Brushes & Budgets

Hi!  How are you?  It’s only been a month since we last chatted right?  I’m still around but my life has been kicking me in the lady balls.  My health has been trash but I’ve tried my best to keep pushing forward.  During the last Money Moves Month End, I shared it’s looking like I have Psoriatic Arthritis…yay me…but there’s more.  Looks also like it’s Ankylosing Spondylitis (try saying that fast 5 times…Or even try saying it…there’s so many consonants) which is an arthritis of the spine that is also an autoimmune condition.  It very well could be the primary illness but it really explains the muscle spasms in my lower back when I walk.  I also just returned from my 20-year high school reunion!  I did feel like the only woman without kids, a husband, or both.  Even though everyone said it was a good thing, it still feels a little meh for me.  Other than that, I’ve spent a lot this past month and you’ll find out momentarily as well as something really big that happened.  So grab an Ensure to support bone health a low-calorie snack and we’ll get started!

As I always do…we’ll be discussing these topics today:

• Debt Totals
• Payment Breakdown
• Income & Other Income Breakdown
• Net Worth

Debt Totals

My Shop Your Way Credit Card IS PAID OFF!!!!!!  Again.  The plan is to not do anymore balance transfers to this card. My next debt that I’ll be focusing on is my Coastal-PL.  I have more to share next week before I state what my complete plan is because we all know…I like to change things up constantly.  I’ll explain what’s going on with my HELOC later on the post.  Other than that, every other payment was kind of anticlimactic.  Nothing fancy at all.

Payment Breakdown

Here’s the breakdown of everything that occurred during June.  I’ll explain just a little bit more later.

Income

This is probably the biggest change you all will see.  Same with me.  We’ll talk about why these numbers are so inflated in a moment. 

Right at the top of the list is the settlement I received.  It’s been a long time coming and sadly…I expected more…but it is what it is.  I’m not sure how much of the information I can share about why the settlement exists but I’m choosing to continue to remain quiet about this for now.  I may share this at a later time.  Next, I made a killing in rewards with Citi Card.  With trips come preparation for me.  Now I’m trying to get back to eating at home and sticking with my typical budget.  I went way out the lines and I’m doing my best to keep from overdoing it.  The extra chunk of change is great but I do not plan on blowing through it.  Thanks to the money, I got a lot more in interest than normal.

My Net Worth

Well…I shouldn’t be going below $100k anytime soon.  I also have an ongoing contribution to my 401k and it’s showing because the balance continues to go up.  Yay for retirement?  LOL!!! 

Last but not least my HELOC.  I very recently ran across YouTube video about a concept called Velocity Banking.  This concept is based on using a line of credit like a personal line of credit or a HELOC (not a credit card) to pay down debts including your mortgage.  So my current plan is to payoff my Wayfair, Wells Fargo, and Home Depot by November (I’m breaking up the payments) using the money in my account.  To make it really work for me, I’ll be depositing most of my paycheck into my HELOC to take care of the monthly payment.  Then I’ll be using my HELOC to pay my regular bills.  Sounds crazy, but surprisingly I don’t have a ton of monthly bills.  I should have my car paid off by November 2025 and I’ll start paying off my mortgage. It seems ambitious but my debt payoff will occur much sooner than I anticipated. In the meantime, I’ll continue to save $150 every time I get paid, so cheers to a new method!    

Pro-Makeup Artist Tip

Soooooo…I learned something extremely valuable over the weekend.  Humidity can and will ruin anything.  I have oily skin, especially in the t-zone but for some reason…wearing my foundation in Denver, CO was a game changer.  By time the night was done, (I got back to my room around 1:30 AM) I wasn’t a glossy mess after sitting in a very warm room for 7 hours.  I said all this to say, the dew point matters!  Check your local temp before committing to a look and make sure you prep your skin properly before applying your foundation when it will be an exceptionally humid day. 

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Until Next Time!

Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash