Women in Red Racers - Midwest Region

[radiologygirl]

Turbo: can you also email that to me? Sorry I'm sure everyone is asking! [e-mail]

[crazylady14]

Jando: I’m so glad you brought up the pictures. I have pictures that were my mothers, she died 12+ years ago, I don’t even know who they are of, but I felt guilty just throwing them away. I always thought if I ran into someone she went to school with I’d give them all to them….it’s been long enough, if you can part with your old school pics, I think I should be able to part with hers.
And yes, Shop, that makes me sound like a Hoarder too, but it’s not THAT bad, really, it’s not.
Hi Jem: I remember you, welcome back!
Ivana: I agree, pay off that SL, being rid that payment will give you some flexibility being down a roommate.
THANK YOU to whomever stated to click Reply instead of using Quick Reply, now I see how you all get smileys ;D Please keep mentioning tips on how to use these boards, I need the help.

[shopaholic814]

Thanks Turbo, for the email. I haven't checked it yet, but will get to it tonight.

Mouse: You are much further east than I am! I was born/raised in Avon (west of Cleveland) but moved when it became "yuppie-ville" 12yrs ago, but I live more north central now, south of Norwalk & Sandusky out in the boonies/rural area. I have relatives who live in the Snow Belt with you, I don't envy you in the winter at all!!!! It is nice to know I'm not alone on the board here!!! ;D

[Jem0607]

Thanks for the warm welcomes! I am going to agree with everyone else on all the following:
1) You all ROCK
2) Ivana, pay off the SL- you are so close to being done, I am thrilled for you.... and hoping to be there someday
3)Jando- it's funny, about 2 months ago I finally threw out a box full of hs pictures. I kept a couple of really good ones of me and my closest friends (of course by good I mean awkward ) but most of them didn't matter at all. No regrets yet... in a few more years I'll probably be able to pitch most of the college souvenirs too

[rr234]

Turbo Thanks so much! Already customized it with my info and will be all ready to post next week.

[chicg]

Yes, thanks for the tip to hit reply instead of quick reply!
Crazylady - that's sweet that you thought of trying to give your mom's pics away to someone she went to school with. You could try looking on classmates.com for names and if you find some, look their contact info up online? Or maybe try to post something in the classifieds for people in her graduating class, or sometimes the high school has contact info for people that have been in charge of reunions, you could try there as a starting point? I'm a sucker for old pictures, my parents both have really old ones of their parents, I keep asking my mom for them, especially the wedding photos of my grandparents (all passed by the time I was 8). What I should task them with is going through some of those photos and writing who the people are on the back.
So, 2011 goals...I finally got them written down. Not so many money-related ones (thanks to a good 2009 and 2010) but nonetheless, here they are:
1 - cc debt free by May 2010. This is a little push but doable, just means no excuses.
2-Start a ROTH when cc debt is paid, try to contribute max
3-lose 50 lbs. If I hit 50, celebrate by increasing goal to 75.
4-?? it was more weight training, but after writing that, I'm still not happy. I'm contemplating with switching it out for "find a new apartment". This one is still a toss-up.
5-become a regular in kickboxing class, goal 1x/week
6-become a jogger! Complete the couch to 5K program, begin training in spring. Complete goal by registering for a 5K.
7-visit a new country or state
8-ride bike at least 1x/week in summer
9-get accepted into masters program (this means I need to pick one first!)
10- take compliments better, less self-criticism (this will be the hardest for me, I think marathon training would be easier).

WIRR goal 11 is to figure out how to make a table in excel to past on Proboards!

[chicg]

ROTH 401K question - I've posted this before but it was long ago and we have many new members. it might be better on the main board or at Your Money though, but those people can be scary. I have a ROTH 401K option at work. I'll increase all 401K contributions when my cc debt is paid off, but does anyone have experience with this vs a ROTH at a separate financial institution (rather then having everything with 401K plan at work). Obviously contributing through work is easier for us fund-challenged but through a ROTH 401K there are no contribution limits (you can do more then $5K/yr but it works just like a regular ROTH). I'm just wondering if I should contribute to both, focus more on the option at work, an independant option, etc. Also, how to balance that with regular 401K (so I have both pre-tax and after tax options). I was planning to increase ROTH contributions and leave regular 401K where it is (I think 5%) for now at least. I think I currently do 3% to ROTH 401K.

[turbothumper]

Table: All, please feel free to e-mail me at chelmo50 at hotmail dot com to request I send you a copy of my spreadsheet with the table in it. I don't mind at all!

[radiologygirl]

Turbo: THANK YOU for the spreadsheet!
I'm a bit of an organizational nut so this will help me keep my WIRR stuff organized!

[jando]

2011 is going to test me in my resolve and my goals. $407 worth of car repairs today that I was sure would be $150 or less. *le sigh*

[bengaltigers]

Question - what is the little "exalt" button for on each of the posts?

[shopaholic814]

So I'm gonna try reposting my last update from the MSN board here just to see if I can make this wonderful spreadsheet that Turbo gave to me work correctly. I sure hope this works. Thanks Turbo!!!

UPDATE	2/4/2010	10/31/2010	12/21/2010	Diff Last Post	Total Diff
Car Loan	218.05	-	-	-	218.05
5/3 Bank Card	71.59	-	-	-	71.59
B of Am	10,771.68	1,943.06	963.83	979.23	9,807.85
US Bank	8,021.86	7,346.94	7,178.89	168.05	842.97
2# Mortgage	11,292.37	10,956.45	10,850.13	106.32	442.24
Stud Loans	36,924.74	35,755.05	35,302.99	452.06	1,621.75
Discover	-	-	-	-	-
Total	67,300.29	56,001.50	54,295.84	1,705.66	13,004.45

Shopaholic814: 12/21/10 $54,295.84 (2/4/10 $67,300.29 MU137, MU368)

[shopaholic814]

Bengal: I'm not sure what the point is, but if you go to someones post & hit their Exalt button, their 'Karma' total goes up by a point. I have no idea what the purpose is, but I figured out what it does earlier today while playing around on the board.

[bengaltigers]

thank you Shop. i figured that was probably what it did....

[cherit]

Turbo,
Would you be willing to send me the table as well? I am lost as to how to do that kind of stuff. As you can see, i can't even make the emoticons work right.

[cherit]

Oh wow, it worked!!! Didn't look like that when I sent the post!

[el1504]

Hi Everyone - Writer88 just won her race over on the international thread!

[Kelly1977]

I'm still here. Not doing anything I should be yet. Spent too much money lately. I am about +$3200 on my GM Card, but we booked our trip for summer. My mom and stepfather are going and next week will pay us $1300 towards their part. I had some saved up, but most will come from the tax check. But, now I find out I can't even file taxes until late February. So, I'm feeling bummed and aggrevated that I chose this route. I know that the rooms I wanted usually sell out early, so that's why I used the evil CC for 1 month to hold it. But, it makes me feel bad for doing what I used to do.
I have not even made up my spreadsheets yet that I lost with the old computer. I'm still bummed about buying a new one as that $600 was earmarked for extra debt payoff.
Part of me wants to quit because I am just burned out. I didn't even go to work Monday, the first day vacation time was available again. This is not like me. I usually LOVE playing with the spreadsheets, but I just haven't felt up to it. In fact, I forced myself to login to WIRR and post today so I wouldn't just quit trying. I know that in a months (or week) time I will be in high-gear again and will regret any further backsliding I do.
Luckily, we have A LOT of gift certificates for food places from Christmas and one from Kohl's. DH has the next 2 weeks off from work (which doens't help with our spending), so we will eat at home or use those gift certificates. Maybe getting out of the house will do me some good. I just like that smiley there, lol.

[turbothumper]

Okay, I believe that I sent the spreadsheet to anyone who had e-mailed me for it. If you want it, but didn't get an e-mail to me, e-mail me at chelmo50 at hotmail dot com. I will try to send it today to everyone who has e-mailed by 3 today. That way I only have to do one e-mail.

Kelly: Girl, don't you dare give up. You are the absolute best example we have on our board of rolling with the punches. I admire how you are able to try to work with the unknown. That is not easy, in fact, it is HARD!!! Breathe. Take a day away from thinking about not getting to your spreadsheets. Then, breathe again, and jump back into them. You will be fine, I have faith in you!!!

[Pants]

Kelly
Hang in there!
A small backstep is not a complete backslide into old habits! And for vacation, well we're going to have to do the same thing. You're still doing better by paying it off in 1 month than the majority of america!! Don't forget that although we try to live without them as much as possible, credit cards are a tool. If you're using the tools available to you responsibly and appropriately (e.g., floating a large expense for a single month) there's nothing to be ashamed of!
Can you challenge DH to spend as little as possible while he's home? Sometimes if I make things a competition it helps for DH. Just an idea.

[chelsea727]

I just typed everything and it went away..grrrrrrr!
Kelly- I totally know how you feel. It's hard to find motivation when you know the numbers will be ugly. My debt went up $700!!! I am shocked that it got so out of control. $200 went for school books, $200 for dbf's christmas present, and I'm honestly not sure about the other $300. There was gas, food, and it's all a blur now. I had to face the numbers and readjust everything (depressing) but I feel a new rush of motivation (helps that it's the new year) and I'm determined to get rid of this debt! I already cut up one credit card..and as soon as I build up savings, I will destroy the other one so I can get back to living on what I make and not living beyond my means. Just try to remember how far you've come and you can do this! Let's make 2011 great!

[jando]

I have an update, but I'm waiting til this afternoon to get Turbo's magic spreadsheet.

After some playing around with numbers for this pay period and next, and not hitting some savings goals I'd like to hit this January, I think I can pay off that $407 car repair bill (which I put on my Discover) without having to pull out of my EF. Also, once I see how the new payroll tax adjusts (I'm thinking close to $30 per pay period extra in my check) I may be able to be able to get back on track for January. We'll see.

[regina24601]

turbo - I'm sending you an email to request your spreadsheet, too. Thank you!!!

[Pants]

As a future volunteer (as soon as this whole transition mess gets done) let me say how happy I am that everyone wants to use nicely formatted tables! Go turbo, and go everyone!!

[dizzyintellectual]

Thanks Turbo, just shot you an email!

[chicg]

Turbo, I sent you mail and gave you karma!
Kelly - aw girl, try not to let debt get the best of you. We've all felt like giving up. You can only take things day by day and emergencies WILL come up. Stop beating yourself up for things that you have to deal with, like the computer. So you spent the $600 to replace it, in the big picture, that's not really going to affect your financial picture. Now if you spent $600 every other week at restaurants and on clothes and missed bills all the time, then that's different. You've improved a lot of habits so for that you need to recognize the great work you've done. Put the $600 for the computer in the back of your head now and just start with today. Posting here when you didn't want to face it was already a great decision, just try to keep making the best decisions you can in the moment, that's all we really can do! And by the way, you're doing great, don't forget the progress you've made ; )

[Bank of Mom]

Can you "Reply" and then add the file as an attachment (under the subject line)?

That way you don't have to do a group email. Just a thought.

[turbothumper]

Bank of Mom: Since it is my personal spreadsheet with my info in it, I would rather not post it on the website. Thanks for the suggestion though.

[Pants]

Turbo: I took a quick look and "scrubbed" it--meaning I took all your info out and replaced with generic info. I will email back to you. If you're ok then maybe we could post for the group.

[keepinthefaith]

Kelly: I love that you put your most recent update as your signature! At least that's what it looks like you did. That's brilliant! I might copy that at some point, if that's okay. I think it would be neat if we all did. Anyway, hang in there! We all go through ups and downs, but we're here to help you through it!