Dimples' Divine Domain
My journey to financial empowerment.

HOME PURCHASE PLAN The home I want: Price: $0 -> $190,000 Ideal Monthly Mortgage (including taxes, PMI, HOA, & hazard) : $1200 (max $1300) Location: Surrounding Orlando Area Bedrooms: 3+ Bathrooms: 2+ Square footage: 1700 s.f. + Year Built: 2000+ HOA: $100/month max NEEDS: * A-rated school district * Quick access to major highways * Good daycare * Nice neighborhood * Shower stall * Backyard * Large kitchen with pantry and lots of cabinet space * Large master bathroom * Walk-in closet in master bedroom WANTS: * Garden tub * Family room and living room * New stainless steel black appliances (a girl can dream can't she!) Based on my research, an FHA would be the best loan for me to get. I chose to go this route because of the lower interest rate (currently 4.6%) and the lower required down payment (3.5%). The following is...

I had a GREAT Bday weekend! I spent time with my family, had some quality time to myself, did some shopping, and ate some wonderful Caribbean food. I loved every minute of it. Alright! Lets get to the nitty gritty. Over the next few posts I will review my 2008 Goals and do a short summary of all major events (good and bad) in 2008. Once we get that out the way, we'll see what Dimples has planned for 2009. It will definitely be a year for GREAT things! CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR 2008 GOALS REVIEW I am not going to list every single goal I had on this plan. Once I made the choice to basically "upgrade" to the next level of my career, about 3/4 of my plan could not be applied to my new position. So here is a list of what I did accomplish: *Went on my first business trip to Shreveport, LA *Became Lead Engineer on 5 separate projects *Took a huge leap of faith and landed great job with client (and then successor) *Same leap of faith increased my...

I woke up the following headlines this morning: * DHL to cut 9500 jobs and close US service centers * Government provides record aid package to AIG ($150 billion to date and aren't these the same folks who spent $23K of that money at a spa???) * Circuit City files bankruptcy * Fannie Mae posts $29 billion loss in 3rd quarter * Wall Street falls, unable to shake economic woes Let’s keep it real. Things aren't looking too kosher in regards to the state of our economy at the moment. More and more of our tax dollars are being shelled into companies. Companies who seem unable to get their shit together long enough to get themselves out of the hole they dug themselves into. Well, I'm tired of worrying. I haven't really felt the sting from this economic crisis. Yet anyways. I have lost a few thousand dollars in my 401K account and I have had a couple of credit card companies try my patience by skyrocketing my AP...

Finally. CC Debt Zero Day is sooo close I can smell, feel, and taste it!! I'll get straight to the point. I have saved a total of $6734 to date since I started my new job in late July. I plan on using $6K of that to pay off some debt. I sat down today and did some analysis on my current credit card debt situation and looked for the best way to go about paying them off. I looked at each card's balance, limit, APR, minimum monthly payment, and last month's finance charge. I ran different pay off scenarios focusing on different key points. For example, in one scenario I focused on paying off my credit cards by balances starting with the highest balance first while in another I looked at paying off the cards by APR. Here is what my credit card debt situation looks like: CARD BALANCE LIMIT APR MINIMUMS 1 $7165 $8500 19.99% $200 2 $3976 $6500 16.99% $93 3 $865 $1100 9.99% $25 4 $735 $1500 14.99% $20 5 $172 $1200 9.99% $10 6 $95 $1150 24.99% $20 Based on the my an...

I had to realign some of the due dates. Changes will be in green. I may hold off on school this year. With everything going on my job I am not sure if I want to add school on to my list of ish to deal with. CAREER DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR 2008 GOALS: * Become a Lead Engineer on one or more projects. – 11/1/08 * Increase knowledge and skill level in following programs: + AutoCAD – 7 /1/08 + Pro E Drafting – 11/1/08 + Access – 6/1/08 + Oracle – 8/1/08 * Pass the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam. --> I took the test on 4/12 but I won't get the results until July. – 7/08 * Initiate steps to obtaining a graduate certificate in the following program: + Applied Operations Research – 7/15/08 * Complete online certificate program at AMBAI for following programs: + Management and Business Administration Certificate – 8/1/08 + Finance and Investing Certificate – 9/1/08 TASKS: - FE EXAM: > Register for the April FE exam - 1/11/08 > Study with co-workers - 1/08 à 4/08 ...

Here is my updated 2008 Goals list. All updates are in red. DIMPLES GOALS FOR 2008 FINANCES *Eliminate CC Debt (current standing: $10,007) -Using my debt snowball plan ---> I will need to recalculate this. I am not sure if this will happen by October. *Double Emergency Fund to $6,000 (current standing: $3069.42) -Once I pay off all my credit cards, I will redirect all money left over after all bills have been paid to my E-fund until I reach $6K. *Get car loan balance under $15K (current standing: $19899.55) -My car payment is $392 . I have been paying $532 for the past year. I am bumping the payment up to $435 for 2008. ---> I changed this one. See all changes in red. *Look into hiring an accountant to do my taxes. ---> Negative. Didn't need an accountant. Did it all by my self. *Obtain $300K in additional life insurance. -Research additional life insurance and find affordable plan with good company. *Increase credit score to 700+. *Change to paperless b...

MAY BUDGET The categories highlighted in yellow are uncontrollable increases in my budget from April. I am hoping to spend less or none of the categories highlighted in pink. My budget tells me two things: I need to get rid of this debt pronto (lottery anyone) and I need to bring in more income. MAY GOALS Career - Update resume - Start job hunting and apply - Practice for upcoming interviews (I haven't done an interview in 3 years) Business - Obtain domain name - Look into starting a website - Order business cards - Network - Start business plan - Research Finances - Bring in more secondary income - Spend less - Reevaluate debt payoff plan Health - Plan and start exercise regimen (gosh! I swear this is ALWAYS on my goal list...lol) - Do a detox - Look for a spa or clinic that does colonics Spiritual/Emotional Health - Start meditating again - Read - Plan a mini vacay for this summer (perhaps in June)

Added some more items to my 2008 Goals list . Here they are: *Search for grants or scholarship to assist with private tuition (I have decided to enroll my daughter into the private school she attends currently for kindergarten. Check here for more details. ) -Search for grants or scholarships online -If I can't find a grant or scholarship then create a savings account for next school year's tuition ($4800) Volunteer Make an appointment with a Dermatologist (I have extremely sensitive skin and I am limited on what products I can use. They won't break me out but they don't really do anything for me either.) Find a good skin regimen Develop a good hair regimen Find a permanent hustle As I accomplish each of my goals, I will be updating the original post. I added a new section on the right sidebar, underneath my net worth chart, titled "Divine Updates". There you will find the current status of my 2008 Goals , wish list , credit card debt payoff and closing, ...

Finally they are in!!!! I know you guys have been waiting on the edge of your seats for them (if not, humor me a lil....LOL). Without further adieu: DIMPLES GOALS FOR 2008 FINANCES *Eliminate CC Debt (current standing: $10,007) -Using my debt snowball plan ---> I will need to recalculate this. I am not sure if this will happen by October. *Double Emergency Fund to $6,000 (current standing: $3069.42) -Once I pay off all my credit cards, I will redirect all money left over after all bills have been paid to my E-fund until I reach $6K. *Get car loan balance under $15K (current standing: $19899.55) -My car payment is $392 . I have been paying $532 for the past year. I am bumping the payment up to $435 for 2008. ---> I changed this one. See all changes in red. *Look into hiring an accountant to do my taxes. ---> Negative. Didn't need an accountant. Did it all by my self. *Obtain $300K in additional life insurance. -Research additional life insurance and find ...

And it is here. The long over due December Budget of Mz Dimples Divine: DECEMBER BUDGET December is a month full of financial goodies. At least for me anywayz. GROCERIES : This month I set the budget to $75 again. My daughter will only be home 3 out of the 4 weeks this month. Her school closes down for winter break starting Dec 21. We are going down the weekend before Christmas and I am leaving her down there for the following two weeks. And I have also been preparing food a week at a time on Sunday which allows to to streatch my groceries out big time. MISC : I lowered this category to $135 from the $150 in November. I am planning on using that budget for littles things I plan on getting throughout the month (like the foot spa I bought today at Biglots for $12). GAS : I upped the budget in this category to incorporate the travel to my parents and back. Due to the upcoming holiday and break, majority of our clients will be unavailable so it is pointless to drive all the way ...