Finances from the Bottom Up

If you’re like most people, your laptop or desktop computer is one of the most expensive things you own (short of a house or car, of course!) To make that investment last longer, I’ve compiled my cleaning tips that’ll keep it looking new longer.

disclaimer: this is only what worked for me after researching the internet. Always try the techniques out on a small area of your computer, while it’s OFF.

For my white Macbook, it’s been a hard road. It’s been two years of near-constant use and two moves, plus being schlepped around in a backpack or purse from time to time. After a while it developed grayish brown film over it, especially on the underside and on the wrist rest area.

First, I used a soft white eraser made by Staedtler, called a Mars Plastic. I’ve used these since middle school, as they are just about the best thing ever for a clean erase, and they’re cheaply bought at Staples – $3 for a pack of 4 and they last forever!

Gently rub the eraser across the dirty filmy parts of your laptop. Don’t scrub like crazy or you risk flinging bits of rubber into the crevices of your keyboard. If it’s going to work for your issue, you should see a clean streak right away. It takes a while to gently clean the whole thing, but it’s worth it. It got approximately 90% of the film off my computer’s shell. Make sure to wipe all the eraser dust off as you go too, so none gets left behind, especially in the various ports!

Once you have the majority of the staining off, grab that unused bottle of nail polish remover. I know, sounds weird, but I promise, it really helps! Using a small amount on a soft cloth, wipe off any remaining residue. Once the cloth is mostly dried, swipe the keys and take off any fingerprints. The alcohol will evaporate almost instantly and your computer will be beautifully clean!

Just a tip if your laptop often gets stained where your hands rest while typing – stick a post-it note on that part and it’ll absorb the oil, not your computer case!

Right now, I make between $600-$1,000 a month. Ouch. But, in my mind, I know I am looking for a FT gig and bettering myself through education, so I know that’s temporary. When you check out the numbers below, I think you’ll agree that this mess isn’t *too* bad, excepting the car. I’m gonna shoot for making a monthly goal – not always financial – that will help FH and I work our way towards independence.

Credit card #1 – $700.00 (car repair, which came right after needing new tires. this card is never used for anything that is not an EMERGENCY.)
Credit card #2 – $424.22 at 21% interest. This goes first.
Credit card #3 – $827.16 at 17% interest.
School payment – $550.00 this is also getting paid soon… or I won’t be enrolled anymore! LOL

That’s a total of $2,501.38 that’s owed on credit. Not too bad, but considering how much I make, well! I would LOVE to get this paid off in the next few months, even if it means scrimping and saving and selling on craigslist!

Monthly payments besides credit cards:
Car – $21,000 OUCH. This is the biggie. Until I find a FT job, my parents are swinging the payment on this, thank the lord! But it’s my goal to take it over ASAP since it’s my responsibility, not theirs! The monthly on this is $400.00.
Car Insurance – $140.00 down from $200! Woohoo! Good driving pays off!
Health & life insurance – $90.00 a month – this is only “light” coverage and would never come close to being enough for say, starting a family or covering a surgery.

Right now we have no rent (yay!) and FH religiously pays off his cc, so his finances are as much of an issue. But his medical bills – thank god they’re covered by his insurance right now – around over $20,000… and that was for <i>one month</i> of treatment. Should his insurance ever be dropped, we’d both be dead meat!

I feel overwhelmed when I look at all our bills, etc. But I know I don’t have to solve it all now. By putting a hundred dollars from every paycheck away, I am helping my future self. By paying my bills on time, and paying as much extra I can afford, I am helping my future self. By printing coupons for things we use every day, always keeping my eye out for a bargain and using mypoints rewards for the frivolous stuff…. I am helping my future self. I’ll feel a LOT better, though, when I see that I owe nothing but the car.

Even though my accounting class(es) don’t start til January, money has been on my mind a lot lately. I didn’t decide to start this blog on a whim – I thought it over for several days, made notes about what I could talk about (book reviews! paying off debt!) and whether or not it would be “worth it.”

Back in my undergrad days, I worked near-full time as well as some part-time gigs here and there and went to school full time. Don’t be fooled, I was not a straight A student, but I had my time management down pretty pat! The habits I formed then have stuck with me. Before doing anything, financial or time-wise, I consider <i>”Is this worth it for me?”</i> A trip to the library this afternoon could have been replaced by a nap, but I now have a stack of books to read instead of watching tv, and I didn’t spend a dime for them. Thus, worth it. Driving my fiance to his massage therapy appointment will take time away from studying and looking for another job, but I know he feels loved when I take time out to be with him. Thus.. worth it!

I can also think of some things that definitely <i>weren’t</i> worth it this week! FH and I spent three hours driving out and back from my dentist, just to have one little wire put on and be told to come back in 10 days so he could put my bottom brackets on. If I had called ahead, I would have known he had another appointment right after mine, and I could’ve rescheduled to have it all done on one day, saving on both gas and pain. (He’s a nice guy, but come on. He’s still a dentist! *grin*)

When it comes to finance, my hindsight is definitely 20/20. That is the one area where I rarely ask myself whether or not something is worth it. Is another merino sweater, even though it’s <i>on sale</i>, worth taking money out of my already tiny account (or even worse, putting it on credit and committing the money and time to then pay it off later?!) When I’m thinking rationally, the answer is obviously <b>NO.</b> Was it worth it to buy my car (admittedly loved by all who ride in it!) when I couldn’t really afford it, then pay on top of that to ship it out here to CA? Nope. I could have survived without it, but what’s done is done in that respect.

Most mistakes haven’t cost me much, but the car definitely did. I did everything I wasn’t supposed to do – fall in love with the car, let my fiance fall in love with it, buy it without haggling (aaarrgghhh!) and then finance the ENTIRE thing, AND some of my previous car which had been hit in an accident a few weeks before and therefore lost a good bit of its value. If I could go back in time, I would probably slap myself – I’ll be paying that off for quite a while (6 years, in fact, cause doncha know, I couldn’t afford the payment at any other payoff date!) The lesson I learned was invaluable, but I doubt it was, you know… <i>worth it.</i>

Do you have any financial missteps that your recognize now for what they are? Or maybe you have something that you’re proud of, that you really thought through, because you deserve to be applauded if so!

I decided to start this blog because it seems as though (and maybe wrongly!) that most PF (that’s personal finance) bloggers have it together, financially. We don’t. I wanted to create a forum and an outlet for those looking up, and scrabbling a little at a time, up the slope of adulthood and responsibility.

My fiance and I moved to Los Angeles from Nashville in July of 2008. He had been in a low-speed collision the year before, and developed something called <i>Complex Regional Pain Disorder</i>, also known as <i>Reflexive Sympathetic Dystrophy</i>. It’s a mouthful of words, but it basically means chronic pain. RSD isn’t well understood, having really only been seriously diagnosed since the 1970′s, but it’s been documented since the Civil War. Essentially, his knee was damaged in the accident, and even though it’s healed <b>physically</b>, nerve damage exists that causes him constant pain.

I’m telling you this because I feel like I need to explain why we have two part-time jobs between two intelligent and capable 25-year-olds. FH can’t walk for any extended period, nor climb stairs, lift much weight, or stand for more than a few minutes. He used to work in a busy middle school – you do the math on that one! I’m blessed because he still wants to work, despite the pain, and is working on building a private practice advising students and parents about technology for the learning disabled. In other words, a more flexible job that will allow all the time off needed to go to the near-constant therapies! I, on the other hand, got my Bachelor’s of Fine Arts, then decided I didn’t want to be a professional artist. I recently enrolled in an Accounting program at UCLA Extension so that I could support us financially once I’m finished.

After all that, what you really need to know, is that this blog will be about all things finance – my efforts to pay for school (no loans!) pay off my credit cards (more on that later) and save money towards buying a condo or home in the next few years. If there’s a topic you’re interested in, leave me a comment. I’ll do my best to get back to you!