not your ordinary princess: money money money

Friday, July 9, 2010

money money money

"Money, money, money,
must be funny
in a rich man's world.
Money, money, money,
Always sunny
in the rich man's world.
Aha!
All the things I could do,
if I had a little money.
It's a rich man's world!"

ABBA sang it true. It's definitely a rich man's world.

I feel so stuck when it comes to finances. It seems that I'm always trying to be careful and I always end up with a really low balance in my account. Then I'm even more careful. And then...BAM! Overdraft fees.

I HATE overdraft fees. I mean, the guy who's CEO of my bank (Bank of America) makes millions of dollars every year. You wanna know what I made last year? I barely broke 10 grand. Yep, that's it. $10,000 last year. I made so little money that even the GOVERNMENT gave me back all of the money they took from me last year. That's how pathetic I am.

What I hate most is that in reality, how I spent my money, I should have only been charged one overdraft fee. But no, they hold off on completely processing the small transaction that should have gone through no problem until the BIG transaction (a check) comes in. Then they take the big transaction out, put me in the negative, and THEN take out the small one so they can hit me with two overdraft fees.

It's really pissing me off that these board of directors and CEOs can just take people's money like this. I mean, I make SO LITTLE and I'm trying SO HARD and it just doesn't seem to matter.

I'm in desperate need of financial help. Luckily, my mom is going to help me create a budget. I think when I finally move in with her (which will be really soon, especially after this) it will help me even more. I think I might even need to have her put on my account again. If I know that she can monitor my online banking, it might help me be a little more discrete (spelling?) with my spending. What I love is that my mom is not judgmental. She understands that I'm just NOT GOOD with money. I think she understands that I need someone to point out my mistakes with love and kindness and not judgment. She understands that I don't need someone to yell at me, but rather to help me.

In other news, Kay left. She spent most of the week with us and it was really nice to spend time with her. What was also really nice, was talking to Felicia on the phone last night. I hadn't really talked to her since she left SC back about three weeks ago or so. I've missed her like crazy. It was so nice to hear that she is doing SO WELL in her new job in Florida.

Right now? I'm going to attempt to relax. I had a long, rough day with some driving and then I had to work. Our A/C is out in several places at work. After about an hour and a half I started feeling super light headed, dizzy, and I found I couldn't focus. Luckily I got some water and a small snack on my break to help with my low blood sugar and my dehydration. It was all I could do to get home, get in my pajamas, and then collapse in my recliner. I have to work early in the morning, so I'm just going to get a shower and some sleep.

Maybe I can find it in me to draw up a bubble bath and really relax. Who knows?

lindsayallison

1 comment:

MelissaJuly 10, 2010 at 5:46 AM
Lindsay,

So sorry! I know exactly how you feel because I have been where you are. It does get better, but right now it really sucks!!! I am glad your Mom is going to help give you some guidance in that area. It helped me a lot that my Mom was able to do that for me and it reigned in some of my spending. I even got to the point once where I only spent cash. According to my budget, I would pull out exactly what I need and leave my checkbook and card at home and only use cash to make purchases.

Hope you are feeling better! I will likely see you at work a little later today!!
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What I'm Reading...

Here is the complete honest truth: I have not read a novel in some time. I have a pile of books I want to read. Most are old titles of Karen Hawkins (What did you expect?) that have been collecting dust and diet coke cans for a couple of months.

As I bought three more books today, I realized that I need to actually read these things. It’s important for writers to spend time reading as well. You have to be caught up on what the market is trending, what readers are reading, and what is making and impact and what isn’t.

I have been so bad about this. It’s appalling really.

I used to bring a book with me to work to read during my lunch break. It was great. THEN I got a smart phone and started spending time on that during lunch instead of reading. I think this needs to stop. I really need to spend my time appropriately and reading some of these novels I keep spending money on.

So that’s the new plan then. I am going to pick up that novel I’ve started three times and keep putting down and actually finish it. I think it’s also time that I expand my favorite authors list. I need to read more than two authors on a regular basis I think.

What I'm Working On...

I have been working on lots of different things lately.

January I was working on some old projects that I don't care to spend a lot of time talking about.

As part of a writing group that was formed during last year's National Novel Writing Month, I was part of a writing challenge for the month of February. We came up with a 20K challenge. Yes, that's right. We wanted to write 20,000 words in the little month of February.

I spent most of February working on THE novel, "The Curious Tales of Lost Girls." This novel is a dark piece and it's really hard to get these words out. So the fact that this thing is about half done is quite a huge relief to me at the moment. I have a love/hate relationship with this novel at the moment.

Because it's so dark, that once I completed the 20K, I moved on. I edited/revised an old short story entitled, "Far Away." You can find the short story in its entirety posted on this blog. It's a sappy, romantic piece that I wrote a couple of years ago. I am so pleased with the final product.

After that I moved on to a "novellette" that I started a couple of years ago called "Home for the Holidays." I am happy that it's finished. I am NOT happy with the words it contains. It's currently a piece of crap and so I will let it simmer for a bit before I start the editing/revising process on that one.

Now that March has started, the group has come up with another challenge. Short stories from writing prompts! One per week! I'm currently finishing an old short story (it only had 400 words) while I let my "real" short story for this week form in my head. The first one is another sappy, romantic one about soulmates.

I haven't completely decided on what this new short story is going to be about yet. The writing prompt was "It's 1969, you're 17 and normally quiet and reserved. How did you spend your summer vacation?" I think the title is going to just be "1969". I like the simplicity of it. I know I want to write about a young woman, but I'm not sure where to go beyond that. There was so much going on that year! But what to throw her into?

Character of the Month

Kallista James has been on her own for pretty much her entire life. When Kallista was born, her parents had not been ready for a child. They had been very young and wanted to continue their partying ways, so they did.

At the age of five years old, Kallista met the girl who would become her lifelong best friend, Jade Bennett. It didn’t take long before Jade’s parents realized Kallista’s home life left something to be desired and they took her under their wing. Kallista flourished like never before in the Bennett household. She was close with the whole family, including Jade’s older brother, Chris.

When Kallista was sixteen, her parents were killed in a car accident. In a moment of intense grief, she found comfort with Chris. After sharing an intense kiss, Chris confesses his feelings for her. Before the teenagers can explore their feelings, a fight with his parents sends Chris packing, swearing never to return.

Kallista moved on. She dedicated herself to her schoolwork and to her photography. After graduation, she made a name for herself as a photographer. When she goes home for a summer vacation, she finds herself face to face Chris once more. Now all the feelings she thought she was over have resurfaced and she must find a way to deal with them and him before disaster strikes.