Fire Is Out
Wednesday, March 8th, 2023 01:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
snoozefestaudioSlept in an extra hour this morning... to give my feet some extra time to deal with life. It's a sunny day at 43F... not bad!
I was finally able to pay the home equity loan. For January, February, and March, it came to $375.00.
I think something Mike did back in December screwed something up.
Supposedly he had set up the HELOC for auto-pay, and pointed it at Sheila's bank account. But those auto payments never happened, and it's not set up for auto pay now.
Also I cannot change the auto pay status, or even try to make a one time payment from a different bank account. I can't change anything in there without getting a warning about there being duplicated information with another customer... and that I have to call them.
So the only thing I can do is Zelle money into the BMO account, and then, in the digital banking app, pay with the money from the account... which is what I did today.
So, the immediate fire is out. But there have been some overdrafts, and the fees are mounting. I think right now it's in the neighborhood of $600.00!
That doesn't threaten the house, but... I do need to get that paid off.
--<>--
The game, going forward, is gonna be... keep zelleing money into those two checking accounts to prevent overdrafts, and to make sure the two mortgage payments are never late.
If I can do that, as a matter of routine, I shouldn't have any further worries about BMO Harris Bank.
--<>--
So, the plan now is to secure that 35K personal loan from PNC, sometime during the week of the 20th to 24th. That'll be my third week working full time, and also a week after I've been with Geostaff for six months.
Again, with that loan, I'll pay off the car... pay off the three cards. And pay up the overdraft balance at BMO.
Then from April on, I just have to make sure there are no more overdrafts, and everything gets paid on time... using that loan money in my savings account as the cushion.
--<>--
If everything goes well for a few months, then maybe in the summer I'll talk to BMO about assuming the mortgage officially... so that I can close the stupid BMO accounts and do everything from my PNC account.
--<>--
That's the game plan, but tonight I will pay those credit cards, and order those new shoes!
Talk to you later.
------------{=0=}------------
12:40AM
My feet were doing fine when I got to work tonight, but the school was also having an open house, which meant I caught a break for a couple hours mid shift.
Still did 1200 steps, but no foot problems tonight.
The drive home is a lot faster at 11:30PM when nobodys out on the road. And when I got back the four of us had our midnight hang in the back yard with me downing a beer.
I'm drinking a lot less beer now, because I'm continuing to get up a few hours before I have to go.
That's something I never used to do, when I worked full time, second shift, in the before times.
I'd drink until 6 or 7AM, and then not get up until half an hour before I had to hit the road.
And because I'm making my lunch every day, I'm eating better.
So... I'm drinking less, eating better, and getting more exercise than I have in... like twenty years!
And none of it is on purpose!
--<>--
I paid my three credit cards tonight; PNC, AmEx, and Discover. All were paid before the due date, and all were paid something substantial.
PNC had the lowest balance, and the lowest limit, so I paid almost off. Only have a balance of $20.00 on it now.
AmEx has the highest limit, and the balance was some $1700.00, so I threw $500.00 at that.
Discover only got $200.00 toward a balance that was over a grand, but... they've been getting exactly the minimum from me for ten years so... I'm sure they're fine!
With that, all the March bills are finally paid... here on the 9th! But nothing was late, except for the HELOC, which is not in my name, so it doesn't affect my credit score!
------------{=0=}------------
Dad's life insurance money is all but gone now. It was only ten grand to start with, but his cremation, urn, and prayer cards cost four thousand, leaving me with only six thousand to survive on.
There is still the pension death benefit of $500.00 I can collect, but that'll take time for the paperwork to process.
So for the moment it's just my paycheck and my credit cards, until I secure that personal loan for 35G that PNC's been begging me to take since last May.
The idea is to stop using the AmEx and the Discover cards right now, and only use the PNC Visa to cover gaps... like it was back in October. Nickel and dime stuff between paychecks.
I still have SNAP to cover food.
And I'm expecting all the utilities to drop dramatically!
Both the water and the electric went through the roof in January and February, with all the cleaning, laundry, dish washes, and toilet flushes, for the water bill... and Tim out here running a space heater 24/7 for two months!
Tim was also cooking up a storm with the oven & stove, running up the gas bill.
Now it's just me!... little old, hermit living on a shoestring, me... and I'm gone eight hours a day flushing toilets somewhere else, now!
And all those blinds I bought, are gonna come in handy this summer to keep the sun from baking the inside of the house all day.
I'm a noctournal guy! I run the AC at night when it's cheeper... cool the place down easier, and then let the blinds protect that cool air during the day!
--<>--
Mortgage and HELOC together are way less than any modern rent payment. So, by being frugal in other ways, I should be able to almost make ends meet, with my low paying assed Geostaff paychecks.
The idea behind the personal loan is that... it will eliminate the car payment, lower the car insurance, and eliminate the credit card payments... while costing only half of what those things currently cost, per month.
But it should also leave me with several thousand dollars of cushion to cover gaps... at no extra expense!
I keep writing about this, and we'll see if it works, but it IS a pretty solid game plan to buy myself two years.
If I'm frugal... and earnest... and clever... and lucky... two years can get me somewhere!
--<>--
I have not done bad so far!
[knocks wood]
Also, yes... the new shoes are on the way.
°¦}
https://soundcloud.com/snoozefestaudio
I was finally able to pay the home equity loan. For January, February, and March, it came to $375.00.
I think something Mike did back in December screwed something up.
Supposedly he had set up the HELOC for auto-pay, and pointed it at Sheila's bank account. But those auto payments never happened, and it's not set up for auto pay now.
Also I cannot change the auto pay status, or even try to make a one time payment from a different bank account. I can't change anything in there without getting a warning about there being duplicated information with another customer... and that I have to call them.
So the only thing I can do is Zelle money into the BMO account, and then, in the digital banking app, pay with the money from the account... which is what I did today.
So, the immediate fire is out. But there have been some overdrafts, and the fees are mounting. I think right now it's in the neighborhood of $600.00!
That doesn't threaten the house, but... I do need to get that paid off.
The game, going forward, is gonna be... keep zelleing money into those two checking accounts to prevent overdrafts, and to make sure the two mortgage payments are never late.
If I can do that, as a matter of routine, I shouldn't have any further worries about BMO Harris Bank.
So, the plan now is to secure that 35K personal loan from PNC, sometime during the week of the 20th to 24th. That'll be my third week working full time, and also a week after I've been with Geostaff for six months.
Again, with that loan, I'll pay off the car... pay off the three cards. And pay up the overdraft balance at BMO.
Then from April on, I just have to make sure there are no more overdrafts, and everything gets paid on time... using that loan money in my savings account as the cushion.
If everything goes well for a few months, then maybe in the summer I'll talk to BMO about assuming the mortgage officially... so that I can close the stupid BMO accounts and do everything from my PNC account.
That's the game plan, but tonight I will pay those credit cards, and order those new shoes!
Talk to you later.
My feet were doing fine when I got to work tonight, but the school was also having an open house, which meant I caught a break for a couple hours mid shift.
Still did 1200 steps, but no foot problems tonight.
The drive home is a lot faster at 11:30PM when nobodys out on the road. And when I got back the four of us had our midnight hang in the back yard with me downing a beer.
I'm drinking a lot less beer now, because I'm continuing to get up a few hours before I have to go.
That's something I never used to do, when I worked full time, second shift, in the before times.
I'd drink until 6 or 7AM, and then not get up until half an hour before I had to hit the road.
And because I'm making my lunch every day, I'm eating better.
So... I'm drinking less, eating better, and getting more exercise than I have in... like twenty years!
And none of it is on purpose!
I paid my three credit cards tonight; PNC, AmEx, and Discover. All were paid before the due date, and all were paid something substantial.
PNC had the lowest balance, and the lowest limit, so I paid almost off. Only have a balance of $20.00 on it now.
AmEx has the highest limit, and the balance was some $1700.00, so I threw $500.00 at that.
Discover only got $200.00 toward a balance that was over a grand, but... they've been getting exactly the minimum from me for ten years so... I'm sure they're fine!
With that, all the March bills are finally paid... here on the 9th! But nothing was late, except for the HELOC, which is not in my name, so it doesn't affect my credit score!
Dad's life insurance money is all but gone now. It was only ten grand to start with, but his cremation, urn, and prayer cards cost four thousand, leaving me with only six thousand to survive on.
There is still the pension death benefit of $500.00 I can collect, but that'll take time for the paperwork to process.
So for the moment it's just my paycheck and my credit cards, until I secure that personal loan for 35G that PNC's been begging me to take since last May.
The idea is to stop using the AmEx and the Discover cards right now, and only use the PNC Visa to cover gaps... like it was back in October. Nickel and dime stuff between paychecks.
I still have SNAP to cover food.
And I'm expecting all the utilities to drop dramatically!
Both the water and the electric went through the roof in January and February, with all the cleaning, laundry, dish washes, and toilet flushes, for the water bill... and Tim out here running a space heater 24/7 for two months!
Tim was also cooking up a storm with the oven & stove, running up the gas bill.
Now it's just me!... little old, hermit living on a shoestring, me... and I'm gone eight hours a day flushing toilets somewhere else, now!
And all those blinds I bought, are gonna come in handy this summer to keep the sun from baking the inside of the house all day.
I'm a noctournal guy! I run the AC at night when it's cheeper... cool the place down easier, and then let the blinds protect that cool air during the day!
Mortgage and HELOC together are way less than any modern rent payment. So, by being frugal in other ways, I should be able to almost make ends meet, with my low paying assed Geostaff paychecks.
The idea behind the personal loan is that... it will eliminate the car payment, lower the car insurance, and eliminate the credit card payments... while costing only half of what those things currently cost, per month.
But it should also leave me with several thousand dollars of cushion to cover gaps... at no extra expense!
I keep writing about this, and we'll see if it works, but it IS a pretty solid game plan to buy myself two years.
If I'm frugal... and earnest... and clever... and lucky... two years can get me somewhere!
I have not done bad so far!
[knocks wood]
Also, yes... the new shoes are on the way.
°¦}
