More shout outs.

The other day I did a post that was supposed to be about Making Extra Cash it really turned into a shout out. I wanted to continue to do the shout outs so here they are.

Another single woman (and single mom too boot) Jen at Lifestyle of a Divorced Single Mom, she not only knows how to juggle one income but doing it with more than one kid. She knows the unexpectedness that can come up and the expected that does but you just don't have it to plan for. Not only that but Jen is one of the main reasons I realized I could really do this budgeting thing, she gave me a great spreadsheet that really is detailed and works. She has been doing great at her goal setting and holding herself accountable each month, again she inspired me so look for something new from me soon.

There is Brian (oh, yes a man who happens to be married even so far he has broken the mold on my shout outs), he is the author of Over 40 Overweight and In Debt, I think he's got a correlation there indeed. In fact, I haven't read it yet but Frugal Dad (another great PF blogger) just posted an article on being overweight and in debt. Brian has just gotten back to blogging again and I hope he stays around I always enjoyed that he is just real in his posts he doesn't putz around and make excuses we are both in the same boat here overweight and in debt, maybe with some blogger collaboration we can both attain our goals together. I'm so excited to read Frugal Dad's article today and hopefully Brian will see it too.

One of the more successful single moms in the PF blogosphere is Single Ma at Fabulous Financials. She really is an inspiration about being all you can be and striving for the best. While I can tell we don't have the same career interests we do have similar mind frames. When I see that she has gotten so far and worked hard but I can go back and read that she too made mistakes along the way I'm inspired. Like Jen at Lifestyle of a Divorced Single Mom, Single Ma is a great goal setter and a true inspiration. Single Ma is a the point I could be at if I had worked things differently, while I was in a feel sorry for myself phase about being a single, unwed, teen aged mom she was out working her goals for the future and it shows. In fact, her blog is ear marked and her about me section is shared with any new teen mom I come across.

There are so many that deserve a shout out but many of you probably already know about Trent at The Simple Dollar, Weakonomics, The New Frugal Mom, not to be confused with The Frugal Girl, Spilling Buckets, Smarty Pig, My Money Shrugged and many more you can see on my blog roll.

If you know of others not on my blog roll or in my shout outs I'd love to read them, many of the people I read daily are found through others blog rolls so I encourage all of you to update yours frequently. I plan on making it a periodic thing I do.

Financial Security

Those two words financial and security have never been two things combined I thought were ever in my path. That was the past, today I do know they are but I need to do a lot of work.

I found with the stresses in life right now I'm not necessarily reverting to my old ways, however... I'm not exactly financially healthy right now either. I may not be rushing out to shop till I drop but I still made some costly mistakes. This is a learning curve though, I learned I need to watch more than just shopping, using extra gas to go somewhere (even somewhere free), and just plain ole not preparing for upcoming expenses (ie. kiddos softball expenses which I underestimated by a long shot).

So, with that said I'm making a very conscience effort to try and blog more often even through the time crunch and stress. This is what I need to make time for and no excuses. I am not going to be doing WWYD Wednesdays mostly because I don't want to put a specific day I have to post a specific something as I don't need to add to my work load at the moment, but also because I was having trouble coming up with more scenarios. So I decided that I am going to start writing ideas as they come to me and when I have a list of them, I'll start them back up again. Maybe when I have writers block about that I'll find a new 'segment' to replace it but I want that planned out too. Organization is what it is all about, really everything important in life. Organization is also something that I was never good at.

With organization in mind, I have two days off this week but they are not my normal days. I will take one of the days to organize at least one of my closets at home. This needs to be done, I need to find ways to organize things and the practice will be good. Also, I need to get ready for a garage sale and I can't even begin to go down to my storage cage in the basement until I organize. On the same front I'm organizing at work too, I'm cleaning up the tech library and organizing it to fit company needs and customer needs as well as creating a safer/healthier work environment.

Wish me luck and please cross your fingers I don't get lost somewhere in the abyss of a closet ha!

What I'm doing wrong... or it takes 30 days to make a habit!

There are several things I know I'm doing wrong and why I've always had financial crisis. Its not that I'm totally frivolous but that I do indeed have a limited income. Although, I do make enough money to make it and have some savings. So what am I doing wrong?

I know I get caught up in the save a little here and there theme of frugality and it does save, but it frustrates me and I quit. Mostly, what I'm doing wrong Sisterly Savings spoke about in her post today Organized Bill Paying. I know I'm not organized at all it is part of my ADD I spoke about in my initial post.

My first goal is to get organized to kick that off I'm going to organize my finances this week by creating a new budget. I have opened a new bank account that has two checking accounts. One has certain features which were appealing and the other has other features I found appealing. I am also going to open an ING Direct account and will have my savings at the credit union for my loan payment. Oye! Just posting the amount of accounts to keep track of has me in a panic. Never fear though, that is the best way for me to stay organized. Sounds backwards doesn't it? Well each account will be for something different. If I mix my bill money in with my emergency fund I WILL spend the emergency fund because I'm not organized enough to not do it. I must organize myself in a way that will be effective for me.

I already have one of the spiral books to hold bills in it that Sisterly Savings speaks about in her post, the problem is I have never actually used it. So that is on my agenda for my budget and financial organization plan. I am also going to make a plan for some of my wants and needs. I'm not ready to post about those quite yet because the plan isn't ready by a long shot.

My newest motto is it takes 30 days to make it a habit. I need to start making healthy financial habits, I have identified my biggest problem which is the organization now I must tackle the issue.

My next step will be to organize my home, in small steps. Big steps overwhelm me so small steps are the way to go a project every weekend is good even if it is just one cupboard or two eventually the kitchen will be organized in an efficient manner.

What are some of the best ways you organize?
Do you have a financial system that works for you? Feel free to share.