunday evening AFTER the deposit went through. 

When we started paying down the debt in Sept 2019 we were at $95,853.00

How was your Transfer Tuesday? 

My inspiration for Transfer Tuesday is Pennies Not Perfection

August Goals 2021 An Attempt to Stay the Course

August just snuck up on us, didn't it?  To better help my scatterbrain ( may be a bit ADHD)  I am going to post a few goals for August.  They are general and not to specific, but detailed enough to keep me on course without jumping ship altogether.

 I straight up " borrowed" this format from The Hawaii Plan.
 

Financial:

• Keep dining out to $100
• Keep grocery shopping under $550
• Pursue profitable printables for an Etsy shop
• Continue to maximize my eBay and other online income revenue sources by listing and sharing 5 days a week. 
• Rebuild short term savings account to $1000 ( we have long term savings in place)

Family:

• Dinner with grandkids, daughter, and son in law 
• Have two date nights with my husband 
• Visit the oldest son and take him a pan of lasagne. 
• Visit middle son and catch up and take him a lemon cake.

Fitness/health:

• Walk at least 3 x 5 times a week. 
• Lose 16 pounds. 
• Strength training at gym 2-3 times a week 
• Pilates once a week

Work:

• Keep looking for part-time employment eBay is my part-time employment.  I will focus on building this income.

Personal/creative:

• Make two new recipes 
• Spend time with friends- meet up for lunch or coffee.  
• Figure out another hobby besides thrifting. 
• Continue to research paternal side of the family
• Get back to reading my bible daily. 

Time to get busy with these goals.  

Checking in on my 2021 Vision Board ( Part One)

 

Back in January, I put together a 2021 vision board.  It is my screensaver on my laptop. I set high goals attempting to balance happiness and success.  By keeping it on my laptop, I am able to look at it every day.  There is a way to make it a screen saver on your phone but I have yet to figure it out. 

I built it using vertical categories in columns, business, personal, financial, travel, and family. The first category is business. On top is eBay with a goal of $31,000 gross sales for the year.  I am on track to meet that goal and surpass it.  Beginning July 1, 2021, I made $17,000 in GROSS sales on eBay alone. 

I also stopped and started and stopped and started a YouTube channel about thrifting.  What I discovered is YouTube is time-consuming and more work than it seems on the surface. Currently, I have 300 subscribers. YouTube success demands consistency. Consistency and time.  YOU must have both to succeed on YouTube.  

I want to open a shop on Etsy filled with downloadable printables. Once you design the printable and upload it to Etsy, the income is basically passive. This has not happened yet. It is a project that I circle back to monthly and am spending time creating cute and interesting printables. 

TikTok. Do you TikTok? While I was recovering from shoulder surgery I had a lot of free time on my hands. TikTok was a welcome diversion from the pain of shoulder surgery.  Before too long the pain was getting better and I decided to start a TikTok for my cat Gary and was able to learn the ins and outs of filming and adding music etc to my videos. As a side note, there is a lot of valuable information on TikTok.  

Then I started a different  Tik Tok channel about thrifting. It is a social media platform that I still enjoy and add to daily. I have made virtual friends and met thrifting friends at estate sales and garage sales.  One TikTok friend and I go to estate sales regularly. I currently have over 5000 followers on TikTok and hope to grow it to at least 10,000 with 30,000 as the BIG goal for now.  ( my TikTok is @happygirlthrift)

In the next vision board post, I will discuss the next column, "Personal".   Have you ever put together a vision board?  This is my first digital vision board.  It took me a bit to figure it out but with the help of YouTube, it was pretty easy.

Here is the LINK to Part Two

TRANSFER TUESDAY JULY 13, 2021

 

                   

                             

Hello Tuesday!  This is the day that we make an extra effort to pay down our debt and slide into retirement debt-free .  Most every Tuesday we apply extra cash (whether it be BIG or small) to our outstanding debt.  This helps keeps us aware of and accountable for our debt. And it all makes a difference.

Our only debt is a HELOC with an interest rate of 2.24% The minimum monthly payment goes towards the PRINCIPAL and the INTEREST.   I am chipping away at the balance until we sell my deceased mom's house that is currently being used as a rental. At that point, we will pay off the rest of the balance.  Until then, I will be sending in payment to this debt and to my taxable investment account every Tuesday. 

My last Transfer Tuesday was  July 6, 2021

Previous balance on last Transfer Tuesday Post   $67,082.46

Money Moves This Week: 

 

eBay 10% of weekly payout $32

Etsy $37.22 

 

Cash Rewards Payouts have all been deposited to our banking account. 

 GetUpSide $72.55

BOA CC Rewards His: $66.78

BOA CC Rewards Hers: $44.20

TOTAL $183.53

Sending $100.00 to my M1 Finance account.  M1 will spread the payment between my first Pie (stocks I selected) and VTI (Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF) 

The balance as of this morning is $836.46

I also have a savings account with M1Finance. That side currently has $396.39 in it as of this morning.  This account may be a landing spot for future Required Minimum Distributions (from an inherited IRA) as the interest is currently 1%. The savings account this is currently being used has a rate of 0.01%.

And  I will be sending $152.75 to the HELOC

The NEW balance will be  $66,929.71 I will be sending in at least $0.71 in too.  The cents drive me bananas.  I like it to have no cents showing. 

When we started paying down the debt in Sept 2019 we were at $95,853.00

How was your Transfer Tuesday? 

My inspiration for Transfer Tuesday is Pennies Not Perfection

FICO 805 _BOA

CASHING OUT REWARDS: Credit Cards ~Get Upside~Ibotta

Today I did a few money moves with our rewards cards at BOA. The credit cards we currently have at BOA allow you to select certain categories for Rewards. 

My card I have Online Shopping 3%, Grocery 2% and all other purchases 1%

My husband's card is currently set to Gas 3%, Grocery 2% and all purchases 1%

I redeemed $44.20 from my card and $66.78 from my husband's card. 

We also use GetUpside an app that you can use to get cashback from gas purchases and some food purchases. Today we are redeeming $72.55  We have not used it for food purchases, but we use it for gas purchases.  Typically we will get 4-14 cents back per gallon of gas purchased. 

It's easy to use.  Open the app, find a gas station near you and select it.  You will have to preselect the grade of gas you are going to get. SAVE your receipt and scan it in when done.  Similar to the FETCH app. 

  Each grade will get a different amount in rebates.  The higher the grade, the higher the potential rebate.  If you refer a friend, you will get a penny for each gallon that they use when activating the app.  My son uses the app for his vehicle and his work vehicle.  He earns a substantial amount for one person being able to use two vehicles.  

The last redemption is for Ibotta.  I need to up my Ibotta game!  I was able to cash out $21.20

Total amount redeemed today:  $204.73

Total for the 2021 Redeemed $442.72

TRANSFER TUESDAY JULY 6, 2021

 Hello Tuesday!  This is the day that we make an extra effort to pay down our debt.  Most every Tuesday we apply extra cash (whether it be BIG or small) to our outstanding debt.  This helps keeps us aware of and accountable for our debt. And it all makes a difference.

Our only debt is a HELOC with an interest rate of 2.24% The minimum monthly payment goes towards the PRINCIPAL and the INTEREST.   I am chipping away at the balance until we sell my mom's house that is currently being used as a rental. At that point, we will pay off the rest of the balance.  Until then, I will be sending in payments every Tuesday. 

My last Transfer Tuesday was   June 29, 2021

Previous balance on last Transfer Tuesday Post   $67,951.00

We incurred a monthly service charge of $130.96

The updated balance is $67,145.54

Money Moves This Week: 

Paying 10% of gross sales earned this week from eBay: $31.54

The NEW balance is $67,114.00

A payment of 10% $31.54 was sent to my M1 Finance account.  M1 will spread the payment between my first Pie (stocks I selected) and VTI (Vanguard Total Stock Market ETF) 

The balance as of this morning is $800.24

Upcoming MONEY MOVES Payout for ETSY of $38.00

When we started paying down the debt in Sept 2019 we were at $95,853.00

How was your Transfer Tuesday? 

My inspiration for Transfer Tuesday is Pennies Not Perfection

TRANSFER TUESDAY 6/29/2021

                   

                             

Hello Tuesday!  This is the day that we make an extra effort to pay down our debt.  Most every Tuesday we apply extra cash (whether it be BIG or small) to our outstanding debt.  This helps keeps us aware of and accountable for our debt. And it all makes a difference.

Our only debt is a HELOC with an interest rate of 2.24% The minimum monthly payment goes towards the PRINCIPAL and the INTEREST.   I am chipping away at the balance until we sell my mom's house that is currently being used as a rental. At that point we will pay off the rest of the balance.  Until then, I will be sending in payments every Tuesday. 

My last Transfer Tuesday was   June 22, 2021

Previous balance on last Transfer Tuesday Post   $67,951.00

We incurred a monthly service charge of $130.96

The updated balance is $68,061.96

Money Moves This Week: 

Regular Payment of $750.00

Payout for PoshMark of $38.00

Paying 10% of gross June Sales from eBay: $166.42

The NEW balance is $67,107.54

When we started paying down the debt in Sept 2019 we were at $95,853.00

How was your Transfer Tuesday? 

My inspiration for Transfer Tuesday is Pennies Not Perfection

Fraud Friday

 Since our trip out west earlier this month, my BOA credit card has been compromised three times.  Twice in South Dakota and once when we returned home.  I am waiting to receive my THIRD new credit card. 

Not that I mind at all the fraud is detected and quickly handled.  I don't. I greatly appreciate it! It is just so odd that this one credit card is under attack.  

We use credit cards to manage almost all of our daily purchases and bill paying, primarily for points that we can cash out later to either save or pay down more of the HELOC.

I attempted an online purchase last night and that is what triggered the latest fraud event. I am not even sure if the purchase went through or if we will receive the item. I will keep an eye on it. The above image is off the internet.  BOA actually closed my CC and I am not able to use it. 

I check my accounts DAILY using the Personal Capital platform app.  I can see the balances of each account ( savings, investing, and credit cards).  It is the second app I check in the morning after my eBay account.  I love waking up to overnight sales :-)

Have a fabulous Friday and don't forget to check all your accounts for fraud! 

Transfer Tuesday June 22, 2021

  

                   

                             

Hello Tuesday!  This is the day that we make an extra effort to pay down our debt.  Most every Tuesday we apply extra cash (whether it be BIG or small) to our outstanding debt.  This helps keeps us aware of and accountable for our debt. And it all makes a difference.

My last Transfer Tuesday was  June 1, 2021

Previous balance  on last Transfer Tuesday Post   $68,698.00

Payment of $747.00  VALIC payout (The check FINALLY arrived yesterday) 

Total $747.00

New balance   $67,951.00

When we started paying down the debt in Sept 2019 we were at $95,853.00

Upcoming Money Moves:  Redeem Credit Card Rewards from BOA $237.99 - Transfer in progress SIDE NOTE SENT this to M1 finance checking (1% interest APY) 

Poshmark payout $38.04 is being moved from Posh to Checking account ( in progress)  will apply to next week Transfer Tuesday. 

How was your Transfer Tuesday? 

My inspiration for Transfer Tuesday is Pennies Not Perfection

What Happened to TRANSFER TUESDAY

 I have missed Two Transfer Tuesdays.  Oops.  We were on a family vacation and the posts I thought I scheduled to post did not. 

All for the best. The check from the VALIC account that should have already been here is somewhere but definitely not here. That was going to be a pretty big payment towards the HELOC.

I will regroup and get back to a regular Transfer Tuesday next week. 

Meanwhile, here are a few pics from out trip to South Dakota and Wyoming.  Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower and the Badlands were a few of the places we saw. 

Future Money Moves July 24th

 6/3/2021

CD's are earning only 0.15%  The CD renews July 24th and it will be closed out and sent to SeaCoast 2216

CD at 0.35% 5250 renews July 24th and it will be closed and sent to SEaCoast 2216

Transfer Tuesday 6/1/2021

 

                      

Hello Tuesday!  This is the day that we make an extra effort to pay down our debt.  Most every Tuesday we apply extra cash (whether it be BIG or small) to our outstanding debt.  This helps keeps us aware of and accountable for our debt. And it all makes a difference.

My last Transfer Tuesday was  May 25,2021

Previous balance  on last Transfer Tuesday Post   $68,782.38

Payment of $2.38 sent ( I like it when it ends in zeros)

Payment of $70.00 made from earnings on MERCARI

~~Ebay sales were insignificant this last week. No payment this week. 

 

Total $72.38

New balance   $68,710.00

When we started paying down the debt in Sept 2019 we were at $95,853.00

My inspiration for Transfer Tuesday is Pennies Not Perfection

UPDATE: I received an email that the account was closed and funds released. The check should be here for the next Transfer Tuesday. 

Future Money Moves: Submitted paperwork to cash out a small VALIC ($996.00) account from a previous employer. When that check arrives and is deposited I will put 75%  (747.00) towards the HELOC.  I am unsure how long it will take to close the account, hopefully not too long.