No Smoking Update May 20th!!

Well, I am now at 3 weeks no smoking!! Cravings for cigarettes are gone and I can go ahead and count the money I was using to buy them with as extra cash flow to my finances!!

Anyone who smokes can do this!! Just put your mind to it!!

Home finance update!!

When you actually take time and focus on your finances and try to formulate a plan you see small opportunities here and there. Today, I was provided an opportunity to change auto insurance due to my current company pulling out of my state. After checking around I have found insurance for $10 a month cheaper!

If you go all the way back to when I started this financial journey $10 would be right at a 60% increase in cash flow. That is pretty dang good.

Now, a new development happened today.  I received a pre-approved visa card. I know what everyone is thinking...oh no, not a credit card at this stage in the game.
Well, one thing I haven't discussed is my credit rating. Over the past year I have started trying to build it. I initially was approved for an eBay store card. After making purchases with the card and instantly paying them off as soon as it posted for a few months I was then approved for an Amazon store card. Using this same method I was the given an increased credit line.

After investigating how to build credit I found that keeping under 15% balance on your cards is very healthy with credit rating. My initial score around 3 years ago was in the high 400's. Now, as I am getting this new visa I am currently sitting at 678. According to the information I have read, and looking at the tips on a credit monitoring website I needed to have a credit card that was not just a store card. With this card over the course of about a year I should be able to take my score into the 700's which opens up a new opportunity.  A chance to by a home.

Buying a home in my oppinion will be my greatest opportunity to increase cash flow. I could own a house for much less than I am paying in rent. I am going to investigate how much I could save a month.

OK, here we go...total cash flow per month...$126. A heck of I leap from $16.

I will keep you informed on new developments!

Thanks for tuning in!!

Cash flow increased!!

I was offered a deal on my hospital bill the other day. If I were to pay the bill off I would eliminate $25 a month.

After careful consideration I decided to sell my Glock 19. I sold it, paid the hospital,  and received my paid in full receipt!

It feels great to accomplish something like this. I started off with $16 extra cash per month after all bills. Since quitting smoking and now the hospital bill being paid off I have increased cash flow by $100 a month.

Feels nice having a little cash in the pocket.

Next plan of attack...the cell phone bill! Stay tuned!

Quit Smoking (1 week results)

Ok, as some of you know I started studying my home finances and one of the big bottlenecks I found was smoking.  I quit the next day.

What you may not know is that I started smoking at 11. By the time I was 14 I was at a pack a day.  I am currently 38. I truly do not remember what it is like not to have ever smoked.

It has been 7 days since I quit smoking!! I did it cold turkey and just dealt with it!! Over 38 hours up straight and 2 days worked before I could go to sleep the first time.

Folks, you can do this if you need to. You just have to make it threw the first few days and deal with the anxiety. You also have to get your mind set that this is what you are going to do. No questions asked.

I am pleased to announce that I have already noticed an increase in my wallet. Next week I will start to calculate what I do with my cash flow increase and see where it ends up.

Thanks for checking in!!

GWprepper

RV travel trailer living maybe?

I checked into RV living. This could actually be a great way to save money.  I live by myself so it very easily could be an option.

Based off of preliminary numbers I could easily save over $200 a month. That isn't counting lowering my electric bill and stuff.

So, here are the possible numbers so far...

Base cash flow after all bills and food is $16. Cut out smoking up to $91 cash flow. RV living?  Potential to take thar number well over $300 per month.

Guess what, it takes money to make money...possibly save that $300 a month for about 6 months and have a down payment for a small piece of land. Get the land setup for the RV...money saved could really grow at this point and my money would be going towards my future instead of lining someone else's pockets.

Maybe get the RV and land paid off quickly? Possibly start building a pay as I go home? When I get done I wouldn't owe anything and I would have something great to pass on to my kids.

Just thinking out loud.

Cutting food budget expenses

I have been trying to streamline my food budget. One thing that keeps popping up is buying in bulk. The only problem I have with this is having to eat a lot of the same thing all the time.

I guess that the whole point of this blog is to reduce monthly expenses and increase cash flow, so I am going to do it.

Over the next few weeks I will describe what I am doing and let you all know my results.

Hospital offering 50% payoff?

In my monthly bills I have to budget $25 for a surgury I had last year. I owe $1200.

I received a letter in the mail today from the hospital. It tells me that I have been selected to have an opportunity to settle my bill for $600 if I do it in the next 30 days.

$25 doesn't seem like a lot, but when you think about where I started with $16 a month left over it is a pretty good chunk.

If I can figure out how to pay it I will effectively increase my cash flow to $116 extra a month total. $16 originally,  $75 for not smoking, $25 potentially for hospital bill.

I will keep everyone posted on how this works out.

Also, if you have medical bills it might be worth contacting to them to see if they offer an early payout.