Dimples' Divine Domain
My journey to financial empowerment.

It is National Family Week. I plan on taking my daughter to a couple of the festivities going on around and about Orlando. Here are a two that we are going to definitely hit up. Winter Park's 4th Annual Family Fall Festival Subject Winter Park Fall Festival Description The City of Winter Park will proudly host its 4th Annual Family Fall Festival on Saturday, October 27, 2007, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., in Central Park. Winter Park’s Family Fall Festival is the kick-off event for Orange County’s celebration of National Family Week which runs October 27 - November 3, 2007, and focuses on strengthening the community by strengthening families. Mayor David C. Strong will lead the kick-off ceremony at 11:30 a.m. from the main stage in Central Park and 13 year old Winter Park resident Michelle Raymond will sing the National Anthem. Fun and exciting events for the entire family will include inflatables...

Two days ago I started developing a list of things that I want. Not necessities but wants. Why? Because I do want those things. Of course I am not going to acquire more debt in order to get these things. Dimples has wizened up when it comes to money. At least I'd like to think I have. My plan is to get things off my wish list one at a time, when they are on sale, using coupons (if applicable), and when I have enough in my Misc Fund. The money in the fund will come from my side hustles and any left overs in my budget at the end of the month. And I am still sticking to my initial constraints on that fund....debt comes first. This is like a little project for me. And it is going to be so much fun. With that said, here is my Wish List (in no particular order): Camcorder Living room set Bedroom set for Dimples (mahogany/dark chocolate color) Sleigh or Platform Bed (Dont know which one I want yet) Shredder LCD TV - 20in Bedroom set for Sweet Pea (lilac or periwinkle in color) ...

Looks like Wachovia is joining the bank bonus biz. They are currently offering a $50 bonus for opening a free checking account. You must open the account with $100 deposit and keep the account open for six months. There is no minimum account balance, no direct deposit requirement, no monthly fees, and includes free bill pay. The offer code is ATM2 and you must open an account by 1/30/08. As you all know, I have been in search of a bank to open a spending account with. Wachovia is a pretty good bank and their current promo is good. All other bank promos out there require too much and I don't need that much hassle for a little ole spending account. I called their 800 number and opened up an account with them. I also qualified for their "At Work" program because my employer banks with them. So I got my 1st checks for free and I get bonus rates on any loan I may take out with Wachovia. Not bad. They also have a referral program. You and the person who refers will ...

It's been real busy in Dimples' world. I have a couple of things in the works. I'll do separate post on those later. I am doing good on my budget. I realize that I need to a lot more money in the miscellaneous department. I may actually need to break that up into smaller, more specific categories. I spent $65 bucks for maintenance on my car. Of course I did not have that expense accounted for in my budget. I also had to take my daughter to get her yearly physical and flu shot. The copay was $15. Budgeted?? Nope. I was hoping that the amount I allotted to my miscellaneous category would take care of this stuff but it is not. So I need to work out a way to direct more money towards that category without touching the money I set aside for my debt repayment. Touching this would throw my snowball calculation off track and most likely add a month or two to my payoff due date. So I am in big time hustlette mode. Cash Duck is back in business. They are working with a...

I would like to thank everyone for their prayers and nice words. I really appreciate it. My dad was released today and is home doing fine. I enjoyed my time at my parent's immensely. My dad looks like he is going to turn over a new leaf and this event has actually brought the family closer. He was all jokes every time I went to visit him in the hospital. Looks like everyone is getting into the healthy business. My dad needs to eat right and so the rest of the family is following suit to encourage him. I am so happy. Once I catch up with things I will be back on my game. I spent a little down there but the money is coming from definite leftovers in the budget. So basically everything worked out. Thanks again everyone and I look forward to reading up on everyone's blogs and seeing what craziness has come up since I have been gone. *muahz*

I apologize for the lack of posts. My father had a heart attack on Tuesday and I have been down in South Florida with my parents since. Please keep us in your prayers. He is still ICU and they are running a lot of tests. My daddy is a stubborn man and it will take all our strength to get him to listen and adhere to the doctor's orders. Thanks guys.

Back in August I did a post titled, " Life Insurance - Do I have enough? ". I currently have a 5 year term policy for $50,000. I took the policy out back in December 2002, right after my daughter was born. Back then I felt that $50K was more than enough. Of course back then I didn't even know what a budget was. But after reading a post Single Ma did on life insurance I realized that I was short changing my daughter with my current life insurance policy. That scared the shyt outta me. With all the debt I currently have, my daughter would most likely get NOTHING if, God forbid, something happened to me. I googled and found a ton of life insurance calculators on the web. I used 3 different life insurance calculators from different websites to calculate the amount of life insurance I need. Based on my current financial picture I need between $287K to $345K worth of life insurance. I received a letter from Statefarm, whom I have my life insurance policy with, about 3 d...

Last Month: Transunion : 628 Experian : 652 Equifax :590 This Month: Transunion : 643 Experian : 652 Equifax : 617 When I previously posted my credit score updates I would use the middle score. I am going to post all three from now on since there is such a difference between Equifax and the other two. I know I have one collection account still showing on Equifax that was removed from the other two a long time ago. So I believe that is the reason for the huge difference. I am working on getting that removed from my report. Hopefully if my method works and the collection gets removed my score with Equifax will rise. Oh yeah, the collection is paid off. It was from Bellsouth. I disconnected my service with them at the end of my sophomore year in college and supposedly I still had a remaining balance. The rep told me my balance was zero and I moved right after so I never received a bill. Needless to say I didn't find out anything about it until it went to collections and was o...

I have enlisted in the challenge and I hope you do to. DonorsChoose is a non-profit organization that supports the needs of teachers and students. Basically, teachers submit project proposals for materials or experiences their students need to learn on the website and people choose a project to fund. The organization is currently running a Blogger Challenge during the month of October. The purpose is to encourage bloggers to reach out to their readers to help support classroom projects in public schools. HC, at One Big Mortarboard has partnered with pfblogs.org to establish the Personal Finance Blogger Financial Literacy Challenge ! They have chosen a number of projects that relate directly to personal finance. You can help by donating and/or promoting this challenge. Make a difference yall! Check out Single Ma's post for more detailed info.

Here is a copy of the receipt for the groceries I bought yesterday. This shows how much I paid for each item. For those that are going to check out their local farmers markets, compare their prices with the ones on here and let me know if there is a major difference. There shouldn't be. When I go shopping again and buy some meat I will post the receipt on here. You wouldn't believe what I pay for poultry (compared to grocery stores). *Edited: Use the following link to find a farmers market near you: http://www.ams.usda.gov /farmersmarkets/map.htm Thanks Dream for the link!

LMBAO. On the real, my daughter is gonna be 5 in a week........that whole baby fat excuse won't fly anymore. SHE AIN"T NO BABY!! So Dimples needs put her phat rump on a diet. I have been talking about a lemon cleanse on the last couple of post. Here is the link if you are interested in reading up on it. I am pretty sure there are several variations of it but this is the one I found. I know my body pretty darn well. I need to restart my body in order for this to work and in order for me to succeed. So hence the lemon cleanse. I know one thing though, cutting off solid foods cold turkey is not gonna happen, especially chicken. I am like a crackhead when it comes to chicken. I can't keep away. Is it just me? Anyways, the cleanse calls for 10 days and Dimples may make it 2 full days. Trust me, I have tried and I have failed....many a times. With that said I decided to create my own variation of the cleanse. I have been slowly weening myself off solid foods f...

I wanted to share with you guys how my monthly grocery bill stays under $120 each month. 1. I am blessed to have a farmer's market located directly across the street from my apartment complex. I purchase all my veggies, fruits, and meats from there. You would think that I would be paying an arm and a leg for organic food but that is not the case. My typical shop there averages around $35 bucks. And I am set for 2-3 weeks. I went there today and spent a total of $29.76. I buy my water, soy milk, tofu, eggs, orange juice, condiments and little snacks for my daughter from Walmart. A bill there averages about $26 bucks. 2. I cut up, package, and freeze majority of my food. I used to have a problem with spoiled veggies and fruits. I either never got to them fast enough or I totally forgot I had them and they would go bad. Freezing my food has helped me in that area. I just wish my freezer was larger. I would freeze everything. Here is some of the veggies I bought today; c...

Packages from Old Navy and Macy's came this morning. I returned all of it. I also returned the stuff I physically bought at the mall. I repurchased some clothes that I really needed for my daughter and used a coupon I just received in the mail yesterday. So $280 went back on the credit cards and I purchased $60 worth of clothes for $25 (after coupons) and used my debit card. I started my lemon cleanse yesterday. I have been holding it off due to the crazy schedule I have had this past two weeks. I must say I am feeling quite chipper and full of energy. I am deciding what to do about my career. I think it is time to move on up. I love my company benefits not quite sure about the company though. There is a lot of favoritism going on and it urks me. Dimples don't do azz kissing. I'll go more into that later. I played the lottery far the first time yesterday. I won $4. Woohoo!

Yeah I am. I have been worrying, and wandering, and thinking too damn much. I wish I could win the lottery. I just need $100K. Just enough to pay off all my debt and have a nice E-fund. Not too much to ask. I am worried about work. They underestimate me. I think I allow them to. I hate failing. Especially when I am the only black female in the company. I CAN'T fail. I feel like I am at a stand still in my life. I am allowing my debt to block my view of the future. I want to do so much. I know I am destined for something great. Cocky? Naw just confident. I want to own my own business(s). I want to invest. I want to build an inheritance for my children, grandchildren, and so on. But I feel like I need to get this debt out of the way before I can even think about that stuff. A year of just working on debt sounds ridiculously boring. I am not a boring person. I like end results. It's the journey to the end that urks me. I need to lose weight. I would love to...

After I came to the realization that my monthly bills took up 89.5% of my income, I went on a mission to lower my expenses anyway I could. Of course a big chunk of that is made up of my debt which I am currently working on. Unless I win the lottery, that will be a long and steady road. Until then I am trying to find other ways to decrease my monthly expenses. I am proud to say that in 3 days I was able to knock $80 off my monthly expenses. Here is how: $10 on Vonage : I called Vonage and asked for the current promotion that offered the same plan I had but for $10 less. $20 on cell phone: Lowered my plan from $59.99 to $39.99. $50 on cable : Canceled my cable. All my fav shows are shown on my local channels (free) and also online (also free). Not bad huh?? All other categories are pretty much untouchable excluding debt. I mean I can say that I will work on using less electricity and water but who we kidding?! Dimples has enough ish to be frugal with. Water to wash my behind...

I don't know why this slipped my mind........ I exceed my Misc budget by $148.81. Not my fault though. My vacuum broke so I had to buy another. Them jokers are expensive. I bought one for $50. IDENT-A-KID came to my daughter's school and I felt it essential to get some identity cards for my daughter. I got 4 for $15. It was picture month also and this is the only time I have to get new pics of my daughter. I buy professional pics of her each year and we were due. They came out beautifully. That was $80. See how that wasn't my fault. Things came up. Things I didn't account for in my budget......ok MAYBE my fault a lil. Anyhoo just want to let yall know.

It's that time of the month once again. Time to get to the nitty gritty. September Budget I did pretty good on my first official budgeted month. Income: I brought in an extra $272. I received a payment from Cash Duck for $80, my $150 Toshiba rebate for my laptop, and $40 from Pinecone, ACOP, and Ebay. Rent & Utilities: I went over in this category by $57.73. September was a hot month so electric and water went up some. Groceries: I went over my grocery budget by $20.77. I decided to go on the Lemon Cleanse to jump start my body and get it ready for the extensive exercise and diet I will be on for the next few months or so. So I had to pick up a few extra items. E-fund: I reached my $3K goal this month. Yay for me!!! Car Note & Insurance: Went over $.76. I rounded down when I should have rounded up when I initially did the budget. Daughter's School: Under budget by $18.21. I pay my daughter's tuition via paypal. I got padi for a couple of surveys...

What a weekend! Just wanted to check in with yall. Hope you guys had a great weekend. End of the month report and random ish coming soon. Ciao!