MariRDH's Personal Finance Blog

I should be asleep by now but I am still in denial. Maybe if I don't go to sleep I can make the summer vacation last longer! *grin* I guess it doesn't really work that way, huh?

I checked the oil in my car (a 1999 Saturn with 131k miles on it), and it looks good and full. It is a great car but since it is getting up in years/miles it does eat oil pretty regularly. I usually have to put a quart in every week-and-a-half to 2 weeks just to top it off. I have been using full synthetic motor oil for a few years now so I don't have to change the oil as often (saves a few dollars). I cleaned out as much stuff as I could from the trunk to help with gas mileage, and I have an almost full tank which should last me until Friday afternoon, I hope.

Nine more months of driving to school everyday - an hour there and an hour back. I am looking forward to saving money on gas once I graduate in May! I can't wait to get a job and start my new career...just think, money coming in, instead of going out!

Good news and bad news really.

Good news - it does not look like they raised the rates, so I get to keep my 2% and 3%. Whew!

Bad news - they charged me a $39 late fee. Ouch! Haven't seen one of those in a long time, and never want to see another. I went in today and made an extra payment toward September's bill so I will definitely make the minimum with no problem.

Oh, and when I was looking at the statement online I noticed the "purchase rate" is at 19.24%!!! Yikes...much worse than I thought it was. I NEVER want to have to feel the pain of that rate!

I transferred all my DH's CC debt onto his Citibank card about a month ago. Half at 1.99% and half at 2.99% - both offers until paid in full. I was so happy that his previously 16+% card was now this low by doing the ol' switcheroo.

Well, I logged into the account today, and see that the due date was yesterday and I am $20 short. (I pay a portion of each bill weekly and Citibank only has a 20 day grace period, unlike my other cards which have a 25 day grace period, so I usually check it to make sure the minimum is going to be paid by the due date). I immediately transferred the $20 and it will post today, but I have a horrible sinking feeling in my gut that they are going to jack his rate all the way up now.

I have been so careful over the last 6-7 years since I have been paying the bills, and have gotten both our credit scores into the high 700's. Now this. I know it won't effect our credit scores but it is horrible to have the rate on this card so high even with great credit scores. I am so depressed. I can only hope that they do not raise the rate as is their perogative since it is my own stupid fault for being late on the minimum.

Ugh. If anything seems like a never-ending task it is this monster called my website. I figured I'd start a page that had all my favorite websites in one spot, and maybe it would be able to help someone. No big deal. Just a little something. Well, that turned into something completely different because I really want it to look "nice" and for people to find it helpful. So I added a second page with just Dental Hygiene information, again, hoping that it would help people.

On another note, I had no idea how difficult it can be to actually get someone to visit! I figured, "Hey! If I've got a website I might as well join AdSense and make some money!" As if. In my quest to get visitors I added my site to some manual traffic pages, and promptly had my hand slapped by Google. I guess next time I join a program I should probably read all the rules instead of just skimming! Oops. Bad me. So, now I am trying to decide whether I want to just get rid of Adsense so I can generate some traffic to my site, or keep Adsense and try to actually get traffic the hard way!

I am really trying to stop being obsessed with the silly website because I really need to start studying and getting ready for the new semester which starts in exactly 11 days. Eeek!

The real problem is that I am somewhat of a perfectionist in small, silly areas of my life...and for some unknown reason I seem to have chosen this crazy website as one of those items. I feel like I need a nice tight "white coat" supplied by the super nice doctors at the nearest asylum.

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