Dimples' Divine Domain
My journey to financial empowerment.

I got tagged by Juice Fairy for the 7 Random Things Meme going around. Here ya go: I own 46 pairs of shoes. I speak 3 languages. I don't eat red meat. I am of Caribbean decent. I have one tattoo and its on my right thigh I graduated from high school with a 4.3 GPA but I never ever studied Number six didn't carry over into college Alrighty, thats all for now folks. I am gonna tag some of the newbies to the game. tee hee Mya Moola Dreams @ Soon Enough I Am Fabulous UnLikelyMe

Well it seems like ING lost their dang on minds and lowered their interest rate on the Ultimate Savings. Unfortunately, that is where I have my emergency fund. I have gotten pretty used to the nice interest I earn every month. I am a little discouraged by the rate drop that I am tempted to move my money to another account. So I did some hustlette work and found the current interest rates for the money market/savings accounts for competing banks. Bank APY (%) ING Direct 4.30% Citibank 4.75% Capital One 5.00% HSBC Direct 5.05% Emigrant 5.05% I will move my E-fund to an already established account. I am not looking to open a whole new account for this since I already have three. I currently have an online savings account with ING, Citibank, and Capital One. I added the others for your information. Aside from a higher interest rate, I am also taki...

I took Hustler's advice and called Vonage to change my rate plan. I currently had the $24.99 Unlimited Residential Plan and changed it to the current promo which was the same exact plan but for $14.99. So I just saved myself $10 bucks a month. I have unlimited minutes, free long distance, and all the features and I only pay $15 a month. You can't beat that! Thanx Hustler! I am on the fence with what to do with my cable. I currently have both my internet and digital cable through Brighthouse. I pay $20 for Roadrunner and $50 for digital cable. I don't watch that much television and when I do it's specific shows. My fav shows are Prison Break, Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty, House, House of Payne, Burn Notice, and Monk. All but the last two are shown on my local channels. And from what Saving Diva says ( I think it was her), some of the ones I just listed are also shown online. I am tempted to cancel my cable and go without it for the entirety of my cc debt snowball. Doin...

I have been doing a lot of research these past few days, trying to find information on the "right" way to close credit cards. And I have concluded that there isn't one right way. It all depends on your situation. My research did uncover certain elements of your credit report that you will need to take into account when deciding how to close your credit card accounts. Credit History : Definition : Measurement of how long you have had credit, starting with your first credit card or installment account (15% of credit score). Dimples' Research Says: Closing one or more credit card does not disturb your credit history. Accounts will stay on your credit card for a 10 years after they are closed and during that time you will still retain that card's credit history. Revolving Utilization (AKA balance to credit limit ratio): Definition : Amount of your revolving credit limit that you are currently using (30% of credit score). Dimples' Research Says : This is ...

Nuff said.

I have been searching for discussion boards where I can log on and communicate with other people who are or have been in the same financial situation that I am currently in. I have found that in the forums at Debt Consolidation Care . It's one of two forums I currently use to ask questions and receive answers back from folks who have actually had experience in that subject. Anyone working on repair the credit? Do you have collection accounts? Did you know that you can write a 'Pay to Delete' letter to your creditors? A agreement that once you pay off your debt that the creditor will remove all notation of delinquency and change the account to paid , no late payments. Some of the other forums that caught my interest are Credit Repair , Dealing with Collection Agencies , Getting a loan (Mya, this one's for you), and Dealing with Student Loans . I recommend trying out your questions at this site. You'll be amazed by the practical solutions you...

I received my travelers cheques and gift card that I redeemed my Amex bonus points for. I ordered these things Sunday and got them in the mail today! To think they had an option where I could pay $10 and receive my stuff in 3 business days instead of the 10 business days @ no charge. Glad I didn't fall for that mess. Anyone know if I can cash in travelers cheques at a bank?? I am thinking about using one of the the cheques to pay off another card. Actually, I think that is what I will do. I have $158.23 left over in my budget. I forgot that I received a payout from Cash Duck for $80 and my rebate from my laptop purchase for $150. So that is where the leftover is coming from. I will use that and $15.01 from the Amex bonus to pay off my Avenue card which is $173.24 total. I can still use the remaining $85 for my daughter's birthday trip. Yeah Amex!! I returned my Target online purchase to one of their stores today. My online purchase total was $57.21 while my refund ...

I paid off my Office Depot card yesterday. Balance was $152.31 and now it is a big fat $0. I am so happy. :-D Did I ever tell yall that I have 13 credit cards? (silence) Well........I do. As you can see the interest rates are horrendous. For a while there, I thought they were normal. Uh no sweetie......they aint! LOL. Anyways, o ut of the 13, I would like to keep 4 of them and close the rest. The 4 are the oldest of all my cards. That way I can keep my credit history. I have been thinking about when and how I should close the other 9 out. I need to do them one at a time and spaced out. I don't want to close them all at once. That would be a big hit on my credit score. I set it up so that I close one every two months or so, starting next month. I am also closing out in order of credit limit, with the smallest limit being first. Hopefully this system works and my credit score won't take to much of a beating. I have the last card closing out around the time ...

I mean truly hilarious.......tee hee This past Thursday I was in the process of giving my apartment a thorough clean down and was in the midst of changing the sheets on my bed. Well I went to get some new sheets and found only one. What the heck? Why do I only have two sets of sheets? I mean I had to throw away one set about a week ago because it got ruined in the washer machine (pen) but I could have sworn I had at least 4 more sets. I mean come on. I know I should live beneath my means but damn........a sistah need some nice, quality, and purty sheets. Right? Right. So you know what I did? I hopped my happy tail online and went a searching for some sheets on sale. I finally found some nice ones at Target; 300 thread count (one blue and one violet) and some organic cotton pillowcase........ . Yeah....so I placed my order and used a 15% coupon code. The total came up to $55 which I charged to my Target card . Great deal!.............(cough).........What? So why when I finish...

My weekend has been oh so divine. :-D Payday Just got PAID!! I was blazing Johnny Kemp the whole time I paid bills on Friday. Feels good! Feels good! N-E-WAYS.....I paid off the second half of monthly bills. Budget is questionable at the moment on if I am over or under. I came under in some categories and over in some others. I still have many open ones so we shall see whats what when I do my monthly report at the end of this month. Emergency Fund My automatic transfer into E-fund account should take place on Monday. I updated the sidebars. I REACHED MY $3K E-FUND GOAL YALL!!!! Yessir. My E-fund's current balance is $3008.38. Last month I said that I would extend my E-fund goal to $10K once I hit my $3K goal. But I was reading a post @ Mya Moola where, in anticipation of her new salary, she discusses how she will establish her E-fund and then redirect all her money towards her debt. Well this got me thinking. My main goal is to eliminate my credit card debt. I have a...

A good friend sent me this article about how wealth measures up for folks in their 20s. Check out the following chart: How you measure up What you have Age 20-29 Read more Median net worth $7,901 Your free financial report card Median net worth of top 25% $36,000 5 lessons the rich can teach you Median net worth of top 10% $119,300 So you want to be a millionaire Median income $27,726 Live well without busting your budget Life expectancy* 58.2 years Insure Your Life Decision Center Children in household 40.20% Raise Kids Decision Center Homeownership 30.50% Home Buying Guide Median value of home $124,000 Home equity calculator Own a car or cars 81.40% Buy a Car Decision Center Median value of vehicle(s) $11,000 Insure Your Car Decision Center What you owe Households with debt 76.00% Debt Evaluator Median total debt $20,800 Your Credit Rating Decision Center % carrying credit card debt 46.60% Credit Card Smarts Decision Center Median balance $1,400 Debt Consolidation Calculator % ca...

I wanted share with you guys a certain way I cook some of my food that has always been fast, efficient, and healthy. I have been doing it for the last 4 years or so. Just came to me one day. It's similar to the oven bag but without the bag. LOL. So a not-so-original idea. I cook my food wrapped in foil in the oven. I do it with chicken or fish. I don't eat red meat so I don't know if this will work with it. I haven't tried pork either. The food comes out moist and delicious and it only takes 30 minutes for chicken and about 15-20 minutes for fish. You can add in any veggie you want. Instructions: Preheat oven to 350. Take a round or square cake pan. Pull out a long sheet of foil and place it on top of the pan. The sheet needs to be long enough to fold over your food. Push the foil down inside the pan. Place the seasoned, defrosted chicken (any part) and any veggies (frozen, unfrozen, or raw) into the foil. You can also add potatoes or minute rice (I haven...

I found these on a forum on Credit Boards and I thought I would share them with you all. I bolded my favs. BUDGET Printable Personal Budget Worksheet Printable Weekly Expense Worksheet Providian Budget Calculator DEBT Credit Card Balance Transfer Savings Calculator How Long Will it Take to Pay off My Credit Card? (CardWeb) What Will It Take to Pay Off My Credit Card (Bankrate) The True Cost of Paying The Minimum When Will You Be Debt Free? Quicken Debt Payoff Planner Debt Tracker Spreadsheet Debt Snowball Payoff Spreadsheet INVESTMENTS/SAVINGS Savings Calculator Asset Allocator Millionaire Calculator IRA Certificate Calculator Money Market Calculator Balance Sheet/Statement of Net Worth LOANS The True Cost of a Loan Loan Calculator and Amortization Auto Loan Calculators MORTGAGES/HOME EQUITY Debt-to-Income Ratio Monthy Mortgage Payment Mortgage Amortization Schedule Home Equity Loan Home Equity Loan Amortization Schedule Home Equity Loan Comparison Home Equity Calculators (Bank One/C...

I have been pondering this question for the last couple of days. I did some research online and I am debating on what exactly is the best way I should snowball my debt. The majority says to pay off your debts in interest order: paying the credit cards with the highest interest first. Paying the cards with the highest interests first reduces the debts that grow the fastest due to the interest added every month. This way helps you save a lot in interest over the period of the snowball. Other folks, like Dave Ramsey, suggest arranging your debt by balance and paying off the card with the smallest balance first. I think this is the best way for me to go. My logic is this: Paying off my debt in balance order starting with my smallest balance will free up funds from my minimum payments and allow me to apply more towards my debt each time. Factoring the bonuses and tax refund I will use towards my cc debt will make an even bigger dent. I checked out the popular Snowball Debt Calculato...

Alright. Well I changed the template of my blog. I was getting tired of the two columns. I dunno yet. Not feeling the new look. Maybe it will grow on me.....................................maybe. Edited: I changed some of the colors. I am starting to like the new look more and more. I seem to have lost some of the page elements such as my BlogRoll. I added it back but may have left some folks on. If I left you off and we have done a link exchange please email me and let me know. There also seems to be an issue with the alignment of the sidebars when you view my blog in Firefox. Will work on that tomorrow. Edited Again: Sidebar alignment issue should be fixed. Publish Post

Here goes another one. Hopefully everyone interested can take advantage of it. Enjoy! Free Lip product with any purchase (up to a $7.50 value). Offer valid now through October 7, 2007. Offer excludes Goldie lip products. To Redeem In Stores: Print this offer and present it at any Bath & Body Works Store . Authorization code 6489. To Redeem Online ( Shop Now ): 1. Add your merchandise to your shopping bag. 2. Add your FREE Lip product, up to a $7.50 value. 3. At checkout, enter promotion code WE LCOME908 .

Anyone like to shop @ Ulta?? I just received the following coupon via email. I think I will start sharing stuff like this from now on. Well until these remaining companies decide to adhere to my unsubscribe request. Enjoy! Click on the $3.50 to get to the site. $ 3 50 off any purchase of $10 or more* To redeem on-line enter Coupon Code 83835 - or - Print Store Coupon *Coupon offer valid 9/9/07 through 9/29/07 on all regular price, sale and clearance merchandise. Excludes salon services, fragrance, prestige cosmetics including Bare Escentuals, prestige skincare, GoSMILE and T3.** Cannot be redeemed for cash or gift cards. This offer cannot be combined with any other ULTA coupon offer. Not valid on prior purchases. Limit one per customer. **See in-store for exclusions.

I just got this in my inbox and thought I would share. Capital is offering a $25 bonus. You will need to apply, get approved, and activate their card to qualify before December 31, 2007. This is a referral bonus so you can only get the bonus via a referral. Here are the instructions on applying: Enjoy! Edited: I can't seem to get any confirmation on if this is legit or not. So for now we will say it is a no-go.

......actually it will reopen mid-October. I received the following email from Kira, Cash Duck creator: "Well, I guess I just missed you guys too much to leave.. I've decided to revamp CashDuck and reopen in mid-October. Look for new features, new offers, and new ways to earn. All withdraws that have already been requested will be sent out as previously scheduled, and I expect all prizes to be sent out by the end of next week. Then I'll be busy making the new and improved CashDuck a reality!" Cash Duck is coming back yall! Yes! For all who don't know, Cash Duck is a "pay to" site where you get paid for doing offers that range from surveys to shopping. I signed up with Cash Duck in April and since then I have made $412.04. I can't wait to get back to making some more money with the site. I'll keep you guys posted if I hear anything more. For anyone looking to make some money on the side, this is definitely a great site to do so. You can e...

Do you enjoy reading my blog? Want to be instantly notified each time there is a wonderfully divine post here at DDD? Then you should definitely subscribe to my blog via RSS feeds or by email. This way you will be able to stay on top of ongoings in Dimples Divine's life and her journey to eliminate her debt and financial empowerment. See below to sign-up. Thanks for reading! Via Reader: Subscribe in a reader Via Email: Enter your email address: Delivered by FeedBurner

Back in July I decided to take the time to understand why I keep building more debt. I am on a mission to find out exactly what the underlying factors are when it comes to my accumulation of credit card debt and find a solution to each one. Here is what I have discovered so far. Step 1: Unsubscribe from all store emails. Step 2: Find a cure to my ESS. And now I have discovered another flaw in my ways and have developed step 3. Step 3: Never let my credit card be my only option. On a previous post I shared what I had decided to do with any money leftover at the end of each month. In the midst of coming to that conclusion, I realized that I have been committing the same mistake every single holiday, birthday, and any other significant event where I would need to spend money. I NEVER PLANNED AHEAD! I knew that these occasions were coming up and that I would need to spend money yet I never thought to plan ahead. See this is what I didn't realize: Dimples has always had somewhat of a b...

I am only 5 days into the month and I have already spent $55.02 on gas. And I budgeted $90 for the entire month. UGH!!! Needless to say, my assumption that 90 bucks would be enough for gas when I drive @ least 120 miles a day just on work will have me looking like an ass when I do my end-of-the-month analysis. I looked over how much I have spent on gas in the past few months (something I should have done from the get-go) and I averaged about $180 a month. OMG!!! Double than what I budgeted. All my dang on fault! I blindly threw a number in for my gas budget and thought I would nail it. WRONG!! This just shows how NOT easy it is to develop a budget. Obviously Dimples doesn't fully understand the concept of creating a budget. A SUCCESSFUL budget. So I did some research and found the following article. I wonder if I should recalculate my budget. Its early in the month. I dunno why but it feels like it would be cheating. Aww well. I'll just roll with it for this mon...

Single Guy Money had a neat post about a net worth calculator that shows your rank based on age and income. I took the test and here are my results. Obviously, yall know I am no where NEAR the median net worth for my age. Absolutely NO comment on the median net worth based on my income. And it looks like I make way more than the average income for my age group. A sistah is still in the RED! *sigh* See where you rank based on your age and income .

In my last post I asked everyone what they did with money left over at the end of the month when they came under budget. I received a lot of good responses and suggestions. Taking into account those suggestions, my current financial position, and the very near future I have decided to roll the remainder into my savings account and use it for important miscellaneous things that pop up. Why? Well I have a set budget that I need to follow every month. Aside from the $50 for miscellaneous stuff I have budgeted, I don't have extra money for things that may and will come up. For instance, my daughter's birthday is October 17. My plan is to take her to Disney for a full day of fun. Her godmother is sponsoring the event (getting us tickets). So all I need to worry about is food, parking, and any souvenirs Sweet Pea might want to take home. I don't think $50 will cut it. That is where the savings account would play its part. Another scenario is Christmas. I could use the ...