I love my job. I really do.
But some days I really dislike the fact that no matter how I am feeling, I have to be there. I'm 'essential'.
Plus, with me having to go on Short Term Disability with my surgery, I have little to no sick time, and the time that I am accumulating will have to be used next week on my scheduled sick day.
I really don't feel well today. Tired, sneezing, stuffy, no appetite. Just BLAH.
I know a lot of you are probably thinking 'If you're sick don't go, you'll get everyone sick'. And I agree. But I probably got this from someone at work, because again, we're essential and are required to be there at all costs....even if it means getting everyone around you sick. It's the one thing that causes a lot of tension and contension at work.
Now, on the other hand, last week during "Sandy" we were put on Reduced Operations and because we ARE essential, I got paid double time and a half for being at work that day. It'll be a nice paycheck next week.
But right now....BLAH.
I just hope today is quiet.
Showing posts with label Work. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Work. Show all posts
November 7, 2012
October 6, 2012
Lump Sum Delegation
So the $8444 showed up yesterday morning along with my paycheck (which was more this payday than last....I think it was due to meeting my 'time off' requirement for short term disability and was actually close to what *I* thought it was going to be here) and a transfer of $3000 from ING to put into the certificate of 4%.
Of the $8444, I moved $1400 to the Custom Club for our Cruise and Disney vacation making that fully funded. I sent $500 to my parents and we paid off some of the little debts that we had accumulated.
May as well start somewhere again.
The rest has been put into savings for now until we make hard decisions on what to do with it.
The remainder that is left of the lump sum is $5869
I know I have been off work since August 21 and I go back to work on Tuesday, but I cannot wait for our vacation. Now that it is fully funded of over $5000 (and I may just add more for fun before we go in January...can never have too much!) and the Cruise has been 'paid for' since last February when I got my bonus for work. Just waiting until we get closer to the Final Payment Date to pay that with Norwegian Cruise Line. I'll post more on the vacation here soon on what we're doing and where we're staying :)
But right now.....
Sitting around all day has not been fun. Very much NOT a vacation.
I am slowly getting back on my feet. Still very painful though.
Hope you all have a great weekend, if you have Columbus Day off enjoy it, and if you're Canadian, HAPPY THANKSGIVING (HAPPY TURKEY DAY!) Normally I cook a Turkey down here, but it's just too much with my foot out of action.
Of the $8444, I moved $1400 to the Custom Club for our Cruise and Disney vacation making that fully funded. I sent $500 to my parents and we paid off some of the little debts that we had accumulated.
May as well start somewhere again.
The rest has been put into savings for now until we make hard decisions on what to do with it.
The remainder that is left of the lump sum is $5869
I know I have been off work since August 21 and I go back to work on Tuesday, but I cannot wait for our vacation. Now that it is fully funded of over $5000 (and I may just add more for fun before we go in January...can never have too much!) and the Cruise has been 'paid for' since last February when I got my bonus for work. Just waiting until we get closer to the Final Payment Date to pay that with Norwegian Cruise Line. I'll post more on the vacation here soon on what we're doing and where we're staying :)
But right now.....
Sitting around all day has not been fun. Very much NOT a vacation.
I am slowly getting back on my feet. Still very painful though.
Hope you all have a great weekend, if you have Columbus Day off enjoy it, and if you're Canadian, HAPPY THANKSGIVING (HAPPY TURKEY DAY!) Normally I cook a Turkey down here, but it's just too much with my foot out of action.
September 28, 2012
Is It Monday Yet?
Yes, I know, that SHOULD read, is it Friday yet? But Monday means I get this cast off of my leg and I get a walking boot.
I NEED TO WALK. This past month has been horrible! I feel like I gained 50lbs, I am looking at a disaster area of a home, and I haven't been able to get to work. I never thought I would be so happy to be closer to going to work and talking to people who may yell at me. Yes, I am looking forward to that!
If you know how much I hate to clean, you would be surprised to know that I am DESPERATE to clean this house, just because I can't at the moment.
I can see the mess J has made on his side of the bed, but can I tidy it up? No, because 1) It takes an effort to get upstairs (I have been crawling up the stairs on my hands and knees since the surgery), 2) I have to use a walker up there and cannot bed over to pick up his stuff, and if I do pick it up, I cannot hold it and use the walker at the same time. *sigh*
I would kill to be able to take a bath right now. Seriously. I love baths, and I haven't had one since August 20th. I can barely take a shower because it is so difficult to bag my leg, actually get into the shower, shower, get out of the shower, dry, and dress. By the time I do all of that (upstairs by the way), I feel so sweaty that I would need to take another shower. So I shower when I am desperate enough, or I have to go out.
I have pretty much been dealing with this, and keeping to myself, but now that I am so close to getting the cast off, I am becoming impatient. I really just want to break it off lol.
Only a few more days, I can do it......maybe. lol
On the money front, we have really had to cut back this past week. My paycheck was only $675Net when normally it is $1200. Ouch. So extra payments to things did not get done.
That's another reason why I am looking forward to going back. Night differential :)
Hope you all have a great weekend!
I NEED TO WALK. This past month has been horrible! I feel like I gained 50lbs, I am looking at a disaster area of a home, and I haven't been able to get to work. I never thought I would be so happy to be closer to going to work and talking to people who may yell at me. Yes, I am looking forward to that!
If you know how much I hate to clean, you would be surprised to know that I am DESPERATE to clean this house, just because I can't at the moment.
I can see the mess J has made on his side of the bed, but can I tidy it up? No, because 1) It takes an effort to get upstairs (I have been crawling up the stairs on my hands and knees since the surgery), 2) I have to use a walker up there and cannot bed over to pick up his stuff, and if I do pick it up, I cannot hold it and use the walker at the same time. *sigh*
I would kill to be able to take a bath right now. Seriously. I love baths, and I haven't had one since August 20th. I can barely take a shower because it is so difficult to bag my leg, actually get into the shower, shower, get out of the shower, dry, and dress. By the time I do all of that (upstairs by the way), I feel so sweaty that I would need to take another shower. So I shower when I am desperate enough, or I have to go out.
I have pretty much been dealing with this, and keeping to myself, but now that I am so close to getting the cast off, I am becoming impatient. I really just want to break it off lol.
Only a few more days, I can do it......maybe. lol
On the money front, we have really had to cut back this past week. My paycheck was only $675Net when normally it is $1200. Ouch. So extra payments to things did not get done.
That's another reason why I am looking forward to going back. Night differential :)
Hope you all have a great weekend!
September 3, 2012
Budget Friendly September
Well, since I will either A) Be off work for another week B) Be off until September 17 or C) Off all of September, I will not be making what I would normally if I were at work. What with the night differential, and weekend differential that will cut my 'normal' pay about $120 less every 2 weeks, plus being on Short Term Disability, I will only be making 75% of my regular pay (less the differential). I figure instead of the $1150 a paycheck it will be about $700 a paycheck.
The numbers are going to be tight this month. Thank goodness J pays the majority of our big bills and I handle mainly the utilities which have all been paid so far.
We do have some other bills being paid right now too. I am a little ashamed to say that our credit card bills have been up there a little bit higher than I would like. We just need to get past this little hiccup in my health to get back on track again.
I hope everyone is enjoying their labour day!
The numbers are going to be tight this month. Thank goodness J pays the majority of our big bills and I handle mainly the utilities which have all been paid so far.
We do have some other bills being paid right now too. I am a little ashamed to say that our credit card bills have been up there a little bit higher than I would like. We just need to get past this little hiccup in my health to get back on track again.
I hope everyone is enjoying their labour day!
August 31, 2012
August Recap
Wow, this month has been interesting to say the least. It's probably easier to just bullet point everything and go from there!
- The beginning. Started off well, looking forward to vacation up in Muskoka with J and most of my family.
- Vacation was GREAT. Was so nice to just get away from everything and visit family and home. It's amazing at how much you really do miss things from home, even the small things and noticing how different stuff is from down here. And we're only talking about a 9hr drive between these differences. I can't tell you how much I miss Swiss Chalet, OLG Scratch Tickets, Advanced Green stoplights, and Cantonese Chinese Food from the little hole in the wall restaurants that taste AWESOME. And after a week we returned home.
- Returned to normalcy. Work is still the same, except with the added Mandatory Overtime which reduced the number of regular overtime shifts we had so a lot of us could not sign up for anything more than the mandatory overtime. The money I *was* going to make suddenly stopped.
- August 21. Day of my achilles surgery. Everything went good, even with the unexpected harvest of my big toe tendon to rebuild it. I was scheduled off from the 21st - 27th and was supposed to go back to work on the 28th. Now the fun begins.
- August 26th I bugged J to go back to Ikea to look and pick up some items to make our living room and office 'put together'. Well...I was riding on my knee walker and was going too fast, hit the wheels and it toppled from underneath me towards my left which made me put my left leg down (the one that had surgery). Not only did I just put it down, I put my FULL WEIGHT on it and felt a lot of pain. Needless to say I was VERY upset and in quite a bit of pain. The most worrisome part was that because I was in a splint, I couldn't see what 'damage' I may have done to the incision or if I detached the achilles. We got home and about 30minutes later my surgeon actually called to check up on me. He said everything should be ok and to try and take it easy.
- August 28th. My day to return to work. And I didn't. After my surgeon called, I started feeling a lot of pain in my calf. Think of the worst charlie horse you've ever had and multiply it. It hurt. A lot. I called the UVA outpatient office and when my surgeon's Physician's Assistant called she wanted me to come in to check for a blood clot. Great. Well bugger, UVA is 2 hours from where we live and J would have to come home from work (an hour away). Not going to happen that day. Go to the closest ER they say. So we went.....or started to. As I was waiting on J (ok I admit, I got impatient and I'm stubborn), I opened up the storm door to hop out to the front porch and the threshold grabbed my big toe on my left foot and I went flying out the door, over the porch and down the steps onto the pathway. I fell far and hard. Hey, if I am going to go to the ER I may as well make it worth my while.
- The ER. Final Results. Arrived at 2:30pmEDT, had an X-ray on wrist, exam by a Student, the ER doc, one nurse who saw me at 2:30 to take vitals and again at 6:30pm to take vitals because she was leaving (didn't see her once in between to check on me), an ultrasound (for the blood clot) and my new nurse, and the ER doc again. We left at 7:30pmEDT and I finally got my pain med at 7:00pm after asking for it at about 3:30pm.
I think that is all I will say about the ER trip, there is more I could include, but I think I will hold my tongue.
Sprained thumb, scraped, buised, and no bloodclot.
- August 30 an emergency follow-up with the surgeon to make sure I didn't damage his work. I am happy to report that I DID NOT. I was actually sweating bullets and apologized to the surgeon before he looked haha.
I got to see my stiches and incision site. It's pretty awesome. I will spare you the pictures (I made J take them lol).
It is still too early to remove the sutures so when I have my real follow up next week they will remove them and put me in a hard cast. They put me back into a splint for now.
- Today. I called and put in a claim for short term disability. As you may have read previously, my work had been giving me some issues dealing with FMLA for a couple of different claims. Including this one up and to just a couple of days ago. So, I went Short Term. Prudential Group Insurance is who we are through at work. I put in the claim at 9:30amEDT and received a call at 12:30pmEDT from my 'adjudicator', Chris, telling me that he's approved it starting at 4 weeks from the date of first absense. I think I nearly hit the floor. That was FAST! My surgeon's office had just received the paperwork and can't send it back until I give them a release! Chris basically said "you had surgery, we'll get the things we need. When do you expect to go back to work." My answer, I would like to go back as soon as I can, but seeing as I cannot do anything on my own without possibly falling and causing more injury....so you see my point.
Chris was awesome, he was like "no problem, I'll follow up with you after your next appointment. Feel better soon!"
So different than dealing with the nurses at work. Here was them today "So you're calling out? Ok I'll update your file" Me: "I am most likely going to be out for an extended period of time as I submitted a claim for short term." Them: "That doesn't matter, you still have to call in every day".
Yeaaaaaaah, we'll see about that.
So anyway. That's pretty much been my month. I have been home sitting doing nothing, and itching to do something! Laundry, cleaning, driving, or working! Anything, and I can't :(
Sorry for the long post....here's a picture of the flowers my grandmother sent me (my Nanny) :)
- The beginning. Started off well, looking forward to vacation up in Muskoka with J and most of my family.
- Vacation was GREAT. Was so nice to just get away from everything and visit family and home. It's amazing at how much you really do miss things from home, even the small things and noticing how different stuff is from down here. And we're only talking about a 9hr drive between these differences. I can't tell you how much I miss Swiss Chalet, OLG Scratch Tickets, Advanced Green stoplights, and Cantonese Chinese Food from the little hole in the wall restaurants that taste AWESOME. And after a week we returned home.
- Returned to normalcy. Work is still the same, except with the added Mandatory Overtime which reduced the number of regular overtime shifts we had so a lot of us could not sign up for anything more than the mandatory overtime. The money I *was* going to make suddenly stopped.
- August 21. Day of my achilles surgery. Everything went good, even with the unexpected harvest of my big toe tendon to rebuild it. I was scheduled off from the 21st - 27th and was supposed to go back to work on the 28th. Now the fun begins.
- August 26th I bugged J to go back to Ikea to look and pick up some items to make our living room and office 'put together'. Well...I was riding on my knee walker and was going too fast, hit the wheels and it toppled from underneath me towards my left which made me put my left leg down (the one that had surgery). Not only did I just put it down, I put my FULL WEIGHT on it and felt a lot of pain. Needless to say I was VERY upset and in quite a bit of pain. The most worrisome part was that because I was in a splint, I couldn't see what 'damage' I may have done to the incision or if I detached the achilles. We got home and about 30minutes later my surgeon actually called to check up on me. He said everything should be ok and to try and take it easy.
- August 28th. My day to return to work. And I didn't. After my surgeon called, I started feeling a lot of pain in my calf. Think of the worst charlie horse you've ever had and multiply it. It hurt. A lot. I called the UVA outpatient office and when my surgeon's Physician's Assistant called she wanted me to come in to check for a blood clot. Great. Well bugger, UVA is 2 hours from where we live and J would have to come home from work (an hour away). Not going to happen that day. Go to the closest ER they say. So we went.....or started to. As I was waiting on J (ok I admit, I got impatient and I'm stubborn), I opened up the storm door to hop out to the front porch and the threshold grabbed my big toe on my left foot and I went flying out the door, over the porch and down the steps onto the pathway. I fell far and hard. Hey, if I am going to go to the ER I may as well make it worth my while.
- The ER. Final Results. Arrived at 2:30pmEDT, had an X-ray on wrist, exam by a Student, the ER doc, one nurse who saw me at 2:30 to take vitals and again at 6:30pm to take vitals because she was leaving (didn't see her once in between to check on me), an ultrasound (for the blood clot) and my new nurse, and the ER doc again. We left at 7:30pmEDT and I finally got my pain med at 7:00pm after asking for it at about 3:30pm.
I think that is all I will say about the ER trip, there is more I could include, but I think I will hold my tongue.
Sprained thumb, scraped, buised, and no bloodclot.
- August 30 an emergency follow-up with the surgeon to make sure I didn't damage his work. I am happy to report that I DID NOT. I was actually sweating bullets and apologized to the surgeon before he looked haha.
I got to see my stiches and incision site. It's pretty awesome. I will spare you the pictures (I made J take them lol).
It is still too early to remove the sutures so when I have my real follow up next week they will remove them and put me in a hard cast. They put me back into a splint for now.
- Today. I called and put in a claim for short term disability. As you may have read previously, my work had been giving me some issues dealing with FMLA for a couple of different claims. Including this one up and to just a couple of days ago. So, I went Short Term. Prudential Group Insurance is who we are through at work. I put in the claim at 9:30amEDT and received a call at 12:30pmEDT from my 'adjudicator', Chris, telling me that he's approved it starting at 4 weeks from the date of first absense. I think I nearly hit the floor. That was FAST! My surgeon's office had just received the paperwork and can't send it back until I give them a release! Chris basically said "you had surgery, we'll get the things we need. When do you expect to go back to work." My answer, I would like to go back as soon as I can, but seeing as I cannot do anything on my own without possibly falling and causing more injury....so you see my point.
Chris was awesome, he was like "no problem, I'll follow up with you after your next appointment. Feel better soon!"
So different than dealing with the nurses at work. Here was them today "So you're calling out? Ok I'll update your file" Me: "I am most likely going to be out for an extended period of time as I submitted a claim for short term." Them: "That doesn't matter, you still have to call in every day".
Yeaaaaaaah, we'll see about that.
So anyway. That's pretty much been my month. I have been home sitting doing nothing, and itching to do something! Laundry, cleaning, driving, or working! Anything, and I can't :(
Sorry for the long post....here's a picture of the flowers my grandmother sent me (my Nanny) :)
July 27, 2012
Long Week
And I'm exhausted.
So far this week I have worked 45.5 hours with another 11 to go today.
Next week I am only going to work my mandatory 4 hours, only because we are leaving for vacation on Friday and I have a lot to do to get ready. I need the extra 2 hours each day to prepare for it.
Other than working a lot not much has gone on. Today is payday! Yay! We also got both our Federal and State tax returns. We are deciding on how to divy up the payments.
Just a short posting today, as my brain really can't function properly for a good one!
Have a great weekend all! Tomorrow is going to be another long day with a lot of errands to run.
So far this week I have worked 45.5 hours with another 11 to go today.
Next week I am only going to work my mandatory 4 hours, only because we are leaving for vacation on Friday and I have a lot to do to get ready. I need the extra 2 hours each day to prepare for it.
Other than working a lot not much has gone on. Today is payday! Yay! We also got both our Federal and State tax returns. We are deciding on how to divy up the payments.
Just a short posting today, as my brain really can't function properly for a good one!
Have a great weekend all! Tomorrow is going to be another long day with a lot of errands to run.
July 18, 2012
Making Extra Money
I think I may have found a way to enjoy our vacation a lot more. Working OverTime! *YAY*
If you can't already tell, I was being sarcasting in my excitement.
At work, we have plenty of opportunity to work overtime, and I could if I wanted to. Read that again. I could IF I wanted to.
I have worked OT before, and don't get me wrong, I love the extra money in the paycheck, but I quickly get burned out by working the extra time and dealing with some of the calls that come in.
Lately, we have been swamped by callers, most of them are newer members, and the queues have been high. Apparently the members are complaining that they are waiting too long for a representative.
So, starting on July 23, everyone who can be on the phones (ie: Me and everyone else who has phone skills) will be required to work a mandatory 4 hours of OT per week.
The equals out to 1 more full day on the phones and about $225 extra before taxes.
I was ticked...still am actually.
So, I thought about it and you know what? If they are going to make me work OT, I am going to milk it for all it's worth, which could be a lot. They have Uncapped OT...which means I can work as much as I like.
So I am going to. I am going to work (hopefully) an extra 3-4hours extra per day and 4 hours on my day off (excluding Saturday) equaling to approx 38 - 48 hours per pay period. Which means I could possibly make an extra $1060 - $1339 on top of my paycheck (essentially, a second paycheck for me).
You want to make me work, fine...I will work, and I will make money.
BUT, don't expect me to be all happy about it....until I'm on vacation :P
If you can't already tell, I was being sarcasting in my excitement.
At work, we have plenty of opportunity to work overtime, and I could if I wanted to. Read that again. I could IF I wanted to.
I have worked OT before, and don't get me wrong, I love the extra money in the paycheck, but I quickly get burned out by working the extra time and dealing with some of the calls that come in.
Lately, we have been swamped by callers, most of them are newer members, and the queues have been high. Apparently the members are complaining that they are waiting too long for a representative.
So, starting on July 23, everyone who can be on the phones (ie: Me and everyone else who has phone skills) will be required to work a mandatory 4 hours of OT per week.
The equals out to 1 more full day on the phones and about $225 extra before taxes.
I was ticked...still am actually.
So, I thought about it and you know what? If they are going to make me work OT, I am going to milk it for all it's worth, which could be a lot. They have Uncapped OT...which means I can work as much as I like.
So I am going to. I am going to work (hopefully) an extra 3-4hours extra per day and 4 hours on my day off (excluding Saturday) equaling to approx 38 - 48 hours per pay period. Which means I could possibly make an extra $1060 - $1339 on top of my paycheck (essentially, a second paycheck for me).
You want to make me work, fine...I will work, and I will make money.
BUT, don't expect me to be all happy about it....until I'm on vacation :P
June 22, 2012
End Of The Week Updates
This week has been a good one both at home and at work for once.
At first I thought it was going to be horrible. At work our team and another have had to hot seat during the day. Basically, sharing a desk between two people. I have been doubled up with a person who is notorious for being difficult, accusing, and frankly a little nuts.
Last Wednesday was the first day of our great adventure. I arrived at 3:45pm to start my shift at 4:00pm only to find the person still at my desk. Turns out that she was scheduled to end her day at 4:00 and I was to start at 4:00. Ok, no problem, not her fault. I admit I was a little flustered because I don't like to be late.
The assistant manager was there, and had made future arrangements for the other person to have a fixed daily schedule from 7:00am-3:30pm (before she could start any time from 7-7:30). She and I have access to all schedules and she knew what days we were working the rest of this week, and then she would be on vacation (which she told the assist. manager).
Friday, I show up, and she's sitting at the desk again. Turns out she signed up for OT and it ended at 4:00. We were TOLD, you do OT and it interfers with the other person, you find another empty desk to work.
She took offense to the fact that I was upset that she caused me to log in at 4:15 (she had a call go long) and went on a tirade at me. I remained calm and very civil throughout the 'conversation'.
Sunday. I had checked her schedule and she was to finish at 3:30 and I started at 4:00. I showed up at 3:50 and guess what. She was again, sitting at the desk. I waited for her to leave, standing near, but not right beside the desk. She slowly got her things together, doing other things, all the while I am looking at the clock watching 4:00 slowly creep up. I finally go over to the desk and I get "oh! I didn't know you worked today!" BULL. You even told the assist manager that you knew I did!
Again, I remained calm, and civil. Even giving her the benefit of the doubt. She left, and I started to log in. But she came back. I again said, you're fine, no problem. She left. I continued to log in and get ready to take calls. But, she came back AGAIN. And once again, went on a tirade, about how she's the victim, and I am horrible, and that my supervisor was her supervisor once and that he's probably saying things about her, and yadda yadda yadda.
I was still calm and civil all throughout this. Which for me is hard to do sometimes, especially when dealing with an obviously crazy situation.
I finally sent a text to my supervisor advising him what happened again (he had been aware of everything else). He went and called the assist. manager at home at 9pm on a Sunday to tell them what was going on.
GREAT. Now I'm going to get dragged into this with the manager.
NOPE!!!! The assist. manager (who is an ex-Army Sgt) pulled in the other person and basically reamed her out for what she was doing and that her butt better be out of that desk by 3:30pm every day she is scheduled to work. The other person's supervisor tried to give her side of the story, and was immediately cut off, they didn't want to hear it. Hehehehe
I was off that day. But apparently they watched her, and she didn't leave until 3:54pm. It was like she was waiting for me again, and it didn't go unnoticed by management.
When I came back the next day, the assist. manager came over and told me everything she said to the other person and even told me to come to her if the other person has not left the desk. Totally have the assist manager on my side, which is kinda cool.
I just hope that come July 1, I don't have to deal with this person much. But now that management knows what she is doing, I don't think I will have a problem....unless she really is crazy and tries to push the buttons of those in charge.
So, the week that I thought would start off horrible, has actually been pretty good!
The team I am coaching is having a great month, including myself, and it feels good to have folks doing well because you're helping them.
Now, onto the money: J got his completion bonus for his last 6 months in Afghanistan. Something that he wasn't expecting because they were told they weren't going to get it. So, yay!
We have been going back and forth on the taxes. We have used TurboTax in the past and it's been good. But with J's Foreign Earned Income credit I want to make sure it's done right.
I'm pretty sure it's correct in the program, but do we pay a CPA a lot of money to do it, or trust my gut and submit it through TurboTax?
We're looking at roughly $11,000 in federal and state refund combined.
What we'll do with it, we haven't decided, but I'm sure there will be a post here soon :)
Sorry for the long post, hope you all have a great weekend!
At first I thought it was going to be horrible. At work our team and another have had to hot seat during the day. Basically, sharing a desk between two people. I have been doubled up with a person who is notorious for being difficult, accusing, and frankly a little nuts.
Last Wednesday was the first day of our great adventure. I arrived at 3:45pm to start my shift at 4:00pm only to find the person still at my desk. Turns out that she was scheduled to end her day at 4:00 and I was to start at 4:00. Ok, no problem, not her fault. I admit I was a little flustered because I don't like to be late.
The assistant manager was there, and had made future arrangements for the other person to have a fixed daily schedule from 7:00am-3:30pm (before she could start any time from 7-7:30). She and I have access to all schedules and she knew what days we were working the rest of this week, and then she would be on vacation (which she told the assist. manager).
Friday, I show up, and she's sitting at the desk again. Turns out she signed up for OT and it ended at 4:00. We were TOLD, you do OT and it interfers with the other person, you find another empty desk to work.
She took offense to the fact that I was upset that she caused me to log in at 4:15 (she had a call go long) and went on a tirade at me. I remained calm and very civil throughout the 'conversation'.
Sunday. I had checked her schedule and she was to finish at 3:30 and I started at 4:00. I showed up at 3:50 and guess what. She was again, sitting at the desk. I waited for her to leave, standing near, but not right beside the desk. She slowly got her things together, doing other things, all the while I am looking at the clock watching 4:00 slowly creep up. I finally go over to the desk and I get "oh! I didn't know you worked today!" BULL. You even told the assist manager that you knew I did!
Again, I remained calm, and civil. Even giving her the benefit of the doubt. She left, and I started to log in. But she came back. I again said, you're fine, no problem. She left. I continued to log in and get ready to take calls. But, she came back AGAIN. And once again, went on a tirade, about how she's the victim, and I am horrible, and that my supervisor was her supervisor once and that he's probably saying things about her, and yadda yadda yadda.
I was still calm and civil all throughout this. Which for me is hard to do sometimes, especially when dealing with an obviously crazy situation.
I finally sent a text to my supervisor advising him what happened again (he had been aware of everything else). He went and called the assist. manager at home at 9pm on a Sunday to tell them what was going on.
GREAT. Now I'm going to get dragged into this with the manager.
NOPE!!!! The assist. manager (who is an ex-Army Sgt) pulled in the other person and basically reamed her out for what she was doing and that her butt better be out of that desk by 3:30pm every day she is scheduled to work. The other person's supervisor tried to give her side of the story, and was immediately cut off, they didn't want to hear it. Hehehehe
I was off that day. But apparently they watched her, and she didn't leave until 3:54pm. It was like she was waiting for me again, and it didn't go unnoticed by management.
When I came back the next day, the assist. manager came over and told me everything she said to the other person and even told me to come to her if the other person has not left the desk. Totally have the assist manager on my side, which is kinda cool.
I just hope that come July 1, I don't have to deal with this person much. But now that management knows what she is doing, I don't think I will have a problem....unless she really is crazy and tries to push the buttons of those in charge.
So, the week that I thought would start off horrible, has actually been pretty good!
The team I am coaching is having a great month, including myself, and it feels good to have folks doing well because you're helping them.
Now, onto the money: J got his completion bonus for his last 6 months in Afghanistan. Something that he wasn't expecting because they were told they weren't going to get it. So, yay!
We have been going back and forth on the taxes. We have used TurboTax in the past and it's been good. But with J's Foreign Earned Income credit I want to make sure it's done right.
I'm pretty sure it's correct in the program, but do we pay a CPA a lot of money to do it, or trust my gut and submit it through TurboTax?
We're looking at roughly $11,000 in federal and state refund combined.
What we'll do with it, we haven't decided, but I'm sure there will be a post here soon :)
Sorry for the long post, hope you all have a great weekend!
June 17, 2012
Happy Father's Day
Happy Father's Day to my Dad and to all of the Dad's out there!
I will once again be working this Sunday, so I called my Dad earlier to wish him Happy Day and in my Dad's fashion he was grumpy about it LOL
My dad is so funny sometimes.
He and I are very similar which is why we probably butt heads a lot. We're both very stubborn and will not admit when we are wrong, which I must apologize to my husband for about once every quarter *blush*
I hope this week goes by quickly, but I seem to be saying that a lot lately. I have been thinking about my future and what I really want to do. Things have been turbulant at work lately with things that have been going on and I feel like I am stuck. So, I have been looking at maybe going back to school or looking at what else is out there.
The only problem with the latter is the money I make currently and not finding something comparable that I would enjoy.
I'll keep you informed as to what comes of it.
Hope you all have a great day!
I will once again be working this Sunday, so I called my Dad earlier to wish him Happy Day and in my Dad's fashion he was grumpy about it LOL
My dad is so funny sometimes.
He and I are very similar which is why we probably butt heads a lot. We're both very stubborn and will not admit when we are wrong, which I must apologize to my husband for about once every quarter *blush*
I hope this week goes by quickly, but I seem to be saying that a lot lately. I have been thinking about my future and what I really want to do. Things have been turbulant at work lately with things that have been going on and I feel like I am stuck. So, I have been looking at maybe going back to school or looking at what else is out there.
The only problem with the latter is the money I make currently and not finding something comparable that I would enjoy.
I'll keep you informed as to what comes of it.
Hope you all have a great day!
May 16, 2012
A Long Week
So it's been a long couple of weeks here. My interview didn't go so well and I didn't get a second interview. I also learned a few things from my supervisor about the interview that have really been bringing me down. I basically got told to 'let things go' and that 'I'm too hard on myself'.
Yes, I find it difficult to let things go, especially when you're told that you only see black and white and that you're not good enough.
And yes, I am too hard on myself. I don't like failure. And I have failed here. So, work has been interesting to say the least the last week or so.
The only good thing is that I have 2 days left of work until I have 6 days off, and J comes home on Monday.
Otherwise, things have been pretty down in the dumps. I can only hope that things will get better because right now, I'm kinda stuck where I am, and with the hours that I work, I am still not going to see J. I need these next few days off.
Yes, I find it difficult to let things go, especially when you're told that you only see black and white and that you're not good enough.
And yes, I am too hard on myself. I don't like failure. And I have failed here. So, work has been interesting to say the least the last week or so.
The only good thing is that I have 2 days left of work until I have 6 days off, and J comes home on Monday.
Otherwise, things have been pretty down in the dumps. I can only hope that things will get better because right now, I'm kinda stuck where I am, and with the hours that I work, I am still not going to see J. I need these next few days off.
May 3, 2012
Home Sweet Home
So a bit of an update on work and my FMLA request. I can't really go too much into it right now because I have to take things further in HR than I wanted to.
Basically, they denied my FMLA request twice and I have caught the Occupational Health Nurses in 3 different lies. My doctor's office is confused and angry with the situation that has happened. I'm confused, frustrated and furious with the nurses, so much so that on Tuesday HR suggested that the best thing for me would be to not work that day as the nurse I had spoken to about the second denial had given me panic attacks and heart palpitations.
Let's just say that Tuesday was NOT a good day.
Getting the house in order and loving life (and my jeep! which came home on Sunday as well)
Hope you all have been having a great week! Mine has been up and down, but I have this entire weekend off and I plan to enjoy it!
April 14, 2012
All Is Well
Went for xrays on Thursday, since I didn't feel any better and just to be sure I really didn't damage myself.
All is good. No fractures or deformaties in my spine, yay! So just going to be sore for a little while.
I continued to move things over to the new house.
Payment posted to my MBNA card. I cannot believe there is less than $5000 left on the card. Considering it got as high as over $20,000 on that card.
Back to work for me tomorrow after being off for 5 days. It's aways an adjustment getting back into the habit of talking to members after so much time off. Oh well, I'm good at my job, I'm sure it won't take too many calls to be back to my normal self.
I did apply to the supervisor position. I'll keep you all updated on how that goes.
Hope you all have a great week! :)
All is good. No fractures or deformaties in my spine, yay! So just going to be sore for a little while.
I continued to move things over to the new house.
Payment posted to my MBNA card. I cannot believe there is less than $5000 left on the card. Considering it got as high as over $20,000 on that card.
Back to work for me tomorrow after being off for 5 days. It's aways an adjustment getting back into the habit of talking to members after so much time off. Oh well, I'm good at my job, I'm sure it won't take too many calls to be back to my normal self.
I did apply to the supervisor position. I'll keep you all updated on how that goes.
Hope you all have a great week! :)
April 12, 2012
Update To My Owwie
So I ended up going to the clinic yesterday because I was still in pain from my fall. I didn't want to go to the ER for them to say "you're fine go home, and pay us $100 copay". So I went to my local clinic where they know me, and the doc is really good.
She had me do some tests, and gave me some pain meds, and an order for an xray if I wasn't any better by today.
She told me to take the next few days off (so I was off April 10 - 12, since the 13th is my day off anyway and I'm always off Saturdays)
She also gave me FMLA paperwork right there and then which was really awesome, since some doctor's offices will take days to fill it out and charge you. I faxed it in last night, which for me is a huge since I work in the contact center and we are 'essential personnel'. This means that it won't affect my attendance. Thank goodness because I'm waiting patiently for a supervisor position to open up and I want to show a good example to the assistant manager.
So last night I was pretty much in pain all night, even on the heavy duty pain killer. I went to get xrays at the hospital. Nice thing about the hospital where I go, they opened up a 'diagnostic center' which means I don't have to go to the ER and wait. I just get an order from my doctor, walk in, fill out the permission form and any other forms needed. I think I signed one, and because they were xraying my back, a pregnancy one. I had to laugh at that, because I kept telling them J was in Afghanistan so I was pretty sure that I wasn't lol. I think I had 5 different people ask me "are you sure you're not pregnant?" Yup...Pretty sure!
So they did a full spinal xray, just to make sure there are no compression fractures.
As I was writing this:
Since we were speaking of a supervisor position before....
Wouldn't you know that yesterday a supervisor position opened up. Grrrreat. I was talking with my supervisor (who has become a good friend outside of work) and mentioned my concern about missing 3 days (even on FMLA) and how that would look to the assistant manager. He said, not to worry, that she knew I was out on FMLA and was more worried about me being ok. *WHEW!*
So, here I am working on my resume and cover letter and going to apply for the job. Turns out they are hiring 2 supervisors (I finally have email access from home, which is nice - don't feel out of the loop now).
So, wish me luck on all fronts!
She had me do some tests, and gave me some pain meds, and an order for an xray if I wasn't any better by today.
She told me to take the next few days off (so I was off April 10 - 12, since the 13th is my day off anyway and I'm always off Saturdays)
She also gave me FMLA paperwork right there and then which was really awesome, since some doctor's offices will take days to fill it out and charge you. I faxed it in last night, which for me is a huge since I work in the contact center and we are 'essential personnel'. This means that it won't affect my attendance. Thank goodness because I'm waiting patiently for a supervisor position to open up and I want to show a good example to the assistant manager.
So last night I was pretty much in pain all night, even on the heavy duty pain killer. I went to get xrays at the hospital. Nice thing about the hospital where I go, they opened up a 'diagnostic center' which means I don't have to go to the ER and wait. I just get an order from my doctor, walk in, fill out the permission form and any other forms needed. I think I signed one, and because they were xraying my back, a pregnancy one. I had to laugh at that, because I kept telling them J was in Afghanistan so I was pretty sure that I wasn't lol. I think I had 5 different people ask me "are you sure you're not pregnant?" Yup...Pretty sure!
So they did a full spinal xray, just to make sure there are no compression fractures.
As I was writing this:
Since we were speaking of a supervisor position before....
Wouldn't you know that yesterday a supervisor position opened up. Grrrreat. I was talking with my supervisor (who has become a good friend outside of work) and mentioned my concern about missing 3 days (even on FMLA) and how that would look to the assistant manager. He said, not to worry, that she knew I was out on FMLA and was more worried about me being ok. *WHEW!*
So, here I am working on my resume and cover letter and going to apply for the job. Turns out they are hiring 2 supervisors (I finally have email access from home, which is nice - don't feel out of the loop now).
So, wish me luck on all fronts!
February 20, 2012
Short Post Made Long!
Made a large payment to the MBNA CC in Canada last week.
Previous balance was $15319 and with the payment (plus interest) brings it now to $12,564. That's a difference of $2755 :)
I'm hoping, and working the numbers to possibly pay off the RBC Visa here next week. Right now (and the statement hasn't cut yet, but it should tonight) the balance on that is $3453. With the interest, it will probably be roughly $3510. I'm crossing my fingers and checking the numbers over and over. I will let you know if it is gone by next week! :)
Sorry for the lack of updates, I have been packing up the house and dealing with some doctor's appointments for my weight loss and my achilles tendons. Soon, there will be some more good news (I HOPE) on a fix for those. I have a specialist appointment on monday with an Orthopaedic Surgeon to see what options I have to get back to a active life without so much pain. Heck, I hope to get back to an everyday life without pain.
No updates on the seller's bank other than they are in 'negotiations' <_<
The sellers apparently are moving out though. In fact, they were supposed to have been out by last Friday, and my realtor and I were going to check out everything on the Saturday. I received a text early in the morning from my realtor saying they were still moving and we should wait.
I drove by the house yesterday to see if they left the above ground pool (it was listed as part of the sale, and then the sellers wanted to take it....then they tried to sell it to us separately. We said no). I couldn't tell if it was there or not, but all I know is if they take it, they better take out the deck that's around it, and make the backyard look as it did when they moved in. If it's not, I will not be happy.
Anyway. That's about it for this sort of Holiday Day off for me. I am still working 5 days this week, which means that even though I didn't work today, I still get the 8 holiday hours, plus the 40 hours I normally work, meaning a 48 hour pay week. Yay! More money!
Speaking of money, I got my yearly bonus. $2650 after taxes. It all went into a Certificate that I have to almost max it out. It will mature in June. And as stated in my cruise post, it's going towards our cruise in January. I booked that cruise last week :) I am very excited that J and I will get to have a 'Real' vacation for once. We are going to take advantage of the time we'll be in Florida, and I am already saving for it all, and researching how to get the best deals with the 'points' we have. J has many United Miles, and Marriott Points. We'll see what we can do with those :)
Wow, I started out wanting to just do a quick update on the MBNA card...guess I had a lot to talk about. That's what happens when you disappear for a little bit! haha
Previous balance was $15319 and with the payment (plus interest) brings it now to $12,564. That's a difference of $2755 :)
I'm hoping, and working the numbers to possibly pay off the RBC Visa here next week. Right now (and the statement hasn't cut yet, but it should tonight) the balance on that is $3453. With the interest, it will probably be roughly $3510. I'm crossing my fingers and checking the numbers over and over. I will let you know if it is gone by next week! :)
Sorry for the lack of updates, I have been packing up the house and dealing with some doctor's appointments for my weight loss and my achilles tendons. Soon, there will be some more good news (I HOPE) on a fix for those. I have a specialist appointment on monday with an Orthopaedic Surgeon to see what options I have to get back to a active life without so much pain. Heck, I hope to get back to an everyday life without pain.
No updates on the seller's bank other than they are in 'negotiations' <_<
The sellers apparently are moving out though. In fact, they were supposed to have been out by last Friday, and my realtor and I were going to check out everything on the Saturday. I received a text early in the morning from my realtor saying they were still moving and we should wait.
I drove by the house yesterday to see if they left the above ground pool (it was listed as part of the sale, and then the sellers wanted to take it....then they tried to sell it to us separately. We said no). I couldn't tell if it was there or not, but all I know is if they take it, they better take out the deck that's around it, and make the backyard look as it did when they moved in. If it's not, I will not be happy.
Anyway. That's about it for this sort of Holiday Day off for me. I am still working 5 days this week, which means that even though I didn't work today, I still get the 8 holiday hours, plus the 40 hours I normally work, meaning a 48 hour pay week. Yay! More money!
Speaking of money, I got my yearly bonus. $2650 after taxes. It all went into a Certificate that I have to almost max it out. It will mature in June. And as stated in my cruise post, it's going towards our cruise in January. I booked that cruise last week :) I am very excited that J and I will get to have a 'Real' vacation for once. We are going to take advantage of the time we'll be in Florida, and I am already saving for it all, and researching how to get the best deals with the 'points' we have. J has many United Miles, and Marriott Points. We'll see what we can do with those :)
Wow, I started out wanting to just do a quick update on the MBNA card...guess I had a lot to talk about. That's what happens when you disappear for a little bit! haha
January 26, 2012
100th Post! And Some Number Updates
Wow! I made it to my 100th Post! It's been an amazing journey this past year. Almost $30,000 in Credit Card debt was paid off. Our savings account has grown a lot so that if there is an emergency we have cash available. We have a pending house purchase (Come on seller's bank!) and we're still paying down debt.
In life, J has been in Afghanistan for 8 months total, I was promoted at work and am making more money to go towards debt and we can actually afford the more expensive, but BETTER health insurance from my employer, and we're finally not living paycheck to paycheck.
What a great year we had :)
This new year, will hold new debt paydowns and payoffs.
For work, I found out while I was on my cruise from my supervisor that our yearly bonus had been approved by our Board of Directors. Normally there is a range from 90% - 110% depending on how well we did with the goals that were set out and your bonus is based on your yearly review, also in a percentage. My percentage would be for an 'Exceeds Expectations' this year. The last 2 years we had been approved at the 110% and based on the numbers that had been updated throughout the year, we were thinking that it would be 110% again. With that, I would get 9% of the gross income for 2011. I would get about $2500 after taxes. A nice in between bonus I'd say! Considering last year it was only about $750.
Well, we didn't get 110%. We got approved at 116%!!!! Which means MORE in bonus money for me! The 9% of my income became 10.8% which will be closer to $3000 after taxes :)
I was going to put all of it towards debt, but since we're doing so well, I am going to put it into our ING Savings and use it for our next vacation. And since I have fallen in love with cruising, J and I will book that here shortly (as soon as we can decide on where and when we want to go).
Speaking of doing well on debt, I thought I should update the numbers. I didn't realize that the last update was in September! So here's a shorter list (no need for the CCs anymore) and I will have to update them again tomorrow since that's when I get paid.
Loans (the amount in parathensis is the amount since the last payment, not since September when they were last posted)
Navy Federal Auto Loan $8376 (381) - This loan originated at $19,768 in April 2008
Navy Federal Signature Loan $11,331 (218) - This loan originated at $12,000 in September 2011
Canadian Cards (amount in paranthesis is the amount paid since my last update in September)
MBNA MC $15,319 (2973)
RBC Visa $4928 (862)
In life, J has been in Afghanistan for 8 months total, I was promoted at work and am making more money to go towards debt and we can actually afford the more expensive, but BETTER health insurance from my employer, and we're finally not living paycheck to paycheck.
What a great year we had :)
This new year, will hold new debt paydowns and payoffs.
For work, I found out while I was on my cruise from my supervisor that our yearly bonus had been approved by our Board of Directors. Normally there is a range from 90% - 110% depending on how well we did with the goals that were set out and your bonus is based on your yearly review, also in a percentage. My percentage would be for an 'Exceeds Expectations' this year. The last 2 years we had been approved at the 110% and based on the numbers that had been updated throughout the year, we were thinking that it would be 110% again. With that, I would get 9% of the gross income for 2011. I would get about $2500 after taxes. A nice in between bonus I'd say! Considering last year it was only about $750.
Well, we didn't get 110%. We got approved at 116%!!!! Which means MORE in bonus money for me! The 9% of my income became 10.8% which will be closer to $3000 after taxes :)
I was going to put all of it towards debt, but since we're doing so well, I am going to put it into our ING Savings and use it for our next vacation. And since I have fallen in love with cruising, J and I will book that here shortly (as soon as we can decide on where and when we want to go).
Speaking of doing well on debt, I thought I should update the numbers. I didn't realize that the last update was in September! So here's a shorter list (no need for the CCs anymore) and I will have to update them again tomorrow since that's when I get paid.
Loans (the amount in parathensis is the amount since the last payment, not since September when they were last posted)
Navy Federal Auto Loan $8376 (381) - This loan originated at $19,768 in April 2008
Navy Federal Signature Loan $11,331 (218) - This loan originated at $12,000 in September 2011
Canadian Cards (amount in paranthesis is the amount paid since my last update in September)
MBNA MC $15,319 (2973)
RBC Visa $4928 (862)
January 5, 2012
Short Work Week
Love short work weeks. Since January 1 was Sunday, and I can be scheduled to work Sundays, it was a Holiday. I'm also guaranteed a 'day off' so that was yesterday, and tomorrow I have a scheduled sick day. So only 3 days of work this week. LOVE IT.
Yesterday was a very productive day for me. 15,000 mile maintenance and oil change for the Explorer, Done. Root Canal for my tooth which I have been dealing with since October, Done! (This was actually supposed to be done Friday, hence the sick day. They had a cancellation and the office is located across the street from the dealership so killed two birds with one stone on that trip). And I went to taekwondo since I need to get back into the habit of it. Hurt my achilles, but this is nothing unusual. I need to talk to my doctor about setting up an appointment with a specialist who will be willing to do surgery. One podiatrist already stated he won't do it because 'I'm too young to have this condition'. Ya, well, it hurts to walk, like, A LOT. Think if having someone slicing the back of your heels, and you don't even need to be moving to have it happen. This is what I feel on a daily basis. My achilles tendons are literally turning into bone. Not fun.
The weight loss is going good. The first day that I took the weight loss prescription I felt a little weird, but I think I'm getting used to it. And it seems to be working. I am doing the weight watchers and being good about logging what I put into my body. I know you are only supposed to weigh in once per week, but I couldn't resist just seeing if things were going down, and so far I have lost 3lbs! I know that may not seem much to some, but I am very close to going to a number I haven't seen in a long time (I've been stuck in the 230s for a long time, and I can't wait to have those milestones, even if it's 5lbs here and there).
Everything money wise is good. The only expenses I have had this week are necessary ones.
Rent: $850
Root Canal: $145 (my insurance will pay 90% so this payment was 10% plus my $50 deductable)
Groceries: $28
Gas: $60 (this should last 2 weeks hopefully. I don't have any long trips planned)
Truck: $53
Can't wait for the work day to end so that I have the next two days off.
Hope you all are having a great week! :)
Yesterday was a very productive day for me. 15,000 mile maintenance and oil change for the Explorer, Done. Root Canal for my tooth which I have been dealing with since October, Done! (This was actually supposed to be done Friday, hence the sick day. They had a cancellation and the office is located across the street from the dealership so killed two birds with one stone on that trip). And I went to taekwondo since I need to get back into the habit of it. Hurt my achilles, but this is nothing unusual. I need to talk to my doctor about setting up an appointment with a specialist who will be willing to do surgery. One podiatrist already stated he won't do it because 'I'm too young to have this condition'. Ya, well, it hurts to walk, like, A LOT. Think if having someone slicing the back of your heels, and you don't even need to be moving to have it happen. This is what I feel on a daily basis. My achilles tendons are literally turning into bone. Not fun.
The weight loss is going good. The first day that I took the weight loss prescription I felt a little weird, but I think I'm getting used to it. And it seems to be working. I am doing the weight watchers and being good about logging what I put into my body. I know you are only supposed to weigh in once per week, but I couldn't resist just seeing if things were going down, and so far I have lost 3lbs! I know that may not seem much to some, but I am very close to going to a number I haven't seen in a long time (I've been stuck in the 230s for a long time, and I can't wait to have those milestones, even if it's 5lbs here and there).
Everything money wise is good. The only expenses I have had this week are necessary ones.
Rent: $850
Root Canal: $145 (my insurance will pay 90% so this payment was 10% plus my $50 deductable)
Groceries: $28
Gas: $60 (this should last 2 weeks hopefully. I don't have any long trips planned)
Truck: $53
Can't wait for the work day to end so that I have the next two days off.
Hope you all are having a great week! :)
December 18, 2011
Payments (past and future)
Since it's been a while since I've talked about any payments here, I thought I would share a few that were made and ones that will be made this week.
Made:
Car Payment was $450, and with that payment it pushed my next payment due to 03/17. Of course, since we now owe less than $9000 on it, this is one of the targets we have to pay off in the next few months.
Truck Payment continues to be $540. We got such a low interest rate on this that we'll continue to make the regular payments on this until we can budget to make extra payments to the principal.
Upcoming:
This week I will be making a $1000 payment to my Canadian MBNA Mastercard and a $500 to the RBC Visa.
The $500 payment will bring the balance below $5000 for the first time in I can't tell you how long, and the $1000 on MBNA will bring it below $17000 (in fact, it will be close to $16000, I may even be able to swing an extra amount to it here soon with help from J). I seriously can't tell you how long it's been since I've seen that number. Makes you sick how much interest we have paid in that card. I can't wait until both of those are paid off. I am thinking February they will be gone!
February is usually a good month for us money wise, as it is usually when we get our tax return and I get my yearly bonus. I will be most likely be getting $2500 after taxes for my bonus since I got an Exceeds Expectations in my last Performance Review. However, since J won't be back from Afghanistan until May, we have to file an extension and file when he gets home. We will be using a CPA for the first time ever, and I have to admit, I am actually nervous about letting someone else handle our money/taxes. I know it's their job, but I have heard too many horror stories about their CPA not doing it right and the IRS coming after you for back taxes. The only good thing about it, we will get a ton of those taxes back for the 'Foreign Earned Income' Tax credit.
I'll have to remember to keep you all informed on how that turns out.
Well, it's Sunday and unfortunately I have to work today. Tomorrow is my weekly 'day off' which means I have to fit everything in that I need to, and I will mostly likely spend half of it at Firestone having the car looked at. I think the battery is dying/dead and it needs to be replaced, and an oil change. Yay, fun times. Maybe I'll bring my laptop and blog from there!
Have a great rest of your weekend all! :)
Made:
Car Payment was $450, and with that payment it pushed my next payment due to 03/17. Of course, since we now owe less than $9000 on it, this is one of the targets we have to pay off in the next few months.
Truck Payment continues to be $540. We got such a low interest rate on this that we'll continue to make the regular payments on this until we can budget to make extra payments to the principal.
Upcoming:
This week I will be making a $1000 payment to my Canadian MBNA Mastercard and a $500 to the RBC Visa.
The $500 payment will bring the balance below $5000 for the first time in I can't tell you how long, and the $1000 on MBNA will bring it below $17000 (in fact, it will be close to $16000, I may even be able to swing an extra amount to it here soon with help from J). I seriously can't tell you how long it's been since I've seen that number. Makes you sick how much interest we have paid in that card. I can't wait until both of those are paid off. I am thinking February they will be gone!
February is usually a good month for us money wise, as it is usually when we get our tax return and I get my yearly bonus. I will be most likely be getting $2500 after taxes for my bonus since I got an Exceeds Expectations in my last Performance Review. However, since J won't be back from Afghanistan until May, we have to file an extension and file when he gets home. We will be using a CPA for the first time ever, and I have to admit, I am actually nervous about letting someone else handle our money/taxes. I know it's their job, but I have heard too many horror stories about their CPA not doing it right and the IRS coming after you for back taxes. The only good thing about it, we will get a ton of those taxes back for the 'Foreign Earned Income' Tax credit.
I'll have to remember to keep you all informed on how that turns out.
Well, it's Sunday and unfortunately I have to work today. Tomorrow is my weekly 'day off' which means I have to fit everything in that I need to, and I will mostly likely spend half of it at Firestone having the car looked at. I think the battery is dying/dead and it needs to be replaced, and an oil change. Yay, fun times. Maybe I'll bring my laptop and blog from there!
Have a great rest of your weekend all! :)
December 9, 2011
Quick Friday Hello!
Been dealing with a bad tooth for the past little while, but this week it has been really painful. I have an appointment for a root canal on Jan 6, so I may just have to grin and bear it.
So instead of being productive, I've been in agony and trying just to sleep. (I think it might be infected too...thank goodness for antibiotics that make you feel even worse).
Not much else going on. Work is still work, although today is Friday (#1 good thing) we have our Holiday Luncheon (#2 good thing) and I'm not on the phones much today (#3 good thing).
AND I have the whole weekend off. Hoping I can catch up on cleaning up my house, packing some more, and finish decorating the tree. I have decided NOT to put up Christmas lights this year outside. I might put up the deer, but I'm just not really in the full Christmas mood that I normally am in.
I also got J's box out to Afghanistan the other day, and totally forgot to wrap one gift...the one gift I really wanted to surprise him with :S
I'll get a small box and send that out on Saturday or Monday. It might get there late though.
I hope you all had a great week, and an even better weekend!
So instead of being productive, I've been in agony and trying just to sleep. (I think it might be infected too...thank goodness for antibiotics that make you feel even worse).
Not much else going on. Work is still work, although today is Friday (#1 good thing) we have our Holiday Luncheon (#2 good thing) and I'm not on the phones much today (#3 good thing).
AND I have the whole weekend off. Hoping I can catch up on cleaning up my house, packing some more, and finish decorating the tree. I have decided NOT to put up Christmas lights this year outside. I might put up the deer, but I'm just not really in the full Christmas mood that I normally am in.
I also got J's box out to Afghanistan the other day, and totally forgot to wrap one gift...the one gift I really wanted to surprise him with :S
I'll get a small box and send that out on Saturday or Monday. It might get there late though.
I hope you all had a great week, and an even better weekend!
September 12, 2011
New Week New Life
For the first time in a long time, I don't feel stress about money.
Realizing that I don't have to bear the weight of figuring out where the minimum payment is going to come from, making it at the last minute to make sure it gets there on time, and then getting the electric bill for an outrageous amount of money and having to replan everything, just as the car gets a flat.
You all know what I'm talking about, because you've probably been there too.
Now that the credit card debt (in the US only) is paid off, that stress is gone. Now we can start putting money into the savings and if Murphy does decide to pay us a visit, I can laugh in his face and send him on his way.
Ok...that felt good!
This week is going to be long and busy. At work, they've taken away half of the time that I would normally have during the day to do my coaching with my team because they expect 'high call volume'. I can probably guarantee that it's not going to be any busier than normal. They just love to panic, and now I have less time to finish everything that want done in the month. Gotta love it.
I guess I should just be glad I have a full time, good paying job. BUT, I wish that job would be realistic some days.
Hope you all have a good week! :)
Realizing that I don't have to bear the weight of figuring out where the minimum payment is going to come from, making it at the last minute to make sure it gets there on time, and then getting the electric bill for an outrageous amount of money and having to replan everything, just as the car gets a flat.
You all know what I'm talking about, because you've probably been there too.
Now that the credit card debt (in the US only) is paid off, that stress is gone. Now we can start putting money into the savings and if Murphy does decide to pay us a visit, I can laugh in his face and send him on his way.
Ok...that felt good!
This week is going to be long and busy. At work, they've taken away half of the time that I would normally have during the day to do my coaching with my team because they expect 'high call volume'. I can probably guarantee that it's not going to be any busier than normal. They just love to panic, and now I have less time to finish everything that want done in the month. Gotta love it.
I guess I should just be glad I have a full time, good paying job. BUT, I wish that job would be realistic some days.
Hope you all have a good week! :)
August 14, 2011
Sunday Becomes Monday
I miss guaranteed weekends off.
My shift at work is a flex week, which means I am guaranteed Saturday off. I can't be drafted or scheduled to work that day at all. I always have another day off during the week, and since I was on vacation, my last 'day off' was last Sunday as I had requested that day off.
Today, is the beginning of my work week. So today is my Monday. The one good thing was that Sundays were quiet. Noticed I wrote "was" and "were". Not so much lately. People are calling in all of the time, and Sundays have become back-to-back calls, whereas before, I might have a break of a few minutes in between which made my day not so stressful.
I do get paid a 'Sunday Differencial' it's not much, but I'll take it.
It's so hard to come back to work after not having to do anything for 12 days.
I guess I shouldn't complain. I could still be working at my old job, where I didn't work full time, my boss would blame me for things that they did, no paid vacation, no benefits, and my paychecks bouncing (twice). Or I could be unemployed.
On the money front, I read a post by Michelle over at Making Sense of Cents about Savings accounts. We currently have the savings that are required by our credit union in order to have our membership, but we found that any money that was put in there would quickly be transfered to buy unnecessary purchases. Our ING Savings account is where the majority of our savings is, mainly for any emergencies (although I do have cash on hand for that) and for our downpayment for our home.
I have been recently thinking of opening up some Custom Club accounts at our credit union to save for particular things, like Christmas, or a vacation (J and I never had a real honeymoon and we're looking to go to Disney in January).
I can't decide if I want to open this now, or if I should wait until the house process has been completed.
Any thoughts on what I should do?
My shift at work is a flex week, which means I am guaranteed Saturday off. I can't be drafted or scheduled to work that day at all. I always have another day off during the week, and since I was on vacation, my last 'day off' was last Sunday as I had requested that day off.
Today, is the beginning of my work week. So today is my Monday. The one good thing was that Sundays were quiet. Noticed I wrote "was" and "were". Not so much lately. People are calling in all of the time, and Sundays have become back-to-back calls, whereas before, I might have a break of a few minutes in between which made my day not so stressful.
I do get paid a 'Sunday Differencial' it's not much, but I'll take it.
It's so hard to come back to work after not having to do anything for 12 days.
I guess I shouldn't complain. I could still be working at my old job, where I didn't work full time, my boss would blame me for things that they did, no paid vacation, no benefits, and my paychecks bouncing (twice). Or I could be unemployed.
On the money front, I read a post by Michelle over at Making Sense of Cents about Savings accounts. We currently have the savings that are required by our credit union in order to have our membership, but we found that any money that was put in there would quickly be transfered to buy unnecessary purchases. Our ING Savings account is where the majority of our savings is, mainly for any emergencies (although I do have cash on hand for that) and for our downpayment for our home.
I have been recently thinking of opening up some Custom Club accounts at our credit union to save for particular things, like Christmas, or a vacation (J and I never had a real honeymoon and we're looking to go to Disney in January).
I can't decide if I want to open this now, or if I should wait until the house process has been completed.
Any thoughts on what I should do?
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