April 2009 Update

A better update for April:

The Debt: $11,442.85
The Savings: $5,730.74

The debt balance is a difference of $583.09. It will be less soon; I bought some fabric and haven't paid the card for the amount yet. I will when I get paid next week.

The difference is savings is mostly due to my tax refund.

Hallelujah! Things are looking so much better than they did last month, and I am truly thankful. And my health seems to be a bit better. I'm not 100 percent where I should be, but compared with how I was last month? I'm definitely getting there.

I must confess, though, that I am suffering from a major case of the I-Wants. So far I've been able to keep it in check, but it's been hard. So very hard. My inner fashionista really misses how well we used to dress and is so tired of wearing the same old crap every day, season in and season out. Oh well. I have other priorities right now. Period.

Is That a Glimmer I See?

After what has been a difficult year as far as my financial planning is concerned, I do believe there's a twinkle of light at the end of the tunnel. With the recent direct deposit of my tax refund (yay!), I was able to pay off the various charges I've made over the last several weeks, most of which were for health-related items. The rest is scheduled to go into savings next week.

I also noticed something pretty darn great today: I'm still ahead in my debt repayment. Even after the finance charges are calculated this month, I'm ahead by a good 100 bucks. Sweet.

So, I'm keepin' the faith. I have another doctor's appointment next week, and therefore another copay, but I can handle it.

I'll check in later.

And So It Goes

I mentioned a couple weeks ago the kaplunk of my computer and the expensive repair that would be required for my disk drive.

Well, when it rains, it pours.

The other night I went to hop online from the comfort of my couch only to discover that I could not. Alas, my Airport Express (aka the wireless router) had, like my disk drive, gone kaput. This has nothing to do with the kaplunk. Just an unfortunate coincidence.

I thought briefly about buying a new Airport Express, but then I remembered: I can't upload the software since my disk drive doesn't work!

I'm still not going to repair the drive. I mean, it's at least $329 to fix. A new Airport Express is another 100 bucks. My battery has been dying for a long time, and a new one is $129. And the software upgrade for the operating system is $129. So far, we're up to $687 to repair and upgrade my computer. That's half the cost of a new and better laptop.

So I'm doing nothing. I mean, this one works fine -- I just have no mobility ... or disk drive. Does this suck? Why, yes, it does. But not as much as spending $1,500 when I'd much rather be saving and paying down the debt. I lived 30+ years without a laptop computer. I can hold out for 18 months.