Another Debt Bites The Dust

If you missed my posts on Twitter and Facebook on Tuesday, I would like to announce: my car is now 100% mine. I made the last payment for the "Thrifty Mobile" of $99.98 on Tuesday. Meaning, I no longer have a car payment and will soon have that car title in my hand.

Undercover Boss

The last couple of weeks, there has been a new show on TV called, (ta ta DA) Undercover Boss. No, it's not a superhero show, rather a show that has the head of a major corporation, stepping down to go to several locations in the company. Not as the President or Chief Operating Officer (COO). Instead they arrive at each location, under an assumed name and work for that day as a new hire.

Both, weeks, one of the job sites ended up firing the respective head of the company. The first week the COO. of Waste Management was the Undercover Boss. This past Sunday, it was the President and CEO of Hooters International Tonight, it will be the head of 7-11). Both bosses said they learned a lot from their employees (and employees of the franchises) by looking at their companies from a different perspective then they had previously.

Imagine now, what if your boss went undercover. What do you think they might change in your workplace, if they seen it from a different perspective? Would they get fired from one of the positions they held over the course of the week?

Sowing Your Oats

Last week I attended a training class for work. The 2-day class was intended to make me a better Assistant Store Manager. One of the things covered was called OATS.

Objective

Action

Time

Schedule

The basic premise of Oats is to plan your work. For example, O, as you can see above, is for Objective, or in other words, you set your goals for the day and week. Next comes the Action, what Action are you going to take to achieve said Objectives. Followed by how much Time will those actions take to achieve said objectives. Finally, you need to Schedule yourself the allotted portion of Time needed.

The same is true for personal finance to. Most of the readers of this blog want to get Debt-Free. So that is the Objective. Next, what Actions are we going to take to achieve that Objective? For me that means work more hours (others it may be get a 2nd job) and as Dave Ramsey says, "sell so much stuff, the kids think their next." Then we have to set down and come up with a realistic Time frame. Finally, time to Schedule your time to achieve your end objective.

Objective = Get Debt Free

Action = Sell Stuff and work more hours

Time = a realistic Time frame to become Debt Free

Schedule

It is important to remain focused and get to the end goal as quickly as possible, still you must remain realistic in the process.

So Close, oh So Close

I am so close to having that car paid off. It has been a long time coming, but I can say for certain that it is almost paid off. The next payment isn't officially due until August 2010. That after, the payment I made last week.

That payment, wasn't a full months payment. Afterwords, I only owe $184 more, to completely have it paid off. However, there will be interest of 8 cents per day. Not to mention car/home insurance is due this month in the amount of $337.07. Not to mention the medical bills, I need to pay on and the regular household bills and food. Plus, I need to save up money for that upcoming wedding and honeymoon.

I know this post, is a little more disjointed then most of my posts, but I will be so happy when that car is finally paid off. The only thing is, I don't know if I should drop the full coverage, so save money. Or perhaps, something else to put more money in my pocket.

Medical Bills

If I could keep these dang medical bills from growing anymore, I'd be debt free faster. Didn't have medical bills, until the last few months.

That has been my frustration recently. The emergency room visit made an agreement with me to accept $30/month, which I have been faithful on paying the last few months. Yet, they are the one that has refereed the remaining $48 to collections, saying I am seriously delinquent. I guess that's the so called "Sisters of Mercy," which owns the hospital. Despite their claims of mercy and compassion and willingness to work with you, they really are all about the money.

Next comes one of those minor med places wanting $59.60. My Dentist needs another $11, and I still need to make an appointment to get the crown for that tooth that was operated on. Related to that, I need to pay $148 to a pathology lab for the biopsy that was done on the tooth.
Related to to the Emergency room visit, I owe $66.80 to radiology for the cat scan they did. Finally, this cold and flue season has been rough, I have been to the doctor's office numerous times, because of my cold that just won't go away. Not to mention trying to diagnose some aches and pains (I've had for 15+ years). For all that I owe (after insurance) $256. That amount does not include the removal of the pilar cyst, which I haven't seen a bill for. That should be coming any day now, as it has been a month since that particular office visit.
So in total I have $578.40 in medical/dental bills that's currently outstanding. I intend to get them paid off, along with all the other debts. However, these medical bills do make it harder. Plans are in the works to get things paid off. In addition, I will pay cash for the upcoming wedding.

Free Pants

So I'm watching the Super Bowl commercials, when one catches my attention like no other. The commercial has a number of guys walking through a field, singing we wear no pants. Repeatedly singing the one line.
Finally the narrator proclaims wear pants and tells viewers that Dockers is giving away free pants.

If you make it to the site, you learn that it's a chance to win free pants. Meaning the commercial misleads the viewers into thinking they will get free pants.






****UPDATE: Saints Beat Colts in Super Bowl, 31-17*****

Why Support the Fair Tax

Today, I thought we would take another look at the Fair Tax. I have posted about this topic before, but today, DebtFree4ever.NET has video of a proponent speaking about it's merits.