argh, i'm SO frustrated/mad at myself! for whatever STUPID reason i wrote a check to daycare on 4/29/11 and one on 5/2/11...only needed to write them ONE check b/c i got paid on 4/30/11! so, i check my acct today & i'm zeroed out & had to go into my overdraft protection, which of course is costly.
this is SO not the first time i've done this, just to a different vendor so to speak (lights, credit card pymnt, cable, phone, etc!). have y'all ever done mindless stuff like this before?? i totally screwed myself man. i knew i'd have approx $100 til the 15th for gas & such, but now i have nada. have to use a credit card to fill up my tank until the 15th. it seems like i just can't get this down and i'm so aggrevated. i shouldn't even be posting this on here...ha! makes me look 1.) scatterbrained, 2.) STUPID, and 3.) horrible w/money! which i guess i am, but i swear i've tried SO MANY times to get things all squared away. paid $350 for brakes yesterday on the car, negative in the acct today...just wonder if damn! am i ever gonna be okay financially?? so much for retirement & college for my boy - lol.
anyway, i've got a sad face & wanted/needed to vent & see if anyone else is as goofball w/money, something SO important, as i am. i hope not, but it wouldn't hurt to have someone relate to me right now. :( i need a personal banker or a representataive payee or something! lol, but not really laughing.
thanks guys.... :(
Financial Peace University... seriously, it helps, like a ton. You just described how I was a few months ago. I'm still learning but I'm on the right track now!
I set up reminders on my gmail calendar so I know when the mortgage,etc is due. Do not know if this will help you but if you do not get a reminder you will not over pay. I also have one drawer in my house that all of the bills go into as soon as they come in the mail. Nothing else goes in that drawer and they are put in an accordion file as soon as I pay them so it would be hard to get confused as to what had been paid. Good luck, getting finances in order is never easy, making the money last as prices go up is even harder.
well, my problem isn't with the money, it's with everything else. Today I went to run some errands, and my husband asked me specifically to pick up 2 items. He said to me "I know you always forget what you go for, so please write it on your hand", so I did. Well, I forgot them. I had to go out again and waste gas, time, etc. So yes, I feel like a dumbass all the time too, so I feel your pain!!!!!!!!!!
After my divorce I was working full time and working on my masters of accounting, yes accounting. Granted I was taking anywhere from 18 to 21 hours a semester and raising my kids, still an accounting major and I effed up my checking account twice a year during finals. :(
I am wicked good with money management still when you have too much on your plate sometimes even the best mess up.
don't worry yourself about it now, good news is you are prepaid! ;o)
you need a list of your monthly bills, I have a lined paper that are dated 1st-31st and then I write my bills that are due on that day/line each month. then when they are paid I cross it off. you need to double check yourself everytime you pay a bill for awhile till you get this right and you need to write down your bills on a calendar or piece of paper and mark them off when they are paid. honestly I sit down on an afternoon and pay as many bills as I can for the month at that time with the money we have at that time. I sit and pay them all at once, cross off the lines that are paid. Then two weeks later when paid again I sit down and pay the second half of the month. You don't need to just write the check at the daycare, school, whatever....sit down at one time and pay all bills. luckily you are prepaid at the daycare so next month you can catch up on money. ps on that list I write, I circle payday so I know which bills can be paid on which paycheck.
Dave....Ramsay. Get O. of his books...free...from the library.
I have double paid bills before and was shocked when I had a credit the following month...so you are no the only one to ever have this happen. I just had to find a better way to track my bills.
I went and asked my aunt who is very organized and she showed me her method of tracking incoming bills/expenses and it has really helped.
Don't beat yourself up at least next month is already covered!!
DAVE RAMSEY......go to his website and start reading. You need to do something so that you feel in control of your money. Most people have been in your situation, so don't be so hard on yourself. BUT, please check out Dave's web site, it is the easiest reading and he is quite funny too.
I was pretty lame in my twenties with 2 baby boys an alcoholic husband and living pay check to pay check. So, yeah, I know what you mean. You WILL get better at it tho.... I control all of our money, which is the way it should be :)
A "dumb$$$" would not have overdraft protection! Lighten up on yourself!
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I guess my question is WHY the daycare cashed both checks? If someone paid me one day and then gave me another check a few days later I would be asking them if it had been a mistake. Look at it this way...you won't have to pay the day care the next time...so you will have a little extra money to tuck away for a rainy day!!!
I know it can be so hard to get on the plus side in the financial world...you should start a saving account...and then set a goal of putting something small...maybe just $10 from each paycheck into the savings account. Tell yourself that the savings account is OFF LIMITS!!! Pretend like i simply doesn't exist...you will be so pleased at how quickly it grows.
Can you talk to the daycare about refunding you the money from the second check? Maybe if you explain your situation, they will cut you a check ASAP.
good luck
I used to write the checks for the month on the first -- All of them -- and leave them in envelopes with the dates they needed to be mailed on them. When the date to mail came, I put the stamp on it and put it in the mailbox. Now I do everything online.
Now you are ahead with the daycare payment.
Take a deep breath...
If you need financial help, ask your family. They might have some ideas??
LBC
I'm awful with money!!! But I just now finished my personal finance class and we read The Richest Man in Babylon. READ IT!! They have an old bible like written style or there is a modern one. We read the old school version, but it was decently easy to read.
This book will teach you a lot with some easy reading. HIGHLY suggest it! I'm now well on my way to having a great budget and savings account!
I'm sure we all have done something like that at least once in our lives! You must have alot on your mind.
Glad you caught it and I hope you get your money back soon.
Ditto Dave Ramsey!!
He changed our lives- seriously! We were deep in debt and my DH stressed a lot over how he was going to pay everything each month- plus we had virtually no savings- not even an emergency fund. He was the bill payer (because I was even worse @ it!) and was completely unorganized, so when he suddenly remembered something was due- he had to figure out how he was going to pay it. We've done a complete 180. Dave showed us how. You can do it too. It's not as hard as we thought
Go to his website and listen to his radio show- live or archives- it's free. I am usually bored to death of financial stuff- Dave's show is really interesting though- and even ____@____.com's not at all stuffy- He's been there himself and admits to having gotten a PhD in D.U.M.B. lol
You can get his Total Money Makeover @ the library. We liked the audio version though, because we're so busy. He covers it all!!!
BTW- Nikki mentioned Financial Peace University- in case you didn't know - that's a Dave Ramsey program. We're hoping to do it too!
Very best wishes!!! :o)
This happened to me only I was on the receiving end. I have noticed when parents tried to pay me twice. But one time I didn't and paid my bills and bought groceries accordingly over the weekend. The next Monday the mom emails saying she'd bring a check. I guess I'm just not thinking that most parents would pay twice LOL. My mother had taken a check from the husband the previous weekend and it went in the bank with others. When that mom told me mid week about the mix up I was first surprised and second disappointed. It meant I would not get paid the next weekend and likely have to wait until the Monday after the following weekend to be paid again. It was hard for us both.
