Checking My Credit :(

So since I am going through the effort to like by a budget I figured I might as well get my credit back in shape as well.  I know you can get a free credit report from Annual Credit Report but all the monitoring products sold there are directly from the credit bureaus.

I want a credit monitoring service that gives me access to all three of my reports and scores so I can track as things get taken off.  So I got my free credit report and will begin tracking.  I will tell you that my Trans Union and Equifax scores were both in the low to mid 600′s but my Experian score was only 580!  It looks like Experian is reporting an account with negative information on it that the other to aren’t.  I guess I will be doing some learning to figure out how to fix all this.

I didn’t really even know what went into my credit score.  I knew it was types of debt and paying your bills on time.  Did you know your income doesn’t count in your credit score!  I didn’t!  I know lenders use it but it doesn’t figure into your actual fico score.  So here are the things that make up a credit score.

I am hoping to see tangible results in 3 – 6 months.  We will see…..

Goal Setting

So it has been to long since I have posted and the budget is crap already.

I have decided to back up and look at the bigger picture.  I have trouble setting goals and keeping them.  This occured to me while reading a post from wise bread about a month ago on what goal setting is.

It didn’t seem as important to me at the time, but know as I wallow in me latest set of failures I have decided that I need to develop some personal discipline.  Not enough to kill my fun, flighty, spontaneous soul.  But enough to be able to keep up a blog, which is ironic because I enjoy this writing and sharing.

So budget first, blog second.  Because you can’t write if you have starved to death.

Thursday Thoughts

So I have a budget done.  This sucks, I think I am going to have to adjust this.

On that note.  Where should I go on vacation this summer.  I live in Florida so I am thinking someplace cold and away from the beach for a change of scenery.  Colorado, Canada, Alaska….

Oh yeah, the budget…..

Does anyone have any real great resources for finding cheap flights and hotels.  Don’t tell me Travelocity or Priceline.  I love lastminutetravel.com as much as the next gal, but I am looking for something new.  Something cool..

My New Droid!

Say Hello to my new Droid.

Bluetooth, Google Talk, Google Mobile.  It is awesome, I am loving it.

What is a Budget

I have to admit that I have never lived on a budget.  That doesn’t mean I wasn’t broke, I am talking about knowing how much was coming in and going out and to where.  It has always been kind of nebulous for me and caused me lots of heartache.

So I have decided to create a budget and learn how to like like the other half.  I got some great tips from an article that seemed like it was written just for me.  It is on Wisebread and was written by Nora Dunn.  I have decided to start with Excel, not Mint or MoneyStrands and keep it simple.  She had some great tips on formatting and what to track and what not to.

So wish me luck….I will need it.

Great Florida Book Site!

This will mostly interest my readers in FL.  I found this great site with tons of rare books about Florida history.

It is called Past Perfect Florida History Books. What a great name!

The site is a little hard to navigate (the browse feature wasn’t working last time I was there) but if you use the search function you can find all types of gems.

Most of you know my passion for old diaries and journals.  I found this one from 1844 that I am about to start.

“FLORIDA TERRITORY IN 1844 The Diary of Master Edward Clifford Anderson, USN”

“Three pages of black and white drawings by Anderson, photo portrait of Anderson on dustjacket front, index, bibliography, notes, map of 1844 Florida inside front and back covers, published in honor of the American Revolution Bicentennial, No. 40467 ; 8vo; 105 pages”

I haven’t been to the actual brick and mortar store but next time I am near Deerfield Beach I will check it out and report back.  Orrrr….. if you any of you go, drop me a note and let me know how it was.

237 Goolsby Boulevard, Deerfield Beach, Florida

Hub Pages

Has anyone every used hub pages?

I am evaluating writing for hub pages as I continue to look for ways to write online and earn some side money at the same time.

The site seems to be really nice for writers and offers some ways to make some dough through adsense revenue sharing and an amazon affiliate program.  Has anyone ever used them?  How much did you really make and how much did you write?

I will write a few articles for them and let everyone know about my experiences.